Forde Shorts

No snow, no problem – A slightly windblown snowman made out of sprayed white tumbleweeds beckons from the front yard of a home on D Street. The promised big winter year-end snowstorm dusted the higher elevations of Bear Valley but otherwise skipped the Tehachapi area, which was cold and brilliantly clear as 2015 made its appearance. According to MountainBase weather station (www.mountainbase.com), located in West Golden Hills, temperatures dropped to 16.2 degrees Fahrenheit at 7 a.m. on Dec. 31 and to 15.4 degrees F at 5 a.m. on Jan. 1. Daytime highs were 42.6 and 49.7 degrees F. The wind chill factor on Jan. 1 made it feel like 11 degrees F at 6:12 a.m.

A remarkable achievement – Tehachapi City Engineer Jay Schlosser, in his recent presentation to the Tehachapi Kiwanis CLUB, said the transformation of an old garment factory on C Street into the state-of-the-art Tehachapi Police Department headquarters cost almost $70,000 less than the original estimated budget. The budget at the award of the contract to local firm Aspen Builders was $4,436,000. The total project cost at completion was $4,367,920. The project contract, given a one-year timeline, was awarded on June 24, 2013. The notice of completion was secured within one day of that timeline, on June 25, 2014. The 25 change order requests constituted 4.6 percent of the construction contract. The former, cramped police department on East F Street next to City Hall was 3,082 square feet. The new facility is more than 10,000 square feet and includes a community room, future dispatch center and ample parking. The Tehachapi Police Department consists of Chief Kent Kroeger, three sergeants, one detective, 12 officers, two support and records personnel, one community service officer, one code enforment officer and volunteers.