Atherton awarded a contract to demolish the town library at a City Council meeting on Wednesday evening (Oct. 17), as the town moves forward with plans to rebuild its civic center.

The City Council awarded the contract to Central Valley Environmental for $326,786. The town is set to start demolition on the existing library building in November.

The 2 Dinkelspiel Station Lane library shut down on Oct. 13 to move to a temporary location on the same lot. The temporary portable library opens Oct. 22, at 10 a.m.

The town expects to complete the new library in 2021.

Also approved at the meeting:

The council, as part of the consent calendar, authorized staff to prepare a preliminary engineering concept design report for a proposed stormwater capture facility project at Cartan Field at Menlo College.

It also hired MIG as the consultant to prepare an environmental document for the proposed Cartan Field facility.

The council voted 4-1 to purchase three e-Citation devices from Tyler Technologies, the publisher of Brazos e-Citation software, to provide the Atherton Police Department with software, equipment, training and service. Patrol and traffic officers will use the software to issue traffic and other citations.

The town estimates the technology will save it $20,868 annually, according to a staff report. The technology will cost the town $27,837 in its first year, the report says.

The town would start with three e-Citation devices to make sure the technology works well, but Atherton Police Chief Steven McCulley said he anticipates expanding the program in the next fiscal year.

Vice Mayor Bill Widmer, who voted against purchasing the devices, said he would like to see the whole cost of adding more devices in the years to come given that the town has to manage costs for the civic center project as well.

The department can report back a few months into implementing the technology to update the City Council on how it's working, McCulley said.

Watch the full City Council meeting here.

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