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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/23/99 BAKERSFIELD CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE MEMORANDUM July 23, 1999 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL FROM: ALAN CHRISTENSEN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGEI~,~, for ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER /lC,," SUBJECT: GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Good news, the Governor has signed both the trailer bills implementing the portions of the State budget affecting local government. They include AB1661, which is a $150 million local government relief package, and AB1662, which is a $50 million booking fee relief package. The Governor vetoed the 2% inflationary adjustment for the booking fee legislation, saying the adjustment should be determined each year depending on the State budget and the economy. The reimbursement for booking fees (based on the 1997-98 fiscal year) still has to be calculated by the Controller, and we won't know the actual amount of reimbursement until around December. AB1661 provides, essentially, one-time funds related to the property tax shift (ERAF). The allocation formula is based, in part, upon population and, in part, on gross property tax loss figures for both cities and counties. Again, the exact amounts to be allocated will not be available until provided by the State controller. This represents at least some recognition by the State of the need to return property tax revenues taken from local government to meet their obligations to the schools. 2. In accordance with Alan Tandy's wishes, Council provided me with several issues to handle in his absence this past week. I will personally thank him for the professional development experience. 3. Per the enclosed memo from Public Works, staff has begun the' phase aspects of the physical closure of F Street at the train tracks south of Truxtun, which was approved by Council last October. A press release that went out this week is enclosed. 4. A status report from EDCD is enclosed regarding several companies that are considering Bakersfield as a location for new call center facilities, as well as two other prospects for a warehouse distribution company and a steel truss manufacturer. Honorable Mayor and City Council July 23, 1999 Page 2 5. A memo on the estimated year-end Redevelopment Housing Set Aside fund balance is enclosed. 6. HUD annually holds a Best Practices Symposium that cities and counties throughout the nation are invited to attend and share information and techniques among community development practitioners. Areas of focus are Consolidated Planning, Decent Housing, Continuum of Care, Economic Opportunity, and Grants Management/IDIS reporting. At the meeting held in Kansas City this week, the City of Bakersfield received an award for the Grants Management/IDIS reporting category. 7. An'update is enclosed for your information regarding two CDBG funded nonprofit projects, the Golden Empire Gleaners warehouse and the Bakersfield Homeless Center. 8. A summary report for FY 98-99 on the First Time Home Buyer Program is enclosed. With 170 loans made last year, we anticipate even more in the next year, as lender participation is at a record number. 9. Responses to Council referrals are enclosed, as follows: · Response to citizen regarding greenwaste recycling question; · Contact citizen regarding plans for resurfacing Covina Street. cc: Department Heads Pamela McCarthy, City Clerk Trudy Slater, Administrative Analyst BAKERSFIELD PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM DATE: July 23, 1999 TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Raul Rojas, Public Works Director i Y~/~}~ SUBJECT: Closure of F Street at Burlington Northern an~ Santa Fe Railroad Tracks Staff has begun the phase aspects of the physical closure of the F Street at the train tracks south of Truxtun Avenue. This closure was approved by the City Council last October. The actual work on the site will begin this Sunday, July 25. To inform the public about this change in the street system, staff has sent a press release to various local newspapers, radio stations, television stations and organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce. A copy of that press release is attached. $:~PRO, IECT$~ARNOLDL~tMTRAK.STA\TRACK WORK\TANDY 07_22_99,wpd .......... '~: -' - ' :~" B A K E R $ F I E L D PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Raul Rojas, Director PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jacques LaRochelle July 22, 1999 Engineering Services Manager 661-326-3724 On Sunday, July 25, 1999, the City of Bakersfield will permanently close F Street at the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) tracks, south of Truxtun Avenue. This closure was approved by the City Council at their regular meeting on October 21, 1998. The construction activities for this closure will take place from Sunday, July 25, through Monday, August 23. This closure was determined necessary to solve problems with vehicular and pedestrian traffic in the area. Due to BNSF's train operations in their yard just west of F Street, this portion of F Street is quite often closed by a parked train. Problems with pedestrian traffic arise when some people attempt to cross the tracks while a train is parked or even moving slowly across F Street. Both of these situations cause concerns for the safety of the public and BNSF's employees. With this permanent closure, these concerns will have been eliminated. As an alternate route to F Street, the City of Bakersfield encourages the traveling public to use the existing underpass on H Street as they travel north and south in the vicinity of this area. BAKERSFIELD Economic and Community Development Department MEMORANDUM July 22, 1999 TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Jake Wager, Economic Development DirectL~.~~ SUBJECT: CALL CENTER UPDATE As evidenced by recent media attention, the City continues to be considered for call center facilities. With MDS Communications, Pacific Bell, AFSA Data Corporation and mostly recently Pleasant Holidays locating their new call center facilities in Bakersfield over the last couple of years, many companies and consultants are putting Bakersfield on the top of their list of cities to consider when looking for new sites. Within the last month, staff met with three potential call center companies or their consultants. Next week, working through KEDC, our department will be meeting with two new call center clients to discuss the benefits of locating their operations in our community. Both companies have the potential of creating a substantial number of jobs. In addition to the call centers, a meeting is also scheduled next week with a large warehouse distribution company. As with most client prospects, we continue to be in competition with other similar sized cities California and the western states region (i.e. Nevada, Arizona, Oregon). One pr°spect that continues to make positive steps and decisions in potentially locating a facility in our community is a large international steel truss manufacturer. We have continued to provide the company with information and assistance on permitting and development issues for siting a manufacturing operation in southeast Bakersfield. P:\MISC\merno - randy for gen info - call centers.wpd BAKERSFIELD Economic and Community Development Department MEMORANDUM July 22, 1999 TO: Jake Wager Economic Development Director FROM: David Chesney /3,fl 6,_~ Business Manager SUBJECT: Redevelopment Housing Set Aside Fund I have taken a preliminary look at the balance in the Housing Set Aside fund at June 30, 1999. While final year-end journal entries have not yet been completed, I estimate the Housing Set Aside fund balance to be $499,868 at 6/30/99. This is $673,000 less than the maximum allowed due to the GEAHI Senior Housing project. The maximum balance allowed is the greater of $1,000,000 or the sum of the previous four years' tax increment deposited into the fund, whichever is greater. We fall into the latter definition. My projection is that if no further housing projects were undertaken, the Housing Set Aside fund balance will reach its maximum at 6/30/2001 with an excess surplus of about $335,000 calculated at 6/30/2002. Of course, I had to make some assumptions about assessed valuation growth and interest rates, so please understand that this projection is rough. We will be preparing a memo to the CDDA informing them of the fund balance. BAKERSFIELD Economic and Community Development Department MEMORANDUM July 22, 1999 TO: ALAN TANDY, CITY MANAGER ~ FROM: JAKE WAGER, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR SUBJECT: Progress Report on CDBG Funded Nonprofit Projects: Golden Empire Gleaners Warehouse and Bakersfield Homeless Center The two projects discussed below were assisted with CDBG funds. The following is an update on the status of each project. 1. The City Council approved funding for the Golden Empire Gleaners Warehouse Rehabilitation Project on January 27, 1998. The current facility is too small to handle the volume of food the Gleaners store and distribute. Also, the current facility was identified as an unreinforced masonry building, and the rehabilitation costs were prohibitive. The new site is 3100 Chester Avenue. The Gleaners have just awarded the construction bid to JTS Construction, Inc., for $647,500. The City's contribution to the rehabilitation is $340,000; County of Kern contributed $366,280. In addition to the construction cost, $38,463 was set aside for design and construction monitoring. The construction is scheduled to begin on July 27, 1999; the project should be completed in December 1999. 2. The Bakersfield Homeless Center needed additional space to expand services to its clients, so City Council approved $54,000 in CDBG funds to assist with the acquisition of the property adjacent to the Homeless Center, on April 14, 1999. The total acquisition cost was $124,000. In addition to funding from the City, Bethany Services received $235,400 from the county in Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) and CDBG funds, and more than $1 million dollars from a three year HUD Supportive Housing Program (SHP) grant. The county funds and a portion of the SHP funds will be used to rehabilitate the buildings on the acquired site. Acquisition was completed on June 1, 1999; an RFP for design of the project is pending and the county was not able to give a projected date for project completion~thLs~ti_m~ i ECmV=:D S:\HAYWARD\memo\Status.wpd BAKERSFIELD Date: July 22, 1999 To: Alan Tandy From: Jake Wage~ Subject: City Assistance "First Time Home Buyer Program" (FTHB) We have just concluded a very productive year, 170 FTHB loans were made. The City expended a combined total of $452,277.00 using CDDA and Home funds and we leveraged $12,066,455.00. We anticipate an even better year for FY 99-2000 as lender participation is at a record number (24). This year marks the first year since the inception of the program in 1992 that we have several major banks wanting to use the program. This along with approval from all the various mortgage authorities, FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, CAL-VET CHFA, and Cal Rural points to ate a very productive year, with the ability to provide home ownership assistance regardless of market trends. cc: V. Zaragoza 'l BAKERSFIELD PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM DATE: July 23, 1999 TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Raul Rojas, Public Works Director SUBJECT: SOLID WASTE CUSTOMER SERVICE REQUEST BY ~.~ COUNCILMEMBER MAGGARD Councilmember Mike Maggard requested Public Works staff to contact Mr. Mike Binn, 4809 Lancer Court, regarding a greenwaste recycling question. On July 21, 1999, Solid Waste Director Kevin Barnes contacted Mr. Binn. The customer is new to the automated collection system, and tried setting out extra prunings in old 32 gallon cans next to the greenwaste cart. However, these are no longer serviced, since the automated truck cannot "grab" them. The customer will be provided, at no cost, an additional greenwaste cart to accommodate their prunings. KB:smp BAKERSFIELD PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager FROM: Raul Rojas, Public Works Director DATE: July 23, 1999 SUBJECT: COVINA STREET COUNCILMEMBER MAGGARD Street Superintendent Luis Peralez called Mr. Bill Martin on July 22, 1999, as requested by Councilmember Mike Maggard regarding Covina Street. Mr. Martin asked if there were any plans for resurfacing Covina Street other than the patching work that was recently done. Mr. Peralez informed Mr. Martin that Covina Street, between University Avenue and Darwin Avenue, is on the 1999-2000 Streets Reconstruction List. Resurfacing on Covina Street will commence approximately in November 1999. However, staff will provide an update in a couple of weeks.