County Parks Suffer a Shortage of Green

On a recent sun-dappled day, Peggy Hannawell walked along a tree-shaded pathway at the county’s Irvine Regional Park keeping a vigilant eye on grandchildren Alex, 6, and Frances, 1, as they ran along the banks of a pond.

“This park is beautiful. It has something for everyone: wilderness, hiking, bike riding and all that,” Hannawell said.

The 102-year-old park, near Orange, with its lake, small train and petting zoo, is a recreational gem and one of the most popular in Southern California, annually attracting more than 760,000 visitors.

But like many other Orange County parks, it is showing signs of age, and money for repairs is tougher to find. At a time when the area is growing and the parks, most built in the 1970s, are more popular than ever, county supervisors are diverting millions of dollars every year from the parks budget to help pay the debt from the county’s historic bankruptcy in 1994.

Over the last two years, supervisors have raided budget of the Harbors, Parks and Beaches division and a sister agency that handles buildings, road and flood work, taking $31 million altogether for debt payments and other expenses.

“There’s no way you can replace $31 million annually,” said John W. Sibley, director of the county’s Public Facilities and Resources Department. “We’re more concerned right now with not letting what we have deteriorate. . . . We’re trying to make the best of what we can.”

Harbors, Parks and Beaches was once so flush with cash it could pay for maintenance and capital expenditures off the interest of its reserve funds, said the division’s director, Tim Miller. Now it will be difficult to handle what normally would be simple repairs.

* Two restrooms at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley have deteriorated to the stage where they need $250,000 in repairs.

* Irvine and O’Neill Regional parks have aging infrastructures including old septic tank systems. Design cost: $200,000. Estimated costs for new sewer systems: $1 million for each park.

Yet in the face of needed repairs, supervisors late last year approved development of the 3,000-acre Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, which was dedicated in 1993 but delayed because of the bankruptcy. The cost is $400,000 for phase one and $4 million to install parking facilities, restrooms and a nature center.

Even with a round of mid-year budget talks expected soon, the approval of the new park has helped to create a budgeting dilemma for Miller.

“What is your choice? Do you put in new restrooms for older parks? Or the sewers at popular parks? Or do you put in an entirely new park the supervisors have approved but which will cost $4 million?” Miller said.

Parks Budget Cut Even Before Bankruptcy Hit

The parks budget was first hit in 1992 when state law took effect and shifted portions of property tax revenue from counties and special districts to public schools. The county opted to begin taking $4.5 million a year from the parks budget.

Then the bankruptcy struck. For Harbors, Beaches and Parks, $4 million more was diverted in 1996 for the next 20 years to help pay for the county’s bankruptcy debt.

Together, the reductions amount to nearly $10 million in lost revenue annually, a sizable chunk for a department with a $36-million operating budget, said Robert Hamilton, a parks program manager.

And it’s getting worse.

Miller said his division’s capital budget is being reduced from $11 million to $7 million next year. Yet, the department must maintain 20 regional parks, at least 200 miles of bicycle and unpaved trails, nine beaches and three harbor facilities.

When the county borrowed $760 million in 1996 to pay off county bondholders, it allowed the county to emerge from bankruptcy. But the debt costs the county $62 million a year, paid through a variety of sources including increased park fees, redevelopment proceeds and landfill revenue.

“Those decisions were part of the whole bankruptcy recovery plan and [supervisors] had to make some tough decisions,” said Board Chairman Charles V. Smith. Neither he nor any of the other four supervisors were on the board during the bankruptcy.

He said he would be sympathetic to park needs, though the board recently approved funding a number of major deferred maintenance projects for all county departments.

“We just put a whole bunch of money on the deferred maintenance on the courthouse because it had long been neglected,” Smith said. It was so bad, he said, that the courthouse was using masking tape so people wouldn’t trip over frayed carpeting.

Supervisor Jim Silva, who has pushed to reduce the county’s bond debt, said he knew about the diverted funds and believes there needs to be a “sensitive balance” between paying the debt and servicing parks and other deferred maintenance projects.

“I would like to see as much money as we can go to bond defeasance,” Silva said. “That will lighten the load on taxpayers and decrease the debt. If we have some services, obviously we have to do that and take care of deferred maintenance.”

Supervisor Tom Wilson said it was no secret that he is deeply concerned about funding levels at county parks, roads and flood budgets. On Thursday, he is hosting the county’s first Trails Summit in San Juan Capistrano to coordinate how local park trails interconnect regionally.

“I intend to raise this repayment issue during our upcoming budget negotiations,” Wilson said, adding that board colleagues “share my concerns” about deteriorating infrastructure and long-needed repairs.

Two years ago, park fees were increased from $2 to $4 on weekends, and $5 on holidays, bringing in an extra $1 million in revenue. An additional $3 million was added to the division’s budget when supervisors terminated an urban parks program, Hamilton said.

Increased Park Fees Draw Mixed Reactions

At Irvine Park, visitors like Hannawell had mixed emotions about the parks’ financial picture.

“I think the fee increase has been hard on people who really need a park the most. It’s very hard on people who live in apartments, for instance,” said Hannawell, a semi-retired Anaheim college instructor.

“I think a lot of people stay away because of the higher fees,” she said. “Maybe that’s why the park doesn’t have that many people today.”

But Bruce Winsborough of Orange, who was enjoying the park with his wife, Maria, and son, Brett, and their two dogs, said higher fees were “a good lesson for Orange County residents to know they are still paying for the bankruptcy.”

Winsborough said he believes park users need to share costs with government, but government “needs to communicate better.”

“If they had told me about deferred maintenance and some of the problems these parks are facing, I would have volunteered to help,” he said. “This [park] is a beautiful place and one of the reasons we live here.”

Jenny Ogles, 26, a teacher from Costa Mesa, said she and her family grew up spending family reunions at Irvine Park. “I used to remember when the zoo here was free,” she said. “Now it’s $1.”

County officials said they are sensitive to the public’s opinions, but given the financial calamity of the bankruptcy, they believe they are doing the best possible job.

Sibley, who is Miller’s boss, said supervisors have not ignored the problem. In fact, they recently approved a seven-year strategic plan to spend $82 million for long-delayed projects.

Even so, Miller said he tries to ease the burden by frequently seeking grant money for projects and relying on volunteers to help with trail improvements.

“No way are things falling apart,” Miller said, “but it’s going to get tougher and tougher year after year to get dollars.

“All these facilities require maintenance and rehabbing,” Miller said. “We’re finding out now that we have to go back and fix the infrastructures on parks. [But] the general public doesn’t see we have septic tanks at Irvine Park; they just see a nice park.”

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Park Problems

Orange County’s regional and historical parks, many opened in the 1970s or earlier, are in need of repairs and rehabilitation. Here’s a look at the costliest items and the total projected costs for the next 25 years at those parks where repairs will be needed.

Regional Parks

1. Carbon Canyon

Opened: 1975

Costliest repair: Picnic shelter

Cost: $144,400

All repair costs: $1,073,300

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2. Caspers

Opened: 1974

Costliest repair: Restroom

Cost: $303,000

All repair costs: $725,800

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3. Clark

Opened: 1980

Costliest repair: Visitor/nature center

Cost: $316,100

All repair costs: $1,082,600

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4. Craig

Opened: 1974

Costliest repair: Lake dredging

Cost: $298,800

All repair costs: $1,619,600

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5. Irvine

Opened: 1897

Costliest repair: Concession building

Cost: $153,900

All repair costs: $1,724,200

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6. Laguna Niguel

Opened: 1973

Costliest repair: Lake dredging

Cost: $1,140,000

All repair costs: $2,881,200

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7. Mason

Opened: 1973

Costliest repair: Lake liner

Cost: $792,000

All repair costs: $2,163,000

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8. Mile Square

Opened: 1970

Costliest repair: Edge concrete

Cost: $156,000

All repair costs: $1,706,200

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9. O’Neill

Opened: 1948

Costliest repair: Restroom

Cost: $110,200

All repair costs: $1,474,700

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10. Peters Canyon

Opened: 1993

Costliest repair: Dam outlet tower

Cost: $117,000

All repair costs: $192,400

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11. Santiago Oaks

Opened: 1978

Costliest repair: Nature Center

Cost: $174,800

All repair costs: $416,200

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12. Upper Newport Bay

Opened: 1989

Costliest repair: Trail bridge

Cost: $414,000

All repair costs: $414,000

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13. Yorba

Opened: 1974

Costliest repair: Lake liner

Cost: $1,206,000

All repair costs: $2,824,400

****

Historical Parks

14. Heritage Hill

Opened: 1980

Costliest repair: Building maintenance

Cost: $48,000

All repair costs: $68,300

****

15. Key Ranch

Opened: 1984

Costliest repair: Building maintenance

Cost: $30,400

All repair costs: 30,400

The following parks have no significant infrastructure, no scheduled repair or are undeveloped: Aliso/Wood Canyons, Laguna Coast, Riley, Weir Canyon, Whiting Ranch and Wieder, Modjeska Nature Preserve and Talbert Nature Preserve. Featherly Regional Park is an improved area managed under a 30-year lease. The Arden/Modjeska Residence is open for tours only and the Old Orange County Courthouse was fully restored in 1984-85.

Source: Orange County Harbors, Beaches and Parks Division