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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/10/2001 - City Council Special Meeting - Redevelopment AgencySPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY CITY OF COSTA MESA DECEMBER 10, 2001 The City Council and the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Costa Mesa, California, met in special joint session on December 10, 2001, at 8:25 p.m., in the Police Department Auditorium, 99 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa, in conjunction with the regularly scheduled 'Redevelopment Agency meeting which commenced at 6:37 p.m. Notice of the special meeting was given as required by law. ROLL CALL Council/Agency Members Present: Council/Agency Members Absent: Officials Present: Mayor/Agency Vice Chairperson Linda Dixon Mayor Pro Tem/Agency Chair- person Gary Monahan Council/Agency Member Libby Cowan Council/Agency Member Karen Robinson Council/Agency Member Chris Steel None City Manager Allan Roeder City Attorney Jerry Scheer Agency Attorney Tom Wood Executive Director Donald Lamm Neighborhood Improvement Manager Muriel Ullman, Executive Secretary Marie Thompson NEW BUSINESS Mayor/Agency Vice Chairperson Dixon requested that no HOME Fund report be given for the amended and restated HOME :Fund Reservation Reservation and Implementation Agreement for Fiscal -Years Agreement 1999-00, 2000-01, and 2001-02. The Council/Agency Members had no questions for staff. MOTION On motion by Council/Agency ;Member Cowan, seconded by Agreement Approved Council/Agency Member Robinson, and carried 5-0, the aforementioned agreement was approved. NEW BUSINESS Selection of a developer for the acquisition and rehabilitation Rehabilitation project (HOME 6) for fiscal year 2001-2002 was presented. Project (HOME 6) Council/Agency Member Cowan asked for a brief explanation of the unexpected low response to the Request for Proposal and selection of Project Independence as the alternate developer. The Neighborhood Improvement Manager reported that 264 Requests for Proposal (RFP's) were mailed and only four proposals were received: Civic Center Barrio Housing Corporation, Project Independence, Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, Inc. and, Steadfast Properties and Development, Inc. Habitat for Humanity withdrew its proposal. The Steadfast proposal called for acquisition and renovation of 1 -1 1 Bethel Towers, the senior apartment tower at 666 West 19th Street. The project is subject to Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 202 financing which requires that all units be rented to very low income households through year 2016. She outlined various reasons why the project was not being considered at this time. Project Independence's submission was a good concept; however, the developer is proposing a project specifically targeted to serve very low income special -needs households, is not a CHDO (Community Housing Development Organization), has no development experience and has never financed or acquired and rehabilitated property. She also felt the developer was unresponsive to the proposal. The money being used for HOME 6 is closely regulated and based on HUD's new accounting for HOME funds, staff needs to commit the funds quickly. Section 504 is a federal statute that prohibits a HOME funded project to be limited to occupancy by people with disabilities; Special Counsel Brady advised that if Project Independence were selected, it would have to indemnify and hold the City harmless in any civil rights or housing claims. The developer has agreed to do so. Staff suggested Project Independence apply for Section 811 funds, a HUD Capital Grant Program specifically targeted to projects that serve very low income/special needs households. The developer was also referred to Civic Center Barrio Housing Corporation with the possibility of both developers teaming up to do a project together. Civic Center Barrio Housing Corporation is well known to the City, and has experience in acquisition and rehabilitation of projects. The Neighborhood Improvement Manager briefly described its proposed project and funding sources, and the reasons for its selection. Mayor Dixon asked about the possibility of Project Independence not being able to support the indemnification, to which Special Counsel Brady responded that quite often. there is an aphorism, "indemnifications are worth the paper they are written on". These are the types of projects which should be funded; however, the federal government looks to the actual funding sources that are provided for developmental disabled persons such as Section 8, rather than general sources such as HOME or Community Development Block Grant. Tom Egan, 1893 Parkview Circle, Costa Mesa, was fascinated by the fact that the RFP was issued to 264 developers but only one viable response was received. He wondered how that could be. The Neighborhood Improvement Manager responded that other cities such as Anaheim and Long Beach offer several millions of dollars for larger projects. Developers are looking for more than $900,000.00 to do more units. MOTION/Approve A motion by Council Member Robinson to approve Items 1, 2 Items 1, 2 and 3 and 3 was seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Monahan for discussion. He asked the maker of the motion why Item 4 was not included, to which she responded she had a concern about having Project Independence as an alternate because of the indemnification issue. Item 4 might be discussed separately. The motion carried 5-0. A {t MOTION/Select A motion was made; by Mayor. Pro Tem Monahan, seconded Project Independence by Council Member Cowan, to select Project Independence as Alternate Developer alternate developer if the City is unable to reach an agreement with Civic Center Barrio Housing Corporation or if Civic Center Barrio Housing Corporation is unable to proceed with its project. Mayor Pro Tem Monahan was concerned that if the City does not go forward quickly, a large amount of money would be lost. Special Counsel' Brady confirmed her belief that Project Independence has a viable project. The motion carried 5-0. Reports There were no reports from the City Manager, Agency Executive Director, City Attorney, or the Agency Attorney. Oral Communications None Agency/Council None Members Comments ADJOURNMENT There being no other business, Mayor/Agency Vice Chairperson Dixon declared the special joint meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Mayor of the City of Costa Mesa ATTEST: Deputy City 7 rk of the City of Costa Mesa 1 1 1