A 15-foot veterans memorial — complete with military service seals, dedication plaques, lighting, and seating — is expected to be unveiled next to Rancho Santa Margarita City Hall in time for Memorial Day.

The approximately $70,000 project was approved last week by the City Council and construction should begin by March. It will be located in Central Park, adjacent to City Hall, near the three flagpoles. Its approval also required signoff from the Santa Margarita Landscape and Recreation Corporation, or SAMLARC, a master homeowners association that is the city’s largest and also oversees many of the city’s major facilities.

The planned memorial is the first significant nod to the military and its veterans in the city’s history, said Mayor Tony Beall, crediting Councilmember Anne Figuer

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