As we approach the April 17 City Council meeting, here’s a preview of what the City Council will hear. As always, you may view the full agenda here.

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Several organizations – including the League of California Cities, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the California Police Chiefs Association – have requested that the City provide a resolution stating its position on several upcoming state legislative items.

Briefly, these organizations are requesting support on:

• Proposition 68 is a June ballot initiative that would fund water, local parks, coastal and climate resiliency projects. If approved, local governments would receive funding from a $4 billion bond for local park improvements, with possible grants to fund water, local parks, and climate resiliency projects.
• Proposition 69 is a June ballot initiative that ensures that funds generated by Senate Bill 1 would not be diverted by the state to other funding priorities. San Gabriel has struggled for decades to achieve a sustaining source of funding needed to address deteriorated streets. Without SB 1, the City’s street network will continue to deteriorate with no foreseeable funding source to maintain them
  • Editor’s note: this is a hot topic for residents, and the reality is that the City currently faces a backlog of more than $50 million in pavement repair needs. This is despite a modest increase to Public Works’ street paving budget over 15 years, including a loan.
• The Reducing Crime and Keeping California Safe initiative, which aims to prevent the early release of inmates convicted of violent crimes. The act will reclassify current “non-violent” crimes like rape of an unconscious person, sex trafficking of a child and 14 other series crimes as “violent” to prevent the early release of inmates convicted of these crimes
• The California WaterFix and California EcoRestore initiative seeks to add to the state’s water supply by diverting water from the North Delta during wet years, while restoring the North Delta ecosystem. WaterFix would be an upgrade to the state’s 50-year-old water infrastructure that will make it easier to move water in an environmentally-friendly manner.

Public Works seeks approval to retrofit the City’s lighting system

As part of the City’s efforts to retrofit its 6.6-amp series lighting system, Public Works is requesting the purchase of 111 transformers for a total amount of $64,661.94. This will upgrade one third of the City’s lighting system, allowing LED fixtures to be installed.

As a bit of background, there are currently 300 street lights in the community that are controlled by a 6.6-amp power supply. Light bulbs are no longer made for this system, and the specialized kits that are used are expensive and unreliable. A permanent solution would involve a conversion to a 120-volt system, which would require the City to replace all the conduit and wiring attached to the street lights. This would require a budget of over three million dollars. To keep the existing system operational until a funding source is found, Public Works is proposing the purchase of a special transformer that would allow each street light to use a standard voltage lighting fixture. This would also allow the City to use LED fixtures, which provide more consistent illumination, a longer lifespan and reduced energy costs.

Staff from Public Works is recommending that the City Council approve the purchase order of $64,661.94 for the new transformers.