CONTRACT AWARDED TO BUILD LAPD TRAINING CENTER.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Seven years after Los Angeles voters approved the funding, the city Public Works Board awarded a $22.6 million contract Friday to build a police driving and weapons training center in Granada Hills.

While decrying the delays that plagued the project, including most recently a lawsuit over the contract bidding, city officials said approval of the construction contract is an important step in improving training of Los Angeles police officers.

``This is key,'' said City Councilwoman Laura Chick, chairwoman of the council's Public Safety Committee.

The Emergency Vehicle Operation Center and Firearms Training Facility will provide three shooting ranges and a high-speed driver-training track that will simulate conditions on city streets.

The contract award comes less than a week after the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report critical of the Los Angeles Police Department for a disproportional number of injuries and deaths in police vehicle pursuits.

The study of the period from 1993 to 1995 found 870 officers, suspects and bystanders were injured in pursuits, and 30 people were killed.

LAPD officials have said that they have inadequate driver training facilities at Ontario Airport so that veteran officers are not getting the in-service training they need in emergency vehicle operations.

``Anything they can do to train people better is a good thing,'' said Councilwoman Ruth Galanter. ``There are concerns that a number of people have that in our rush to get more officers on the street, we may not be providing as complete a training program as would be optimum.''

The 43-acre Granada Hills training complex, which will also include a mock village for training exercises, is proposed for the flood basin west of Interstate 5, on the site of the old lower Van Norman Reservoir.

The Public Works Board voted Friday to award the $22.6 million construction contract to the partnership of America Kuk Dong Inc. and Advanced Architect Development Co.

The same firm had been recommended in April to get the contract for $15,000 less, but another company whose bid was $1.6 million higher filed a lawsuit challenging the bidding for not obtaining the proper minority participation documents from the winning bidder.

Rather than fight the matter in court, the board agreed to rebid the project, and the same partnership won the second round.

The lawsuit was not the only delay to a project funded by a bond measure approved by voters in 1989.

The city had to acquire the property from its owner, the Department of Water and Power, and conduct an environmental impact report.

``It's apparently, a very, very long process - partly negotiating among council districts whose going to get the facilities, partly negotiating to acquire property and get the environmental clearances,'' Galanter said.

For more than a year, the City Council and the DWP debated whether the LAPD should pay the DWP $1 for the land or full market value, finally settling recently on the $1-a-year lease.

LAPD facilities planner Steve Hatfield said the debate over how much to pay for the DWP land did not really add time to the process because it coincided with efforts to design the project and study its environmental impacts.

Hatfield said the training center will take 18 months to two years to build.

``We're delighted to be able to get under way after three years of design and 3-1/2 years of environmental review,'' Hatfield said.

The city is getting a head start on construction from the National Guard, which has begun clearing the site of brush and rocks as part of a training exercise, Hatfield said.

Councilman Mike Feuer noted that he is chairing a committee that has begun addressing concern about how long it takes to building projects funded by the voters.

The process needs to be streamlined so that voters can have confidence in approving future bond measures, Feuer said.