Caltrans working to sell SR-710 homes, legislators say
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_22928487/caltrans-working-sell-sr-710-homes-legislators-say
By Lauren Gold, April 2, 2013
Selling the Caltrans-owned houses in the Long Beach (710) Freeway path would be the worst financial option, according to an independent cost/benefit analysis commissioned by the transportation agency.
Financially, there's no good option for the state, the report concluded. But of the possibilities, a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) with Los Angeles, Pasadena and South Pasadena would be the best option.
The study was in response to a scathing audit released in August that slammed Caltrans for "poor management" and overspending on the more than 500 properties - many of them historic homes - it owns in the northern part of the freeway corridor.
In the six-month status report it submitted to
the
State Auditor's office, Caltrans said it is "reviewing the final report
and will work with legislators to determine the best option for
Caltrans, the state and the tenants. "
But Suzanne Reed, chief of staff for State Sen. Carol Liu, D-Glendale, said the results of the analysis don't align with Caltrans' efforts in recent months toward selling the 710 properties.
"We've made it clear to them that a JPA is not going to fly, that our cities aren't interested," Reed said. "And they continue to tell us that their utmost objective is to get them sold. "
Reed said she expects to see the beginning of home sales in January 2014.
But before Caltrans can sell the homes, Reed said, it must set forth a series of requirements for the sale process, which will be subject to public review. Liu also has a bill submitted for consideration in the State Legislature that would allow Caltrans to sell the homes at face value without making any repairs, as was previously required by a law known as the Roberti Bill.
"We are moving forward, but it's never fast enough for us because we've been working on this for 12 years," Reed said.
The homes have long been a point of contention between local cities, tenants and Caltrans, and have been at the center of the decades-long debate over the extension of the 710 freeway to the Foothill (210) Freeway. Many have suggested that since Metro has eliminated a surface freeway route as a viable option most, if not all, the homes should be free to be sold.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is in the second phase of a three-year environmental impact report for the project and is studying five final options: "No build," traffic management solutions, bus, light rail and a dual-bore underground freeway tunnel. The draft report will be released in 2014.
In the audit report, Caltrans also stated that it has determined the Department of General Services is the most cost-effective company for property repairs, and that a contract between the two agencies was finalized at the end of March. The agency also said it has put in place a system to ensure that repairs made are actually necessary, and that they are done in a cost-effective manner in the future.
Former assemblyman Anthony Portantino, who pushed for the audit, said what is missing from the analysis is what Caltrans is doing to prosecute possible fraud or other violations in DGS's previous performance. A $70,000 roof is frequently cited as an example of waste in home repairs.
"Having a formal agreement with DGS is a step in the right direction, but I'd also like to know if any laws were broken in the past and if there were improprieties," Portantino said. "There should be some forensic accounting and some criminal investigation. "
And Reed said that although Caltrans seems to be on the same page as legislators about selling the properties, there are still questions and some controversy about the recent rent increases Caltrans imposed on its tenants. Caltrans increased rents starting this year in response to the audit's complaint that it was not charging "fair market" rates, but tenants and elected officials have questioned whether living in a Caltrans home qualifies as "fair market" and also said they want to know how Caltrans set the rates.
"We are still working and saying the way they are going about doing this is wrong, and we are still fighting the rent increases," said Lynn Bryan, a Caltrans tenant in Pasadena since 1989. Bryan said that members of the Caltrans Tenants Association have sent numerous public records requests to Caltrans about the rent rate determination process.
But when it comes to selling the homes, she said, at least Caltrans is moving in the direction tenants and elected officials have long pushed for.
"I believe they are already putting things in motion to get them ready to sell," Bryan said. "I absolutely do believe we are in the end game. "
But Suzanne Reed, chief of staff for State Sen. Carol Liu, D-Glendale, said the results of the analysis don't align with Caltrans' efforts in recent months toward selling the 710 properties.
"We've made it clear to them that a JPA is not going to fly, that our cities aren't interested," Reed said. "And they continue to tell us that their utmost objective is to get them sold. "
Reed said she expects to see the beginning of home sales in January 2014.
But before Caltrans can sell the homes, Reed said, it must set forth a series of requirements for the sale process, which will be subject to public review. Liu also has a bill submitted for consideration in the State Legislature that would allow Caltrans to sell the homes at face value without making any repairs, as was previously required by a law known as the Roberti Bill.
"We are moving forward, but it's never fast enough for us because we've been working on this for 12 years," Reed said.
The homes have long been a point of contention between local cities, tenants and Caltrans, and have been at the center of the decades-long debate over the extension of the 710 freeway to the Foothill (210) Freeway. Many have suggested that since Metro has eliminated a surface freeway route as a viable option most, if not all, the homes should be free to be sold.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is in the second phase of a three-year environmental impact report for the project and is studying five final options: "No build," traffic management solutions, bus, light rail and a dual-bore underground freeway tunnel. The draft report will be released in 2014.
In the audit report, Caltrans also stated that it has determined the Department of General Services is the most cost-effective company for property repairs, and that a contract between the two agencies was finalized at the end of March. The agency also said it has put in place a system to ensure that repairs made are actually necessary, and that they are done in a cost-effective manner in the future.
Former assemblyman Anthony Portantino, who pushed for the audit, said what is missing from the analysis is what Caltrans is doing to prosecute possible fraud or other violations in DGS's previous performance. A $70,000 roof is frequently cited as an example of waste in home repairs.
"Having a formal agreement with DGS is a step in the right direction, but I'd also like to know if any laws were broken in the past and if there were improprieties," Portantino said. "There should be some forensic accounting and some criminal investigation. "
And Reed said that although Caltrans seems to be on the same page as legislators about selling the properties, there are still questions and some controversy about the recent rent increases Caltrans imposed on its tenants. Caltrans increased rents starting this year in response to the audit's complaint that it was not charging "fair market" rates, but tenants and elected officials have questioned whether living in a Caltrans home qualifies as "fair market" and also said they want to know how Caltrans set the rates.
"We are still working and saying the way they are going about doing this is wrong, and we are still fighting the rent increases," said Lynn Bryan, a Caltrans tenant in Pasadena since 1989. Bryan said that members of the Caltrans Tenants Association have sent numerous public records requests to Caltrans about the rent rate determination process.
But when it comes to selling the homes, she said, at least Caltrans is moving in the direction tenants and elected officials have long pushed for.
"I believe they are already putting things in motion to get them ready to sell," Bryan said. "I absolutely do believe we are in the end game. "
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
The original timeline was spelled out in the Measure R spending plan because tax revenues can’t flow to one big project all at once. So the big constraint is funding although tunneling and construction of underground stations obviously makes this a longer time frame.
In the U.S. the two subway projects underway I’m aware of are the 2nd Avenue subway in New York and the Central Subway in San Francisco. I also know that part of a new light rail in Seattle is underground. The feeling at Metro is that if money can be found, the project could probably be built in a decade or so.
Steve Hymon
Editor, The Source
It’s time we go back and make Los Angeles a “can do” city once again all on our own. We don’t need the feds. We can do it all on our own. We did it way back when we had the Pacific Electric rail lines. No government money was used to build them. And it was the best in the nation! What happened to this spirit?
Can’t Metro look into making money off of the real estate properties they own? Build a luxury condo or a shopping mall on top of a Metro owned subway entrance and sell it or rent it for profit or something. Or how about converting those free parking lots to paid lots? All of these are gold mines in which Metro can earn serious profit on. Instead they are just sitting on them.
Stop wasting time with Washington and start finding new ideas of making money. If that can be done, then it solves the funding issue to start accelerating more projects on their own, instead of finger crossing for years waiting for the dullards we have in Congress to pass a funding bill. Los Angeles has always been a city that found solutions for the most difficult problems. It’s time we get serious and do exactly that.
http://www.metro.net/projects_studies/westside/images/Fact_Sheet_Pre-Construction.pdf
and
http://www.metro.net/projects_studies/westside/images/Fact_Sheet_Construction.pdf
Some of the issues that lengthen the time required for a tunneling project include the time needed to design/order/build/ship/assemble the Tunnel Boring Machine(s) (these are not off the shelf pieces of equipment, they are custom ordered/built so that’s a year or more). Once tunneling starts, the machines push ahead 4 feet at a time, about ten pushes (or 40 feet) a day. Given the over four miles of tunneling (for each bore) just in Section One, that’s over two years just driving the tunnels (five days a week), then there’s the time needed to construct the interior finishes of the tunnels, hand mining the cross passages, installing all the systems (track/power/lights/life safety, etc.) not to mention building the stations as well.
It’s just not possible to build them overnight….