Community center likely over budget

Estimates show the Newport Coast project may exceed $7 million budget by $800,000. With a community center planned for Newport Coast likely to exceed its $7 million budget by about $800,000, the Newport Beach City Council will have to decide if the city should cover the shortfall.

A 2001 legal agreement to annex Newport Coast into Newport Beach dictated the city would build the community center using $7 million in Newport Coast tax money. The center will be owned and operated by the city and will serve all Newport Beach residents.

Getting the community center built has never been a simple matter. The Newport Coast Advisory Committee, which represents residents, sparred with city officials in 2005 over how much parking the center should have, and the city nixed a library from plans for the center because it didn’t fit in the budget.

Rising construction costs and delays to the project led to the current cost overruns, which are projected at $800,000 but won’t officially be known until the city receives construction bids.

Because the residents are providing the land for the center and $7 million to build it, the advisory committee wants the city to pay for the rest, advisory committee chairman Jim McGee said.

That discussion may be wrapped in another issue: whether the city will take possession of baseball fields adjacent to the center site. The fields are now owned by the homeowners’ association of nearby Newport Ridge.

Some council members may want the city to take control of the ball fields, while residents want to keep ownership of it.

City Councilman Tod Ridgeway said he believes the city should pay the added construction costs for the community center and take over the fields.

In his opinion, the annexation agreement is ambiguous on the subject of the ball field property, but a recorded map of the area shows an offer to make the land public.

“The operative language of the map is clear that we can take ownership of those parks,” Ridgeway said.

Whether there’s a consensus on the council is unclear. Councilman John Heffernan, whose council district includes the community center property, said the city probably should pay for the excess construction costs. He’s less concerned about owning the ball fields and noted that the residents of Newport Ridge -- not the city -- paid to build the fields.

“We’re kind of guests to the table,” he said.

But McGee maintains that the annexation agreement says the residents can keep the fields, and it would be unfair for the city to insist otherwise, especially after residents paid for the community center and donated the land for it.

“The residents have exhibited great goodwill in, in essence, providing a $12-million asset to the city,” he said. “This community center is not a Newport Coast community center. It’s a community center for the residents of Newport Beach.”

The city is expected to seek bids for the community center within two weeks. Once bids are in, the council will decide whether to pay any excess costs.

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* ALICIA ROBINSON covers govern- ment and politics. She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at alicia.robinson@latimes.com.