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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-12-13 - AGENDA REPORTS - COMMUNITY RECOVERY AGENCY (2)AGENDA REPORT Executive Director A George C. Caravalho Item to NEW BUSINESS DATEc December 13, 1994 SUBJECT: Community Recovery Agency Public Participation Process Status Report and Recommendation to Extend Service Agreements DEPARTMENT: Community Recovery Agency At the Community Recovery Agency board meeting on October 25, 1994, following extended deliberation and public participation, a work program was approved. This agenda report is being prepared as an interim status report of progress on this work program. It also describes the need for additional work program staff -level support and recommends agency board authorization to extend existing contracts for those services with Cathy Culotta and Satmnee Zeile. Since the October work program approval, primary staff effort has been directed towards settlement of the litigation with Castaic Lake Water Agency. On-going discussions resulted in a marathon negotiation session and concluded with a Conceptual Recommendation which continues to be fleshed out. The Agency Board has been continuously involved with the details of this effort through closed sessions. Currently, efforts to meet with Newhall County Water District and resolve litigation with that entity are beginning under direction of the Assistant City Manager. Simultaneous with the above, staff has been implementing Agency Board/City Council approvals for the expenditure of Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant funds and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to begin to achieve ends which dovetail with the approved CRA work program Specific efforts in this regard are shown in the table below. A complete work program and status report, beyond these grant funded programs, is appended to this Agenda Report as "Attachment A." APPROVED 4Ammtlalre��m� December 13, 1994 Page 2 GRANT FUNDED PROGRAMS STATUS L Economic Development Administration (Council approved RFQ 7/12/94) A. Economic assessment of earthquake damage 12-13-94 C.C. Agenda B. Target Marketing & Economic Development 12-13-94 C.C. Agenda. Strategy (Office and Industrial Uses) C. Canyon Country Revitalization See II, below IL Newhall Revitalization Strategy (Council approved 12-13-94 C.C. Agenda RFQ 9/27/94) III. C.D.B.G. Housing Strategy (Council approved RFP 01-10-95 C.C. Agenda 8/23/94) All of the described activities reflect Agency Board/City Council budget direction to miniunize Recovery Agency costs and the hiring of personnel until such time as all roadblocks to effective on- going operations are removed.. As a result, the Recovery Agency efforts have been founded on initial efforts that are eligible for EDA or CDBG grant funding as much as possible.. Also, instead of hiring new employees, existing employees have been stretched to "do double duty" or contract, hourly, or consultant personnel have been employed. Proceeding in this fashion has been cost efficient, effective, has allowed the Recovery Agency to benefit from a variety of available talented individuals, and has recognized the heavy work loads of other existing City employees. At this point. it is necessary to extend the first professional service contracts approved on May 10, 1994 with Cathy Culotta and Sammee Zeile. Extensions of these contracts will accommodate the payment for services already rendered in completing the Citizen Participation Process manual which was presented for Agency Board/City Council review in September, 1994; and, in moving ahead with the Agency Board's adopted work program. The specific work to be undertaken by each is as follows: I. Cathy Culotta (estimated 8 hours/week or 32 hours/month) A. Continue to conduct open Town Hall and interest group specific meetings for the purpose of educating and involving the community in Recovery Agency activities. (Estimated at two per month.) B Produce a program suitable for cable television airing for the purpose of educating and involving the community in Recovery Agency activities. C. Liaison, involvement, and education efforts with the Lyons Avenue business association. D. Coordination, liaison, involvement, education efforts with both Chambers of Commerce and the Valencia Industrial Association. E. Coordination of Business Revitalization Task Committee process. December 13, 1994 Page 3 II. Sammee Zeile (estimated 16 hours/week or 64 hours/month) A. Continue to conduct open Town Hall and interest group specific meetings for the purpose of educating and involving the community in Recovery Agency activities. (Estimated at two per month.) B Produce a program suitable for cable television acing for the purpose of educating and involving the community in Recovery Agency activities. C. Liaison, involvement; and education efforts with Lyons Avenue business association, D. Liaison, involvement, and education efforts with Housing Task Committee. E. Liaison, involvement, and education efforts with Schools/CRA Task Committee. F. Preparation of at least on Recovery Agency newsletter/mailer for public distribution. G. Liaison, involvement, and education with Inter -faith Council, various Homeowners' Associations, and CULTURE. H. Liaison in formation of Vermont Street/Everett Street Area assessment district -CRA earthquake repair partnership. Total costs through June, 1995, are estimated to be $15,500 for Cathy Culotta and $21,500 for Sainmee Zeile; and is available within the adopted Recovery Agency budget. RECOMMENDATION Itis recommended that the Agency Board authorize the Executive Director/City Manager to execute the described contract extensions with Cathy Culotta and Sarnmee Zeile. DRD:hs:ll cmuc�1313%3 MAGA, L.P. P.O. Box 6805 Pine Mountain Club, CA 93222 Frank B. Maga, DREG �., .`� Office (805) 242-6952 General Partner Fax (805) 242-6953 PA! L' - AT Home (805) 242-6950 December 13, 1994 - i.'i 1i 1N,G City of Santa Clarita ITEM NO. Redevelopment Agency 0, Dear Agency Members: I would like to thank the members of the City council and the Redevelopment agency for their foresight in recognizing the advantages, for the city, of redeveloping at an early stage. Having been involved with property in this area for the past 30 years and having been actively involved in the redevelopment of downtown Lancaster, I would like to provide you with what, in my humble opinion, is a sine -qua -non of successful redevelopment. I shall relay this point to you using Lancaster as an example. Back in the first quarter of 1982, the good fathers of the City Council realized something needed to be done for downtown Lancaster. The boulevard was deteriorating and there was no evidence of a turnaround. The Council became the Redevelopment agency. For a year they planned, studied, worked with the staff, spent money for consultants and created a plan. The plan was completed, polished and ready to present. The public, property owners, and business owners were expected to give it their blessing. The presentation evening came. What was to be a successful event turned out to be a complete disaster for the Agency members. The plan was overwhelmingly turned down. The years of hard work and money spent by the agency members was in essence wasted. What Happened? The well meaning agency forgot one small but critical point. A few weeks prior to the presentation I received a frantic call form a fellow business and property owners on the Blvd. we reviewed the plan. It was obviously not what we needed. In fact it would have devastated the downtown even more. We quickly organized a downtown property owners association and sent letters to all the other property and business owners. The result was that on the night the plan was unveiled, there was an informed audience unwilling to be sold, something they didn't need or want. December 13, 1994 ... City of Santa Clarita ... Redevelopment Agency The tragedy of the evening was the embarrassment that the astounding defeat created for the Agency members. All of whom were Council members, of which three were up :for election. They were defeated because they thought they, the few people they picked to represent the community and the city staff, could determine what we needed. They failed to listen to the few who spoke up during the previous year. Therein is the critical point. Under the blessing of the Agency and City Manager, a Downtown Redevelopment Advisory Committee was formed. It was comprised of representatives of business and property owners. It was the function of this committee to study, investigate and recommend to the Agency what was best for downtown. The staff in essence worked for the committee, providing them with the research information needed. We met at 7:00 AM for 2 to 3 hours every week for a full year. With he help of a strong City Manager and Agency, the result of this effort was a plan that all the propertyowners and business people could live with.. I give you this scenario because like Lancaster, I am a property owner within the redevelopment district and was not notified of the agency formation. I know you are not legally required to inform business and property owners by mail. Nor are you required to allow the local business and property owners to drive the plan. But in this day and age, the extra effort necessary to create strong communication and a strong community represented committee, is fundamental to insure success. This, is what in the business world, is known as customer driven. However, in this case it is citizen and voter driven. The formation of a committee to drive the Agency will benefit all of us. The Businesses within the agency boundary will see a meaningful and speedy redevelopment. And you, the Agency, will see an accomplishment that will bring you and your families pride for years to come. Plus much of the work will be done by the committee leaving you with more time for other matters. I urge a Redevelopment Advisory Committee be formed with representative members from each redevelopment area. In addition to having their meeting open the committee members would go back to their areas and meet with business and property owners on a regular basis. Thank you for your time. C;; 5Maga/al Partner/ MAGA, L.P. lip P.O. Box 6805 Pine Mountain Club, CA 93222 4 (805) 424-6952