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Norwalk approves $100,000 pedestrian-and-bicycle safety grant and hires three on-call grant managers
Summary
The Norwalk City Council on Aug. 19 adopted a $100,000 pedestrian and bicycle safety grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety and approved three on-call grant-management contracts to expand the city’s capacity to secure and manage grants.
The Norwalk City Council on Aug. 19 adopted a budget amendment to accept a $100,000 Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Grant awarded by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) and approved agreements with three on-call grant-management firms to support future grant strategy and compliance.
Rita Ruiz, Public Safety Department staff, told the council the Office of Traffic Safety awarded the city $100,000 to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists. The grant requires no local match and will be appropriated in the fiscal year 2025–26 budget for eligible expenditures, Ruiz said.
“Back in July, the Department of Public Safety applied for the grant and the California Office of Traffic Safety awarded the city of Norwalk a $100,000 in funding to support the program,” Ruiz said.
Councilmembers praised the award and asked staff to maintain outreach and enforcement on high‑risk corridors such as Studebaker and Alondra.
Separately on the consent calendar, the council approved on-call grant-management contracts to secure external capacity for grant identification, application writing, post-award compliance and related work. Public services staff reported they received 16 proposals and recommended awarding agreements to three firms: Avantgarde Corporation, South Star Engineering Consulting Inc., and Blaze and Associated LLC. The contracts are for an initial three‑year term with two one‑year extension options; work will be assigned by task order.
Glenn Cowell, who presented the contract item, described typical tasks including compliance for federal projects such as HSIP (Highway Safety Improvement Program), coordination of disadvantaged/disadvantaged-business-enterprise outreach, invoice documentation for reimbursements, and project closeouts.
“This is to acquire three firms capable of supporting grant identification, strategy, development, and preparation and post award compliance,” Cowell said. Staff estimated per‑task contract values based on past usage and said funding for services will be included in the FY 2025–26 public services budget as needed.
Both measures passed on the council’s roll-call votes with no local-match requirement for the OTS award and no immediate general-fund impact for the on-call services beyond previously budgeted amounts.
