Yes, Virginia, there is additional funding
By KIM CALVERT Special to the Daily Press
(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures which appear on the upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agenda. 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.) COUNCIL CHAMBERS — Santa Monica’s Big Blue Bus is expected to receive nearly $1 million tonight.
City Hall will be asked to write a check in the amount of $405,715 to replace bus engines and transmissions. Another $284,000 will buy aluminum rims that need to be replaced because of wear, cracking or other damage, and $200,000 more will be spent on brake kits used to perform routine maintenance.
City staff say that funding for bus maintenance is available in accounts already established to keep Santa Monica’s 192 Big Blue buses on the road. The budget allotted for bus mechanical components in the current fiscal year is $2,987,875, according to Joe Stitcher, assistant director of transit operations.
The City Council will also be asked to spend an additional $255,800 on the Virginia Avenue Park expansion project because of what city staff are calling “unforeseen conditions... which delayed the completion of the project and resulted in a 10-month delay beyond the original completion date of Dec. 7, 2004.”
City Engineer Anthony Antich said unforeseen conditions are typical when doing any kind of remodeling project.
“When we took away outer walls, we found things that weren’t how they needed to be in order to meet today’s building code standards,” Antich said.
Examples include discovering wood studs in inner walls that were too small and foundations put in 60 years ago that no longer meet code requirements, Antich said.
Located at 2200 Virginia Ave., between Pico and Cloverfield boulevards, the 5.8-acre park site will have a 2.9-acre open lawn area with a meandering path, two full-size basketball courts, two playgrounds, an interactive water play feature, and additional parking to accommodate a Saturday farmers’ market and expanded park programs.
The park project also includes the addition of a park building and renovation of existing buildings. The buildings will be used for community workshops, a youth center, a Police Activities League fitness gym, park administration offices and a Santa Monica Police Department substation.
Because of the unforeseen conditions, city staff said the design company and the construction management company hired to do the work will need extra money.
With the contract modification put before the City Council tonight, Koning Eizenberg Architecture will receive a total of $1,352,500 for its services. Black & Veatch, responsible for construction management, will receive a total of $1,184,300. Police bust up alleged online prostitution ring
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 26, 2005. Read the original PDF.