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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/31/2005 B A K E R S F I' E L D ~ ~ ~"~~ Mike Maggard, Chair Staff: John W. Stinson Irma Carson For: Alan Tandy, City Manager Harold Hanson AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, August 31,2005 · 4:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room - City Hall 1. ROLL CALL Called to Order at 4:05 p.m. Present: Councilmembers Mike Maggard, Chair; Irma Carson and Harold Hanson 2. ADOPT AUGUST 22, 2005 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Staff report and Committee recommendation on the sale of the City Farm City Attorney Gennaro gave an overview on the changes to the draft memorandum of understanding the Committee had requested at the August 22nd Committee meeting. Committee Member Carson requested clarity from the City Attorney on what Redevelopment Law allows once the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) takes ownership of the property and how the City retains the right to dictate use of the profits. She asked several questions including: What purpose does the RDA serve different from the City? Why would the property not just stay with the City? City Attorney Gennaro explained according to the outside counsel.specializing in redevelopment, the terms would be bound by the purchase agreement. The purchase agreement would include the RDA and the City, as well as the eventual purchaser. Simply because the property and the funds flow through the RDA, the City Attorney was not aware of any legal reason why the property could not be shared by the City Council and the proceeds go to the General Fund. However, to fully answer Committee Member Carson's questions, the City Attorney responded she could confer further with the outside counsel. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, August 31, 2005 Page - 2 - Committee Chair Maggard stated he wanted assurance the Council would have control over where and on what the funds would be spent. He expressed decisions of this magnitude should rest with the City Council, which is the body responsible to the voters. Assistant City Manager Stinson stated the City Manager was available by phone and a call could be put through on the speaker phone. Committee Chair Maggard expressed there were too many unanswered legal questions so he was not comfortable at this time recommending to the Council that the City sell the property to the RDA. However, he was comfortable if the Committee wanted to move the sale of the farmland forward to the City Council, but wanted staff to provide answers to the Committee's questions to the whole Council. He requested staff to please avoid distributing a large document the night of the Council meeting that the Council has not seen and would not have time to review before the item comes up for discussion. City Attorney Gennaro thought the questions and answers could be summarized in a reasonably short format. Committee Member Hanson made a motion to move the sale of 1,280 surplus acres of farmland forward to the City Council at its September 7th meeting for discussion and possible vote and to have staff provide the answers to the Committee's questions to the whole Council. The Committee unanimously approved the motion. B. Staff report and Committee recommendation on potential sale of the City Airport Committee Member Carson explained she brought this back to the Committee for further information. She requested staff to contact the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for information on other sales of small airports similar to the City's in the Western Region. If there were sales, were the City's required to pay back any Federal grant money. Also, she would like staff to request an answer on whether the City would have to pay back all or part of the Federal grant money if the City were to sell the airport. Public Works Director Rojas explained, sometime ago, FAA funding was used to purchase the land the airport is located on from a private party. The City of Bakersfield has the title to the airport and operates it. However, the FAA has decision-making powers over the sale of the airport and the money any sale would produce. The cost to build a new airport is estimated at $30 million for construction plus the purchase price of the land. Two-hundred and fifty acres would cost approximately $7.5 to $20 million depending on the location. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, August 31, 2005 Page - 3 - Committee Member Carson requested staff to bring the requested information to the next Committee meeting. However, the formal request to the FAA asking to close the airport could wait until the Committee meets again. Committee Member Hanson expressed it would be good to explore whether a sale is possible or not and make a decision, because the decision will impact airport tenants and the new restaurant at the airport. Committee Chair Maggard expressed there are benefits for the City to have a municipal airport other than Meadows Field. He asked staff to explore if the City could own property that is not contiguous to Bakersfield and if we would acquire the property, could it be operated as a municipal airport. There are concerns that at sometime in the future there will be complaints from residents regarding flight operations as development continues to grow in the area around the airport. Shane E. Ellis, Kern Charter Service, spoke regarding how to approach the City to get funds invested in improvements at the airport, if the City continues to operate it. Committee Chair Maggard responded with an explanation on the difficulty of making large investments in facilities that do not generate any funding directly back to the City. However, if the City continues at the airport, he suggested perhaps a meeting could be setup to brainstorm on ways to achieve needed improvements. John Harmon, Harmon Rocket LLC, spoke regarding the airport restaurant. Christina Phillips, Harmon Rocket, LLC, spoke regarding the important role the airport fills in the community. Committee Chair Maggard requested staff to bring the information the City received from Ray Bishop, Director of Meadows Field, on flight paths at the airport to the next Committee meeting and also provide a breakdown on the investments the City has made at the airport from grants and from the General Fund (dates and amounts). 5. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m. Attendance: Staff: Assistant City Manager John W. Stinson; Assistant City Manager Alan Christensen; City Attorney Ginny Gennaro; Finance Director Nelson Smith; Fire Chief Ron Fraze; Public Works Director Raul RojaS; Community Development Coordinator George Gonzales; Public Works Operations Manager Brad Underwood; AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING Wednesday, August 31, 2005 Page - 4 - Real Property Manager Don Anderson; ED/CD Business Manager Rhonda Barnhard; and Office Administrator/Public Relations Coordinator Rhonda Smiley; Others: Peter Rudy, KUZZ/KCWR; James Burger, The Bakersfield Californian; Harry Hackney, airport tenant; Shane E. Ellis, Kern Charter Service; Christina Phillips, Harmon Rocket, LLC; John Harmon, Harmon Rocket LLC; Jim Webber, airport tenant; and Dale Bradley, hangar owner. cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council S:~JOHN\Council Com m ittees\05Budget&Finance~bf05aug31summary.doc