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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-02-27MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER 73510 FRED WARING DRIVE, PALM DESERT, CA 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER - 3:00 P.M. Chair Tanner convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Director Jean M. Benson Director Jan C. Harnik Director Robert A. Spiegel Vice Chair Susan Marie Weber Chair Van G. Tanner Also Present: John M. Wohlmuth, Executive Director David J. Erwin, City Attorney Robert W. Hargreaves, Assistant City Attorney Rachelle D. Klassen, Secretary Russell Grance, Director of Building & Safety Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Martin Alvarez, Director of Economic 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 Stephen Y. Aryan, Risk Manager Casey Hartman, Battalion Chief, Palm Desert Fire/Riverside Co. Fire/Cal Fire Bill Sullivan, Asst. Chief, Palm Desert Police/Riverside Co. Sheriffs Department Grace L. Mendoza, Deputy City Clerk III. ADJOURN TO CLOSED SESSION Request for Closed Session: None MINUTES SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING FEBRUARY 27, 2014 With Successor Agency Board concurrence, Chair Tanner adjourned the meeting to Closed Session of the City Council at 3:01 p.m. He 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 February 13, 2014, Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Successor Agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency. Rec: Approve as presented. B. CLAIMS AND DEMANDS AGAINST SUCCESSOR AGENCY TREASURY - Warrant Nos. 157SA, 160SA, and 164SA. Rec: Approve as presented. Upon a motion by Spiegel, second by Weber, and 5-0 vote of the Successor Agency Board (AYES: Benson, Harnik, Spiegel, Weber, and Tanner; NOES: None), the Consent Calendar was approved as presented. VII. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VIII. RESOLUTIONS A. RESOLUTION NO. SA -RDA 026 - A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, APPROVING A PROPOSED ADMINISTRATIVE BUDGET FOR THE SIX-MONTH FISCAL PERIOD FROM JULY 1, 2014, THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2014, PURSUANT TO HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 34177(j) AND TAKING CERTAIN RELATED ACTIONS. Management Analyst II Veronica Tapia stated that the Successor Agency must submit its Administrative Budget for the next six-month period, July - December 2 MINUTES SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING FEBRUARY 27, 2014 2014. She said this item went before the Oversight Board on Monday this week and was approved unanimously. She offered to answer any questions. Director Spiegel moved to waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. SA -RDA 026. Motion was seconded by Weber and carried by 5-0 vote (AYES: Benson, Harnik, Spiegel, Weber, and Tanner; NOES: None). B. RESOLUTION NO. SA -RDA 027 - A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, APPROVING A RECOGNIZED OBLIGATION PAYMENT SCHEDULE FOR THE SIX-MONTH FISCAL PERIOD FROM JULY 1, 2014, THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2014, PURSUANT TO HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SECTION 34177 AND TAKING CERTAIN RELATED ACTIONS. Ms. Tapia said in addition to the Administrative Budget considered under Item A, above, the companion item is the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule (ROPS) for the six-month period of July - December 2014 (ROPS 14-15A). She said there were no substantial changes to ROPS 14-15A from the prior one, with the exception of Palm Desert now being permitted to add the SERAF (Supplemental Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund) payment that's included here. She added that this item was also unanimously approved by the Oversight Board on Monday. Director Spiegel moved to waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. SA -RDA 027. Motion was seconded by Harnik and carried by 5-0 vote (AYES: Benson, Harnik, Spiegel, Weber, and Tanner; NOES: None). IX. NEW BUSINESS A. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO INITIATE ASSESSMENT DISTRICT PROCEEDINGS AND TAKE RELATED ACTIONS, INCLUDING A PROJECT BOND PROCEEDS FUNDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AND THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, FOR UNDERGROUNDING OF UTILITIES AT PALM DESERT TAMARISK AND ADJACENT PROPERTIES (DISTRICT 12) (JOINT CONSIDERATION WITH THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL). Management Analyst David Hermann reported that the subject request represented the next step in a very long process initiated by residents Merilee Colton and Lesley Miller and their neighbors almost a year ago. Staff recommended that City Council allow it to proceed to the next step so that the neighborhood residents will know how much the assessments would be on their properties if, indeed, an assessment district is approved. As an update to information in the printed staff report, he said it indicated that final design could be completed in 10 months; however, Southern California Edison (Edison) has since 3 MINUTES SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING FEBRUARY 27, 2014 informed the City that their final design process usually takes up to 12 months, with the other utilities (Time Warner, Verizon) taking an additional 3 - 6 months. Therefore, it would be more like 15 - 18 months instead of 10 for final design. Further, as also noted in the staff report, the City has received a separate petition from a smaller group of residents on Heliotrope; they are also interested in undergrounding their utility lines. The City intends to ask the engineers to study both projects, see if they make more financial sense to go forward together or separately, then present that information to the residents. He called attention to the fact that the item is being jointly considered with the Successor Agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency, reason being that money to pay for the engineering will initially come from the City and then be reimbursed from Redevelopment Bond Proceeds. He added that there were some residents present today who also wanted to address the City Council on the item. Upon inquiry about the reasoning behind Verizon and Time Warner not beginning their engineering process until after Edison's is done, he said that those utilities require the final design from Edison in order to base theirs on afterward because of having to first know where the trenches will be located, etc. MS. MERILEE COLTON, Salt Cedar Street, Palm Desert, urged City Council to approve the project, and she especially wanted to thank staff for all its hard work. She said the report being discussed takes a lot of time and effort, and it was only the beginning of a long process where they'll continue to be very involved. She offered to answer any questions that may be raised. Mayor/Chair Tanner noted that Ms. Colton's tenacity has brought the project forward to this point today and commended her efforts for the prospective District 12. MR. LLOYD MACFADYEN, Salt Cedar Street, Palm Desert, expressed his objections to the whole process and indicated that last May he and his wife sent a letter to the City Council to this effect. He was very bothered by the expenditure of $400,000 for 83 parcels, saying if the City wished to give him that money instead - slightly under $5,000 per parcel - he'd be happy to have it. He referred to the previous item on today's City Council agenda that requested spending money for Desert Willow Golf Course. While not a golfer, he said that Desert Willow was something for the entire City of Palm Desert. His objection centered around the City spending $400,000 that it will never receive back, even if it comes from "Redevelopment," it doesn't come out of the air magically - somebody gave it somewhere. Therefore, he felt that the City's money would be better spent on other projects. As far as his neighborhood was concerned, the request was simply cosmetic and wouldn't increase his property value. When he purchased the property some 20 years ago, he didn't first look to see if there was a utility pole in the backyard, and he didn't think anybody else really cares that much either. He and his wife felt it was simply an expenditure that the City Council need not make. 4 MINUTES SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING FEBRUARY 27, 2014 Mr. Hermann clarified; first, he said the $400,000 amount is a maximum threshold. Based on its understanding, staff believes the cost of the engineering will come in at roughly 10% of the total project cost, which is just over $2.7 million. So it would probably be closer to the range of $270,000 - $300,000, and staff also wanted to include money for the Assessment Engineer in this initial request. Secondly, he clarified that utility undergrounding was one of the items identified as a project and an appropriate expenditure when the bonds were issued. In answer to specific question about the step after the design is completed by all the utilities, he confirmed that the cost of the project will then go to the residents for their vote. Further responding, Mr. Wohlmuth said for the Tamarisk - District 12 Project, the City would be responsible for portions of the improvements that cross its property, with a handful of such instances. For example, he said on the Heliotrope portion, which may/may not be included in District 12, the first 100 feet of the proposed undergrounding project would come through Smoke Tree Park, and the City would be responsible for that cost. Unlike the Palm Desert Country Club proposed undergrounding project in which a percentage would have been paid for by the City, it can no longer do that in the future due to the limited amount of funds. He went on to explain that the funds proposed to be used for the subject District initiation were bond funds, resulting from bonds sold 10-15 years ago. Those bond documents identified projects that were intended for completion with the funds; if the City doesn't spend the funds on projects it anticipated completing when the bonds were sold, the proceeds cannot be used. He added that the bonds could be defeased, but doing so wouldn't benefit the City, because the money would go back to the State and the Riverside County Auditor -Controller to disburse. Therefore, it was the City's intent to utilize bond proceeds on projects that previous Councils committed to when they sold the bonds — undergrounding in this area of the City being one. He affirmed that Edison engineers, Verizon and Time Warner engineers will hopefully use the same trench in order to keep costs down, and then the Assessment Engineer comes up with a calculation of how to disperse the funds based on linear footage and other relevant assumptions. Based on the Assessment Engineer's formula, the total projected cost of the undergrounding project is divided amongst the parcels in the proposed assessment district; each parcel gets to vote for or against participation, with 51 % required to pass. If over 51 %, the cost is spread to the parcels, and then the City has to decide whether or not it sells additional bonds, with the amount assigned to the parcel either being paid in full by the property owner up front or going on the property tax roll if another bond is sold to pay for the $3 million project. The returns come back to the bondholders once the property taxes are paid over approximately 20 years. Upon further inquiry about how much money the City is out if the Assessment District doesn't pass if property owners decide the amount is too high, he said at that point, the City would be out a maximum of $400,000 of Redevelopment Bond funds. 5 MINUTES SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING FEBRUARY 27, 2014 Councilman/Director Spiegel moved to: 1) Waive further reading and adopt Resolution No. 2014 - 11, initiating proceedings for the undergrounding of overhead electric and communication utility facilities to underground facilities pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 12.12 of the Code of the City of Palm Desert, California, and the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913; 2) waive further reading and adopt Resolution Nos. 2014 -12 and SA -RDA 025, approving the execution of a District 12 (Tamarisk) Utility Undergrounding Project Bond Proceeds Funding Agreement between the Successor Agency to the Palm Desert Redevelopment Agency and the City of Palm Desert, and taking certain related actions; 3) by Minute Motion, approve of and authorize the Executive Director and Mayor/Chair to execute the District 12 (Tamarisk) Utility Undergrounding Project Funding Agreement; 4) by Minute Motion, appropriate $400,000 from Account No. 400-4256-464-4001 to pay for engineering fees that will allow project design to proceed. Motion was seconded by Weber. In answer to question about whether or not the cost for the Heliotrope addresses is included in the $400,000 expenditure, Mr. Hermann said it was the City's intention to have both Edison and the Assessment Engineer do two scenarios - one including Heliotrope, one that doesn't - and that information will be presented to the residents. The residents will be able to determine whether it's in their interest to go forward together or separately. He further affirmed that Verizon and Time Warner were also being included in the process here. Mayor/Chair Tanner called for the vote on the motion to approve actions for initiation of proceedings for the Palm Desert Tamarisk (District 12) Utility Undergrouding Assessment District, and it carried 5-0 (AYES: Benson, Harnik, Spiegel, Weber, and Tanner; NOES: None). Councilmember/Director Harnik personally commended Ms. Colton and Ms. Miller for all their hard work in taking forward the proposal in a very positive fashion, further emphasizing that the process moving forward now represented democracy at its finest. She wished the proponents all the best. X. CONTINUED BUSINESS None XI. OLD BUSINESS None XII. PUBLIC HEARINGS None 6 MINUTES SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MEETING FEBRUARY 27, 2014 XIII. REPORTS, REMARKS, SUCCESSOR AGENCY BOARD ITEMS REQUIRING ACTION A. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR None B. SUCCESSOR AGENCY COUNSEL None C. CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY None XIV. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Spiegel, second by Weber, and unanimous Successor Agency Board consent, Chair Tanner adjourned the meeting at 6:03 p.m. ATTEST: !Art Itri R� HEL E D. LASSEN, ECRETARY SUCCESSOR AGENCY TO THE PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY VAN G. TANNER, CHAIR 7