THE COAST NEWS
SEPT. 27, 2013
A7
CP Air certification deadline extended By Rachel Stine
The city is moving forward with a financing plan for a project that will improve sidewalk connectivity downtown, in the Beach Colony and on the southern end of Jimmy Durante Boulevard. Photo by Bianca Kaplanek
Sidewalk improvements take big step forward DEL MAR — Council members recently stepped out of their comfort zone, agreeing to finance a project that will improve connectivity and pedestrian safety in the seaside community. Historically, city leaders have shied away from taking on debt, opting instead to use pay-as-you-go financing even if it meant projects took a little longer to complete. The city currently has an estimated $4.2 million in sidewalk, street and drainage projects that were initially slated to be funded by allocating about $300,000 annually. The project is broken down into five segments as indicated in the graph below. But the work cannot be easily divided into $300,000 increments because of construction issues. Council members agreed at the Sept. 16 meeting to complete segments one, two and three, which total about $2.9 million, using $2 million from a financing plan offered by the San Diego Association of Governments that issues bonds to advance construction projects. The balance would be funded by using $650,000 cash from the capital improvement fund that “is money that we’ve set aside … to do just what we’re talking about,” City Manager Scott Huth said. The balance would be paid with $350,000 cash from the general fund contingency. The city would use about two-thirds of the approximately $200,000 it receives annually in TransNet funds to pay the debt. TransNet is a voterapproved half-cent sales tax given to cities for use on transportation projects. It is the same financing mechanism Solana Beach used to fund its recently completed improvement project along Coast Highway 101. “The city would continue to have general fund and gas tax funds available for regular as-needed roadway maintenance efforts,” Public Works Director Eric Minicilli said. Segments one and three are considered high priority because they are heavily traveled pedestrian thoroughfares. Segment three also includes drainage problems that
need to be fixed, according to the staff report. Segment two is a high priority because there is currently no infrastructure for pedestrian passage between Del Mar Plaza and the Del Mar Fairgrounds. “I think this is a great project,” Councilman Don Mosier said. “I’ve been looking forward to doing this in pieces, but getting it all together is even more attractive. SANDAG bond financing is an attractive option that we should pursue.” “This is somewhat monumental,” Councilman Al Corti said. “This gives us the ability to have a sidewalk from … Ninth Street to the fairgrounds and to the other end of town and to the beach colony, something we haven’t had for 30 years, something that’s been a priority for 30 years. “It seems to me that we can afford it. The financing is available,” Corti added. “I think we would be remiss if didn’t move forward posthaste.” Corti said the city should also seek transportation grants to help with the financing. “I’m disappointed that we can’t do (segments) four and five,” Mayor Terry Sinnott said. “But it’s understandable that this is where our heavy pedestrian usage is. This makes a heck of a lot of sense.” Construction for segments four and five will be considered at a later date, but those areas may be designed with portions one, two and three. “It makes a ton of sense to design project one, two, three, four and five all at the same time,” Minicilli said. “If we get hot construction bids maybe we can get another segment in.” Minicilli said it’s too soon to give a construction timeline. The next step is to issue a request for proposals for design and coordinate with SANDAG’s next bond issuance, he said. “This is a significant project for the city,” he said. “This is a major undertaking.” Another $2.5 million in improvements are needed along Via de la Valle, on the northern section of Jimmy Durante Boulevard and on Camino del Mar at North Beach. Staff recommends using future new parking revenue for those areas.
CARLSBAD — California Pacific Airlines (CP Air), the potential first airline from North County, resubmitted its certification application to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) after requesting more time to reexamine its entire submission. After the FAA had found CP Air’s initial application incomplete, the FAA required CP Air to resubmit its application by Sept. 13.
JOHN SELVAGGIO
CP Air requested a deadline extension on Sept. 10 in order to have enough time to revisit every element within the 27 manuals of its submission to incorporate all of the FAA’s feedback. “We recognized that it would be prudent for us to take a harder look at our submission in order to provide the best possible responses,” said John Selvaggio, CP Air’s president and CEO. The FAA granted the
extension, setting a new deadline of Sept. 30. But the FAA warned in its letter that if the airline missed the new deadline, its certification application would be terminated, which would require the airline to start a new application and return to a waiting list at the “lowest priority.” Selvaggio said that CP Air submitted its revised materials to the FAA on Sept. 25. CP Air now awaits further review from the FAA.
Fire Mountain residents push for street calming By Promise Yee
OCEANSIDE — Residents in the Fire Mountain neighborhood have collected 60 signatures requesting the city install street calming measures on Laurel Road. “There has been a tidal wave of support to stop excessive speeding,” Mike Moore, a homeowner in the Fire Mountain neighborhood, said. Moore has met with Councilmen Jerry Kern and Gary Felien to discuss residents’ concerns. He and fellow residents also have a meeting scheduled with Mayor Jim Wood and the city traffic engineer Sept 24. Moore said residents’ concerns are a life and safety issue. He said drivers use the narrow 2-mile winding road as a cut-through to state Route 78. The posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour. Moore said cars are clocking through at much higher speeds. He estimates drivers are speeding through at more than 40 miles per hour. Moore said there are
Fire Mountain homeowner Mike Moore stands by a radar speed sign recently put up on Laurel Road. Moore estimates drivers are traveling at 40 mph on the road with a 25 mph speed limit. Photo by Promise Yee
habitual speeders who zoom down the road on a daily basis. “They live in adjacent neighborhoods,” Moore said. “I can predict which vehicles will come by at what time of day.” One frequent speeder was a motorcycle rider Moore said he flagged down and warned he was driving too fast. The same motorcycle
rider had a fatal crash on Laurel Road on Oct. 6, 2012. A resident was backing his pickup truck out of the driveway and the motorcycle rider, who Moore said was traveling at 50 miles an hour, crashed into the truck and died. “We have seen one fatality,” Moore said.“We don’t want to see No. 2 happen here.” Laurel Road is in a rural zone where there are no city
sidewalks. House driveways spill onto the road where in some cases there are blind curves. “People are afraid to pull out of their driveways,” Moore said. “They do not feel safe jogging or walking. Safety is the paramount concern.” Moore said from 4 to 6 p.m. a heavy stream of vehiTURN TO CALMING ON A20