Decision Time for Huntington Beach on Bonds : Council: Some members want to get going on park and pier projects, but mayor and others say there might be ways to avoid debt.

Faced with big-ticket spending items and a small-ticket budget, the City Council on Monday will decide whether to put a $12-million general obligation bond issue to make improvements at Central Park on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The proposed improvements would include stabilizing a former landfill south of the park and using that land for a new “youth sports complex.”

The council also will decide Monday night whether to pursue a $3-million revenue bond to help finance a park-like plaza at the base of the new municipal pier, which is scheduled to be built by 1992.

Councilman John Erskine is leading the move to get the two bond issues rolling.

“If we’re going to get this on the November ballot, the council has to act by the second meeting in July,” he said.

Some council members, including Mayor Thomas J. Mays, have responded coolly to the proposals. Mays said he prefers to wait until next year before pursuing any bond issues.

“There may not be a need for bond issues after we look at other possibilities for financing some of these things,” he said.

But Erskine said he thinks a majority of the seven council members will support the bond proposals, noting that the $3-million revenue bond issue can be approved by council action alone. Voter approval is not required of revenue bonds, which are paid back by income from a specific income-producing source.

Erskine said revenue from the restaurant, bait and snack shops planned for the new pier could go toward paying back the $3 million. The city would get a portion of those profits and that money would be used to retire the bond for the pier plaza, Erskine said.

Voter approval is required of general obligation bonds, which pledge general city revenue to pay back those loans. So if the council approves the proposed $12-million bond for Central Park, it would not be issued unless city voters approve it in the Nov. 6 election.

Erskine said he is confident the park project would be approved.

Mays, however, takes a more cautious attitude.

“Some of these things proposed in the park bond issue might be financed by public-private partnership,” Mays said. He also said that methane gas in the landfill area could be commercially exploited.

“There are a lot of different ways these things can be arranged, and I think we should look at them first before we jump into a bond issue,” Mays said. “Also, I was under the impression that the youth sports complex would be financed by its backers if the city just provided the land.”

The proposed sports complex has been backed by parents of Little League baseball players. The group has urged the City Council to build playing fields, bleachers and support facilities on vacant land near Central Park.

The proposal has been warmly received by several on the council, including Councilman Don MacAllister. Councilman Wes Bannister also favors the idea of a bond issue for major improvements the city otherwise could not afford.

Council members Jim Silva, Peter M. Green and Grace Winchell said they have some reservations about a bond issue this year.

The root of the city’s problem is a 1990-91 budget that forecasts very slight financial growth. The council last week increased trash fees from the existing $7.50 a month to $9.85 a month, beginning July 1, as one way to bring in more money. But the budget still allows no room for major expenditures.

The city’s biggest construction project is the proposed new pier, and it too has financing problems. The new pier is estimated to cost $12.8 million, and the city lacks at least $5.3 million of that, officials have said. A professional fund-raising organization has been hired by the city to obtain the remaining money needed for pier construction.

A pier plaza, or park, at the base of the pier would cost from $2 million to $5 million, city officials have estimated. The pier plaza is not included in the basic $12.8-million pier cost.