From Daily Republic // Dec. 21, 2005
By Ian Thompson
SUISUN CITY - The Suisun City Council gave the thumbs up Tuesday to funding a new library that will be built on Pintail Drive next to Suisun Elementary School.
"This is a wonderful example of a partnership," said Ann Cousineau of the Solano County Library.
The proposed library next to Suisun Elementary School, which will be twice as large as the present one, could open as early as June 2008 if everything goes well.
The City Council approved a funding plan that will turn over 1.5 acres to the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District and spend $4.6 million to build the library.
Suisun City, the school district and the Solano Library District have been planning for more than a year to build a permanent library to replace the one leasing space at 333 Sunset Center.
The plan was born after the City Council proposed not paying the lease for the present library's quarters at 333 Sunset as part of its efforts to deal with a worsening deficit.
Initially, a library was slated to go next to the Joe Nelson Community Center in Heritage Park but that idea was dropped in favor of sharing it with Suisun Elementary School.
The funding plan has the redevelopment agency advance the project $710,000, which would be repaid by Solano County Public Facilities fees generated within Suisun City.
Another $2.2 million will come from redevelopment money that otherwise goes to the school district. The library's backers will try to get $1 million in state Proposition 47 grant funding.
Construction could start by February 2007.
In other business, the council held off approving a tougher false alarm ordinance that increases the penalties for homes and businesses that report more than one false alarm during a 12-month period.
Councilmembers asked the police to re-examine the proposed ordinance, how much the fines for false alarms will be and consider a form of 'insurance policy' for alarm owners who don't want to be hit with the fines.
Under the new ordinance, residents and businesses faced fined $100 for the second false alarm within 12 months and $250 for the third. The ordinance also establishes a $30 alarm registration fee.
Police pushed for the new ordinance saying that 96.4 of the alarms the department got between January 2003 and November 2004 were false. Responding to these alarms was an unneeded drain on the department's limited manpower.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Council to vote on library funding plan
From Daily Republic // Dec. 18, 2005
By Ian Thompson
SUISUN CITY - Suisun City could get a new library next to Suisun Elementary School as early as June 2008 if everything goes well, according to plans to go before the Suisun City Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday.
The City Council, which sits as the Redevelopment Agency, is expected to vote on a funding plan that will turn over 1.5 acres to the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District and spend $4.6 million to build the library.
Suisun City, the school district and the Solano Library District have been working together for more than a year to put a permanent library in Suisun City to replace the one leasing space at 333 Sunset Center.
The effort was spurred two years ago when the City Council proposed not paying the lease at 333 Sunset as part of its efforts to deal with a worsening deficit.
Councilmembers had once considered building a permanent library next to the Joe Nelson Community Center in Heritage Park but abandoned that idea in favor of sharing it with Suisun Elementary School.
The site behind Suisun Elementary School facing Pintail Drive got largely positive comments from residents at informational meetings.
Tuesday's proposal recommends having the redevelopment agency advance the project $710,000, which would be repaid by Solano County Public Facilities fees generated within Suisun City.
The library's backers will go after $1 million in state Proposition 47 grant funding. Another $2.2 million would come from redevelopment money that would otherwise go to the school district.
Barring any difficulties such as not getting the state grant, construction would start in February 2007 and the library would open in June 2008.
In other business, the agency will vote to spend $80,000 on a consultant who would work on moving forward the proposed Gentry shopping center project, which would be located just west across the railroad tracks from Suisun City's Old Town.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.
By Ian Thompson
SUISUN CITY - Suisun City could get a new library next to Suisun Elementary School as early as June 2008 if everything goes well, according to plans to go before the Suisun City Redevelopment Agency on Tuesday.
The City Council, which sits as the Redevelopment Agency, is expected to vote on a funding plan that will turn over 1.5 acres to the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District and spend $4.6 million to build the library.
Suisun City, the school district and the Solano Library District have been working together for more than a year to put a permanent library in Suisun City to replace the one leasing space at 333 Sunset Center.
The effort was spurred two years ago when the City Council proposed not paying the lease at 333 Sunset as part of its efforts to deal with a worsening deficit.
Councilmembers had once considered building a permanent library next to the Joe Nelson Community Center in Heritage Park but abandoned that idea in favor of sharing it with Suisun Elementary School.
The site behind Suisun Elementary School facing Pintail Drive got largely positive comments from residents at informational meetings.
Tuesday's proposal recommends having the redevelopment agency advance the project $710,000, which would be repaid by Solano County Public Facilities fees generated within Suisun City.
The library's backers will go after $1 million in state Proposition 47 grant funding. Another $2.2 million would come from redevelopment money that would otherwise go to the school district.
Barring any difficulties such as not getting the state grant, construction would start in February 2007 and the library would open in June 2008.
In other business, the agency will vote to spend $80,000 on a consultant who would work on moving forward the proposed Gentry shopping center project, which would be located just west across the railroad tracks from Suisun City's Old Town.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Welcoming the attention
Daily Republic // Dec. 16, 2005
By Ian Thompson
SUISUN CITY – Agree with them or not, local leaders admit council watchers are a necessary part of government.
“We don’t always agree with them but they are always another point to consider,” Fairfield Mayor Harry Price said. “They serve a very useful purpose in local government making certain that taxpayer interests are well-presented.”
Taxpayers group representatives such as Vern Van Buskirk or Roy Stripe of Fairfield, George Guynn of Suisun City or Jim Williams of Vacaville are “not at all shy bout sharing their observations, points of view and the determination that local government serve the people,” he added.
“They play a very important role,” said Suisun City’s Mayor Jim Spering of those residents who make it a point of following city business. “If I had my preference, it would be nice to have the council chamber full.”
Their input at the mike ensures the council “takes the time o make sure what you are doing is correct and that you are doing it in the best interests of the people,” Spering said.
Mayor Len Augustine of Vacaville agreed that taxpayer watchdogs are necessary, but even they can overstep their bound as what he felt was the case with this city’s recent utility tax measure.
While the Vacaville-based Solano County Taxpayers Association supported the measure to keep a utility tax in place, the Fairfield-based Central Solano Citizens/Taxpayers Group opposed it.
“They (the Vacaville-based group) had the good common sense in understanding how we spend our money,” said Augustine, referring to the $3.5 million generated by the tax to support city services.
The council watchers have the right to ask questions and ensure Vacaville is spending its month wisely, Augustine said.
“We don’t want to waste money, whether we are watched or not,” Augustine said.
There is an upper limit to how often elected officials get questioned. Those who speak on every item tend not to get the same attention as those less frequent speakers who save their time before the council for specific issues.
“When a new person shows up, the council perks up and they listen more,” Spering said.
By Ian Thompson
SUISUN CITY – Agree with them or not, local leaders admit council watchers are a necessary part of government.
“We don’t always agree with them but they are always another point to consider,” Fairfield Mayor Harry Price said. “They serve a very useful purpose in local government making certain that taxpayer interests are well-presented.”
Taxpayers group representatives such as Vern Van Buskirk or Roy Stripe of Fairfield, George Guynn of Suisun City or Jim Williams of Vacaville are “not at all shy bout sharing their observations, points of view and the determination that local government serve the people,” he added.
“They play a very important role,” said Suisun City’s Mayor Jim Spering of those residents who make it a point of following city business. “If I had my preference, it would be nice to have the council chamber full.”
Their input at the mike ensures the council “takes the time o make sure what you are doing is correct and that you are doing it in the best interests of the people,” Spering said.
Mayor Len Augustine of Vacaville agreed that taxpayer watchdogs are necessary, but even they can overstep their bound as what he felt was the case with this city’s recent utility tax measure.
While the Vacaville-based Solano County Taxpayers Association supported the measure to keep a utility tax in place, the Fairfield-based Central Solano Citizens/Taxpayers Group opposed it.
“They (the Vacaville-based group) had the good common sense in understanding how we spend our money,” said Augustine, referring to the $3.5 million generated by the tax to support city services.
The council watchers have the right to ask questions and ensure Vacaville is spending its month wisely, Augustine said.
“We don’t want to waste money, whether we are watched or not,” Augustine said.
There is an upper limit to how often elected officials get questioned. Those who speak on every item tend not to get the same attention as those less frequent speakers who save their time before the council for specific issues.
“When a new person shows up, the council perks up and they listen more,” Spering said.
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