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Hilly land parcel, loan issue, canopy project will fox new panel
WSN Bureau
FREMONT:
Immediately with the election of the new committee, the issue of how
to deal with the hilly terrain land purchased under the outgoing
management people opposite the gurdwara is likely to perplex the
incoming Supreme Council. There are likely to be now plans to
restore more than 77,000 square feet of rolling hillside that was
flattened, allegedly in violation of city law.
 Incidentally, a
fine of $2,400 was imposed earlier for grading without a permit on a
portion of the gurdwara's vacant 61-acre parcel just east of
Mission
Boulevard
near Gurdwara Drive. Some local residents saw it as a major
violation of Measure T, Fremont's hillside protection initiative,
since it was approved by voters six years ago.
The gurdwara of
course is contesting the fines, and Bhai Ram Singh, who will be the
one common member between the outgoing and the incoming Supreme
Council, has never conceded that there was anything wrong with the
decision of the management. He had maintained that there were plans
for a 5-acre playground for Sikh youths, and a crematorium.
The issue of the
debt incurred by the gurdwara -- a whopping $ 1.5 million (roughly
equal to the price of two adjoining hillside parcels, totaling about
100 acres) -- is likely to remain a key bone of contention and it
will be interesting to see how Bhai Ram Singh cooperates to resolve
the tangle.
There is the
canopy project also which is going on, and many think it will be
hard to make payments if the new management secures new loan for
canopy. As for the gurdwara, it just does not have enough cash to
complete this with only $100,000 in its kitty.
26
March 2008
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