One thing that the Cuesta Annex flood basin will do is preserve it as a park in perpetuity. As it is now, the topic of selling it to a housing developer comes up every few years. Once the SCVWD has an easement there, it can't be developed.

Is it me, or is it that all of a sudden the city and county are flush with money?

Actually, le dude, this is paid for by the Water District which has its own funds, independent of city and county funds. The Water District, for example, will pay for the improvements to McKelvey Park, not the city.

Why can't the new annex design include hills or more rolling kinda landscape design so as to allow old trees to stay and the flood basin be to be dug out around. much like the grass basins already incorporated in the parks design.

I hope the artificial turf isn't the kind that has been getting all the press that includes "the gassing off of the PCB's, PPC's, PEC's" whatever the latest acroynym is for the nasty fumes and chemicals that comes off that artificial crud. The field at Graham middle school makes for nice track but the field is always hotter then the surrounding ground and smells of chemicals and overheated rubber, especially when sun is out. The surface radiates enough heat on hot days that it contribute to quicker dehydration and heat exhaustion. I have read of instances where these surfaces can get hot enough to soften or melt the soles on some shoes.
Also it is littered with black pellets; not sure if they're part of the design or scuffed up debris that surfaces through use. But the kids are constantly gathering these rubber leavings into piles when sitting near or on the field. Can't be good especially if they don't wash their hands before they have lunch, snack, or put any other handled or exposed item in mouth. I've also read that chemicals stay on and even build up in clothing that is in repeated contact with these materials if not washed frequently.
Scarey stuff considering it's at the High School too. This exposes some of our kids, almost daily, for at least seven years.
We already have areas of our city declared unsafe that have the same and/or similar chemicals gassing off from, and percolateing into our soil and ground water.(The air, soil, and water on older industrial sites and surrounding area of Moffet is still under manditory testing and monitoring; not to mention the gasoline additive SNAFU)
Just not sure we should be replacing every sports field with this stuff. There are schools and cities already removing these fields because of overheating issues as well as the chemical levels detected in and around these fields.

Concerned Parent, born and raised in Mtn. View

jmc- Great observations and legitimate concerns. The black pellets are placed there to help the artificial glass blades stay upright and flexible and to prevent them from being mated down. Seven years of toxic exposure for the kids. You've got to love it how this city manages things. It's all about nice things to look at regardless of the cost.

A win-win for the city. Tax money spent well on protecting the city.

jac -- the design does include rolling landscape like in other parts of Cuesta Park and it does avoid most of the existing large trees. The conceptual design for the basin was done by the same landscape design firm that originally designed Cuesta Park 40 years ago.

The article is incorrect on the acreage of the basin -- it will be 4.5 acres, not 7.5 acres. The oak woodland in the back 2/3 of the Annex will remain untouched.

Thanks cuesta neigbor for the info on the landscape design for the annex. I own up to my total ignorance on the proposed design, I was just commenting based on the above article that claimed (albeit handful) of old trees were being removed. Just thinking the old ones are always the best; and how many is a handful anyways; more then a couple, less then a dozen?