Officials hail opening of new city yard

Torus Tammer

The new Fountain Valley city corporate yard officially opened its

doors for business on Monday.

The new yard, located at 17300 Mt. Herrmann St. in Fountain Valley,

covers 29,390 square feet and houses 63 employees from the city’s Field

Services Department, including the streets, public landscape, water,

fleet services and administrative divisions.

Field Services Manager Bob Kellison, said that the new digs, which

ended up with a price tag nearing $4 million, are going to help improve

his department’s efficiency city-wide.

“We are now housed under the one facility and have improved the

services we provide to the community,” Kellison said. “Already, you can

see that everybody is working together and you can see an improved morale

because of the new facility.”

On June 3, 1997, the City Council approved a project to remodel and

renovate the old Yellow Cab site on Mt. Herrmann Street into a new city

yard. Construction eventually got under way on June 30, 1999.

The previous city yard was located on a prime piece of property on

Ward Street, adjacent to the San Diego Freeway. It was at that location

since 1968, but City Manager Ray Kromer said moving the city yard from

Ward Street to a new location is something that has been in the cards for

some 20 years.

“The problem in the past was finding another location to replace Ward

Street. Fortunately enough, we were able to find the Mt. Herrmann Street

location a couple of years ago,” Kromer said.

City Administrative Services Manager Don Heinbuch, said it is great to

finally see a resolution to a project that so many people have worked

hard for.

“The city yard has been a project that the city, its residents and our

field services employees have been looking forward to for quite some

time,” Heinbuch said. “I am excited that the yard is complete and that

our employees have a new and modern facility to serve our residents.”