After passionate pleas from two Valley View subdivision
residents and Dist. 5 Councilwoman Monica Johnson, the Hollister
City Council voted Monday night to approve plans for the Southeast
Park even though the lowest bid was $13,000 over budget.
Hollister – After passionate pleas from two Valley View subdivision residents and Dist. 5 Councilwoman Monica Johnson, the Hollister City Council voted Monday night to approve plans for the Southeast Park even though the lowest bid was $13,000 over budget.
The Hollister City Council voted 4-1 Monday night to keep several of the park’s features in the plans even though it pushed the park’s cost over the original $600,000 budget. The plans had called for numerous extra features, including a $98,000 water play area, and after discussion council members decided to include all of the originally planned extras.
The new cost for the park is about $613,000, plus $12,500 for additional architectural fees. Construction should begin after the contract is officially awarded to the lowest bidder at the Feb. 7 council meeting, and the park should be up and running by July or August, according to Civil Engineer David Rubcic.
Dist. 5 Councilwoman Monica Johnson, who lives in the Southeast neighborhood, was the biggest supporter of the additional expenditure.
“From talking to people in my district, I think the water play area is a big deal, and taking it away is taking away something the residents in that area have been waiting for for 10 years,” Johnson said in a plea to the council before it voted on the planz.
Two residents also spoke to the council, saying the water area was the No. 1 priority for themselves and their neighbors, and that a group called “Friends of the Southeast Park” had already raised several thousand dollars to contribute to the feature. The water area, Rubcic explained, will feature a smooth, painted metal whale that squirts water out of its tail and head surrounded by fountains kids can turn on and off and run through on hot days.
Rubcic presented the council with two options for reducing costs Monday night, both of which eliminated the water the area. But in the end, the council voted for a third option to build the park as planned and eat the extra cost.
“I think if we’re going to do something we should do it right. We have the money for this now, so why should we just let it sit there? We should just bite the dust and do it,” Mayor Pauline Valdivia said to her fellow council members.
The city will fund the project with $411,000 in state grants and $202,000 of city money from fund ear-marked for park projects. Currently, the city has $530,000 in that account, according to Rubcic.
The new park will be located in the Valley View subdivision and will make good on a general plan promise that it would be built between before 2012. Originally, the park was twice the size and needed to be built between 2007 and 2012. However, residents told the planning department they wanted the facility sooner. The other 2.5 acres will be used to expand the park.
The only vote against approving the high-priced park came from Councilman Robert Scattini, who said the only reason he had voted “no” was that he hadn’t had enough time to review all the options.
Jessica Quandt covers politics for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at jq*****@fr***********.com.
