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Fillmore council votes to grade park
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More from Other NewsA contract for remedial grading at a proposed Fillmore park on the southwest corner of C and River Streets is expected to be awarded Aug. 1.
The Fillmore City Council voted 3-0 Tuesday night to allow City Manager Tom Ristau to award the contract to the lowest bidder for no more than $1.9 million for the grading, which will be done to ensure consistency in soil. Councilmembers Cecelia Cuevas and Scott Lee were absent.
Most of the remedial grading will include removing and stockpiling the site's top soil, which will be saved for the park to grow greenery, including grass and trees, Bert Rapp, director of Public Works, said in an interview Tuesday night.
Imported fill soil will be added, and then the removed top soil will be added onto the fill soil. The work will be done to raise the site one foot above the 100-year-flood elevation.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board requires the city to have the site raised above the elevation because it will hold treated water.
When elevated, the site will be protected from a 100-year flood, Rapp said.
The flood, also called a 1 percent flood, has a chance of occurring any year within 100 years.
If a severe storm occurs, or if the city's water treatment facility has a mechanical failure, the park site could be utilized for emergency holding and disposal of reclaimed water, Rapp said.
The grading should be complete by December. City officials hope the park will be done by late summer of early fall next year.
The park, which will be 22 acres, is planned to have several features including basketball courts, a playground area and an 8,000-square-foot skateboard park.
In 2009 or 2010, five or six acres could be added to park after the city's current water recycling facility site is vacated, according to Ristau, the city manager.
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