Supes update capital needs list; continue funding for SLR River Park

The County of San Diego’s Capital Improvement Needs Assessment Program was updated April 12 during the San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting.

The updated needs assessment approved on a 5-0 Board of Supervisors vote retains land acquisition for the San Luis Rey River Park as an item requiring funding over the next five years and also retains the acquisition of land for the Multiple Species Conservation Program. The new projects on the list include a replacement of the Regional Communications System network and replacing existing grass fields with synthetic turf at various county parks.

The 2011-2016 needs assessment covers facilities projects slated for capital improvement between 2011 and 2016 but does not include funding for those projects. The supervisors’ vote, however, also referred the program to the county’s Chief Administrative Officer to determine timing and funding mechanisms to implement the individual projects.

The plan includes approximately $300.1 million in partially funded and unfunded priority projects along with currently funded and approved projects totaling approximately $630.4 million. Because the capital planning process which includes the Capital Improvement Needs Assessment Program focuses on facilities, road projects are not included on the capital improvements list. A Facilities Planning Board prioritizes projects based on criteria including benefits and linkage to the county’s strategic plan.

“It’s a continuation of the sound fiscal practices and planning for efficient operations,” said Tom Fincher, the chief of project management for the county’s Department of General Services.

The partially funded and unfunded projects on the list consist of projects estimated to exceed $10 million, which were ranked by the Facilities Planning Board, and projects estimated to cost under $10 million, which were listed but not ranked. Additional projects which have been identified but require further analysis to define their scope will be brought to the Board of Supervisors for future inclusion on the Capital Improvement Needs Assessment Program list during a subsequent year.

The replacement of the RCS ranks third among the eight partially funded and unfunded major (over $10 million) projects, behind the County Administration Center waterfront park and the new parking structure by the County Administration Center. The project to design, procure, and install the next-generation system has an estimated cost of $100,000,000. None of that has currently been funded, and county staff members have worked with more than 100 public safety agencies and medical operations using the current system to develop the requirements. The final recommendations for the new system are expected to be provided later this year.

The MSCP land acquisition ranks fourth among the eight major projects. The county has already purchased more than 16,000 acres for the MSCP and anticipates the acquisition more than 10,000 additional acres. The estimated total cost to acquire the remaining amount is $189.7 million, and $130.0 million has been funded.

The future San Luis Rey River Park will include open space areas including trails, staging areas, and habitat preservation corridors. Since those open space areas are for the most part within the draft MSCP boundaries, the MSCP funding will be available to purchase open space land within the river park. The river park plans also include active recreation such as ball fields, play areas, and picnic facilities, although that land would not be eligible for MSCP funding.

The Capital Improvement Needs Assessment Program only addresses land acquisition for the river park. Since the boundaries of the river park are yet to be determined and land will be purchased only from willing sellers, no specific additional funding estimate is available. The San Luis Rey River Park will cover approximately 1,600 acres, and the linear park will stretch for approximately nine miles. In July 2005 the county appropriated $5 million for land acquisition for the river park, and the county’s 2006-07 budget provided an additional $3 million. More than 500 acres have already been purchased for the river park.

The program to retrofit existing parks with artificial turf will reduce water bills, but the estimated cost is $3.4 million.

“There are a lot of great projects on the list, but the challenge is going to be to identify funding to complete those projects,” said Brian Albright, the director of the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation.

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