TRACY -- It never hurts to have a backup plan.
At the request of Councilwoman Irene Sundberg, the Tracy CityCouncil is hearing an alternative plan for getting the city a newsports complex and aquatics center, which could cost the city morethan $8 million before anything is ever built.
In a letter dated Sept. 6, Mabel Moitoso sent the city a letterindicating she would sell the roughly 110 acres of land she owns onCorral Hollow Road between Schulte and Valpico roads to the city for$50,000 an acre.
A condition of the sale of the property would be that theproperty would be purchased by the City of Tracy for the solepurpose of building the facilities, Moitoso wrote.
The proposed Tracy Community Park would be shaped a little likeNew Jersey and feature soccer, baseball, softball and footballfields, tennis and basketball courts, and a scaled down aquaticscenter, according to city documents.
It would be adjacent to an existing residential area withentrances from both Schulte Corral Hollow roads. Moitoso would bewilling to grant the city exclusive rights to purchase the propertyuntil Jan. 1, 2008, according to the letter.
The city has already spent $4 million on the Schulte Road SportsComplex, which includes the purchase of the land from the federalgovernment, removal of antenna poles, and some cleanup.
If the city council does make the switch, it would be losing morethan $3 million already spent -- they would still have the antennafarm which is valued at less than $1 million -- and would have tostart searching for another $5.5 million to purchase the new site.
In July 2006, Moitoso entered into a contract with Wyatt Weiselof Keenan Land Company for a similar price with the understandingthe land would be used for a public benefit, the letter said.
The Keenan Company attempted to present the same plan to theTracy City Council in 2006 shortly after developer deals to get anaquatics center and youth sports park were being negotiated.
According to the minutes of the April, 18, 2006 council meeting,there were several reasons city staff didnt enter into negotiationswith Keenan, including such dealings would have been contrary tocouncil direction and combined with the other proposals, would haveexceeded limits set by Measure A.
Ironically, less than eight months later, a San Joaquin CountySuperior Court judge ordered the city in to abandon the developeragreements being negotiated for a new aquatics center and youthsports park constructed.
Measure A, passed by voters in 2000, limits the average number ofnew homes built in Tracy to 600 a year plus another 150 that areaffordable housing. The measure also capped the number of homes thecity could dole out in developer agreements at 225.
The city is currently negotiating with Surland Homes in an effortto build an aquatics center in exchange for the right to be first inline for home building permits when they become available, but thedeal might fall through if their proposed development, The EllisProject, isnt annexed into the city.
The city is also working on a separate pact with the builders ofTracy Hills for a public benefit project but details have yet toemerged.
Mike Martinez can be reached at 209-832-3947 or atmike.martinez@bayareanewsgroup.com.
