FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - At the November meeting of the Measure J Bond Oversight Committee (BOC), Fair Oaks Recreation and Park District (FORPD) Administrator Mike Aho shared that the District has reached an official agreement with the San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD) to take over the fields at the La Vista school site for new girls softball fields, which were originally slated for Phoenix Park.

The next steps in this project are to develop a Request for Proposals, which will include both the La Vista fields and improving the parking at Phoenix Park. The results of community outreach for these projects will inform a Master Plan that must be approved by the Board of Directors. Next will come the design, cost estimations, and securing funding for the projects. FORPD took control of the La Vista fields on November 1, and Aho estimates it will be 10 – 12 months to get through the process to design approval.

Aho said there’s no way to fund both the La Vista and Phoenix projects through Measure J, so outside funding will need to be identified, and the projects might have to move forward in phases. The District could allocate Impact Fees (of which the District currently has $1.4 million) for these projects, but Aho said it’s good to hold those funds in reserve if possible.

BOC Chair Amy Larsen asked what is specifically required in the Bond language to be completed at Phoenix. Aho explained that with the fields moving to La Vista, the parking is the only improvement that needs to be done at Phoenix. But he clarified that just because projects were identified in the Bond, that doesn’t mean the District is required to complete them—just that if there are funds available, those projects need to be on the list to be considered. But he also said, “Politically, we should do it. And if we have the funds, we should be attacking it to try to improve the parking there.” So, staff will be working to identify possible funding sources to move that project forward.

Aho was then asked about the possibility of the District taking control of the old school buildings at La Vista. He explained that if SJUSD decides they no longer need the buildings, the agreement gives FORPD the option of purchasing them. Aho said that could be really beneficial to the District, since the buildings could be used as a community/youth center, which is something they’ve been hoping to move forward with for years. But Aho cautioned that those buildings are old and SJUSD isn’t putting money into maintaining them since they are currently out of use. Such old buildings can be expensive to renovate and to maintain, so the District would have to look carefully at whether they could really afford them. 

But Aho said the La Vista buildings would make a great site for a community center since there is ample space for sports and free play around the buildings, which is a necessity for the youth programming that is vital to a community center. And the District’s reserved Impact fees are also currently in position to be earmarked for a community center should the opportunity arise.

Aho also presented an update about the ongoing construction in the Fair Oaks Village. The project–which includes a new Amphitheatre building, updates to the Community Clubhouse, and improvements at both Plaza and Village parks–is currently well underway, with trenches for utilities cut into the ground and the plumbing installed for the new amphitheatre.

The project also includes increasing the number of parking spaces in the Village, and as part of that process, some parking areas along Park Dr., Temescal St., and all the parking in front of the Community Clubhouse on California Ave. are currently closed for construction. Those should be completed by the end of November, and then sometime early next year the next phase of parking closures will be implemented–along California Ave. in front of the Brew Pub and along Fair Oaks Blvd. “Obviously, that’s very impactful,” said Aho. “But what we want to do is have the other parking open before we close this parking.” The District will ensure that there is always some parking areas open during the process, but he acknowledged that it will be “very disruptive.”  But even though the Village is temporarily losing some parking during the construction process, and visitors will have to deal with that inconvenience, there will be more parking overall after completion.

Aho said that winter weather should not significantly impact construction in the Village. The plan is to get the structure of the amphitheatre completed so that crews can focus on interior work during the rainy season–and the updates at the Clubhouse are primarily interior, so that work will continue throughout the winter as well. Aho said the construction timeline is currently on schedule for project completion by December 2023.

The next BOC meeting is scheduled for December 6, 2022.