TOUCH UP—The City Council recently approved using $44,000 from the city’s Sports Facilities Endowment Fund to help Thousand Oaks High School make improvements to its track. Los Cerritos and Redwood middle schools also received grants to upgrade their fitness equipment.Courtesy Thousand Oaks High SchoolAfter a two-year-hiatus, the city will again help fund the improvement of local athletic facilities.

At its Nov. 1 meeting, the City Council approved $100,000 in spending from its Sports Facilities Endowment Fund to benefit four schools and one youth sports organization. The council based its decision on recommendations from its seven-member Community Funding Review Committee, which reviewed grant applications earlier this year.

The largest piece of the pie, around $44,000, will go to Thousand Oaks High School to help refurbish its running track. The school received city grant money in 2002 and 2005 for track and field improvements and in 2007 to build a concrete slab for weightlifting.

The remaining funds were allocated as follows:

• $30,000 to Thousand Oaks Little League to help pay for a $150,000 remodel that will bring its 40-year-old snack store up to safety codes.
• $ 15,000 to Los Cerritos Middle School to buy outdoor fitness equipment that students, the community and members of the on-site Boys & Girls Club can use.
• $8,000 to the Newbury Park High School Baseball Boosters to refurbish batting cages.
• $2,589 to Redwood Middle School to purchase strengthtraining equipment for its students.

Beginning in 1985, the City of Thousand Oaks provided $100,000 per year in grants for sports facilities in the community. Organizations had to apply for the grants and match any funds they received.

But in 2009 and again last year, the grants weren’t offered. The reason: reduced income from sales tax and other revenue, Finance Director John Adams said.

The Sports Facilities Endowment Fund is one of three endowment grants supported by the city; the other two are for community events and social services.

All three endowment funds are financed from interest on a $6-million general fund investment the City Council approved in 1985. The city splits the $300,000 in annual interest equally among the three funds, each receiving $100,000.

—Michelle Knight