Citrus Heights Veterans Memorial Project members pose with Citrus Heights City Council during the Oct. 23 City Council meeting. Courtesy photo of City of Citrus Heights

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - At the Citrus Heights City Council’s Oct. 23 meeting, councilmembers held the final public hearing for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program allocations for 2025. Each year, the city receives these federal funds to help support public services and capital projects.

The city expects to receive about $600,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for the upcoming year. The maximum allocation for public services is 15% of that total, so $90,000 was recommended to be split between the following programs: $20,000 to Campus Life Connection for the Sayonara After School Program, $16,000 to Meals on Wheels for the Senior Nutrition Program, $24,272 to Community Link Capital Region and Project Sentinel for the Renters Helpline and $29,728 to Sunrise Christian Food Ministry for the Emergency Food Closet.

For capital projects, $390,000 of the 2025 Community Development Block Grant funds were recommended for the city’s 2025 Pavement Preservation Improvement Plan. In addition, $381,394.65 of the 2024 Residential Street Resurfacing Project funds will be reallocated to the 2025 Pavement Preservation Plan for a total of $771,394.65 available for the project.

The council voted unanimously to approve the recommended Community Development Block Grant allocations.

The council then considered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Citrus Heights Veterans Memorial Project, which will construct a permanent 80% scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial here in Citrus Heights.

Citrus Heights City Manager Ashley Feeney explained that a city grant helped bring The Wall That Heals to Rusch Park in Citrus Heights in 2023. The traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. was very well-attended, which started the idea of building a permanent replica in the city, which would be the first on the West Coast.

The nonprofit Citrus Heights Veterans Memorial Project (CHVMP) will handle fundraising to support the design, construction, and maintenance endowment. Catholic Funeral & Cemetery Services of the Diocese of Sacramento, Inc, has agreed to provide the location at Calvary Cemetery in Citrus Heights, as well as project management, construction oversight, and ongoing care and maintenance. The City of Citrus Heights will provide expeditious project approvals and fee waivers, and make formal requests to obtain fee waivers from other agencies as needed throughout the process.

Citrus Heights resident and Vietnam veteran Paul Reyes first requested the original grant for The Wall That Heals. Now as a Citrus Heights Veterans Memorial Project Board member, Reyes said this “great venture” will be “a feather in this city’s hat, as it will draw people from all over the state.” The wall will increase tourism and enhance the local community, and most importantly, Reyes said, the project will “honor 58,291 whose names are on the wall and who paid the ultimate price.

“They were all the true heroes. … Years from now, when we’re all gone, that structure will still be here honoring those individuals and reminding people of what true American heroes are all about,” Reyes said.

Citrus Heights resident and Vietnam veteran Kermit Schayltz also serves on the Citrus Heights Veterans Memorial Project Board and on the project committee. Schayltz personally served with soldiers whose names are on the wall, and he said seeing the memorial really does help to heal: “I know this council and this city are going to support this project, and I can’t thank each of you enough for that support.”

Catholic Funeral & Cemetery Services of the Diocese of Sacramento, Inc., Chief Operating Officer Scott Miller is serving on the Citrus Heights Veterans Memorial Project Board and as project committee chair. Miller said everyone involved is deeply passionate about the project. Local partners are donating time and services, including Stones Gambling Hall, Rotary Club of Citrus Heights, Capitol Public Affairs and PHPR. Bids for the design were more than $200,000 but EDA Land Planning has offered to do the work for an amount not to exceed $6,000.

Missouri’s National Veterans Memorial, the first approved replica, has shared all its construction plans, which saves a significant amount of money for this project on design and development. And the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (which is responsible for the original memorial in D.C., as well as The Wall That Heals) is also partnering on this project, donating the official naming files, for a savings of $50,000.

Miller shared a tentative timeline, with the design process expected to be completed by the end of November and construction drawings finalized by the end of January 2025. The review and permitting process should be completed by the end of April 2025, and if the funding has been secured by that time, construction could start that spring/summer, with completion in 2026. The estimated total cost for the project is $3.5 million, and fundraising is already underway—with more than half a million dollars currently secured in financial and service donations.

Miller said they will be removing an ornamental vineyard at Calvary Cemetery to make space for the memorial wall, and the location will be visible from eastbound Hwy 80, making it a focal point of the region. There will also be ample space around the wall for future memorials as well as room for burials for veterans and their families. The memorial will be open to the public every day of the year.

Many members of the Rotary Club of Citrus Heights attended the meeting to show their support for the project and share the significant impact the memorial will have for the community to permanently honor these veterans.

The council voted unanimously to approve the Memorandum of Understanding for the Veterans Memorial project. For more information or to donate, visit https://chvmp.org.

Next, the council considered a request from the Citrus Heights Veterans Memorial Project for $20,000 from the city’s History and Arts Grant program to help fund the memorial wall project. The total amount available in that fund each year is $20,000, so when considering the request, the Quality-of-Life Committee (currently Mayor Jayna Karpinski-Costa) suggested awarding $10,000 now and leaving the other half available for other eligible requests.

However, staff identified additional funding in the Economic Development Fund that could cover the other $10,000, allowing the city to meet the full request.

The council voted unanimously to approve the $20,000 grant award for the memorial wall.

The next Citrus Heights City Council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at City Hall, 6360 Fountain Square Drive.