Huntington Beach approves self-service dog wash for Central Park
A new self-service dog wash station is coming to Central Park in Huntington Beach.
San Bernardino-based Spas For Paws will install, maintain and monitor the station, which will be in the dog park section of Central Park, near Edwards Street and Inlet Drive.
The City Council approved the station Monday night with a five-year agreement in which the city will get 15% of the gross revenue. City officials say the facility will use environmentally friendly materials and likely be cashless to deter theft and vandalism.
Spas For Paws must get various entitlements and building permits before it can install the station. The city estimates it will be up and running by late spring or early summer.
City’s fiscal year changed
To help address the rising costs of employee pensions, the council approved changing the city’s fiscal year.
Rather than planning its budgets for Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, Huntington Beach will adjust to July 1 to June 30.
The change, city officials say, will align Huntington Beach with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s fiscal calendar.
According to a city staff report, the alignment will allow the city to make pre-payments to CalPERS each July, saving about $900,000 in the first year and some $1 million each year afterward.
City officials said Huntington Beach has been the only city in Orange County using an October-to-September fiscal year and one of only seven municipalities in California to have it.
They also noted that the change will cause the cost of the city’s auditing contract to go up by as much as $10,000 a year because the auditing will be done in peak season. They also estimate spending $10,000 to $20,000 to update City Hall’s financial systems to accommodate the change.
‘Surf City’ service mark extended at store
The council extended a licensing agreement for the Surf City Store on the pier to continue using the “Surf City, Huntington Beach” service mark.
The mark, similar to a trademark, is on various items, including clothing, posters and key chains.
Huntington Beach has had the service mark since the 1990s and will receive 5% of monthly gross revenue on items sold at the store through 2023.
H.B. says no to ‘small cell’ regulatory changes
The council approved a resolution opposing a potential federal law loosening local discretion to regulate “small cell” technology on taxpayer-funded property.
The technology is a type of wireless communication system that has a shorter range than traditional cell towers.
The resolution comes months after Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 649, which would have loosened local control of the technology in California.
Twitter: @BradleyZint
UPDATES:
3:15 p.m.: This article was updated with the estimated time frame for the dog wash opening.
This article was originally published at 10:15 a.m.
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