City Council OKs buying tax-defaulted buildings
Mar. 8—Faced with numerous abandoned, dilapidated buildings throughout Bakersfield, the City Council gave approval Wednesday night to buy some of them out.
For years, code enforcement and officials have pressed property owners to fix up their buildings to meet city code, which prohibits open and damaged buildings.
The City Council earmarked more than $1.1 million to be spent by its Development Services Department, which will attend the county's auction of the tax-defaulted buildings on Monday. The money comes from previously budgeted funds as part of Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
In public documents reviewed Wednesday, officials said they will submit minimum-level bids on 16 properties, so long as each bid runs unopposed. Of the 16, most of the properties are residential buildings in Ward 2.
The city will renovate the buildings it purchases for either public or private use.
Officials also approved the demolition of two buildings and abatement of 47 others. Thirteen buildings were demolished in 2022, with several more initiated for demolition.
In other action, the City Council:
—Approved two traffic-calming design projects, for both the Niles and Monterey Corridors.
The two corridors each account for 1.2 miles of arterial stretches along Niles Street and Monterey Street, from Alta Vista Drive to Virginia Street. The streets historically were meant to run adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks and are unusually faster than nearby roads.
Officials awarded the design agreement for the project to Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc., which previously made the city's traffic calming toolkit. They will draw up three potential designs for the roads.
While it does inevitably depend on findings by road designer Kimley-Horn, on the table are fixes such as narrower streets, bicycle lanes and street lighting, among other options.
In their proposal, representatives from Kimley-Horn acknowledged that roads on both streets are exceedingly wide, with missing sidewalks and a lack of proper shading and street lights throughout. The design process will begin within the next two weeks.
—Rescinded its public health order for COVID-19. This order was first made on March 19, 2020, right at the onset of the pandemic nearly three years ago. City staff said this decision is routine and will not impact any local functions.
Per order by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state's public health emergency ended Feb. 28, though the state will continue monitoring cases.
—Unanimously approved the mid-year budget recommendations presented by city staff, which set aside $7.6 million for various programs across the city. Officials expect an $18 million surplus of Public Safety and Vital Services Measure N tax money. The programs are as follows:
— $2.62 million to match a state grant for an Affordable Housing Trust Fund
— $1.1 million for increased private security around business "hot spots" in the city
— $150,000 for mapping software to be used by the Clean City Teams
— $300,000 for a family reunification program to reunite out-of-town homeless with their families
— $300,000 to develop a shopping cart protection program, to help stores better protect their stock of shopping carts
— $600,000 payment for a recently established police training center
— $300,000 for expansion of the city animal shelter
— $300,000 for various park renovations and repairs
— $400,000 to help businesses meet state and federal compliance under the Endangered Species Act.
