Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The council approved purchasing 27 new vehicles to replace the aging city fleet. The measure passed 6-2, with Bates and Viramontes voting no, while Marquez abstained.

The council approved 18 routine items on consent, including a $590,250 software maintenance contract for police and fire dispatch systems and a $185,145 agreement with the county for a police-prosecutor coordination program. Other notable items included a $127,720 contract with SymPro Inc. for treasury management software and cutting the telecommunications tax from 10% to 9.5%.

Developers will now be allowed to round up housing units to even numbers under new density bonus rules. The measure passed 7-1 with Lopez voting no, aimed at preventing awkward building layouts when density calculations require odd numbers of units.

The council approved several contracts including pre-fabricated concrete restrooms from CXT Incorporated, increased security services at Point Molate to prevent wire theft, and a contract amendment with Swinerton to oversee Hall of Justice temporary improvements.

Two street closures were approved: a portion of B Street between West Barrett Avenue and Garrard Boulevard, and a section of Alvarado Street between Buena Vista Avenue and Arizona Avenue. The council also authorized the Finance Team to prepare bond restructuring proceedings for three older bond issues from 2006-2007."}