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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11031998 - C126 FHS#37 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS �;'-' =w ' .� CONTRA COSTA FROM: FAMILY&HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEECOUNTY TATE: November 3, 1988 SUBJECT: New Century Center SPECIFICREOUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATLONM 1. REQUEST County staff to lend assistance to the New Century Center project proponents in the identification of potential'sites for either construction of the proposed multi agency facility or remodeling of an existing facility. 2. REQUEST the County's Capital Facilities Manager to corwene a working group of County-staff and New Century Center proponents to examine the feasibility of County participation in the project, including fiscal, credit and liability issue. as well as the possibility of participation by other funding agencies. 3. REQUEST New Century Center proponents to identify County programs with which they work closely and for the work group to examine the option of including County programs at the new facility. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: —YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATIM OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR .AECOMMENDATION OF 130ARD COMM —APPROVE —OTHER stGNATURE(S): 4o�nna r Mark fleSat lnier ACTION OF BOARD ON November 3, 1-49a APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED-MOTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS{ABSENT -- - _ } TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES; NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN: ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN Contact:Sara Hoffman,335-1080 cc: CAO Kathy Brown,General Services Laura Lockwood Belinda Smith,CE38G ATTESTED November 3, 1998 Center for Human DevOopment PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF East Say Perinatal Council THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Independent Living Resource ANIS COU ADMINISTRATOR New Connections Shelter,Inc. Youth Homes,Inc. B �TY FHS#3'7 Unknown at this time. The General Services Department and County Administrator's {office can charge planning support to CDBG funds(approximately $10,000 through July 1999, an unknown amount of which is pre-committed). The community-based organizations are also requesting that the County act as the financial guarantor in the acquisition of the proposed facility estimated to cost approximately $5 million. Collectively, the six community-based organizations provide a wide range of services for children and families supporting four'of the community outcomes: Children ready for and succeeding in school. Children and youth healthy and preparing for productive adulthood. Families that are economically self-sufficient. Families that are safe, stable and nurturing. On October 26, 1998, the Family and Human Services Committee met with representatives of six community-based organizations which have requested County staff assistance in the acquisition of a multi-agency facility to be called the New Century Center. The six agencies include: Center for Human Development East Bay Perinatal Council Independent Living Resource New Connections Shelter, Inc. Youth Homes, Inc. The New Century Center proposal is the result of a two year planning process which was funded through a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). The purpose of the project is to reduce community- based organization administrative costs and to foster consolidation and collaboration among community- based organizations providing similar or complementary services. The New Century Center is projected to contain approximately 30,000 square fest. To foster accessibility, the preferred location would be within five miles of the I-680/Highway 24 interchange and near public transportation. the participating agencies would coordinate the use of shared common spaces, such as conference and training roams, reception, storage, supply rooms, kitchen/cafeteria, mailroom and parking. Similarly, there would be an anticipated sharing of administrative supports, such as reception personnel, office equipment, phone systems, mailroom function, management information systems and supplies. The six agencies would form a separate nonprofit'corporation to own and oversee management of the facility. The new nonprofit corporation would own the facility (either initially or over time). Jim Bouquin, Executive Director of New Connections, spoke of the trends that have affected the viability of the participating community-basad agencies. He stated that, over time, occupancy costs have continued to climb; that there is need for similar facilities that are not used continually (for example, large meeting rooms) and that each agency has dynamic space needs which grow and 'shrink, dependent upon funding. Mr. Bouquin felt that the shared space would increase flexibility of his organization and increase efficiency. Stu McCullough, Executive Director of Youth Home, Inc., said that he felt that the New Century project is the next logical step in eliminating duplication of service, enhancing client services and promoting collaboration among community-based organizations. He thought that the New Century Center could be a model for the development of similar centers in the County. He also felt that the synergy from the project would enhance information, knowledge and technology transfer and, through economies realized through the more efficient use of space and administrative support services, the New Century Center would enhance Contra Costa's competitiveness for federal and state funding. 2 FHS##37 Joanne Best, Executive Director of the Independent Resource Center, agreed with the previous two speakers and spoke of the burden of overhead for her agency, which decreased the dollars available for direct service provision. Jim Becker, Executive Director of the Center for Human Development, spoke of the New Century Center as creating a vision for service delivery in Contra Costa County. He also said that he operates in nine counties and is headquartered in central county. This new center would not eliminate their regional presence in West County. Barbara McCullough, Executive Director of the East Bay Perinatal Council, also said that this new center would serve as a model for collaboration and an investment strategy for community-based organizations. She said that with the reduced rent under the new center, they would be able to afford a receptionist. She also said that,over time, her organization has spent over$10 million in lease costs, which, if spent on mortgage payments, would have resulted in building ownership by now. She also said that many of the partner organizations have their building leases up for renewal in the year 2000, so it was important to move quickly on the project. Jonathan Pearlman, the Center's architectural planning consultant , reviewed a>conceptual pian for the building, in both a one story and a two story option The conceptual plan showed 8,000 square feet of shared space with 22,000 for the individual organizations. Ira Masser, development consultant for the project, said that the six organizations, collectively, have an operating budget of over $10 million per year, so that they were strong, stable organizations. He also said that current space was not great, only good. From his perspective, the difficulty is that the organizations do not have the ability to obtain bank financing nor do they have a down payment. He said that it the project needs a credit enhancement from the County and that, at 7.50 interest over 30 years, the New Century Center partners could easily cover the payments on $5 million. As an alternative, the project could'be built with private venture capital who would provide the up front money for a turnkey building, which then the County would purchase with the community-based organizations repaying the County. He said that financing could also come from a Joint' Powers Authority. He suggested that the County could add a percentage administrative fee beyond the mortgage to ensure it remained whole financially. Also, once the building was built, the community-based organizations could raise funds to pay off the mortgage early. In response to a question by Supervisor Donna Gerber, Jim Bouquin said that there was approximately 2,000 square feet of additional space for expansion. Belinda Smith, CDBG Program Manager, said that CDBG funds had financed the planning process over the past three years, but that this was the fast year of funding. Approximately $10,000 is available until July 1999 to'further support the planning process. From the CDBG perspective, her interest is to enhance the ability of community-based organizations to increase services without increasing CDBG grant funding. She would Like to see any overhead savings reinvested by the organizations into services. Also, Ms. Smith noted that under the CDBG grant requirement, the facility needs to be near to the 680124 corridor and be accessible by public transit. Laura Lockwood, the County's Capital Facilities Manger, explained the ramifications of credit enhancement; basically, that if the community-based organizations were not financially capable of paying the debt service, then the general county fund would be liable for the payments. She also said that there was a passibility for lease revenue bonds, which the community-based organizations could get at tax exempt rates. She expressed several concerns and issues that need to be resolved, such as the creation of a New Century Center administrative structure that would stand the test of time and a need for safeguards in case of empty space. Also, Contra Costa County currently has over $200 million of capital financing needs for its own facilities. Supervisor Donna Gerber asked if Contra Costa County services were located in the building if that would help protect the bond rating. Ms. Lockwood said that it would, to the extent that co-location obviated the need for other planned County capital facilities projects; however, as a caveat, the key would' be to ensure that future boards did not "forgive" lease payments if a community-based organization was in financial trouble. Jim Becker said that the six partner agencies have been in existence for at least 20 years and, consequently, are highly stable. Also, as a group, they felt they 3 FHS#37 could continue to support the project even if one of the partners dropped out. Belinda Smith said that CDBG funds the six agencies, but that the County was less than 20% of their total budgets. Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier thought that the executive committee of the Children and Families Policy Forum could discuss the issue of participation from the cities, schools and other organizations, agencies which also fund the community-based organizations. He asked if staff could come back with a status report in 30 to 90 stays. Supervisor Donna Gerber felt that the key elements were to determine whether this project was worth the investment and potentialrisk. She asked that staff work with the community-based organizations that look at: • the option of including a County program in the proposed New Century Center, from a programmatic and fiscal perspective; • ways to protect the County's fiscal and credit position and to minimize or eliminate any County liability; • to outline specific economic options for financing the facility (such as private developer turnkey financing). Both Supervisors felt that it was premature to recommend a County position on this proposed project, but felt that it was important to further examine options, alternatives and the fiscal consequences of County participation. Supervisor Mark DeSaulnier suggested that a working group be established to begin the discussions between the County and the New Century protect proponents. Kathy Brown, Assistant General Services Director, asked for clarification on charging CDBG for the cost of County staff participation and Belinda Smith said that yes, County staff costs could be changed to CDBG. The Family and Human Services Committee requested that they be given';a status report at their December 14, 1998 meeting. 4