Shopping center, police station on agenda A shopping center complex and the purchase of a site for a future police station are on the Merced City Council agenda for Monday night.
The regular City Council meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers on the second floor of the Merced Civic Center, (City Hall), 678 W. 18th St.
Council will consider approval of the environmental impact report for a 77-acre regional shopping center on Mission Avenue near Highway 99.
The 601,126-square-foot complex would include retail stores, restaurants, a hotel and gas station. Also planned for the site are 178 multi-family housing units and a fire station.
The project received unanimous approval from the Planning Commission.
Council will consider the purchase of the 5.5 acre Merced Sun-Star site at 3033 G St. for $1.62 million. The City will lease back the building to McClatchy Newspaper, Inc. for $2,500 a month.
The City plans to build a new police station to replace the building on West 22nd constructed in 1959. The current station isn't large enough for the Department and is outdated for today's policing. The City doesn't have funds to build the new police station, so it will hire consultants to see what the public support for a sales tax increase would be and explore other methods of financing a station.
The Council will meet at 5 p.m. to confer regarding the appointment of a Finance Officer and to confer with property negotiators regarding the sale of the Merced Sun-Star site.
City Council meetings are streamed live on the Internet. A link to the live meeting is on the City's web site at https://cityofmerced.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx. Videos of previous meetings can be found at that link, and are tied to each agenda item. Those services are in addition to the live broadcast of the regular meeting on Comcast's Government Channel 96.
The Council agenda is posted online at www.cityofmerced.org and is available outside the chambers prior to the meeting. Request to Speak forms are available at the meeting or can be downloaded from the City's website. Cards must be turned in to the City Clerk in order for a person to be recognized by the Council.