The City Council accepted $850,000 in federal funding Tuesday to help plan a new job-training and education facility at Pasadena City College (PCC).
The proposed two-story building would contain as much as 55,000 square feet and offer training in professional, technical, health care and skilled-trade occupations, according to a city staff report.
The new facility will provide alternative pathways of training and education in professional, technical, health care and skilled trades professions and vocations.
The funding was secured by U.S. Rep. Judy Chu through the federal fiscal year 2024 Community Project Funding program and will be administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Interim City Manager Matthew Hawkesworth will accept the grant and execute a subrecipient agreement transferring the funding to PCC.
The money will not pay for construction. Instead, it would cover “soft costs,” including environmental review, design and other professional services needed before construction can begin.
PCC will contribute funding toward construction and seek additional money from state sources and private philanthropy, the report said. It did not provide an estimated construction cost, project schedule or precise campus location for the proposed building.
The City Manager’s Office consulted with Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD), PCC and private organizations while assessing potential locations. City officials concluded that PCC had a site suitable for the proposed facility.
The recommended subrecipient agreement would be awarded without competitive bidding under a City Charter provision covering contracts with other governmental entities. Staff is also seeking an exemption from the city’s competitive-selection process after determining that the arrangement would serve the city’s best interests.
The City Manager’s Office fiscal year 2027 operating budget will be amended by recognizing and appropriating the $850,000 grant in the city’s General Fund.
The proposal was routed through the council’s Finance Committee before reaching the full council. Staff said the project would support the council’s strategic goals of strengthening Pasadena’s economy and residents’ quality of life.
Here are the remaining items on Tuesday’s consent calendar.
Pasadena Extends Bus Shelter Advertising Contract Through 2028
The city will continue receiving as much as $360,000 annually from advertisements displayed at city bus shelters under a two-year contract extension approved by the City Council Tuesday.
The agreement will extend the city’s contract with Outfront Decaux Street Furniture LLC through Aug. 31, 2028. In addition to selling advertising, the company maintains and cleans the shelters and responds to emergency repair and cleaning requests.
“At $300 per shelter per month, Pasadena has one of the highest per shelter revenue contracts in the region,” the Department of Transportation said in a staff report.
The arrangement covers as many as 100 advertising shelters, with Outfront paying the city a guaranteed flat rate of $300 per shelter each month. The resulting revenue supports Pasadena Transit and is deposited into the city’s Proposition C Local Transit Fund.
The contract does not affect the General Fund, according to the report.
Outfront is responsible for shelter maintenance and upkeep, including trash removal and routine cleaning. The city may also use as much as 10% of the available advertising space for public service announcements.
Several city departments use that space, which staff valued at between $108,000 and $120,000 annually.
The city’s original contract with the company was awarded in 2000 and expired Aug. 31. Transportation officials recommended the temporary extension while the city evaluates the future of its bus shelters and other street furniture.
The review is expected to consider updated shelter designs, additional shade, advertising technology, market demand and the competitive landscape. A consultant hired in February is conducting the assessment and helping the city develop the scope of work for a future request for proposals.
During the extension, officials expect to complete the assessment and revenue valuation, develop and release the request for proposals and conduct a competitive procurement process for a new bus-stop furniture agreement.
Staff said keeping the existing contract temporarily would preserve both the advertising revenue and the maintenance services while that work is completed.
The staff report compared the city’s guaranteed revenue with agreements involving Burbank, Glendale, Inglewood, Long Beach, Temple City, Torrance and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Pasadena’s annual average of $3,600 per shelter was the highest among the agencies listed.
Burbank ranked second at an average of $2,788 per shelter annually, followed by UCLA at $2,056 and Temple City at $1,924. The comparison was based on 2025 data.
The extension is exempted from the city’s competitive-selection process on the grounds that it serves Pasadena’s best interests.
Transportation officials said the agreement supports the city’s goal of making it easier for people to travel without cars. Advertising revenue can help pay for transit operations as well as zero-emission vehicles and supporting infrastructure.
“The extension of the contract allows for the transit shelters to remain in place, maintained and cleaned, with revenue generated by the shelter advertising to be utilized for the transit system,” the report said.
$3.9 Million Water-Main Replacement Contract
The City Council awarded a nearly $3.9 million contract to replace century-old water mains beneath portions of Villa Street and Colorado Boulevard.
American Pipeline Services of Monrovia submitted the lowest qualifying bid of $3.52 million. The 14-month contract includes a $351,963 contingency, bringing its maximum value to $3.87 million.
The project would replace approximately 4,704 feet of cast-iron water mains with 12-inch ductile iron pipe. About 3,450 feet would be installed beneath Villa Street between Hill and Palo Verde avenues. Another 1,254 feet would be installed beneath Colorado Boulevard between Patrician Way and Melrose Avenue.
The Villa Street pipes were installed in 1923 and 1927. The Colorado Boulevard pipes date to 1921 and 1940, according to Pasadena Water and Power (PWP).
Work on Villa Street is expected to begin in October and finish in April. Construction on Colorado Boulevard would begin after the Villa Street work is completed, with the entire project scheduled for completion in July.
The new mains will improve reliability while maintaining required water pressure, velocity and fire-flow capacity.
Funding will come from the Water Distribution Mains capital improvement budget.
$3 Million in On-Call Surveying Contracts
The City Council awarded three surveying firms contracts worth as much as $3 million combined to support public construction and private development projects over the next five years.
BKF Engineers, Psomas and Tetra Tech Inc. will each receive an on-call contract with a maximum value of $1 million under a recommendation from the Department of Public Works.
The firms will provide specialized services that the city cannot perform with existing employees because no staff members possess the required state surveying qualifications, according to a city report.
Services will include topographic and utility surveys, boundary surveys, construction staking, preparation of legal descriptions, preservation of survey monuments and engineering work involving public rights of way. The consultants would also review subdivision maps submitted for private developments.
A selection committee composed of Public Works and City Manager’s Office employees evaluated the companies based on experience, technical competence, availability and references. Pasadena-based businesses received five additional points under the city’s local preference rules.
BKF Engineers, based in Burbank, received the highest score at 87.7. Pasadena-based Tetra Tech followed with 86.7, while Pasadena-based Psomas scored 86.
Dudek, another Pasadena company, finished fourth with 85.3.
City officials said the three recommended firms demonstrated experience in municipal surveying, subdivision-map review, right-of-way engineering and construction staking.
Assignments will be distributed based on their complexity. Routine work could be assigned directly based on qualifications, availability and cost. The city could request project-specific proposals from the three firms for larger or more complicated assignments.
The contracts will run for four years, with an optional one-year extension available at the city manager’s discretion.
Private developers would fund subdivision-map reviews through deposits submitted to the city. Surveying work connected to city construction would be paid through the relevant projects in Pasadena’s Capital Improvement Program.
The contracts do not guarantee that the entire $3 million will be spent. Work would be authorized only when services are needed and funding is available.
Pasadena Reports $1.15 Billion in Funds Under Management
The city held more than $1.15 billion in investments and other managed funds at the end of June, with city finance officials reporting enough readily available cash to cover upcoming expenses.
The city’s pooled investment portfolio included $135.7 million in overnight, short-term investments as of June 30, nearly twice the $70 million liquidity target established by the city treasurer.
That balance, combined with anticipated incoming revenue, gives Pasadena a “strong liquidity position” to cover budgeted expenditures over the next three months, according to a quarterly investment report received by the City Council Tuesday.
The report is informational and does not include a staff recommendation or proposed expenditure.
Pasadena’s total funds under management had a market value of $1.152 billion at the end of the quarter, down approximately $1.18 million from March 31.
The city’s main pooled investment portfolio increased by about $12.1 million during the quarter, reaching $843.8 million. Investment earnings totaled approximately $6.2 million, while deposits, credit card receipts and tax revenue were offset by payroll, vendor, debt-service and utility payments.
Investments held by fiscal agents declined by $13.7 million, largely because of debt-service payments and withdrawals from general obligation bond proceeds for Central Library project expenses.
The city withdrew approximately $10.4 million in bond proceeds for the library project during the quarter. Trustee accounts also decreased by about $5.3 million after debt payments involving the 2008 Paseo bonds and 2016 Rose Bowl bonds.
The city estimated the General Fund’s investment balance at $93.2 million. Pasadena pools money from more than 100 internal funds to increase purchasing power and simplify investment management.
The portfolio had an effective duration of 2.41 years, within the city’s historical target range of 1.5 to 2.5 years.
Finance officials said the portfolio complied with the city’s fiscal year 2026 investment policy and state law governing municipal investments. Market values are obtained monthly through Bloomberg Financial System and Interactive Data Corp., an independent securities-pricing service.
The pooled portfolio’s earnings rate stood at 4.11% in July. Staff said the yield has tripled over the past two years and could increase moderately depending on future Federal Reserve decisions.
The report also listed unemployment in June at 4.8% in Pasadena, compared with 5.3% in Los Angeles County and 4.2% statewide.
$3.2 Million for Workforce Programs
Pasadena will receive more than $3.2 million in federal workforce funding to expand job training, employment assistance and layoff-prevention services for adults and young people.
The City Council authorized a two-year contract with the California Employment Development Department Tuesday. The money would support programs administered by the Foothill Workforce Development Board from July 1 through June 30, 2028.
The city’s allocation under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act is $808,267 higher than officials projected when the fiscal year 2027 budget was submitted in April.
The increase was calculated through a state formula that considers the local population, poverty and unemployment rates, according to a city staff report. Pasadena will be required to increase its enrollment and service goals because of the additional funding.
The proposal would restore two grant-funded positions that were removed from the budget because of previous funding constraints.
A limited-term career services caseworker will help manage the expected increase in clients and service demands. A limited-term management analyst would oversee the budget, provide administrative support and help ensure compliance with federal grant regulations.
The federal Department of Labor provides the workforce funding to California, which distributes it to local workforce areas.
Programs supported by the money include career counseling, occupational training, job-search assistance and employment-related support for unemployed and underemployed adults.
Low-income young people facing employment barriers can receive case management, work-readiness training, mentoring and paid work experience.
The Foothill Workforce Development Board also works with state employment officials to assist businesses and employees affected by planned layoffs. Rapid-response services help workers navigate unemployment benefits and workforce-development programs.
Under the layoff-aversion program, staff members meet with businesses considering workforce reductions and attempt to identify training or other services that could help retain employees.
Approving the agreement amends the City Manager’s Office fiscal year 2027 operating budget by recognizing and appropriating the additional $808,267. The grant does not require matching city funds.
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