Bell Gardens considers up to $70K in holiday decorations
BELL GARDENS, CA — Bell Gardens is looking to make the city a little merrier and brighter this Christmas—potentially to the tune of nearly $70,000.
Some holiday cheer is already accounted for. The city annually budgets decorations for City Hall and the Veterans Park Memorial, while new holiday banner poles have already been approved separately and are expected to be installed by contractor ABM by Nov. 20.
The City Council discussed going further Aug. 24, considering two LED holiday banners, decorations at five additional city facilities, and more décor along streets and at city entry monuments.
Staff estimates the overall holiday package, including the city's regular City Hall and Veterans Park decorations, at $50,650 to $58,550 to rent or $62,650 to $69,900 to buy, including installation.
“The benefit of purchasing is that costs are lower in the long run but renting the decorations costs less initially. Both options will require additional labor costs for installation,” the staff report states.
The proposed expansion would bring decorations to the Dreamers Aquatic Center, Ford Park Recreation Building, Veterans Park Building, Neighborhood Youth Center and Public Works building.
The buildings could be lined with warm string lights along the roof, with a large 5-foot light-up wreath or bow out front and trees near the entrances wrapped in LED lights. Poinsettias could fill the planters, while Christmas trees could be placed inside each lobby.
The holiday cheer could stretch to the streets, too. The city’s roughly 50 center-median poles along major corridors could be wrapped in garland and decorated with 24-inch bows or wreaths. Bell Gardens also has 11 entry monuments at six locations that could get string lights around nearby trees and along monument walls, along with large wreaths or bows.
Councilmember Jorgel Chavez favored buying the décor outright. Staff said that option would also require the city to purchase a storage container.
“For the longest, (the) community has always requested more of the holiday decorations. Ideally, I would want us to go even further, for example, putting some sort of lighting on the trees,” Chavez said. “I think this is an investment in making our community feel happier during the holiday seasons.”
Mayor Miguel De La Rosa floated a festive and cost-efficient idea: making some of the city's roughly 50 median poles look like candy canes.
“Just as a cost-efficient alternative, kind of making those poles into candy canes, you know, red and white ribbons wrapped around,” De La Rosa said. “Something that wouldn’t require such an extreme overhead in cost, whether it be leasing or purchasing.”
Councilmember Francis De Leon Sanchez raised concerns about whether Bell Gardens could afford to expand its holiday decorations this year. The expanded decorations are not currently budgeted, and the city is projecting a $1.93 million General Fund deficit.
“When you drive through our city and then you go to some of our neighboring cities, they’re a little bit more festive than we are, and I get that,” De Leon Sanchez said. “But I just want to make sure that it’s within our means to do that.”
The council ultimately agreed to seek itemized proposals for new decorations, with prices for both renting and buying, before deciding how much it makes sense to add this year. The candy cane idea made the cut, too.
“Just want to say, I like the idea of the candy canes,” Councilmember Marco Bárcena added with a grin. “Very cute.”
Staff will now seek formal bids before bringing the actual costs back to the council for a final decision.
