Los Alamitos Ca Public Works

A housing improvement program for low- and moderate-income residents is at the top of the list of community projects city officials hope to launch in fiscal year 1995-96. The projects would be financed with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grants, which are designed to revitalize neighborhoods, spur economic growth and provide facilities and services for low- and moderate-income families.

The City Council has approved the acquisition of property by eminent domain for the Katella Avenue Smart Street Project, with work scheduled to begin by November. The city will take about 4,510 square feet of land from properties on Katella Avenue, west of Lexington Avenue. The $4-million project calls for street widening, bus turnouts, right-turn lanes and sidewalk repairs. Information: (562) 431-3538.

New 100-gallon plastic trash cans are being delivered to residents this week as part of an automated garbage pickup system that will begin next week. "There's a lift on the truck that automatically lifts it and dumps it, then puts it back on the curb," Assistant City Manager Gerard Goedhart said. "Los Alamitos is the fourth or fifth city in Orange County to go to the automated pickup.

Residents will have more cans to haul to the curb each week, beginning in August. The new refuse and recycling program, created through an agreement between the city and Consolidated Disposal Service, is designed to help the city meet its state-mandated recycling goal. California law requires that cities reduce the waste they send to landfills by 50% this year.

A new budget allocation by county supervisors will be used to create an automatic front door and to repave a parking lot at the local library. The $37,500 budget increase will also be used to buy new furniture and books. The overall budget is now nearly $305,000 for the 1999-2000 fiscal year.

The City Council today will consider whether the city should take over sewer services from the Los Alamitos Water District for households within city boundaries. The water district, formed in 1952, eight years before Los Alamitos was incorporated, provides sewage collection services to about 8,000 households in Los Alamitos, Rossmoor, and portions of Seal Beach and Cypress.

The City Council gave tentative approval this week to an ordinance to prohibit the taking of recyclable trash from curbsides by anyone but the city's contract trash hauler. The anti-scavenging ordinance coincides with the start of the city's residential recycling program on Oct. 1, Assistant City Manager Gerard Goedhart said. "Our fear is that individuals will go by and pick up the materials that have been put out, taking them for their own personal gain," he said.