Grass Valley Postpones Decision on New Fees

From YubaNet.com

Regional
Grass Valley Postpones Decision on New Fees
Author: YubaNet
Published on Mar 26, 2008 - 11:41:36 AM

GRASS VALLEY, Calif. March 26, 2008 - The Grass Valley City Council decided to postpone any decisions on new impact fees and a possible withdrawal from a regional program until their April 22nd meeting.

Council also set a special meeting to discuss the sale and use of fireworks within city limits. The meeting will be held on April 2 from 6 to 8:00 p.m.

The first item on the agenda was the official welcome to the city's new administrator, Dan Holler. Holler said he was thrilled by the welcome and looking forward to becoming a part of the community.

New Impact Fees Delayed

Public Works Director Tim Kiser presented the staff report to council. The report reads in part:

"In March 2006, council initiated the process of implementing a traffic fee program designed to fund the required improvements to accommodate new development anticipated to occur through the buildout of the 2020 General Plan and beyond.

In July 2006, City Council approved an interim Local Circulation Impact Fee (LCIF) funding local traffic and circulation improvements until the City's Traffic Model could be developed to identify critical roadway segments and intersections impacted by future development.

In 2001, Nevada County and the cities of Grass Valley and Nevada City joined together and separately adopted the Regional Transportation Mitigation Fee Program (RTMF) which is administered by the NCTC. The current purpose of the RTMF program is to finance improvements on 10 regional transportation projects (2 projects completed, 8 projects still planned).

Due to the City's desire to ensure funding for the construction of local and regional projects within the City's limits and the City's Sphere of Influence, staff is proposing to add all the current RTMF projects within the City's sphere of influence (7 of the 8 planned projects) and the proposed projects from the PRTMF within the City's Sphere of Influence (23 total projects: 7 RTMF planned and 16 new projects).

FISCAL IMPACT: The GVTIF for a typical single-family housing unit will increase from the current combined Local and Regional Traffic Fee of $1,784 to $4,043. Similarly, a 25,000 SF retail building and 10,000 SF office building will respectively decrease from the current combined fee of $305,959 to $172,930 and $91,807 to $51,290.

Several letters, sent by individuals and organizations pointed out omissions in the proposed fee structure. Council agreed to postpone the item until staff can refine the proposal.

At the same time, the city's possible withdrawal from the Regional Transportation Mitigation Fee Program (RTMF) has stirred controversy. Nate Beason, in his capacity as chair of the Nevada County Transportation Commission (NCTC), send a strongly worded letter to Mayor Johnson.

Withdrawal from the RTMF program will, most likely, reclassify such projects as the Dorsey Drive Interchange as Grass Valley local projects. Consequently, regional funding currently programmed could be vulnerable. In addition, the Board of Supervisors, in good faith, arranged $735,000.00 through our Congressional representative for the Dorsey Drive project. Likewise, the NCTC recently allocated $1.6 million in Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funding to the Dorsey Drive project, as a regional project. Moreover, you may wish to anticipate how Grass Valley will generate sufficient local funding to coincide with the schedule shown in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) for the Dorsey Drive project.

"...it is unlikely all of the RTMF funds currently held by NCTC would be turned over to Grass Valley if the RTMF program were terminated." Beason continued.

Council continued the item to their April 22nd meeting.

Historic Preservation Ordinance One Step Closer

A map of the 1872 Grass Valley Townsite will serve as the basis for the creation of a historic preservation ordinance. On Tuesday evening council approved the creation of a subcommittee to select a consultant, funded the project with $25,000 from the redevelopment agency's fund and authorized the release of a request for proposals. The 1872 Townsite comprises 370 acres containing approximately 1,165 lots and 1,928 buildings.

The ordinance should be designed to help residents within the historic district, not to put constraints on projects, said Vice-Mayor Lisa Swarthout.

Larry Hoffman Appointed to Planning Commission

By a 4-1 vote (Miller voted No), council appointed Larry Hoffman to the Planning Commission as Mark Johnson's commissioner. Mayor Johnson made the recommendation after interviews with three candidates. Hoffman will serve until the end of the year, the end of Johnson's term.

Grass Valley Police Department Citizen Academy Graduation Ceremony

Grass Valley Police Chief John Foster introduced the 17 newest graduates from the citizen academy. This is the third class of graduates who all completed the 10-week course.

"The academy has proven itself to be an outstanding tool for the community and the Police Department to get to know one another and enhance effective policy/community partnerships," said Detective Johnson, who led the class. Mayor Johnson presented the certificates of completion to the graduates, thanking them for their interest and willingness to be involved in Grass Valley's community.

The 17 graduates are: Janis Anderson, Wayne Giles, George Hadley, Bruce Johnson, Patrice Kyle, Lucia Lowrance, Jonathan McCann, Robert Micalizio, Janet Micalizio, Brendon Miller, Joyce Nicholson, Joe Novak, Mitzi Phillips, Dan Schlosser, Rollin Shively, Jeff Waters and David Worthington.

Chief Foster also presented council with the 10th citizen survey on his department's workings. "The survey gives the community an opportunity to indicate which services they feel the Police Department should emphasize in the future," Foster said.

83.7% of the 115 respondents indicated their approval of overall public services in the "excellent" or "good" rating. Animal Control showed a significant increase in the "excellent" level of satisfaction by raising 33.5% (38.5% in 2008 vs. 5% in 2007) and Contact/Follow Through by 22.4% (48.3% in 2008 vs. 25.9% in 2007).

The full results are posted on the city's website.

Special Meeting on Monday

The council will hold a special meeting on Monday, March 31 at 6:00 p.m. for the purpose of discussing future development and the public service challenges for the southern portion of Grass Valley. The focus of the meeting will be on the southern portion of the city's sphere of influence, an area extending southerly from the McKnight Way Interchange and Highway 20 and involving such properties as the Northstar and Bear River Mill Site Special Development Areas (SDA's) and Berriman Ranch.