The Huntington Park City Council approved an award to Bedrock Group Inc. for construction work that will convert the annex building adjacent to the police department into a modern emergency operations center (EOC) and upgraded evidence storage and armory facilities.

City staff said the project is built around a $1,000,000 grant awarded through the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), with a required 25% city match (described in the staff report as $333,000 from ARPA). Staff said the remainder of project funding, to cover the combined scope, would come from Public Finance Authority monies. The staff presentation listed the construction contract with Bedrock as a $2,000,000 base award with a $300,000 contingency, for an approved project total of $2,300,000. Staff told the council that an earlier Bedrock bid had been $2.6 million but that scope adjustments reduced the contract to $2.3 million.

Police department presenters described the annex building as a long-underused city asset that could accommodate roughly 40% of the annex floor plan for EOC functions (about 80% of the first floor) and carry dedicated, secure space for evidence storage and a two-part armory. Staff said the EOC will provide centralized crisis command, modern communications and sustained incident-management capacity, and that the evidence and armory improvements will replace deteriorating storage containers currently in use. "The funding source for this grant award is the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services," the presentation said, and staff warned the council that the Cal OES award includes a firm final deadline; "if we do not leverage that funding and allocate that funding towards the project, the city will forfeit the million dollar grant," the presenter said.

Council members asked about procurement and contract details. Staff said the project was advertised on Planet Bids for three weeks, received one bid from Bedrock, and that Bedrock and its subcontractors are compliant with state DIR requirements. Staff clarified the contract is a construction contract, not a professional-services agreement, and said asbestos and lead testing will be performed as part of pre-construction work; the transcript records that the city had not yet completed asbestos testing at the annex building but expected tests to be done prior to construction.

Council discussion included requests to consider secondary community uses for portions of the EOC (for example, a briefing room that could host patrol briefings or public press events), and suggestions to incorporate community programming and resiliency education into long-term EOC use. Several council members also commented on the poor condition of current evidence storage and the urgency of replacing water-damaged containers.

During roll call on the contract award, Council member Macias abstained; Council members Martis, Sanabria, Vice Mayor Martinez and Mayor Maria Flores voted yes. The motion carried.

Staff said the project timeline responds to grant deadlines (the Cal OES grant was initially accepted on 09/01/2022 and the current final deadline was described in the presentation as May 31, 2026, after recent extension requests). Staff noted roughly $150,000 already spent on engineering and designs and said the new facilities are intended to be long-lived, with expectations for durability over decades and periodic technology upgrades. The council directed staff to proceed with contract finalization and pre-construction testing and to return with further updates as necessary.