City Council Preview: A Robot, New Trail Project and Removal of Museum Artifacts

The Gilroy City Council has several interesting measures on the agenda for tonight's 6 p.m. meeting.

Under the consent agenda, the council will submit their application to the State of California Natural Resources Agency to secure a California River Parkways Grant that, if accepted, would allot $1,039,670.00 for the construction of the Ronan Channel Trails Project.

The trail project would convert an existing creek-side maintenance road that's currently closed to the public into a public trail designed for bicyclists and pedestrians. The project would also provide a trail connection between the San Ysidro Neighborhood Park that would go through the Gilroy Premium Outlets and the offices located to the north, and would continue through the Tenth Street shopping area to the south, according to the city's agenda packet. 

Removal of Museum Artifacts

Also, under the consent agenda is the deacession, or formal removal, of artifacts from the Gilroy museum.

The idea of removing some artifacts turned up after a 2010 conservation assessment that deemed the museum's storage space inadequate for the size and quality of the museum's artifacts.

Items are being removed in compliance with the museum's collection policy, which looks at four factors:

1.  Non-relevance to the Gilroy Museum's collection focus
2. Condition of an artifact
3. Surplus or duplicate artifacts
4. Acquisition of a better example

Deaccessioned items will be disposed of through a variety of means, including auction sales, exchange programs with other museums, loans to schools or other institutions and some items may be disposed of depending on their condition.

Grant Funding for Robotex Avatar Micro Robot

Under new business, the council will motion to approve a memorandum to secure grant funding to purchase a Robotex Avatar Micro Robot for the Gilroy Police Department.

The GPD doesn't have anything like the robot, which would be used to gather information regarding the layout of areas that could be dangerous because of differing hazards, among other things. 

The robot, which would be housed at the Gilroy police station, would be a regional asset because it would also be available to neighboring law enforcement agencies, Sgt. Chad Gallacinao of the Gilroy Police Department said.

The cost of the robot would be approximately 25,000, but the city should be reimbursed 100 percent through a federal grant, according to the agenda packet.

Meetings are held at the council chambers, at 7351 Rosanna St. For more information, view the full agenda packet here.