© 1998 Antelope Valley Press, Palmdale, California, USA (805) 273-2700
The city, which celebrated 20 years of incorporation in November, now has about 200 full-time employees in a city of 123,197 residents.
In 1997, city officials struggled to find common ground as they discussed the possibility of sharing revenue with the city of Palmdale. The goal was to stop the oftenpredatory competition between the two cities when corporations seek to locate or relocate within the Antelope Valley.
After much discussion, officials from both cities said they were waiting to see how state legislation, authored by Assemblyman George Runner, would fare. That bill, Assembly Constitutional Amendment 10, would give cities the power to make tax-sharing decisions on a case-by-case basis and allow them to share sales tax revenue from a single business, such as an auto dealer or large retailer, without incurring the expense of a public vote.
In March, the nine-member board of directors of the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds voted to relocate the 59-year-old facility to a 221-acre site owned by the city's Redevelopment Agency north of Avenue H and west of the Antelope Valley Freeway.
The decision was made despite opposition from Palmdale officials, who asked the fair board to consider the needs of the entire Antelope Valley, not just Lancaster's.
Proponents of the move, including fair manager Dan Jacobs, said the new site will allow the fair to increase parking for visitors, expand its attractions and eliminate problems with residential encroachment.
The fairgrounds will be developed in phases as the city and the state-governed fair board reach agreements with private companies for construction of a planned 6,000-seat minor hockey league arena, a -mile auto racing track, an equestrian center, and a recreational vehicle park and campground.
In July, officials from Michaels Stores Inc. announced they would build a regional distribution center in the Fox Field Industrial Corridor near the future fairgrounds site.
Michaels, a leading retailer of arts, crafts, frames and floral merchandise, posted $1.4 billion in sales for 1996.
The 432,000-square-foot structure is under construction at Avenue H and 35th Street West and should be completed in May. The center will require 130 employees and will support 250 stores in the western United States during the next five years, according to company officials.
Prior to the announcement, the City Council agreed the city should make street improvements on Avenue H and 30th Street West, designed to support the relocation of the fairgrounds and the Michaels warehouse.
The City Council also approved city participation to extend a water main to the area near the warehouse and fairground site.
Also making headlines in 1997:
In April, city officials opened the $7.9 million Avenue H overpass, which was praised by fire and sheriff's officials for providing another route to respond to emergencies on the east side of the Valley. That overpass was funded by a $4 million federal loan from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and $3.9 million from the city's capital projects budget.
In May, City Council members voted 3-2, with Mayor Frank Roberts and Councilman Michael Singer dissenting, to relinquish their city-paid medical insurance for the next fiscal year.
Both Roberts and Councilwoman Deborah Shelton relied on the city's benefits package for all or part of their family's benefits. However, Shelton voted in favor of the amendment.
Also in May, a lawsuit intended to keep the Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. from closing five shops at the Lancaster Factory Stores outlet center failed, leaving a row of empty stores near the mall's main entrance on Valley Central Way.
Izod, Geoffrey Beene, Gant, G.H. Bass and Van Heusen left the center at the end of April despite an October 1996 lawsuit intending to force them to fulfill their lease agreements.
The lawsuit was filed after Phillips-Van Heusen alleged the outlet center had failed to meet the occupancy rates set forth in its lease agreements. The corporation signed leases for five-year terms in 1995.
In May 1996, the outlet center had 53 tenants in 64 storefronts for an overall occupancy rate of 83%. A tally of stores on May 22 showed 11 of those tenants had left, leaving an occupancy rate of 67%.
In June, city officials celebrated the long-awaited arrival of Lance Camper Manufacturing Inc., which opened its doors more than nine years after company President Jack Cole announced plans to relocate to Lancaster.
The $6 million, 110,000-squarefoot facility is now on the southwest corner of Avenue K-8 and Fifth Street East. Cole had announced the company's plan to relocate to Lancaster in March 1988 and purchased 10 acres of land at the AV Industrial Park, which was later traded for land in the Lancaster Business Park.
In July, city officials announced that they received a $2.4 million grant from the Metropolitan Transit Authority to eliminate traffic gridlock on the Antelope Valley Freeway and Avenue L overpass.
The city will add $1.2 million in local transportation funds. Construction could begin as early as 1999.
The improvements will widen the existing freeway overpass from two to seven lanes, modify the on- and off-ramps and install traffic signals at the northbound freeway offramp. The construction plan also calls for reinforcing the existing Avenue L bridge to provide additional earthquake safety.
Also in July, the City Council voted 3-2, with Shelton and Singer dissenting, to extend City Manager Jim Gilley's contract from Aug. 31, 2000, to Aug. 31, 2002.
Under an agreement in August 1996, Gilley draws $138,919 a year and has a vehicle provided through an arrangement between the city Redevelopment Agency and Lancaster Jeep/Eagle/Mazda.
Gilley did not receive a salary increase under the new contract, except for cost-of-living arrangements based on the Los AngelesLong Beach Consumer Price Index.
In September, city officials unveiled a new logo for their Big Six softball complex at Lancaster City Park as well as plans to turn it into the Big Eight. The Big Six, at 10th Street West and Avenue K-8, is the largest single-site softball complex in Southern California.
Groundbreaking for two new fields will be in February, with construction to be completed in June. The estimated $500,000 to $550,000 cost will be paid from revenues raised by the 1996 Los Angeles County Park Bond Act.
Season highlights for 1997 included the United States Slo-Pitch Softball Association's Masters World Championships Aug. 7 through 10. The event, for softball players age 50 and older, drew 45 teams from Maryland, Florida, Texas and Minnesota. On Labor Day weekend, the USSSA Men's Class C Western Regional Championships attracted 78 teams from seven Western states.
Also in September, the city council approved an election amendment that gives each candidate the choice of running for a two- or four-year council term, and also gives each candidate a voluntary 75-cent per-resident expenditure ceiling.
The term amendment would affect only those running in the April election. In future elections, the two-year position would revert to a four-year position.
In October, two former planning commissioners, Ken Mann and Jerry Bigalk, were unanimously reappointed to the Planning Commission following the resignations of Chairwoman Tara Gates and Commissioner Evelyn Rodgers.
Shortly after the resignations, the City Council approved a revised version of the city's General Plan. The new General Plan will permit little development on the outskirts of the city, focusing instead on development in and around the city's urban core, according to planning commissioners and city staff.
The council chose the urbancore expansion alternative to focus the city's growth between 40th Street East and 50th and 90th streets west, depending on cross streets.
Also in October, a parking lot expansion to serve the Lancaster Metrolink station was announced by city and state officials.
The project will be funded by a $180,000 grant from the state's Petroleum Violation Escrow Account. Two hundred additional parking spaces will be added north of Lancaster Boulevard along the east side of Sierra Highway.
The grant money will be pooled with about $800,000 in local transportation revenues to fund the project and should be completed by next summer.
In November, the California Transportation Commission awarded the city a $200,000 grant to help build a fenced greenbelt between the highway and railroad tracks.
Project benefits include greater safety near the railroad tracks; improved aesthetics along Sierra Highway; and reduced vehicle and locomotive emissions along the highway, Roberts said.
In addition to the $200,000 state Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program grant, the city will use up to $250,000 from its local transportation fund and regional vehicle registration fund to complete the project.
The greenbelt is tentatively scheduled for completion by next fall.
Also in November, the city won a Helen Putnam award for excellence and seven honorable mentions for 1997 from the League of California Cities.
The award for the "Connections: Communicating with Residents" program brings the city's Putnam award collection to 11.
The Helen Putnam awards for excellence were created by the League of California Cities in 1982 to recognize municipalities for delivering the highest quality and levels of service in the most effective manner.
The connections program uses the city's World Wide Web pages, e-mail, cable television station, newsletters, brochures and postcards to keep the public informed about city programs and coordinate public involvement in municipal programs and issues.
Lancaster also received honorable mentions for its VOICE public safety program, the Redevelopment Agency Web site, environmental quality partnerships, its peripheral loop, the series of Big Six softball tournaments, Teen Court and the Substandard Mobile Home Inventory Replacement Program.
That same month, just before the start of the holiday shopping season, the Valley Press reported that the Lancaster Factory Stores, troubled by sagging occupancy rates, was in foreclosure.
Merrill Lynch, lender for High Desert Outlets Ltd., assumed control of the property earlier this year. Under the agreement with Merrill Lynch, Mid Valley property management would continue to manage the property, at Lancaster Boulevard and Valley Central Way.
The outlet center now has 42 tenants in 64 storefronts, with Polo Ralph Lauren having closed in December and Simmons Beautyrest opening a store.
Libbey Glass will close early this year, according to store managers.
According to City Manager Gilley, the city has recovered all money invested in the Lancaster Factory Stores. The only loss to the city, he said, was prospective profits the city anticipated from the land transaction. And even that expectation could still be met in part, depending on how the center performs in the future, he added.
At the time the outlet center opened, the city and developer Yehuda Netanel, president of Woodland Hills-based California Factory Stores, projected $14.5 million in sales-tax revenue over 20 years from 45 to 55 retail outlets employing more than 300 people.
In December, local officials said the future of economic development in Lancaster was promising, despite the fact the Lancaster Redevelopment Agency made its fifth bond payment on behalf of the Lancaster Economic Development Corp.
That payment brings the total spent by the agency on the LEDC's bond debt to $1.44 million since December 1995. The $304,497 payment also increased the total amount of public money spent on the LEDC since 1979 to more than $5.8 million.