In a few days we’ll be celebrating a new year: 2024. What can we expect in Brea for the coming year?
For one, the Brea Police Department’s Integrated Crime Center will be taking shape, thanks to a nearly $6 million grant they received from California’s Board of State and Community Corrections.
At the City Council’s Dec. 19 meeting, which lasted only seven minutes, the City Council approved spending $1,995,008 in the current fiscal year for software and hardware for the ICC. That purchase will include an Avigilon Control Center, drone software, fixed video cameras, license place readers and a Command Central Aware system. The city will cut a check for the $1.9 million and then be reimbursed in full from the BSCC grant.
Brea Police Chief Adam Hawley can’t just pull funds from the grant for purchasing equipment for the ICC, but must first have council approval. The city will continue to be reimbursed by the BSCC for additional costs to be incurred through December 2026. So the PD has until then to fund more equipment, hiring personnel and other expenses to get the ICC up and running. We’ll be hearing more about it in 2024.
Something else we can expect to hear about in 2024 is permanent supportive housing for Brea. You may have read about in the city manager’s October memo where he noted that the city was awarded a $6.03 million grant from CalOptima Health for the construction of a permanent supportive housing project in Brea at 323 N. Brea Blvd. That property is city owned.
Before we get all NIMBYish about it, here are a few facts about what permanent supportive housing really is and is not. Jason Killebrew, Brea’s community development director, is really the city’s expert on housing types and the laws governing them and explained the differences to me.
For one, permanent supportive housing is NOT a homeless, emergency or temporary, shelter. It is affordable permanent housing for the working poor whose income qualifies them to live and pay…
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