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Home My WebLink About07/15/91 MINUTES RA:i 95 Bakersfield, California, July 15, 1991 Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Central District Development Agency of the City of Bakersfield, California, held in the Council Chambers of City Hall at 3:00 p.m., July 15, 1991. The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Rubin at 3:20 p.m. City Clerk Williams called the roll as follows: Present: Absent: Agency Members Rubin, Ruddell, Araujo Gaskill, Sceales Agency Members Dunn, Paynter (seated at 3:22), CONSENT CALENDAR The following items were listed on the Consent Calendar: ae Approval of Voucher Nos. 313 to 336, inclusive, in the amount of $32,572.05, and Voucher Nos. 1 and 2, in the amount of $210,050.63. be Minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 20, 1991, Continued Meeting of May 28, 1991, and Regular Meeting of June 3, 1991, for approval. Upon of the Consent vote: a motion by Agency Member Ruddell, Items a and b Calendar were adopted by the following roll call Ayes: Noes: Abstain: Absent: Agency Members Rubin, Ruddell, Gaskill, None None Agency Members Araujo, Dunn, Paynter Sceales REPORTS Agency Member Ruddell read Development Committee Report No. 91-4 regarding Disposition of Agency Owned Properties, as follows: On Monday, July 1, 1991, the Development Committee met to review the status and disposition of Agency owned property. Staff indicated it has been negotiating with a property owner regarding a long-term (10 year) parking lease. In light of the Agency's current fiscal situation, there is a general consensus that Agency owned parcels should be disposed of preferably for a private use which would further spur downtown revitalization. After reviewing the matter with staff, the Development Committee recommends that staff contact the real estate brokerage community in an effort to ascertain the level of interest on these properties by private sector parties. The Committee feels that ninety days should prove an adequate time period to determine if any such interest exists. If, after the passage of this time, no offers have been received, the Development Committee would again meet with staff to review this matter. Bakersfield, California, July 15, 1991 - Page 2 Therefore, the Development Committee recommends that the following properties be marketed for ninety days in order to consider said properties for sale to private parties: 1315 19th Street (American National Bank site) 2. 2022 "L" Street (Mental Health site) Chairperson Rubin suggested that the property be marketed under an "Open Listing", so that the entire brokerage community may bring whatever offers they have, and any offer would be subject to Agency approval. Upon a motion by Agency Member Ruddell, Development Committee Report No. 91-4 was accepted, as modified to reflect that property will be marketed under an "Open Listing". Upon a motion by Agency Member Ruddell, the recommendations of Development Committee Report No. 91-4 were implemented. following AGENCY STATEI~ENTS Agency Member Araujo made a statement and submitted the written statement: In the minutes of the regular meeting of May 20th, it is noted that I advised that I could not accept the minutes of the May 6th Agency meeting because I had questions about them. At that May 6th meeting, I was disturbed when some Agency Members expressed that the association of downtown business people should not come to the Agency for financial aid because of a letter these business people submitted to the Agency. The letter expressed that downtown business people would look forward to having the City Center building occupied, recognizing that this occupancy would benefit their businesses. They also expressed that they felt that if the District Attorney's offices were to occupy the building, this would be acceptable; however, they would hope that the Agency could have some compensation for the loss of tax increment income. Because I was so disturbed by the Agency's response to the business people, I looked further into the matter. I found out that the District Attorney had asked to address the DBA Board about his proposal to have the County purchase the building. The DBA Board insisted on having Jake Wager not only present at that meeting, but invited Mr. Wager to present his office's viewpoint. It was only after that meeting and subsequently providing Mr. Wager with the contents of that letter that they read the letter to the Agency at the public meeting. Bakersfield, California, July 15, 1991 - Page 3 I found that the DBA made every effort to find a position which would reflect not only the business people's viewpoint, but insofar as possible to recognize the views of the department. It is my strong belief that minutes of any public meeting should serve not only as an effective means of recording public concerns, but also of recording the Agency's response to the public. In that way, the business people would be able to see if we understand the results of their efforts. As noted in the minutes of the May 6th Agency meeting, the issue of the City Center Building was referred to the Development Committee for review and recommendation to come back to the Agency at the next meeting. Could I inquire as to the status of that review and recommendation at this time? Agency Member Araujo suggested that the issue of the City Center Building be referred to the Development Committee for review and recommendation to come back to the Agency. Upon a motion by Agency Member Sceales, the issue of the City Center Building was referred to the Development Committee for review and recommendation to come back to the Agency. Agency Member Gaskill requested that staff comment regarding the articles in The Bakersfield Californian on June 10th and 17th by Tony Ortega, Associate Professor of Management at Cal Sate, regarding the Downtown Revitalization Project and the Downtown Project Task Force. Economic Development Director Wager advised that his staff has unsuccessfully attempted to contact Dr. Ortega, but will continue to try, in an effort to determine the scope of the project that Cal State has initiated in association with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He further advised that if Cal State is working on a marketing plan, then it may be possible to join forces and try to come up with a common product that would be of some use to both the Downtown Business Association and the Agency. Agency Member Gaskill asked about the status of the City's marketing plan, and whether or not there is an intermediate milestone to chart the progress of the marketing plan. Additionally, he asked how much outreach has there been within the community to find out what it wants with regard to the hotel and the city Center Building. He suggested that there should be some way, perhaps in a public meeting, to collect the opinions, thoughts and concerns of the people in the community who know the market place and who analyze projects all the time. City Manager Hawley advised that on Wednesday, July 17th, at Noon, there will be a meeting of the Urban Development Committee and the Chair of the Development Committee of the Agency to discuss this very subject. He suggested that after the meeting on Wednesday, that a report could be made back to the entire Agency, and then the Agency could pursue it in an overall workshop or meeting to discuss the details. Bakersfield, California, July 15, 1991 - Page 4 Agency, ~%DJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Chairperson Rubin adjourned the meeting at 3:45 p.m. CHAIRPERSON of the Central District Development Agency of the City of Bakersfield ATTEST: SECRETARY of the Central District Development Agency of the City of Bakersfield ndw