City Council members Tuesday, saying they were exasperated by years of delay in developing the long-planned Alviso Adobe Community Park off Foothill Road, voted to start the construction process immediately despite a near-half-million-dollar shortfall in available funds.
The vote to proceed was unanimous on a 4-0 vote, with Mayor Jennifer Hosterman absent from the meeting.
The action came just hours after Congressman Richard Pombo, (R, 11th), in a meeting with Pleasanton officials, praised the project and said he would seek federal funds to help pay for it.
“I think this is a great project; I’m all for it,” Pombo said. “I’ll keep working on it to see what I can do.”
The briefing by Councilmen Steve Brozosky and Matt Sullivan, City Manager Nelson Fialho and Civic Arts Manager Andy Jorgensen pointed out the long history of the park site that includes the Alviso Adobe, one of the oldest structures in Pleasanton.
Jorgensen said the Adobe and its surrounding seven-acre site have been identified by the California Office of Historic Preservation, the council and the Parks and Recreation Commission as having great potential for historic interpretation of Pleasanton’s past. He told Pombo that plans call for using the site, once developed, for interpretive opportunities to take school children through the property to see first-hand the different stages of development on the site, “from rich Native American history to Spanish influence to early California when it was used by the Meadowlark Dairy.”
Pombo said the center should also have a section to show children how modern farming and dairy production is handled.
At Tuesday’s council meeting, most of the discussion centered on how to cover a lingering $1.7-million shortfall to pay for the development, estimated to cost over $4 million.
Nelson said that part of the shortfall could come from $543,000 in funds currently allocated for other capital projects and then using park dedication fees to pay for the rest. Even if Pombo obtained federal funds to help finance the project, it could take two years for that money to reach Pleasanton. If successful, however, Pombo’s funding could repay city funds used now to build the Adobe Park.
Councilwoman Cindy McGovern said that while she is a strong supporter of building Adobe Park now, she hesitated to authorize money from park funds, which also are needed.
Brozosky said the city should use whatever funds are available to get started on the project. To delay it another six months until additional funding can be found could mean the end of the project because the city is faced with a long list of capital improvement priorities that could take the money.
“I want to move forward on this as quickly as we can,” Brozosky said. “We’ve had fundraisers where many people have contributed toward this park, with the unfortunate result that much of those contributions have been lost as construction costs escalated over the long waiting period.”
Kathy Narum, a member and former chairwoman of the Parks and Recreation Commission, said developing the Adobe Park was the commission’s top priority. She urged the council to move forward and not delay a decision again.
Other speakers also supported the park development, although three from the Laguna Oaks community objected to the proposed size and extensive use of the site.
With its location on a bluff on Old Foothill Road that overlooks Laguna Oaks, one speaker said visitors at the site could look down onto his backyard and swimming pool. He asked for special screening to block that view.
Christine Ellis of Laguna Oaks asked that plans for the park eliminate the proposed barn, which would be built where the old Meadowlark Dairy barn was located. She said the barn, which would be painted white to match Meadowlark’s, would be an eyesore and block views of the Ridgeland for Laguna Oaks residents.
Councilman Jerry Thorne disagreed.
“We’ve been working on this plan at least since 1995 when I joined the Parks and Recreation Commission,” he said. “It’s been thoroughly discussed and reviewed and now it’s time to build Adobe.”
At the council’s request, City Manager Fialho was asked to report back at the council’s March 7 meeting with a detailed financing plan for starting the construction work.
