The Winters City Council adopted a resolution to accept irrevocable offers of dedication for Phases One and Two of Three Oaks Park, and authorized the City to officially accept the property at its March 21 meeting.
The staff report attached to the meeting agenda provided some background on the park project, saying the city and developer Homes By Towne (HBT) agreed to a Development Agreement, entered into in 2006 and restated in 2007, which “identifies HBT’s requirement to improve and construct the linear park within the development, to be called Three Oaks Park.”
“There are three phases to the park, identified as Lots X, W and V in the approved subdivision map,” the report continues “This acceptance relates to the first two phases of the park, identified as Lots X and W.” Construction began in 2020, and in 2022 staff worked with HBT and their contractor to remedy some “landscape deficiencies,” before entering the 90-day maintenance period on Dec. 16, which expired on March 13.
With this process completed, staff recommended the council “accept the Irrevocable Offers of Dedication for the park property and accept the land and associated improvements for ownership by the City of Winters.”
Following a presentation by City Manager Kathleen Salguero Trepa, explained some of the remaining details about the park to the councilmembers. She first noted that the parkway strips on the perimeter will be part of the yet-to-be-started Phase Three, which Trepa said she “readily admit(s) is not logical” and that the City will clean it up before the park is opened.
This third lot will be completed at a later date, as the originally negotiated cost cap was $3.2 million for the entire park, but Trepa notes that as of now “approximately $400,000 is remaining after the construction of lots one and two, which…is not going to build us the third phase.” Thus the city has negotiated the reallocation of $1.1 million in flood fees for the third lot, as when the plan was first developed the lots were in a FEMA floodplain, but after the floodplain maps were updated the lots were no longer in that area, making the flood fees no longer necessary.
Leaving HBT and the city with about $1.5 million, Trepa says staff worked with the Three Oaks architect to draw up some plans of what could be done on lot three with that money. Trepa described the designs as a lot of turf and several trees, of which the number can be cut back on from lots One and Two and “a perimeter sidewalk, and a couple concrete paths and walkways through to the other side, that’s all that we anticipate we would be able to fund with the remaining balance.” Trepa also stated that there was a possibility the City may agree to relieve HBT of building this third lot and have the City take on the responsibility, though that decision would be made by the council at a later date.
Trepa also addressed concerns about the lack of restrooms and said the city was allocating utility funds to purchase and set up some.
Chris Dickinson, a representative from HBT, thanked city staff and expressed the company’s excitement to see this project completed. When asked by Trepa when the fences would come down around the park, Dickinson said “we were thinking April 3, as long as we got all the paperwork done.”
The resolution was passed unanimously by Councilmembers.
