> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# City may approve $700K for animal shelter, pool
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/city-may-approve-700k-for-animal-shelter-pool/
- Published: 2002-12-10T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:04:12.000Z
- Author: Carolyn Sackariason
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*FEMA to pay for new sewers in city*

(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 by elected officials or the public. However, many of the items have been part of public discussion in the past.) Santa Monica animal shelter improvements and cost overruns for the municipal pool account for about $700,00 worth of expenditures that the city council is expected to approve tonight.

A project to renovate the city’s 27-year-old animal shelter is expected to cost $477,000\. Because the number of stray animals has increased at the shelter and the building has deteriorated over the years, the conditions are causing public health concerns, city officials say.

As a result, the building is difficult to maintain and creates a haven for bacteria. To complicate matters, there are no public restrooms at the shelter. City officials say the site drainage at the shelter contains effluent that currently flows to the adjacent alley and into Santa Monica Bay.

The projects include new kennels, a new ceiling, new lighting, a new drainage system and new public bathrooms.

The city has to dole out another $172,595 for the $7.6 million municipal pool on 16th Street because the original contractor, Vahdani Construction Co., defaulted on the subcontracting work.

The city was forced to find another contractor to finish the job, delaying the project for more than a year and costing the city nearly $2 million more than what was expected.

Additional money for work that was not originally budgeted for and the ensuing increase in the contractor’s costs are expected to be approved by the city council tonight, with $75,000 of it coming out of the basketball courts budget.

However, city officials say there is extra money in the basketball courts fund because the courts will be resurfaced in asphalt instead of concrete. Apparently, asphalt is easier on the knees and is more preferable to players. It also is less expensive than concrete.

Planning the new swimming pool facility began in 1998, which replaced the old one that was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The city also plans to chip in $90,000 of its own money towards two sewer projects damaged in the earthquake. Federal Emergency Management Agency funds will pay for $14.6 million for both projects.

The FEMA-funded $4.2 million sewer main replacement in the area bounded by Pico Place south to Dewey Street, and Barnard Way to Walgrove Avenue, will cost the city $17,320 in remaining construction costs. The project includes the removal of the existing sewer mains on Ocean Park Boulevard, Marine and Hill Streets. It is unknown when the project will begin.

The larger sewer main project, which FEMA will pay $10.4 million for, will require an additional $73,211 for construction costs. The project includes replacing the existing sewer mains at Lincoln Boulevard, between Pico Boulevard and the southern city limits; Ozone Street, between Lincoln Boulevard and Sixth Street, Ocean Park Boulevard between 25th Street and 34th Street; Fifth Street between Bay Street and Ocean Park Boulevard; Seventh Street and Beverly Avenue, between Kensington Street and Ocean Park Boulevard.

Both city expenditures for the sewer projects will be taken out of the wastewater fund.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 10, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121002.pdf?ref=smdp.com)