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DRAFT PAC Minutes / SANTA HEIGHTS ANA PROJECT ADVISORY COMMITTEE Minutes - August 5, 2003 In attendance: Roger Summers, Barbara Venezia, Harold Klassen, Greg Carroll, Richard Moriarty, Peter Macdonald, Jay Taylor, Gary Hall, Davis Stieve, Rick Dayton Excused: Mary Slouka, Jeff Hamilton Approval of Minutes from June 3, 2003 1. Richard Moriarity made the motion to approve the minutes of June 3, 2003. Davis seconded, the motion passed. 2. Introduction of Guests: Paul Lanning CEO's office/ Dave Kiff Newport Beach / Jon Voget YMCA/ Patti Temple Director of Planning for Newport Beach PAC Chairman's Remarks - Roger Summers Talked about the information that NB sent our East Side residents regarding services and phone numbers. Thanked the City. Public Comments (Non-Agenda Items): Limited to 3 minutes each. Bob Hanley: Ed Hall is not well and very ill. Is not expected to recover. 1621 Indus house next to Bob has been sold, the house needs lots of work. Now they are possibly making it into a rehab drug and alcohol home and he questions the zoning and legality. Richard Moriarity says it is legal. Mark Esslinger will look into who bought and their plans. Old Business Budget Report & Update on "A"List Projects - Peter Macdonald & Paul Lanning Here is the report that Paul made to the PAC OCRDA Financial Overview August 2003 Bond Refinance Q; Buying down the bond? How much? Where from? Why? Impact on our cash able to be spent? A: OCDA is working on a refinancing of the outstanding bond debt for the SAH Project Area. Currently the bond principal amount is $49.6 million. The Agency Board has directed staff to examine the feasibility of reducing the principal debt by $10 million. This money would come from the amounts currently held in reserve in the SAH funds. Refinancing and reducing the bond debt allows the agency to reduce the amount of money spent on debt service and increase the cash flow to the agency. It is similar in concept to refinancing your home mortgage. It would reduce the amount of cash on hand but increase the future cash flow to the agency. Q: Old vs. new interest rate A: The current interest rate on the bonds is 6.1% on average. The rate that is being discussed is 4.3%. Rates fluctuate depending on the market conditions. In the last two months, rates have increased by more than 0.5% and may continue to increase. Q: Term changes? A: The Board did request that changes to the term be examined but based on probable State ERAF requirements for the next several years; the existing final bond maturity date of 9/01/23 will probably be maintained. Q: Cash flow impact? A: The annual debt service for the existing bonds is approximately $4.2 million. Pursuant to the July 1 Board directive, with a $10 million principal reduction, the annual debt service for $39.6 million of new bonds will be approximately $2.9 million (estimated $1.3 million annual savings based on lower interest rate of new bonds, insurance and reduced principal debt amount). Richard Moriarity made a motion to support the refinance to more favorable terms. Peter Macdonald seconded the motion. Motion passes. Paul Lanning recommended that Roger write a letter to Supervisor Silva and CC Jim Ruth and Tom Beckett to support this motion. Community Center Status Q: How can we guarantee that what we give is the final amount and that they do not come back to us for more? A: The amount of the agreement between the City and County is fixed and capped. Any modification, including an increase, would require negotiations to amend the agreement. Q: Time frame for decision? A: Board approved agreement on July 1, 2003. City approved on July 8, 2003. Q: Process of acquiring resolution to the issue? A: Agreement is in place. City is conducting its due diligence process before purchase of the property. (7.5 million for renovations not including purchase price) Q: Who has the ball? A: Acquisition is up to the City. OCDA will reimburse according to the terms of the agreement. Q: What emphasis is being placed on the residents of SAH? A: The City will address this as part of their due diligence process. Fire Station Status Q: How can we guarantee that what we give is the final amount and that they do not come back to us for more? A: As with the Community Center, the County is fulfilling an obligation from the previous agreement. Any additional costs beyond what is in the agreement would be borne by the City. The cap on the Fire Station is 4.1 million. No final location has been selected yet. The two top locations have been sold, so the city is still looking for property. Acoustical Program Q: Confirm final accounting due in February 2004. A: JWA anticipates program will be competed around February 2004. Q: Will we get the remainder of the money back in March of 2004? Specifically why not? A: Funds should be returned when final program costs are paid. Date is unknown. It may take some additional time for all invoices and costs associated with the program to be received and processed. Delays can also be caused by adverse weather, production delays, etc. This is the final year and phase of the program. $2,550,000 has been allocated for the fiscal year to complete the last phase of the AIP. Redevelopment Agency Transfer Q: Current Status A: The County and City are actively discussing the possibility of transferring OCDA functions for the Santa Ana Heights area. The County has indicated a willingness to transfer redevelopment and land use activities for SAH to the City of Newport Beach, with the exception of the JWA, which will remain under County jurisdiction as part of the County's core business. Q: What issues are obstacles? What issues are being discussed? A: As mentioned, the County and City are working on an agreement to transfer the redevelopment functions to the City. Some of the issues include · Size of territory to be transferred · Bond indebtedness, future tax increment revenues · What if the County refinances and lowers the debt · Protection of existing OCRDA funds from State budget situation (One issue being discussed is if Newport Beach gets the agency but not the airport, that airport revenue goes away from our agency. The question is how does the agency survive without the airport funding? Roger was under the impression that the boundaries and the revenues were not changing. Mark Esslinger explained that the County wants to keep John Wayne unincorporated and as far as the money goes, the County wants to make sure they have the money for bond indebtedness and the bankruptcy payoff, and have enough on hand to fend off whatever the State takes from the fund over the next few years) Q: Meetings held? Who present? A: There have been a number of meetings between the City and County. Those present include members of Supervisor Silva's office, the CEO's office, and City Manager's office, City Fire. Q: Next meeting? Who invited? A: Next meeting is to be held in late August and most likely involve the same set of players. Financial Synopsis Q: What do we have in the bank? A: At this point, there is approximately, $21.7M in the bond fund and $14.7M in the operating fund. This does not reflect amounts set aside for projects or any amount that may go toward debt defeasance or to the state as part of the budget solution. If you take these factors into account, the amount remaining is less than two million dollars. This does not include any amount for the state ERAF transfer payment. (Bond funds are spent on capitol improvement projects and that has the most restrictions on it. The operating fund has the least restrictions under redevelopment law.) Q: What is our "income" this year? last year? next year? A: SAH is expected to receive approximately $8 million in 2003-04 of non-housing tax increment (approximately $200,000 more than last year). After pass through payments to other affected taxing entities, and payment of the current level of bond debt service and the bankruptcy payment, there is less than $1 million which will likely be needed to make the ERAF payment this year. The non-housing revenue is expected to go up by approximately $200,000 next year. To the extent that bond debt service goes down because of the refinancing, the net income to OCDA will increase by the savings amount. Q: How many accounts do we have? Are there reserve accounts that we have and are stagnant or dormant? A: There are two SAH accounts or funds excluding the affordable housing account. There are no "stagnant" or "dormant" funds, a portion of funds in each account were placed into reserves this year and can be removed from reserves at any time by Board action. Based on the recent Board action to approve the fire station and regional recreation center projects and the anticipated refunding of the SAH bond debt, it is likely that an amended Budget and Work Program would be brought to the Board for consideration. This amended Budget and Work Program will likely mean that funds will be moved out of the reserve accounts. Q: How does the airport factor in financially? A: The airport generates around 2/3rds of the tax increment for OCDA Q: Does our agency own any property? Is it "for-sale"? A: Yes, two properties, both single family homes (one on Silver Lane and one on Indus) were recently put up for sale and sold at public auction. These properties are in escrow. The agency also owns three lots on Birch Street and three lots in the PAC District along Bristol. Q: Have we received any $ from prior sales? Why or why not? A: Yes. The proceeds from any property sale go back into the fund that originally paid for the purchase. "A" List Projects updates *. Community Horse Arena The riding arena plans are almost finished, but were put on hold as the City of Newport Beach still has not settled the issues of maintenance and liability with the County. Paul instructed the lady in charge to continue the work on the plans to completion and he will get with Dave Kiff to have an answer for us.. BV emailed Dave Kiff and he thought those issues were settled. Newport does not own the land, didn't build it, and is hesitant to take on liability. They are not opposed to maintenance. More discussion is needed because the Flood Control agency owns it. * Sidewalk - Bristol The estimated cost is $300,000.00 and Peter showed us an aerial photo of the area in question that was supplied by the County consultant on this issue. The sidewalk will be 7 feet wide due to the power poles on the street. So this will make it wide enough for pedestrians, bikers, and the poles. The sidewalk also needs concrete gutters, and retaining wall for 300 feet along Bristol Street. The estimate is one year to completion. There are also grading issues and the cost includes these plus landscaping. The Recommendation is that the chain link fence along the golf course be replaced as well. Right now this property is under Cal Trans jurisdiction. The County will be working to transfer that. A road easement will also be needed from the golf course. The County owns the golf course property. There was discussion as to the merit of this project due to the cost factors. It will be discussed again at the budget meeting in Sept. and again at PAC in Oct. New Business Newport Beach Development Standards Patti Temple Director of Planning for Newport Beach There should be no zoning changes because of the specific plan. The default zoning is now the Newport Beach codes. She will email me the report and BV will put this on the web site. Guesthouses, Second Residential Units, and Granny Units The County Zoning Code and the Newport Beach Zoning Code have different regulations regarding structures capable of being used for a second, separate occupancy in areas zoned for single-family residential use. Guesthouses: By definition in the County Zoning Code, a guesthouse is an accessory building capable of providing living and sleeping areas, but does not include food preparation facilities. These are permitted by right in the County regulations up 640 sq. ft. The County requires a site development permit for a guesthouse larger than 640 sq. ft. Guesthouses of any size are permitted in the City of Newport Beach, and are permitted to have either full sanitation or food preparation facilities, but not both. Second residential units: Second residential units are defined as one or more rooms in a structure, or an accessory structure, containing areas for living, sleeping, full sanitation and food preparation facilities. The County Zoning Code permits second units up to 640 sq. ft. by right, and those greater than 640-sq. ft. need a site development permit. Second residential units can be no larger than 1,200-sq. ft., and must have at least one parking space. The City of Newport Beach prohibits second residential units. Granny Units: A granny unit is defined as an accessory or attached structure with independent access, full sanitation and food preparation facilities, and is occupied by at least one person age 60 or older. The County Code does not address granny units, as they are covered by the second residential unit regulations. The City of Newport Beach allows granny units upon approval of a Use Permit. Granny units may be approved if the lot is a minimum of 5,450 sq. ft., the unit is a minimum of 600 sq. ft. and a maximum of 640 sq. ft., and has at least one parking space. The granny unit must be occupied by at least one person age 60 or older, and either the main residence or the granny unit must be owner occupied. Staff and Committee Reports Report on Code Enforcement Issues - Barbara V. Allan Metz from County Code Enforcement emailed BV to have her email Cindy Sesma for a report. Cindy then emailed BV and let her know she no longer handles the area and that she handed off her East Side cases to Newport Beach and West Side cases to Allan. No report was obtained from the County. BV attempted to get a report from Jim Sinasek at Newport Beach Code Enforcement. He informed her that he could not release that information. Patti and Dave addressed the issue and it is against city policy. There are now 4 people in code enforcement in Newport Beach there is continuing discussion about putting one full time person in Santa Ana Hts. If they take over the redevelopment agency. Dave and Patti will talk about how to appease the PAC with some sort of reporting process. They are hesitant to put anything in print. Dave will get with Jim and Barbara and have a meeting. One suggestion is to drive around the neighborhood with BV each month and just point out the cases and issues being worked on, just to let PAC know they are working on complaints. The addresses and violations can not be made public. Mark Esslinger will go back to the County and his team meeting and ask the question about using redevelopment money for a code enforcement person for the West Side. Report from JWA - Jason Vasquez (5 minutes) Status of the slope/ the slope is still owned by Caltrans and John Wayne did offer to purchase the land and get Caltrans to refurbish the land. Those funds are still frozen because of the state budget crisis so they can't move forward at this time. Jay told the PAC that there maybe federal grant money for this specific purpose and you have to apply for it. Jason says that if the property is owned by Caltrans, then Caltrans would have to go for the grant. Roger suggested that Jason go back to his superior and talk about the blight issue facing that area. The question arises, is this a code enforcement issue. Roger suggests to Dave Kiff that we go talk to our councilman Gary Adams regarding this. Jason will get a point person at Caltrans for the PAC. BV concerns over general aviation. He met with Eric Fried of the noise dept. They did a comparison and there are less general aviation flights than three years ago. John Wayne airport has no jurisdiction over where they fly or when. Jason suggested that BV contact Don Walker at the FAA at the LA office to get more information and voice her concerns. His phone # 310 725 3580. Here is what Jason reported on Noise and General Aviation: Ø We did a print out of general aviation activity and found that in July of 1999 to July of 2000, between the hours of 5-7 a.m. there were approximately 405 departures. Ø Then we did an assessment of current activity and reviewed the number of Departures from July of 2002 to July of 2003 there was 461 General Aviation departures. Ø These two figures average to 1.11 GA Departures everyday from 1999-2000 and 1.26 GA Departures everyday from 2002-2003. Ø GA aircraft's have remained below the 86 dB limit. Ø Regarding flight patterns, the altitude they fly, the direction which they flight out of John Wayne Airport, are all issues that are solely within the FAA's jurisdiction as they pertain specifically to air space. The Public Affairs Director for the FAA whose jurisdiction is John Wayne Airport is Don Walker. He can be reached at 310-725-3580. Report on Community Center - Rick D. (10 minutes) This has been approved at 11.5 million dollars. The community will be getting a survey in the mail regarding the center and a town hall meeting on Aug. 19th at the YMCA. There are on going talks about the running of the facility. Roger and Rick visited two YMCA run facilities in the County. Jon Voget showed a video that is put out by the national YMCA office to show programs and what the Y offers. Jon had a meeting with the city and said the city wants more validation that this is what the community wants. Report on Fire Station - Dave Kiff (4 minutes) Dave talked about focusing on finding a location for the fire station. The Mary Davis property was mentioned but the daughter is not interested in selling. They are looking at other properties on Birch. Possibly the Saywitz property. The two properties on Birch that were prime choices have been sold. Greg Carroll raised the question; "If the City of Newport can't find property for the fire station within the redevelopment agency, can they still use redevelopment funds? "The answer from Dave was yes. Report on Old Kline Drive - Harold K. (5 minutes) The letter will go out with a survey to the residents. Davis Stieve feels the attitude of the residents on that street is pretty positive on the subject. Once the response is in they will decide upon a proposed meeting on the block. There will be notices sent out. Mark Esslinger has a draft letter that will be discussed at his team meeting tomorrow. Adjournment: 9:30 PM The next meeting is scheduled for October 7, 2003 / 6:30 p.m |
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