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Legislative Analyst's OfficeAnalysis of the 2001-02 Budget Bill |
The budget includes $12.1 million from the General Fund for the California Conservation Corps (CCC) capital outlay program. This amount includes:
Recommend deletion of $150,000 for a study because the purpose of the study has not been defined. (Delete $150,000 from Item 3340-301-0001[1]).
The corps' Pacific Bays residential center is located in leased space at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo. The existing lease expired in June 1999 and the corp continues to occupy the facilities on a month-to-month basis. The Navy plans to transfer the facilities occupied by the corps to the Army Reserve sometime between 2003 and 2007. In anticipation of the need to relocate the center, the corps has had discussions with Santa Clara County about locating the center on county owned land known as the "Burnett site." The county board of supervisors has adopted a resolution endorsing the concept of a lease with the corps to establish a center on the Burnett site and has authorized the county director of parks and recreation to proceed with negotiations.
The corps has not provided the Legislature with information about the purpose of the proposed study and has not indicated why it is needed in order to negotiate with Santa Clara County for the Burnett site. We therefore recommend the Legislature delete the $150,000 for the proposed study. If negotiations with the county are successful, a proposal for approval of a lease and funding of preliminary plans may warrant legislative consideration.
We recommend deletion of $10.5 million for working drawings and construction for the Camarillo Satellite Relocation/Construction because preliminary plans are not complete. (Delete $10.5 million from Item 3340-301-0001[2]).
The corps has operated a residential satellite facility for 23 years in Camarillo on the site of what is now the California State University (CSU), Northridge, Ventura Off-Campus Center—CSU Channel Islands. The center is located at the former Camarillo State Hospital. The corps has been leasing its facility from CSU on a month-to-month basis since the current lease expired at the end of 1998. The corps, however, has been notified by CSU that effective June 30, 2003, the corps must leave the Camarillo center. Because of this notification, the corps proposed to construct a new facility on a site adjacent to the California Youth Authority Ventura Youth Correctional Facility in Ventura County. The Legislature appropriated $526,000 in the 2000-01 Budget Act to develop preliminary plans for this new facility.
The corps has indicated that the preliminary plans are scheduled for completion in June 2001. In view of this schedule, the preliminary plans will not be completed in time for legislative review during budget hearings. As a result, the Legislature does not have the information it needs to approve funding for working drawings and construction. In view of this situation, we recommend the Legislature delete the requested $10.5 million. We urge the administration to expedite development of preliminary plans. If preliminary plans are available in time for legislative review during the budget process, a request for working drawings and construction would warrant legislative consideration.
We recommend deletion of $588,000 for preliminary plans for the Delta Service District Center in Stockton because a study that was funded by the 2000-01 Budget Act has not been completed and there are unanswered questions about the future location of the center. (Delete $588,000 from Item 3340-301-0001 [3]).
The corps operates the Delta Service District Center in facilities at the site of the former Stockton State Hospital which was operated by the Department of Developmental Services until the hospital's closure. The budget proposes $588,000 to develop preliminary plans for a new Delta Service District Center consisting of a 2,964 gross square feet (gsf) administration building, 10,864 gsf warehouse, 9,000 gsf kitchen and dining facility, 16,300 gsf dormitory, and 10,454 gsf education and recreation building. Total estimated project cost is $12.3 million.
There are several uncertainties about this project. The first is where it will be located. The 2000-01 Governor's Budget proposed $242,000 for preliminary plans for a new Delta Service District Center to be located on property owned by the East Bay Municipal Utility District at Lake Camanche in San Joaquin County. At that time, the corps indicated it was necessary to relocate the center from the Stockton site because the hospital property had been transferred from the Department of Developmental Services to CSU for development as an off-campus center of CSU Stanislaus. CSU, however, indicated the question of whether the corps facility could remain at the Stockton hospital site could not be answered until CSU completed its study of the site. Also, it was not clear what terms and conditions the utility district would require to allow the corps to locate the center on the district's property at Lake Camanche. In light of these uncertainties, the Legislature deleted the proposed funding and appropriated $55,000 for a study to determine if it was necessary to relocate the center and, if so, to where.
When this Analysis was written, the corps had not yet begun the study. Also, in 2000, CSU entered into a joint powers authority with the City of Stockton to manage development of the
hospital site. Under this arrangement CSU would continue to manage the portion of the hospital site it needs for the CSU Stanislaus off-campus center but the remainder, which includes the
facilities currently occupied by the corps, would be managed by the joint powers authority. The authority has not yet indicated if the corps (1) must move out of the buildings it currently
occupies,
(2) could use other buildings on the site, or (3) could use vacant land at the site on which new buildings could be constructed.
Given the status of the corps' study and the uncertainty of the joint powers authority's plans, it would be premature to fund preliminary plans for a new center. Consequently, we recommend the Legislature delete the $588,000 requested for preliminary plans.