District holds joint meeting with city to address new facility agreement

By Courtney Hughey
Staff Writer

At an April 22 joint Manhattan Beach City Council and Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, the city and Board members discussed an updated shared use agreement of district property between the city and MBUSD.

The proposed agreement would span over the next five years and includes 14 district facilities including Polliwog Park, fields, pools and outdoor tennis and basketball courts. The city is expecting to pay an additional $500,000 to the district for the facilities.

“We found a price that will allow the district to get compensation, enabling the city to provide the best facilities,” MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews said.

Additionally, the new proposal addresses city use of the Mira Costa pool, which is not included in the current agreement. The city requests use of the pool starting at 5:30 p.m on weekdays and all day on weekends, holidays and school breaks. Manhattan Beach will pay $250,000 to compensate for maintenance of the facility and other costs.

“The school district has properties that are valuable to Manhattan Beach residents,” Manhattan Beach City Manager David Carmany said. “The city is proposing this to gain more community value within Manhattan Beach.”

The costs for the use of the new facilities will be $250,000, which is comprised of maintenance, lease and labor costs. However, the city must raise an additional $36,790 in order to pay for the new facilities in the revised agreement.

“The city has the ability to put programs in place and to provide workers for managing and maintaining conditions of all of the facilities,” Mayor Pro Tem Amy Howorth said. “Especially with the five-year proposal, the city has an opportunity to efficiently integrate this agreement appropriately into our current budget.”

Currently, sources of revenue for the new facilities and ways to solve poor field conditions and decreased pool space for residents are still being worked out. These issues will be discussed at the next City Council meeting on May 7.

“I hope that we will reach one unified agreement,” Matthews said. “City services are a part of what make our city great.”