After thorough review and discussion, the Hermosa Beach City Council Tuesday night unanimously voted to approve a work plan comprising various community projects and efforts for the 2004-05 fiscal year.

The plan outlines 18 items that reflect recent decisions in regard to the city’s budget. City Manager Steve Burrell drafted the plan as a way to gauge what items the council considers its biggest priorities and how much staff time it would like to expend on each one.

In the second of two public workshops held in early June, the City Council reviewed its $31.7 million preliminary budget and agreed to further explore a few revenue-generating measures along with possibly cutting expenditures within the budget.

At this time, the council agreed to develop a grease interceptor program as a way to keep the sewers clean, which was one of the items in the plan. This effort proposes to add grease traps to all commercial businesses in the form of a program that will remove grease before it makes its way into city sewers.

“This work plan task will be completed during the first quarter for presentation to the City Council and the report will set forth the implementation guidelines,” said Burrell.

Another recommendation to save money within the budget was a street light removal program as a way to reduce the costs of street lighting and landscaping districts assessed to property owners.

“Instead of increasing the assessment, this project, if completely implemented, will reduce expenditures over a two-year period in order to bring the costs and revenues back in line,” said Burrell. “The effort will involve bagging approximately 50 percent of the street lights and turning off the power for a period of several months.”

The project is expected to commence in the immediate future and its results will go up for review by the council in November to determine if it wants to permanently remove street lights and poles in a process that would begin in the first quarter of 2005.

“I certainly have no problem discussing this item, but I think we need to dispel the myth that the city is going to go dark with this project,” said Mayor Art Yoon. “There is a fear in the community that entire blocks are going to go without lights and that’s certainly not the direction of the council.”

Another cost-savings effort within the budget is the proposal to determine whether the city will employ an ambulance transport system through the use of a private company. The council agreed to take a closer look at hiring a private contractor for its ambulance services in town, which is expected to come before the municipality in September or October.

“The potential that this represents may result in a cost saving or at least cost containment for this aspect of the fire/ paramedic services that are provided by the city,” said Burrell. “It also will allow for a second simultaneous paramedic response since the city will not be transporting the patient to the hospital. There are a number of issues that will be covered in this project and once the report is completed, will allow for full input from the City Council and community.”

At its last workshop, the council also voted to look at possibly installing smart meter devices in all of the silver parking meters in town that would generate about $1 million and will also debate on whether it wants to turn parking lot “A” into metered parking.

The smart meter system contains technology that determines when a car has left a parking space and resets the meter to zero, requiring each new driver to put new money in the meter. However, with the system, drivers are usually allowed five free minutes upon entering the space and usually five grace minutes after the paid time expires.

“There are a number of issues to be considered and it is likely that this effort will be split into two phases,” said Burrell, “the smart meters being the first task and the review of the parking lots the second. This project will begin during the first quarter and be completed in the second quarter. Implementation will follow if any changes are approved.”

During the workshop, the council also agreed to explore implementing a public art tax at the request of Public Works Commissioner Jean Lombardo. The tax would require developers of a commercial, industrial or residential project to allocate between 1 and 3 percent of the cost for construction to hire an artist to create a piece of art such as a sculpture, mural or even a gateway sign. If the developer does not wish to hire an artist, the amount is then allocated into a city fund that is later used on art or beautification efforts around town. The tax would require a change of the city’s zoning ordinance.

Tuesday night, the council voted to direct this project to the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, which will explore the effort in detail and report its findings to the council at a later date. In a related matter, the council also agreed to pass on the drafting of a historic preservation ordinance to the Planning Commission. The group will research the notion of establishing a comprehensive historic preservation program and the costs associated with it since the city will most likely have to hire a consultant.

The council also agreed to wait on its efforts related to the upper Pier Avenue project until the volunteer committee in conjunction with the Planning Commission have completed work on updating the city’s general plan. The project, which the City Council assigned to the Public Works Commission, calls for wider sidewalks, two travel lanes (one in each direction) and a median strip.

The City Council also voted to continue with its efforts in exploring the idea of whether or not to take full liability for Pacific Coast Highway within the city limits.

In February, the council unanimously agreed to draft a formal letter of its intent to request that Caltrans relinquish its authority over Pacific Coast Highway so that the city may continue with its banner program. The road is currently considered a state right of way, and the city recently violated Caltrans’ laws related to the prohibition of advertising by displaying the banners along the highway.

If approved, the city will have to fund future maintenance of PCH. The city is already funding much of the maintenance, including traffic and parking enforcement and street sweeping, but would have to fund the repaving of the highway when needed. However, cities that do control once-state right of ways usually receive a substantial amount of funding for such maintenance from the state. This funding will allow Hermosa Beach to begin on a long-overdue beautification project on the area.

“I think that there may be a benefit here and I really don’t have a problem spending $30,000 to look into this,” said Councilman J.R. Reviczky. “It shouldn’t hinge on the banner program one way or the other; it should hinge on whether this is a good deal for the city.”

According to Public Works Director Rick Morgan, Caltrans notified the city that its 4-foot-by-40-foot banner hanging over Pacific Coast Highway and First Street violated its policies.

Caltrans sent the city a notice in last October that if the city refused to remove the banner within 30 days, it would be subject to a $10,000 fine. The city relocated the banner to another approved locale at Aviation Boulevard and Prospect Avenue. Caltrans prohibits private advertising on banners within the state right of way that includes Pacific Coast Highway.

The council will vote on whether it wants to proceed with the effort in October when it will vote on whether to fund a study that would be completed in March 2005.

The council also agreed to form a subcommittee comprising volunteers who wish to help in gathering information on ways to generate revenues to build and remodel the city’s fire and police stations, the latter last renovated in the early 1990s.

“I think it’s important to form a committee because we first need to get the community behind us,” said Councilman Peter Tucker. “I think people in this community want their own police and fire and, for the city to function we are probably going to have to float a bond to do some of this work, but to me the money is well worth the investment.”