Guadalupe held a meeting on Jan. 12 to get community input about how to improve local infrastructure.
“There was something like 80 people, which I was told was a pretty big turnout,” said Todd Bodem, the new city administrator.
The meeting concerned a $206,450 Sustainable Communities Grant the city received in 2018. The grant, which came from the California Department of Transportation, is part of $3 million the city has available for local infrastructure improvements, Bodem said.
The gathering, or what he called a “revitalization plan public workshop,” is designed to enhance community engagement and to mine for more complete feedback.
Community members have shown interest in improving sidewalks downtown and making sure that any changes to ease and control traffic flow are palatable to the community. For local residents, that means more traffic signals and preventing the addition of roundabouts.
Guadalupe has charted a course of increased population, starting with the Pasadera Homes development. Bodem said people at the meeting were stressed that the new development could strangle traffic flow.
The Jan. 12 meeting is part of several initiatives the city is adding to boost engagement and public feedback. Bodem said he suggested creating a committee of community members who could add more feedback for city plans like local, small-scale infrastructure improvements and additions.
“I suggested that we include a school superintendent, a priest, and maybe a banker,” he said. “The whole purpose is to create vibrancy for downtown and the community.”
But the city is still very early in its planning and development process.
One of Bodem’s goals when he began the job in November was to try and leverage state grants into more money for additional and better improvements. He said that could be one trick he’ll try with the $3 million as the city continues to craft its vision for what it wants to be.
With a planned house count of 802 houses, Pasadera Homes is little more than a quarter of the way finished with construction estimated to continue for at least another four years. Commercial development is expected to arrive in Guadalupe, but not until about 600 homes are built, giving the city time to decide how it wants to plan its traffic flow and various sidewalk connections.
Councilmembers and Mayor Ariston Julian have publicly expressed their interest in bringing more people to the downtown area.
Bodem said one focus of the new improvements would be for the city to have some consideration for aesthetics.
