Raelene Chaney spoke to the city council Tuesday night in regards to the storage area used by Grad Nite Live. Chaney asked that it be put on the agenda for discussion at the next city council meeting.

The November 9th Fillmore City Council/Redevelopment Agency Meeting main focus was adopting resolutions, authorization to advertise for bids and approving the 2011 City Council Meeting Calendar. The Meeting seemed interrupted though, with the Council vacillating between open and closed sessions.

Most pressing on agenda was an item on the Redevelopment Agency agenda was a huge money item that left the City of Fillmore with a great deal less money in its coffers. The Redevelopment Agency Board was asked to convert an Agency loan to a Grant due to present economic downturn. In 2007, the Agency conveyed the land to the Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (Developer) for the purpose of construction 8 units for sale to extremely low and very low income families (Affordable Units), and made a loan to Developer in the amount of $1,318,348 (Agency Loan). The Agency also agreed to assist homebuyers with additional loans of $50,000 per unit (Homebuyers Loans). Since 2007 the estimated fair market value of the unites has dropped by approximately 50%, and like many similar projects started at the height of the real estate market, the project can no longer be sold for what it cost to build. The Developer has requested that the Agency convert its Agency Loan and some of the Homebuyers Loans to non-repayable grants.

The Developer has made similar requests to the other governmental lenders to the project, and the County of Ventura has agreed. The Developer has agreed to cover any cash shortfall up to $5,000 per unit from the sale of the Affordable Units and to reduce its Developer Fee of $150,000 to $30,000.

The Developer has not identified buyers for 4 of the units, 2 of which are currently to be sold to households earning no more than 45% of Area Median Income (AMI). The Developer has requested that if such households cannot be located by December 31, 2010 it be permitted to sell those two units to households earning up to 50% of AMI which would broaden the number of potential buyers.

The Council had no choice but to approve the conversion or lose over $1 million of City funds. The conversion was unanimously approved by the Council, but not without a scolding of the Developer by Mayor Patti Walker and the rest of the Council. Walker let it be known of her disapproval of the so called “affordable” housing selling for over $400,000 per unit at the height of the market. All Council Members were in agreement with the mayor.
Walker had opened up the meeting with a display the winning poster of a contest Santa Paula ran to create a poster representing the 100th football game between Santa Paula and Fillmore taking place this Friday. The poster was designed by a Santa Paula student, which prompted Mayor Walker to explained to those in attendance that Santa Paula’s named is first on the poster because Santa Paula is the guest team.

Another item of great interest to the community will be the world premier screening of independent film “Deuce of Spades” this Sunday, November 14th at the downtown Fillmore Theatre. Parts of the downtown area will be close off to traffic for the event which takes place from 10am to 8pm.

The film celebrates the hot rod, and many of the cars that are featured in the film will be parked in front of the theatre along with the film’s soundtrack bands “Mystery Train” and “King Drapes” who flew in from Finland to attend the premier. Joining them will be the doo-wop band “Lil’ Mo and the Dynaflos,” harp player “Flat Top Tom” and the dance group “Atomic Cherry Bombs” performing their retro 20’s, 30’s and 40’s dance numbers. Those attending are encouraged to dress in 50’s and 40’s attire. Half of the tickets to the premier have already been sold, so tickets will need to be purchased in advance if you plan on attending. The Fillmore Theatre seats 300 and will have two screenings (1pm and 4pm) to accommodate up to 600 attendees. The period film was done entirely by one woman, Faith Granger (with no film background whatsoever) and her camera on a no budget, yet the result looks like a pro Hollywood film. Granger will give a small introduction before each screening and there will be a short Q&A session afterwards.

The film has sparked the interest of worldwide press with the film industry amazed by its quality and production value. This is an event to attend and it’s happening right in our own downtown. Log onto deuceofspadesmovie.com/world_premiere for more information.

Grad Nite Live representative Raelene Chaney addressed the Council about a request by City Manager Yvonne Quiring to remove everything by November 5th from a storage area used by Grad Nite Live for its donations. Chaney asked that the storage area be put on the next City Council Meeting’s agenda and reminded the Council that she has never looked to the City for any money in the 20 years Grad Nite Live has operated and that it has saved many lives in those 20 years. The Council agreed to put the matter of a storage area on the December 14, 2010 agenda.

Quiring announced that this Memorial Day the Veterans of Foreign Wars will be hosting a Plaque Dedication Ceremony for the Veterans who have served and died in the military. It will take place at the Fillmore-Piru Veterans Memorial Building this Thursday, November 11th at 10:30am. Eighteen new names will be added to the Commemorative Wall.

Also attending the meeting was Cindy Blatt who spoke to the Council of her disappointment regarding the treatment of the eight Heritage Valley Aquatic Center employees who lost their jobs due to its winter closing. Blatt stated that six of those employees were college students who depended on those jobs to continue their education and that no one on the Council communicated with the employees or told them they were losing their jobs. Blatt said she didn’t feel the City handled it correctly and also informed the Council that the fundraiser she coordinated for the Santa Paula pool covers had so far raised $4,496 of the $5,250 needed.

Ken Creason addressed the Council with a complaint alledging that the second letter read to the Council by former Mayor Scott Lee on October 26th was written by Roger Campbell and not the City Employees. Creason stated that the second letter was not signed by the City Staff/Employees as the first letter read on October 12th had been, and that Campbell, not the City Staff, had written the letter. But contrary to what Creason had stated at this Council meeting, at the October 26th reading of the second letter, the Council asked Lee if the City Staff had written the second letter and Lee stated yes, it was written by the same people who had written the first letter. Creason also implied that “the Gazette” had destroyed Brian Sipes campaign signs throughout Fillmore. When asked for a comment on the implication, publisher Martin Farrell said, “I’m too busy walking the dog.”
Sipes won last Tuesday in his run for a City Council seat, but the Council bought up the subject of a conflict of interest with regards to Brian Sipes serving on the Council due to his ownership in a mortgage company and property he rents to the City Manager. The Council agreed that it should be discussed and looked into further.
Parks and Recreation Representatives Camilla Conaway and David Lugo addressed the Council with questions pertaining to the completion of Three Rivers Park’s baseball diamonds. Conaway stated that according to the memo from Bert Rapp dated October 25, 2010, there is clearly a schedule for completion of the backstops of April 15, 2010 weather permitting. She went on to state that according to the projected budget through June 20, 2010 the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) funds show a balance of $677,000 and the projected budget through June 30, 2011 shows an expenditure of $450,000 and a projected ending balance of approximately $329,000. “We know there have been two grants totaling $113,000 received that can be applied to the backstops, so it looks like that $450,000 will be $113,000 less leaving even more in the balance. Bottom line 75% of the work has been done at the park for these ball diamonds but without backstops the park is just a big field of grass.” Conaway pleaded with the Council to keep the project alive and also requested that the City Manager attends the Parks and Recreation Meetings as City Managers have done in the past.

The Council responded to the Conaway and Lugo questions of where the monies went for the completion of Two Rivers Park’s baseball diamonds/backstops by stating that the RDA funds are prioritized and the number one priority is debt service to pay off the City’s Bonds, basically saying that the bills must be paid before spending more money. Walker again stated that she has put out a call to the Soroptimists, Rotary and Lions Clubs for support and donations. The biding process to complete the work on the Two Rivers Park will continue November 23, 2010 at 2:00 pm and requires a Class B license. All interested parties are encouraged to attend.
Late in the meeting the Council read a Film Commission report requesting the Commission’s desire to have the palm trees located within the surrounding City Hall area replaced with more movie friendly trees which would accommodate films that depict a wider geographical area.

In closing the meeting Councilmember Laurie Hernandez remarked that this would be her last address to the Council and her last recommendation as a Councilmember. She asked that the money intended to pay for an Assistant City Manager instead be used to pay for keeping the City Pool open during the winter.