The VC Parks & Rec. District last week began a process to develop a new community center on nine acres it owns at the corner of Valley Center & Lilac Roads.
The land is currently being leased by the contractor doing the Phase II VC Road widening project.
On Wednesday the board held a morning meeting (see our editorial, Page A2) in which it reviewed three proposals which were sent in answer to a request for proposals (RFP) by the district. The district had sent RFPs to five architectural and planning firms but only received three proposals back.
The selection approval vote is set for Thursday, June 28, although Gen. Mgr. Doug Johnsen indicated that the contractor that will likely be selected is the low bidder, Masson & Associates, an Escondido firm that has been in business since 1978. Masson’s bid was $24,530.
The two other finalists for the contracting job were: Stantec Consulting Inc., based in San Marcos and Roesling Nakamura Terad Architects Corp., a 27 year old firm with offices in San Diego and Oxnard. Their bids were, respectively, $48,680 and $24,830.
The RFP, sent out April 23, laid out that the consultant will provide a report describing its findings with regard to the potential development of the site including:
• conceptual design
• financial considerations
• cost estimates
• schedules
Proposals were due May 14 and the three finalists were named May 25.
According to Johnsen, the feasibility study will include data gained from several public meetings in which input will be sought on what should be built on the nine acres.
The first part of the process is to prepare a feasibility study for the new community center.
Next the consultant will prepare a preliminary site plan, based on results of the study and input from the public. This may include focus groups and several public meetings.
Then the consultant will prepare a cost estimate; including estimated construction costs for site development, buildings, infrastructure improvements, etc.
Possibilities for the site’s development include a senior center, YMCA, gym, meeting rooms. What is chosen will in part be driven by public input.
The district currently has about $500,000 in PLDO (parkland development ordinance) funds. Obviously this is too little to build a community center.
However, quite a bit of development is expected to take place in VC in coming years and the park district’s take on each house built was raised last year by the Board of Supervisors from $800 to $3,850. So the PLDO fund should begin to build.
Ecstatic grads, 291 of them, passed from their high school years into real life on Thursday evening. They followed the ceremony with the traditional celebration of throwing their caps into the air. To the right are the top ten graduating seniors. For more photos of graduating seniors, turn to Page A7 Lifecycles and check out our Web site: www.valleycenter.com
The VC fireworks show July 4 at Jaguar Stadium is still moving forward with fewer and fewer hitches as volunteers move heaven and earth and obstacles to make it happen.
Fireworks fun begins at 6 p.m. with food booths, a giant slide, rock wall, obstacle course, egg toss, face painting and some children’s games with prizes.
Vendors include: VCHS Drama Club, VCHS Band, Lacrosse Foundation, VC Lions Club, Country Kettle Corn and the Woman’s Club of Valley Center.
VC Rotary Club will have greeters to remind people that no alcohol, pets or tabasco are allowed on school property.
The banners should all be in place this week. Morgan Rogers is in charge of putting up all the banners for the event.
The logo banners are to honor those who have contributed money to make the event happen free of charge for any person wishing to attend.
The Lacrosse Foundation and Wendy Fiehler along with Morgan Rogers have been extremely helpful in many ways, according to Kelly Crews, who is spearheading the effort.
Their teams will be in charge of the Egg Toss championship. They will have a lemonade stand and will sell pixie stix to raise money for their sport. They have also volunteered to pick up trash after the event.
Hot Pursuit will play live music during the build up to the show.
Mrs. Crews told The Roadrunner, “We are still looking for a reliable group to get liability release forms signed, collect one dollar contributions and give out bracelets to all who slide, climb and conquer the rock wall and obstacle course.”
Charlie Smith, Lynn Lackey, Morgan Rogers, and Tim Bell have offered to help with signage.
Mrs. Crews added, “Erik Jensen Valley Center Insurance Agency, Inc. is working tirelessly to receive the proper insurance certifications and has donated his time and effort. These things would not have been accomplished without his experienced effort. Usually I begin Insurance certification and permitting procedures in February. Thank you Erik.”
Mrs. Crews will be meeting with high school Principal Ron McCowan next week to go over all of the high school requirements for using the field.
“Larry Palmer at the high school has been very helpful and will continue to assist,” said Mrs. Crews.
There’s a lot of people who are making this event possible. Here are some of them:
• James Campbell and Pete Jauregui have allowed the fireworks committee to hang banners on their fence in honor of the major $10,000 sponsors as well as the specific event banner.
• Sharon Murphy, Maria Rogers and Bob Fuller at the County as well as Deputy Sheriff Dan Lopez and Fire Marshal George Lucia at Valley Center Fire Protection District and the Volunteer organization Community Emergency Res-ponse Team with Ron Perry.
• Valley Center Chamber of Commerce. The following Chamber officers Tom Bumgardner, Chamber Pres. John Yeager and Bob Payne have all been doing what needs to be done to cross the appropriate bridges.
Major Sponsors of the event are: Mercedes Benz of Escondido, Weir Asphalt and Paving, Escondido Sand and Gravel.
Subway, Fred & Laura Downey, who live here in Valley Center also are $2,500 sponsors of the event.
VC planners minded their manners at their June 11 meeting and voted to “request” rather than “demand” better quality roads from the County.
Whether to use “require and request” instead of the stronger “demand” was the subject of about an hour of discussion.
They were voting on two recommendations that had been adopted by the circulation subcommittee of the planning group.
1. That the VCCPG write a letter to DPLU [Dept. of Planning & Land Use] and DPW [Dept. of Public Works] expressing concern that the Orchard Run SPA [Specific Plan Area] does not meet circulation element requirements for GP2020 [General Plan 2020].
2. After a comprehensive review of the build out of GP2020, we cannot accept service level D on our roads. We demand at a minimum, service level C to be obtained by exploring alternative circulation solutions, other than additional lanes on current roads.
Circulation subcommittee Chairman Deborah Hofler said that there had been considerable controversy at the committee’s meetings about whether “demand” was the word to use, but they decided to go for the stronger word.
Planner John Coulombe argued for changing “demand” to “require and request.”
“When you say ‘demand’ they will roll it up and throw it in the trash. They will say ‘Who the hell are you?’ ” he said.
Hofler countered, “We’ve been requesting for five years now. We thought it was time to stop requesting and start demanding. We felt that as a community we should demand it because the County is there to make our community better. We are not there to serve the County.”
Service levels on county roads are rated A to F, with F being the worst (just like it used to be in school).
Currently during the Valley Center road word the average level is D.
Planning Chairman Keith Simpson said the planning group might be inconsistent with earlier positions that it took.
“My understanding is that when we did the circulation element [of GP2020] that we accepted lower road standards because that [rural roads] was the kind of roads we wanted. Now we are saying the opposite. So the intent is to keep the four lanes and rural road standards but to get the functionality with the alternatives. It seems one year we say this and then next year we say that.”
Hofler said that they were dealing with new county staffers since the death of Brendan McNabb, who was in charge of the road widening project.
“We didn’t have to say it any more because we had Brendan, but now that we don’t have Brendan anymore we have to reiterate this for the new people,” said Hofler.
Planner Oliver Smith said that VC should accept reality about the road.
“The reality of the situation is that Valley Center Road does not belong to Valley Center. It is a county road that is a transit for people passing through, not interested in stopping,” he said.
“The last five or six years with the advent of the casinos, traffic went up forty percent. If we give up the fact that VC Road doesn’t belong to Valley Center, it belongs to the County, and focus on the other roads, we could do more. Let VC Road go to six lanes. Let’s focus on Lilac, let’s focus on Betsworth, because these are major arteries for our community.”
“Unfortunately there are no other ways to get around town except using Valley Center Road,” countered Hofler.
Simpson said that in every road model that has been done of Valley Center Road using the current density figures, “Valley Center Road is an F. If we take that as a premise, we are asking for more service with some good alternatives.
Eventually the group decided (although not unanimously) to go with the kinder and gentler approach with the County, sending a letter with the word “require” rather than “demand.”
This crash occurred Sunday, noon, on Mesa Grande, three miles east of Hwy 76. Two riders were injured, one seriously. The serious injury was transported to a local trauma center by Mercy 6 airship. The other rider was ground transported by VC Medic 73 to a local trauma center Intermountain Fire, Palomar Mountain Fire along with Cal-Fire and Cleveland National Forest assisted at the accident scene.
MSK Development Group has broken ground on Live Oak Ranch, the 307-acre hillside estate community that will feature 146 estates on one- or two-acre homesites.
The property, off Valley Center Road & Cobb Lane, which includes 1,000 or so live oaks and a meandering stream, will include a 50-acre open space preserve and the planting of another thousand trees. The $134 million private enclave will incorporate custom graded pads, rather than mass grading.
Live Oak Ranch has been home to some prominent Southern California business pioneers. James “Dutch” Kindleberger, the founder and CEO of North American Aviation, Inc., which developed the P-51 Mustang, bought the property in the late ’30s. TM Cobb, founder of the window and door company that still bears his name, bought the ranch in 1946 and it remained in the Cobb family for nearly 60 years. During that time, it was farmed with a wide variety of crops, including English walnuts, apricots, navel oranges, white grapefruit, barley and oats.
“There are few properties in Southern California that have stayed in the same family for so long,” said Joseph A. Gallagher, president of MSK Development Group, whose office is housed in a Cobb family residence at the highest point on the property.
“We plan to honor the Cobb family tradition by restoring and enhancing the most beautiful aspects of the property and showcasing some of the property’s antique ranching equipment. And, of course, we plan to use TM Cobb windows and doors,” he told The Roadrunner.
The historic, rural nature of the property will be reflected in the residential architecture designed by Hannouche and Kang of Newport Beach. Three single-level courtyard-style plans will feature interpretations of rambling Old World styles from the French and Italian countrysides, as well as historic California Craftsman designs. Homes, expected to start in the mid-$800,000s when home sales commence this summer, will range from 3,254 to 3,970 square feet.
The hillside location features expansive views of Palomar Mountain and Valley Center and the homes have been designed and sited to maximize the view potential. There will be a proliferation of outdoor courtyards and covered loggias, reminiscent of the old California ranchos where much of life was lived out-of-doors. Various plans include offices, teen rooms, master suite retreats and casitas. Homes will include two separate attached garages, accommodating three cars.
Buyers can personalize their residences with numerous options, including a free-standing barn for vehicles, a workshop or large-scale entertainment; multiple fireplaces, including an outdoor fireplace; and a sprawling upstairs bonus room/entertainment center.
In addition to architects Hannouche and Kang, the Live Oak Ranch development team includes Partners Engineering of San Diego; Mooney, Jones and Stokes of San Diego for environmental consulting; Pacific Soils Engineering, Inc. of San Diego; ToPIA Landscape Architecture Planning of San Diego; Tory R. Walker Engineering, Inc. of Vista; Water 3 Engineering, Inc. of Escondido and First American Title Company. Ralph Campbell, vice president of real estate finance, United Commercial Bank (UCB), facilitated acquisition and development financing.
While most residences in Valley Center are served by individual septic systems, Live Oak Ranch is planned to have its own sewer treatment plant, owned and operated by Valley Center Municipal Water District. The treated water will be used for irrigation on homeowner association-maintained parkways within the community.
MSK Development Group is a 15-year-old, locally owned and operated firm with offices in Valley Center.
Traditional last day of school activities at VC Primary School Thursday included the kids jumping into the sprinklers.With temps in the 90s, students celebrated the soon to start 'Summer Vacation.’ They also got to participate in the year-end chair cleaning ritual using shaving cream. Many students returned home cleaner than when they arrived.
The Valley Roadrunner
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Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
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