CITY OF EMERYVILLE MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor and City Council (jj FROM: Patrick D. O'Keeffe, City Manage~ SUBJECT: Progress Report -December 2008 The following provides the City Council and staffwith a summary ofthe activities of each department for the prior month. CITY MANAGER • The latest bad news resulting from the State of California budget discussions concerns the grab of redevelopment monies. We are required to make an ERAF payment to the State of $2.3 million in May 2009 per the most recent budget legislation. Now that the State is projected to be $40 billion out of balance the Legislative Analyst has recommended that this one time take of redevelopment monies be made permanent. This would result in a significant hit to our Capital Improvement Program as this amount of annual tax increment will support bonding capacity of $22 million. In response to this threat Council members sent letters of opposition to the Governor and our legislative representatives. • The California Redevelopment Agencies Association (CRA) filed suit in December to attempt to stop the State grab of redevelopment funds as contrary to the State Constitution. Both the CRA and the City ofMoreno Valley are participants. The first th hearing on the suit is scheduled for March 6 • CRA hopes to get a decision or a stay before the May ERAF payments are due to made by the redevelopment agencies of the State. • InNovember the City Council voted to accept the Community Choice Aggregation of Electrical Power (CCA) Phase II Report and Business Plan and to terminate any further CCA activities due to the high cost ofthe next phase (and lack ofcity funds to pay for it). The Council directed staff to work with P.G. &E. to promote alternative sources of power generation and promote energy conservation as an alternative to CCA. PG&E has contacted the staffofthe three cities to set up a kick offmeeting to discuss alternative potential programs and funding. CITYCLERK OFFICE 1) The portable sound system for amplification of various Committee meetings including City/School at EUSD was first used in December for the City School Committee. The amplification of the discussion is of great assistance to communication. The system will be available for use for Committee meetings as well. 2) Considerable extra time was spent on the Woodfin Permit Hearings in December. Although lengthy, the hearings have proceeded well and should conclude with the January 15th meeting. MEMORANDUM DATE: January 9, 2009 TO: Patrick D. O'Keeffe, City Manager FROM: Melinda Chinn, Community Services Director SUBJECT: December 2008 Community Services Monthly Progress Report COMMUNITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION City/School Committee Meeting th The City/Schools Committee meeting was on December 4 . Items discussed included an urgency item for the consideration ofthe EUSD to allow the Emeryville Police Department to lease the Ralph Hawley site for a temporary period in 2009. Other items included a report by Field Paoli on the updated conceptual master plan for the ECCL. Committee members requested that an introduction to the PowerPoint be included that outlined the history ofthe vision for the ECCL. John Gooding, chair of the Partners Finance Sub-Committee reported on the urgency to finish planning of the center to take advantage of grants and other funding opportunities and for the City/Schools Committee to consider two styles of construction planning. It Was requested that this discussion be placed on the January City/Schools Committee agenda. Superintendent Sugiyama and Roy Miller presented an overview of the critical path analysis for the ECCL project. Staff suggested using the critical path analysis tool to plan for the important milestones that will be necessary to accomplish prior to the opening ofthe ECCL. Community Events Committee Meeting th The Community Events Committee meeting was held December 9 • Kevin Laven coordinates all community event requests and the cross-department committee. Topics discussed included brainstorming ideas for the process of official city partnerships with outside organization's events, reviewing and ruling on two new community events permit applications, and updates on recent events held that received permits. Child Development Center (ECDC) Operational Research Meeting Facilities Manager Margret O'Brien, Administrative Analyst Kevin Laven, Manager Janet Pullian, Director Melinda Chinn and California State University - East Bay sociology Department Head Dianne Woods and Assistant' Professor Carl Stempel met on December 4th and 9th to continue work on a community survey to asses the child care service needs for both residents, those who work in Emeryville, and those in the 94608 Oakland zip code area served by the local school district. Discussion included further revisions to the survey questions and pre-testing the internet version of the survey on the http://www.surveymonkey.com. Norvartis' commitment to match or raise the Community Services Department Progress Report December 2008 funding partnership to keep the ECDC financially viable for the next three years has given staff to complete a more valid and reliable research study. The data obtained from this study will be used in the final report that staff will be presented to the City Council in 2009 regarding program and financial modifications to the ECDC. City News and Activity Guide - Winter/Spring 2009 Kevin Laven, Administrative Analyst, reports the 2009 Winter/Spring City News and Activity Guide was mailed on December 11 th to over 13,000 business and residential addresses in the 94608 zip code area and another 2,000 copies were placed in local businesses, city facilities, and schools the following week by Kevin. Kevin is tracking distribution numbers and basic market segments to determine the effectiveness ofthe guide. Partners for Community Life - Finance Sub-Committee Meeting Director Melinda Chinn and Administrative Analyst Kevin Laven coordinated with committee chair rd John Gooding to hold the Finance Sub-Committee meeting on December 3 • Meeting topics included a report from staffon updated project conceptual designs and cost estimates for ECCL, another report from stafffor project including completion ofdraft master plan, critical path design teamwork and beginning ofconstruction period, and finally a timeline for grants, bonds, and other funding options Emeryville Center of Community Life (ECCL) City and District have met in December with Field Paoli Architects to continue discussions about the ECCL including options for additional parking. Staff began work on confirming dates with community organizations for the upcoming outreach meetings for the ECCL that will be taking place in January and February. Community Services Department In-Service Training The Recreation, Senior, and Child Development Division full-time staffgathered at the Senior Center on December 30th for six hours oftraining. Topics included team building activities, first aid/cpr training, lunch, and cross-division work team assignments. Lunch was served to staffas a thank you for all ofthe hard work put into their divisionsin 2008. EMERYVILLE CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER Goodbyes ECDC staffsaid goodbye to Evelyn Edwards in the toddler room. Evelyn and her family have relocated to San Francisco and will be going to a child development school close to their new home. Staffalso said goodbye to Shirley Jones, an assets worker in the toddler room, who's training with ECDC ended this month. 2 of 9 Community Services Department Progress Report December 2008 One tour was conducted in December with five people in attendance. Happenings at the Center Santa paid the children a visit on the 22nd ofthe month and the following evening we presented our Annual Children's Holiday Program. Children from the Pre-K 1,2 and 3 classrooms sang songs of the season. Pre-K 3 also presented a poem to all oftheir families. After the children's presentations, ECDC staff, parents, and friends all sang a few songs to spread the cheer as well. Following the entertainment, attendees were treated to hot mulled cider, cookies, and cakes. Friends of ECDC Fundraiser The much anticipated 2009 ECDC calendar was delivered towards the end ofthe month and is .. available for purchase at ECDC, Recreation Center, Senior Center and City Hall. This sensational, creative effort showcases the bright, beautiful faces ofthe ECDC children and the staffthat nourishes and teaches them daily. We are thrilled to have had the talents of both current and former parents whom donated their time and talents. These parents were Cari Borja (whose beautiful clothing was lent to the children for the photo shoot), Yonas Aradon (the gifted artist who took the amazing shots ofchildren and staff), and Renaud Gamier (graphic designer who put the project together). Please stop by any ofthe facilities listed above to purchase this great calendar and support the ECDC. Trainings Two trainings were held in December. The first was facilitated by Bobby Rose from the Wellness Study, funded by the Nutrition Department at UCSF. Bobby presented a workshop on healthy eating and exercise. This informative workshop helped staffto recognize unhealthy habits and suggested healthier approaches to the life styles ofstaffand children. It also emphasized the need to incorporate more opportunities for physical activity into our curriculum. The second workshop was sponsored by the Community Services Department. Joe Melancon led a series ofactivities designed to allow stafffrom the Recreation, Senior, and the Child Development