Funds Will Be Planned for 30 Years of Transportation Projects

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) will be hosting a variety of public meetings throughout the county in April, seeking public input for projects to be submitted for the 2013 Regional Transportation Plan. Projects included in the plan will be eligible to receive regional, state and federal funds over the next 30 years.

The East County meeting will be held on Thursday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. during the regular monthly Transplan meeting, in the Tri Delta Transit Board Room, 901 Wilbur Avenue in Antioch.

The full Authority Board will also hold a Public Hearing on Wednesday, April 20 at 6:00 p.m. at the CCTA offices, 2999 Oak Street, Suite 100, in Walnut Creek.

Please see the announcement above for other meetings and locations. For more information visit www.onebayarea.org,  email info@ccta.net or call (925) 256-4720.

Below is the information from the CCTA’s website.

2013 Regional Transportation Plan

The San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) is currently developing the 2013 update to its Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). This plan is being jointly developed by MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). The 2013 RTP Update is a “first” in that it incorporates a new Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) element to the RTP, as required under Senate Bill 375.

The SCS will be developed in partnership among regional agencies, local jurisdictions, and Congestion Management Agencies (CMAs) through an iterative process.  The land use pattern of the SCS, when integrated with the transportation system, should reduce greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and light trucks as measured against regional targets established by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).

For current information on the 2013 RTP Update and the SCS, including meeting schedules, agendas, and recent publications, go to www.OneBayArea.org.

Small Business Owner: Need an instant office or conference room?

You’re an entrepreneur with a great business vision, but working out of the
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Come for a tour of our facilities at: 505 West Second St, Antioch, CA 94509.
Call (925) 562-4465 to set an appointment.

Building layout: Main Floor and Downstairs
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Main Floor and Mezzanine
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Building Measurements
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Read more about our services, prices, and join!…
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ECO Business Centers is an educational non-profit dedicated to Economic
redevelopment. Please donate to support our cause.

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March 21st

Social Media Marketing 101 – Intro

March 28th

Social Media Marketing 101 – Facebook

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Professional Meetings over coffee?

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Start your summer off safe! Come down to this fun event. Blessing of the Bikes to be held at Antioch Wesleyan Church On April 4 beginning at 9 a.m. There will be lunch, entertainment and raffles at noon. All donations go to Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation (O.I.)

2800 Sunset Lane
<http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&addtohistory=&address=2800+
Sunset+Lane&city=Antioch&state=CA&zipcode=94509&homesubmit=Get+Map> Antioch
CA 94509
<http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?country=US&addtohistory=&address=2800+
Sunset+Lane&city=Antioch&state=CA&zipcode=94509&homesubmit=Get+Map>

For information email: timothyforrester@comcast.net or Lesliereano@comcast.net or call Tim at 779-0339

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)  has approved a $10 million anchor commitment through its Transportation for Livable Communities program to establish a new $50 million revolving loan fund for affordable housing developers to finance land acquisition in select locations near rail and bus lines throughout the Bay Area.

Other investors in the Bay Area Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund include Morgan Stanley and Citi Community Capital, each of which provided $12.5 million; The Ford Foundation and Living Cities, a collaborative of foundations and financial institutions, which invested $3 million each; six community development financial institutions (CDFIs), which combined to contribute $8.5 million; and the San Francisco Foundation, which provided $500,000 plus the 2007 seed funding to develop the fund’s business plan.

San Francisco-based Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) will serve as the manager of the Bay Area Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund. Loans will be originated by the six participating CDFIs, which include LIIF, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), the Northern California Community Loan Fund and Opportunity Fund. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation provided a $100,000 grant to support the Bay Area Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund.

Brigitt Jandreau-Smith, Chief Lending Officer for the Corporation for Supportive Housing, said, “CSH is proud to be an originator for the Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Loan Fund. We are dedicated to finding innovative ways to foster the development of supportive housing, and this fund will jumpstart communities’ ability to create projects in transit-rich locations where they can serve the most vulnerable Californians.”

MTC staff estimates developers can use the Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund to help finance the acquisition of at least 20 to 30 acres around the region, which will support development of 1,100 to 3,800 units of affordable housing, depending on the density of construction. LIIF expects to close the first deal for the new fund later this spring, with a $4.8 million loan to Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. (TNDC) to finance the acquisition of a roughly 22,000 s.f. parking lot at the corner of Eddy and Taylor Streets in San Francisco on which the firm plans to build a 14-story, 150-unit complex expected to include affordable family apartments as well as ground floor retail space to which TNDC hopes to attract the Tenderloin’s first full-service grocery store. The project has received significant support from the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing.

“MTC is a grant-making agency, and the funds we allocate typically get spent only once,” commented MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger. “This new affordable housing fund not only gives us four-to-one leverage with private capital, but allows our initial investment to be spent over and over again in the form of new loans.”

“We’re filling a critical void in the affordable housing finance market by making it possible for developers to do what they call ‘land banking,’” explained MTC Chair and San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier. “Once developers start tapping the fund to secure sites, they will still need to go through local approvals processes and to line up construction financing. So it may be years rather than months before the new housing units are brought on line.”

All loans made through the Bay Area Affordable Transit Oriented Housing Fund will be for projects located in neighborhoods designated by MTC and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) as a Priority Development Area. The fund, which will operate for at least 10 years, is modeled on similar funds established in recent years in Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Orleans and New York, which in aggregate total more than $350 million and have been used to leverage hundreds of millions of additional dollars from commercial lenders, investment funds, foundations and public agencies to support affordable housing development.

MTC will make its initial $5 million contribution to the Bay Area Affordable Transit Oriented Housing Fund once its funding agreement with LIIF is signed. This is expected to happen within the next month. MTC’s second and final $5 million contribution is slated for July 2011.

“Equitable transit-oriented development is one of LIIF’s key strategies to help low-income families lift themselves out of poverty,” said LIIF President and CEO Nancy O. Andrews. “We are thrilled to be working on the Bay Area Affordable Transit Oriented Housing Fund with MTC and all the other fund partners. And we cannot think of a better project for the fund’s first loan than the Eddy & Taylor Family Housing, which will bring much-needed housing and retail to this community.”

“We are honored to celebrate the launch of this fund,” said Dr. Sandra Hernández, M.D., CEO of The San Francisco Foundation, the community foundation of the Bay Area. “This fund will strengthen our entire region by creating more walkable and bikable neighborhoods with work, fresh food markets, and public transportation, close to home. Quality living without cars. The San Francisco Foundation is proud to be a part of the Great Communities Collaborative, and the joint vision to create affordable, healthy communities.”

Lori Chatman, president of the Enterprise Community Loan Fund, another of the participating CDFIs, declared, “Enterprise is thrilled to be a part of this fund because it will place much-needed housing and services near transit. Ultimately, people will have greater access to jobs and enjoy health and environmental benefits, all because they’re able to live on transit lines and in a home they can afford.”

Stephanie Forbes, Executive Director of Bay Area LISC, said, “If the Bay Area is to grow smart, making existing neighborhoods more sustainable means creating a place with more housing choices, more businesses, more fresh produce and services that support the very diverse population of residents, visitors and commuters in ways that complement the existing neighborhood fabric.　Bay Area LISC is thrilled to join with MTC and our nonprofit lender colleagues to provide community developers with a flexible tool to support the neighborhood infrastructure in the region’s diverse communities.”

MTC is the transportation planning, funding and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. MTC created the Transportation for Livable Communities program in 1998 to fund small-scale, community and transit-oriented projects that improve neighborhood vitality.

3/24/11  3:30 p.m.

– from Antioch Police Department

Due to sever flooding, 4th Street, O Street and 10th Street in the area of Auto Center Drive are closed. The flooding is being compounded with the incoming high tide, which should last for another couple of hours.

Please use alternative routes.

Graffiti is not Art – Graffiti is a Crime

3/18/11 – from the Antioch Police Department

Graffiti is a crime and often symptomatic of other social problems. Graffiti often leads to a feeling of reduced safety and pride in the community, which in turn leads to further crime. For many communities combating graffiti is a problematic and costly issue. The Police Department alone cannot solve the graffiti problem. Graffiti is a community issue and the Police Department is just one part of the solution.

The community at large and more specifically, caring neighbors and members of neighborhood watch groups have assumed a more significant role in getting involved in reporting the acts of vandalism they witness.

Just today, another caring and observant resident witnessed an act of vandalism at the Dallas Ranch Park which is located on Prewett Ranch Drive. The resident reported the incident to police and made the officers’ jobs much easier by providing good descriptions of the suspects, their actions and associated vehicles.

Without the assistance of this observant and caring citizen this would have been another costly graffiti crime that would have gone unsolved. Consequently, officers were able to arrest four suspects for felony vandalism. The suspects ranged in age from 15 to 21 years old.

It might sound like a broken record, but it rings so true. By becoming the eyes and ears for the police department, caring citizens are instrumental in helping us solve crime. Citizens who care and take the time to get involved multiply the resources of the police department, and this helps reduce the incidence of crime and improves the quality of life for all. Compliments to all who care enough to help us make Antioch a safer community!

By Dave Roberts

City officials and a local developer engaged in verbal fisticuffs at Tuesday’s City Council meeting with charges and countercharges of injuring reputations, violation of the Brown Act, umbrage at being accused of violating the Brown Act and threats of lawsuits.

The dispute centers on Discovery Builders’ Black Diamond Ranch development at Somersville Road and James Donlon Boulevard. Conditions for allowing that development included construction of a culvert crossing at Markley Creek and the widening of Somersville Road in that area.

City officials contend that the developer is on the hook for obtaining the permits and construction of the $5 million projects. The developer believes it’s the city’s responsibility to get the permits and do the work, with the developer reimbursing the city’s costs.

City officials are eager to get started on the creek project, which must precede the road widening and which can only be done during the dry season from mid-April to October so as not to disrupt creek wildlife. Two weeks ago they agreed to take over the projects and get reimbursement from the developer.

Tuesday night the Council agreed 4-0 (Wade Harper recused himself due to having received developer campaign contributions) to seek construction bids, to pay $93,000 for a one-year creek permit extension and transferring $1 million from the city’s Capital Projects Fund or the Gas Tax Fund.

Meanwhile city officials have also sent Discovery Builders an official notice that the developer has defaulted on its agreements to take on these projects. That notice is a preliminary step in possible litigation by the city to force compliance. And that possibility has ratcheted up the tension considerably between the two sides.

However, a meeting on Monday between the two parties “seemed to have the possibility of an amicable resolution of the matter,” City Attorney Lynn Tracy Nerland told the council Tuesday night.

But that amicable possibility was scotched when Discovery Builders attorney James Colopy sent the city a letter on Tuesday accusing the council of violating the open meeting law known as the Brown Act. He based this on the fact that a resolution tentatively approved at the March 8 council meeting had changed by the time the council saw the final version on Tuesday.

“We were very disturbed to receive the final resolution from the City Council,” Colopy told the council. “Because that was not the resolution you adopted on March 8 at all. That is a clear violation, in my mind, of the California Brown Act, which only allows legislative entities like yourself to deliberate at a public meeting, and only allows public decisions to be made in public and not be changed in private.”

Colopy was cut off at that point by Mayor Jim Davis because his three-minute time limit had expired. But his letter states, “Discovery Builders does not know what happened behind closed doors during the time period of March 8 to March 17. Given the substantial changes, it is reasonable to assume the City Council met again in private and voted again in private to adopt a different Resolution than the one circulated for public review and public meeting.”

A clearly peeved Nerland disputed that charge, saying, “Mr. Colopy’s letter today alleging that the City Council is meeting in secret and violating the Brown Act is so absurd that one must question his motives. It is common, as the City Council knows, that staff will prepare a resolution and attach it to the staff report for the council’s consideration. And there may be changes to those resolutions. The agenda packet goes out Thursday. Situations may change.

“In this very case, Mr. Colopy came forward with new information to the city that his client now didn’t want to build the culvert and wanted the city to build it and that Discovery Builders would pay those costs. So, obviously in those situations, resolutions  are not going to be the same as what is ultimately adopted by the City Council. It’s somewhat spurious to suggest that the council has no authority to change the resolutions that staff presents to it.”

Colopy also charged that city officials have damaged his client’s reputation.

“Discovery Builders is very upset and concerned about the way that the city of Antioch has been handling this issue,” he told the council. “We have been attacked and our business reputation has been injured because the statements that are being made by the City Council and staff report are being portrayed in the media as Discovery Builders and affiliate entities are not abiding by their contractual entities. When nothing could be farther from the truth.”

Colopy then threatened to sue the city.

“By moving ahead with the culvert project this year, that is a breach of an agreement between the City of Antioch and Discovery Builders entities that was entered into in Sept 15, 2009. To the extent that the City of Antioch continues on its current course of action my client has advised that they are considering legal action to protect their rights under the contract. This is not a course of action that we want to do, but we feel like we have no choice.

“Yesterday’s meeting was productive. I made a request that we put off this agenda item to allow time for the two sides to continue talking and see if they can resolve it. I was told by the city attorney and outside counsel for the city that this matter would have to proceed on two tracks. That we would keep talking about a settlement to see if that would be productive, but otherwise the city was going to move forward with what it was going to do. If that’s what it’s going to do, fine. But we have to also do what we feel is necessary to protect our rights under the law.”

Nerland explained that the culvert work needs to get done in the next half-year during the dry season or be put off for another year. As for the other track of continuing to discuss the dispute with representatives of the Seeno-owned company, progress would depend on “if they continue to come to the table in good faith or whether they are simply going to continue to allege Brown Act violations and we don’t get any further,” she said.

The only council member to respond to Calopy’s charge of violating the Brown Act was Gary Agopian.  

“What really concerns me about this is that this City Council in open session (on March 8) had a discussion about this issue,” said Agopian. “I openly commented then and am openly commenting now. We did nothing in secret. I think it’s repugnant to accuse this council of acting in secret. If there’s concern about someone’s reputation being damaged, I’m concerned about the reputation of this city and its citizens, who by inference are entering into this contract. Because it’s a contract with all the citizens of Antioch. I’m very concerned about that.

“I think that we are being very prudent here by asking for the contract to be adhered to. I still believe that we can get an agreement that would be equitable if all parties are willing to talk.”