County of San Benito Board of Supervisors*

R1

"The San Benito County Board of Supervisors hire a professional grant writer to assist with securing funds for the maintenance and improvement of San Benito County roads." Response to R1: This recommendation will not be implemented. A full time grant writer just for roads is not an effective way to achieve new road funds. It would be more effective to contract with a professional grant writer when specific grants may be available. Most road funding is not based on a competitive grant basis, but often by formula, which is why the administration fought hard to maintain existing SB1 levels of funding for small counties when the formula was proposed to be changed in favor of larger counties.

R2

"The Civil Grand Jury recommends that the San Benito County Planning Commissioners attend training on the effective negotiation of any new Development Agreement (DA) with persons or entities building new homes in San Benito County. Response to R2: This recommendation will not be implemented as negotiating Development Agreements is not an appropriate role for Planning Commissioners. The negotiations are done by professional staff with the assistance of County Counsel, and in many cases are supplemented by experienced outside counsel. All development projects pay established impact fees for roads and other governmental services. Any assessment of fees and charges requires a nexus, meaning that there has to be a relationship between the project's impacts on the existing road system, generally dealing with traffic capacity, not condition of pavement, which is a maintenance issue.

R3

"That the San Benito County Board of Supervisors increase funding in the Resource Managment [sic] Agency, Planning Division, and the County Counsel's Office to assist San Benito County Board of Supervisors response to the Grand Jury Report dated May 9, 2019, issued and received by email on August 27, 2019. * with effective management of resources, ensure compliance with all local, state and federal laws associated with same, to promote a more holistic approach to construction of new home subdivisions in the county, and the foster the promotion of San Benito County to potential investment by industry." Response to R3: This recommendation has been implemented. However, the Board recognizes that this is a continuing goal, and sets forth additional steps it plans to take in the future. This recommendation has several facets, including increasing staffing, as well as increasing funding to improve roads. The Board of Supervisors has already taken several steps in this direction by: Approving the expenditure of approximately $750,000, which provided for emergency pot hole repairs on over 70 miles of public roads. This was done to supplement the work of a small public works road crew of 5 people due to numerous vacancies. 2. Initiating a "Quick Start" Road resurfacing program utilizing Measure G funds, in the amount of $8 million. The Board will issue a small financing program to leverage 5 years worth of Measure G dollars to be implemented in the next 12 to 18 months. This will resurface approximately 8 to 10 miles. 3. Reallocating $4.8 million of Enterprise funds to the road resurfacing program, which will resurface another 4 to 6 miles of roads. 4. Approving the FY 19/20 budget which provided for maintenance of funding for existing staff levels. Administration has been aggressively pursuing the filling of vacancies (over 15 positions in the RMA Department). Allocating $100,000 per year over a 5 year period to the San Benito Business Council to hire an Economic Development Director. Additional steps that will need to be taken include: 1. The commitment of resources for the hiring of Planning staff and preparation of environmental work to complete the implementation of the 2015 General Plan by appropriately rezoning areas slated for future commercial and industrial development. This will create more jobs and revenue for the county, which in turn will help further improve roads and enhance services. 2. Review the current traffic impact fees to make sure that they are in line with the cost of road improvements. Continue to pressure Caltrans to re-think the currently approved plan for Highway 25 to bring it in line with available funding and free up additional funds for local roads. 4. Develop a funded on-call contract system to do more pot hole and emergency repairs. 5. Be more proactive in Sacramento and increase advocacy of projects. 6. Develop a robust legislative priority list for the State and Federal Government. San Benito County Board of Supervisors response to the Grand Jury Report dated May 9, 2019, issued and received by email on August 27, 2019. San Benito County Jail