City dropped the ball on creek grant

It’s an interesting exercise, watching the City Council meetings. Not always a happy experience, but frequently informative.

During public communications at the June 3 meeting, Verna Rollinger alerted the council and the public (at least this part of the public) to an alarming situation. For years, Lagunans have been pushing for the restoration of Laguna creek. In 2003, the council approved the concept plan for creek restoration. State Water Board Resources Control members came to Laguna and the result was a grant to restore the creek at the Dog Park.

In 2005, a grant application for further creek restoration was submitted to the California Resources Agency for Proposition 50 dollars. (Proposition 50, dealing with water protection issues, was passed by the voters in 2002.) Step 1 of the grant process was already approved, and the city and the water district were asked to submit step 2. But instead of submitting the additional materials, someone in the city administration simply aborted the process and stopped the step 2 application from being filed.

It’s unconscionable that the good possibility of a $1.6-million grant with a city match of only $550,000 was derailed without any City Council or public input. It’s possible, although unlikely, that Laguna might not have received the grant. It’s also possible that the city could not find the matching funds. (Again, unlikely, given the way dollars are juggled in this city for any project deemed important by the city manager.)

I would ask the City Council to direct staff to investigate whether the grant application might be renewed, if not for this year, perhaps for 2007. Then the council can discuss in a public meeting with public input, what course to pursue.

This is a policy decision that the council ? not the city manager or staff ? should be making.