Discovery Bay Press_5.15.09

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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa

Vol. 7, No. 20

Including Surrounding Communities

www.thepress.net

County urges action on center by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer

After more than a decade of on-again, off-again discussions, the county is asking the Discovery Bay CSD Board to push ahead with plans for the town’s community center. Catherine Kutsuris, director of the Department of Conservation and Development, spoke before the CSD Board last week, urging the directors to advance the project. “We’re getting to the point where this really needs to get done,” said Kutsuris. “We would like to help advance this project along.” In the 1990s, the county required Discovery Bay’s primary developer, the Hofmann Company, to set aside property for a town community center and contribute 50 percent to the cost of building the facility. Originally, two sites were suggested as locations for a community center. The first was a parcel of land that sat in the county’s agricultural core off

Bixler Road. Since county law stipulates that recreational facilities cannot be built on agricultural land, the site was deemed unsuitable. The second site, and the one for which Hofmann has set aside dollars, is a 2-acre parcel on Newport Road. The CSD Board, however, has long rejected the property for its secluded location, and has actively lobbied for a more traffic-friendly placement on the corner of Sand Point Road and Discovery Bay Boulevard. But because Hofmann considers the property a prime location, the developer has yet to acquiesce to the board’s recommendations. The nudge to move the community center project along comes, said Kutsuris, at a time when the Hofmann Company is looking to tie up its long-term commitment to Discovery Bay. “Partly the pushing is coming from me,” said Kutsuris in a recent phone interview, “because DB West is about three-quarters built out, and we need to do

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May 15, 2009

THIS WEEK

Delightful diversions

A dad with a talent for caring is keeping kids out of trouble by keeping them busy.

Page 4A Photo by Richard Wisdom

The site on the corner of Sand Point Road and Discovery Bay Boulevard, above, is the CSD’s location of choice for the town’s community center facility. The CSD is still negotiating with the Hofmann Company for the 2.7-acre parcel. this before Hofmann closes out the project, which they could do right now. If there is a time to get this taken care of, it’s now.” CSD President Ray Tetreault assured Kutsuris during the CSD meeting that the town

does indeed wish to pursue the plan, but wants to secure a location before committing to other stipulations. When Kutsuris again asked see Center page 21A

Book access is a-Go-Go Innovative technology has made checking out a library book as easy as a trip to the corner drugstore.

Page 14B

Jackknifing jamboree

School districts to receive stimulus dollars by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer During the next few weeks, more than $11 million in State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF) checks will be making their way into East County school district coffers. And while local officials agree that the stimulus dollars are welcome in a year marred by budget cuts and pink slips, how those funds will be spent depends upon a number of factors. “It’s nice to have that positive news, absolutely, especially with all the negative news this year,” said Brentwood Union School District Superintendent Merrill Grant, whose district is slated to receive $2,077,897. “But it’s something that everyone is being cautious with. We’re going to have to analyze and examine some items before we make any decisions.” Under the guidelines of the SFSF, which are part of President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), local education agencies are required to spend the

At the recent league diving championships, competitors did their best to avoid making a big splash.

Page 6B

Photo by Richard Wisdom

The Brentwood Union School District will be receiving more than $2 million in state stimulus relief funds. The one-time dollars are to be used to improve education programs and save jobs at district schools such as Garin Elementary, above. one-time dollars on promoting and enhancing school programs and saving jobs. Taken in that vein, it would seem logical that the dollars would be used to reinstate teachers recently laid off as the result of state education cuts. However, with a state budget to be final-

ized in June, and a series of May special election measures on the ballot (designed to narrow a reported $42 million funding gap), the obvious choices are not so clear. Should the ballot measures fail – and current indicators see Stimulus page 13A

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INSIDE Business .............................6A Calendar ..........................23B Classifieds ........................16B Cop Logs ..........................17A Entertainment ................14B Food .................................12B Health & Beauty ............... 8B Milestones .......................11B Opinion ...........................16A Sports ................................. 1B WebExtras! ....................... 1B

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FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A


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