Corporate executives and community leaders got schooled in Air Force protocol during a reception Wednesday with 9th Reconnaissance Wing brass.

The event was hosted by the Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corp. and the California Innovation Center to celebrate the latest stage in a private land-use project at Beale Air Force Base.

“We love to show our esprit de corps,” shouted Col. Keith “Spike” Gentile, vice commander of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, before leading about a hundred cocktail-attire-clad attendees in the “one team – one fight” call and response routine.

Two of Beale’s T-38 supersonic jet trainers made a tandem ceremonial fly-over during the event at Heritage Park.

A proposal from Beale Community Partners, LLC, a consortium of more than two dozen development firms, was selected March 31 as the top candidate for a land lease deal with the Air Force.

If the agreement goes through, 334 acres at Beale, including a wastewater treatment facility and railroad-adjacent property slotted for a future industrial park, will be converted for private use. The multi-stage project is expected to bring construction and professional jobs to the area.

Of immediate interest to area residents is Beale’s large wastewater plant, which currently is undergoing construction upgrades.

Nearby sewage facilities, including those in Marysville and Linda, have been sanctioned repeatedly by a state oversight agency for falling short of water treatment standards.

Customers might benefit from an arrangement that would create a regional plant out of the one existing at Beale, said Lee Seidel, Marysville district manager for California Water Service, a member of Beale Community Partners.

Prospects for such an arrangement will depend, to a large extent, on federal stimulus dollars, and how they will ultimately be distributed among local utility districts, Seidel said.

The multi-project lease proposal by BCP is undergoing a 60-day negotiation process during which, theoretically, enough details will emerge for deal-signing to occur.

“It’s conceptual right now,” said Russ Brown, communications coordinator for Yuba County.

California Energy Commissioner Jeffrey Byron spoke to the crowd Wednesday about possibilities for developing renewable energy sources at Beale.

The Air Force Real Property Agency, which helps vet proposals for Enhanced Use Lease programs like the one in negotiations at Beale, currently has 35 such projects under way across the U.S.

“The concept behind this is a good one,” said Brig. Gen. Robert Otto, 9th Wing commander, “and the timing could not be better.”

Sacramento may undo what Washington D.C. does for the Yuba City Unified School District with federal stimulus funds, trustees were told Tuesday.

“What the feds give,” Superintendent Nancy Aaberg said, “is what the state may take away.”

Baldev Johal, deputy superintendent for business, said local school officials don’t know yet just how much federal money may be sent. But Johal expects Sacramento to see the funds provided the school district as reason to reduce its aid.

“I think the state is going to take them away in the end,” he said of the financial gains Yuba City Unified realizes by federal stimulus funds.

Dina Luetgens, president of the Yuba City Unified Teachers Association, urged the board of trustees to use the federal dollars to hire teachers, counselors and librarians sent layoffs notices.

“As money comes to this district,” Luetgens said, “restore direct services to students.”

She has said Yuba City Unified is expected to receive at least $4 million in federal funds and cited a letter from California’s congressional delegation to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stating that federal stimulus funds are intended to allow schools to restore jobs. “It seems that it would be less likely that the state might use creative accounting to misdirect the money,” Luetgens added.

Johal said the school district hasn’t been told of specific amounts coming from Washington D.C. but that local officials should know more by the end of May.

The outcome of the special election May 19 on a series of state ballot measures will be known by then, he noted.

Trustee Lonetta Riley said she agreed that the federal funds should go into education — but that Johal is correct that the state will see such money as reason to cut back its own financial support.

Closed-door deals will work in Sacramento as Johal forecasts, Riley said.

Trustee Mary Henson was skeptical as well.

“We’ve seen what happened in the state before,” Henson said.

Schwarzenegger arrived saying he’d clean up everything, she recounted.

“Where are we now?” Henson said.

Luetgens said after the meeting, “Our district tends to take the most conservative position.”

“I understand caution,” Luetgens said.

But it’s necessary to take action for next year’s students, she added.

“You don’t get to replay the second grade,” Luetgens said.

Contact Appeal reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com.

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Aside from weeds engulfing the front lawn, 529 Main Street looks little different than many other Yuba City homes for sale.

But inside, the house is a bustle of activity as the city waits to hear back on its purchase offer. The house is one of 12-25 others that Yuba City plans to purchase in the next year to clean up blight and create more homes for low-income families, said Becky Hudson, customer service manager in finance.

After eliminating the blight at one house, “you hope the rest of the neighborhood does the same thing,” she said. “It’s going to be really nice to drive through town and say ‘Wow, look at what we fixed.’”

One home has been purchased, another two are in escrow and city officials are perusing hundreds of other potential fixer-uppers on the market. As of Friday, Hudson was waiting to hear back on three offers.

“If all of these things go through as hoped, we’ll be at $800,000,” of the $2.4 million the city plans to spend, Hudson said.

Yuba City’s guideline per home for spending is $50,000-150,000, including repairs. To date, the homes have ranged from $60,000-130,000.

Twenty percent of property tax revenues received by the Redevelopment Agency must be set aside for housing activities that benefit low and moderate income residents, said Assistant City Manager Steve Kroeger. The $2.4 million in the city’s coffers represents about three years’ worth of revenue.

Any additional revenue generated through the program will administer and continue to fund the program so it can be self-sustaining, he said.

Yuba City Councilman Tej Maan said he is pleased by the city’s efforts but disappointed in the selection.

“My original thought was to work on homes that are too far deteriorated for normal families to buy up and fix,” he said. “I don’t want to be competing with mom and pop.”

The city has tried to purchase about 12 other homes, Hudson said, but its offers were too low or withdrawn by the city because of competing offers.

“We do not want to compete with people out there who are trying to purchase something,” Hudson said. “We don’t want to take it away from someone else.”

Maan would prefer to see the city buying more concentrated and more severe blight, he said.

“I think if we concentrate in a neighborhood, we can make a difference,” he said. “If we buy one house here and another there and just fix one house in a neighborhood that’s already good, I’m not sure we’re making a difference.”

Chestnut, Walnut, Orange, Shasta and Plumas streets are the city’s target area. But “we do go outside the area when we find houses where we can make a difference in the neighborhood,” Hudson said.

Blight cleanup often starts with landscaping and moves on to plumbing, roofing, fixing siding, patio covers and garage doors, she said. Before the city finalizes a purchase, several city and agency representatives examine the house to determine the necessary repairs and associated costs.

The three-bedroom, two-bath Main Street house likely needs to have its carpeting replaced, some yard maintenance and a bit of painting, which could cost about $12,000, said Larry Tinker, of the Sutter County Housing Authority. But compared to other houses the city has considered buying, it’s a gem.”

“We’ve seen some other homes that need a lot of work,” he said. “This is quick.”

Once the repairs are finished, management is turned over to the housing authority, which places a low- to medium-income family in the house, said Gustavo Becerra, development and rehabilitation administrator.

Thousands of people fill waiting lists for low-income housing in Sutter County, he said. The housing authority is excited to partner with the city and offer single-family homes for the first time.

The Main Street house offers a large garage, rooms filled with storage space and a backyard with lemon and kumquat trees, now heavy with fruit.

“It’s not a bad-sized yard for kids to come and play,” Becerra said.

The existence of an established program will make Yuba City a great candidate for additional federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding, said Aaron Busch, director of community development.

The federal program aims to help communities combat blight caused by vacant, foreclosed homes. Congress allocated $3.92 billion for the national program last summer and another $2 billion will be allocated this year.

Yuba City has partnered with the county because “we didn’t have a big enough problem, evidently,” Busch said. Sutter County is receiving $595,000, Yuba City will receive 539,000 and Live Oak $113,000.

“What we are hoping is that we will be able to use those funds in a similar, if not the same, way” as the city’s existing program, Busch said.

It will be at least several months before Yuba City can begin implementing a process to use those funds.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ashley Gebb at 749-4724 or agebb@appealdemocrat.com.