City Council to discuss traffic, computers

The Costa Mesa City Council is not scheduled to address any new or old business during its Tuesday meeting, but its consent calendar includes an Eastside traffic project and buying more than $400,000 worth of employee computers.

The traffic project for East 19th Street, between Newport Boulevard and Irvine Avenue, is intended to “address speeding concerns by narrowing the street and enhancing its residential nature,” according to city documents. It will include “chokers” containing landscaping like the ones installed on Broadway last year, as well as two entry signs.

Federal grants are helping to fund the project. The council will consider approving $93,995 toward the initial design work and allocating about $9,000 from elsewhere in the budget toward the effort.

The council is also slated to approve about $403,000 worth of Hewlett-Packard desktop computers from Cerritos-based Golden Star Technology (GST) Inc. The city is buying 435 computers at $675 each and 455 monitors at $170 each.

The computers that will be replaced are from 2003 and are “beyond their life expectancy,” according to the council’s report.

“Desktop computers are the most visible and heavily used pieces of computer equipment,” according to the report. “Upgrading of computers will allow employees to be more efficient in their everyday duties.”

City officials had approved a bid for the computers by another firm, JPK Micro Supply, earlier this year, but JPK’s total pricing did not include sales tax. An agreement couldn’t be reached after that discovery, city officials said, and consequently the computers went out for bid again.

Also, the family who owns the Grant Boys gun and outdoor equipment store at 1750 Newport Blvd. will receive one of the Mayor’s Awards. Their business opened in 1949.

The regular meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 77 Fair Drive. It is the only council session scheduled for the month. The Aug. 13 study session and Aug. 20 regular meeting have been canceled.