Council Looks at Funding Landon Center Redo

• Makeover Could Top $1 Million and Lower City Reserves

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council at its next meeting on Jan. 11 is poised to appropriate $1 million for a planned makeover of the Michael Landon Center at Bluffs Park.
The money would come from what is called the city’s undesignated general fund reserve. If the council approves the expenditure, the general reserve fund will dip to $7.9, which is lower than the city council’s goal established almost 10 years ago of maintaining at least $8 million in the fund.
Last October, the council received a follow-up report on the expansion of the center. The report included three design options and an estimated project cost of $1.5 million.
The council indicated it wanted to move forward with some sort of expansion plan and discussed a million-dollar appropriation.
The existing building is comprised of two octagon-shaped structures that are 1472 square feet in size and connected by the entrance lobby of 352 square feet for a total of 3296 square feet.
The staff told council members plans were being considered for adding a second story for office space for staff, multiuse room for classes and conference room for public meetings. The expansion would directly benefit recreation programs by including additional classes for dance, fitness, art, music and teen activities, according to the staff.
In other business, the council will be told about the results of an annual independent audit report for fiscal year 2009.
The general fund reserve decreased at fiscal year end, according to a staff report by Assistant City Manager/Administrative services Director Reva Feldman.
The total fund balance of $21.7 million at June 30, 2009 is a decrease of $590,878 from the previous fiscal year, she wrote.
“The decrease is due to capital expenditures for the Legacy Park project. The general fund reserve totaled $18.4 million at fiscal year end. Of that amount, $1,184,644 was reserved for encumbrances and prepaid expenses, $2.5 million was designated as the deposit for City Hall acquisition, $1.7 million as designated for City Hall, $3.7 million was designated for capital improvement projects and $142,346 was reserved for vehicles and information technology,” Feldman wrote.
Feldman indicated the special revenue funds, which account for all restricted monies designated for specific uses, ended the last fiscal year with an aggregate fund balance of $3 million representing a decrease of $200,000 from the previous fiscal year.
The audit was conducted in accordance with generally accepted industry standards and the auditors issued a letter that contained no findings, meaning the standards have been adhered to by the city, according to Feldman.
The council is also expected to discuss the temporary use permit process and give the green light to making revisions to the temporary use permit process to make it easier.
In May, the Malibu Chamber of Commerce requested revisions to the TUP regulations “to allow more flexibility in the allotment and issuance of permits.”
There were recommended revisions, such as updating what constitutes a temporary event that requires a TUP, increasing the maximum number of permits allowed per year, revising TUP standards from applying to a single property to applying to individual businesses on a property, adding TUP standards for marathon and triathlon events and decreasing the required public noticing from 32 days to 10 days, according to a staff report.
The staff, if directed, will prepare a zone text amendment to change the municipal code and seek a Local Coastal Program Amendment regarding the processing of TUPs.
The planning commission will be scheduled to hear the matter regarding the ZTA and LCPA, according to city planners.