LOS ANGELES -- Certain delinquent assessments securing bonds for the North Natomas Assessment District No. 88-03 in Sacramento, Calif., have been brought up to date, the city treasurer said yesterday.
Sanwa Bank has paid $440,862 to redeem delinquent assessment installments on four parcels of property, Thomas P. Friery, Sacramento's treasurer, said in a press release. Sanwa obtained ownership of those parcels on June 23 from the Sacramento Sports Association in a trustee's sale, the release says.
The Sacramento Sports Association has been the property owner with the biggest chunk of delinquent assessments in the district.
The city noted previously that Seattle First National Bank had initiated non-judicial foreclosure proceedings on three separate parcels of land owned by the sports association. Seattle First had a deed of trust on that property, which included the site of a proposed football stadium that has not moved forward.
On June 22, Seattle First took back those three parcels and "indicated it would either sell the parcels or pay the delinquent amounts totaling $767,646," the city release says. As of yesterday, however, the bank "has not paid the delinquency," the release adds.
The Seattle First delinquency accounts for slightly more than half of the $1.4 million of past-due assessments and penalties that would be outstanding if no further payments are made before the end of this month.
The Centennial Group. which is under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, now has delinquent assessments totaling $403.647, the city said.
A Proposed reorganization plan calls for the Centennial Group "to make assessment installment payments as they come due beginning with Dec. 10, 1993, [with] payments on delinquencies to be paid back over seven years on a 30-year amortization schedule with a balloon payment thereafter." the release says. "However, no assurance can be made that the proposed reorganization plan will be approved."
Other property owned by the sports association accounts for the rest of the delinquent assessment installments. Sanwa informed the city it had postponed the trustee's sale on the remaining nine parcels on which the bank has a lien-holder interest because of alleged problems with "toxic contamination," the release says.
As a result, Sanwa does "not intend at this time to cure the delinquency" that totals $242,660 on those nine parcels, the release says. and "the city does not have knowledge of either the extent of the toxic contamination, if any, or estimated costs of cleanup."
Sanwa has offered to make the inspection reports on those parcels available for half of their $51,000 cost, but the district lacks funds for such a purchase.
One of the parcels "may have been the site of a small airport used as a base for agricultural pesticide spraying," the release says, and the other eight parcels "appear to be adjacent to the airport."
The city is pursuing foreclosure action against the sports association in connection with the delinquencies.
Friery also said that previously reported delinquencies of Security Trust, totaling $164,196 as of April 14. 1993, have been brought current.
Security Trust is a family trust for Joseph and Nancy Benvenuti, who previously owned the properties jointly. Benvenuti was listed in the official statement for the bonds as one of the four principal owners of land in the district, and as a principal in the Sacramento Sports Association.
All principal and interest payments to bondholders have remained current. The release also says adequate funds are available to meet the next scheduled bondholder payment of $2.16 million on Sept. 2.
Assuming no delinquent assessments are received, the city said the district could cover the next bondholder payment with moneys from a redemption fund and an investment earnings fund.
In addition, the district also has a $3.64 million special reserve fund that was established from bond proceeds. The district does not anticipate needing any of those reserves to make the Sept. 2 bondholder payment.
Sacramento formed the assessment district in March 1989 and issued $38.4 million of limited obligation improvement bonds the next month for the district, which totals about 1,473 acres.
Bond proceeds reimbursed property owners for various infrastructure improvements. The district's current land use includes a mix of commercial, industrial, and residential activity.
Friery's five-page press release also provides updates on factors that might affect development in the North Natomas district.
A previously scheduled June 10 planning commission hearing on an amended community plan for the area was postponed because of objections raised by a Sacramento-area citizens' group called Friends of the River, the release says.
The citizens' group "objected to the community plan's acceptance of 100-year flood protection as adequate for development in North Natomas," the release says, adding that the city anticipates completing a citywide review of flood protection requirements "within the next several months."
When that review is completed, the community plan will be brought forward for review, the release says.
Separately, the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency has certified the environmental impact report and adopted a flood control improvement project for the Natomas area.
Construction of that $35 million project is expected to begin in early August and take four years to complete. The project entails levee repair and related flood control works to provide 100-year flood protection for the Natomas area, the release says.
The flood control agency's staff continues to work on a long-term project for flood control, the release says, as well as negotiations with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on flood plain development issues for the region.
