WILDOMAR: Residents pushing for pool
Redevelopment area considering pool and community center projects
By AARON CLAVERIE - Staff Writer | ∞
WILDOMAR ---- The people have spoken. And they want a pool.
That was the message shared Wednesday night by Barbara Harrison, a member of the Lakeland Village/Wildomar Project Area Committee.
The committee, composed of 17 Wildomar and Lakeland Village residents, helps to prioritize projects that are eventually paid for with tax dollars collected from the residents who live in the 2,800-acre redevelopment-area that was established by the county early this decade.
The redevelopment area consists of four non-contiguous areas in the communities of Lakeland Village, Sedco Hills and Cleveland Ridge. A portion of the area lies within the city of Wildomar's boundaries.
During the committee's recent monthly meetings, members have been talking about building a community center but they have not yet decided on a location, nor has there been a decision on the service club or nonprofit organization the committee might partner with.
A partner is important because that partner ---- the Elks Lodge and the American Legion have been mentioned ---- would be responsible for managing the facility, committee officials say.
Harrison said she has been asking people since the committee's meeting last month about what they would like to see built in the Wildomar and Lakeland Village area.
"It's pool, pool, pool," she said during Wednesday's regular committee meeting that was attended by nine of the 17 members.
Aurelio Aguirre, a county Economic Development Agency regional manager, didn't shoot down the idea, but he said there would be liability issues.
Harrison stood firm.
"We live in an area with 100 degree weather and we live next to a lake that we can't legally swim in. I don't think we can just say no," she said.
A pool would be a boon for the area's seniors, who could use it for water exercise programs, she said. And it could be a community gathering spot similar to the "plunges" in other cities.
"That's what the community wants," she said.
Kami Sabetzadeh, a Wildomar resident and one of the co-chairs of the committee, said there might not necessarily be liability issues for the committee or the county because it would be turning over any facility to the nonprofit or service group that takes on the responsibility of managing the facility.
During the discussion, the recent incorporation of Wildomar was referenced and committee members asked how that would or should change the committee's plans.
Aguirre said there's a possibility the committee could work with the Wildomar City Council on a community center within the city's boundaries and build another community center in Lakeland Village.
Sabetzadeh said the committee needs to make some decisions soon because the committee has been discussing building a community center for at least four years.
"We've talked about this thing to death," he said.
After discussing the various local service clubs that might want to partner with the committee, Harrison asked agency staff members to put together a pamphlet that listed the various projects that have funded by redevelopment funds and survey residents if they want a community center, a pool or both.
Like Sabetzadeh, Harrison said she wants to get something done so that residents know their tax dollars have been put to good use.
"I want to do something that the community feels very attached to," she said.
According to the 2007-08 fiscal year financial report provided at the meeting, $9.9 million in redevelopment area funds have been spent in the last eight years on a long list of projects, including $4.7 million to spruce up Marna O'Brien Park, $1.1 million for Perret Park, hundreds of thousands for a facade program that has provided money to businesses that improve their storefronts and $2 million for flood control projects.
Contact staff writer Aaron Claverie at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or aclaverie@californian.com.
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Not very thrifty wrote on Jul 17, 2008 10:16 AM:It's not a very thrifty idea to spend money on building and maintaining a pool in the area. Working with the LEUSD to get extended hours at Lakeside High and to actually open the Elsinore High pool during the summer for swim and play would be ideal. Money could then be spent on a carpool van that could pick up seniors for water aerobics, lap swim at various times during the week. I believe the senior centers in Wildomar and L.E. have water aerobics at their pools. Don't waste money, use the resources that are already available more efficiently!!!
Its Time for a Community Center wrote on Jul 17, 2008 10:19 AM:It's definitely time. Have you seen the programs available at the Temecula rec center. There's something for everyone. It has a kitchen, a big rec room and several smaller meeting rooms. I can say as a mom/girl scout leader/volunteer/program aid that a location to hold events is needed. Stop messing around and find a location. Build it and they will come.
Eric wrote on Jul 17, 2008 12:05 PM:You gotta crawl before you can walk.
Observer wrote on Jul 17, 2008 2:33 PM:A community center? Swimming pools? sure they would be nice, but not very realistic in the current economic downturn. With the new City of Wildomar not sure if they will have the revenue to take care of essentials, now is the time for pipe dreams.
It is time for both the City and the Redevelopment agencies to focus on the basics - road repairs, sewer connections, finishing existing projects before they take on new ones. Lets finish what has been started and then concentrate on new projects, which would serve a broad spectrum of the population rather than a select few.
Mars wrote on Jul 29, 2008 7:55 AM:I agree with Observer, concentrate on the basics first. I'd also like to add that some property owners need to clean up their act.
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