Yorba Linda: equestrian center lease extended; crime insurance coverage quadrupled; money for Veterans Memorial repairs appropriated by city

Three Yorba Linda City Council actions merit ink this week: A 20-year lease extension for the Phillip Paxton Equestrian Center, a quadrupling of the city's crime insurance coverage and an appropriation to repair the Veterans Memorial.

The new 20-year lease for the 5.5-acre equestrian center on Buena Vista Avenue replaces a year-to-year pact with the Orange County Flood Control District in place since 1975. The lease continues the center's rent-free preservation of open space with a non-commercial recreation facility.

One clause allows the flood control district to terminate the lease on 180 days notice if the center's activities “interfere with the district's use of the impound area or impede a critically important public infrastructure project,” Parks and Recreation Director Mike Kudron reported.

However, Kudron noted, the lease “also states that every effort will be made by the district to allow continuance of the lease.” The lease states the city acknowledges the primary purpose of the leased area is for flood control.

The city can't collect money for use of the premises, and “under no circumstances shall an entrance, spectator or gate fee be charged to those who use the premises,” Kudron stated. The city can issue permits in which parts of the premises are temporarily used by a group.

The city's capital improvement program's long-range budget contains several maintenance and improvement projects for the center, with some to be initiated within the next two years.

The city's crime insurance coverage will increase from $5 million to $20 million as a safeguard against possible fraud or embezzlement of city funds. The $5 million coverage will remain with California Insurance Pool Authority, with added coverage by Great American Insurance.

“The city has a robust set of internal controls designed to minimize the risk of any fraud or embezzlement on the part of city employees or contractors,” Scott Catlett, finance director, reported to council members.

“However,” he noted, “there is always a small possibility that a situation could avoid detection, at least for a period of time,” adding that “staff have specifically analyzed examples of failures from other agencies to ensure that similar weaknesses do not exist in the city's controls.”

The new coverage has a $50,000 deductible and $8,500 annual premium. Catlett deemed the new policy as “prudent and cost-effective.”

Cost to repair the Veterans Memorial on Valley View Avenue north of Yorba Linda Boulevard will be $121,172. In December 2017 a eucalyptus branch fell and damaged the eagle statue and a granite bench.

Repairs are to be made by Building Construction Specialties, whose owner, Gary Brattain, created the eagle. His son, Joel, an Esperanza High School graduate, was killed in Iraq in 2004. The memorial was dedicated in 2009.

Insurance will cover repairs, except for a $10,000 deductible. Expected completion is Oct. 31.