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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/16/2001 BAKERSFIELD Alan Tandy, City Manager Mike Maggard John W. Stinson, Assistant City Manager Jacquie Sullivan AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT SPECIAL MEETING INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMI'R'EE of the City Council - City of Bakersfield Monday, July 16, 2001 12:00 noon City Manager's Conference Room 1. ROLL CALL Called to order at 12:19 p.m. Present: Councilmembers Irma Carson, Chair; Mike Maggard and Jacquie Sullivan 2. ADOPTION OF FEBRUARY 21, 2001 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding EmpoWerment Zones Economic Development Director Donna Kunz gave an overview of the application process for Empowerment Zones (EZ), which is very comprehensive and the due date to HUD is September 28, 2001. The application has to go through several layers of approval process and the County and the State have to nominate the City's application for the EZ designation. Communities must meet certain thresholds to receive a designation. The City would be required to design a strategic plan, organized into two volumes. It would have to include visions and values, a full community assessment with goals and strategies. An implementation plan would have to be submitted with the application, which would have to be a very detailed solid plan of how you intend to carry out all of your projects and programs to achieve your vision from the strategic plan. Then you must have actual projects and programs that have identified firm commitments of resources, and identify the following: lead agencies, innovative collaborative solutions, and realistic budgets and firm commitments for financial resources and staff. ADOPTED AS SUBI'IYTI'EI) ON FEBRUARY 15, 2002 INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT July 16, 2001 Page -2- Thirty points of the application, new to City staff, is called the tax incentive utilization plan. Basically, this plan has to integrate all of the tax incentives that come with the zone designation into the community assessment needs and the goals that were identified in the plan. It is very project specific. Part of the application includes a governance board and a governance plan. The governance board is actually the body that implements and earmarks resources over the time the zone is in place. A governance board must be established and actual points are given on the plan, rated on how we came up with the governance board. Also required are a Leadership Development Program, a capacity building plan on how training and technical assistance are going to be given, and show how we plan to assess performance each year. The last part is resource commitments, for example, the recent $1 million CDBG funds earmarked for a targeted area would constitute as a real commitment. Also, they would want commitments from private industry and non-profits, so we can show a leverage of their tax credits with ratio to private activity commitments. This effort will be very comprehensive and would probably require a consultant. If it is successful, there are nine that could be awarded, two of which will be rural and seven will be urban. The City has census tracts which meet the criteria. If an area receives a designation, businesses that locate in these zones qualify for special federal tax credits. Paul Sipple, Kern County Community Development, spoke regarding Kern County's experience in their efforts to apply for Arvin, Lamont, Weedpatch, and part of Shafter and explained some of the difficulties they have encountered in the application process. Their office has been working with the communities of Lamont and Weedpatch since 1997, when a consultant was hired to assist in putting a plan together for what was then called an Enterprise Community Designation. For the first go-around they submitted the Lamont-Weedpatch Revitalization Blueprint, which is a very comprehensive strategic plan document and included community participation. In 1998, the rules changed and in order to be competitive, a regional plan was needed so they added the City of Arvin and part of the City of Shafter, as the program at that time allowed for three noncontiguous areas. There was a benefit, however, having the plan in place has helped them apply for rural development grant funds. Staff has concerns that in this short time-frame we may not be able to come up with a plan and be competitive. One consideration would be when doing the up-coming Charrette process, incorporate in the RFP the strategy, the community plan and the other needed elements, so that we could be ready to go in the next annual cycle. Committee Chair Carson liked the idea of using the money set aside for the Charrette to start a community plan that could also be used in applying for the Empowerment Zone (EZ) designation. INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT July 16, 2001 Page -3- There are three or four census tracts in the southeast that would qualify under the requirement that 70% of the census tract have to be Iow-income. The EZ designation is on a federal level and if the City has a designated map area, offers special federal tax credit incentives for businesses that locate there. It also allows added points for other grant programs when applying for federal assistance. Economic Development Director Donna Kunz stated that we should develop a comprehensive community plan as suggested by Committee Chair Carson and have it in place for the next cycle. It was noted that the plan would have to be nominated by the County of Kern and the State. Development Services Director Jack Hardisty said it would not be possible to get a consultant on board before the application deadline of September 28, 2001 and it would probably cost up to $150,000 for a consultant to prepare the EZ designation application. The Charrette process would only address parts of the plan. Committee Chair Carson directed Economic Development Director Donna Kunz to work on an action plan with recommendations for funding and timelines for creation and implementation of the EZ designation application, including possible funding sources for a consultant and bring back to the Intergovernmental Relations Committee. 5. COMMITTEE COMMENTS 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 12:59 p.m. Attendance staff: Assistant City Manager John W. Stinson; City Attorney Bart Thiltgen; Assistant to the City Manager Darnell Haynes; Economic Development Director Donna Kunz; Development Services Director Jack Hardisty; and Community Development, Development Associate Hayward Cox Others: Paul Sipple, Kern County Community Development S:~AC~001 IGRC\lR01ju116summary.wpd