WATSONVILLE—The Watsonville City Council at Tuesday’s meeting is expected to make a decision on a long-awaited park project at Ramsay Park that would create a haven for the area’s mountain bikers.
City staff is proposing that the old Ramsay Park skatepark on the Harkins Slough Road side be removed so that a bicycle pump track can be constructed in its place.
Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBOSC) would cover all construction costs—thanks in part to a large anonymous donation—and then donate the track to the City, which would only be responsible for obtaining permits and project approvals as well as small landscaping efforts. MBOSC would also be in charge of maintaining the track under the 20-year contract.
If approved, construction could begin sometime in the fall. It is expected to be completed in roughly eight weeks following approval.
MBOSC has completed three similar projects at parks in Live Oak, Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley, according to City staff. It also helped the pump track at Pinto Lake County Park, a project from Alex Fowler of Action Sports Construction, get across the finish line in 2018.
The meeting is set to begin at 4:30pm. To join the meeting visit https://zoom.us/j/92706609937.
City applying for park grants
City staff is also requesting permission to apply for two state grants that would fund park projects at the City Plaza and Ramsay Park.
The City plans to apply for a $3 million Park Development and Revitalization Program Grant to rebuild the City Plaza, and a $177,952 Park Per Capita Program Grant to create a dog park at Ramsay.
Both grants are a part of the $4 billion voter-approved Proposition 68, also known as the Parks, Environment and Water Bond Act of 2018.
The first grant would cover the entire proposed rebuild of the Plaza, which was approved by the City Council last year. The second grant would cover a portion of the $555,000 needed to build the dog park at Ramsay.
The City applied for a Park Development and Revitalization Program Grant last year to fund the proposed City Plaza rebuild, but missed out on the $255 million allocated from the state. The state received a total of 478 applications requesting $2.3 billion last year.
Both grant applications are on the council’s consent agenda, where items that are thought to be non-controversial or routine are placed.
To see the council’s full agenda click here.
