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land. The decision has been made and it is now time to move forward with the project. Council has not investigated subsidizing people in hospital beds. The community has recognized there is a need for an assisted living facility and there has been a determination that the City needs to participate in the construction and the operation of those facilities. The City want to get permanent affordability in addition to providing units available for market rate. The issue will come back in terms of design of the facility, etc. At this point, the City is making a significant commitment to proceed. Ms. Michelotti indicated that from the time the idea was conceived, either the land would be used similar to what was done for Ridge View Commons, or there would be an RFP put out to find an operator that would pay for the land. All those options were looked at from the very beginning. The City did not just say here is an outright girl. Staff investigated several scenarios and after much deliberation, to make it work, the current process was determined to be the best. Mr. Cordtz understood all that, but believed that SSI could no longer be provided and the City does not want to get into the health care business. He knows what assisted living is and its failures and problems. Mr. Bocian explained that when staffwas dealing with this issue and talking about the land, the major concern staffhad was that the City would have to give up ownership of the property. The current deal is structured so that the City retains owners of the property throughout the life of the project and will get the property and improvements back at some point in the future. Ms. McKeehan reiterated the position that the City does not want to get directly into the health care business. Barbara Hempill, 4508 Eull Court, indicated she has been on the Assisted Living Sub- Committee since its inception several years ago. This current design is really an improvement over what was brought to Council three years ago. She believed Lytton Gardens is an excellent operator of non-profit facilities. She indicated she had spoken with a women living in an assisted living facility in Livennore and was told the cost is $4,000 a month. That is higher than the proposed market rate units at the Pleasanton facility. She said having this facility close to Ridge View Commons is as least disrnptive as possible to senior citizens. Statistics have shown that when an elderly person is moved from one situation to another, they lose about 50% of their condition. She urged Council to approve this project. Christine Steiner, 596 Hamilton Way, also a member of the Assisted Living Sub- Committee, agreed this is a better project than previously proposed and this operator is also much better. There is also a benefit because interest rates are low at this time and things will be a little easier financially. She believed the 10% return on the City's money is admirable. The need in the community is enormous. We are all getting older. It took a vision by the City Council. Pat Belding and she attended a housing forum sponsored by the Commission on Aging in Oakland. The other attendants were sttmned at the progress Pleasanton is making in this area and wanted to know how the City can do it. She acknowledged there is a cost to serve the low income families, seniors and other special needs. In this case, it is not a matter of"beds", these Pleasanton City Council 10 Minutes 11/06/01