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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/23/85 MINUTES RA MINUTES BAKERSFIELD REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MINUTES REGULAR MEETING -- OCTOBER 23, 1985 The regular meeting of the Bakersfield Redevelopment Agency was called to order by Chairman Rockoff on Wednesday, September 11, 1985 at 5:00pm in the City Hall Council chambers. The Secretary called the roll as follows: MEMBERS PRESENT: James Barton James Childs Chris Christensen Mark Dickerson Rollie Moore Art Rockoff MEMBERS ABSENT: MINUTES Donald Ratty Chairman Rockoff made a motion that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of September 11, 1985 be approved as presented. Agency Member Dickerson seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion was carried. SCHEDULED PUBLIC STATEMENTS 1. Mr. Kenny Reed representing the Downtown Business Association commented regarding "God's House of Prayer and Facilities for Children", 1918 "M" Street, regarding the opposition of many business owners of this facility. He asked that this item be with- drawn from the Consent Calendar for further consideration by the Redevelopment Agency. City Manager George Caravalho recommended that the "God's House of Prayer and Facilities for Children" be pulled from the Consent Calendar and be placed under "New Business" for further discussion on the Agenda or defer it to another meeting or to a com- mittee. Agency Member Childs made a motion to remove the item "God's House of Prayer and Facilities for Children" from Consent Calendar and be placed under New mously carried. Business on the Agenda. The motion was unani- -1- Mr. Marvin Lipco, representing Allen's Kern Jewelry and Loan, 1223-19th Street, reported regarding his opposition to "God's House of Prayer and Facilities for Children" and stressed that the issue was not the signage, but what the facility would do to the immediate area. The facility would not only draw the needy, but also draw the tran- sients, and adequate bathroom facilities and parking will not be available. Agency Member Dickerson questioned if there are Agency Statements for the agenda. City Attorney Richard Oberholzer responded that there is no Agency Statement on the Redevelopment Agency Agenda. Agency Member Dickerson questioned Mr. Oberholzer about SB-690 and how it's going to impact the City and how it's going to affect the Redevelopment Agency and the activities of the City. Deputy City Manager Mary Strenn replied that staff will need to research the answers and respond at the next meeting. Agency Member Dickerson referred to a bulletin from the League of California Cities, page 6, item 26, that indicated the need to adopt an ordinance by December 31, 1986, which will place some lim- its on Agency debt and asked for clarification. Mr. Dickerson also asked for clarification of AB-265, which requires the setting aside of 20% for certain activities and certain projects. REPORTS time Center City Office Commercial Project City Manager George Caravalho indicated that due to the short staff has had to review certain technical aspects regarding the office proposal such as financing, development costs, etc, the report is not ready for presentation, therefore recommended to the Agency Board that the report be presented at the November 13th meeting when this data will be ready for presentation. gave they are now very close to achieving Aircoa had regarding the Hotel. The Convention Center Hotel Project Mr. Gordon Bell, West Coast Development Director for Aircoa a report on the proposed Clarion Hotel. Mr. Bell indicated that the objective that the Agency and financing terms have been com- -2- pleted and Aircoa has a preliminary commitment on a $15,000,000 mort- gage for the construction of the Hotel. One principal condition that has been established by the lending institution is that the $15,000,000 mortgage would not exceed 75% of appraised value. Therefore a full appraisal is necessary on the project. In the last month, an additional $25,000 were committed in non-refundable fees to the lending institution. Aircoa had entered into an addi- tional $20,000.00 contract with an independent appraiser, requested by the institution, Hospitality Valuation Services, out of New York. They have completed their field work. They will have a letter state- ment by the end of next week, that will determine whether their appraisal will support the proposed loan amount. All signs are posi- tive that they will be able to do that. Aircoa will pay the lending institution a $300,000.00 commitment fee which will be non-refundable. That will occur within the next three weeks. Aircoa will then proceed to engage architects, engineers, and all the necessary design con- sultants to complete working drawings on the Hotel. Also, Mr. Bell indicated that all documentation for the loan is in place with the lending institution for final loan approval no later than November 15th. This time schedule relates to activities that the City will be engaged in, including the issuance of funding through City offices necessary for the City side of the agreement. November 15th will be the target date when all items will be in place and will be the basis for the City to move forward. On this date, Aircoa will have paid the $300,000 non-refundable commitment fee in exchange for this, we will have a letter of commitment from the financial institution, in order to receive that, Aircoa will have provided the contractual evi- dence of the availability of equity and operating loss guarantees that will be provided by Aircoa and the local investors, and those same contracts and documents will be the evidence that the City will need in order will proceed a lot of work Construction may begin in for us to proceed with our commitments. Then the City with their activities. Mr. Bell indicates that there's to be done from now to the end of the year. early spring of 1986. -3- The principal issue in the timing is the design process which still requires all the structural engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering and specific construction architecture in order to have documents to proceed with construction contracts and construc- tion. 3. Beale Library Relocation Project City Manager George Caravalho, gave a report regarding this project, and expressed that this project is very important to the Downtown. In terms of our obligation, we need to close "R" Street between Truxtun and 16th Street and that will require City Council action. Also, the alley between "Q" Street and "R" Street, also requiring City Council action. The one-half block of City owned prop- erty between Alley and 16th Street and between "R" Street and "S" Street represents a donation of this property towards the project. This also, will require a resolution of the City Council. The utility relocation: Initial meetings have occurred with the utility agencies including the Kern Island Canal engineers and plans for improvements are being developed as well as a long term utility relocation improve- ment program. The City will be responsible for the storm drains and the sewers. The existing businesses and government relocation: The developer is responsible for the relocation of both the existing busi- nesses and the County General Services Office will also be responsible for this area. The City primarily will assist in this role. Attorney Richard Monje reported on behalf of the developer, He felt that this would be an appropriate time to thank staff for their assistance. He indicated that construction will begin on December 1st. 4. Proposal for County Administration Building Deputy City Manager Mary Strenn gave a report stressing that the Redevelopment Agency had as a stated objective the commitment to work with the County on facilitating the development of administrative offices in the Downtown. A presentation was made of a proposal that had been sent to the County that was a concept of how we might be able to help them keep their administrative offices in the Downtown. It --4-- was accepted a good proposal, however, it did not fulfill one of the things they wanted, and that was a lot of visibility, preferably on Truxtun Avenue. Another proposal was put together, which shows a Truxtun address, located between "M" & "N" Streets. It is still in a conceptual stage. That particular site was suggested mainly because there is some county owned land. We propose that the role of the Agency in such a project would be to acquire and clear the site, considering either the trade of land with the County or perhaps a pass-through. The role of the Agency would be to also financially participate in the parking garage, somewhere in the ratio of about 30% to 50% of the cost. The rational we use with that is that the parking garage is next door to the Civic Auditorium area, and clearly, what we wanted is additional parking for the auditorium. The Intergovern- mental Committee, and the staff at the County, are excited about the proposal. The Capital Improvement Task Force has met several times and has asked us to make a presentation before it goes back to the Intergovernmental Committee. Agency Member Dickerson asked if the area is south of Truxtun Avenue between the County Administration building. Deputy City Manager Mary Strenn building and the Court replied that it is located west of the Auditorium and east of the court building. Agency Member Dickerson expressed that one of Redevelopment Agency is to check these Redevelopment area so as to provide an property so that they are developed. the themes of projects out throughout the increase land value to adjacent In that particular area, there seems to be great congestion for traffic. Having the administration north of Truxtun Avenue so that there isn't such a convergence of traffic, parking problems and circulation problems, would be more ideal than placing it south of Truxtun Avenue which is already ham- pered by the railroad tracks and the congestion that is caused by attempting to cross the railroad tracks to get north or south. Deputy City Manager Mary Strenn replied that in the Redevelopment Plan several areas were targeted. One of which is 19th Street. Another is what is known as the Government Center. Where -5- the administration was proposed is in the Government Center. The fact that it is to the south rather than the north tends to be more a mat- ter of what land costs are going to be, is there land being made available? In this case one of the things looked at is the fact that the County owns some land, so thus the land cost would be less. It is not felt that this is the absolute site it should be on, however we do know that it should be in that Corridor, along Truxtun Avenue, is some- thing that the County made clear that is what they want. Then it is a matter of where will the project fit, not only physically but economi- cally. Agency Member Dickerson indicated that if this project would be moved north into the 18th and 19th Street area, and kept the park- ing to one level so that we spread-out area that is needed for parking, and demolish some of the buildings there and creating differ- ent use for that land, that we might be able to blot-out that eye-sore on 19th Street, and that element that seems to be continually raised as something we want to do. If we are not going to use government entity, how can we expect private entities, or private developers to want to go into an area and try to resolve the problems that we have associated through it that we want to eliminate, which aren't really dilapidated buildings but elemented people. If we are going to con- solidate the governmental entities in one area, we are losing the emphasis of what we are going to go after. He indicated he is going to have problems in supporting a site at this location without some thorough and thoughtful discussion and rationnal, and indicted that he puts the staff on notice that we have to resolve the problems on 19th Street, and if we can't do it through government entities, then we are making a mistake. Agency Member Rockoff stated that he didn't think anyone on this Agency is not concerned about the situation on 19th Street. The County has told us approximately where they want their building and we would rather see it on Truxtun Avenue than on Golden State Highway. Agency Member Moore indicated that the Council Intergovernmental Relations Committee has been working very close with the County Intergovermental Committee and has been addressing this issue for sometime and one of the first proposals from the City, was the area that's being identified by Councilman Dickerson which is north of Truxtun to try and get something started in that blighted --6-- area. The County was very concerned about the accessibility to the project that they were building and they indicted that area to them was not acceptable. There, we have presented additional proposals for them to review with a major attempt to try and help ensure that they would be dedicated to the downtown, because they had made a commitment already to move out on Golden State Highway. The City is faced with the problem with either having a major part of the governmental body mov- ing from the Downtown area or to try to accommodate their need and hold them in the Downtown area. This current proposal is a further attempt to retain them in the Downtown area. Agency Member Dickerson indicated that he hoped that the Intergovernmental Relations Committee is not setting policy for the Redevelopment Agency. It may be wise to discuss these issues, but if the Intergovernmental Relations Committee is going to discuss Agency activities, that the Agency be aprised of what's going on in the Committee, so that we are fully understanding the issues, the informa- tion being imported, and the development of the procedures. Now if a decision has been made to move to that location, and committing that to the County, it needs to be presented to the Agency and have a thor- ough discussion about it before we get down the road and some mistakes are made and some issues are presented, and there's a change in focus. Agency Member Childs thanked Agency Member Moore for the update on the Intergovernmental Relations Committee concerns dealing with the building being located on 19th Street area. He complimented staff on the various projects we have under development at this time. 5. Development of New Chamber of Commerce Building. City Manger Caravalho gave a report on this issue and referred Agency Members to the enclosure in the packet. The initial plans have been submitted to the architect. They intend to have their drawings completed in 60 days then take the project out to bid. Therefore, that project is moving right along and hope that it can be out to bid and under construction by the first of the year. 6. Golden Empire Transit Activities in the Central City City Manager Caravalho expressed that from time to time a Agency Members have discussed their concerns about the Downtown, as -7- well as transportation, and especially the 19th & Chester problem. GET is currently going through substantial growth and has also been working on the City's bus benches in terms of making them more attractive. GET staff has worked out some type of program where they intend to acquire the benches and perhaps with the GET logo, make an attractive change. Mr. Caravalho indicated we are concerned about improving the image of the Central City and talked to GET about the transfer facility and getting the buses off of 19th & Chester. GET is working diligently in that area and they are currently trying to acquire property for that transfer facility. Hoping to have something in a couple of months and have the federal government approve adequate funds for acquisition of the property and construction of a new trans- fer facility so that perhaps in about a year they can have this func- tion moved completely off 19th Street. Mr. Caravalho asked the Agency if it would be interested in making a trade with GET on property and working out some repayment program, if it could prove to be beneficial to both parties and thus expedite the entire process in getting them off of 19th Street. Agency Member Barton replied positively to this question, if it helps expedite the transfer of the buses off 19th & Chester Avenue. Mr. Christensen asked where GET wants this property. Mr. Caravalho replied that GET is looking at a couple of sites currently that are under negotiation, and possibly can acquire it on their own. Agency Member Christensen asked if Golden Empire Transit is thinking of having other bus companies with them. Mr. Caravalho replied that later on the Agenda there will be a report about a multi-modal transit facility. Agency Member Childs asked the City Manager to go forward in assisting GET. 7. Status of the Multi-Modal Transportation Facility Economic Development Director Dave Kennon reported that the City in cooperation with KernCOG is beginning the conceptual develop- ment of this facility. The City is looking at the area along our Santa Fe right-of-way, in order to fully develop the potential "inter-modal" aspects of the facility. -8- Staff Member Art Hartenberger gave a presentation of multi- modal facilities in other cities in Southern California for the purpose of introducing various concepts. Agency Member Christensen indicted that 19th Street and Chester Avenue are a disgrace to Bakersfield and a disgrace to humanity. He asked how the Southern California cities maintained the clean-up at these facilities. Mr. Hartenberger replied that these facilities have mainte- nance crews on duty at all times. Also, there are litter ordinances that are enforced. Agency Member Christensen asked City Attorney Oberholzer why the City of Bakersfield cannot have a safety ordinance. Why a citizen cannot arrest an individual violating this ordinance. City Attorney Richard Oberholzer replied and stated that he would not recommend giving Council Members the power of arrest. He said that there are state laws that cover littering that need to be enforced. He indicated that a Council Member may arrest as a private citizen. Owners of businesses may not arrest, but employees do have the power to arrest. Owners of businesses may arrest as private citi- zens. Agency Member Christensen asked that the Chairman of the Redevelopment Agency name a committee to be responsible for the clean- up of the City. Chairman Rockoff reminded Mr. Christensen that it was not proper to take this action at a Redevelopment Agency meeting. City Attorney Richard Oberholzer reminded the Agency that there are presently laws that cover littering, individuals presently have the power to arrest. This is called "Citizens Arrest". Agency Member Dickerson indicated that he also has had com- plaints about debris, derelicts, etc. Asked Mr. Oberholzer if there was direction that he would like. Asked Mr. Caravalho what steps he can take to enforce that activity in the downtown. City Manager George Caravalho replied that this would be a matter of shifting priorities. Agency Member Christensen indicated that he would like a full report on a survey on how other cities keep their cities clean. -9- City Manager George Caravalho replied that this issue will be looked into and as soon as they have this information will make a com- plete report. Agency Member Dickerson made a motion that a report on the current activities and enforcement of these codes in downtown what might be done to strengthen the application of these activities so that we can have a clean city, for a 30 day period. Motion was unan- imously approved. Agency Member Dickerson indicated that because of the late hour, he suggests that the meeting be recessed until after the Council Meeting. He then made motion to adjourn to end of Council Meeting tonight. Agency Member Moore asked if there was time to accomplish the rest of the items on the Agenda. There was only one item left that would require some discussion. Deputy City Manager Mary Strenn indicated that the Consent Calendar should be voted on. The other items could be added to the agenda of the next Redevelopment Agency meeting. Agency Member Moore made a substitute motion to address the Consent Calendar and hold other items for the next Redevelopment Agency meeting and adjourn. Chairman Rockoff made reference to the New Business item to be put on the Agenda for the next Redevelopment Agency meeting from the Consent Calendar, item G.2.c. be moved to Item 2. under New Business. City Manger George Caravalho recommended to the Agency that item #8 and item G.2.c. be placed on the Agenda for the November 13th meeting and discussed at that time and the balance of items on the Consent Calendar be passed. Agency Member Dickerson reminded the Agency that he made a motion to adjourn the meeting to a time after the Council meeting. The motion to adjourn the meeting was defeated. Agency Member Moore made a motion that we only proceed to approve the Consent Calendar and defer for the next meeting the New Business Item #1 and Item G.2.c. for discussion at the next meeting. City Attorney Richard Oberholzer indicated that the motion -10- should be to approve the Consent Calendar, deleting those items that should be continued on the next meeting's agenda. This motion was approved by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Agency Members Barton, Childs, Moore, Rockoff, Dickerson Agency Member Christensen Agency Member Ratty at 6:55pm. Noes: Absent: Adjournment /~r~go~z~m~, Secretary Baker~f~l~-'Redevelopment Agency Bakersfield Redevelopment Agency -11-