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Placentia residents could soon see more tax dollars spent repairing deteriorating streets as city council members consider reallocating sales tax money – Measure U funds – to repave local roads.
At last week’s meeting, the city council discussed where to allocate Measure U funds after staff recommended spending $3.3 million to replace the Golden Avenue Bridge and $1.4 million to replace a leaking fuel tank.
But residents told city council members that they should prioritize spending on road repairs using Measure U money – a 1% sales tax increase to finance infrastructure projects and public safety.
Council members voted to allocate $3.3 million to repair the Golden Avenue Bridge but said they will explore using more Measure U funds for street improvements, including potentially delaying the fuel tank replacement.
Each city department submitted a request to receive Measure U funding for capital improvement projects which were then ranked with public safety being the highest priority, according to Cris Tanio, director of public works.
Interim City Administrator Tom Hatch said replacing the Golden Avenue Bridge is a high priority, as the city risks losing $2.2 million in funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FWHA).
“We need to allocate $3.3 million to finish that project,” said Hatch. “If we don’t allocate that and show that to the federal government, by September, we lose that $2.2 million of federal money that helps us take care of a local need.”
Mayor Kevin Kirwin said the city requested that the county help fund the reconstruction of the bridge, which may alleviate some of the costs.
The state mandates the removal of the fuel tank and could fine the city up to $10,000 per day, but it does not require a replacement.
“We have to remove it, or we will keep getting fined,” said Councilman Chad Wanke.
Measure U funds will be allocated in June when the city finalizes its 2025-2026 capital improvement projects.
Residents voiced frustration over the city prioritizing other projects while neglecting street conditions.
Resident Mark Hamill said the city has failed to prioritize hazardous streets and continues to invest resources in the same zones.
“Last fall’s priorities were exactly the same as the fall priorities that came up for Feb. 13 of this year,” Hammil said. “I haven’t seen any improvement on my street.”
Placentia voted in November to repave parts of Melrose Street, Chapman Avenue, and residential streets.
Resident Guillermo Noffal said the fight for funding was dividing the community.
“We’re now at the point where we’re pinning community members against each other in order for the city to find funding for what is a necessity,” said Noffal.
He added that some neighborhoods have been overlooked for years leading to gravel roads and dangerous conditions.
“We feel that our streets, particularly in our neighborhood, in the Ponderosa neighborhood, are extremely degraded and have been neglected for well over 30 years,” said Noffal.
Wanke said repaving and slurring roads that have been done recently is a slap in the face to residents with crumbling roads.
“So our philosophy, which I understand, hasn’t worked,” Wanke said. “All it’s done is it’s led to us essentially having a good PCI, but practically speaking, we’ve got gravel roads in town.”
Wanke said fixing the street conditions is not only a safety concern but also a liability for the city.
“There’s chunks of pavement in Rose, there’s chunks of pavement in Palm, and it’s constant, and at some point, somebody’s going to run over one of these on a motorcycle or a bike or something, and we’re gonna get sued,” he said.
Pavement Condition Index (PCI) measures the quality of pavement and roads. Placentia currently has a CPI of 79.7, which is at the lower end of the ideal range of 79 to 81 for cities, according to the staff report.
“I would not recommend spending any more money to go toward the 86 PCI,” said Tanio. “That is just like paying your house every year or changing your engine oil every 500 miles.”
Councilman Jeremy Yamaguchi also said the city needs to change its approach to maintaining the streets.
“Because years ago, that was the philosophy, the roads that are already gone are too far gone. We’ll wait until we have the money to do it,” he said. “But here we are, 8 to 10 years later, and we’re still saying the same thing.”
Tanio said the city has another $2.6 million available in July that can go toward improving streets but has a funding gap of about $6.4 million.
“We always say the people are the city, said Wanke, adding,” If the people are the city, their roads should come first.”
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