As usual Agran and Co. are shuffling money around illegally. Read more below.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Great Park board approves deal
A redevelopment official dismisses criticism that the transaction violates the City of Irvine's fund transfer rules.
IRVINE - A complex deal to give the Great Park $134 million and to develop 35 acres of city land was approved Thursday by the Great Park Board.
"(This agreement) adds one more brick to the solid financial foundation of the Orange County Great Park," said Larry Agran, chairman of the Great Park Board.
The deal transfers money and land among the city of Irvine, the Great Park Corp. and the Irvine Redevelopment Agency. The proposal will go to the City Council on Tuesday for final review.
Supporters of the deal say it will benefit all three agencies. The $134 million boost in funding, several of the board members said, will move the $1.2 billion park closer to becoming a reality.
Lead Great Park designer Ken Smith called the $134 million "big money."
"It's already going to be a stretch to provide all the things the public wants" in the park, Smith said.
The Great Park Board approved the deal with no dissenting votes; board members Christina Shea, Walkie Ray and Steven Choi were absent.
Tina Christiansen, who directs Irvine's redevelopment department, said the land and money transaction will also give the Great Park Corp. 9 percent interest on the $134 million loan.
As for Shea's concerns that the transaction could violate a city ban on inter-fund transfers, Christiansen said the ban doesn't apply.
"The Redevelopment Agency is not a city fund; it's a separate entity," she said. "This is not like transferring money from public works to the police department."
The Irvine Redevelopment Agency was established in 1999 to help convert the former El Toro base to civilian uses.
Christiansen said that the transaction also will almost ensure that the Redevelopment Agency can collect more money for the park in the future. The agency can receive up to 1 percent of the property taxes based on what will be developed on the old base property.
Of that money, 20 percent of its income must be used to create affordable housing, but the other money can go toward the Great Park.
The Great Park's secured funding includes: $200 million paid by the Lennar Corp. as developer fees, $201 million to be paid by Lennar for shared roads, sewers and utilities, and money collected by the Redevelopment Agency. The Great Park Corp.'s staff also is looking to make money from interest accrued, temporary leases of base property, grants, private donations, advertising, corporate sponsorships or partnerships and admission fees.
In the same meeting, the Great Park Board unanimously gave final approval to a $27.3 million contract with Ken Smith's design team.
Under the contract, the designers will refine the park plans in the next year to the point of "schematic design" – or 30 percent of the detail needed to build the park. The designers also will work on construction-ready drawings for mass grading of the park site, along with everything needed to build a wildlife corridor and a stream.
During deliberation of the contract, board member Steven Choi abruptly left the meeting. Agran gave each board member three minutes to ask staff members questions. After staffers responded, the members again had three minutes to make comments before a vote was taken.
During Choi's first allowed time, he asked questions while making comments – and after Choi had gone over his three allotted minutes, Agran asked him to wrap up his questions and to stop his comments. After Agran and Choi tried to talk over each other, Agran pounded his gavel three times, but Choi continued talking. Vice Chairman Michael Pinto then called a point of order. Choi stopped talking for a moment, and when Agran again discussed what he would allow at the meeting, Choi gathered his things and said, "I will leave the meeting immediately," and walked out of the city chambers.
Smith's team was hired in January 2006 to design the park and so far has prepared the draft master plan. Smith's team has been paid about $10 million from the Great Park budget. Among the budget items in the contract, $12.06 million is set aside for design, $10.285 million for engineering, $2.415 million for design management and $1.14 million for public relations.
Contact the writer: 949-553-2911 or sosmith@ocregister.com
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