A park in East Lathrop will soon be getting a whole host of upgrades thanks to a combination of state grant funding and proceeds from the city’s one-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in 2012.
Milestone Manor Park – located at 630 Milestone Drive behind Save Mart – will soon be receiving $725,000 worth of additions and upgrades that will make it more user-friendly for the residents who live in that area thanks to the approval of a proposal to the Lathrop City Council Monday night.
After the California Office of Grants and Local Services announced that Proposition 68 funding was available for local governments for park upgrades, the City of Lathrop applied for funding on a per capita basis and was awarded $177,952 as a result – cutting the City of Lathrop’s revitalization plan contribution down to only $547,048.
And there is a lot that is going to be done that with that money.
According to the proposal submitted to the council, the option chosen will include the removal of older picnic tables and benches and a number of trees to make the park more open and the installation of park drainage, accessible sidewalks, and new benches, picnic tables, and garbage cans.
The funding allocated by the council will also be used to purchase and install a small children’s play structure and rubberized playground surface, a walkway bridge, barbecues, dual park entries with gates, a 4-foot perimeter fence around the 1-acre site, concrete stepping stones, an accessible interior path, a seat wall, and redesigned landscaping.
The option chosen by the council was $300,000 more than the other option that was included in their packet but included a host of features and options that weren’t included in the cheaper of the two scenarios that were on the table.
The council had already approved $355,900 in the current fiscal year budget, so the council’s approval on Monday will transfer $369,100 from the city’s Measure C reserves to the cover the remainder of the cost associated with the upgrades.
Proposition 68 was approved by California voters in June of 2018 and authorized the issuance of bonds to pay for drought, water, parks, climate, coastal protection, and outdoor access for all.
The City of Lathrop contracted with LKA Landscape Architecture Planning to develop the two options that were on the table.
While nearly all of the residential development occurring within Lathrop’s city limits is centered on the areas west of I-5, the city’s investment in East Lathrop is on par with previous efforts to ensure that residents in the older area of the community aren’t without recreational opportunities. For example, the city’s first skate park was located in East Lathrop, and when the city opened the Lathrop Generations Center with its state-of-the-art skate facility they also renovated the original skate park with the addition of pre-fabricated sections that will hold up a lot longer than the treated plywood park that existed there before.
To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.
