TUSTIN : New Youth Programs Will Proceed

The City Council is moving ahead with plans to establish youth recreational programs in the troubled southwest section of Tustin.

City staff members were directed by the council last week to acquire a vacant building on a half-acre lot at Newport and Sycamore avenues. With minor modifications, officials say, the 6,000-square-foot building could house a drop-in center for elementary and middle school students, day-care facilities and health care programs.

It is also proposed that the Tustin Acts for Family and Youth program and Project Headstart would have offices in the building. Possible outdoor recreational facilities at the site would include a play yard for tots and a basketball court.

In addition to considering the new recreational facilities, council members received an update from City Manager William A. Huston on Tustin’s financial situation.

When the county declared bankruptcy, Tustin had only $185,000 in accrued interest in the county-run investment pool. Tustin pulled $4 million out of the pool in April because the city’s conservative fiscal policies did not allow certain types of investment strategies the county was pursuing.

Along with the $185,000 frozen in the pool, Tustin is owed $1.2 million in property tax the county is withholding.

The city is also working to obtain the release of a $635,000 deposit for Tustin’s share of a new countywide emergency communications system that has been put on hold as a result of the bankruptcy.

Tustin has delayed purchasing new radio equipment for city police cars until the issue of the countywide communication system is resolved.