pages: TransportationCommission/2016-03-23.pdf, 6
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TransportationCommission | 2016-03-23 | 6 | Commissioner Bertken said the recommendation talked about approving the whole grant submittal. However, the recommendation does not specifically mention the two projects that staff just spoke about. So, he wanted clarification on whether the recommendation would approve the entire package or the two projects. Rochelle Wheeler replied staff was in the process of selecting which would be the best project to meet the recently released guidelines. So, staff would like to have some flexibility in making sure they submit the project that best adheres to the new guidelines. Commissioner Bertken stated that he was concerned about staff's recommendation. Commissioner Bellows replied the Commission would revise the motion to call upon the specific projects. Commissioner Vargas stated that when he read the staff report, he thought he would be hearing a recommendation from staff for one or the other. He mentioned that staff indicated that the first project Central Avenue went through a diverse community interaction, but he did not hear anything about community outreach for the Stargell Avenue Project. He felt this would have allowed the Commission to make an objective recommendation. Rochelle Wheeler replied depending on how the term disadvantage community is defined, Stargell Avenue provides access to the Alameda Point area. Also, depending on how the term is defined, there are some disadvantaged communities around the Stargell Avenue area as well. Commissioner Bellows explained that because the guidelines have just come out staff has not processed what will score the best within the guidelines, but she wondered would this be disadvantaged focus. Rochelle Wheeler replied yes. Commissioner Vargas stated that if the Commission is picking one project over the other without having additional information it would be good to know if there's more data on one location versus the other, so the Commission could make an objective recommendation. Jennifer Ott, Alameda Point Chief Operating Officer, stated that she is working with Rochelle Wheeler and Gail Payne on the grant applications. She said last year the disadvantaged communities weighed heavily on the decision to award the grants. So, they scoured through the list of all the potential improvements and the two that were most competitive were because of the Alameda Point Collaborative, which has half children and families that are at risk of homelessness. The Central Avenue Project was selected because there is a school along the route that is very close to the supportive housing community. Yet, she explained staff would need some time to produce the staff report and staff felt it was best to come to the Commission now in order to build some flexibility to review the guidelines and see how they are calculating disadvantage communities because it changes from year to year. Consequently, staff chose the two locations because of the supportive housing communities that are located right at the base. Page 6 of 13 | TransportationCommission/2016-03-23.pdf |