Energy efficient lightbulbs to save district thousands
(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.) Keeping city streets free of debris appears to be a costly endeavor.
The Santa Monica City Council approved more than $1.6 million in expenditures Tuesday, most of which will be for new street sweepers.
The city council signed off on buying four new natural gas street sweepers for $862,986, which will be used to clean debris from alleys and streets throughout Santa Monica. The newer machines will replace three sweepers the city has had since 1995 and another one purchased in 1998. Two of the older sweepers are inoperable and parts to repair them can’t be found, city officials said. The third, older sweeper has been kept running by scavenging parts from the other two.
The money will be taken out of the city’s fleet replacement program.
Another $350,629 was spent on computer networking equipment for the Public Safety Facility that is scheduled to open behind City Hall this spring.
The city’s existing equipment is not compatible and will not operate with the new computers in the facility, officials said. The equipment is part of the building’s projected budget and was approved in 1996.
The city approved spending $174,436 a year in a three-year contract with a janitorial service to maintain and clean buildings on the Santa Monica Pier, including the carousel facility. The company the city contracted with, L.A. Cha Maintenance, pays their supervisors $13.50 an hour and custodians $12.50 per hour, according to city officials.
Another $40,434 was spent to demolish and stabilize buildings at a historic beach house site on the Pacific Coast Highway. The Marion Davies Estate, a beach home built in 1929, was bought by the state and leased to the city in the 1950s.
Because of vandalism and general deterioration, the city plans to demolish certain buildings that don’t contribute to the historical character of the site, officials said. The buildings include two cabanas, a banquet building and parts of the Locker building. The site will be secured and historic buildings such as the north house and the swimming pool will be stabilized.
The city has for years had plans to restore the site but because of a multi-million dollar shortfall, the city has put the $17 million project on hold.
City officials have had minimal success in getting money from state and federal grants to help pay for the project. It has received $350,000 from the state, but the city asked for $5 million, officials said.
The city council also signed off on giving the local school district $225,000 to design and install solar photovoltaic systems at Lincoln and John Adams Middle schools, as well as Edison Elementary. The city also approved another $200,000 for a program called the Energy Efficient Schools project.
The city in 2001 established a fund to develop an energy efficient program by using 50 percent of the Utility User Tax revenues that were collected as a result in cost increases for electricity and natural gas. The fund collected $1.4 million, of which $500,000 was given to the school district.
The Global Solar Energy, Inc. system at each school site will be about nine kilowatts and will generate about 15,000 kilowatts of electricity a year, saving each school about $2,250 a year in electricity costs. The three systems will cost $275,003. The California Energy Commission will pay for $125,087 through rebates it gives and the city’s dedicated fund will pay $149,916.
Because the school district is suffering from a serious financial shortfall in the upcoming budgets, the city council approved giving another $200,000 from the fund instead of using it for citywide energy efficient measures and solar electric projects. It’s estimated the $200,000 investment would result in an additional $33,500 in annual cost savings for the district, officials said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 15, 2003. Read the original PDF.