HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/24/04 B A K E R S F I E L D
CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE
MEMORANDUM
September 24, 2004
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Alan Tandy, City Manager
SUBJECT: General Information
1. Per a Council request, staff has been exploring options to make the Council
meeting format more convenient for the members of the public who attend or
watch on television. With that goal in mind, we would like to try a time adjustment
and change of format at the October 6th meeting as a test. Our proposal is to
convene the meeting at 5:15 p.m., take the roll call, and adjourn directly to closed
session. The regular meeting will then begin at 6:30 p.m. A major advantage with
this change is that it will eliminate confusion for the public as to when they should
be present for public statements or other items of interest on the agenda. It won't
be necessary to have two public statements and/or presentations at both the 5:15
p.m. session to the 7:00 p.m. session, as we sometimes have to do with the
current format. Currently, items are sometimes delayed at 5:15 p.m., and members
of the public have to stay for the 7:00 p.m. meeting, as well. This format would
eliminate that. If we did not have enough closed session items to fill the time from
5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., we could do non-action based reports at 5:15 p.m. City
Clerk Pam McCarthy will contact each of you next week to address any questions
or concerns you might have about trying out the new time and format.
2. Several Councilmembers have expressed concern about the condition of City
maintained parks and landscaping. On the October 6th meeting agenda, there will
be a recommendation to refer the issue to the Budget and Finance Committee.
Staff has been working on an analysis of the increased costs associated with
landscape and park maintenance and will bring forward some possible options that
would improve the program over the long term.
3. As a heads up, the enclosed memo from Recreation and Parks indicates we will
have tree trimming projects beginning next week along Truxtun, from Oak to Union
Avenue, and at California and New Stine.
4. A status report on our application to the State for the Mill Creek grant is enclosed.
We are still waiting to hear from the State, and are checking daily, on the outcome
of our request. The good news is that we do have verbal confirmation from
KernCOG that we were approved for approximately $280,000 to construct trail and
pedestrian bridges for the Mill Creek project. We successfully competed for those
funds, which will be allocated from our Transportation Development Article 3
Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Claim.
Honorable Mayor and City Council
September 24, 2004
Page 2
5. The latest status report on the use of the $2.0 million CDBG and Section 108 funds
in southeast Bakersfield is enclosed. We are getting close to wrapping up these
projects.
6. As a reminder, dinner will be provided at 4:45 p.m. during the joint City Council and
County Supervisors meeting next Monday, the 27th.
AT:rs
cc: Department Heads
Pam McCarthy, City Clerk
Trudy Slater, Administrative Analyst
B A K E R S F I E L D
CITY CLERK'S OFFICE
MEMORANDUM
September 24, 2004
TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager
FROM: Pamela A. McCarthy, City Clerl~-~,_~/
SUBJECT: Proposal for Change to Meeting Format
In June 2004, Councilmember Maggard requested staff re-evaluate the time structure of
the Consent Calendar Hearings. His concern was that the public, who appeared at 5:15
p.m., were required to return for the 7:00 p.m. portion of the meeting when it was
necessary to remove items from the Consent agenda.
Although staff has more closely reviewed the hearings scheduled on the agenda, the
problem of inconveniencing the public has continued to occur. Therefore, I would like to
propose the following changes to the meeting format:
· Begin the meeting at 5:15 p.m. for Roll Call, then directly adjourn to Closed
Session and dinner break;
· Start the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. for all other business;
· Reports/VVorkshops will be presented during the 6:30 portion of the meeting,
under the title of Reports;
If there are no Closed Session items, Reports/Workshops would be moved
forward to 5:15 p.m. and be concluded in ample time for a dinner break.
By implementing this process, we would:
1. Make it more convenient for members of the public who attend Council
meetings. There would no longer be the confusion as to whether they should
arrive at 5:15 or 7:00;
2. Eliminate the need for two Public Statement portions on the Agenda; and
3. All Presentations would be held shortly after the commencement of the
meeting at 6:30 p.m.
Staff recognizes that Council wants to give the public an opportunity to participate in the
Council meetings without creating undue hardships for them. By changing the time and
format of the meetings, as proposed, it will make it more convenient for members of the
public who attend and watch on television.
Department of Recreation and Parks
DATE: September 24, 2004
TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager
FROM: Alan Christensen, Director Recreation and Park~
SUBJECT: Tree Trimming Along Truxtun-California-New Stine
A tree contract will be issued to perform structure, dead wood and clearance work on
twenty-one (21) Magnolias on Truxtun from Oak to Union Avenue. Work on fifty-eight
(58) Canary Island Pines on California and New Stine will also be performed. This work
is anticipated to begin sometime during the week of September 27th.
The tree work on Truxtun has been scheduled for quite some time.
Economic and Community Development Department
MEMORANDUM
~. ~,,~Y September 23, 2004
TO: Alan Tandy, City Manager~,j¢_,~,~
FROM: Donna Kunz, Economic Development Director
SUBJECT: Status of Mill Creek Grant Application
Two weeks ago my staff contacted the State Department of Parks and Recreation to
inquire about the status of our Mill Creek grant application. Staff was told the review of
our Mill Creek application under the Urban Park Act of 2001 Grant Program was
completed and letters notifying applicants of the outcome would be mailed out in about
two weeks. It has been a little more than two weeks since that contact was made and
we still have no indication whether or not our application was successful. We have
checked daily on the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation web site
for press releases or any kind of indication of the outcome of the selection process, but
have been unsuccessful. We will contact the state again during the first week of
October if we do not receive notification in the next few days.
On a more positive note, we recently received verbal confirmation from KernCog that
our Transportation Development Article 3 Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Claim for
$282,240 to construct trail and pedestrian bridges for the Mill Creek project will be
approved. We will continue to provide periodic updates as more information becomes
available.
dwhJ:~Darneil\millcreekupdategeninfo.dot
SEP 2 3 2004
MANAGER'S
B A K E R S F I E L .................
Economic and Community Development Department
MEMORANDUM
~,~..~ September 23, 2004
TO: Alan Tandy, City Manage~&,
FROM: Donna L. Kunz, Economic Development Director
SUBJECT: Status of $2.0 million - Section 108 & CDBG Funds forS.E. Bakersfield
On September 18, 2002, Council approved the use of $2 million in CDBG and Section 108
loan funds for Public Works activities in southeast Bakersfield. The following is a summary
of activity to date relating to the use of Section 108 and CDBG funds for Southeast
Bakersfield.
On-~oin~ Projects
· California Avenue Streetscape: $413,500 (Section 108 funds) - Install median
streetscape, sidewalk and lighting improvements on California Avenue between
Union Avenue to Washington Street. The Section 108 HUD contract deadline for
City expenditure of these funds is December $1,2004. Design was completed May
2004. Construction started in September and is scheduled to be completed by
November 2004.
· Brundage Lane Streetscape: $325,000 (Section 108 funds) - Install median
streetscape, sidewalks and lighting improvements from Chester Avenue to Union
Avenue. The Section 108 HUD contract deadline for City expenditure of these
funds is December 31,2004. Curb, gutter, and sidewalk work was completed July
2004. Installation of street lights to start by October and to be completed by end of
November 2004.
· Union Avenue Streetscape: $61,500 (Section 108 funds) - Install street lighting
improvements on Union Avenue between Terrace Way to 4th Street. The Section
108 HUD contract deadline for City expenditure of these funds is December 31,
2004. Design is scheduled to be completed by November 1st 2004. Construction is
scheduled to start in November and to be completed by mid December 2004.
· Career Counseling/Training Center Facility: $200,000 (Section 108 funds) - Funds
were allocated for a job training center. The Section 108 HUD contractual deadline
for City expenditure of these funds is January 31, 2005. Originally planned was a
4,000 square foot facility to be located on Housing Authority of Kern County (HACK)
property at East California Avenue. However, recent correspondence from HACK
indicates that due to cutbacks in state and federal funding, the S.E. training center
is not be feasible at this time. To preserve these loan funds and meet the Section
108 deadline, a letter requesting to reprogram the $200,000 to another existing
Section 108 eligible pool project was mailed to HUD in early September. The City
letter also requested a 6 month deadline extension. To date no reply from HUD
Washington has been received.
· Southwest Corner of Chester Avenue and Brundage Lane Street Improvement
Project: $92,000 (CDBG funds) - Install street improvements including curb, gutter
and sidewalks, right turn lane, and reconfiguration of traffic signals. Design is
completed except for the traffic signal. Construction on the adjoining Mc Donald's
Restaurant began in mid September and is expected to be completed by the end of
December 2004. The off-site improvements being funded by this project are
expected be completed by the end of December 2004.
· Planz Park Wet Play Area Project: $250,000 (CDBG funds) - Funded from two
reprogrammed activities. The project is the construction of a wet play area, an
equipment room, and 2,000 square feet of sidewalk. The project is estimated to cost
$375,000. Recreation and Parks Department intends to add approximately
$125,000 of Park Development funds to the project budget at the time of bid award.
Completed Projects
The following information for the Public Works administered projects reflects completion
dates and associated budgets:
· Lakeview Streetscape: $237,591 (CDBG funds) - Installed median street
improvements and lighting between East California Avenue and 4th Street. Project
completed January 2003.
· Union Avenue Street Improvements: $100,000 (CDBG funds) - Constructed street
improvements including curb, gutter and sidewalks on Union Avenue between "V"
and 3rd streets. Project completed in the Fall of 2003.
· Union Avenue Street Improvements: $18,000 (CDBG funds) -Installed street
improvements including curb, gutter and sidewalks on the 600 block of Union
Avenue. Project completed in the Fall of 2003.
· Martin Luther King, Jr. Pool Rehabilitation: $175,000 (CDBG funds)- Rehabilitated
the swimming pool at 1000 South Owens. Construction completed in June 2004.
· Street Reconstruction in HUD Low-Income Residential Neighborhoods Project:
$220,709 (CDBG funds) - City crews started construction in early May and
completed the activity in July 2004.
xc: PW Director
Recreation and Parks Director
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