by The Editors on January 4, 2009
Carlsbadistan’s 99-year-old Army and Navy Academy is hoping to make some major renovations if they can get their plans approved by the city of Carlsbad, according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
Officials with the private military high school want to tear down a number of aging buildings, give some other structures a face lift and add new dormitories, classrooms and sports facilities. Also planned is a pedestrian bridge across Carlsbad Boulevard, linking the main campus buildings with the sports fields.
Hurry up and get this approved. We’re tired of nearly getting hit every time we try to cross Coast Highway in front of the ANA campus.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on December 31, 2008
Former Carlsbad City Council candidate Thomas K. Arnold weighs in on The Lossings-At-Carlsbad in today’s North County TImes.
Most sensible minds now agree that the golf course never should have been built. While it is true that taxpayers initially voted in favor of building a new municipal golf course in 1990, in light of all the delays and cost overruns, the matter really should have been brought back up to a public vote before construction actually commenced. . . . But that’s all water under the proverbial bridge, and the question now is what to do with this white elephant as it continues to bleed red ink.
Click the link for the rest of Thomas’ ideas.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on December 30, 2008
According to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times “staff members with the state Energy Commission” are holding two workshops to go over their report on NRG Energy Inc.’s plans to put in another power plant in our lagoon.
The first workshop session is set for 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Jan. 7. The second is set for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 8. Both will be at the recently opened Sheraton Carlsbad, 5480 Grand Pacific Drive. . . . The Jan. 7 session covers air, water and soil issues among other topics. The Jan. 8 session includes visual issues and traffic concerns, Della said. . . .Officials with the city of Carlsbad, which has opposed the plans, are encouraging people to come between 6 and 7 p.m. Jan. 7 to talk about air quality and visual blight issues, said Joe Garuba, a city employee who is coordinating the city’s response to the project.
We can’t think of anything more boring, but NRG really shouldn’t be able to turn our lagoon into an industrial wasteland without someone at least complaining a little (even if it doesn’t do any good). So please, someone, go complain.
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on December 23, 2008
We’ve been a little rough on the Carlsbad Convention and Visitors’ Bureau over the past couple years, but it looks like we haven’t been too far off, according to a story in the North County Times.
No one really knows what a “convention and visitors’ bureau” does and the one in Carlsbad doesn’t even organize conventions even though that word is part of its name, Nayudu said. The new name in all likelihood will be the one the bureau already uses on its Web site —- visitCarlsbad.com —- she said.
Now that executive director Kurt Burkhart is gone the organization has the chance to reinvent itself, with the help of a six-month $350,000 contract with the Irvine, California based consulting company MindGruve.
$350,000 for six months? We are definitely in the wrong business. . .
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on December 19, 2008
Tonight at midnight a new federal law goes into effect regarding pool drain covers, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune. The new law will:
. . . require pools and spas used by the public to have new anti-entrapment drain covers. The covers are designed to protect swimmers, especially young children, from being trapped underwater by the suction created by the filtration system. . . .Congress enacted the law requiring the pool drain covers last year after 7-year-old Virginia Graeme Baker drowned when she became trapped in a spa drain in 2002. Her grandfather, former Secretary of State James Baker, pushed for its passage.
Drains have reportedly resulted in nine deaths in seven years, with 63 injuries. Currently, the Carlsbad Pool is no in compliance and, “Carlsbad officials have not yet decided whether to close the city’s single pool until the retrofit is done.”
All we can say is: close it until it is fixed and fix it immediately. Having been sucked onto a couple drains in our lives we can say that these drains are far, far more dangerous that the statistics suggest.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by Richard J. Riehl on December 19, 2008
If a new power plant moves in next door to the surfside smokestack and towering concrete walls of Carlsbad’s Encina Power Station, the city’s prime coastal property will become the poster child for both poor planning and fossil fuel addiction.
Mayor Bud Lewis and his City Council are trying to persuade the California Energy Commission to require the new plant’s site to be moved away from the coast. They want the property to be redeveloped to increase beach and lagoon access. The power plant’s owner, NRG West, says other locations are not feasible because of adverse environmental impacts and technical problems that would diminish the plant’s electrical transmission capacity.
The California Energy Commission will settle the argument with a final decision planned for March.
All three players in this drama appear to agree on two major points: our growing regional population needs a new, fossil-fueled power plant, and the old one cannot be shut down for another seven to 15 years.
Follow the jump for the rest of the story. . .
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on December 17, 2008
It’s nice to know that no matter what projects the City of Carlsbad considers in future years (Swim complex, skateboard parks) they will always be trumped by sinking more money into the Lossings-At-Carlsbad.
Last night the Carlsbad City Council agreed unanimously to spend $1.6 million on the course next year, in addition to the losses already budgeted for, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Councilman Mark Packard said the council expected the course to break even after five to seven years, and then turn a profit. He said that may take longer with the recession. “I think it would be way premature to walk away from it at this point,” Packard said.
Mark Tanner, the former CFO for the 2002 Winter Olympics and Pepsico International spoke some sense at the meeting. “Sometimes when you make a wrong decision . . . you have to go back and change the decision,” Tanner said.
Exactly.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on December 13, 2008
Carlsbadistan’s $74 million golf course continues to miss it’s budeting marks losing ground in nearly every metric, according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The course, The Crossings at Carlsbad, was projected to lose $893,428 in 2008, an amount the council approved last year. That loss ballooned to $1.6 million, however, and the budget projects a similar loss in 2009. . . . The course made less money than projected – $6.4 million as opposed to $6.6 million – and cost more to operate – $5.9 million as opposed to $5.6 million.
Next year tax payers may be asked to kick in another $1.6 million. Then again with the economy going south and unemployment growing, people may have a lot more time to golf in the coming year.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on November 20, 2008
Thanks to some proposed budget cutting by the City of Carlsbad the Alga Norte Skateboard Park and Swim complex may be put off until 2014 in a plan that includes trimming as much as $4.5 million, according to Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
The proposed spending reductions will be submitted to the City Council in January as the city begins its process of putting together next year’s budget, Elliott said. . . . Among other things, the city may stop filling vacant positions and hold off on new equipment purchases. It also might delay the long-sought Alga Norte swim complex. Instead of opening in 2012, that complex might not open until 2014, Elliott said. A new city public works center and renovations at the Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park also may be postponed.
Equipment purchase and hiring freezes are fine, but let’s not stall out on Alga Norte. This city needs a respectable skateboard park and it would be nice if today’s kids could get in there before they’re not kids anymore.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times]
by The Editors on November 18, 2008
The pension plan that makes working for the City of Carlsbad so attractive may not be around after 2010 if Mayor Bud Lewis has his way, according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
The mayor said his rough proposal calls for decreasing retirement benefits that the city will eventually pay to any city employees hired after 2010 —- employees hired before then wouldn’t be affected. . . . Instead of a “3 percent” plan, the new city employees could end up with a “2.5 percent” or a “2.7 percent plan,” he said. . . . In Carlsbad, general city employees are eligible for a “3 percent at 60” plan, meaning that if they retire at age 60, they receive an annual pension equal to 3 percent of their highest yearly salary, multiplied by the number of years they were employed by the city. . . .Firefighters and police get the deal at age 50.
Many cities are finding that cost of pension plans can get extremely costly down the road. In some cases contributing to the city filing for bankruptcy protection. That is apparently not the case in Carslbadistan, however, those is want the good pension plan better get on with the City before 2010.
[Link: North County Times]
Carlsbadistan’s 99-year-old Army and Navy Academy is hoping to make some major renovations if they can get their plans approved by the city of Carlsbad, according to a Barbara Henry story in the North County Times.
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