Costa Mesa residents weigh in on priorities at infrastructure forum
About 25 people gathered Thursday at Costa Mesa City Hall for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of the city’s infrastructure and what projects should be priorities moving forward.
Mayor Pro Tem Sandy Genis presented the “Let’s Talk About Infrastructure” event to discuss ongoing and planned efforts throughout Costa Mesa.
The goal, she said, is to “make sure the capital improvement program reflects the needs and the wants of the citizens.”
“This is an effort to get more public input on the actual physical improvements that happen in the city and the citizens’ priorities,” she said. “We have needs, but some of the stuff on there is a want and sometimes it just reflects the wants of a couple of people.”
The city’s capital improvement program includes projects planned or conceptualized over the next seven years. It’s broken into six sections: active transportation improvements; street improvements and traffic signal operations; street maintenance, curbs and sidewalks; parkways and medians; park development and maintenance; and public facility improvements.
Under those categories is an array of projects, each carrying its own price tag. All told, the projects would cost upward of $250 million, according to estimates.
“A lot of this is not going to happen,” Costa Mesa resident Ralph Taboada said.
“That’s why we want to know your priorities,” Genis responded.
Several people in attendance raised concerns about the amount of spending detailed in the program.
For instance, the city’s plans for Lions Park — building a new central library, demolishing the Neighborhood Community Center and renovating the Donald Dungan library branch into a meeting space — will cost an estimated $37.1 million, according to information presented Thursday.
“I’m just concerned about the potential expenditures,” resident Beth Refakes said.
Some in the audience urged the city to focus attention, and money, elsewhere.
Forum participants suggested projects they’d like the city to tackle. Staff members wrote them on sheets of paper and hung them on the wall.
Attendees then used stickers to mark which of the suggestions they thought were most pressing.
Heavily marked suggestions included installing additional bike racks at city parks and facilities, improving or possibly replacing the city’s fire station on Baker Street and promoting equity in infrastructure spending — with a particular focus on the Westside.
“The Westside needs some beautification too,” said former City Council member Wendy Leece. “I hope that you keep it balanced, but I think that’s been neglected.”
Others suggested things for the city to avoid, like putting in additional decorative crosswalks.
Staff will use the comments received Thursday to help prioritize future efforts, said Public Services Director Raja Sethuraman.
“You can provide us your requests and those go in our program,” he said Thursday. “Depending on the funding availability and all that, we’ll see how those projects can be done.”
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