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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-11-24MINUTES - CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR - JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2008 CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER 73510 FRED WARING DRIVE, PALM DESERT, CA 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER - 8:00 A.M. Mayor/Chairman Benson convened the meeting at 8:04 a.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Councilman/Member Jim Ferguson Councilmember/Member Cindy Finerty Councilman/Member Richard S. Kelly Mayor Pro Tem/Vice Chairman Robert A. Spiegel Mayor/Chairman Jean M. Benson Also Present: David J. Erwin, City Attorney Sheila R. Gilligan, ACM for Community Services Justin McCarthy, ACM for Redevelopment Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Patrick Conlon, Director of the Office of Energy Management Janet M. Moore, Director of Housing Robert W. Hargreaves, Assistant City Attorney J. Luis Espinoza, Assistant Finance Director Grace L. Mendoza, Deputy City Clerk MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION Mr. Erwin asked the City Council to adjourn to Closed Session for a continued discussion of items listed on the November 20, 2008, Adjourned Regular City Council Meeting. Request for Closed Session: Conference with Legal Counsel regarding existing litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a): a) Indian Springs, LTD., v. City of Palm Desert, et al., Riverside County Superior Court, Case No. INC053903 Conference with Legal Counsel regarding significant exposure to litigation pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(b): Number of potential cases: 1 On a motion by Ferguson, second by Finerty, and 5-0 vote of the City Council/Agency Board, Mayor/Chairman Benson adjourned the meeting to Closed Session at 8:05 a.m. She reconvened the meeting at 8:31 a.m. V. RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING A. REPORT ON ACTION FROM CLOSED SESSION. None 2 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 VI. CONTINUED BUSINESS A. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF PARCEL MAP NO. 31862 (Indian Springs, Ltd., c/o James & Associates, Inc., Applicant) (Continued from the meetings of September 11, October 9, and November 20, 2008). Following is a verbatim transcript of the discussion and testimony for Continued Business Item A. Key DJE David J. Erwin, City Attomey JT Judge Taylor JF Jim Ferguson, Councilman JMB Jean M. Benson, Mayor RAS Robert A. Spiegel, Mayor Pro Tem RC Richard Close, Representing the Park Owner SKS Sunny K. Soltani, Attorney for Indian Springs Mobile HOA RSK Richard S. Kelly, Councilman RDK Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk CF Cindy Finerty, Councilmember DJE (Unclear) Judge Taylor who has been conducting the mediation. JT Good morning members of the City Council. JF Good morning. JMB I will, before you start, I'll excuse myself. I'm a member of Indian Springs. JT Thank you Mayor Benson. RAS Good morning Judge. JT Good morning Mr. Spiegel. I'm a retired judge who's been asked to assist in mediating this matter. We've spent a lot of time in the last week and a half, and we have made a lot of progress, and the only thing I'm permitted, I think under the Rules of Ethics in Law, for me to express to you, because all matters in litigation are confidential, is that we have come from a very far distance apart where there was a huge gap to a very narrow distance. So we've made a lot of progress, including this morning. We don't have a global settlement that we can recite to the world at this time, but we have made a very good effort, and both parties have indicated their willingness to come back next week and talk to me...to try to get this thing resolved; so this will be a continuing process. We apologize for delaying your meeting today. 3 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 We thank you for adjouming to this morning to deal with this issue...we were hopeful that perhaps we might have been able to close the deal, in terms of concept, today by the main deal points; we weren't able to do that, but we did make progress. I'm getting a lot of assistance from both sides. Both sides are, I believe are, negotiating in good faith as they are a pleasure to work with, but this is not an easy mediation by any means. So with that, I don't know if I can really add much more to it unless you have some questions. RAS Does anybody have any questions? JT Councilman Ferguson? JF Yeah, I have a question. And again, I participated in a mediation...last Friday or whenever it was. JT It was a long time ago since. JF Yeah, it seems like a lifetime, but my understanding was, at least with Ms. Soltani and Mr. Close, was that...we had reached a tentative settlement, that...there was some problems getting the tenants selectively on board and how you go through the mechanics of not getting 188 people to sign off on a settlement...but that we were here this morning to approve a parcel map that Mr. Close was going to leave his offer, which we struck in a very dark hallway outside your office...on the table for 30 days at least, and the tenants would then have the time to assemble and respond to that offer. And I guess, I came here prepared this morning to approve a parcel map. So I'm a little lost on how we went from a deal to now just being very close. JT Well...I think where we were...my understanding of the situation is we were at an almost deal, at that point in time, in a very dark hallway in my office,...and for those who are listening, the lights had gone out; so it really was a dark hallway at 10:30 at night. You, you may recall that...I think Mr. Goldstein's client, at that late hour, was unavailable to be contacted for confirmation of certain terms. The other issue we're dealing with is representation by the homeowner's association, and of course they need, we didn't have the entire board there, but we had two negotiating members. So what we really had is, is something that we experience a lot, and that is principals who need to go, or negotiating principals that need to go back to their principals to confirm the concept that we are working with. So I really don't point fingers to either side...and I know Council are, are struggling mightily to help bring this to a closure. I got excellent Counsel that I'm dealing with on both sides...even though they don't make my life easy, they are very wonderful Counsel to work with. So I, I would say that respectfully, I don't really think we had a "true deal" per say at 10:30 that night, but I think we were close. I think the feeling was that it was likely to work out, but as the affects unfolded, and in discussion were had post mediation, with the respective principals...we had a situation where some other issues came 4 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 up that needed to be addressed. We worked all weekend, by the way, on this matter. I had numerous communications with both Counsel and spent three hours with the homeowners personally last night. So we are really working hard on this, and I don't want you to feel that we've just ignored this. Right now it seems to be the only thing I'm thinking about, even though I have a lot of other cases to work on. So I would just ask for your continued patience and understanding that given the very long history of this matter, I don't think we can expect it to get wrapped up at, in, in a very short instant, not that it has been. RAS Judge Taylor, would if be inappropriate for us to approve the map today? JT I can't answer that, but I think that's probably for you to go ahead and take care of, and I think Mr. Erwin or your City Council may have a comment on that. As a true, I'm called a neutral in the law, so I'm gonna' stay away from it. If you don't mind, can't answer that question. RAS Thank you. JF Can I talk to Mr. Close, if that's okay? JT Absolutely. Thank you so much Council. RAS Thank you Judge. RC Yes, Richard Close representing the Park Owner. JF Sir, you and I spoke last week, and I...correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought we had a deal, and we were here to approve your map, and you were gonna' leave your deal points on the table for 30 days. Can you tell me from your perspective what happened? RC The...I guess...first of all we had to focus in on...the question of a deal. The City and the park owner have agreed on the terms, and those have been agreed to for a while, and there's been no attempt by either side to change the...the outline, the points as set. JF Sir, can we approve your map today? RC Excuse me? JF Can we approve your map today? 5 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 RC Yes. JF Okay. And will that alter the negotiations or the balance of power or... RC No, I'm, I'm... JF I'm gonna' hear from Ms. Soltani shortly, so you know, will the world come to an end if we approve your map, which we should have done, in my opinion, some time ago? RC I've indicated to the City Attorney and to Judge Taylor that we will continue in good faith to negotiate with the residents, we will not take anything "off the table;" we want to get everything resolved. We believe that we're close, as Judge Taylor had said, but there needs to be items worked out. JF Okay, so you will...in the infamous e-mail, that I guess is privilege from Judge Taylor with your comments, not back away from any of that if we approve your map? RC That is correct, and I've assured Judge Taylor to that affect as well. JF Okay. RC Thank you. JF Ms. Soltani. SKS Sunny Soltani on behalf of the homeowners association. I request that this gets continued one more time. We thank you for your patience, but simply...the map cannot be approved; there are outstanding issues, I don't even know if the sewers are complete. We are very close, I am very optimistic, there is several small issues that need to be hashed out. We have the Rent Review Board hearing scheduled for December 12th, where if we do have a settlement, God willing, they will need to bless the settlement agreement. I ask on behalf of the association that this meeting gets continued to that day as well, that way everybody will continue having an incentive to wrap this matter up locally...the sewers might actually be completed by that time or substantially completed. JF Will you fill me in on what issues are left, 'cause I'm up at a lost? 6 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 SKS I wish I could, and maybe off the record because you were at the mediation, you would be privy to... JF Okay. SKS ...the discussions but, we did think that we had a tentative settlement that night also, as Judge Taylor indicated Mr. Close needed to get back to his client, and he got back with some comments, and there were some other outstanding issues that came up, and we are very close. I was on vacation, and believe me, I worked two full days almost while I was on vacation; worked all day yesterday. We are really trying very hard, that's why I ask you to please continue this hearing to the 12th as well, so that way we can have the settlement hashed out and everything approved on that day. RAS The next Council meeting is the 11 to JF The 11th yeah. SKS That would be better than approving it today, that would be okay. So maybe then we can have the final map approved on the 11 th, and then on the 12th we can have the Rent Review Board bless the settlement agreement. I appreciate that thank you. JF Alright thank you. RAS Is there a motion to continue this to the 11 th DJE Mr. Mayor...let me at least make my recommendation to the Council? RAS Please. DJE I would strongly recommend you approve the map today. We have continued this long pass what our Ordinance provides, and I think we have just continued it to death. I would strongly recommend you approve it today. RAS Thank you. Councilman Kelly? RSK I move we waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. 08-91 approving map, Parcel Map No. 31862. RAS Is there a second? 7 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 JF Second. RAS Any other discussion? Please vote. RDK I would need to do a voice vote or a roll call vote. My computer monitor died and... JF Machine's down? RDK ...there is no way for me to record it. RAS Please call the roll? RDK Okay. Councilmem-Councilman Ferguson? JF Aye. RDK Councilmember Finerty? CF No. RDK Councilman Kelly? RSK Aye. RDK And Mayor Pro Tem Spiegel? RAS Aye. RDK And that motion carried 3-1 with Councilmember Finerty voting NO, Mayor Benson ABSENT. RAS You indicated we needed a four vote? DJE No, three. RAS Thank you. For purpose of clarification the motion was: Councilman Kelly moved to waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. 08-91, approving the Map of Parcel Map No. 31862. Motion was seconded by Ferguson and carried by a 3-1 vote, with Finerty voting NO, and Benson ABSENT. 8 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 B. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION FOR STAFF TO NEGOTIATE WITH WELLS FARGO BANK REGARDING ITS PROPOSAL TO ASSIST THE CITY WITH STRUCTURING A VARIABLE RATE BOND ISSUE TO PROVIDE FINANCING FOR THE CITY'S ENERGY INDEPENDENCE PROGRAM (Continued from the meeting of November 20, 2008). MR. KEN DIEKER, Del Rio Advisors, Financial Advisor to the City stated after the Governor signed Assembly Bill 811 into law, he was tasked by the City Manager and staff to figure out a way to finance these on -going loans on a long-term basis. The City received a proposal from Wells Fargo Bank to finance the loans on a long-term basis using the concept of what's called a variable rate demand obligation. The General Fund would back up these bonds to basically provide the credit to finance the loans on a Tong -term basis, at less than the 7% loan rate. He spoke to a number of commercial banks, private lenders, and received a proposal in-house from Renewable Funding, who was managing the Berkeley Program on a pilot basis. He said they were the first people out the door on a private lending basis. Staff was requesting permission to move forward on negotiations with Wells Fargo. The basic concept was a General Fund backing, lease transaction that would be less than the 7% loan rate, with the City making the spread on the loans. The loan rate would be anywhere from, 3% all -in up to a 5.4% all -in, which was considerably less than the 7% loan rate. The City could generate a spread to the Energy Fund that would allow the City to finance future loans or off -set a portion of it's administration costs. He noted Margaret Kalroff from Wells Fargo was present to answer any questions. He said Renewable Funding offered to buy $2.5 million of the Energy Independence Loans at 7%, which was the current loan rate, with a 2.5% discount. However, the City would also have to pay other associated costs; the proposal had a built-in loss from the start. He and staff believed Renewable Funding and others were beginning to formulate some proposals, and stated he would like the opportunity to negotiate with them down the road for future financing. He said Wells Fargo's proposal for variable rate demand bonds could be processed by January 2009; these loans could be called at any time without penalty, so if a private lender option presented itself and it was Tess than the 7% or around the 7% loan rate, they could take out the variable rate demand bond. Councilman/Member Ferguson asked if Renewable Funding was requiring the City's back stop to guarantee the loans. 9 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 MR. DIEKER replied Renewal Funding was not requiring the City's back stop and Wells Fargo was. Responding to question, he said the City was currently assuming all the risk because the money was already out. Councilman/Member Ferguson stated the City had the benefit without a third party making the hedge on the margin. MR. DIEKER agreed, and stated there was nothing that would stop a private lender from being involved down the road. He said Renewal Funding's proposal was for the first $2.5 million of loans, and they had another option to offer, but the interest rate wasn't determined yet, so it was his guess the interest rate would be negotiated at a higher rate. His task was to figure out a way to finance the Energy Independence Loans at a 7% or below, and this really was the only option given the current market rate and where things were in the bond market right now. Councilman/Member Ferguson questioned why the City would want to obtain bonds in the worse market. MR. DIEKER replied the variable rate demand market was currently solid, the interest rate on the weekly paper was 1.8%; the short-term end of the market was valid because of the debt intervention; the long-term fixed rate market was essentially dried up, particularly for taxable bonds and land secured taxable bonds, which these loans would be. He said the City didn't have an option for long-term fixed rate at this particular point in time, but it could re -open. However, it was unlikely it would be at 7%, because it was below that during the best liquidity in history. Responding to question, he said his Financial Advisor Fees were $35,000-$50,000 plus other fees involved with bonds, etc; the interest rates quoted to the Council included all the fees. The current all -in -rate was approximately 3.0% including all costs and expenses; the 15-year average of that would be 4.25%, so the all -in -rate, including fees and expenses, and letter of credit to Wells Fargo, would be 5.39% under the average rate. Councilman/Member Ferguson asked if staff had conducted a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a Request for Qualification to see what the fair market would bear. MR. DIEKER responded he had contacted five commercial banks, including Bank of Amercia, Union Bank, both of which had prior business dealings with the City, but Wells Fargo was the only one willing to provide a letter of credit to the City of Palm Desert. 10 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 Councilman/Member Ferguson stated Wells Fargo had made a run at Berkeley, and they were turned down. MR. DIEKER responded he wasn't aware of that. Councilmember/Member Finerty referencing a statement, "one must note there was no guarantee that the rate on the variable rate bonds, inclusive of all fees would always be below the 7% loan rate." She said Mr. Dieker was proposing a rate that would be 3- to 5.34%, yet it didn't guarantee it would be below 7%. MR. DIEKER explained the interest rate on the bonds were set weekly; it's called the weekly re -marketing, and it approximates one-month's labor. He showed how the weekly graph went up and down, and Wells Fargo offered a cap or swap to fix the rate for a period of time in order to avoid the City having upside exposure pass a certain level of interest rate. There would be little exposure to the General Fund as the City would quantify and moved forward. Further responding, he said the cap had not been set, and it was part of the negotiation process. He said Wells Fargo set aside this credit for the City, and it will hold it until the results of this meeting. He said instead of putting together a whole package with bond documents, they came to ask the Council for permission to start those negotiations and return with a formal bond proposal. Councilman/Member Ferguson asked if the proposal was vetted through the City's Audit, Investment & Finance Committee (AIFC). MR. DIEKER replied it wasn't, and he wasn't requested to do so. Councilman/Member Ferguson stated the City had a policy for such items to go through the Audit, Investment & Finance Committee, and at the minimum, it should go through that Committee and return with a recommendation to the Council. Mr. McCarthy confirmed the proposal had not gone through the AIFC. Mayor Pro Tem/Vice Chairman Spiegel asked if there was any way to obtain a fixed rate. MR. DIEKER replied it was not possible in this market. He said taxable bond market for long-term financing and land -secured market, which were similar to an assessment district or Mello -Roos, had dried up for tax exempt. At this point, there was no ability to finance the loans without the backing of the General Fund, or the ability to have some private lender buy these loans at 11 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 some rate down the road. However, there was nothing that would prohibit the City from taking private money to pay off these bonds. Councilman/Member Ferguson said he struggled with the fact the City averaged about a 3% on its reserve portfolio, making loans at 7%, earning a float of 4% to administer the program and the paper journal services for the City, and the City was assuming all the risk. He questioned why the City would want to assume all the risk and turn that float over to Wells Fargo. MR. DIEKER responded the City was not turning the float over to Wells Fargo because the City's interest rate would be 3- to 5.5%, and the difference between the 7% loan rate and the interest rate the City was paying Wells Fargo was the spread the City would keep, just like it was doing now. The City would be able to repay the $2.5 million to the General Fund or use the $5 million that's proposed to make additional loans under the program. Councilman/Member Ferguson replied the City currently had a proposal to float bonds to its Redevelopment Agency, have them purchase the bonds, and use Redevelopment Agency money, not General Fund money. MR. DIEKER agreed, but that capital was tied up for a period of time, so that $5 million would not be available for RDA projects. Councilman/Member Ferguson said he understood that, but the City had a $367 million reserve in its Redevelopment Agency, so $5 million didn't mean a thing. Councilman/Member Kelly added the City had $8 million coming in every year. Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel stated initially $2.5 million was set aside for the Energy Independence Program, and it went out quickly, and understood the City was now working with Redevelopment Agency to set aside $5 million. He asked what was the status on that amount. Mr. Conlon replied the program was in phase two of the $5 million, and it had a total of $2.7 million in approved loan applications; he expected the rest of the $2.3 million to be used up by the end of January. Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel said he thought the proposal with Wells Fargo was for $10 million. 12 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 MR. DIEKER explained that $10 million was discussed, and Wells Fargo was willing to work with the City on that amount, but the City would have to start paying interest on the whole $10 million, which was the reason the City was looking at the $5 million net. With the $2.7 approved loans, plus the additional loans expected through January, there wouldn't be any exposure to the General Fund. Further responding, he said the concept was to not mismatch the loan receipts coming from the property owners to the bond debt service to avoid exposure to the General Fund. Councilman/Member Ferguson stated the City wouldn't get repayment on those loans until December 2009, and he struggled with the fact that the City had an opportunity to take medium security notes that were already restricted, set aside money that was suppose to be eaming interest on, and earn 7% instead of 4%, and the City could take its medium security notes, retire them, put them into this loan program, and make 4% more than it was currently making, and it wouldn't financially affect the City at all. MR. DIEKER agreed if that was the long-term solution the City wished to pursue. However, he was told the General Fund and the Redevelopment Agency Fund were not Tong -term solutions, and Wells Fargo's proposal was a long-term solution. Councilman/Member Ferguson stated it was news to him that $10 million would get the City through another 21/2 years as projected by the City Manager. He said the City would start receiving money in December 2009 and understood it would start rolling over, but if the City was on the hook for complete risk, why would it tum over its profit to a third party by guaranteeing the loans for Wells Fargo. MR. DIEKER responded the City would be backing the loans with the General Fund should there be a short fall between the loans and their interest rate on the bonds; the City had the benefit to the extent that the rate was lower than the 7% loan rate, and the City would make that spread. The real question was did the Council want to use the General Fund and Redevelopment Agency as long-term solutions for the Energy Independence Loan Program. Further responding, he said Wells Fargo agreed to save the letter of credit for the City until the results of this meeting; Wells Fargo had to tie up the credit internally in order to provide it to Palm Desert. Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel suggested having this item continued until the first meeting in December in order to allow the Audit, Investment & Finance Committee to review this matter. 13 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 Mayor Pro Tem/Vice Chairman Spiegel moved to, continue this item to the meeting of December 11, 2008, referring it in the meantime to the November 25, 2008, Audit, Investment & Finance Committee's Meeting for a recommendation back to the City Council. Motion was seconded Ferguson. MS. MARGARET KALROFF, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Public Finance, responding to comment about Wells Fargo being turned down for the program at Berkeley, she said the program that was being discussed in Berkeley was of a different construct, it was a private placement, fixed rate, and her colleague Matt Hobbs worked directly with the consultant to that City, who then took the program that was put together and started his own firm. She said Berkeley was doing something different than what Wells Fargo initially proposed, and what they were doing now mades sense for them. However, she wanted to be clear that what Wells Fargo presented to Berkeley was nothing compared to what it was proposing to do here. Councilmember/Member Finerty suggested the Audit, Investment & Finance Committee look at all options and take into consideration the proposal from Renewable Funding and taking funds out of RDA reserves, and return with their opinion on which direction the City should go for long-term financing. She was concerned with the variable rate because it was one of the reason the economy was in a mess today. She didn't know why there was such a rush, and she didn't think the City had done their due diligence before undertaking a major project. Councilman/Member Ferguson stated Wells Fargo had done a great job for the City, and he was not picking on them, but he had met with the President of the Public Utilities Commission who had challenged Palm Desert to come up with a funding mechanism that any City could do, not just wealthy ones. He believed there were funding options out there but thought everyone was trying to make their bond commissions and felt like he was being pushed into a bond market, which he thought was a disaster. He said the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem served on the AIFC, and they would have an opportunity to talk to Mr. Dieker and Ms. Kalroff. He agreed with Councilmember Finerty that the City needed to conduct a Request for Qualification or Request for Proposals, and get the best deal available, not necessarily the first deal available. He said even though Wells Fargo's offer had already been submitted, he had lunch with a representative from Renewable Funding because he didn't want to go with the first offer that came along. He would prefer to study the market, study the proposal, see what the best offer was, and make a decision with the advise of the AIFC, which was consistent with the City's conservative fiscal policy. 14 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 MR. DIEKER stated he understood conservative fiscal policy and had no issue with that aspect, but the real impediment to funding this program directly with the security lien on the property was the issue on whether or not a property owner had the permission of their lender and whether this lien would be senior. Further responding, he said the lien was established, and the question appeared to be one of constitutional nature and disclosure issue for any potential lender, that if a foreclosure took place, it could cause a problem with that lien being senior to the loan, which seemed to be the real question of the issue. Some of the commercial banks, who were looking at doing this as a direct loan to the program, would have the same issue, which was why the General Fund mechanism played a big role. With the Berkeley program, they were requiring Renewable Funding to re -market the bond. The idea at Berkeley was that they were buying these bonds from each one of the property owners and pulling them together. Councilman/Member Kelly requested this item be given the opportunity to go through the process and not attempt to solve it today. Mayor/Chairman Benson called for the vote, and the motion carried by a 4-1 vote, with Finerty voting NO. Responding to question, Mr. McCarthy agreed to put together something for the Audit, Investment & Finance Committee to review at the Committee meeting the following day, and it would be treated as an urgency item. VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. REQUEST FOR CERTIFICATION OF AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT (EIR) FOR THE SUBDIVISION OF 11.87 ACRES INTO TWO HOME SITES WITH 9.09 ACRES OF DEDICATED OPEN SPACE WEST OF INDIAN COVE, A PRIVATE STREET WITHIN THE "CANYONS AT BIGHORN GOLF CLUB," AND SOUTH OF DEAD INDIAN CREEK, AND APPROVAL OF A TENTATIVE TRACT MAP FOR THE PROJECT KNOWN AS "CORNISHE" Case No. TT 31676 (Cornishe of Bighorn/Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory LLP, Applicant). Mr. Erwin asked if the Council would consider any further action with regard to Cornishe of Bighorn. Mayor/Chairman Benson moved to, by Minute Motion, reconsider this item. Motion was seconded by Spiegel and carried by a 3-2 vote, with Finerty and Kelly voting NO. 15 MINUTES CONTINUED ADJOURNED REGULAR JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY NOVEMBER 24, 2008 XVIII. REPORTS AND REMARKS C. CITY CLERK 1. Reauest to Schedule Joint Study Session of the City Council and Planning Commission Regarding the Westfield Expansion Project. Ms. Klassen stated staff had indicated January 8 at 2:00 p.m. would work for them; it would be the first City Council meeting in January. With City Council/Agency Board concurrence, the Westfield Expansion Project Study Session was scheduled for Thursday, January 8, 2008, at 2:00 p.m. XIX. ADJOURNMENT With City Council/Agency Board concurrence, Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel adjourned the meeting at 9:34 a.m. ATTEST: l�f)_P/14 ,�rCilll /1�'r✓ . BENSON AYOR/CHAIRMAN -‘2RAC ELLE D. KLASSE , ITY CLERK/ CRETARY CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA/ PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY 16