Oversight Board Meeting

MINUTES OVERSIGHT BOARD REGULAR MEETING Wednesday, February 25, 2015 – 7-9 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBER, FEW MEMORIAL HALL OF RECORDS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Oversight Board Members: Present: Timothy Barrett, Harvey Kuffner, Vicki Nakamura, Katie Pofahl, Chip Rerig, Mitch Winick Absent: Dave Potter City Staff Present: Housing and Property Manager Rick Marvin, Assistant Finance Director, Julie Porter, Legal Counsel Alex Lorca, and Clerk to Board, Maria Buell. CALL TO ORDER Chair Kuffner called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. 1. Swearing in Katie Pofahl and Timothy Barrett to Oversight Board. Clerk to the Board, Maria Buell, conducted the swearing into office ceremony of Katie Pofahl and Timothy Barrett. A brief welcome and self-introductions were made. Board member Winick announced that he was resigning as member of the Board effective February 26, 2015 and handed his written resignation to the Clerk. Chair Kuffner welcomed the new Board members Pofahl and Barrett, and he began conducting the meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2. The Minutes of the December 1, 2014 annual board meeting were approved by the following vote: ADOPTED BY THE OVERSIGHT BOARD OF THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY OF THE CITY OF MONTEREY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY this 25th day of February, 2015 by the following vote: AYES: 5 MEMBERS: Kuffner, Rerig, Winick, Barrett, Pofahl NOES: 0 MEMBERS: None ABSENT: 1 MEMBERS: Potter ABSTAIN: 1 MEMBERS: Nakamura Rerig/Winick Kuffner, issue with lack of a quorum in his perspective. No other questions asked by Board members. 1 PUBLIC APPEARANCE 3. Approval of Proposed Administrative Budget for the July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015 period Pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 34177(j) Staff Presentation/Board Member Questions Staff member, Porter introduced this item and answered Board members questions. Ms. Porter stated that the RDA Act allows up to $125,000 for every 6-month period and that City does not anticipate needing much. She said last period, City only used $10,000 and that $10,000 is being requested for this period because City has the Long Range Property Management Plan to finish which might need more money to complete. Board member comments: None. Public Comments: Chair Kuffner opened discussion to members of public on this item. Having no requests to speak, Chair Kuffner closed public comment. On a motion by Board member Winick, seconded by Board member Nakamura, the Board unanimously moved to approve the Proposed Administrative Budget for the July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015 period Pursuant to Health and Safety Code section 34177(j). ADOPTED BY THE OVERSIGHT BOARD OF THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY OF THE CITY OF MONTEREY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY this 25th day of February, 2015 by the following vote: AYES: 6 MEMBERS: Barrett, Kuffner, Nakamura, Pofahl, Rerig, Winick NOES: 0 MEMBERS: None ABSENT: 1 MEMBERS: Potter ABSTAIN: 0 MEMBERS: None 4. Approval of Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule for the Period July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015 Staff Presentation/Board Member Questions Staff member Porter introduced this item and answered Board members questions. She reminded the Board that several old items show up in the Schedule and that unless legislation changes, they will continue to remain as a line item. Ms. Porter then proceeded to review the Schedule, line-by-line. Board member comments: Chair Kuffner asked Staff to explain these items to new Board members. Staff member Marvin said that these items were funded by the Redevelopment Agency and that City was working with a commercial lender to build condos on the property so that RDA could facilitate the construction of apartments. The Successor Agency is the owner of the apartment portion. However, at the moment, the apartments remain incomplete because the interior still needs to be finished. In order to complete the apartments, staff is preparing a request for proposals to solicit developers to finish and lease the apartments. Mr. Marvin said the process to complete the project has been very slow. Mr. Marvin further explained that the ROPS obligation is former RDA housing money that is reserved to fund completion of the apartments. 2 Chair Kuffner asked if DOF has accepted that City continue with this project. Mr. Marvin said DOF approved the amount of money to finish the hotel; as to its specifics, they are not involved, but they are overseeing City to make sure moneys are used for that project. Board member Barrett asked Ms. Porter to explain the numbers on the Staff report and asked if $645,600 is out of the $900,000 reserves? Ms. Porter responded that she anticipates a small balance remaining at end of the period and that the figure is out of the reserves. Vice Chair Rerig asked if the one-page document which Ms. Porter handed to Board members at the beginning of the meeting is the “expanded” version of what was sent on the Agenda packet. Ms. Porter concurred with Vice Chair Rerig. Chair Kuffner asked if the amount of money for the Monterey Hotel is in dispute by DOF? Ms. Porter indicated that the City holds the money in trust and it has been set aside for completion of the apartments. Ms. Porter stated that so far DOF has been approving ROPS as they are submitted, although the amount shown for expenditure in ROPS 14-15B was reduced by half by DOF because the project was not expected to be completed by the end of that ROPS period. Chair Kuffner asked if legislation has been introduced to change the rules for expenditures. Ms. Porter stated that she was not aware of any new potential legislation. Staff member Marvin responded that new legislation is being introduced regarding the disposition of RDA’s, but Staff has not looked at it in detail. He said one proposed change is that they would switch from submittal of ROPS (twice/year) to a single annual ROPS; other agencies might have more items to finish, but City does not have many and that Staff does see it creating any problems. Chair Kuffner asked that Staff give an explanation regarding Hotel Pacific. Mr. Marvin said that this topic was being covered in the next item in the Agenda. There were no other further comments by Board members. Public Comments: Chair Kuffner opened discussion to members of public on this item. Having no requests to speak, Chair Kuffner closed public comment on this matter. On a motion by Vice Chair Rerig, seconded by Board member Barrett, the Board unanimously moved to approve the Recognized Obligation Payment Schedule for the Period July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015. ADOPTED BY THE OVERSIGHT BOARD OF THE SUCCESSOR AGENCY OF THE CITY OF MONTEREY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY this 25th day of February, 2015 by the following vote: AYES: 6 MEMBERS: Barrett, Kuffner, Nakamura, Pofahl, Rerig, Winick NOES: 0 MEMBERS: None ABSENT: 1 MEMBERS: Potter ABSTAIN: 0 MEMBERS: None 5. Receive Report on the status of the Long Range Property Management Plan. Staff Presentation/Board Member Questions Staff member Marvin introduced this item and answered Board members questions. Mr. Marvin stated that this is an information item only. The Successor Agency for City was tasked with the 3 unwinding down of the former RDA. One remaining property which was formerly owned by RDA (“Agency”) is a ground lease for a hotel. The Agency owns the ground and the developer owns the hotel (Hotel Pacific located at 300 Pacific Street). This was submitted to DOF in March 2014 and staff provided many reasons why it needs to be transferred to City. DOF has not yet completed its review of the City’s Plan. It is the City’s intent to transfer the Hotel Pacific deed to the City after DOF approves the Plan. Mr. Marvin stated that once the Hotel Pacific deed is transferred to the City all former Agency properties will have been transferred out of the control of the Successor Agency and the property disposition portion of the Agency’s dissolution will be complete. Chair Kuffner asked Mr. Marvin if DOF asked for copies of all the agreements. Mr. Marvin said DOF was provided with all documents. Board member Winick asked how long has this matter been pending with DOF. Mr. Marvin responded since March, 2014. Mr. Marvin further indicated that in October 2014 DOF began to request additional information and documentation on the history of the Hotel Pacific property acquisition. Board member Nakamura asked if staff had any idea when DOF’s review will be finished. Mr. Marvin responded that DOF assigned one analyst to the matter, but he does not know a definite date. Vice Chair Rerig asked that, for the benefit of the new members, Staff provide the percentage that the proceeds bring for these programs? Staff member Marvin said that they bring over $300,000 in annual revenues to City. Board member comments: There were no other further comments by Board members. Public Comments: Chair Kuffner opened discussion to members of public on this item. Having no requests to speak, Chair Kuffner closed public comment on this matter. PUBLIC COMMENTS No member of the public provided input. Public Comments was closed. OTHER BUSINESS None. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS Board member Mitch announced that the Monterey College of Law will begin operating out of San Luis Obispo. The faculty and staffing are local and evening and weekend classes will be offered. Chair Kuffner asked if Monterey College of Law is merging. Board member Winick said that the local San Luis Obispo law school is unaccredited, but that State Bar allowed Monterey College of Law to accept their students. The Law School will open in fall and that applications can be submitted as early as Monday, March 2nd. Chair Kuffner thanked Mr. Winick for his service and said he appreciated his participation. Board member Winick said that this is a good group to work with and he has great respect for City Staff for all the work they do. 4 Board member Pofahl said she appreciates this new work and announced that an adjacent property to Jack’s Peak Park is now part of preservation land. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:35 PM ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:33 PM. Respectfully submitted, Approved, _______/s/________________ _______/s/________________ Maria Buell Harvey Kuffner Clerk, Oversight Board Chair, Oversight Board 5