City Council approved lending the city redevelopment agency $1.2 million Tuesday to cover additional cost overruns with Downtown 2000 and other projects.
Downtown 2000, the $4 million revitalization project, will primarily affect Huntington Drive and First Ave. Huntington Drive will have more landscaping and lighting, while First Ave. will have angled parking and landscaping to be more pedestrian oriented.
City officials determined that Sulley-Miller is in gross violation of the Downtown 2000 project. In a unanimous vote, city officials terminated this company as contractor for the project.
Arcadia City Council voted 4-0 in favor of searching for a temporary contractor for the Downtown 2000 project. Striking workers have caused delays and fears of future health problems.
One year has passed since the Sully-Miller Contracting Co. filed a $2 million breach-of-contract suit against Arcadia, claiming the City illegally terminated it from the Downtown 2000 project.
City Council members voted 4-0 to change lighting plans and add a new storm drain system to the Huntington Drive streetscape project, changing the cost from $4.1 to $5.6 million.
The City will pay $1.25 million to the Sully Miller Contracting Co. to settle a breach-of-contract lawsuit the company filed after it was fired from the Downtown 2000 project.
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.
Downtown 2000: is the CFRP making a difference? In 1993, Arcadia City Council and the Redevelopment agency implemented the Comprehensive Revitalization Strategy and Program, a project designed to bring a new economic vitality to the downtown district. One of the main components of the program is the Commercial Facade Rehabilitation Program (CFRP), which provides financial assistance to downtown merchants for store-front improvements. Garlan Roberson received $11,000 from the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency for improvements to his business, Sullivan's Paints. Since the facade improvements, Roberson says business has increased significantly.
The city is fighting against paying an additional $400,000 in legal costs to Sully-Miller's attorney for the Downtown 2000 project in which the city cancelled the contract with Sully-Miller and settled for $1.25 million.
Arcadia City Council may declare the Downtown 2000 construction project a potential health emergency in order to suspend it's contract with striking workers and hire another firm to do the work until the strike is over.
The $4.1 million Downtown 2000 plan will restore the area along Huntington Drive from Santa Clara to 5th Avenue, as well as on 1st Ave. The project should start in June and be completed by the fall racing season.
Construction crews began digging up streets and sidewalks along Huntington Drive in June for the City's Downtown 2000 Renovation Project. Traffic jams, frustrated customers and declining sales have been the result.