Theme from Jaws
Just when you thought is was safe to go back into the council chambers….
Tonight, at a joint meeting of the City Council, Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority (ARRA) and Community Improvement Commission (CIC), which of course are three separate public bodies made up of the same people, two Alameda Theater items are on the agenda, and one of them relates directly to increasing money for the project from the redevelopment agency (Thus, it’s a CIC matter).
{Quick aside: if there’s going to be three separate bodies inhabited by the same person (am I the only one thinking of All of Me right now?), shouldn’t the members of each board have to identify which “hat” they are representing when they speak? In fact, one could easily imagine one member having an exchange with himself a la Steve Martin.}
The first issue is adding $50,000 to the project contingency to do some extra work. Which as far as I can tell is an increase in the project cost, unless they don’t use all the contingency. What’s strikes me as odd is that I can completely understand the argument for getting this done now (rather than later once the theater is open), I don’t understand why if this is so important to get done (it is) it was removed from the project in the beginning.
The second issue is a new $300,000 loan to the operator of the theater, Alameda Entertainment Associations. The work has been planned all along; it’s just that because of the convoluted (or complex if you will) nature of the city/developer business agreement, the state loan that was planned was unattainable. And so, the redevelopment agency will be asked to step in and fill the gap with a 20-year loan (with no interest if it’s paid back in 5 years!).
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