DOWNTOWN RECONSTRUCTION UPDATE
"SOME OF THE WORST IS FINISHED"
Three public utilities are getting installed or repaired in the streets of downtown Victoria. 
1) Stormwater pipe is being newly installed.  It's total new construction.
2) Municipal water lines are requiring some repair and replacement.
3) Sanitary sewer lines are requiring some repair and replacement.
For a number of important reasons, downtown streets have been torn apart more than once to accommodate these three projects.  Sewer pipe, for example, is very large and must not be laid closer than 10 feet from the water line to prevent the possibility of water contamination.
Still to come:  the burying of electric, cable, and phone lines.  These utilities are buried closer to the surface and do not require such gaping quakes in the earth.
TKDA, the city engineering firm, is the project manager on the downtown utility projects.  Councilmembers thanked Jack Griffin and TKDA for taking all equipment off the street each evening and making the streets passable at least until morning.
On June 26th City Engineer Jack Griffin reported that the entire project is "proceeding fairly well and on schedule."  He said the sanitary sewer and watermain projects are now completed and that stormsewer is the last big utility to go in.
He said there were three areas of design change.  1) at the north end of the new downtown bridge, since Wensmann now has a site plan, 2) in front of the Victoria House, since an old manhole was discovered, 3) under Hwy 5, since an old culvert pipe was found and will be redesigned.
About the large disruption in down-town Victoria these past weeks, he said, "Some of the worst is done.  Street recon-struction will probably start in about two weeks."

THE DOWNTOWN CONDO PROJECT
STILL WAITING FOR A GROUNDBREAKING
Wensmann Homes received several approvals on June 26th that brings the 45-unit condominium project on Stieger Lake in downtown Victoria a little closer to reality.  No site work or utility work has begun and will probably not begin until at least August, according to Terry Wens-mann at the June 26th Victoria city council meeting.
City Planner Mark Kaltasas said that "it's a very tedious process" to get every-thing in place on the old property.  There were gaps in the legal descriptions of the five parcels that were combined to form one large parcel.  Also, old easements were discovered, along with unanticipated bad soils.  Mark said Wensmann is ready to go as soon as the city can get every-thing in place.
On June 26th councilmembers re-zoned the property from residential to Central Business District, granted a Con-ditional Use Permit allowing a "solely residential use" in a CBD as well as a building exceeding 35 feet in height, and approved a minor subdivision that allows the five individual parcels to be combined into one lot for the multi-family dwelling.
According to current plans, the Stieger Lake Condominiums will be a four-story building, 55 feet in height, with 69 enclosed parking spaces and 30 outside parking spaces.  Stated Planner Kaltsas, "They're exceeding parking requirements both inside and outside."
Also on June 26th, Wensmann Homes presented a "softer" architectural feel for the front of the building, as re-quested by city councilmembers.
On June 12th councilmembers had been presented a revised site plan, new building elevations, floor plans, and out-side architecture.  They were also intro-duced to underground tandem parking for the condo complex.
Planner Kaltsas said that the Planning Commission had reviewed the changes and felt they were in keeping with original intent of the development.  Stated Mark, "I think they reflect what the rest of the downtown redevelopment can encompass.  It's a different look than what was proposed initially, with a more traditional feel so it'll be every bit as in style 100 years from now ... The overall shape is relatively the same.  It's no longer an Alpine look.  Over time, masonry will withstand time better than stucco."

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