Hope exists that the city’s deal with Conejo Valley Unified School District to purchase its Kelley Road property can be preserved even after the abolishment of the Thousand Oaks Redevelopment Agency on Feb. 1.

Funding for the Kelley Road purchase was among 48 financial obligations the city included in its Enforceable Obligations Payment Schedule adopted at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. The schedule, which must go before several agencies to get final approval, includes $146 million in bond debt and other financial obligations the city says must be fulfilled.

Completing the schedule is a requirement of the law passed last year by the Legislature and upheld by the California Supreme Court in December that abolishes redevelopment agencies across the state. Only projects identified on the list may use RDA money in the coming months as operations of the dissolved agencies gradually cease, so it was vital for the city to get the list right, said Chris Norman, interim city attorney.

“Because if it’s not on the list, it’s not going to happen,” Norman said.

He added that in the Kelley Road case, bonds have been sold to raise money for infrastructure improvements but any future contracts for work would likely require approval by an oversight board.

Preparation of the list involved an extensive effort among city staff members who had less than a month to compile the list and had to work with vague language in the new law, said John Adams, finance director.

The estimated $5-million Kelley Road deal is necessary for the school district to move forward with its long-sought-after plan to build a new facility for CVHS, Superintendent Jeff Baarstad has said. Students at the continuation school currently take classes in an out-dated building on Kelley Road built in the 1920s.

For years the city has hoped to buy the property, using RDA funds, and build a family recreation center there. The school district needs proceeds from the sale—and other redevelopment pass-through payments already promised to CVUSD—to bankroll the new school as well as a new site for its service building currently on Kelley Road.

On Feb.1, all 425 redevelopment agencies in California will disband, and their assets and legal obligations will transfer to a successor agency responsible for winding down operations. The council agreed earlier this month that it and city staff would form that agency.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Bill-de la Peña, a critic of past spending by the RDA, took exception to some items on the list, including $8 million for street improvements at the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall and purchases of parcels around city hall without a publicly stated purpose.

“There are projects on this list tonight which I oppose fundamentally because I am opposed to subsidizing wealthy developers, whether it be blight or not blight, it’s all in the eye of the beholder,” said the councilwoman, who eventually joined a 4-0 vote in favor of adopting the payment schedule. Councilmember Dennis Gillette was absent.

The purpose of redevelopment agencies, which the state created in the 1950s, was to allow cities to revitalize specific areas by investing extra tax income expected to come from improving those areas.

Councilmember Andy Fox mentioned the benefits the city has realized from its redevelopment agency—aesthetic improvements made to the city’s namesake thoroughfare and construction of performing arts centers, athletic fields and stadiums at three T.O. high schools.

“The redevelopment (agency) has been and is a good tool that we’ve used here in Thousand Oaks,” Fox said.

The updated payment schedule specifies redevelopment agency debt still outstanding as of Dec. 31, and a payment schedule from January through June 30, 2012.

The complete list can be viewed through the city’s website at www.toaks.org.

Adams said the list includes contracts and bond obligations, even if the project has not yet been built, and property management agreements, such as those with lowincome housing provider Many Mansions.

Adams said two programs, which cost the RDA about $800,000 a year, did not make the list. They provide financial assistance to businesses for updating the look of their buildings, and grants or loans to low-income residents to improve their homes. Those programs will likely be discontinued.

Assembly Bill 1X 26, the law that abolished redevelopment agencies, requires a seven-member oversight board to form by May 1. Two committee members will be appointed by the mayor and three by the county Board of Supervisors. The remaining two committee members will be appointed by the Ventura County Superintendent of Education and California Community Colleges. Gov. Jerry Brown may fill any vacancies on the board.

The committee will be responsible for reviewing the city’s list of enforceable obligations and approving which debts will be paid.

Norman said the council had to act quickly because the debt obligation list must be in the hands of the state Department of Finance by Feb. 1. The department has the ultimate say-so on the list, he said.

Several members of the public spoke Tuesday in support of items on the list; three were in favor of a proposal to underground overhead utilities on T.O. Boulevard from Duesenberg Drive to the city of Westlake Village.

Jim Benkert, athletic director and head football coach at Westlake High School, said undergrounding the power lines would allow the school to build visitor seating at its football stadium.

“We’re the only school in the Marmonte League that doesn’t have visitor seating on the opposite side away from the home base and that presents a lot of problems for us,” Benkert said.