9/15/2010

Post date: Mar 23, 2013 9:20:26 PM

River Oaks Neighborhood Association Board Meeting

Thursday September 15, 2010

7:00pm @ Premier Pizza, River Oaks

Present: Jean, Laura, Mike

Agenda:

    • PG&E Smart Meters are being installed in our area. Watch for the hanger on your front door.

    • Sony/Irvine project had a public hearing 8/18/2010. They have approval to build out Phase 1 -- which is 364 multi-family residential units and 11,600 sqft of commercial space. Jean taking the action to find out the schedule from the developers. She estimates that it will easily be another year before the new buildings are completed because it will take that long to prepare the site.

    • Jean to email Kathleen for an update on the shuttlebus situation.

    • Roger Barnes from the Santa Clara School district contacted Mike and Jean a couple of weeks ago and ask for RONA's help. He is looking for our support regarding 2 things:

        1. Help get the word out on the "General Obligation Bond" the city of San Jose is putting on the ballet this November election. The bond is for $81 million for various school-related items. The bond includes funds for:

            • $45 million for the Agnews land of 55 acres for a school site. (Cisco is buying the rest of the land, which is the northern 25 acres, for the expansion of their campus). Note that $45 million will only buy the land, it will not fund any construction. This would give us a school site that is adjacent to the River Oaks Parkway & Zanker intersection.

            • $12 illion to open "closed schools" all over San Jose

            • $15 million for solar at schools to save $1 million per year in electricity costs (which means it should repay itself in 15 years)

            • $3 million for security cameras and portable classrooms

        2. The bond repayment is spread across all residents of San Jose, via property-tax assessments. The expected costs for a property owner are:

          • $16.40 per $100,000 of assessed value of the property

        1. Given this assessment, commercial properties will be repaying 70% of the value of the bond.

        2. Help get votes for a "Mello Roos" (see definition here) on the North San Jose Area to pay off the Agnews portion of the General Obligation Bond and build a K-8 School and a High School.

            • The Mello Roos will be voted on via a special mail-in ballot in March 2011. Only residents residing in the area subject to the Mello Roos will be able to vote. This gives current residents a very large proportion of the votes.

            • This will be a per-unit property tax assessment for the next 25 years. The assessment is expected to generate $295 million over its lifetime.

            • The money generated by the Mello Roos would pay off $40.5 million of the $45 million needed to acquire the Agnews property.

            • The K-8 school would be on the Agnews property. The Mello Roos would fully fund construction of this school.

            • The high school would be located on land in Alviso. The Mello Roos would fund approximately half of the construction costs for this school.

            • The assessment is much higher for new development than it is for current residential units. The assessments are calculated to be:

              • $19 a year for previously-constructed residential units

              • $1395 a year for newly-developed residential units PLUS a $6500 one-time fee when the unit is built

      • RONA Board believes that both these ballot measures are critical to creating desireable long-term quality-of-life in the River Oaks Parkway neighborhood. These will give us a local school, which will attract families, will provide a focus for our neighborhood, and will raise property values. We consider the long-term benefits much greater than the cost to current residents.

      • Given this situation, and the potential for significant improvements to the ROP neighborhood, RONA Board has decided to take the following actions:

        • Jean to find out the exact boundaries of the Mello Roos, so we know how many people we may need to educate.

        • Plan to put out a mailbox flyer to that: 1) invites people to join RONA, 2) summarizes the upcoming election items relating to school construction and 3) asks for volunteers to help us go door-to-door before the March election.

        • Before the November election, put up flyers on everyone's door (or mail them to every residence) about the bond.

        • Prepare a townhall meeting, invite Roger Barnes from the school board to speak. Provide refreshments. Tentative date is October 20th.

        • Plan to go door-to-door in March for the Mello Roos.