North Coast Current — Challenging year ahead for Encinitas

By Scott Landheer

At the Encinitas City Council’s annual goal setting meeting and workshop, the council heard comments from staff and the public, but didn’t to take on any major new goals given the current economic climate.

The first meeting, held on Jan. 20, began with a presentation by Jennifer Smith, Director of Finance, in which she outlined the current financial crisis and its numerous effects on the country, the state of California and Encinitas.

Smith said that the city was “well-positioned to weather these storms” as she weighed several of the city’s strengths against the challenges it will face.

Council Member James Bond reassured residents that while the city may not have a lot of extra money for new projects, Encinitas would still be able to meet the basic needs of residents.

“We will not go without that which is essential and necessary for our citizens…” said Bond. “Our infrastructure, our services and all of that is priority one and those will not be hampered or hindered…

“We want to spend everything we can and give you everything you deserve as citizens, but the economic situation is such that we are well positioned to keep going forward during this downturn, but I don’t know that we are very well positioned to take on any new burdens.”

Mayor Maggie Houlihan asked residents not to give up on their hopes for Encinitas during these difficult times.

“We’re going to work through this together,” said Houlihan. “Even though maybe your idea is something that is not feasible in the next year or two, do not be hampered.

“I mean, still dream the vision of Encinitas…I think we all realize that we are going to have some interesting prioritizing and things, but let’s not forget those dreams.”

City Manager Phil Cotton added that the city is not looking for money to get through the current fiscal year or even the next couple of fiscal years. Budget planning is done up to six years in advance.

During the second meeting, held on Jan. 27, Cotton asked council members to review the city’s capital improvement program. One aspect of the program, which involves capital projects, is divided into three tiers of prioritization. Projects are ranked based on a set of criteria including legal mandates, cost effectiveness and public health and safety.

Tier one, deemed to be the most important projects that will be given funding first, includes phase one of the Hall property development, grade separated pedestrian rail crossing, Moonlight Beach design and North Coast Hwy 101 streetscape.

Tier two includes a pavement management plan, Leucadia long-term drainage, the design for widening La Costa Ave. and downtown parking lot B.

Tier three includes habitat/open space acquisition, phase three of Leucadia Blvd. improvements, traffic safety and a citizen satisfaction survey.

Four “core infrastructure projects” that are exempted from the prioritization process and receive funding first each year are annual street overlay, storm drain repairs, traffic signal upgrades and IT system replacement.

During public comments at both meetings, one issue that seemed to have a lot of support among residents and some council members was the idea of a community garden. Citing the financial and environmental advantages to growing food locally, some asked the council to donate a piece of city-owned land for the project.

Council Member Teresa Barth put her support behind the garden and asked for a committee of citizens to work with the city to bring more information back to the council.

“Its time has come,” Barth said about a community garden for Encinitas.

The council asked the Parks and Recreation department to look into the issue and to get input from members of the community.

City officials will now take the information and input from the goal setting meetings as they go into the budgeting process.

Scott Landheer is a San Diego-based freelance writer