Volume 13
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Issue 3
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March 24 - April 6, 2016
YOUR COMMUNITY IN YOUR HANDS AVILA BEACH • SHELL BEACH • PISMO BEACH • GROVER BEACH • ARROYO GRANDE • HALCYON • OCEANO
Baseball is in action on the Central Coast. Pick up some peanuts and crackerjacks and head out to a game. See more photos on page 4. Photo by RAPhotos.com
Grover Turns Down $2 Million With Plans to Pursue Vision
Fire Authority Updates Council Equipment aging & staffing levels constrained By Theresa-Marie Wilson
By Theresa-Marie Wilson
T
he Grover Beach City Council recently voted 4-1 to turn down more than $2 million in grant funds that would go towards a huge project that dates back decades. The decision was based on keeping an important component of the long-awaited Grover Beach Lodge and Conference Center located at the beach adjacent to West Grand Avenue. Councilwoman Shah dissented. The project is a joint partnership between the city,
tolosapress.com
California State Parks, which owns the property, and Pacifica Companies, a development company based in San Diego. The $30 million project on the table includes a 150-room hotel with a 4,000 squarefoot internal conference center and restaurant as well as space for equestrian and recreational vehicle users. As approved the project also includes a standalone 11,000
Asian Fusion: Oasis Page 36
Tea Time Page 38
See Vision, page 9
T
he Five Cities Fire Authority recently presented a mid-year report to the Grover Beach City Council detailing an outlook on where the department is and what the future holds. The Joint Powers Agreement that united Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach and Oceano into the FCFA is five years old. “The board and staff have worked to identify opportunities and discussion points to potentially revise the JPA document,” FCFA Chief
Steve Lieberman said adding that any changes would follow the direction of the communities the fire department serves. “We’ve been pretty busy as a department with a diverse amount of call types; vehicle accidents, fires, and high-angle rope rescues. We have had significant structure fires in this last year, a lot of local wild-land fires and campaign fires.”
See Authority, page 41