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development should not occur until the New Cities development is completed and the Spotomo properties are developed, with the bypass road confirmed. Dolores Bengtson, 568 Hamilton Way, thanked Council for making sure trails and open space were an important part of the golf course project consistent with the City's community trails master plan. In the early 1990s the master plan committee of the Parks and Recreation Commission, with considerable input from the Planning Department staff and many citizens, first placed a line on a map representing a future trail over that south hill. Later that trail alignment was embraced by the East Bay Regional Park District. When completed, that will be a regional trail between Arroyo Del Valle and Shadow Cliffs to Pleasanton Ridgelands Park, a link between two other major regional trails. The 2.5 miles of trail in this project will be the first completed link of this important regional trail. She knew that some of the mitigations for this project include local land acquisition on Pleasanton Ridge, and as a taxpayer she happily assumed any burden that may place on her because the improvements to Pleasanton Ridgelands Park is extremely important to the City. This project also includes 360 acres of permanently preserved open space, a treasure to residents, their children, and grandchildren. She thanked Council for developing a project that includes trails and open space as key amenities. Vince Barletta, 6290 Laura Lane, President of the Alisal Improvement Club (AIC), asked Council to support the Planning Commission's recommended conditions 18 and 35. He felt the Commission wanted to expedite the bypass road study. The golf course and homes will not be available for use or occupancy within six months. So as long as the study is carried out in a reasonable time frame, there should be no impact to the City or the developers. By supporting the study the Council and developers will show their commitment to the community. That study will provide accurate information on the cost of building a bypass road. With financing rates at an historical low, now is the time to know those costs and to float the bond offering to cover the golf course and the bypass road. He thought that at one point there was money earmarked for the bypass road in the golf course budget. He asked if those funds were still there? He felt it was prudent to know the costs of the road and include that in any bond offering. Five years in the future, it may be more difficult to fund a bypass road. Finally, he referred to the EIR for this project. The annexation was characterized as completely different from the first application, which is why it could go forward, yet the same EIR was used. He did not understand why the same EIR could be used, especially if the bypass road is not included and if Happy Valley Road were closed. Finally, he felt the ideal time to build a bypass road was at the same time as the golf course construction. Ifa great deal of soil has to be removed for the road, that dirt could be moved to the golf course site. Once the golf course is completed, any soil removal would have to be trucked out of the area. Ms. McKeehan said in the early stages of this project, there was talk about the funding for a bypass road alternative. At that point, the costs were unknown. As the project was formulated, it became clearer that the City could not guarantee the bypass road and there were no numbers to use for budget purposes, so the budget for the golf course does not include the cost of the bypass road and has not included it for some time. That has nothing to do with money, but the fact that it is unknown where the road would be located. Pleasanton City Council 12 09/17/02 Minutes