Sports funding comes up for vote

The city of Newport Beach has gotten behind the effort to build new athletic facilities at Costa Mesa’s high schools, pledging funds to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to help it cover costs.

At tonight’s school board meeting, members will vote on whether to accept $225,000 from the city over the next three years to help pay for a football stadium at Estancia High School and an Olympic-sized swimming pool at Costa Mesa High School. The item is on the school board’s consent calendar and expected to pass.

Under its Measure F bond, the district plans to erect both facilities within the next 10 years. The Estancia stadium is on Supt. Robert Barbot’s facility plan for the first bond sale this year, while the Costa Mesa pool waits on the second bond list for 2008. Both projects, together, are budgeted at about $18 million.

The Newport Beach contribution, although small, represents the city’s own stake in its neighbor’s athletic facilities. The Costa Mesa football teams frequently use Newport Harbor High School’s Davidson Field for home games, and Estancia used the Newport Harbor pool for much of last year when its own pool was out of use.

“I think that we could see the need for the athletic facilities within the overall Newport-Mesa school district, and that if you had a facility that could take some of the load off of Davidson Field, it would be an overall benefit to both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach,” said Mayor Don Webb. “It was just the right thing to do.”

Webb noted that the City Council had already allocated funds for the Costa Mesa projects in its current budget, since the citizens group Costa Mesa United had approached the city last year asking for support. The agreement between the city and school district specifies $75,000 annually over three years, with the first payment due on June 30.

Ultimately, Webb said, the city found it easier to work with the district directly.

“We would prefer to deal public agency to public agency,” he said.

Costa Mesa United, which has held numerous fundraisers in the past two years, has accumulated about $1.3 million in pledges, including the funds from Newport Beach. The city of Costa Mesa pledged $1 million to the group last year. However, Mayor Allan Mansoor said the city was withholding its contribution for the time being because it wanted to see how far Measure F funds would go toward supporting the projects.

Mike Scheafer, another board member of Costa Mesa United, cheered Newport Beach’s decision to provide funds to the district.

“I’m very optimistic,” he said. “I think the voters [through Measure F] let everybody know it’s a project they want done, so I’m very hopeful and very positive. Hopefully, we’re going to see some shovels in the ground soon.”

The grant agreement between the city and district identifies traffic as a key concern, citing congestion around Newport Harbor on days when other schools are using its facilities. Newport Harbor has had chronic traffic and parking problems during the past several years, with the neighboring St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church recently making an unsuccessful offer to expand the student parking lot.

The Costa Mesa high schools have also used Orange Coast College for football and other sports, although Newport Harbor is the most common choice. Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Katrina Foley, a Costa Mesa United board member, said the Estancia stadium could also host Pop Warner football and other league sports.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” she said.