COUNCIL OKS BUILDING PERMIT FOR NEW SIMI POLICE STATION : $12.6 MILLION NEW FACILITY PLANNED.Byline: Terry Kanakri Daily News Staff Writer The City Council approved a building permit Monday night for the construction of a new $12.6 million police facility. Construction of the new station is expected to begin in the fall with completion scheduled for the end of 1997. The council's unanimous vote emphasizes the city's commitment to maintaining public safety in Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. , said Mayor Greg Stratton. ``There's no question in the mind of the council that safety and the protection of our citizens are our No. 1 responsibility,'' he said. The 54,691-square-foot facility will be built on the northwest corner of Tapo Canyon Road and Alamo Alamo Eighteenth-century mission in San Antonio, Texas, site of a historic siege of a small group of Texans by a Mexican army (1836) during the Texas war for independence from Mexico. Street to replace the existing Cochran Street headquarters. Discussions for a new police station in Simi Valley began about 10 years ago, but it was given new impetus when the city's existing station was damaged by the Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. . The current station at 3200 Cochran St. is 25,100 square feet - less than half the size of the proposed new facility - and is too small for the department's needs. ``We're definitely in need of a new state-of-the-art facility,'' said Police Chief Randy Adams. The new police facility will serve as a headquarters for the city's Police Department and function as the Emergency Operations Center The Emergency Operations Center, or EOC, is a central command and control facility responsible for carrying out the principles of emergency preparedness and emergency management, or disaster management functions at a strategic level in an emergency situation, and ensuring . The plan also calls for the placement of a freestanding communications tower. The city plans to pay for the new police facility through four funding sources. The largest - $6,095,000 - would come from bonds issued by the City Council last year. About $3.5 million would come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical and the Governor's Office of Emergency Services emergency services Emergency care '…services …necessary to prevent death or serious impairment of health and, because of the danger to life or health, require the use of the most accessible hospital available and equipped to furnish those services' in the form of reimbursement of earthquake repairs to the city's existing police station. Development agreement fees and other sources will account for $2,117,037, and $905,000 will come from Community Development Agency bonds. |
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