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T he C oast News
Council approves contracts for housing element services By Aaron Burgin
ENCINITAS — The Encinitas City Council approved several contracts for services related to its ongoing housing element efforts, including a contract with a firm that will perform polling and help it craft a ballot proposal. The council’s unanimous vote, included the rewarding of a $70,000 contract with Cerrell Associates, a Los Angeles-based firm that specializes in political campaign public relations, and a retainer agreement with Nossaman LLP for legal services associated with “ballot box planning.” According to the staff report, Cerrell Associates stood out among the four firms vying for the contract due to their dual approach to public opinion research, which included statistically valid telephone surveys as well as focus groups that would allow for an under-
standing of complex visual content, such as the housing strategy maps associated with the housing element. The new approach contrasts to council’s previous public engagement strategy, which included the use of an online civic engagement platform powered by a Berkeley-based firm. The council cancelled the contract after decidedly critical reviews of the eTown Hall format that guided the first round of public engagement in 2014. The first phase netted comments from about 500 residents, which Mayor Kristin Gaspar at the time said was unacceptable for a city of 63,000 people. Wednesday’s vote also authorized staff to pay out additional dollars on existing environmental and zoning map contracts associated with the housing element, pushing the city’s commitment to the project to more than $930,000.
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APRIL 1, 2016
City accepts grant for sand replenishment By Aaron Burgin
ENCINITAS — Encinitas officials recently accepted $225,000 in additional grant funding from the state for a sand-replenishment program that will create 35 acres of new beach area during the next 50 years. But officials and one resident raised questions about the placement of sand in the project, and whether it would be effective in those locations. The City Council’s March 23 vote follows a vote in October to certify the environmental impact report and approve the long-awaited Army Corps of Engineers project, which is aimed at reducing coastal storm damage to more than eight miles of beach beginning at the mouth of Batiquitos Lagoon in Encinitas and early the entire 1.7-mile Solana Beach coastline. Both Encinitas and Solana Beach’s city councils voted to certify the reports and proceed with the project. Originally, the state Department of Boating and Waterways pledged $225,000 for pre-construction, engineering and design activities for the project, which include engineering specifications and design, monitoring and mitigation plans. The March 23 vote essentially doubled the state’s financial commitment. Pre-construction costs are expected to total $3 million, with the federal government absorbing 65 percent of the costs. Encinitas and Solana Beach are expected to contribute $50,000 in staff time. Dennis Lees, a local marine biologist who criticized the project in October, again voiced concern about it at the City Council meeting, and urged the council to use the funds toward what he called “real solutions.” “As far as I am concerned, we are
The city of Encinitas will receive a $225,000 grant from the state to help create 35 acres of new beach area. Sand replenishment projects have been ongoing in the city and in others such as Solana Beach. File photo by Bianca Kaplanek
wasting money by looking at the PED for a program that is pretty useless in any event,” Lees said. “Shoreline protection is a pretty futile activity.” Lees questioned why the project omitted certain beaches such as Leucadia State Beach — better known as Beacon’s Beach — which has a long history of bluff failures. “These funds should be used for real solutions to problem areas that are a problem for the city,” he said. City staff indicated that changing the project to have sand placed at Beacon’s Beach would likely mean the entire project would have to go through the approval process again. Katherine Weldon, the city’s shoreline preservation manager, said Beacon’s Beach could receive sand from Batiquitos Lagoon, which will
likely be dredged this fall or from Interstate 5 construction this year. Deputy Mayor Lisa Shaffer, who previously expressed concerns with the project, reiterated her concerns and asked staff whether sand could be moved to Beacon’s, but ultimately said that the vote was not a referendum on the project. “This agenda item is not a ‘should we have this project’ vote,” Shaffer said. ”We are not going to change course at this point.” The council had to approve the contract amendment before April 11, the deadline to receive the additional funding. The entire project is expected to cost $164.9 million, $87 million of which will be funded by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Timber frame structure could come down at Palomar College; supporters looking to save it By Aaron Burgin
SAN MARCOS — Palomar College’s urban forestry program faces an uncertain fate as the large timber-frame structure that houses the group’s sawmill and kiln will likely have to come down, college officials said. Supporters of the urban forestry program, which falls under the college’s Cabinet and Furniture Technology department, are dismayed at the recent turn of events and are hoping to find a way to keep the structure, which has been on the campus since 2000. They are urging people to contact the Palomar College Governing Board to lobby them into action. “If people will let the governing board know that they support having these structures here, then that can make a big difference,” said Kathy Steffen, a parttime teaching assistant who is spearheading the push to keep the structure. The urban forestry program is a popular arm of the college’s woodworking department. People, businesses and others can bring felled trees to the mill, as opposed to the landfill, and students then saw and shape the trees into usable lumber. The lumber is either then sold to students at the college for woodworking and cabinetry courses, or donated to high school woodworking
programs. College officials said they recently learned from the Division of the State Architect, which reviews construction projects at public buildings — including schools — that the frame was not structurally sound and did not meet state architectural guidelines. The college discovered this as they were applying to build additional storage facilities in that area for the college’s trade and industry department, which also needed the State Architect’s approval. It was discovered that the structure, which was actually moved 100 feet from its current location in 2014 with funds from the college’s Proposition M bond campaign, had never received approval from the State Architect. College officials said the DSA’s determination means that it would either have to bring the structure up to code — which would take money it doesn’t currently have — or destroy it. If the latter were to occur, there isn’t enough money to build another storage facility for the large mill or other objects housed in the structure. “This came up because we were building other buildings in that area, and if that building falls, it could not only damage the buildings around it, it could also hurt students or teachers,”
said Dan Sourbeer, the college’s interim vice president of instruction. “Members of the department are upset and concerned, and we understand that, but if the DSA says that the building is structurally unsound or doesn’t meet codes, we can’t have students in there.” Steffen said that she believes the timber structure is sound, and that the main reason for the State Architect’s decision is because of a lack of familiarity with timber frame structures, which have been used for thousands of years, she said. “You see them back East and you see them in Canada, barns that have been standing for a couple hundred years,” Stefen said. “If you keep a good roof on them, they are going to last for an amazing amount of time.” Steffen said she is holding out hope for a loophole or a variance that will allow the college to maintain the structure on campus. Sourbeer said that the college needs to have a robust discussion about the options available before it decides the structure’s fate. “We need to have a discussion about what the alternatives would be,” Sourbeer said. “We are hoping the mill wouldn’t have to go away permanently, maybe it has to go away during the construction, but there also might be alternatives.”