IMPERIAL BEACH SEEKS $7.9M FOR VETERANS PARK
I M P E R I A L B E AC H
Imperial Beach is seeking nearly $8 million in state grants to revitalize Veterans Park.
The City Council authorized staff members last week to submit an application for $7.8 million. If approved, Imperial Beach would be able to build a community center in the park, expand recreation programs for youth and seniors, and update the park with new playgrounds, green infrastructure and beautification features.
Imperial Beach does not have a dedicated Parks and Recreation Department, and the City Council want to expand recreation ser vices for residents. But the city doesn’t generate enough tax revenues to grow the ser vices, par ticularly during the pandemic.
Therefore, this state grant represents a leg itimate opportunity to secure something the City Council has been wanting for years.
“I was actually a little emotional thinking about how much our kids and community have suffered because of this pandemic, economic collapse, but also the pollution that’s kept them away from the beach,” Mayor Serge Dedina said, noting that improving Veterans Park would mean a lot to the city.
However, the grant is competitive, and Imperial Beach has already been rejected once.
During last year ’s grant cycle only 62 out of 478 applications were awarded grants.
Par t of the reason Imperial Beach didn’t get selected was because the state prioritizes poor communities.
That means that cities with higher pover ty rates and lower median household incomes receive more points in their application.
While Imperial Beach is relatively poor compared to other beach cities, its proximity to the coast keeps proper ty values generally higher than inland and rural communities.
“It seems to me that we are at a consistent disadvantage g iven our specif ic demographics and being a coastal city,” said Councilwoman Paloma Aguirre.
Another disadvantage
for Imperial beach is that the application analyses only communities within a cer tain distance of proposed project locations. If that distance was expanded by only a fraction of a mile, the income numbers would lower, and make the application more competitive.
“It’s clear that if we had an extra tenth of a mile or two tenths of a mile, we’d pick up the lowest income neighborhoods,” Mayor Serge Dedina said.
After being rejected last
year, Imperial Beach staff met with state off icials to review the application and learn how to make it more competitive. During those meetings, state off icials said I.B. def initively demonstrated a legitimate need for park improvements.
Councilman Ed Spriggs said he was encouraged by the communication with state officials.
According to the latest state budget, California set aside $395 million for this grant. Applications will be due March 12, 2021.