HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 2009-04-09 - Special Meeting
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City Council, Special Meeting
Council Chambers
777 Cypress Avenue
Redding, California
April 9, 2009 3:30 p.m.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Bosetti with the following Council Members
present: Dickerson, Jones, McArthur and Stegall.
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Also present were City Manager Starman, Assistant City Manager Tippin, City Attorney
Duvernay, and Transportation & Engineering Director Crane.
SHASTA COUNTY TRANSPORTATION FORUM - Joint Meeting with the Shasta
Regional Transportation Planning Agency, Shasta County Board of Supervisors, City of
Anderson, and City of Shasta Lake re: Future of Shasta County's Transportation, Economy,
and preservation of North state lifestyle
(T -100-375/ A-050-060-350/T -100)
Will Kempton, Director ofCaltrans, explained the various transportation revenue flows, the
amount needed to operate the state roadways annually, and the process for agencies to secure
funds from the California Transportation Commission (CTC). He explained that "self-help"
counties are those which have impact fees and/or tax initiatives for specific transportation
projects. He highlighted the various funding methodologies used throughout the state.
According to Mr. Kempton, local contributions (mitigation fees) have been successful in
counties such as Riverside County, while sales tax initiatives have succeeded in counties
such as Sonoma County. He emphasized that it is easier to gain funding from the CTC when
an agency is willing to contribute funds to the process, noting that the best solution for
funding is partnerships.
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Jim Earp, from the California Transportation Commission, recalled that the last major gas
tax was in the 1990's which does not reflect the current economy. He said that due to the
difficulty for rural communities to stretch existing tax dollars over the amount of road miles
to repair, counties must come up with additional transportation funds, and the CTC can assist
in initiating such programs. While he was not confident that today's economic environment
would support additional sales tax or other types of initiatives, he believed that impacts on
development could generate revenue. He added that the biggest hurdles for transportation
today are adequate funding sources and how they are obtained.
Suzanne Smith, Executive Director of Sonoma County Transportation Authority, asserted
that because funding is in short supply, communities must control their own destiny, act
sooner rather than later, and have a clear message to communicate to the community. She
observed that projects should be financed locally for preconstruction because the state is
looking for shovel-ready construction projects. Ms. Smith stressed that communities must
determine if they wish to spur new growth and incur the associated costs thereof. She said
they also need to decide how to fund the residual results of growth, such as transportation.
A brief question and answer period was provided for the various participating agencies and
the public.
Mayor Bosetti thanked the speakers and others in attendance and hoped that the information
was helpful.
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There being no further business, at the hour of 5 :30 p.m., Mayor Bosetti declared the meeting
adjourned.
APPROVED
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Mayor
ATTEST:
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City Clerk
.4/9/2009