A brief power outage in Council Chambers kicked off Monday night’s City Council meeting, which featured a round of approvals for various city projects. Read on for a recap:
▪ The council awarded a $288,000 contract to KASA Construction Inc., for the second phase of the West Washington streetscape median project. KASA Construction will install three 437-foot medians between Centinela and Boise avenues. This marks the final phase of three-year-long project to improve the physical and economic quality of the area along West Washington Boulevard.
▪ The much-anticipated Exposition Light Rail in Culver City is expected to open late this year or early 2012. The council established an agreement between itself and its corresponding redevelopment agency to utilize $59,750 to establish a business improvement district that would finance a shuttle service connecting the Hayden Tract, the Culver City Light Rail Station and downtown. The money would be repaid through a special fee levied on the proposed business improvement district.
The free shuttle, which would transport Metro passengers from the station at the intersection of Washington and National boulevards to downtown, is part of the city's push to promote downtown businesses.
▪ The city agreed to a $10,000 sponsorship deal for the annual IndieCade Festival. IndieCade is the brainchild of the Creative Media Collaborative, an alliance of the computer and video game industries. The festival showcases the best of independent games—selected from a pool of submissions—throughout the year. The games are on display and compete for awards during the festival, which takes place Oct. 6-9.
The City Council awarded Sialic Contractors with a $4 million construction contract to create three additional lanes on southbound Sepulveda Boulevard from the Jefferson Boulevard and Playa Street intersection to Green Valley Circle. Crosswalks at Green Valley and at Jefferson and Playa will also be installed.
As part of this project, Sepulveda southbound from Berryman Avenue to Playa Street/Jefferson will be re-striped and on-street parking eliminated to add a third southbound lane within the existing street width. In addition, during construction, afternoon peak hour parking restrictions (from 3-7 p.m.) will be in effect on southbound Sepulveda between Sawtelle Boulevard and Berryman.
