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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-06-23MINUTES REGULAR PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2011 CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER 73510 FRED WARING DRIVE, PALM DESERT, CA 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER - 3:00 P.M. Chairman Benson convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Member Cindy Finerty Member Jan C. Harnik Member William R. Kroonen Vice Chairman Robert A. Spiegel Chairman Jean M. Benson Also Present: John M. Wohlmuth, City Manager/RDA Executive Director David J. Erwin, City Attorney Justin McCarthy, ACM for Redevelopment Stephen Y. Aryan, Assistant to the City Manager Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk Bo Chen, City Engineer Russell Grance, Director of Building & Safety Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Paul S. Gibson, Director of Finance/City Treasurer Janet M. Moore, Director of Housing Mark Greenwood, Director of Public Works Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs Bill Hunley, Battalion Chief, Palm Desert Fire/Riverside Co. Fire Dept./Cal Fire Andrew Shouse, Asst. Chief, Palm Desert Police/Riverside Co. Sheriffs Dept. Grace L. Mendoza, Deputy City Clerk III. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION Reauest for Closed Session: MINUTES PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING JUNE 23, 2011 Conference with Real Property Negotiator pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8: 1) Property: 75-473 Wildflower Lane (APN 634-062-031), Palm Desert Negotiating Parties: Agency: Justin McCarthy/Janet Moore/ Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency Property Owner: Marjorie Loehr Under Negotiation: x Price x Terms of Payment On a motion by Spiegel, second by Harnik, and 5-0 vote of the Agency Board, Chairman Benson adjourned the meeting to Closed Session at 3:02 p.m. She reconvened the meeting at 4:00 p.m. IV. RECONVENE REGULAR MEETING - 4:00 P.M. A. REPORT ON ACTION FROM CLOSED SESSION. None V. AWARDS, PRESENTATIONS, AND APPOINTMENTS None VI. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES of the Regular Redevelopment Agency Meeting of June 9, 2011. Rec: Approve as presented. B. CLAIMS AND DEMANDS AGAINST THE AGENCY TREASURY - Warrant Nos. 253RDA, 257RDA, 254-Housing, 258-Housing, 255HA, and 259HA. Rec: Approve as presented. Upon a motion by Spiegel, second by Finerty, and 5-0 vote of the Agency Board, the Consent Calendar was approved as presented. VII. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VIII. RESOLUTIONS None 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING JUNE 23, 2011 IX. NEW BUSINESS A. REQUEST FOR ADOPTION OF RESOLUTIONS OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, APPROVING PAYMENT BY THE AGENCY FOR ALL OR A PART OF IMPROVEMENTS TO THE KANSAS STREET RETENTION BASIN PROJECT (JOINT CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL). Mayor Pro Tem/ Vice Chairman Spiegel moved to waive further reading and adopt: 1) City Council Resolution No. 2011 - 55, approving payment by the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency for all or a part of the cost of the Kansas Street Retention Basin Project; 2) Redevelopment Agency Resolution No. 585, approving payment by the Agency for all or a part of the cost of the Kansas Street Retention Basin Project — funds are available in the Project Area No. 4 Account for this purpose. Motion was seconded by Finerty and carried by a 5-0 vote. B. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY LOCATED IN FALCON CREST AND KNOWN AS APN 624-440-019 (74-670 KING FISHER CIRCLE, PALM DESERT) IN ANTICIPATION OF EXPIRATION OF THE FIRST RIGHT -OF -REFUSAL PERIOD (JOINT CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL). Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Authorize acquisition of the subject property for the purposes of retaining affordability covenants and resale, if necessary, in anticipation of expiration of the 45-day First Right -of -Refusal Period in amount pursuant to the Affordable Agreement (approximately $240,462 [to be increased by reasonable closing costs and commissions)); 2) approve Agency Silent Second and City BEGIN Third Trust Deeds in amounts necessary to secure an affordable housing cost pursuant to Redevelopment Law for either a direct sale or Agency resale from Housing Set -aside Fund and BEGIN Program monies; 3) authorize the Director of Finance to draw monies from relative funds to facilitate the transaction; 4) authorize the Executive Director or his designee to execute any documents necessary to facilitate this transaction — funds are available in Acquisition Rehab and Resale Account No. 870-4492-464-4001, BEGIN Program Fund Account No. 214-4494-464-3901, and Homebuyer Assistance Account No. 870-4699-464-4001. Motion was seconded by Finerty and carried by a 5-0 vote. 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING JUNE 23, 2011 C. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY LOCATED IN FALCON CREST AND KNOWN AS APN 624-431-020 (42-197 VERDIN LANE, PALM DESERT) IN ANTICIPATION OF EXPIRATION OF THE FIRST RIGHT -OF -REFUSAL PERIOD (JOINT CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL). Mayor Pro Tem/Vice Chairman Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Authorize acquisition of the subject property for the purposes of retaining affordability covenants and resale, if necessary, in anticipation of expiration of the 45-day First Right -of -Refusal Period in amount pursuant to the Affordable Agreement (approximately $245,952 [to be increased by reasonable closing costs and commissions]); 2) approve Agency Silent Second and City BEGIN Third Trust Deeds in amounts necessary to secure an affordable housing cost pursuant to Redevelopment Law for either a direct sale or Agency resale from Housing Set -aside Fund and BEGIN Program monies; 3) authorize the Director of Finance to draw monies from the relative funds to facilitate the transaction; 4) authorize the Executive Director or his designee to execute any documents necessary to facilitate this transaction — funds are available in Acquisition Rehab and Resale Account No. 870-4492-464-4001, BEGIN Program Fund Account No. 214-4494-464-3901, and Homebuyer Assistance Account No. 870-4699-464-4001. Motion was seconded by Finerty and carried by a 5-0 vote. D. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY LOCATED IN FALCON CREST AND KNOWN AS APN 624-440-008 (42-218 VERDIN LANE, PALM DESERT) IN ANTICIPATION OF EXPIRATION OF THE FIRST RIGHT -OF -REFUSAL PERIOD (JOINT CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL). Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion: 1) Authorize acquisition of the subject property for the purposes of retaining affordability covenants and resale, if necessary, in anticipation of expiration of the 45-day First Right -of -Refusal Period in amount pursuant to the Affordable Agreement (approximately $218,502 [to be increased by reasonable closing costs and commissions)); 2) approve Agency Silent Second and City BEGIN Third Trust Deeds in amounts necessary to secure an affordable housing cost pursuant to Redevelopment Law for either a direct sale or Agency resale from Housing Set -aside Fund and BEGIN Program monies; 3) authorize the Director of Finance to draw monies from the relative funds to facilitate the transaction; 4) authorize the Executive Director or his designee to execute any documents necessary to facilitate this transaction — funds are available in Acquisition Rehab and Resale Account No. 870-4492-464-4001, BEGIN Program Fund Account No. 214-4494-464-3901, and Homebuyer Assistance Account No. 870-4699-464-4001. Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel stated the City had acquired a lot of property in the past couple of months and wondered if any of it was being sold. 4 MINUTES PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING JUNE 23, 2011 Ms. Moore answered no, stating staff had conducted an outreach with respect to looking for people that are interested in purchasing a home in Falcon Crest and Desert Rose; however, interest was very limited. In keeping up with what's happening, she just read a synopsis/summary in a Harvard Review that stated people are opting across the country for a rental as opposed to home ownership. She's not sure if people are nervous about prices continuing to go down or just hesitant to where they will end up if they can get work. Mayor Pro Tem/Vice Chairman Spiegel asked if some of the properties can be turned into rentals. Ms. Moore said staff was looking at a number of options that will be brought back as a suggestion to the City Council, one of which might be a lease option program. Staff will be speaking to the homeowners associations of both developments to see if it might be a good solution. Obviously, it's not the City's intent to keep properties vacant, but with little to no interest, it did make it difficult. She said staff notified residents in the City's own complexes and made a tremendous sales pitch to them and did receive quite a few people interested. Staff is also looking at Hovley Gardens. Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel requested that at the next July City Council meeting, staff provide the Council with the number of properties owned by the City that are vacant and what was being done to get rid of them. Ms. Moore responded she could certainly inform the Council on the number of properties, but it would be difficult to determine how to get rid of them or how to sell them, because people have so many options right now. She said people are able to go down Valley and buy something for less then what the City had. One suggestion would be to revert back to the original sales prices or look at some option with respect to forgiving some of the loans that might be on these properties. Motion was seconded by Finerty and carried by a 5-0 vote. 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING JUNE 23, 2011 E. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION OF A ONE-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION WITH RITE RATE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR OPERATION OF THE EL PASEO COURTESY CART SERVICE (CONTRACT NO. R29971). Member Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion, authorize: 1) A one-year extension of the subject contract with Rite Rate Business Solutions, Palm Desert, Califomia, in the amount of $163,000 for operation ($158,000 for scheduled hours and $5,000 for operating during special events) of the El Paseo Courtesy Cart Service, commencing September 1, 2011, through July 4, 2012; 2) additional $10,000 for preventative maintenance and repairs of the three carts; 3) Chairman to execute said contracts — funds in the amount of $173,000 are available in Courtesy Carts, Account No. 850-4416-414-3681. Motion was seconded by Finerty and carried by a 5-0 vote. F. REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF A FUNDING COMMITMENT OF $50,000 TO THE COACHELLA VALLEY ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP'S 2011-2012 FISCAL BUDGET. Member Spiegel stated he knew the City of Indio contributed $10,000 and the City of La Quinta was asked to contribute $50,000, but gave $25,000. MR. THOMAS FLAVIN, President/Chief Executive Officer of Coachella Valley Economic Partnership confirmed La Quinta reduced their contribution from $50,000 to $25,000. He said Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, and Cathedral City have indicated they will be increasing their contribution, and the remainder of the cities have indicated a contribution at the same level, including Palm Desert. Member Harnik asked how much will the increase be on those three cities mentioned. MR. FLAVIN said the three cities contribution was part of the Innovation HUB, because they have committed funding it collectively in the amount of $175,000 for the first year, and $175,000 for the second year. They are still working out the details among themselves as to what portion each city will undertake. Further responding, he confirmed the funds are for the building CVEP will be occupying. Member Hamik stated she was happy to learn that Rabobank contributed $250,000 of support. MR. FLAVIN concurred, stating one of the efforts is to focus on increasing private sector involvement and investment in the organization. He said they received a great lead investment from Rabobank in the amount $250,000. Next week they will be launching their campaign focus on the private sector, because it was his experience, the more engaged the private sector was in 6 MINUTES PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING JUNE 23, 2011 a private/public partnership organization like CVEP, the stronger they are. Further responding, he said they've had a number of private partners who have been investors for a number of years like Southern California Edison, Time Warner Cable, etc., but a large pool remained, which is the group they are approaching. Member Harnik reiterated her previous comment that she liked to see more competition in the private sector. She said there was a saying, "Competition was a strict disciplinarian," which she would like to see. MR. FLAVIN agreed, stating it was one of the things they were emphasizing, because if they expect to be successful in winning jobs and investment, it needed to be competitive, but they had some work to do. Member Spiegel stated he would move to approve for $50,000 with the request for a report in six months to inform the Council on what was done with the funds. MR. FLAVIN agreed. Member Spiegel moved to, by Minute Motion, approve a funding commitment of $50,000 to the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership's 2011-2012 fiscal budget — funds have been included in the proposed Financial Plan for 2011-2012 Economic Development Dues, Account No. 850-4430-422-3630, with a request for report in six months on activities supported by the funding. Motion was seconded by Harnik and carried by a 5-0 vote. X. CONTINUED BUSINESS None XL OLD BUSINESS None XII. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. CONSIDERATION OF THE ADOPTION OF THE CITY MANAGER'S AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S PROPOSED FINANCIAL PLAN FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011-2012 (JOINT CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL AND THE PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY). Mr. Wohlmuth stated the State Assembly and Senate's version of the budget frighten staff last week, but as of now, the proposed plan is a balanced budget. He said if the State returns and wants to take Redevelopment, staff will bring back any changes in reorganization to this budget for the Council's consideration. However, at this time, the State has not approved the budget 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING JUNE 23, 2011 nor eliminated Redevelopment. Staff recommended approval of the proposed Financial Plan. Mayor/Chairman Benson declared the public hearing open and invited public testimony on this matter. With no public testimony offered, she declared the public hearing closed. Mayor Pro TemNice Chairman Spiegel moved to waive further reading and adopt: 1) City Council Resolution No. 2011 - 59, adopting a City Program and Financial Plan for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012; 2) City Council Resolution No. 2011 - 60, establishing the Appropriations Limit for the 2011-2012 Fiscal Year; 3) Redevelopment Agency Resolution No. 586, adopting a Redevelopment Agency Program and Financial Plan for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012; 4) Housing Authority Resolution No. HA - 44, adopting a Housing Authority Program and Financial Plan for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2011, through June 30, 2012; 5) City Council Resolution No. 2011 - 61, setting the Salary Schedule, Salary Ranges, and Allocated Classifications; by Minute Motion: 6) approve Out -of -State Travel as presented in the accompanying staff report memo; 7) authorize methodology for reimbursement of City Staff for 2011-2012; 8) receive and file Redevelopment Agency Work Program including Agency Goals and Accomplishments for 2011-2012. Motion was seconded by Kroonen. Councilman/Member Kroonen stated he had been through a lot of budget processes in his many years in the public sector, and he's never seen one flow as smoothly and efficiently as this one. He offered this congratulations to the City Manager, staff, and all the parties involved. He said the City's process was exemplary and congratulated his colleagues on the Council who had set the standard for these past many years as well. Mayor/Chairman Benson called for the vote, and the motion carried by a 5-0 vote. Mayor/Chairman Benson thanked Mr. Wohlmuth for his hard work, because the Council knew he was really tight with the money. She said the City has spent less since he's been City Manager, and he did a good job of reining in the cost and still provide all the services given in the past. As noted in this morning's newspaper, the City didn't cut any services this year, and the citizens still have the best quality of life of any city in the Valley. She said the Aquatic Center, which is opening on Saturday, will only add to that statement. She said the Council was proud to be able to live within its means and still have a healthy reserve. She said it has been the City's policy to pay as it went and also save. She thanked staff and employees for their cooperation in making this happen. Mr. Wohlmuth stated he would like to take full credit for the budget, but it was due to an outstanding team, in particular, Director of Finance Paul Gibson and all the department heads, including the biggest departments, Sheriffs and Public Works for an outstanding job on the budget. 8 MINUTES PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING JUNE 23, 2011 XIII. REPORTS, REMARKS, AND AGENCY BOARD ITEMS REQUIRING ACTION A. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Mr. Wohlmuth stated that staff was closely monitoring the State Budget process with Redevelopment, and there is still a lot of uncertainty. He thanked Chairman Benson forthe press release she okayed last week to this end. He also expressed appreciation to Mr. McCarthy, Accountant Veronica Tapia, and to RDA staff for an excellent job in preparing the budget for the coming fiscal year. After a rigorous year, including audit by the State Auditor -Controller, all the resulting recommendations and suggestions had been incorporated into the FY 2011-2012 budget. B. AGENCY COUNSEL None C. CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS OF THE AGENCY None XIV. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Finerty, second by Kroonen, and 5-0 vote of the Agency Board, Chairman Benson adjourned the meeting at 5:26 p.m. ATTEST: CH LE IZC7�SS , SECRETARY) PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AN M. "�E'4EN,SQTV(4MAN 9