BREA : Council OKs Bond Issue to Build Center

Sending a signal of confidence in the city’s ability to meet its financial obligations, the City Council has voted to issue $6 million in bonds to pay for completion of the Community Center.

The council put the nearly $7-million project on hold in December after the county-run investment pool collapsed. The city of Brea and its Redevelopment Agency had $9 million in the pool when the county filed for bankruptcy Dec. 6. A tentative deal to distribute the $5.7 billion remaining in the fund has since been reached.

After evaluating its options, the council decided in February to proceed with the 54,000-square-foot center, which is under construction at Randolph Avenue and Madison Way.

“I’m wholeheartedly behind this,” Mayor Bev Perry said in voting Tuesday for the bond issue.

The only council member voting against the bonds was Kathryn E. Wiser, who said: “I feel this is the wrong time to incur more debt.”

The center will include a gymnasium, weightlifting and aerobics facilities, meeting rooms, a child-care center and a teen lounge. Construction is expected to be completed by spring, 1996.

Residents are being asked to financially support the project by purchasing etched glass panes that will be part of an artwork at the center. Residents can also help by purchasing trees that will be planted along an entrance path, or by making contributions to a free after-school program that will be offered weekdays at the center.