Joint Meeting of MTC, ABAG Executive Board, 7 p.m., Thursday, May 17, 2012, at Oakland Marriott City Center, 1001 Broadway, Oakland, CA

Officials from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) will vote on the Plan Bay Area Preferred Land Use Scenario and Transportation Investment Strategy at a special joint meeting at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, May 17, 2012, at the Oakland Marriott City Center, Junior Ballroom, 1001 Broadway, Oakland, CA.

Who: ABAG Executive Board and MTC

What: Special Joint Meeting to vote on Plan Bay Area Preferred Land Use Scenario and Transportation Investment Strategy

When: Thursday, May 17, 2012, 7:00 p.m.

Where: Oakland Marriott City Center, Junior Ballroom, 1001 Broadway, Oakland, CA

When completed, Plan Bay Area will be the region’s 25-year guide to jobs, population and housing distribution, as well as transportation investments. California’s Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act (SB 375) requires that each of the state’s 18 Metropolitan Planning Organizations – and in the Bay Area specifically MTC and ABAG – develop a long-range plan to reduce per-capita greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks. The Bay Area is required to reduce emissions by 7 percent by 2020 and by 15 percent by 2035. SB 375 also requires the plan to house 100 percent of the region’s projected population growth, without displacing current low-income residents.

“We are making great strides toward adopting a long-range plan that links local aspirations for community development with regional objectives, particularly a strong regional economy,” said ABAG President Mark Luce.

The Preferred Land Use and Transportation Investment Strategy will comprise the Plan Bay Area project alternative to be evaluated as part of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In December 2012, the agencies expect to release the draft Plan Bay Area and EIR, which will be followed by public hearings and workshops throughout the region in January through March 2013. MTC and ABAG are due to adopt the final Plan Bay Area and certify the final EIR in April 2013.

MTC Chair Adrienne J. Tissier said, “We are especially pleased that when our transportation investment strategy and preferred land use scenario are combined together, we are able to fully achieve the greenhouse gas reduction and housing targets required by law.”

MTC is the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area’s transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency. ABAG is the council of governments and regional planning agency for the nine counties and 101 cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay region.

Feeling taxed enough? It’s just the beginning of the latter part of a year in which voters will be asked to approve a growing number of tax measures. Regrettably, there are a number of tax increases in the works in which we won’t get to have a say e.g. increases by PG&E to recoup costs from the San Bruno disaster which they want to pass on to ratepayers rather than stockholders, water and sewer rate fees increases by the City of Antioch and a increase in residential sewer charges by Delta Diablo Sanitation District.

City of Antioch water and sewer rate fee increases for fiscal years 2010 through 2015 were previously approved by Council in 2010 at which time Council requested a rate review be conducted after two years, The findings are as follows:

Due to decreased consumption levels for all customer classes, offset by decreased purchased water costs compared to projections, the city was able to delay the need to issue a planned $10 million bond for capital improvement projects. However, if the city implements the remainder of the proposed rate increases from the 2010 Study there will be sufficient funds to cash finance the 5 year capital improvement program, meet the 60 day minimum working capital balance and start to fund a modest level of Repair and Replacement reserve for future capital needs.

For the Sewer fund, delayed execution of some capital projects over the past 2 years has resulted in a temporary fund balance greater than anticipated but, without an increase in rates, the city will be unable to complete a sewer capital improvement program or address future capital needs.

Both rate increases sound like a done deal!

As for Delta Diablo, in 2010 they approved a 4.8% rate increase and last year they approved a 7.5% increase in fees – 4.8% for costs of treatment, capital improvements etc. and 2.7% to begin funding a dedicated reserve fund to pay for advanced wastewater treatment facilities to meet new regulatory requirements. Now they want more.

I’m tapped out. How about you?

By Sergeant Tom Fuhrmann, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

At 11:00 p.m. On Monday, May 14, 2012, an 18 year old female showed up in the emergency room at Sutter Delta Medical Center with multiple stab wounds. According to the woman, she was walking on Cavallo Road near Sunset Drive when she was attacked by an unknown assailant. She was stabbed multiple times before she broke free and ran away. She then walked to the hospital to seek treatment. The victim is being treated at an area hospital and is in stable condition with what appear to be non life-threatening injuries. There are some indicators that this may be a gang related case. The investigation is ongoing at the time of this writing.

By Sergeant Morefield, Antioch Police Field Services Bureau

On Sunday, May 13, 2012 at approximately 2:21 pm, Antioch police officers responded to a report of a shooting in the area of W. 10th Street and Auto Center Drive. As officers arrived in the area, they were advised that the victim had driven to his home nearby. Officers went to the victim’s home where they found him awake and alert but suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.

The 29-year-old victim was later transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries. It was learned the victim was shot while driving his car near the intersection at W. 10th Street and Auto Center Drive. The intersection was closed down for approximately 30 minutes while officers collected evidence at that location. Police are still in the process of determining the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged to call the Antioch Police Department at (925)778-2441.

Join the Antioch Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon cutting celebrating the Somersville Towne Center’s opening of their Farmers’ Market!

Sunday, May 13, 2012, 11 AM 

Somersville Towne Center is located at 2556 Somersville Road, Antioch

For more information call (925) 754-5230 or visit www.somersvilletownecenter.com.

By Acting Sergeant Wisecarver, Antioch Police Investigations Bureau

On Tuesday, May 8, 2012,the Antioch Police Investigations Unit conducted a probation search on Justin Reis at his home in the 5400 block of Prewett Ranch Drive. Antioch detectives found the 34-year-old Reis carrying a suitcase from his home to a car parked in front of the home. The detectives contacted Reis and found the suitcase to contain over 10 lbs. of marijuana. Reis was arrested for the marijuana and the Detectives searched his home. The detectives found two additional pounds of marijuana in the home, along with evidence of marijuana sales and cultivation.

In conducting their investigation, the detectives were lead to another house in Antioch. The second house, in the 3500 block of Waxwing Way, was found to contain a large scale indoor marijuana cultivation. The detectives obtained a search warrant for the location and found 25-year-old Brian Lloyd inside the home along with five pounds of marijuana and 836 marijuana plants growing in the home.

Detectives determined that the power had been diverted and was bypassing the PG&E meters at both locations. The theft of power being stolen from PG&E was estimated to be in excess of $20,000.

Both Reis and Lloyd were arrested on various drug charges.

By James Ott

Antioch’s financial future is stable for now, say city officials, but there could be trouble on the horizon.

Through tough cuts and budget restructuring, City Manager Jim Jakel said that Antioch should end this year with a positive budget, but that the city is facing a “significant deficit” after the 2013 fiscal year.

During a special meeting held before the  city council meeting on Tuesday, April 24, Jakel and other city staff gave a presentation highlighting budgetary changes and concerns for the city’s General Fund.

The major problem facing the city? A lack of revenue, according to Jakel.

With a population of over 100,000 people, Antioch’s revenue’s have dropped from $47 million plus in the 2006 – 2007 fiscal year to about $34.5 million in 2011 – 2012.

That is a $34.5 million budget for a city with over 100,000 people. Compare that to a neighboring city like Brentwood that has only 52,000 people and a $37 million budget, say city staff and it becomes apparent why some are worried about the city’s ability to provide basic services for its citizens down the road.

“We need to generate revenue, said Jakel. “Home sales need to increase or the voters need to approve a tax measure or we need to pull a rabbit out of a hat with respect to city revenue.”

According to Finance Director Dawn Merchant, the main culprit for the large budget shortfall over the last few years is the sharp declines in revenue generated by taxes – mainly property tax and sales tax. Those two big money generators of course, come from two of the hardest hit areas in this tough economy: home ownership and sales, and businesses sales.

A full 75 percent of the city’s revenue this fiscal year was generated from taxes. Of that total 44 percent came from property tax, and a full 40 percent from sales and use tax. And the city expects 76 percent of next year’s revenue will come from taxes.

A smaller problem for Antioch has been its increase in expenditures despite its falling revenue.

Despite nearly $3 million in employee concessions and nearly 40 percent of Antioch’s approved positions vacant due to harsh cuts, the city is expecting to spend $100,000 more next year than the current year – a small increase but a sign of the difficulties facing the city despite its efforts to balance its budget.

Some good news from Merchant is that increased sales tax revenue this fiscal year has generated $300,000 over last year. That comes from sales tax income increasing by 8.4 percent from March of last year to March 2012, she said. And that bodes well for Antioch as it follows the uptrend that the rest of the state has experienced. Sales tax in California as a whole was up 8.8 percent in that same period.

The city may also be able to gain some much additional revenue from redirected water rights refunds. Antioch has water rights and every year they have the possibility of being reimbursed from the Department of Water Resources for any excess useable water.

That money would normally go to Antioch’s Water Enterprise Fund but the city received opinion from legal council that the city owns those water rights, not the water enterprise fund because it is not a separate legal entity. In budget subcommittee meetings the city decided that any future water refunds would now go into the General Fund.

If the city receives a refund, has a budget surplus and meets their annual 10 percent reserve, then the moneys received would be used to replenish the litigation and replacement reserves.

And it there is a budget deficit it was suggested that the refund money be used to reduce the deficit.

Although Merchant said that the city could potentially pick up these forms of revenue in the future and possibly even more from unused employee overtime, it all may not be enough.

While Antioch’s current fiscal year will end on June 30 with about $152,000 in surplus, if the city can’t find an answer to its revenue shortage, Antioch will still be in a $2.4 million hole at the end of the next fiscal year, which begins July 1 this year.

City staff and council members all agreed that although they’ve worked hard and made sacrifices, their work to keep Antioch afloat is far from over yet.

“We’re in a difficult state here,” said Fakel. “Fortitude and creativity to do what people didn’t think we could do in the first place has … staved off the serious nature of the situation. But don’t take it as a false sense that we’re out of the woods. It’s a daunting task.”

Tuesday was the first of the three special budget meetings that will take place an hour before City Council Meetings until the budget is set to be adopted on June 26.

Also at the Meeting:

In a move they say does not set a precedent, the council voted 3-1 with Councilman Gary Agopian dissenting, to ignore staff suggestions and allow Mike Rose’s Auto Body to keep their unapproved landscaping changes.

In 2010 Mike Rose’s Auto Body applied to make landscaping changes to his business at 1001 Auto Center Drive.

The city approved some but not all of the landscaping changes and after a routine site inspection several discrepancies were noticed between what the city had approved and what was actually constructed.

Those changes included artificial turf in place of real grass, and a lack of a covered garbage enclosure.

A representative for Mike Rose’s Auto Body told staff that they preferred to keep the landscaping modifications that they made, despite the fact that it was a design that was not approved by the city, so it was reviewed by staff and the city’s zoning administrator.

After the review, the zoning administrator decided that the changes were substantial and so needed to be taken before the planning commission for a final decision.

At the planning commission review, Brennan Rose said that he and the company had thought the changes they made to the landscaping were improvements and did not consider that they would create a problem. Rose explained that the turf was more water efficient and that it would last longer. This, he said would keep his business and thus that part of Antioch, looking better for longer than would the approved landscaping changes.

After the planning commission eventually passed a motion requiring Rose to make changes, he appealed the decision.

At Tuesday’s meeting, staff explained the concern with Rose’s unauthorized changes.

City staff said that natural grass acts as a bio filter and drains storm water through a pipe into a public storm drain. Synthetic turf, they say is mainly impervious and as it is currently designed at Mike Rose’s Auto Body, the slope of the turf would cause storm water to not drain properly and so pool up on the sidewalk. Also all commercial sites containing trash compactors like Mike Rose’s Auto Body have to have a roof on their trash enclosure according to city mandates.

After discussion, city council members and the Mayor said that Mike Rose’s Auto Body had no ill intentions and only made changes they thought would benefit the city. They also cited all of the good the company has done for the city of Antioch and so decided to allow the business to keep all of its changes without any adjustments.

Mayor Jim Davis explained the thought process behind the decision:

“I’m not saying we can make exceptions every time, but when someone goes above and beyond to take a corner that represents a lot to our community and make it better, this is a case where I’d be willing to make an exception and go forward,” said Davis. “They are an asset to our community and they contribute to our tax base.”

Do you dance? Then come audition for Vagabond Players 3rd Annual Fabulous Follies, which will open at the historic El Campanil Theatre, Antioch, September 28th for a two week run.

Auditions will be Saturday, June 30th from 10:00AM – 1:00PM, by appointment only. For audition appointment, go to Vagabond Players website and complete application form at www.vagabondplayersinc.com or call director, (925)689-3368.

You will need resume, headshot, and bring tap, character, jazz or other comfortable shoes for dancing.  Do a one to two minute routine for your audition.  Please provide your own music CD.  You will be taught a short combination so you can get a feel for the difficulty level of the routines.

Rehearsals begin August 13th.