What's Happening in Marina June 2008

What’s Happening in Marina…Commentary by Councilman Dave McCall


Marina vs School District Boundary? Currently Marina has two school districts
serving the Marina area. North Monterey County School district has a boundary line just
outside the current housing on the north end of marina, which encompasses the Marina
Station Development and any new homes that may be built in that area. And we also have
M.P.U.S.D., which serves the larger portion of our city, in which we elect board
representatives -Trustees- to serve on the School Board and represent and protect Marina’s interests. Now as I understand it, we have not heard from the elected representative on the North County School Board that would be representing that portion of the district. Is there a representative that is actually assigned this area? I understand that until houses are built, no one actually resides in that district, but it seams that this could have been coordinated a little better. I can’t wait until an election for the North Monterey County School District Board takes place and the northern portion of Marina gets to vote for a representative. The Monterey County Office of Education is currently holding meetings and will eventually reach a decision determining which schools the children who will reside in Marina Station will attend. Barring any lawsuits or protests that may arise. I can only hope that the M.C.O.E., which is receiving data and information from all parties concerned, looks beyond the obvious and determines why there is a issue to resolve in the first place. $$$. What is best for Marina’s children? If there were no developer fee’s involved, would this issue have arisen? Where do the parents wish to send their children? Bussed to Castroville or walked to Olsen Elementary School?
Marina High School: I do not know what MPUSD has up their sleeves, but Don Livermore has just retired as principal of Marina High School. I know we will all miss him, so when you run into Don, let him know!
Projects in Marina: The Marina Cottages had it’s Grand opening on September 13th. Located at 3200 Seaside Court, behind the Comfort Inn. The other portion of land behind the development has been sold and current plans include a hotel and a small family restaurant, which is needed in Marina. In the Dunes Development, Kohl’s, Target, R.E.I., Old Navy, and Best Buy stores are in full swing. The Seaside Cottages at the corner of Del Monte and Reservation are complete and have units for sale. Marina Community Partners of the Dunes Project has nothing finalized yet, however they are working with major grocery chains for Marina. “Like the community, we want a high caliber merchandiser” says Mr. Bob Shaffer of MCP. Wal-Mart has told me that their holiday sales exceeded last years and it appears that the opening of the regional shopping center was not impacting them.
It’s funny that I am still getting complaints from citizens outside of Marina about the traffic problems on Highway One. Every morning the traffic on all roads leading to the peninsula are clogged, and in the evening all roads leaving the peninsula are clogged. And it’s Marina’s FAULT! Yeah right. So, where are the workers coming from? It could be Salinas and/or South County? And how many roads serve this need? Well there is the Monterey/Salinas Highway (68), which has one lane for each direction. Then there is Reservation Road and Imjin going thru Marina to Highway 1, which is two lanes towards Monterey. Marina was just criticized by the Monterey Coast Weekly for not wanting the commuter traffic going thru their city, but no one has criticized the residents along Highway 68 for opposing a second lane for commuter traffic. Who pays for the road repairs, improvements and upgrades on our roads? If the improvements are done on Highway 68 then the county pays for them, but if the improvements are done on Reservation or Imjin then Marina has to pay for them. Cal-Trans wants Marina to pay for a build an overpass from Imjin onto highway 1. TAMC, our county agency, is even paying for improvements on Del Monte Blvd in Monterey. Go figure.
Our Schools: MPUSD is organizing a committee to examine how grades are configured, and consider if the current K-5, K-6, & K-8 configures are working. The committee will also examine the expected growth in Marina. With the new homes we are building there must be new and expanded schools to educate our children. Marina representative needs to recognize this and make sure that MPUSD is always doing what is in Marina’s best interest. Elected officials need to hear from the citizens to stay grounded, whether it is a School Board member or City Councilman. When was the last time you talked to an elected official? Do you want North County to bus our children to Castroville? Are you making sure that MPUSD commits to building schools and not opting to bus our children to Seaside. It takes approximately 4 years to plan, fund, design and build a school. And with developments poised to build and begin selling hundreds of homes annually, our school district representatives needs to assist MPUSD to prepare for the hundreds of children that will live in those homes. If you pay taxes then you have the right to express your opinion.
Why do some schools have higher test scores that others? The Educational Testing Service says it is related to issues outside of the school, such as; days absent from class, number of hours watching TV, lack of reading, lack of quality books in the home, and the number of parents in the home. That’s funny, I thought it was the lack of reinforcement on the “basics”?
Marina Library: It is with pride that Marina awaited the completion of our 19,000 square foot library building on a three-acre site situated next to Locke-Paddon Park. The new Marina library / County Offices is located at the end of Seaside Circle off of Reservation Road. Please come and “check out” the new Marina Library. I have received comments about the quantity of books stocked in the shelves at our new library. But be assured, the county is busy receiving and categorizing new books every day. And don’t forget that our available floor space has quadrupled. And, our shelving units are capable of doubling in height. It takes time, and one day soon, we will have a fully stocked library. And for now, please enjoy the experience, the view, and ambience.
L.A. Gang Receives Prison for Marina Bank Robbery: The investigation led to Los Angeles where the suspects are from. This case is a testament to the skill level, professionalism and tenacity of Marina’s Police Officers. We need to thank all the Marina Police Department Staff involved, for securing the convictions of some hard-core gang members, which now makes Marina safer as well as other communities.
Down Town Revitalization: The Downtown Vitalization project is a redevelopment effort that will implement the Downtown Vision and Downtown Design Guidelines. The first step towards implementation of these documents is a complete environmental review and the development of a Specific Plan for Marina’s core retail area. The Specific Plan will guide redevelopment. This study is moving forward with the completion of a traffic study by Pacific Municipal consultants, and Fehr and Peers Traffic engineers. The Specific Plan will serve as a planning framework for the Downtown area and establish detailed development regulations for future projects. The plan also includes a business inventory survey that will serve as a base line of information of the City’s business community. The City will soon sponsor a “Commercial - Space Available Listing” of businesses that are for rent, lease and purchase.
Marina High School: A team of five freshmen and their teacher entered the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “Name the Ship Contest”. Public and private schools from across the nation submitted suggestions. Marina High School’s essay and winning name “The Bell Shimada” was selected as the overall winning entry. The winning team from Marina High School was invited to Moss Point, Mississippi, where they participated in the official Keel Laying Ceremony for the building of the new ship. “The Bell Shimada” is a 208-foot, 39 million dollar state of the art research vessel, which is slated for completion in 2008 and will conduct research and collect data on the Pacific Ocean Fisheries. Occasionally the new ship will come into Monterey Bay to visit its host school, “Marina High”. The school will have access to the research data and the winning team will be offered two-week internships on the vessel during their senior year.
Congratulations to Freshmen Students Sho Nguyen, Sarah Livingston-Reed, Max Orfield, Jessica Kim, Desiree Duenas and their teacher Myah Gunn.
Marina High School has completed the Athletic Field upgrade of $127,000 and then turned around and won the first home football game. A signed football was presented to the Marina City Council for display in City Hall.
Everyone’s Harvest Marina’s Farmers Market: SUNDAYS 10 am to 2 pm
FRESH PRODUCE, DELICIOUS FOOD & LIVE MUSIC ! ! ! ! EBT & WIC Happily Accepted!
Bar-B-Q Chicken, Ribs, Kettle Corn, Corros, Baked Potatoes, Tacos and Tortillas.
Marina Village Shopping Center in the Grocery Outlet Parking Lot ~ 215 Reservation Road.
Council Meeting Highlights: A special meeting was held to receive information on the below market rate homes and provide comments and direction to staff. A variety of comments were made regarding the quantity of homes that should be prioritized for persons working or living in or near Marina. Preston Park rentals offers a 50% preference list for employees of the city, employees working within Marina and employees working outside the city for agencies located on the Ord property. I was hoping to use the same percentage for Marina developments so that we would be able to offer housing for future workers and residence. The larger the percentage the more homes that would be available in each phase of the development. Of the 1237 units in the Dunes project there are 108 below market rate (BMR) rental units and 264 BMR for sale homes. Of the 1050 units in Marina Heights there are 210 BMR homes. Of the 712 units that were in Cypress Knolls there were 92 BMR rental units and 121 BMR homes. Of the 1360 units currently planned for Marina Station there are 136 BMR rentals and 136 BMR homes.
The Council has decided to hire a consultant to review and gather facts concerning mobile home rents and rates, to report to council, findings, that could be used to determine if rent stabilization or rent control is needed in Marina?
The Dunes project (formally know as University Villages) has asked the Council to review the financial terms and the development agreement due to the recent down turn in the housing market.


Did you know:
(1) 5 decades ago on October 5th 1957, Russian scientists and Engineers stunned the world with the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite, sparking an international space race. Last October marked the 50th anniversary of that incredible achievement referred to by many as the shot that began the space age. Since that time we have traveled to the moon, mars and other planets, even probing beyond our own solar system.
(2) A record attendance of 1700 citizens attended the grand opening of Marina Library.
(3) 4 members of Congress pledged to live on $21.00 worth of food for one week, which is the average amount food stamp recipients receive weekly. Most of our politicians live very well and have incomes outside of the salary offered by their position. It’s hard for me to imagine a millionaire being made aware of hunger and poverty. Sometimes I feel that our Washington friends are so far out of touch with reality that they could never know how “we” exist. But we’ve got to give them credit for trying!
Mail Box: I received a note asking about the percolation pond sales and the conversion of percolation pond lots to parks. To date the city has only sold the perc pond lot on Bradley Circle. The City needs to gain three million in perc ponds sales for budget revenue and sell additional lots to pay for the first conversion of a perc pond to a park. With the stall in the housing market it is very difficult to sell the pieces of property. The city is currently looking into the possibility of hiring a property management firm to sell the lots. I also received a note requesting the possibility of building a dog park in Marina. This has always been on our radar screen and we are hoping to open one soon. For now there is a fenced ballfield in Schoonover Park that is being used as a dog park. The Council is also considering a proposal made by the Institute for Canine Studies, which is requesting the opportunity to build here in Marina. Marina has a business park near the airport, along Reservation road, that may be suitable for their needs. Hopefully, the Council, city staff and the Canine Institute can work together to solve the location issue. I also received a letter asking about the abandoned housing on the former Fort Ord. Such as; Why it can’t be sold as-is to consumers, or why it can’t be used as rental units for the poor and homeless? Very good questions, but the property has only recently been turned over to the City of Marina. The base closed in 1995, and the government had a lot of red tape to go thru before the property could be transferred. Marina began receiving property between 2004 and 2006. Even before the transfer was complete, I went thru several units and took pictures. There was a lot of water damage, mold damage and vandalism. Besides all of the obvious repairs and code upgrades would have to be done there were issues with electrical wiring and old galvanized plumbing in the walls. Not to mention the new services that would be needed such as new sewer and water mains and new electrical service including a breaker box and meter panel. And if these units were sold, people would be living inside an abandoned housing area with limited police and fire protection. There would also be the FORA fees of $30,000 per unit, city and all other fees associated with purchasing a home, and then before you could occupy, plans would need to be submitted to planning and inspections would need to take place. A very long and expensive process.


Marina is blessed to have so many who serve our community in so many ways.

Thank you.

Dave McCall
(phone) 384-3822 (fax) 384-3822
Snail mail: P.O.Box 1572, Marina, CA. 93933
Or send e-mail: doctordave54@aol.com

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