By Brian CHERNICK

Glendale City Council passed a motion authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with a company that will provide the city with its first comprehensive bus stop maintenance service.

Currently there are 340 Glendale Beeline bus stops the city and 540 in total. The city will be initiating a five-year agreement with ShelterClean Services Inc. for bus stop and shelter maintenance at the locations within the city limits. The agreement is set at a maximum of $569,015 and includes an option to extend the agreement for two additional five-year periods.

Currently all bus stops, regardless whether a shelter or simply a pole and sign, are cleaned monthly by city cleaning staff. The agreement with ShelterClean would increase the frequency of cleaning based on need.

The Glendale Beeline serves the cities of Glendale and La Cañada Flintridge, as well as the unincorporated areas of La Crescenta and Montrose, operating on nine fixed routes.

The City Council also had a hearing on the 2017-18 fiscal year budget proposal.

The budget proposal includes approximately $215 million in revenues for the general fund resources, is to be derived primarily from city revenue in the form of general taxes including, but not limited to, property, sales and utility.

“[The city] anticipates a minimal budget gap of approximately $630,000, which is an improvement relative to last year when we adopted the budget with an estimated use of $1.0 million in fund balance,” according to the budget report. “This demonstrates that Glendale is stable, progressive and structurally balanced.”

The general fund is also seeing a 10% increase over the last fiscal year, primarily due to an increase in spending for hourly wages and overtime pay for the Glendale Police Dept.

Council members will be voting on the budget during the next council meeting scheduled on June 13.

  Brian CHERNICK