Restroom representatives to receive a helping hand VALET RESTROOMS STUDYING THE HOMELESS COUGHING UP MORE RENT
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 discussion from elected officials or the public, having been part of public discussion in the past.
CITY HALL — The Santa Monica Police Department could be brought up to speed with equipment for its new fleet of vehicles if City Council approves a $1.4 million purchasing order tonight.
As part of the city’s plan to phase out all outdated vehicles, the SMPD is expected to receive a fleet of patrol cars, specialized emergency response vehicles and administrative vehicles over the next three years. The contract expected to be approved tonight would authorize AirWave Communications Enterprises Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., to equip the new cars.
Each of the vehicles would come ready with warning and emergency lighting equipment and a police radio. Certain cars would also sport prisoner transport systems, computers and cameras, depending on their usage.
Airwave was one of three companies that submitted a proposal in response to a request filed in October. It beat out the competition by exceeding criteria in pricing, qualifications, experience and workmanship standards, according to a staff report.
Authorizing an agent licensed in installing police equipment is expected to be considerably less expensive than asking the equipment’s manufacturer to perform the same task. The manufacturer offers discounts on equipment to vendors, but the markdowns are not available to customers, such as the city, according to the report.
“Therefore, utilizing the services of a company that specializes in equipping police vehicles will reduce costs and provide a higher quality installation that will help extend the life of the equipment installed in the vehicle,” said Acting Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks.
Approximately $387,000 from the Vehicle Replacement Fund will help pay for the new cars’ equipment needs during fiscal year 2006-07. Funding for subsequent years will be appropriated by council and will not In conjunction with Bayside District Corporation, the management company that oversees Downtown Santa Monica, various city departments worked together to implement the Premier Promenade Restroom Pilot Project from July 1 to Sept. 30.
Council will be asked to approve approximately $179,000 to continue the three-month project to June 30 of next year. The project aimed to collect information to advise in the planning and design of several future public restrooms that the city will begin constructing in spring of next year.
The project provided attendants for the women’s restroom in Parking Structure 4 and the men’s restroom in Parking Structure 3 for 17 hours a day, seven days a week. Approximately 11,629 public opinion surveys were submitted by restroom patrons who gave their take on the restroom cleanliness, lighting, location, safety and attendants. Approximately 97 percent of respondents said the restrooms met or exceeded their expectations.
Implemented simultaneously with the restroom pilot project was a trash collection pilot project on the beachfront area. In order to reduce beach trash, Chrysalis employees collected waste directly from beach patrons. The cost to run this pilot program, budgeted for $100,000, exceeded the contractual services line item by $25,000.
Council will be asked to pay the additional $25,000 to Chrysalis.
A citywide evaluation of Santa Monica’s homeless continuum of care is expected to receive an additional $10,000 in funding, if approved by council.
The city has authorized The Urban Institute to conduct an evaluation of homeless continuum of care “to produce a description of current homeless service delivery system and recommendations for a refined vision of service delivery and action steps over the next five years,” according to a staff report.
The additional funding was needed for more quantitative data analysis and travel expenses for on-site presentations of findings.
This is the first time the homeless system is being evaluated since the 1980s.
The rent the city charges to The Richlar Partnership to lease a four-acre piece of property at 2715 Exposition Blvd. will increase to approximately $809,000 a year, from $207,000.
Council will be asked to approve the rent increase on the property it acquired from Southern Pacific Transportation Company in 1989. The rent increase is retroactive to July 1 of last year, and the renter has agreed to make partial payments to cover the difference until Dec. 31 of next year.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 28, 2006. Read the original PDF.