BREA : Hearing Is Today on Planned Center

The City Council will have a special meeting at 4:45 p.m. today to hear from employees and residents concerning the fate of the $7-million Brea Community Center project.

Groundbreaking on the center was to have taken place in early December, but construction was put on hold in the wake of the Orange County bankruptcy. Brea had $9 million in the county-run investment pool when bankruptcy was filed Dec. 6.

The council will meet in closed session at 3:30 p.m. to discuss legal aspects of the county bankruptcy.

When the council holds its regular meeting at 7 p.m., a public hearing will be held concerning a proposal to retrofit lighting at the Brea Civic & Cultural Center with a more energy-efficient system.

Cost of the retrofitting is estimated at slightly over $158,000. A study has determined, however, that the new lighting system will save Brea more than $73,000 a year in electrical costs.

Other items on tonight’s council agenda include:

* A public hearing on the proposed sale of a 16,000-square-foot parcel owned by the Brea Redevelopment Agency. The property, located on the west side of Orange Avenue north of the Southern Pacific right of way, would be developed as an auto electric repair facility.

* A zoning ordinance amendment that would expand the Art in Public Places program to include the Carbon Canyon and Brea Towne Plaza Specific Plans. The art program requires new developments valued at $500,000 or more to include outdoor artworks that can be viewed by the public. More than a hundred works have been installed in Brea to date.

For more information on the council agenda, call City Hall at (714) 990-7600.