The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 7, No. 20 - May 18, 2017 Inside This Issue Calendar of Events.............2 Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................6 Crossword/Sudoku.............6 Food.......................................5 Legals....................................7 Real Estate...........................8 Sports....................................3 TerriAnn in Torrance..........4 Weekend Forecast Torrance Barnes & Noble Favorite Teacher Contest Winner Barnes & Noble Del Amo’s My Favorite Teacher Contest ran from January 4 to March 1 and gave middle and high school students the opportunity to tell their communities how much they appreciate their teachers. Students nominated their favorite teacher by writing essays, poems or thank-you letters. The photo shows Community Business Development Manager Noel Zimmerman; the winning essay author Griselda Chicas and her teacher Ms. Ruth Brown of Harry Bridges Span School; and Barnes & Noble Store Manager Edward Urzua at the recent store event honoring the winners. Photo by Melissa Mellati. • Free Digital Delivery Herald Publications is now offering to send you a link to your favorite community newspaper every Thursday morning! The emails will also include a list of upcoming local events. Just email us at: web@heraldpublications.com and tell us which local community newspaper you’d like. Simple as that and free!!! Friday Sunny 71˚/58˚ Saturday Sunny 74˚/61˚ Sunday Mostly Sunny 75˚/60˚ Transit Department To Submit Grant Application For MOSIP Funds By Cristian Vasquez On Tuesday, the Mayor and City Council approved for the Torrance Transit Department to submit a grant application to the Federal Transit Administration for $3,194,900 for funds that would be appropriated to the department’s operating budget. “This is the maximum allocation that transit can request and in the details in the body of the item are the various products we are looking to carry forward,” James Lee with Transit Department said. “Some of these are continuation of existing projects such as maintenance, remodeling of facilities and our aboveground tank replacement. Some of them [projects] are brand new.” The Transit Department will use Federal Highway Administration Toll Credits and funds from the Municipal Operator Service Improvement Program (MOSIP) as a local match (but not from the general fund) in the amount of $4,000. This federal assistance is available to the department for the operation and maintenance of its programs, old and new. The single largest expenditure listed on the staff report is preventative maintenance ($2,250,000) of the City of Torrance’s bus fleet. “We wish to build a storage facility,” said Lee. “We need to purchase a new air compressor and there are some electronic components we would like to add to the facility as well.” Funds will also be allocated to aboveground tank replacement ($270,000)--a current project replacing and improving the aboveground tanks for the department at the Torrance City Yard; the transit facility remodeling phase 2.1 ($277,700) for the department’s administrative offices at the City Yard; storage facilities ($250,000) for department items such as engines and transmissions; the department’s single point sign-in system ($60,000) that will enhance the bus operator sign-in system for faster driving assignments; the new air compressor ($50,000); and payroll interface software ($10,000) that will allow for the synchronization and interface capabilities with the Kronos Payroll System. Of the projects on the list, the new solar-powered, self-compacting trash receptacles were most discussed during the Council meeting. “One surprise item that we got about three weeks ago, we applied for and received a small grant for approximately $20,000 to purchase solar-powered, self-compacting trashcans,” Lee said. “We would like to purchase a couple for the transit center as well as for placement at the Del Amo Fashion Center.” The trash bins are the only items in the application that will require matching funds ($4,000), with the FTA providing the outstanding $16,000. The funding totals in the FTA grant application are consistent with the amounts provided by the Los Angele County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The monies will purchase five trashcans to be placed at the Torrance Transit Park and Ride Regional Terminal and the Del Amo Fashion Center. “We chose the Del Amo Fashion Center because there is high visibility and it’s a well-lit and well-secured area that is monitored,” said Lee. “We can monitor the feasibility of placing cans there long-term and we want to test how durable they are.” See City Council, page 7
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