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Seaside NIC reviews completed FY 2025–26 projects; playground ribbon-cutting set for July 18
Summary
Neighborhood Improvement Commission staff reported on completed FY 2025–26 projects — including a tree giveaway, new ADA benches, utility-box art wraps and a library mural design — and scheduled a ribbon-cutting for the Lincoln Cunningham playground on July 18. A planned Laguna Grande gazebo remains unfunded; final cost was not specified on the record.
The Seaside Neighborhood Improvement Commission heard an update from Thomas Korman, public works director and city engineer (filling in for the assistant city manager), on projects funded by the NIC during fiscal year 2025–26.
Korman summarized completed work that staff said was approved and funded by the NIC and city council, including a tree giveaway (145 applications submitted, 118 vouchers issued and 103 vouchers redeemed), installation and replacement of benches (including ADA-compliant benches at Laguna Grande and Eucalyptus Road), bike-rack installations pending at Lincoln Cunningham Park, five utility-box art wraps selected by the Art and History Commission on June 16, and Canyon Del Rey median landscaping meant to match plantings at the nearby Embassy Suites.
“Korman said the tree program opened in February 2026 and we issued 118 vouchers; 103 were redeemed,” an exchange in the meeting record shows when commissioners pressed staff for details about the gap between applications and issued vouchers. Korman said he did not personally review all applications and offered possible reasons — prior recipients or ineligible planting sites — but did not provide a definitive explanation on the record.
Korman also reported that bench replacements at Laguna Grande were complete and feature ADA-compliant concrete bench pads to improve durability and maintenance. He said the Art and History Commission selected five designs for the utility-box wrap program; staff will coordinate with utilities such as Pacific Gas and Electric when larger boxes require permits.
On public art, Korman said muralist Pedro Gonzalo Garcia was selected by the Art and History Commission to design a mural for the Seaside Library; the final design will be returned to city council for approval and implementation was estimated at about 60–90 days after that approval. Korman added that lighting and landscaping work around the library is roughly 75% complete.
The commission also discussed a planned grandstand/gazebo for the Lakeside Barbecue area at Laguna Grande Park. Korman said the gazebo was not installed because originally allocated funding was insufficient; those funds were reallocated to picnic-table work and playground equipment. Korman did not provide a firm cost for the gazebo and the transcript records a broad, unclear range when he discussed potential future expenditures. “We did not install the gazebo,” Korman said on the record.
Korman confirmed that new playground equipment for ages 2–5 at Lincoln Cunningham Park is installed (the presentation used a rendering) and that a ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Saturday, July 18, with details to be circulated by the city manager’s office and communications staff.
Why it matters: the presentation documents how NIC allocations were spent and identifies remaining needs and next steps for public-works projects in Seaside. Commissioners used the update to press staff for more granular program data (for example, the tree voucher issuance process) and to request future agenda items about park maintenance schedules.
The commission did not take any formal votes on new project funding at the meeting; staff said some items will return to council for design approval or budget consideration.
