During the Study Session hosted by the Pacifica City Council on February 10th, one of the possible funding sources that was discussed was an Army Corp of Engineers program called “Section 103”. You can see Section 103 for yourself here, or hit the More link below for the full text.

After passing a pre-selection assessment, a municipality can request a feasibility study. The first $100K of the study is fully Federally funded, but all work after that is paid in a cost sharing arrangement with the local municipality responsible for 35% to 50% of the total, and a cap of $3 million.

The sense at the Study Session was that no solution that might require funds from Pacifica could be considered. It is possible that the Army Corp of Engineers could start a study with no promise of actually doing the work, as was reported in the Feb. 18 Pacifica Tribune story on MercuryNews.com Cliff issues explored in city study session; Agencies offer assistance explaining procedures and permits. This seemed unworkable at the Study Session, though I suppose nothing was ultimately ruled out.

The full text of Section 103, surprisingly readable, follows:

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Monday February 22, 2010 – Weekend Update

• City Council Meeting Agenda items:
  • Adopt Proclamation Confirming Existence of a Local Emergency (Proposed action: adopt proclamation confirming existence of local emergency). For more information see my post Pacifica Declares Local State Of Emergency.
  • Adoption of Resolution Initiating Historic Landmark Designation Process for the Dollaradio Station, 100 Palmetto Avenue (Assessor Parcel Number 009-401-060) (Proposed action: move that the City Council adopt the resolution next in order initiating the historic landmark designation process for the Dollaradio Station). The Dollar Radio (Dollaradio) property on Palmetto Ave. does have an interesting history, see my post Sampling Dollar Radio’s History.
  • Both of these actions seem to be intended to make it easier for property owners to obtain funding outside of the municipal government or local agencies.
• During the Study Session hosted by the Pacifica City Council on February 10th, one of the possible funding sources that was discussed was an Army Corp of Engineers program called “Section 103?. The main drawback of the Section 103 program seemed to be that even though an initial project analysis could be funded with federal monies, 35% to 50% of the overall expense would have to be paid by Pacifica or a local agency. The consensus at the Study Session seemed to be that requirement for local funding was a non-starter. You can see Section 103 at my post US Army Corp of Engineers, Continuing Authorities Program, Section 103.
• Work behind 330 Esplanade stopped Monday or Tuesday 2/15 or 2/16, and the crane required to do the work was removed. Some people may be happy for the peace and quiet, but the very real problems faced by the remaining residents and landlords are just waiting to get worse.

For a complete chronology and links to many more photos see Evacuation underway at 330 Esplanade:

http://adequatebird.com/2009/12/17/evacuation-underway-at-330-esplanade/

See all of my pictures of the Esplanade crisis:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisd2006/collections/72157622920945823/

Pacifica has posted Tuesday’s Proclamation of Emergency to its website: City Declares Local Emergency by proclamation on February 16, 2010 for Esplanade area (PDF Link). Key phrase:

To deal with this threat the City is requesting a Federal Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster declaration so as to qualify the owners for SBA assistance to shore up the properties

Use the link above to see the original PDF file on the Pacifica website, or click “More” to read the text of the Proclamation here.

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