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18400 Von Karman Ave Ste 600 Irvine,CA 92612 949.252.1022 kpff.com lqjff <br /> June 7t'', 2022 <br /> Dear Santa Ana City Council and Mayor Vicente Sarmiento, <br /> The effort to bring a micro-farm to this under-served community has been monumental. 7 years ago,we <br /> were celebrating the connection that soil and agriculture have with the Latino culture with indigenous <br /> dances on this empty plot of land; and long before that the Thrive organization was going door-to-door <br /> knocking and asking the resident of this community-What could the city do to best serve them? The <br /> answer overwhelmingly centered around green open spaces, and at this moment what the city can do to <br /> best serve them is to allow an extension of the completion date. <br /> As Santa Ana resident who has participated in these initial brainstorming sessions with El Centro, <br /> supported the painstaking fundraising, and has been involved since the schematic design as structural <br /> engineer with my company KPFF Consulting Inc., I am already seeing the trickling effects that this <br /> community effort is having. When I spoke at Willard Intermediate Career Day along with you,Mayor <br /> Vicente Sarmiento,the youth's faces light up when I showed them that a member of their very own <br /> SAUSD community has the capability to chip-in their college expertise to better their community. That is <br /> one effect this project has had thus far, and we are still in design. When we went to the building and <br /> planning department the nice woman who takes in drawings said that she has worked there for years and <br /> had never seen a project quite like this. While conditions of the soil were unknown until we got the <br /> greenlight to interpret findings from the geotechnical report, soil results can be unprecedented, and has <br /> delayed our milestones as we work to remediate the soil.What we do know is that once this farm is up <br /> and running it will serve as an educational beacon to the Walnut-Daisy community that healthy food <br /> options are attainable in a community where the youth fend for eating chips and soda while their parents <br /> are our working long laborious hours. <br /> Please support the June 7th agenda item regarding the Walnut and Daisy Micro-Farm. Thank you in <br /> advance for your support. <br /> Sincerely, <br /> Erik Sanchez <br /> erik.sanchez�kpffcom/(949) 252-1022 <br />