The La Cañada Flintridge City Council discussed the upcoming budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year at its June 8 meeting and heard from local community groups requesting money for their programs and expenses.
The Community Center of LCF was the last group to go before Council, with the highest money request at $310,775.
“The amount we are requesting this year is reflective of the extensive growth that we’ve seen over the past year at the community center,” said Executive Director Betsy Ferguson.
The requested amount was split into three categories by Ferguson for different needs at the center, including $74,200 for programing support, $166,575 for facility maintenance and $70,000 for capital improvements.
Ferguson discussed the many improvements and goals she envisions for the coming year, such as expanding programs for teens and adults, upgrading the ceramic studio and changing hours for flexibility.
In the past year, the center welcomed 2,500 new participants, with 33% of those new families residing in LCF, she said.
“Our fund for 50 plus adults and senior programming has grown 236% from a handful of offerings, to over 40 events and programs,” she told the Council. “Of all the new participants last year, 54% were adults over 18. We’ve usually seen the youth programs as our bread and butter but now we’re seeing more adults coming in.”
Other improvements involve facility and safety issues, such as rooms without heat, air conditioning issues or doors and windows not closing correctly.
“Although the city allocated money for some of these projects last year through the [America Rescue Plan Act] funding, the projects have not yet been started,” said Ferguson.
Under funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, the center is slated to receive $500,000 for access improvements at the Community Center, which included a new ramp. But due to some pending challenges, including the necessity for a new parking lot design, the city has not yet started the project. Of the $500,000 ARPA-funded projects, window improvements also were included.
Outgoing City Manager Mark Alexander explained that out of the $500,000 slated in the current budget under the ARPA, there is $438,000 budgeted for access upgrades, $40,000 for HVAC, or heating, ventilating and air conditioning, and $30,000 for windows improvements.
Although the request from Ferguson seemed to duplicate what is already projected in the ARPA funding, Alexander said that the city needs to account for increased costs now.
Councilman Michael Davitt recommended taking out the $35,000 for capital improvements, but reiterated the importance of community groups and the funding they need.
“Community groups play a critical role in our city, and we as a city rely on them quite a bit to perform a lot of services for us that the city doesn’t have the ability to do,” said Davitt.
Ultimately, the Council agreed to $275,775 for the center, deducting the $35,000.
“What I want to double-check before we get into cutting community groups or any other program, is, are we confident that [we have done everything] so that every special project fund that we can tap into to save money for the general fund and for discretionary expenditure?” asked Councilman Kim Bowman.
He emphasized what staff told Council, including that the community center building is no longer compliant by modern standards and needs.
“Every time we put money into a community center … we’re putting a Band-Aid over an open wound that won’t close,” he added. “The kinds of changes and improvements we’re making now will not fix the community center.”
Director of Administrative Services Arabo Parseghian stated that the $438,000 allocated for the ramp accessible to the center would not make the building itself ADA compliant.
“There’s no way to make that building ADA accessible, unless you build a new one,” said Parseghian.
Initially, staff had recommended the amount of $154,200 be approved for the community center to ensure an overall, balanced budget for the city, according to Alexander. He broke down the potential number by giving $74,200 for program support, $70,00 for capital improvements and $10,000 for facility maintenance support.
The center’s request for $166,575, however, would cover facility maintenance support and improvements, such as the preschool gas meter relocation, shade for the basketball court and basketball court repairs.
After some discussion, the council and staff were able to reallocate some of the ARPA funds that had been slated for the ramp to cover some of the facility upgrades.
But “[The] money is sitting there, and we know realistically that it is not going to be allocated to that ramp this year,” said Councilwoman Terry Walker.
Mayor Pro Tem Richard Gunter agreed with Walker and said that the basketball courts are more of a safety issue for kids.
“In my book, I would rather pick something [to repair] that is actively unsafe versus something that is merely out of code compliance, if I had to allocate funds,” said Gunter.
After coming to a consensus that funds allocated to the ramp can be used for the requested maintenance upgrades, the Council was able to complete the center’s funding and still register a balanced city budget.
The City Council will meet again on June 20 to vote on the 2023-24 budget.
First published in the June 15 print issue of the Outlook Valley Sun.
