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May 07, 2006

Dollars and Sense - Part 2

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If you had somewhere in the area of $40-$60 million to spend on Chico what would you do with it? Would you buy more open space and set it aside for future generations? Would you revamp the airport to generate more revenue? Would you pour it into the black hole that is annexed or aging neighborhoods?

And since this is redevelopment money (RDA) it comes with strings attached. It can't be spent on maintenance, or emergency services. It is supposed to be used to repair blighted areas.

The Finance Committee (Wahl, Gruendl, Holcombe) took the first step in deciding how the money will be spent at the 4-26-06 meeting.
The Finance Committee reviewed a report by RDA Citizen's Committee that prioritized RDA spending based on input from neighborhood groups, as well as a review of RDA law and discussion by the Citizen's Committee itself (I'm on that committee, see the report here under "Resources").

Naturally what floated to the top of our list was the neighborhood infrastructure projects. With Chapmantown being annexed there will be an even greater need for money in the neighborhoods. There was an additional request from our camp that the city spend about $9 million on neighborhood projects and then re-evaluate all other RDA spending. Spending decisions could happen after more public discussion and a closer look at alternative funding methods for parks and police (specifically a Park Bond, Emergency Services Bond, surplus land sales, or a tax increase).

The alternative plan, and the result the City Manager and department heads were pulling for, was approval of Tom Lando's 1-18-06 RDA spending recommendations. This plan would allot $46 million to a variety of projects.

Larry Wahl didn't see a need to rush the spending decision. Andy Holcombe wanted the city list approved as is. Scott Gruendl seemed to be somewhere in the middle. The end vote approved the "Lando list" to be passed up to the full council with an additional $4 million in neighborhood improvements. Also, $10 million that was available for city staff defined projects was earmarked for neighborhood improvements.

Neighborhood groups and the RDA Committee did a good job placing focus on fixing our neighborhoods. The $14 million is a step in the right direction. But I suspect Chico is going to have to do some serious financial planning to get our streets, sidewalks, gutters, and sewers fixed.
Note: To put the $4,000,000 dollar bump in street improvements into perspective, it's about the same amount of money the city has spent revamping the downtown plaza park. Or about half of the amount spent procuring Bidwell Ranch, which is still locked to the the public.

City staff and politicians have tough choices to make on these projects. Some have taken to blaming previous Councils for the problems. The blame may or may not be valid, but the folks in charge today are likely to be the scapegoats of the future if they fail to fix neighborhoods that they're annexing.

RDA Project Proposed By City Staff
The RDA funds are not always the only funding source for these projects. Many of the projects listed here draw considerable funding from other sources. Here's the City Manager proposed RDA project list with some notes I've added.

East Park Ave. and Whitman Ave intersection $582,755
Traffic planning could come from General Funds.
BMX Facility $1,000,000
This was singled out and removed from the RDA list. This is a neat project that could pay for itself over time. RDA funding was not the best method to pay for this. The city's existing and upcoming Park Master Plan support new and varied recreation, and the city should consider a loan or other mechanism to help build this facility.
Ceres neighborhood park $250,000
Completion of a neighborhood park.
Children’s playground improvements $250,000
I'm concerned that the money here will only be used to implement police recommended safety changes. If so this would be using RDA funds in lieu of additional funding for police staff. Some portion of this money should go to increasing the amount of play equipment and trying to draw more parents/kids to the park.
Northwest neighborhood park $500,000
DeGarmo Park, behind schedule and way over budget.
Park Facilities $500,000
A list of small projects for CARD parks. Includes picnic tables, bathroom improvements etc.
Southwest neighborhood parks $1,000,000
Baroni Park, behind schedule (and over budget?). This is in Scott Gruendl's neighborhood, and I believe he's active in the Friends of Baroni Park.
Animal shelter new $1,600,000
The dollar amount for this jumped from $1,000,000 to $1,600,000. I don't know why, and I don't think an actual design or quote has been formulated for this project. Who knows where this figure came from? Please tell me.
Police facility expansion $17,000,000
Sticker shock! This project will include an additional ~$10,000,000 from other sources. I don't know where this figure came from, it was ~$14,000,000 and now it's $27,000,000. As far as I know no design or quote has been completed for the project. The city can't afford to put more officers on the street because of General Fund shortcomings. A Hignell&Hignell building was previously purchased for police expansion, and now won't be used. At the 5-2-06 City Council meeting Maureen Kirk talked of the "police station we're going to build", so I think this is a done deal. I'd like to know where the estimates come from and what methods are under consideration to increase police staffing. I'm sure the police deserve a new facility, but I think the community deserves a few more officers first.
Westside development $5,000,000
Improves infrastructure on the west side of the airport to allow for development.
Public infrastructure improvements (sidewalks, curbs) $10,000,000
This was one of the undefined funds that would be spent at the discretion of the City Manager and staff. At the Finance Committee meeting this was earmarked for neighborhood projects (streets, sidewalks, sewers, etc). An additional $4,000,000 was allotted to neighborhood projects ($14,000,000 total).
Public infrastructure improvements (drainage, hydrants) $1,000,000
Another undefined fund that would be spent at the discretion of the City Manager and staff.
East 8th Street reconstruction $5,250,000
This is a pretty bad road.
Annual Traffic Calming $626,400
Traffic planning could come from General Funds.
Downtown Bulbing $1,258,000
Annual planting of tulips at the new downtown park. Just kidding, this is the rounded and more attractive sidewalks that are found around the town center.
Park Ave. median $250,000
I'm not a big fan of the "Plow" public art currently in the Park Avenue median. But overall the median looks nice and should improve the business climate to some degree.

Total before 4-26 Finance Committee Meeting: $46,067,155
Total after 4-26 Finance Committee Meeting: ~$50,000,000

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The city is annexing areas like Chapmantown and knows that these neighborhoods will take $100,000,000+ to bring up to appropriate standards. Redevelopment money should be spent on these neighborhoods. I'm guessing that down the road an additional bond will be created to pay for this infrastructure.

People that live in these neighborhoods should demand that the RDA focus on fixing their streets, gutters, and sewers. If you're being annexed you should also demand that the city put a neighborhood improvement plan in place at the time of annexation.

Posted by Lon at May 7, 2006 11:04 AM