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Foothills Sentry


OUSD board approves temporary Peralta leases with no end in sight


By Tina Richards With the tenant leases on Or-


ange Unified’s Peralta property due to expire at the end of the month, the school board was compelled to approve interim agreements with three of them, and accept a last minute proposal from a surprise candidate willing to take on the orphaned Super Sports facility. The March 12 approvals came


two weeks after the board had voted 4-3 not to renew the exist- ing lease with Peralta Golf Part- nership (Super Sports) and nego- tiate separate license agreements with three of its subtenants. The subtenants, Olive Crest Academy, Arena Soccer Club and Tennis Specialists, had proposed tentative lease amounts that were considered starting points for ne- gotiations. At that time, neither the board nor Orange Unified staff knew whether the proposals were in the district’s best interest or not.


No place to play Concurrently, allowing the


lease with Peralta Golf Partner- ship (PGP) to expire left a large portion of the property unspoken for. The board majority that voted against renewing the lease (Rick Ledesma, John Ortega, Tim Sur- ridge, Mark Wayland) offered no alternatives, leaving the future of the popular golf range and sports facilities in limbo. During the March board meet-


ing, trustees were told that negoti- ations with the subtenants had not taken place, and, with the leases set to expire, staff recommended the original proposals be accepted on an interim month-to-month basis. Not all of the board members


were comfortable with that. “Last month, the numbers were loose. Now they’re the numbers,” Diane Singer remarked. “I’m hearing that we haven’t negotiated. There are no firm numbers, it feels im- proper.” “We’re approving agreements,


but don’t know what’s in them,” Kathy Moffat said. “This is very sketchy. It’s a stopgap, but we have no long-term plan.”


Footloose “Can we define 'interim'?”


Singer asked. “Make it tighter. This feels loosey-goosey. As stewards of public funds, we’re bound to button this down.” Joe Sorrera, associate superin-


tendent of business services, as- sured the board that the interim agreements were intended only to give staff time to negotiate per- manent agreements. Because the leases would be month-to-month, the board could change its mind or renegotiate with 30 days notice to the tenants. When asked about portions of


the property not included in the three lease agreements, Sorrera noted that staff had just learned there


are more subtenants.


“What?” Wayland asked. “Just how many subtenants are there?” No one seemed to know. Despite the uncertainty over


the lease amounts, the definition of “interim,” and no clear view regarding next steps (beyond ne- gotiating permanent lease agree- ments at some point), the board voted 7-1 to approve the tem- porary contracts. Diane Singer voted “no.”


Wait and wonder Considering that the school


district has known for several years that PGP’s lease expired on March 31, the 11th-hour vote seemed to illustrate one result of the board’s disharmony. The board majority wanted to sell the property outright and therefore put off any consideration of the current lessees. The board minor- ity (Alexia Deligianni-Brydges, Moffat, Singer) wanted to keep the property and issue a request for proposals from entities will- ing to manage and maintain it for the district. The impasse put the board in the untenable position of approving unclear temporary agreements or evicting every ten- ant and starting over with nothing. On the heels of the interim agreements with the Peralta les- sees, the board was asked to ap- prove yet another temporary ar- rangement with an unexpected suitor for the driving range. Ja- son Drotter, who has long man- aged the Super Sports complex, offered to take over the lease in place of PGP and presented two


options. Under one option, Drot- ter would pay $2,500 per month and be responsible for mainte- nance and management of the en- tire property. Under the second, he would pay $5,000 per month, and the district would be respon- sible for the grass landing area for the golf range, the baseball field, gym, parking lot landscaping. Under both options, the district would be responsible for major repairs, maintenance of asphalt and bathrooms, and utilities. "If we don’t agree to this," Tim Surridge explained, “the driving range will be fenced off at the end of the month. This gives us the option to serve the needs of the community while we search for other options.” Unclear which would be the


better option for the district, the board asked Drotter for a break- down of the costs associated with the site. He complied with a lit- any of expenses, from lighting, cleaning and staffing to insur- ance, golf balls and mats. When asked if those costs were “reasonable,” Sorrera replied that


this was another interim agree- ment only and that “staff really didn’t know.”


What you don’t know “This is, once again, very


loose,” Singer observed. “We need solid numbers. We can’t sole source to someone because we’re desperate.” “I’m concerned about the pro-


cess here,” Moffat said. “It feels like it was targeted. It appears Mr. Surridge has done some ne- gotiating. It looks like we hand- picked a successor.” Surridge denied any involve-


ment in Drotter’s extemporane- ous proposal, saying only that Jason had come to him, and they had an open, honest conversation. After a prolonged discussion


about the merits of Drotter’s proposal and the seeming lack of “process” associated with it, Surridge suggested the board ap- prove an interim agreement with Drotter and let staff decide which option to go with. The final vote was 6-1 in favor, with Singer the only dissenter.


Tuesday, April 7, 2015


label for library


New life will breathe through


the former Silverado Elementary School as the building becomes the “Library of the Canyons.” Since 1964, Silverado, Modjes-


ka and Trabuco Canyon commu- nities have used the Silverado Branch Library at 28192 Silvera- do Canyon Road. That 1,119-sq.- ft. building offered limited library materials and services at a rental price of $1,343 per month, plus utilities. The new library nearly triples


that space at 4,023 sq. ft. and can offer more reading materials, al- low public access to 14 comput- ers, provide a display area for the Santa Ana Mountains Historical Collection, and space for crafts, lectures, book clubs and other ac- tivities. A Memorandum of Under- standing now exists for OC Public Libraries to lease the building and some of its surrounding property from OC Parks for $1,773.58 per month for 30 years, plus a share of some maintenance costs.


New


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