By ANNE MARIE PEETERS WEEMLos Alamos
First of all, I love the idea of improving and adding to the recreation facilities in Los Alamos and have no problem paying more taxes to facilitate this.
The problem is with the allocation of funds: Only a little more that five percent ($1.8 million vs $31.6 million) is allocated to for White Rock, even though we have approximately one-third of Los Alamos County’s population. I know this issue was brought up in the community forums. When expressing my concerns, several reasons were given to justify the funding discrepancy.
- A significant portion of the funds are being spent upgrading existing facilities, such as the Walkup Center and the golf course.
- What about Overlook park? With the exception of ONE softball field, all the other fields will remain as gopher-hole-infested as ever and the restrooms will still be inadequate.
- The county already owns the land on which the Rec Center is slated to be built.
- Could the county not have found a way to procure some land in White Rock, like at Overlook Park?
- The location of the new recreation center on DP Road is the most centrally located for both residents of White Rock and Barranca Mesa.
- No, it is not. The distance from the proposed recreation center to White Rock is still nearly twice the distance to Barranca Mesa. This would not be a big deal were it not for the fact that all the other recreation facilities (the Walkup Center, the golf course, and the YMCA) are already located in Los Alamos. Even the YMCA’s satellite facility is located on the hill.
Yes, I was well aware of all the extra amenities in Los Alamos when we decided to move to White Rock. That does not mean we need to support these vast disparities going forward. As it is now, Los Alamos will get a new recreation center in addition to having its existing facilities upgraded. White Rock gets … a splash pad. Can you understand why some of us are having second thoughts?
I’m still on the fence with this one.
