PIER, from page 1 Bus deals also to be approved
By Daily Press staff
(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures, which appeared on the 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).
By Daily Press staff
COUNCIL CHAMBERS — City Council members were expected to approve more than $730,000 Tuesday, with the majority being earmarked for a pair of major structural improvement projects, including the famous Santa Monica Pier.
Officials are expected to take a big step forward on part of the recently approved, structural upgrade program of the municipal pier. The engineering design firm Moffatt and Nichol, which was expected to be awarded a contract of up to $400,000, has worked on similar pier rejuvenation projects in Santa Barbara (Stearns Wharf) and Long Beach (Queensway Bay/Pine Avenue Pier).
Forthcoming work on the Santa Monica Pier, expected to tally more than $6 million in design and construction costs by the time work is finished, is to include wooden pile and deck replacement, utility upgrades, traffic analysis and the development of a maintenance strategy.
The other major improvement project pertains to the city’s desire to ensure the viability of the Mountain View Mobile Home Park at 1930 Stewart St., and it was mulled over whether or not to pay up to a combined $168,000 for the purposes of hiring two separate firms — one to provide development and relocation services, the other to plan infrastructure improvements and continued operations at the 105-space tract.
The city purchased the five-acre park in December of 2000, along with 36 mobile home units, with the idea of preserving them as a means of affordable housing within the city. Since that time the city has constructed an emergency-vehicle access road, freed up roadways by implementing off-street parking on the site and installed a fire hydrant, among other improvements. The city is in the preliminary stages of a major park improvement plan that should bring it up to current standards.
Council was also expected to strike up a deal with Nancy Lewis Associates, Inc., for up to $79,500, to provide guidance and direction with respect to financing and the development of affordable housing at Mountain View. Mecky Myers and Associates was expected to receive a contract for up to $88,500 to develop the resident component of mobile home park rehabilitation plans.
In other spending planning, the City Council was expected to sign off on a deal with North American Bus Industries for $110,000 per year to provide and deliver replacement parts for the Big Blue Bus transit coaches. The parts will be used to perform routine maintenance.
In a deal that is projected to generate approximately $1,400 in annual revenue for the Big Blue Bus, Council members were expected to enter into an agreement with Access Services Inc. that would allow ASI passengers, as well as their personal care attendants, to catch complementary rides with them instead.
Big Blue Bus will, in turn, bill ASI on a monthly basis for the services, which are expected to net an additional 15 passengers per day for the transportation company.
ASI is the agency responsible for the complementary paratransit service in Los Angeles County, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Eligibility is based on a person’s inability to use accessible buses and trains within the county.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 28, 2004. Read the original PDF.