City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: _09/22/08_ Item Number: A-5
AGENDA ITEM: Approval of the Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Department’s “Wish-List” of City Park Related Projects Eligible for Los Angeles
County Proposition A Excess Funds.
Contact Person/Dept.: Bill La Pointe,
Director of Parks, Recreation and
Community Services
Phone Number: (310) 253-6655
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Master E-Mail Notification List (09/17/08).
Department Approval:
Bill La Pointe, (09/11/08)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Baker) (09/16/08)
Chief Financial Officer Approval:
Jeff Muir (by N. Kimball) (09/17/08)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (09/17/08)
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that City Council approve the Parks, Recreation and Community
Services Department’s (PRCS) “Wish-List” of City park related projects eligible for
Los Angeles County Proposition A Excess Funds.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
On September 9, 2008 the City of Culver City received a letter from the office of
Yvonne B. Burke, Supervisor, Second District, and Chair of the County of Los
Angeles Board of Supervisors (Attachment 1). The purpose of the letter is to invite
the City to submit a “Wish-List” of potential Proposition A compliant City park related
projects. As stated in the letter, this list should “a) contain multiple projects, (b) list
the projects in order of priority, and (c) not exceed a cumulative total of
$500,000.00.”
As a matter of procedure, PRCS staff would generally take such a project list before
the Parks and Recreation Commission for review, discussion and possible
recommendation to City Council before bringing the item forward to Council.
However in this case, due to the short turn-around time for the response to
Supervisor Burke’s Office (the list must be received on or before September 30,
2008) and since regular meetings of the Commission are typically held on the first
Tuesday of each month, staff is bringing this item directly to City Council in order to
get Council’s comment and approval before responding to the County.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Eligible projects for Proposition A Excess Funds must meet the minimum standard
for a capital expenditure as defined under generally accepted accounting principles.
According to the Regional Park and Open Space District (RPOSD) procedural guide,
“A project may consist of an acquisition, development, improvement, rehabilitation
and/or restoration at a single site, or, alternately, may consist of similar activities at
several locations (e.g., restroom accessibility improvements at several parks or
renovation of irrigation systems at several parks).”
In considering the above eligibility criteria, staff referenced the Draft Deferred
Maintenance List (completed as part of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan
process) and reviewed the public comment made at the April 1, 2008 Parks and
Recreation Commission meeting recommending projects for the City’s earlier
$250,000 Prop A Excess Funds Allocation. The minutes of the April 1, 2008 Parks
and Recreation Commission meeting relating to this item are provided as
Attachment 2. The summary of Proposition A project suggestions that were sent by
the public via email was previously provided to the City Council at the April 21, 2008
meeting and is included here as Attachment 3. Although there is no matching
requirement for the allocation of Proposition A Excess Funds, the attached letter
states that, “Projects with matching funds will be given greater evaluative
consideration.” Taking all of these factors into consideration, PRCS staff has
selected the following “Wish-List” projects to send to Supervisor/Chair Burke’s Office
(in priority order, from highest to lowest priority):
PROJECT DESCRIPTION PROP A
FUNDS
ADDITIONAL
FUNDING
PROJECT
TOTAL
1. FOX HILLS PARK PLAYGROUND
REHABILITATION - Replace equipment,
re-surface playground & address ADA
compliance.
$180,000 $30,000 Prop 40 RZH
Block Grant / $40,000
Fox Hills Park
Neighborhood
Association Donation
$250,000
2. SENIOR CENTER COURTYARD
IMPROVEMENT - Demolition and
reconstruction of existing structures &
landscaping to provide more open space
for recreational/leisure activities in the
Courtyard / Installation of shade structure.
$ 65,000 $160,000 Bequest
from Private Citizen for
Senior Center
Improvements
$225,000
3. SKATE PARK DEVELOPMENT -
Construction of Recreation Hut to provide
accommodations for staff to register &
supervise Skaters at the Park.
$128,270 $18,808 Prop 40 RZH
Block Grant / $17,922
Prop 40 Per Capita
(total of $36,730)
$165,000
4. SYD KRONENTHAL PLAYGROUND
REHABILITATION - Replace equipment
and/or re-surface playground & address
ADA compliance.
$126,730 $15,000 Acct. #
42000898: Repair
Playground Equipment
– Various Parks
$141,730
PROP A TOTAL: $500,000
PROJECT
TOTAL: $781,730
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Proposition A Excess Funds Allocation Procedure
Although not specifically stated in the letter, it is assumed that once the Second
District cities’ projects are approved by Supervisor/Chair Burke’s Office, cities with
approved projects will then be required to follow the Regional Park and Open Space
District’s (RPOSD) guidelines for securing Proposition A Excess Funds allocations.
These guidelines include the following steps:
1. City Council adopts a Resolution approving the Grant Application for the project;
2. A Board Report written by the City’s RPOSD District Administrator is presented
to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors by the Los Angeles County
Director of Parks and Recreation;
3. The Board of Supervisors allocates “Second Supervisorial District Cities Excess
Funds” to the City for the project;
4. The City submits the grant application and supporting documents to RPOSD;
5. The City receives a fully executed Proposition A grant agreement from RPOSD;
and,
6. City Council adopts an “At-Risk Youth Employment Plan” related to the project.
If one or more of Culver City’s proposed projects are selected for funding, staff will
bring the projects to the Parks and Recreation Commission for review, discussion
and possible recommendation to City Council before requesting that Council adopt
the Resolution approving the Grant Application(s). However, it must be noted that
the letter from Supervisor/Chair Burke’s Office requesting submission of a “Wish
List” does seem to state that project ideas submitted by September 30, 2008 will be
the projects potentially approved. Therefore, there may be very little, if any,
opportunity to make significant changes to our City’s “Wish List.”
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Potential Proposition A Excess Funds projects, requested Prop A funding amounts,
potential additional funding sources and amounts, and total project costs are listed in
the table above. None of the projects that are listed have funds appropriated in the
Adopted FY 2008-09 Capital Improvement Budget. It should be noted that Los
Angeles County Proposition A – Maintenance and Servicing Funds are available for
the maintenance of projects constructed using Proposition A Funds. Currently,
maintenance expenses of the Culver City Senior Center and the Dog Park in Culver
City Park are being reimbursed from this fund.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Letter from the Office of Yvonne B. Burke, Supervisor, Second District, and Chair
of the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, dated September 5, 2008.
2. Excerpt of the Minutes of the April 1, 2008 Parks and Recreation Commission
Meeting Relating to Agenda Item A-1.
3. “Summary of All Public Comments Received via Email Recommending Project
Possibilities for $250,000 Proposition A Grant Funds” (previously provided to the
City Council on April 21, 2008)
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Approve the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department’s (PRCS)
“Wish-List” of City park related projects eligible for Los Angeles County
Proposition A Excess Funds;
or
2. Provide staff with alternate direction.