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The Town Council will meet Tuesday to consider amending its classification and salary plan as the town anticipates management of the Apple Valley Golf Course.
Sierra Golf Management has overseen the operation of the iconic golf course since July 2013, two years after the town became the owner of the facility.
The former private golf course and country club, which opened in 1948, was transferred to the town for maintenance and operation in December 2008, when it transitioned to a public facility.
The proposed salary/classification amendment would also help in recruiting a director of public works and/or public works manager.
The Human Resources Department also recommends adding new job classifications, including director of municipal services, director of parks and recreation, golf services, golf services retail assistant, golf services supervisor, and parks supervisor.
Also, the job classifications senior maintenance worker and maintenance worker I.
The new and amended classifications will help streamline the efforts of the proposed reorganization by bringing Public Works, Code Enforcement, Apple Valley Choice Energy, Environmental Transit, and Solid Waste under the title of Municipal Services, while adding the Grounds/Parks Division and Golf Course Operations to the Parks and Recreation Department.
In addition, the town’s HR Department recommends adding a new classification of Assistant Town Clerk and amending the current Deputy Town Clerk, Town Clerk and Executive Assistant job classifications to allow for future department development.
Village Business District
The Town Council will also consider renewing and modifying the boundaries of the Village district.
The Village’s property-based improvement district was first established in 2007 by the council for a five-year term to revitalize the Village Business District.
The PBID was then renewed for five-year terms in 2012 and 2017, while it funded or assisted several notable projects in the Village that is generally located between Esaws and Ottawa roads and Rancherias and Tenaya roads.
A few of the projects included the completion of Highway 18 median landscape project, the repaving of John Glenn Road, and drainage improvements to Outer Hwy. 18.
Also, enhanced public safety services, the installation of street lamp banners, kiosk business directory signs, and a storefront and property rehabilitation rebate program.
The PBID has also generated a periodic newsletter, and hosted events such as the Happy Trails Parade & Street Fair and the Summer Street Fair, public mixers, and holiday-themed contests for property owners and businesses.
Unless the Village PBID is renewed, the fiscal year 2021-22 will be the final year of PBID property assessments with operations ending on Dec. 31.
The Village PBID Association, which is composed of property owners, has expressed its desire to renew the PBID for a 10-year term.
Property-based improvement district renewal
A PBID Renewal Committee of Village property and business owners has been meeting since 2021 to formulate the details of the PBID renewal.
The committee has determined that the PBID renewal will be for a 10-year term — the maximum permitted by state law for renewals —and that the boundaries will be reduced.
The reduction would occur on the west side of Navajo Road north of Highway 18, on portions of Pioneer north of Highway 18, and the west side of Central Road north of the highway.
Also, the boundaries would be expanded along the east side of Navajo Road north of Ottawa Road and south of Highway 18.
The proposed PBID renewal will include 297 parcels, of which 291 will be assessed. Six parcels are exempt from assessments either by land use or zoning.
Steps to renew
- Gather support petitions signed by property owners who represent more than 50 %of the proposed total assessment to be levied. This has been accomplished in the PBID renewal effort.
- The council adopts a resolution of intention to renew the PBID, authorizing the town clerk to conduct a Proposition 218 ballot.
- Mailing a ballot to all property owners within the proposed renewed district.
- Conduct a public hearing.
For the PBID to be renewed, a weighted majority of the ballots returned — as determined by assessment dollars to be paid into the PBID — must be in favor of the renewal.
The council may then renew the PBID by adopting a resolution of renewal.
PBIDs have been used successfully in over 200 commercial districts throughout the state to increase sales, attract new tenants, increase occupancies and stabilize business and property values.
Since 2007, the Village PBID assessments have been collected by San Bernardino County with the annual property tax billing.
SBC returns the PBID assessment funds to the town, which then either spends them directly for specified PBID programs or remits them, as applicable, to the PBID association to pay for and manage other PBID related programs and improvements
Although there is no direct financial impact associated with the PBID renewal, assessments levied on 13 town-owned properties within the PBID would total $12,346.23 for FY2022-23, which represents 5.76% of the total PBID assessments.
Bear Valley Road Bridge widening
The Town Council will consider approving a project funding agreement with the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority for Phase 1 of the Bear Valley Road Bridge over the Mojave River Rehabilitation and Widening Project.
The development of the Bear Valley Road Bridge widening project has been in process since 2014. Currently, the Phase 1 final design, encroachment permits, and the necessary right-of-way acquisition are nearing completion.
Phase 1 construction is scheduled to begin in December with an estimated construction cost of just over $1.1 million.
The funding agreement includes a pledge of 45% or $50,400 of the funding from SBCTA’s Measure I major local highway program.
The town’s pledge for the 55% or $61,600 local match share will come from a combination of Local Measure I and traffic impact fees.
The state says the Bear Valley Road bridge over the Mojave River is structurally deficient and functionally obsolete, and town officials have estimated the total cost of its rehab at $37.9 million.
The 819-foot, six-lane bridge over the river, which was constructed in 1963 as a two-lane bridge, received a low sufficiency rating, according to the California Environmental Quality Act.
The reinforced concrete T-beam bridge is supported by reinforced concrete pier walls and cantilever abutments at each end to provide vertical and lateral support for the span, according to CEQA.
The bridge was widened to the north in 1988 to accommodate four total lanes. Between 2004 and 2006, the bridge was re-striped to six lanes with no median or shoulders to accommodate increasing traffic demands.
Because the bridge is deficient, the project qualifies for rehabilitation funding under the state’s Highway Bridge Program.
Highway 18 improvements
The council will consider approval to execute agreements with the California Department of Transportation for the Apple Valley State Route 18 Corridor Enhancement Plan Phase II project.
The town was recently awarded a $295,855 Sustainable Communities Grant from Caltrans to retain the services of an
experienced and qualified traffic engineering consultant to develop the Hwy. 18 corridor enhancement plan.
The town is required to provide a local match of $54,145,bringing the total project budget to $350,000.
The corridor enhancement plan Phase II project will identify necessary transportation improvements along the 3.2-mile corridor of Hwy. 18 from Apple Valley to Bass Hill roads.
Hazardous waste agreement
The council will consider approving the household hazardous waste agreement between the town and the San Bernardino County Fire Protection District
The town’s current HHW agreement with SBC Fire expires on June 30. That agreement was executed in 2017 for a five-year contract amount of not less than $407,552.
The new agreement with SBC Fire for the July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2027 term, sets the five-year contract amount at nearly $484,000.
Juneteenth
The council will consider designating June 19, as Juneteenth Independence Day in Apple Valley.
Juneteenth — short for “June Nineteenth” — marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed, according to History.com.
The troops’ arrival came nearly two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end of slavery in the U.S. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday.
Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. inside council chambers at Apple Valley Town Hall, 14955 Dale Evans Parkway. The full agenda and meeting can also be viewed online at AppleValley.org.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz.
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Read More: Apple Valley Council to discuss golf course management, bridge widening, Village district