FULLERTON : Swap Meet, Depot on Council Agenda

The City Council today will consider Fullerton College’s proposed swap meet, raising paramedic fees and the design of a pedestrian bridge and other improvements at the city’s train station.

The swap meet would operate on weekends on the Fullerton College campus, near its athletic field. The meet is modeled after one at Cypress College, which has raised more than $1 million for the college over the last 10 years, according to Fullerton College Vice President Ronald L. Krimper.

The council also is scheduled to consider increasing paramedic subscription fees from $18 to $20 a year. About 73% of single-family homes subscribe to the paramedic program.

For those who do not subscribe for paramedic service, the council will consider raising the cost of basic life support services from $150 to $175 for a single call and from $250 to $275 for advanced life support services per call.

Council members also will reconsider design plans for the historic Santa Fe Depot near downtown Fullerton.

At a council meeting last month, residents and local businessmen complained for nearly two hours about renovations at the historic Santa Fe Depot that they contended were ugly, impractical and not similar to what had originally been approved.

Redevelopment Agency Director Gary Chalupsky agreed that “significant” changes had been made and took responsibility for those changes. The council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency, then halted some of the construction and sent the project back for review by city staff.

The staff now is recommending a decrease in the size of a large planter between the railroad tracks and the depot and the removal of a wrought-iron fence next to the parking lot.

Having a smaller planter would ease the movement of train passengers in the depot, the reviewers said, and removal of the fence would eliminate a so-called “dead-zone” between two walls that residents complained would have attracted trash and prowlers.

However, canopies above benches, something Councilman Chris Norby had argued were unnecessary because they would provide little shade, remain in the depot plans.

The design review committee also recommended that the landscaping, which many residents argued will hide the depot, should not be changed.

Council members also are scheduled to take up the design of the pedestrian bridge that would cross the tracks and link the north and south parts of the platform.

The council meeting begins at 4 p.m. at City Hall, 303 W. Commonwealth Ave. Members adjourn for dinner and resume their meeting at 7:30. For more information, call (714) 738-6300.