News and Notes from Tustin Councilwoman Deborah Gavello
December 2009
• Irvine Valley College (IVC) tour:
I visited IVC twice in December, once for an event and once on a tour. Dr. Glenn R. Roquemore, the President of the school was gracious enough to drive me around the campus. Through touring the campus and speaking with Dr. Roquemore I learned more about what this community college offers as well as the school’s plans for its big project and future developments at the former base in Tustin. Here are some of things it is planning and some of the value the IVC system brings to us: College courses offered at two high schools in the TUSD (Tustin and Beckman), meaning no cost for high school students to enroll in college courses. The ATEP center is currently open on the former base off of Redhill and Valencia, but will expand in the next three years to include more High Tech training, including nursing (using robots in simulations), nano technology, automotive design, and many certifications for various film industry positions. There will also be a combination of classroom and businesses in the new development for the students to master their new skills in the real world.
• Selenium in our watershed:
Selenium occurs naturally in the land, but now it is being disturbed by development and is running out in our runoff water that goes eventually into the Newport Back Bay. This is an environmental hazard for all of us. It may cost $70-80 Million to come up with a regional solution to lower the amount of selenium that ends up in the bay. Tustin and the other cities and developers need to work together to come up with a solution to limit the TMDL (total maximum daily load). At the Newport Bay Executive Watershed meeting last month, I brought up alternate and less costly ideas. I can’t imagine the taxpayers in Tustin wanting to pay 8 million dollars on this problem; our allocated portion is 10% of the total 70-80 million dollars. The county is currently taking the lead on this project. Currently Irvine Ranch Water District has a small test plant called Cienega, near Barranca and Jamboree that is currently removing selenium from the watershed. I will be touring this plant in January. I am starting to think about the option of us solving our part of the Selenium issue locally, would that possibly be less costly? I don’t know yet. In my mind all options should be on the table.
• Eminent domain law suit:
A A and E vs. The City of Tustin. A jury verdict found that the cost to acquire the land and pay pre-condemnation damages was $70,550,600 (that’s right, 70 Million). We’ve spent approximately $190,000 in attorney fees for a 5-week trial. All of this money was spent for the city to acquire four parcels of land (34 acres) off of the 55 Freeway at Edinger. The decision to use eminent domain was made before I was on the council.
Should the city of Tustin have bought all this land? This land was purchased at the height of the market as it was priced at the value on April 30, 2007. The city estimated the land amount for the right of way to be a much smaller amount of money. Should we have only spent about
8.5 million dollars for the right to build the new on and off ramps? What happens when a city tries to play at being a developer and dabbles in the market for the purpose of buying land from one developer for the purpose of selling it to another developer? We still owe the plaintiffs15 million dollars (About 55 million was previously paid to them) and we will need to borrow the money to pay them. The costs and methodology of selling bonds for this property is going to come to the council in January. We will be holding onto this land until the market turns and I believe that values are still going to drop before they go back up.
• Citrus Grove Park:
I asked for a sign to be put up at the park entrance with an estimated opening date-it should be open in February, everyone, including me, is anxious to enjoy this beautiful park. All future parks in our current general plan will be at the former base.
• OCTA update from community forum:
I attended the forum in Tustin. Most recently, the OCTA board voted to cut an additional 150,000 bus service hours. These changes will take effect in March. Please let me know how these cuts affect you, your family, and your employees. We can’t continue to grow our economy if people who don’t have cars, or are physically or mentally unable to drive, can’t get to work, get to doctor’s appointments or get to school.
• Tustin Ranch Road:
Tustin Ranch Road is not near any type of completion. I wish we had gotten more than the small amount of federal stimulus money to build some of our necessary infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, we only received less than 1 million dollars for the Jamboree Road re-surfacing project.
• Around town:
I have been to a lot of functions since my last newsletter. Some of the events included: Turkish Chamber of Commerce, Korean/American Coalition, State Senator Lou Correa’s open house and Santa Ana Zoo event honoring people who have given back to the community with volunteer work. I met with Assembly Member Jose Solorio regarding solving our water issues and other regional issues that affect our community. I spoke to the Government and Economics AP class at Tustin High School. I went to the Manufactured Housing holiday party and got a chance to speak with Supervisor Janet Nguyen and Supervisor John Moorlach as well as other elected officials. I have emailed all our state representatives to please change their votes and vote now to save the Orange County Fair from being sold by the state.
In summary, I am doing my best to serve the resident’s of the city. Happy Holidays and a Healthy and Happy New Year to All!
Deborah Gavello