Editor's note: This story is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city's expenditures appearing on upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agendas. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the City Council with little or no discussion from elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.
CITY HALL — Twilight Concert Series safety measures, a reservoir, and a trash truck make up more than three quarters of the proposed $942,310 spending in tonight's consent agenda.
City Council will likely agree to pay $260,000 to keep the Twilight Concert Series safe this summer. The contract, to provide supplemental law enforcement during the 10 free summer concerts held at the Santa Monica Pier, would go to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Earlier this year city and law enforcement officials made it clear to council that the ballooning attendance at the concerts was becoming a threat to public safety. They estimate that up to 30,000 people attended last year's Jimmy Cliff concert.
City officials recommended making some changes in an attempt to downsize the event. Council heeded some of the recommendations and rejected others.
As a result, city officials said at the time of the vote, the concert series is going to cost taxpayers extra money. This quarter million dollar sheriff's contract will be the first bill.
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Third time's the charm?
Big Blue Bus is struggling to sublease the former location of its transit store. To save some cash, BBB officials planned to rent the Broadway and Second Street space, which has long housed BBB's public information hub.
In October, council approved a sublease of the space to California Love, a clothing retailer. Back then City Hall said the move would save them about $219,000. Storeowners didn't realize they'd be required to add a bathroom to the location so they backed out.
In March, council approved a sublease with Washington Earth Spa. BBB moved out this time, opening an informational window next to Central Parking's window on Fourth Street.
But the spa also fell through for undisclosed reasons.
Now BBB wants approval to sublease the space to Gelatoro, an Italian gelato retailer. The estimated savings is down to $140,000 and, if the lease gets signed, City Hall will have to pay $24,772 to a broker who helped find Gelatoro.
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Criminal transport
They say crime doesn't pay, at least for criminals. It pays pretty well for the people tasked with transporting criminals.
Council will likely agree to pay the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department $98,183 to transport prisoners from the Santa Monica Police Department jail to the LAX Courthouse. They've been paying the sheriff for the transport help since 2004 when, in the county's effort to consolidate courthouses and save cash, the Santa Monica branch courthouse stopped hearing criminal trials.
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Memorial wall
The Santa Monica community raised $13,250 to fund the Woodlawn Cemetery Memorial project but council is asked to pick up an additional $23,050.
Construction started last month and will likely be complete by May 26, Memorial Day.
The pillars, each representing a foreign conflict, will include the names of fallen Santa Monica soldiers.
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Trash truck
City Hall wants to buy a new trash truck (which they call a "side loader refuse packer unit") that costs $288,717. Last year, they were going to buy four new trucks but, when they realized that one of their old trucks could probably last another year, they opted to buy three. Now that old truck is done and they need a new one. Boerner Truck Center, which sold City Hall the other three, will likely get the cash.
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Reservoir
A halfway done project that will irrigate Marine Park with treated runoff water needs $272,360 for some design work. City Hall pumps 3.5 million gallons of water into that park every year.
The project includes running 5,000 feet of pipe from a reservoir under a Los Angeles park to a holding tank under Marine Park. The first phase, the construction of the reservoir, is complete.
The contract for the designs, which would likely be completed in early 2015, is slated to go Carollo Engineers.
dave@www.smdp.com
