CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Neighbors back off bulldozer threat as home nears completion after 14 years.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Looks like the bulldozers might not be dispatched to raze Gordon and Mary Aughinbaugh’s Palos Verdes Estates dream house after all.

Last December, the Palos Verdes Homes Assn. threatened to go to court to gain possession of the 6,000-square-foot ocean-view home and tear it down. Because the Aughinbaughs had spent 14 years working on the house and had not finished it, they had run afoul of the powerful association’s rule requiring construction to proceed diligently, the association asserted.

But since then, most of the unsightly scaffolding has come down, the roof has been completed, drain pipes have been installed and paint has been applied. Since the house is nearing completion and is no longer an eyesore, the association has shelved plans to seize the home and demolish it.

“We have turned off the diesels,” association attorney Sidney Croft said last week.

The Aughinbaughs are reacting coolly to the news.

The couple attributes the slow construction of their home to petty demands by the association, which has the power to dictate changes in architectural design, among other things. And the demands, they complain, continue. The latest one calls for the removal of a dome-shaped skylight in favor of a flat one, Mary Aughinbaugh said.

“It’s been continued, pure harassment,” she said.

COP SHOPPING: The Lawndale City Council, concerned about the cost of the police protection it gets from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, is studying whether to contract instead with a neighboring city’s police department.

Prompting the move is news from City Manager John Nowak that the Sheriff’s Department will charge an additional $286,000 in the next fiscal year for the same amount of police service it provides today. That would bring the tab to $2.5 million.

Councilwoman Carol Norman said last week that the city can’t afford the increase and should “be a little creative” by looking elsewhere for police protection.

But Councilman Larry Rudolph disagreed, warning that Lawndale residents would be viewed as “second-class citizens” by another police department hired to protect them. That department’s “No. 1 concern is going to be (its) own city,” he said.

JUST STOPPING BY: Torrance Police Chief Donald E. Nash was seen Thursday afternoon boarding an elevator in City Hall--looking a little less tan but relaxed just three weeks after he had a blocked coronary artery cleaned out.

Nash, who is still on sick leave, simply “dropped by,” said City Manager LeRoy J. Jackson. The city manager declined to say if their chitchat touched on the chief’s long-rumored early retirement.

“That’s between the chief and myself,” Jackson said Friday. “No comment.”

Rumors of an early exit by Nash have circulated since it was reported last month that the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office was investigating his underpayment of sales tax on a classic 1957 Ford Thunderbird that he bought two years ago.

CHAMBER POT: Redondo Beach residents interested in drought-busting have a special treat in store. On the evening of June 24, a working model of a water-saving toilet--hooked up and ready to flush--will be put through its paces in the City Council chamber.

The occasion is a meeting of the city’s Resource Conservation Commission. Archie Snow, a member of the panel, last week stopped by the City Council and invited its members and the public to “come on down.”

Asked Mayor Brad Parton: “And sit on it?”

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

* Carson: Picking a float for next year’s Tournament of Roses Parade, the Carson City Council went with a design depicting teddy bears riding a stagecoach through the California desert. The proposal, by the Rose Float Assn. of Carson, had been rejected by the council last month. But the council bowed to the logic of supporters, who argued that the float fits the theme of next year’s parade--”Voyage of Discovery.”

* El Segundo: The El Segundo City Council approveda $46,406 contract to study the feasibility of installing a sound barrier along Imperial Highway to dampen noise from Los Angeles International Airport. The study will take seven months to complete.

* Inglewood: The City Council began weighing a proposed $139.9-million budget for 1991-92 that calls for increases in several city taxes, among them levies on hotel occupancy, apartment ownership and business licenses.

* Manhattan Beach: The City Council chose Kevin Kraus Contractors Inc. of Santa Monica to build the new roundhouse at the end of the municipal pier. The $500,000 project is part of the $2.8-million pier rehabilitation, which also includes new decks, rails and lighting. The building will house the city’s Oceanographic Teaching Station and a bait shop/snack bar. Construction begins in October.

* Peninsula: Palos Verdes Peninsula voters--with 70% in favor--approved a $16-million bond issue to double the size of the Main Library in Rolling Hills Estates, which serves all four cities.

* Rancho Palos Verdes: The City Council adopted a 1991-92 operating budget of $7.4 million, while officials warned of a looming financial crisis. (See story, B3.)

* Redondo Beach: Because of liability concerns, the City Council voted to evict all the boats anchored in the outer mooring of King Harbor except for commercial vessels. Scores of boats were moored in the area before the 1988 winter storms that damaged the Redondo Beach Pier, but since then the numbers have dwindled.

* Torrance: The city filed suit against El Camino College, challenging the college’s new $20 student parking fee. The city fears that students will gobble up parking spaces in surrounding neighborhoods as they seek to avoid the fee by leaving their cars off campus.

* Wilmington: Harbor Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores announced Thursday that she will appoint a citizens committee to make recommendations on how to revitalize downtown Wilmington. At a breakfast meeting, Flores also said she will not support Hiuka America Corp.’s proposed move from San Pedro to Wilmington unless the scrap metal company’s relocation is acceptable to Wilmington residents.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

* Hermosa Beach: City Council to vote on proposed ballot measures for the November election. Among the proposals: to limit building heights and restrict zoning densities citywide, and to zone the vacant Biltmore site 30% commercial and 70% residential. A citizens’ initiative to turn the Biltmore site into a public park has already qualified for the ballot.

* Inglewood: City Council to hold a public hearing Tuesday on the proposed 1991-92 budget.

* Los Angeles: City Council on Tuesday to consider an agreement between the city and the West Basin Municipal Water District calling for a massive project to recycle water from the Hyperion sewage treatment plant in Playa del Rey.

* Los Angeles: Recreation and Park commissioners to vote Monday on International Korean Veterans Memorial proposed for Angels Gate Park in San Pedro. Approval would clear way for state Coastal Commission to consider revised plan for the $3.5 million monument.

* Palos Verdes Estates: City Council to hold a public hearing Tuesday on the proposed 1991-92 budget.

* Rolling Hills: City Council to hold a public hearing Monday on the proposed 1991-92 budget.

* Redondo Beach: City Council to hold a public hearing Tuesday on the proposed 1991-92 budget. Last month, the city manager reported that the city will face an annual $2-million deficit unless spending is reduced.

* Torrance: City Council to decide whether to hire a consultant to study extending Del Amo Boulevard from Crenshaw Boulevard west to Madrona Avenue.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Gardena: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1700 W. 162nd St., Gardena. 217-9565. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated at 7 p.m. on the two following Sundays.

Hawthorne: 7 p.m. Monday, 4455 W. 126th St., Hawthorne. 970-7902. Televised on Channel 22 (Paragon) at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 6 p.m. Saturday.

Hermosa Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach. 318-0239. Televised live on Channel 3 (Multivision).

Inglewood: 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd., Inglewood. 412-5280. No cable telecast.

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, 548-7637; In Wilmington, 548-7586; In Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, 548-7664; In Westchester, 641-4717. Televised live on Channel 35; meetings repeated individually at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and collectively on Sunday at 10 a.m.

Palos Verdes Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 340 Palos Verdes Drive West, Palos Verdes Estates. 378-0383. No cable telecast.

Redondo Beach: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St., Redondo Beach. 372-1171. Televised live on Channel 8 (Century); repeated at 3 p.m. Wednesday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Rolling Hills: 7:30 p.m. Monday, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills. 377-1521. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North, Rolling Hills Estates. 377-1577. Televised live on Channel 3 (Dimension).

Torrance: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance. 618-5880. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon), and replayed at 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.