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Home My WebLink About04/08/2002 BAKERSFIELD ~ ~ ~'~~ David Couch, Chair Alan Tandy, City Manager Sue Benham Staff: John W. Stinson Mike Maggard AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMI'I-rEE MEETING Monday, April 8, 2002, 1:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room - City Hall 1. ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 1:20 p.m. Present: Councilmembers David Couch, Chair; and Sue Benham Absent: Councilmember Mike Maggard 2. ADOPT FEBRUARY 11, 2002 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS Renee Nelson provided the Committee with information regarding the first Great Valley Leadership Institute to be held near Yosemite, August 14 - 18, 2002. 4. DEFERRED BUSINESS A. Freeway update Public Works Director Raul Rojas stated he and Assistant Public Works Director Jack LaRochelle attended a CTC (California Transportation Commission) meeting last week to make an attempt to advance some funding for road rehab. Contrary to news reports, the rehab money is in the budget; however, it is in the 2006-07 fiscal year. CTC is giving all the counties an opportunity for STIP amendments up until October of this year. Staff working with Kern COG will try again for some STIP amendments to allow swapping funding to bring some road rehab money in now, or in the next fiscal year. There is about $180 million in reserve (CalTrans) for STIP amendments statewide. ADOPTED AS SUBN-~ 01~1 N_AY 6, 2002. URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, April 8, 2002 Page -2- The westside parkway (freeway) funding is also in the 2006-07 fiscal year and approved as part of the STIP (State Transportation Improvement Program) amendment and is now an official City of Bakersfield project. The CTC action also put nearly $30 million into the 2002-03 year for the freeway, which included $2.7 million for environmental and project approval; $5.5 million for design; and most of the money needed for right-of-way acquisition (split up into two years) $19.2 million with another $7 million the following year. Staff has been working with property owners and has made progress. Work is proceeding with a consultant on a report, which will show the staff and duties that will be needed for freeway project management. This will be reviewed as part of the budget process. The money will be from the funding for the freeway. The Fairfax Interchange funding was also part of the CTC STIP amendments and the project was changed from a CalTrans construction project to a City of Bakersfield construction project. CalTrans put in $2.3 for right-of-way support (construction and engineering) for this $10 million project. The design for this project is moving forward. Staff is finalizing the project approval report and a consultant has been hired to do the design for the White Lane Interchange project. The Hageman Flyover, 24th at Oak Street project, 24th Street, and Centennial Corridor draft study reports are in at CalTrans. Staff is awaiting CalTrans comments. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding Alternative 15 prioritization - Kern COG subcommittee At the Kern COG meeting when Alternative 15 was approved, Kern COG formed a subcommittee to report back to Kern COG regarding prioritization of the segments that make up Alternative 15. The subcommittee included three Councilmembers from the Urban Development Committee, Board Supervisors Jon McQuiston and Pete Parra, and Garry Nelson from Shafter. Councilmember Couch reported he, Jon McQuiston, Garry Nelson, and staffs are planning to get together on April 22nd. There would be no decisions only preliminary discussion on prioritization. Councilmember Couch would be reporting back to the Urban Development Committee. Public Works staff is recommending the first phase include Stockdale Highway at Heath Road to Mohawk, including all of Mohawk to Rosedale, starting with Mohawk first, so there would be a segment built that would actually connect and could be used immediately upon completion. The bridges should be built first, starting with the Mohawk Bridge over the river. URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, April 8, 2002 Page -3- B. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding space needs and City Hall expansion Raul Rojas gave an overview of space needs previously presented to the Council at a workshop and referred to the Urban Development Committee for further study. The Committee reviewed the proposed plans. It was discussed that a new facility to house all departments together is the most desired, but very costly. The annual debt service on a 20-year bond to build a new city hall would be about $8 million per year, which is 10% of the general fund. Purchasing property in the downtown would cost about $2 million per square block. The Committee requested staff to research utilizing the current buildings at City Hall and moving the Police Department to another location. Staff recommended that Administration, Public Works and Development Services need to be located in close proximity. Committee Member Benham suggested instead of using sky bridges, closing Eye Street between the Police Department and City Hall and having a campus style configuration with a pedestrian mall. There is one private business on Eye Street, which would preclude closing the street unless that property is purchased. MIS (Management Information Services) utilizes space in the basement originally designed for storage with an air-conditioning system never intended for office use. MIS has an immediate need for additional space to house its computer hardware and staff. Mercy Hospital on Truxtun was discussed. At this time the owners have not made a decision on their plans for that facility. Chuck Waide, CCAPE, spoke regarding the need for public parking at City Hall. Staff will continuing to research and bring this back to the Committee. C. Discussion and Committee recommendation regarding methods of incentives for developers Economic Development Director Donna Kunz gave a brief overview of the City of Brea's plan, "Art in Public Places," which requires commercial, industrial and residential development projects of 5 or more dwellings with a total building project valuation of $1.5 million to set aside 1% of the total building construction valuation to install permanent outdoor sculpture at the development site. Incorporating art and water elements into development guidelines would provide several enhancements to Bakersfield. Unfortunately, the development community is not generally inclined to embrace incorporating public art or water features into their projects due to added development costs. URBAN DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Monday, April 8, 2002 Page -4- Waiving of fees was discussed as an incentive for developers to add art concepts to their developments. The formula for fees is to cover the cost of services. If the fees are waived for some, the fees are then borne by other developers or the City in order to cover costs; therefore, there are legal concerns regarding equal treatment. Fees that are waived (e.g. paid by the City) would also be considered a subsidy and the project may then come under SB 975 and minimum wage law. Staff provided a copy of the Brea plan and will bring this item back to the Committee. 6. COMMI'n'EE COMMENTS Committee Chair Couch spoke regarding the engineering staff in Public Works being so time consumed with plan checking because of the large volume of maps, they have been unable to get to other projects, such as the Transportation Impact Fees. The City Manager said there is another position being requested in the upcoming budget to address this concern. 7. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 2:55 p.m. Attendance - staff: City Manager Alan Tandy; Assistant City Manager John W. Stinson; City Attorney Bart Thiltgen; Development Services Director Jack Hardisty; Planning Director Stan Grady; Economic Development Director Donna Kunz; Public Works Director Raul Rojas; Assistant Public Works Director Jack LaRochelle. Others: Cassie Daniel, Bakersfield Association of Realtors; Brian Todd, BIA of Kern County; Tammy Brown, KUZZ; Herman Ruddell, DBA; Renee Nelson; Lorraine Unger, Sierra Club; and James Burger, reporter, The Bakersfield Californian; Chuck Waide, CCAPE, Central California Association of Public Employees. cc: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers S:~JOHN\Urban Dev2002\ud02apr08sum mary.wpd