CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
February 24, 2025
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Anita D. Scott, City Manager
Submitted By: Meg McWade, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: CITYWIDE PARK RESTROOM UPDATE AND CITY COUNCIL DIRECTION REGARDING TED GREENE PARK PRIORITIES RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended City Council receive and file an update on City park restroom conditions, with rehabilitation needs of $3,125,000, and consider the following options for Ted Greene Park Restrooms:
Direct staff to actively seek grant funding from outside sources for full restroom/concession stand replacement using shovel-ready plans and highlighting community support for improvements; or Direct Staff to perform renovations including ADA compliance (not including the surrounding concrete pavement) and replace the roof at a cost of approximately $160,000. This would change each stall to a single occupancy restroom with a locking exterior door, update fixtures, and repaint, as well as replace the failing roof.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This item will provide background information on Citywide park restroom conditions and funding needs, as well as seek guidance from City Council on Ted Greene Park Restroom options.
SB1439/GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLICABILITY:
☐ When this box is checked, it indicates the agenda item is subject to the Levine Act SB1439 requirements. Councilmembers are reminded to check their campaign contributions and determine whether they have received a campaign contribution of $500 or more that would require disclosure and/or recusal from discussing or acting on this agenda item. Campaign contributions of $500 or more made 1) by any person or entity who is identified in the agenda report as the applicant or proposer or 2) on behalf of the applicant or participant, including a parent, subsidiary or otherwise related business entity, or 3) by any person who has a financial interest in the agenda item requires a councilmember to comply with SB1439.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Citywide needs for park restroom rehabilitation is $3,125,000, excluding Garfield Park, which is subject to a future Master Planning effort, and Palomares Park La Casita Teen Center Restrooms, which will be renovated through another grant process. The $3.125M provides for rehabilitation rather than full replacement and includes the Option 2 renovation scenario for Ted Greene Park Restrooms. The costs for full replacement at Ted Greene Park would be approximately $1M based on current bid prices, if the project were constructed this year.
There are two main sources of funding available for Citywide park improvements. These sources typically include the City’s General Fund and the Los Angeles County Regional Parks and Open Space District Measure A, which provides the City of Pomona with annual allocations for park improvements based on north and south areas. The availability of General Fund is significantly impacted by Measure Y and is not recommended at this time. The Measure A Northside allocation balance is currently $131,225.54, with an additional annual allocation of approximately $320,000 anticipated in FY26. This $451,225.54 is anticipated to be the amount available for CIP park improvements in the Northside area. There is anticipated to be $250,055.03 in (FY27) the Southside area which can be directed to this project with community and City Council support.
The fiscal impact for Ted Greene Park renovations will be determined based upon which, if any, recommendations are selected. The table below depicts potential fiscal impact scenarios:
Ted Greene Park Restroom Options
Cost
Potential Funding Source
Actively seek grant and/or outside funding for full replacement of restroom/concession stand.
TBD
Measure A – Northside Allocation should grant or outside funds require a match Renovate restrooms (not surrounding concrete) to make ADA compliant, upgrade facilities, and replace roof $160,000
Measure A – Northside Allocation
New ADA Compliant Restroom and Snack Bar and repairs to surrounding concrete $1,228,736*
*Estimate based on current construction bid price of $910,285 plus 20% for contingency and construction management, equaling $1,092,342 plus a 4% escalation factor for each year assuming the project is awarded in four years. Should the project be built after that timeframe, these costs would need to be escalated for inflation/construction cost changes.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
On December 16, 2024, the City Council awarded a contract to ARC Construction, Inc. for “Park Restroom Construction and Replacements,” Project No. 428-2590-XXXXX-71079 to fund the replacement of restrooms at Tony Cerda Park, Washington Park, Palomares Park, John F. Kennedy Park, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Park at a cost of $3,276,372.74.
On January 6, 2025, City Council directed staff to provide a park restroom update to include Ted Greene Park Restroom/Concession Facility.
On February 3, 2025, City Staff presented the updated Ten-Year Financial Forecast to City Council to receive and file. The forecast shows that restructuring of existing City services will be required to implement Measure Y and maintain the solvency of the General Fund.
DISCUSSION:
Background
Based on recent concerns expressed at City Council meetings related to Ted Greene Park restrooms as well as questions regarding utilization of Los Angeles County Regional Parks and Open Space District Measure A Allocations to renovate soccer fields or preform other park improvements, City Council directed staff to bring an item related to the Park Restrooms including Ted Greene Park.
The City has 30 parks with the recent additions of Phillips Ranch Greenbelt and the development of Meadowview Demonstration Garden. There are 22 restroom or restroom/concession facilities planned in 20 of the City’s parks, further providing services to the community. These parks require ongoing regular maintenance as well as major infrastructure improvements. The City has invested a significant amount of money into enhancing parks and park features through various sources, including general funding, grants, and congressional earmarks, as demonstrated in Attachment 1, “Exhibit A – Recent City Investment in Parks.” To continue the City’s commitment to park improvements, at the June 15, 2023, Parks and Recreation Commission Meeting, staff provided a presentation on park restroom replacement needs and determined the highest priority needs were at Tony Cerda Park, Cesar Chavez Park, Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, Washington Park, Palomares Park, Kennedy Park, and Ted Greene Park. The City created a Capital Improvement Program (CIP) Project, “Park Restroom Construction and Replacement,” Project no. 428-2590-XXXXX-71079 and appropriated $2,500,000 of American Rescue Plan Funding to the Project. It was later determined that residents near Cesar Chavez Park did not want to add a restroom at this location. In addition, it was determined that Kennedy Park and Ted Greene Park could be completed only if additional funding was identified since both locations had a need for restrooms and concession stands.
When bids for construction were received, the bids were much higher than the $2,500,000 of American Rescue Plan (ARP) Funds budgeted in the project. As a result, on December 16, 2024, the City Council allocated an additional $1,374,671 of ARP funds to the project for five parks – Tony Cerda, Washington Park, Palomares Park, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, with Kennedy Park selected based in large part on the ARP allocations by District. Unfortunately, Ted Greene Park’s restroom/snack bar came in at $910,285 for construction costs alone, which was much higher than the budget would allow. At the January 6, 2024 City Council meeting, the community expressed concerns that the Ted Greene Park Restroom/Concession facility which had been discussed many times would not be constructed. The City Council directed Staff to return with an informational item on park restrooms including potential options for Ted Greene Park.
Citywide Park Restroom Condition and Funding Needs
The following page includes the condition assessment and proposed rehabilitation/repairs by park. While the focus is park restrooms, it should be noted that the Citywide identified rehabilitation/repair needs of approximately $3.125 Million do not address other park infrastructure improvements such as playgrounds, lighting, field renovations, sports courts surfacing, parking lots, community centers, roofs, gazebos, etc. Staff is working to develop a rough order of magnitude needs assessment to aid in future planning and investment decisions.
Citywide Restroom Condition / Funding Needs
Park Improvement Funding Sources
The park restroom needs of $3.125M, including Ted Greene Park renovations, are significantly greater than the funding sources available to the City. There are two main sources of funding available for park improvements: General Fund and Los Angeles County Regional Parks and Open Space District Measure A. Other funding sources can be used at parks, such as grants, Federal earmarks, as well as CDBG funding. Other funding sources – as well as recent grants – are discussed in detail in Attachment 4. Another parks related funding source is Development Impact Fees (DIF). DIF fees, however, can only be used for park aquiistion, expansion or new improvements at parks that have a nexus with new housing development, so it is not anticipated this funding source could be used at Ted Greene Park.
General Fund as a Potential Funding Source
With the recent passage of The Pomona’s Youth First Initiative, Measure Y, the City is facing the budget constaints. Measure Y requires an additional 10 percent of general fund unrestricted revenues to be diverted to children’s programming provided by outside organizations within the City by the 2030-31 Fiscal Year. Allocation of additional funds would start at 2 percent in the second half of the 2024-25 fiscal year and increase annually until it reaches 10 percent by the 2031 fiscal year. February 3, 2025, the City presented its 10-year financial forecast, which shows a dwindling General Fund surplus until the fund balance is negative by 2031.
With Measure Y as a consideration, it is unlikely that there is available General Funding to provide for funding beyond repairs, depending on the cost of the repair. As a result, General Fund is not recommended. Prior to Measure Y, the City used General Fund money over the years to fund various parks projects through allocations, use of General Fund operational reserves, or CIP reserves.
Measure A as a Potential Funding Source
The Los Angeles County Regional Parks and Open Space District provides the City of Pomona with annual allocations of Measure A Funding. This funding was approved in November 2016, authorizing dedicated local funding for new park, recreation, and open space projects and their maintenance through an annual special tax of 1.5 cents per square foot of building floor area on all taxable real property in the County. The City’s annual allocations are divided between what the County mapped as the Northside and Southside Study Areas. Maps illustrating the study areas are included as Attachments 2 and 3. Currently, there is a balance of $131,225.54 available in the Northside Study Area and $55.33 available in the Southside Study Area. It is conservatively estimated the City should receive approximately $570,000 between the two study areas in September 2025. The amount available for improvement projects in FY 26 and FY 27(including the remaining balances) is anticipated to be:
Northside Study Area: $ 451,225.54
Southside Study Area: $ 250,055.33
The City can elect to use these Measure A funds within the year they are allocated or bank them for future use. According to the granting representatives, the funding can’t be used for reimbursing projects. In other words, the City does not have the option to fund an approved project with another source to build the improvement and then use future allocations to reimburse project costs. It should be noted that all usage requires approval from the Los Angeles County Regional Parks and Open Space District with the requirements that funds are used for new or renovated amenities. It cannot be used for general maintenance or repairs. The City does receive a separate, smaller allocation of funding from Measure A that can be used for repairs and maintenance on Measure A-funded projects. Measure A funding has primarily been utilized throughout the City to improve or construct park amenities with the improvements highlighted in Attachment 3.
Ted Greene Park Restroom Options
As requested, City Council is being provided options to consider for potentially funding Ted Greene Park restroom rehabilitation or replacement. These options were developed in light of the greater context of City park needs and the anticipated General Fund budget reductions that will be implemented due to the passage of Measure Y. The options below represent considerations for Ted Greene Park restrooms, given present budget constraints. The options include:
Direct staff to actively seek grant funding from outside sources for full restroom/concession stand replacement using shovel-ready plans and highlighting community support for improvements; or The City would actively pursue grants and outside funding sources with the benefits of having a shovel-ready project and an engaged community that wants to see these restrooms at a very active park.
Direct Staff to perform renovations to make restrooms ADA compliant (not including the surrounding concrete pavement), upgrade the facility, and replace the roof at a cost of approximately $160,000.
This will provide for tearing down the walls to make one ADA compliant stall with one sink and one baby changing table for both men and women restrooms. Additionally, this provides replacement of fixtures, new exterior doors, repainting of interior/exterior surfaces, replacement flooring, and re-roofing. As a note, this does not address the ADA accessibility issues along the surrounding concrete pavement area of the facility; or Direct Staff to utilize the next four years of Los Angeles County Regional Parks and Open Space District Measure A (Measure A) years of Measure A – North funding for a new ADA compliant restroom and snack bar in Ted Greene Park, including the surrounding concrete pavement areas, at a cost of approximately $1.23 Million.
This provides for necessary site work, new surrounding concrete, and a new restroom and concession building at Ted Greene Park. The facility will be fully ADA compliant including surrounding concrete area. Funding would need to be taken from the City’s annual Measure A funding, which will be discussed in greater detail below. Currently, there is not a sufficient balance in Measure A funding for this, and it is not likely to accumulate to a sufficient level until 2029, assuming no other usage of Measure A.
The importance of park improvements including those at Ted Greene Park is undisputed and limited resources make Citywide improvement prioritization discussions essential. Staff will implement the direction provided by City Council.
Prepared by:
Shandy Dittman
Public Works Fiscal and Project Manager
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment No. 1 – Northside Study Area Map
Attachment No. 2 – Southside Study Area Map
Attachment No. 3 – Park Funding Map
Attachment No. 4 – Measure A and Other Park Improvement Funding Sources and Funded Project List Discussion Regarding Ted Greene Park Priorities