By Brett Callwood
At the City Council meeting on the evening of Tuesday, March 14, the council approved the purchase of ammunition for the Gardena Police Department from Dooley Enterprises in Anaheim, not to exceed 60,000 for the fiscal year 2022-23.
A note on the agenda states that, “Dooley Enterprises (Anaheim, CA) is the authorized, sole source, law enforcement distributor for Winchester Ammunition in the state of California.”
In addition, a General Services Agreement with the City of Los Angeles was approved for a five year period through June 30 2028.
“The GSA is general in nature and simply authorizes the County of Los Angeles to provide services requested by the City of Gardena,” reads a staff note. “The City of Gardena can request services on an as-needed basis; the services included are predatory animal control, prosecution of City ordinances, direct assessment collection, and a variety of public works activities.”
Two Public Works contracts were agreed at the same meeting, the first an Exchange Agreement and Assignment of Federal Surface Transportation Program.
A staff note reads, “The budget for the Federal Surface Transportation Program-Local (STP-L) is $846,583 and the Highway Infrastructure Programs (HIP) is $284,534, totaling to an amount of $1,131,117. nThe City desires to exchange these federal funds to LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA County METRO) funds at a two-percent (2%) processing and administrative fee.”
The second was a construction contract for the Gardena Community Aquatic and Senior Center Project – Underground Utility Phase, which went to Doty Bros.
“This underground utility construction is the second phase of the Project after demolition phase,” read the staff note. “On December 13, 2022, City Council authorize the contract with Southern California Edison to proceed with the Project. This phase is to replace the overhead existing SCE, AT&T, and Charter Communication utilities with new underground lines.”
Later in the meeting, the City’s new strategic plan for homelessness was approved.
“The City of Gardena aims to leverage local resources, build on current efforts, and align with the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiatives to maximize impact in preventing and responding to homelessness,” is the plan’s vision.
Finally, the council approved a 12-Month Pilot Commercial Façade Improvement Program.
“A number of cities have implemented a commercial façade improvement program to assist their local businesses with needed upgrades,” reads the note. “Staff is recommending that an initial 12-month pilot program be established in the City that would focus on commercial revitalization. Should the pilot program be approved, staff would first seek a qualified consultant to provide input and complete the program guidelines for Council approval and implementation. With an initial budgeted amount of $250,000 of general funds, staff anticipates providing 5-8 façade improvement projects.”
