NORWALK — The city's former Redevelopment Agency, abolished by the state in 2012, may have left the community a legacy of more than $20 million in bond funds.
Council members Tuesday night, sitting as the Norwalk Redevelopment Successor Agency, formally transferred to the city about $11.7 million from the sale of bonds for various uses. Sitting as the City Council later that night, the same officials formally accepted the bonds.
A similar action took place Sept. 2 involving about $10 million in bond funds sold to finance affordable and low-income housing.
Under the complicated state law that abolished redevelopment agencies, council members (who also made up the redevelopment officers) are allowed to act as the board of the successor agency to wind down redevelopment projects and pay off debts.
Kurt Anderson, director of community development, said the two acts must be approved by a Regional Oversight Board and finally the state Department of Finance.
The bond funds are left over from bond sales of $64.1 million sold in 2005.
If approved by the oversight board and the state, the city may use the $10 million to build affordable homes and the $11.7 million for various improvement projects planned by the Redevelopment Agency at the time.
Those projects included upgrades to the water system infrastructure and water wells, commercial renewal by private enterprise of the San Antonio Drive/Firestone Boulevard intersection including historic Front Street, rehabilitation, improvement and development of public infrastructure, commercial and residential properties, parks and public recreation areas.
In a related matter, the Successor Agency hired the firm of R.P. Laurain and Associates to appraise the value of four city-owned sites formerly purchased by the redevelopment agency for a fee not to exceed $11,900 and another $8,100 for contingencies. The state has approved the sale of those sites for commercial use, Anderson said.
The sites are:
• A 183,078-square-foot vacant lot zoned for commercial and office use at the northeast corner of Imperial Highway and Hoxie Avenue. It formerly contained a medical office. The Costco store to the north is a prospective buyer.
• A 4,384-square-foot site zoned for single-family use at 14125 San Antonio Drive containing a vacant office building and parking garage.
• A site on Metro Center Drive in the Norwalk Entertainment Center, Norwalk Boulevard at Civic Center Drive, now used for parking.
• And a vacant 25,418-square-foot site zoned for commercial use on the northwest corner of Norwalk Boulevard and Adoree Street, currently leased by Caltrans for the ongoing widening of the adjoining Santa Ana (5) Freeway.
Anderson said the state has also approved for government use parking lots for the Norwalk Sports Complex, 13000 Clarkdale Ave., and the adjoining Norwalk Park Rose Garden.
A seventh parcel of land is between Norwalk City Hall, 12700 Norwalk Blvd., and the Los Angeles County Courthouse to the south. It is occupied by a parking structure for county judges and has been transferred to the county, Anderson said.
In other action Tuesday night, the council:
• Formally accepted a $3 million grant from the state Department of Transportation to upgrade traffic signals and curb ramps to improve safety at three sites.
They are on Rosecrans Avenue between Carmenita and Studebaker roads, on Studebaker between Rosecrans and Alondra Boulevard and at San Antonio Drive/Norwalk Boulevard and Civic Center Drive as well as Civic Center Drive between that intersection and Bloomfield Avenue. The city must provide 10 percent of the cost, or about $300,000, said Public Works Director Gary DiCorpo. He said the funds would come from Norwalk's share of Measure R, the county road improvement tax hike.
• Agreed to join the Los Angeles Region Imagery Acquisition Consortium, a group of cities headed by Los Angeles County, seeking to acquire digital aerial data. The data may be used to compile maps of the city and obtain a bird’s eye view of buildings to look for deterioration, interim City Engineer William Zimmerman said. Cost will be no more than $49,000 for the images, he said. The aerial videos are so accurate they can show manhole covers and striping on roadways, he added.
Yancy posted at 1:37 pm on Fri, Sep 19, 2014.
$25 Million would go a long way to upgrading the sewer.. But the City would rather TAX TAX TAX... $25 Million and they want to Tax Cell phones ..This City Council is out of control !!!!! They knew these funds were coming available, and yet they continue to move forward with increasing taxes to the point of a FISCAL EMERGENCY..
That is simply a lie to the residents of Norwalk perpetrated by the entire City Council and Mike Egan and his Minions to get more of our money...