Year of Decisions Is Awaited in Simi : Government: City officials are optimistic about a healthy 1995. In coming months, they hope to decide the fates of several key projects.

Will 1995 be the year Simi Valley finally gets its own mall? Will work be completed on the now-stalled Cultural Arts Center? And how about working to move the city’s police force out of cramped quarters and into a new station?

With any luck, city leaders are hoping to answer these questions over the next 12 months with a resounding yes.

Barring any major disasters on the scale of January’s earthquake, the year ahead should be one of the healthiest for Simi Valley, council members agree.

Already, sales tax revenues are rebounding from the recession, up 10% over a year earlier. And 1994 brought new business to the city, including a Warner/Electric/Atlanta distribution warehouse.

“Obviously, we don’t have a crystal ball, but I think everyone is pretty optimistic about the coming year,” Mayor Greg Stratton said. “We’re making good progress on our earthquake recovery, and we’re seeing signs that development is going to pick up. So we’re looking forward to a very good year.”

In fact, as Simi Valley enters its 26th year as an incorporated city, Stratton is planning to launch a project for the next quarter-century of cityhood.

The plan, called Vision 2020, would include discussions with residents on the future of the city and studies of older cities similar to Simi Valley.

Stratton said he will propose Vision 2020, which he expects would cost about $30,000, at a council meeting in late January.

“Looking just one year ahead at a time really doesn’t give you the kind of perspective that will keep your city in good shape,” Stratton said. “I think this is the perfect time to take a long look at where we’ve come from and where we’re heading.”

One of the city’s major goals in recent years has been the construction of a first-class mall on 126 acres of prime hillside overlooking the city.

Proposed more than two decades ago, the project was well on its way toward construction in 1991 when the recession hit and the developer backed out.

With the project stalled since then, the city in December, 1993, bought a 32-acre parcel of the land zoned for the mall, hoping to ease the way for a development firm.

Recently, a developer has expressed interest in the project, meeting several times with city officials, Deputy City Manager Don Penman said.

“It is very possible we could have a new developer signed on to this project in the coming year,” said Penman, who said he could not yet reveal the name of the potential builder. “All signs are that we are going to see some real progress.”

A second major project, and one that the city hopes to see completed in 1995, is the Cultural Arts Center on Los Angeles Avenue.

One of the few city efforts that caused contention on an otherwise collegial council, the $2.6-million project to restore a 1920s church was approved in March.

Councilwomen Sandi Webb and Barbara Williamson opposed the 300-seat theater, saying private money, not public funds, should pay for the arts.

But it was the project contractor, not unhappy council members, who prompted the city to halt work on the arts center last week.

The Van Nuys-based contractor in charge of the job was fired after performing substandard work and failing to pay subcontractors for several months, Deputy City Manager Bob Heitzman said.

Within two weeks, the bond company that insured the contractor will hire a new firm to finish the project at no additional cost to the city, Heitzman said. Completion of the work could be delayed several months, from February to May.

“Even though we had hoped to finish the work in February, we had scheduled the official opening for May, to give ourselves a buffer,” Heitzman said. “So we’re still in pretty good shape.”

The third large project the council plans to focus on in the coming year is the construction of a new police station to replace the overcrowded, quake-damaged quarters on Cochran Street.

The city plans to build the new station on one of three sites at City Hall or across the street on property owned by the school district.

In coming months, a committee made up of council members Webb and Lindsey Paul Miller will begin looking for an architect to design the new station, which could be built within three years.

“This coming year is going to be very important for this project,” said Miller, who served as the city’s police chief before being elected to the council in November. “What we have to do is lay a solid groundwork so that we avoid delays and make sure the rest of the project goes smoothly.”

In addition to the major development concerns facing the city, some council members said they intend to focus much of their energy on completing other projects.

Councilman Bill Davis said he is especially concerned about repairing roads damaged in the quake, building more housing for poor senior citizens and upgrading the city’s flood control channels.

“These are all things I’ve been concerned about for quite some time,” Davis said. “I think my New Year’s resolution for 1995 will be to see to it that they get taken care of.”

Meanwhile, Councilwoman Webb vowed to launch her own pet project, Operation Pet Save, to ensure that cats and dogs in Simi Valley wear identity tags.

A self-proclaimed cat lover with four felines of her own, Webb has persuaded a company that makes tags and electronic ID chips to print thousands of brochures urging owners to tag their pets.

“This might not seem like such a big deal,” Webb said. “But when you think of all those lost cats and dogs that end up being put to death, you realize how important it is.”