The Angels Camp City Council on Dec. 16 approved a set of measures intended to reduce a shortfall in the Eureka Oaks workforce housing project built by Habitat for Humanity.

In a staff presentation, Amy said the project’s "shortfall is actually about $1,300,000," then outlined three remedies: applying an anticipated FEMA capital grant, approving a reimbursement agreement for the off‑site waterline, and amending the fee schedule to allow grant offsets for wastewater as already permitted for water. She described the council’s options as either reimbursing Habitat for "55% of the cost" of the off‑site waterline or "100% of the cost," with a cap "not to exceed $545,000." Amy told council that the FEMA grant would reduce the shortfall immediately for water and wastewater offsets.

Why it matters: The measures aim to make a 107‑unit workforce housing project financially viable without shifting capital improvement costs onto other ratepayers. Staff and public commenters emphasized that any offset program would also need to be available to other qualifying developers under the city’s fee schedule.

Council debate centered on how the reimbursement split was calculated and whether the city had committed to portions of the pipeline earlier. Dave and other staff walked council through the project cost components; staff said the 55/45 split came from breaking the work into elements and assigning the portion of direct city benefit versus project‑specific benefit. A public commenter urged council to remember that any discount program must be "for workforce housing, not for Habitat for Humanity" alone and noted that other developers could apply for the same offsets on a first‑come, first‑served basis up to the city's 99‑unit cap in the fee schedule.

Council action: The council approved resolutions implementing the staff recommendations: an authorization to enter a reimbursement agreement with an amount not to exceed $545,000 and with either a 55% or 100% reimbursement option; direction to allow credits to be applied across impact mitigation fee categories; and direction to staff to amend the fee schedule to allow wastewater grant offsets analogous to the water program. Staff said applying the FEMA grant money (roughly $357,000 for water and about $386,000 for wastewater) would reduce the remaining shortfall substantially; staff also said additional federally funded sewer grant receipts could eliminate the remaining gap.

What’s next: Staff will prepare the reimbursement agreement language and a fee‑schedule amendment for implementation and the council scheduled follow‑up actions tied to available grant proceeds. The package passed by roll call votes recorded during the meeting.