Police receive $90K state grant for traffic stops
(Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series that tracks the city’s expenditures that appear on the upcoming Santa Monica City Council consent agenda. Consent agenda items are routinely passed by the 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 Andy Fixmer
Daily Press Staff Writer
Cost overruns on two public works projects may account for more than $2.3 million in council spending tonight.
The Santa Monica City Council has been asked to allocate $2.3 million to J.A. Jones Construction, which is building the city’s new public safety facility.
The council already approved increasing the cost of the project by $3,020,128 at its Feb. 26, 2002 meeting. The money being allocated tonight will be taken from that amount, which was raised from a bond the city took out in anticipation of changes to the project.
When it is completed, the building will house the city’s police department, city jail and fire department administration.
As the building was under construction, city staff members made changes to the building that increased its final cost. Items to be paid for today include:
• Relocating air conditioning equipment to the north side of the building to preserve the urban design features of the new Olympic Drive, which is currently under construction between City Hall and the County Courthouse.
• Moving the main point of entry for the building’s computer network so the system won’t be affected by the future demolition of the current police department building.
• Consolidating City Hall’s back-up generators into the new public safety building.
• Installing communication wires for the building’s phone system and computer network.
• A future update and synchronization of traffic signals after the Olympic Drive construction is finished.
In another cost overrun related to city facilities, DMR Team, Inc., the company hired by the city to manage construction of the newly opened municipal pool, may be paid $64,000 more than its original contract.
The overruns resulted when the original contractor defaulted on the project. The process of finding a new contractor added a year of work to the municipal pool project.
Funds for the extra work will be taken from the security deposit put up by the original contractor that defaulted.
Also on today’s consent agenda, the Big Blue Bus is asking the council to cut the hours of its Tide Shuttle, which runs from Main Street to the Santa Monica Pier and other downtown locations. The bus agency also wants to cut the frequency of three other bus lines for a combined savings of $157,000.
Routes and times being reduced are some of the slowest in the bus system, Big Blue Bus officials wrote in a report to the council. Bus officials propose that the Tide Shuttle cease operating at 8 p.m. They also want to eliminate the first and last trips taken by buses on Lines 2, 5, 8 and line 9.
The savings will be used to add buses to congested routes during peak times with a high number of riders, bus officials said.
Finally, Santa Monica Police want to start a multi-year traffic safety program called Community Resource Education And Traffic Enforcement, or CREATE. The program will be partially paid for by a $90,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.
The goals of the program are to reduce the number of alcohol-related collisions, reduce the number of pedestrians and bicyclists killed or injured in traffic collisions and increase compliance with bicycle safety laws, seat belt laws and child safety seat laws, police officials wrote in a report to city council.
The funds will also be used for traffic safety education efforts, including community outreach activities such as a bicycle safety workshops and community presentations on driving under the influence.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 25, 2003. Read the original PDF.