WHINE WEDNESDAY
Mammoth Public Works Director Haislip Hayes was unhappy with the Sheet’s report on the Mammoth Arts and Cultural Center (MACC) project oversight published last week.
He expressed this displeasure at Wednesday’s Planning and Economic Development Commission (PEDC) meeting.
“There was a bit of interesting writing in the Sheet that really did not tell the truth about the project,” he said.
He went on to explain that the MACC began as a Mammoth Lakes Foundation (MLF) Project and has only recently become a Town of Mammoth Lakes project.
“Towards the latter parts of this most recent iteration, it became clear that we didn’t have enough funding to get the project over the finish line,” he said. “And so a plan came together to work with the Foundation on basically a sale of land from the Foundation to the Town and the revenue from that would […] support scholarships and such but also to help fund this project.”
In that process, the Town took on the MACC project wholly and began doing a process of due diligence, he said. Through that process, the town learned that the $7.5 million in bond funds from Kern Community College District (KCCD) came with a string attached. Building plans required adherence to/approval from the Division of the State Architect (DSA) requirements.
“It was a surprise to everybody involved,” he said. “We’re in the process of evaluating what that means.”
It may have been surprise to Hayes and company. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone else.
The Foundation, according to its Executive Director Kendra Knight, bifurcated the project so it’s responsible for Phase 1 and the Town for Phase 2, which encompasses the MACC.
The Foundation has known all along such a project required DSA approval. Phase 1 was signed off on by the DSA and will be complete by mid-December.
If the Town is having an issue with its Phase 2 plans, that’s entirely on the Town for its lack of due diligence.
Hayes said the Town has an idea what the extra cost of DSA compliance might be, based on current plans, which is the $1.5-2 million figure reported last week. “But that number is not absolute,” he said.
Hayes said he plans to bring roughly the same information that was presented to the PEDC when the MLF deal was originally made, and hopes DSA “blesses” the plans so the Town can move forward, he said. If not, it’s back to the drawing board.
“This has a storied history and it hasn’t been bungled by anybody, it’s just that new things come to light and as this project moves through the process,” Hayes said.
The town is still committed to finishing the project and is working on figuring out how to articulate that to the public, he concluded.
“Clear as mud, but more information to occur,” Michael Vanderhurst Commission Chair said.
Clarifying questions from the PEDC led Hayes to discuss the bond.
The bond dates back to 2000, he said, and the language in the original literature has made it unclear if the Town can actually use those bond funds.
Various lawyers are busy dissembling, er, discussing.
Town Manager Rob Patterson remains adamant that whatever happens with the College District bond, a MACC project in some form will happen.
