SAN BENITO — In tonight’s regular City Commission meeting, the city leaders will have much to discuss and possibly take action on.
First in line for some serious debate is the topic of the city swimming pool, splash pad and skate park. These are items that have been on previous agendas.
However, commissioners failed to take action numerous times.
But that should change tonight.
City commissioners will take action on authorizing City Manager Manuel De La Rosa to freeze reserve funds at the recommended 90 days and assign funds to the building of a swimming pool, splash pad and skate park.
There is no word on how much money that would be. But considering past discussions on pricing, it could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
They also will consider taking action on the construction of the skate park at Stookey Park.
The idea of a new skateboard park and a pool has been a topic in the community and among city officials for several years.
Mayor Celeste Sanchez has said from the very start she had hoped both could be built by summer. However, city officials failed to reach any type of decision last month, prolonging that hope.
At the recommendation of Del La Rosa, commissioners did decide to move forward with sampling the land that the old pool sits on.
Parks and Recreation Director Art Garza said he is still waiting on the engineers to finish their assessment of the old pool structure to see if they can rebuild the old pool or if they need to build a completely new pool.
At one point in a previous meeting, after a long discussion, commissioners collectively agreed that a skate park could be built on the existing pool site and a new pool could be built on the adjacent property using the old pool’s facilities.
In addition, commissioners will consider action on the proposed Cultural Heritage Museum being designed by Megamorphosis, Inc. and discuss the San Benito Economic Development Corporation’s Resaca Walk Project proposal and presentation by Gignac Architects.
Both of these projects have been in the works for a couple years.
