CC Min 2001-06-25 Reg - Laserfiche WebLink

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The notice included a public heating notice in standard format, a detailed description of the proposal, as well as the maps and legal descriptions. The first notice went out for the April 25th, 2001 public information meeting, followed by a second notice for the Planning Commission meeting that took place on May 1st, 200 I. Then a distribution was sent out to everybody for the public hearing that took place on June 11th, 2001 at the City Council level. Mr. Church stated that the Agency tried their best to invite people to attend public forums. Mr. Goldman interrupted Mr. Church by commenting on the quality of the mail outs. He believes that neither the design nor the content was effective enough and email lists need to be created. According to Mr. Goldman the pieces sent out by the City are not attractive and do not promote participation. Council commented that while there was no intent to keep people away it would be beneficial to use a combination of plain language and legal language so that the public is aware of the issues early on. It was acknowledged that the City is trying to make an effort at making the communications more reasonable and understandable. Agency Director Church reiterated that the request for a 12 year extension is reasonable, contrary to what a speaker stated, mostly because all Redevelopment Agency projects take a long time (8-12 years) to implement. Responding to questions in regards to the Eminent Domain steps and the valuation procedure Mr. Church outlined the whole process as follows: · Agency defines that there is a public purpose justifying the acquisition of certain properties; · Order the preparation of an appraisal (not staff); a professional who will provide an impartial and justifiable opinion; · The valuation comes from the appraiser and the highest supportable value for the property is the starting point for negotiations; · The original value (starting point) never goes down; Mr. Church clarified that in regards to sales taxes, and where the money goes when the Redevelopment Agency purchases property, there is a locked in value that continues to be distributed in the same way it was before. However, if an additional project is built and ads value to the site the increment that is added to the property value goes to the Redevelopment Agency. But even in that case a portion of those funds gets passed on to the School District and County. The Redevelopment Agency does not get sales tax; the statutes do not permit. Mr. Baldwin interrupted Mr. Church and asked him questions about other projects that the Redevelopment Agency might be considering for the future (beyond the two projects previously mentioned). REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING JUNE 25, 2001 MINUTES PAGE 8 MINUTES Book No. 58 Page No. 444