The City Council approved a $3.4 million new fire station project bid by Merco Construction Engineers in Camarillo. The building will cost 20% more than originally estimated.
Arcadia's proposed city budget will be about $24.4 million, up 8.9% from the $22.4 million 1985-86 budget, according to a report from City Manager George Watts.
City of Arcadia receives over $1.5 million in annual revenue from Santa Anita Park, according to a report from Keyser Marston Associates, which was commissioned for the city's Economic Development Division. Over the next five years, the racetrack is estimated to generate $7.5 million in sales tax, pari-mutuel revenue and property tax. According to the report submitted in the fourth quarter of 2019, Santa Anita Park is responsible for 1,160 jobs annually.
The city council has decided to appropriate $35,000 toward the design of a light rail bridge over Santa Anita Avenue. This is to pay for early design work needed for an environmental impact report. The bridge project is expected to cost the city $10.7 million which may come from a bond. The Construction Authority would pay $18.4 million bringing total bridge cost to $29.1 million.
Lava Man, with exercise rider Tony Romero, takes a jog on the Santa Anita Park race track's new surface, a Cushion Track that cost more than $10 million.
City and school elections will not be combined as originally planned, according to a proposal by the Arcadia City Council. It will cost the school district $16,000 for it's April school board election.
Arcadia could build a multi-purpose Senior Citizen Center for $1.5 million plus the cost of the property, according to a report submitted to the City Council by Warren Shaw, chairman of the Arcadia Senior Citizen's Commission. The report indicated that most of the money would come from state and federal sources, but that Arcadia would need to chip in at least $225,000 of matching funds. The center is necessary, Shaw said, due to a current lack of senior citizen facilities.
The city is asking residents to vote by mail by July 15 on a plan that would change the way the city splits the cost of street lighting. The city expects street lighting to cost about $1.15 million next year. Single-family homes on lighted streets would pay the most, $25.70 a year. Under the proposal, the assessments would no longer be tied to the value of a home but rather to the benefits that residents receive from street lights. If voters reject the plan, the current lighting assessment districts will expire in 2010. If that happens, the city will be responsible for paying the entire costs of street lighting.
Chen Suen becomes first Asian American fire chief in Arcadia. He takes over from Barry Spriggs who retired November 8, after 29 years of service. Suen is an Arcadia resident. He emigrated from Taiwan. He graduated from Arcadia High School, and attended Loyola Law School, UC Irvine, and Santa Ana College, before spending the last 18 years with Arcadia Fire Department.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed taking 8% of the property tax that cities receive. That would mean a loss of $1,202,358 for Arcadia. A chart shows how much other local cities may lose.
The Arcadia City Council plans to seek more than $1 million in damages against its original contractor for cost overruns in the City's Downtown 2000 revitalization project.
The City Council increased the bed tax, charged to customers staying in a hotel, from 8% to 10%. The increase will generate an estimated $140,000 a year, which would help to close the city's projected $2.2 million shortfall in the 1993-94 budget.
An ad hoc committee has been formed to consider the proposal to annex a new area. A staff report indicates there would be considerable cost to the city if annexation is approved. One area of particular concern is the deficiency in the water supply in the area.
With the passage of Governor Deukmejian's cost-cutting state budget, the Arcadia Board of Education will have to find more than $1 million to cut to get down to its estimated $24.2 million income and that, according to Superintendent Stephen Goldstone, probably means some employees will have to go.