Encinitas unveils plans for new lifeguard tower This will significantly improve public safety at the beach and along the coastline.
Saturday, November 7, 2015
How many lives have been lost all these years because our lifeguard tower was too small?
Former mayor Teresa Barth's newsletter on the council's new $3 million lifeguard tower:
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Surprising that Kranz, Shaffer, and Blakespear continue with the plans to build the $3 million lifeguard tower, labeled as a marine facility. That $3 million could go to Pacific View, paving the roads, or paying down the employees' pension debt. How exactly does a new, larger tower significantly improve public safety.
ReplyDeleteMcFly? Moonlight Beach is the theee 'family' beach stop for millions in Southern California over the last 40 years. Their leave-behind dollars are what is probably paying for the upkeep of your neighborhood.
DeleteWake up! Didn't Tiny Tim embarrass you enough last Christmas?
Go to Pacific View? That's $387 per square FOOT already.
Plus, it was the original allocation Kranz, TB and The Chafer stole from sidewalks for schools and the new tower in the first place.
OK to build a new lifeguard tower at Moonlight, but by coastal construction standards it should cost $1.3 million max.
ReplyDeleteTo spend $3 million of taxpayer funds for a new tower is typical city excess. And that's not counting the interest on the bonds.
It's no wonder the city is in a deep long-term financial hole.
The gold plating is important, it helps protect against salt spray. And increasing the size to provide office space for the Sheriff is good, so he won't have to walk near the bars on 101. And building something that could last a hundred years is good, maybe the sea level won't rise to destroy it before then.
DeleteAnd Barth is a reliable source why? A snowballs chance in Hades that she has anything to contribute after her so welcomed departure from council. If we never hear a thing from her again, it will be too soon, kind of like her former tormentor and our bully of a mayor. Good riddance to the both of them and now if only they would stay out of our business.
ReplyDeleteBut if you approach anyone on council about trenching the train tracks, it's impossibly expensive. Well stop blowing money on dumb stuff like this and then maybe you can afford things that might actually improve the quality of life around here.
ReplyDeleteBecause it is impossibly expensive. To trench the tracks would require a huge chunk of federal money. That's how Solana Beach got it done. So the failure here is really the failure of our council way back in the early 90's to have the smarts and guts to go after the money...Apples and oranges comparison....
DeleteDel Mar's Tower cost about the same, but they had a sizeable donation from the friends group..
Deletehttp://www.delmartimes.net/news/2011/sep/22/del-mar-lifeguard-station-replacement-to-start/
-MGJ
So you're saying since Del Mar overspent for their lifeguard tower, it's OK for Encinitas to spend way too much for ours?
Delete1:05
DeleteThis is from the Amtrak website regarding the Solana Beach trenching project, which was done in 1995.
The grade separation cost approximately $18 million, with funds gathered from the following sources:
• $5.8 million through Proposition 116, a 1990 state initiative to fund rail projects
• $6.7 million from the Federal Transit Administration
• $2.5 million from Amtrak
• $1.4 million from the City of Solana Beach
• $1.1 million from the state’s Capital Improvement Program
• $500,000 from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad
The construction company’s website cites $17.7 million. The figures above add to $18 million, so they’ve been rounded.
A 2000 report commissioned by Encinitas, adjusted to 2015 dollars and liberally padded for overages said the tracks can be trenched from the San Elijo Lagoon to the Batiquitos Lagoon for $200 million.
That's doable. The benefits would be enormous and forever.
You have to have the Federal Money. Encinitas does not have the Federal Money. If and when we have that commitment, it might happen, until then no. End of story...
DeleteOk, if you are a contractor and in the trades, what's your best guess for the cost of a new lifeguard tower. How would you bring it in for half of the current estimate?
DeleteNo, 10:20, not end of story.
DeleteSANDAG will spend $6.5 billion on the North Coast transportation corridor between now and 2040. Only $820 million of that will be in the railroad right-of-way. The funds for trenching the tracks come by reallocating from roads to rails.
That's not how it works 11:23. I'm not disagreeing with you just for the sake of argument. The specific federal funds have to be earmarked for the project. you can't assume a slice of the right of way money will go to trenching the tracks. That is NCTD's desire, to have the whole line trenched and double tracked. That may come into play, but for now, there are no track projects to lower in the foreseeable future...
Delete10:29
DeleteIf the political will existed at the local, county and state levels, the funds could be reallocated. $5.68 billion for roads and $820 million for rails is a lopsided split. SANDAG has the wrong priorities.
SANDAG has a petition before the CA Supreme Court to review the CNFF lawsuit they lost in superior and appellate court. Stay tuned. If the SC upholds the lower court decisions, watch SANDAG put more money into the rail corridor and less into roads. There's the money to trench the tracks.
Watch what's happening in Carlsbad. That city is studying the effect doubling without trenching will have on sales, property and TOT taxes. They expect negative effects. Carlsbad wants to trench. SANDAG is studying the engineering feasibility. Results due soon.
It's probably possible, but the probability is really low. I agree with you about SANDAG, they suck. I would love to see the money be put into rail, it's much neglected at this point, and they really do need to trench the route before any more traffic is added...
DeleteWe need a new lifeguard tower. That thing is beat.
ReplyDeleteWe don't need the Taj Mahal - that's what this will be. Get the State to fund the majority of the cost or supply viable options. It is mainly a comfort station as planned.
DeleteYou could bring it in for less than the cost of a new house, wood frame and stucco, using plans checked out of the library. But then it wouldn't be a civic monument and the architect wouldn't get any awards. But hey, it's not our money, it is city funding borrowed through a bond measure that the council approved.
ReplyDeleteTeresa, please....you are embarrassing yourself. The city council party is over.
ReplyDeleteThe current lifeguard tower was not built in 1952. Pacific View was. The reason it is "ratty" is because of make-shirt changes that have been done to the tower. It had windows all all the way around, what happened? At best, the tower will have a 180 degree view of the ocean (not 360) unless they're proposing it to be placed at the end of a pier. The current tower would stand another 300 years. It could be reconditioned for a lot less money and be just as beneficial as a new one. Even more efficient for rescues if they added a slide. Wheeeeeeeee!
ReplyDeleteThe need for a new lifeguard tower is a colossal waste of taxpayer $. Use the money to fix roads, just another trophy project for petty egos. Carlsbad seems to have their priorities straight.
ReplyDeleteA lot of Carlsbad's beaches are state beaches. Where is there a comparable tower that has to be rebuilt in Carlsbad?
DeleteA better question that should be asked. Why do we supply lifeguards to a STATE beach. Although the city likes to say these are city beaches. It is not true. We RENT the beach from the state. Why not give it back to the state and let them spend the money on lifeguards and towers?
ReplyDeleteAsk Carlsbad how that's working out.
Delete1395$ a square foot is an absolute joke. This tower project was removed from the original beach makeover in 2013 as a "cost-cutting" measure. I wonder how much more it costs as a separate project now? I guess a bigger tower would have saved the lives of the two people that died on this beach in summer of 2014. How about less equipment with all the bells and whistles and more diligence. After all the 2nd highest paid lifeguard in the state belongs to Encinitas.
ReplyDelete"I guess a bigger tower would have saved the lives of the two people that died on this beach in summer of 2014."
DeleteWhy would you think that was likely?
The maximum square footage in the lifeguard tower plans is 2,200. Beachfront construction in Encinitas costs $500-$600 per square foot. Multiply the two maximums: $1,320,000.
DeleteWay to vague, you'd have to provide a comparable bid from contractors and look at them side by side, which doesn't entirely work, because with government stuff, you have an approved list of bidders who can come in. The process is different than in the regular commercial space. So you can't make a one to one comparison there.
Delete9:45 AM
DeleteWell, this is news about Encinitas having a list of approved bidders. When was this policy approved by the council?
While the city has an architect on board the timeline says it won't go out to bid for construction until August 2016.
DeleteRight, so contractors will put in bids leading up to that. Point being, it's a different set of rules when the government is involved...
Delete8:59 PM
DeleteSometimes a contract will require prebid certification other times not. I don't know if the lifeguard tower has any particularities that might require potential bidders demonstrating those capabilities in a qualifications prebid review. Government has legal rules to follow where private firms don't, although many still follow similar formal procedures.
The council already set a $3 million bond issue, so what do you think the bids will be?
DeleteGive me any evidence that the $$$$ tower will do anything to save lives.
ReplyDeleteWe should learn from Carlsbad, they don't have any lifeguard tower or personnel costs. Are City leaders are stupid for supporting this wast of money.
Its also in the wrong location and is taking valuable towel area. A better location would have been into the bluff like Solana Beaches. Higher elevation, less negative impact to the beach and it would not be standing in the ocean after the sea rises.
Total waste of money morons. Sherrifs should be patrolling Hw101 and ticketing for all the problems over there. The state lifeguards can all the police if there is any issue they need to address, just like Carlsbad.
This is one instance where Carlsbad is way smarter than Encinitas. Lifeguards are about as useful as Border Patrol. Pure workfare.
Look into it and report back if Carlsbad gets state lifeguards free.
ReplyDeleteEncinitas, Solana Beach and Del Mar contract with the county for sheriff's deputies. Many millions of dollars.
I kinda think Carlsbad has a similar arrangement with the state for their lifeguards.
The entire California coast is state beaches and has been since about 1950 when coastal counties and the state chipped in to buy any that were privately owned, including Moonlight Beach. Many are city or county administered.
Checked into it and the state pays for the lifeguards, not the City.
Delete226 pm,
ReplyDeleteThat was sarcasm.
7:09 Good!
DeleteThe state still owns moonlight beach. The city operates it claiming the states life guarding is subpar. Carlsbad pays nothing for lifeguards. Article below is outdated but accurate.. http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060820/news_lz1mi20lifegu.html
ReplyDeleteThe state and county bought Moonlight Beach from Aubrey Austin in April 1947 for $63,500. Adjacent parcels brought the price to $80,000, which the state and county split 50/50.
ReplyDeleteDon't doubt this. I have the documents.
When Encinitas incorporated in 1986, the administration of Moonlight Beach transferred from the county to the city, and it's been that way since.
In the 1930s and '40s, the state cooperated with coastal counties to buy all the privately owned beaches. The beaches are state owned, but some are administered and guarded by cities, and, I suppose, counties in some places.
Carlsbad does not get off scot-free:
http://www.carlsbadca.gov/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=695&TargetID=1
Carlsbad does get off Scot-free if they choose. They just don't like the state's standards just like Encinitas, Solana, Del Mar etc. Moonlight beach is a state beach operated by the city. I am not claiming to know who owns adjacent parcels or any deeded property. http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=659 Frankly I don't care who owns it. I know who foots the bill and it's the City of Encinitas .
ReplyDeleteApparently, your reading comprehension score is extremely low, and you find it necessary to repeat what's already been firmly established as if it's new information.
DeleteA large chunk of the money used to replace the Moonlight Beach snack bar/bathrooms buildings came from a State grant, although it was originally targeted to Beacon Beach. Carlsbad is sending money the other way to shore up (pun intended) the miserable conditions on their State operated beaches.
DeleteThere are trade offs in everything.
7:57 AM
DeletePlease explain the miserable conditions of Carlsbad beaches. A beach is a beach. You have sand or pebbles and the ocean at any beach. What is wrong with Carlsbad beaches..
From an February 24, 2015 article in the San Diego Union-Tribune:
DeleteCarlsbad wants to take over maintenance of beach facilities within the city, saying the state parks department hasn't been able to do the job properly because of state budget cuts. California owns about 5 miles of beaches within Carlsbad, but hasn't been able to provide basic maintenance -- which "bears a negative reflection on the city's image," city officials said.
The Carlsbad City Council voted 5-0 on Tuesday directing city staff to enter into negotiations with the state Department of Parks and Recreation for a long-term maintenance agreement that will allow it to upgrade facilities and provide more benches, tables, trash receptacles, playgrounds and exercise stations, Carlsbad Parks and Recreation Director Chris Hazeltine said. "The reality is that the state operates under significant budget restrictions and state parks specifically doesn't have the ability to provide basic maintenance services," Hazeltine said. "That's not a reflection or an indictment on the local folks, they just don't have the resources they need to provide the services."
The city also wants to offer recreation programs on the beach, including summer camps, sports competitions and junior lifeguards.
Eventually, the city could provide lifeguard towers and lifeguards to patrol the beach, Hazeltine said. The state now provides lifeguard staff only during the busy summer months, he said. About 3 million people visit Carlsbad beaches each year, city officials said. State officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday. However, Hazeltine said the state has a long-term agreement with Encinitas that allows that city to manage the beach.
The state has also allowed Carlsbad to do some maintenance in parts of the state-owned beaches. Last year, the city signed an agreement with the state to spruce up the Tamarack State Beach picnic facility and the Frazee State Beach coastal bluff area. Among other things, the city provided landscaping work and irrigation systems in the picnic area and expanded the irrigation system on the bluff. Carlsbad also has a long-term agreement with the state that started in 1990 to maintain the Ocean Street Sculpture Park.
Last month, the city completed a project to refurbish the restrooms at Carlsbad State Beach near Tamarack Avenue, which included new fixtures and partitions and upgraded plumbing and electrical systems. The city also installed a drinking fountain and two outside showers. Overall, the city has spent about $1 million in maintenance and improvement projects on state-owned property, Hazeltine said.
Fred Briggs, a Carlsbad resident and a member of the city's Beach Preservation Committee, said he agrees with the proposal because it will allow the city to do more than the state is able to provide. "If we can accomplish what has been described, I would be the happiest guy in Carlsbad," Briggs said.
Hazeltine said staff would return to the council with any agreement reached with the state for approval.
Thank goodness Hazeltine left Encinitas Parks and Rec. He's building his empire in Carlsbad.
Delete1:32 PM
DeleteI just knew someone would take a shot a Hazeltine when I saw him quoted in the article. This blog has become a haven for whiners who just know things would be better save for the evil people who get hired/elected here. I guess the people of Carlsbad are too stupid to know better.
Tell you what. I would take Hazeltine back in a heartbeat over Lisa Rudloff. Just sayin'. Learn what's going on at the City under her dictatorship.
Delete10:19 AM
DeleteTell us.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe city/state should provide NO lifeguard facilities. Swim/use the beach at your own risk.
ReplyDeleteReally? Wait until you're bleeding by the side of the road someday and need an ambulance.
DeleteSan Diego, home of the cheapest people in the U.S...
The state should provide them. Thats what we pay taxes for.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the rationale for this type of facility anyway? How far do you have to go to find something comparable? Oceanside has extensive beach expanse and has portable lifeguard towers It seems luxury and comfort are the main criteria for this facility to be rebuilt.
ReplyDeleteRationale? Since when has anything produced at City Hall been rational or had a rationale?
DeleteIt's all ego trips, power trips and self-preservation.
I think you nailed it. Easy to spend money that is not yours.
DeleteDeincorporate.
5:24 PM
DeleteThe original tower was constructed long before the city incorporated. Why do you think deincorporating will make difference not to mention being at the mercy of the County Board of Supervisors?
so 3 Million for Moonlight lifeguard tower and what.....5 million for campground lifeguard tower.........what about the streets as I can not get to the beach now so should we slice the city in half and the beach part pays their expense and eastern encintas pays their expense. The infrastructure and the streets are in serious disorder
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