By Brittany Hanson/Garden Grove Journal
Not every year is a good year, but not every “not good” year is all bad news. For Stanton, the top news starts with budget woes that have led to serious cuts and slim city coffers.
In spite of this, the city dealt with some pesky problems with golf balls, has a brand new fire station, laid down the plans for a new and very large park and the Tina-Pacific neighborhood got an overhaul.
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1. Money Woes: As the budget situation in Sacramento grew from bad to worse, the trickle down effect to Stanton began to become more of a tidal change.
Although budgets were cut as revenue stalled, 2011 became grim when the need for serious cuts was realized. City staff was let go and departments were downsized. Included in the cuts was Brenda Green, longtime city clerk.
Terri Marsh, Stanton’s director of administrative services said that projected deficit for 2012 is $2.9 million.
2. Fore! Fernwood Mobile home residents brought buckets, bags and pocketfuls of golf balls to the Stanton city council over 2011, angry that the golf enthusiasts were not abiding by regulations at the Stanton Golf Driving Range.
The center stayed open past its posted closing hour of 9 p.m. and there was no cash fund available to compensate for damages to surrounding properties.
The center is only supposed to use low flight balls, however, regular and Top-Flite balls were found.
Notices have been passed out to users concerning the use of regular and Top-Flite balls and drivers, which is punishable up to $1,000 in fines.
If the infractions continue, the city will be reviewing the rental agreement, possibly making amendments to it or revoking the agreement altogether, which could take up to two months.
3. Fire Station 46, known as Fort Apache, got a massive remake in 2011 and re-opened its doors in October.
The old station was a converted 1950’s residential home that could barely fit the firemen and engines at the same time.
The new station has individual dorm rooms for the fire team and a spacious garage to comfortably fit the two fire engines.
4. Stanton’s Central Park received much attention and moved forward with planning in 2011. After hosting public workshops in which the residents of the city could come to volunteer input on park amenities a plan was unveiled in October.
There will be 11.5 acres that include a stage area, picnic tables, baseball diamond, soccer fields, a skate park, a water play area, a jogging path, tennis courts and two locations for stationary workout equipment.
David Volz Design produced the layout design for the park. Volz said that the plan is looking for “green streets” and low impact design.
The park will be taking the place of a defunct school and golf driving range on Western Avenue.
5. The Tina- Pacific neighborhood had until recently been under the process of having a facelift. The small housing tract, which comprised a whopping 11 percent of all crime in the city, was being placed under eminent domain.
As properties were picked up by the city, the residents moved out and the homes were razed to make way for what was to be a better and hopefully safer neighborhood.
However, the state reclaimed city redevelopment funds and the monies used to purchase the homes was taken away.
