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California City Council meets, sets year's priorities
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Tuesday, February 10, 2009.
By ALLISON GATLIN
Valley Press Staff Writer
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CALIFORNIA CITY - With a new council and mayor in place following the
November elections and a new year underway, California City's leaders met
to establish priorities for the city government in the coming year.
"We are collectively as a council responsible for the priorities we
set tonight," Mayor Larry Adams said in opening last week's discussion.
City staff presented five focal points they saw as items of community interest that should be priorities for the council.
The first among those was attracting and opening a market, a task that has been on Cal City's wish list for a number of years.
The second focal point, correcting the city's faulty utility billing system, is a project that is already under way, Public Works Director Michael Bevins said.
A third focus is development of the business park at California City Municipal Airport, followed by completion of the stalled Microtel hotel project at the eastern end of California City Boulevard.
As originally proposed by developer Michael Ellison, that project was to include a restaurant, market and other retail businesses, taking up the entire corner.
With the development in foreclosure, the project has been scaled back to include only the hotel, which eliminated some other changes required for the lot such as water system and parking requirements, Bevins said. The bank which holds the foreclosure is contacting contractors about costs for completion, Bevins said.
The final priority, as outlined by the staff, is a senior housing development funded by the city's redevelopment agency. This project, slated to use $4 million in RDA funds, was stalled by complaints over the lack of competitive bids for an earlier proposal.
The agency will consider all complete proposals, meaning they must include the land and the ability to get the necessary bonding, Bevins said.
The renewed focus would be on a debt-free plan, which should be brought to the redevelopment agency in a few weeks.
Bevins also presented a timeline for other priorities, including a water workshop and urban water conservation plan this month, a joint powers water development plan and sewer workshop in March, sewer and water rates and associated impact fees in April and the 2009-2010 budget in June.
The end of July is the target date for council approval of the city's updated General Plan, which is making its way through the planning commission in the first part of the year, and September is targetted for final details on the sewer assessment districts and application for a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan for its installation.
"What we tried to do is keep no more than one big-ticket item per meeting," Bevins said.
Councilman Bill Smith said he would like to see the city hire an assistant city manager, to prepare for the time when current City Manager Linda Lunsford retires, "so we don't get caught with our pants down like we did with (former city manager) Mr. (William) Way."
He also stressed the need for the council to clarify its spending for the public, improving transparency in bookkeeping and briefing them on what has been done.
Councilman Nick Lessenevitch argued that the priorities outlined by city staff do not address the current problems of budget cuts and staffing.
"This doesn't even address a little bit of that," he said, adding that he was unsure if the city had enough money to get through the budget year which ends in June. "Who cares about the (General) Plan going to Sacramento if we don't have police?"
"Leadership is a critical issue we have to address. Staff can tell us what they want. The question is what do we want," Lessenevitch said.
His own priorities would include a finance director, although he is unsure if the city an afford to hire one or even if layoffs are necessary.
A finance director is needed in order to have one person directing finances and providing guidance to the council for such decisions.
Councilman Mike Edmiston agreed the city needs a better accounting of its financial position before beginning budget discussions this spring. City departments will need to look at costs and, if money isn't available, what cuts must be made.
In order to help meet its goals, the city needs to work towards being more business-friendly, Smith said. Although the city may not be able to offer financial incentives, it can help expedite the process.
"A lot of the unfriendliness to business comes from antiquated zoning," Adams said, for example an ordinance which stated a sushi restaurant could not open in Aspen Mall, although there are several other restaurants there.
Another example was a manufacturing business interested in locating at the airport that did not meet the zoning specifications.
"The idea is to tell people we may have to do something, but we'll do it" to accommodate interested businesses, he said.
"We've got to plan as if we're going to succeed," Adams said. "That's why we're here. We've got to make those kinds of plans now."
Edmiston added that one means of helping the city become more business friendly is to produce a brochure which details, in one place, the permitting process.
agatlin@avpress.com
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