“Whether [the $1.5 million] will still be there in the budget after we get done trimming? I don’t know,” Councilman Dave Weaver said.
Despite tentative support for a concept that includes more picnic tables, a children’s water play area and a 5,000-square-foot addition to the 3.8-acre park’s gymnasium, council members Tuesday cautioned that the outcome of the state’s fiscal crisis would greatly affect the project.
Parks officials had recommended that the City Council approve the design concept and then freeze the development process until the financial picture became clearer.
The council obliged on the concept, but decided to fold the $1.5-million Maple Park allotment into the broader budget discussions that are scheduled for next week.
The pre-designated capital improvement funds typically come armed with the protection of previous council approval, and they cannot be used to finance city services, but there have been murmurs in the nonprofit sector that the allotments could be better used to fund badly needed improvements elsewhere.
A $1.5-million earmark in the capital improvement budget for a new pool at Pacific Park that has been staunchly promoted by Councilman Ara Najarian has already become a target at nonprofit community development meetings.
The unknown thaw time for the $3-million Maple Park state grant could also leave its capital improvement funding open to same criticism.
“I’m all for parks in south Glendale, but we don’t have any money,” resident Mike Mohill, who frequently criticizes the council on budget issues, said Tuesday.
Still, Councilman Bob Yousefian lobbied for the council to authorize parks officials to spend roughly $150,000 to move the Maple Park project from the conceptual phase to the design stage, where more detailed drawings would bring it closer to construction when the state funds became available again.
Any reorganization of capital funding priorities wouldn’t come until after the council holds a special meeting next week to begin the process of closing the projected budget gap.
Nevertheless, the Maple Park renovation garnered general support from the council Tuesday.
“I think it’s a great design, and hopefully we’ll find the money to do it,” Councilman Frank Quintero. “These residents certainly need it.”
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
