Loading...
Resolution No. 6924 1 RESOLUTION NO. 6924 2 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VERNON APPROVING AND ACCEPTING A LETTER OF INTENT BY E. RUSSELL WERDIN TO PRESENT TO THE CITY OF VERNON THE PROPERTY AT 3700 S. SOTO STREET AS A GIFT TO BE USED AS A HISTORICAL MONUMENT TO THE CITY OF VERNON AND ITS FOUNDERS 3 4 5 6 WHEREAS, E. Russell Werdin has submitted a Letter of 7 Intent to construct a museum building on the property known as 8 3700 South Soto Street in the City of Vernon and to donate it to the City; and 9 10 WHEREAS, John B. Leonis, Tom Furlong and J.J. Furlong 11 were the founders of the city of Vernon in 1905; and Ernest R. Werdin, Sr. in 1912 established the L.A. Paving Company, Inc., in 12 13 the City of Vernon; and WHEREAS, E. Russell Werdin, over a period of years, has 14 15 preserved and restored many of the early pieces of construction equipment owned and used by the L.A. paving Company and has completely restored other pieces of equipment used in the 16 17 18 business, and has collected records of the business operation, 19 photographs, and other historical information relating to the City 20 of Vernon since the early 1920's; and 21 WHEREAS, Mr. Werdin proposes to relocate the above- 22 referenced historical equipment and information to a museum 23 building if it is constructed at 3700 S. Soto Street in the City 24 of Vernon, and to donate the real property, the new building, and 25 all of the historical equipment and information to the city of 26 Vernon; and 27 WHEREAS, this building and its contents would be an 28 outstanding historical monument to the City of Vernon and its 1 WHEREAS, E. Russell Werdin has requested that the city 2 Council of the City of Vernon express its intent to accept this 3 gift subject to negotiation of a formal agreement setting forth 4 the terms and conditions for operation and maintenance of the 5 museum. 6 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF 7 THE CITY OF VERNON AS FOLLOWS: 8 SECTION 1: The City Council of the City of Vernon 9 hereby finds and determines that the recitals contained 10 hereinabove are true and correct. 11 SECTION 2: The City Council of the City of Vernon 12 hereby express its intent to accept the gift of the museum at 13 3700 S. Soto Street in the city of Vernon from E. Russell Werdin 14 in accordance with the Letter of Intent, subject to negotiation of 15 a formal agreement, and the City Council hereby orders said Letter 16 of Intent to be received and filed by the City Clerk. 17 SECTION 3: The City Clerk of the City of Vernon shall 18 certify to the passage of this resolution, and thereupon and 19 thereafter the same shall be in full force and effect. 20 APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 18th day of February, 1997. 21 24 AT~L-------. /#7~- ~' ,"/' - ~ ~ EONIS C. MALB RG, Ma or 22 23 25 BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk 26 27 28 -2- 1 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) )ss 2 COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) 3 I, BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk of the City of 4 Vernon, do hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution, being 5 Resolution No. 6924, was duly adopted by the City Council of the 6 City of Vernon at a regular meeting of the City Council duly held 7 on Tuesday, February 18, 1997, and thereafter was duly signed by 8 the Mayor of the city of Vernon. 9 ~ _/4-~ 10 BRUCE V. MALKENHORST, City Clerk 11 (SEAL) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -3- r?-- E. RUSSELL WERDIN wu,).T<f@f!!nr7f5'[j) 177 RIVERSIDE DRIVE ';' <J J LS !l NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92663 "1 L. , (714) 673-1237 (619) 778-8204 Grry , ADMflV/0-r--.. GIrt ~ I l'A OF OFFICE 1 (/ November 10, 1995 Mr. Leonis Malburg, Mayor and the Honorable City Council of the City of Vernon City Hall 4305 Santa Fe Avenue Vernon, California 90058 LETTER OF INTENT (Letter of Intent to Leonis Malburg, Mayor, and the Honorable City Council of the City of Vernon, California) Re: The proposed construction of a museum building on the property owned by E. Russell Werdin and known as 3700 South Soto Street, City of Vernon, California. A. BACKGROUND 1. Ernest R. Werdin, Sr., father of the undersigned, E. Russell Werdin, was a life- long friend of Mr. John B. Leonis, one of the founders of the City of Vernon in 1905. 2. Ernest R. Werdin, Sr., had aquired several properties in the City of Vernon from Mr. John B. Leonis, known as 2900 Santa Fe Avenue, 3700 S. Soto Street, and 3200 E. Vernon Avenue. 3. In 1912, Ernest R. Werdin formed the L.A. Paving Company, Inc. and constructed and operated an asphalt plant on the property known as 2900 Santa Fe Avenue, and conducted his general engineering construction fIrm from this location under the California State Contractors License No. A-727. NOTE: E. Russell Werdin still has the same active state contractor's license No. A-727. 4. The property known as 3700 S. Soto Street was operated as the equipment yard and stables which sheltered over 25 mules that were used in the operation of the construction company. NOTE: The Los Angeles River cuts diagonally across the property at 37th and Soto Streets, and in the early days, sand from the L.A. River bottom was loaded into mule-drawn dump wagons (one of which is on display) and hauled to the asphalt plant at 2900 Santa Fe A venue to be used in the manufacture of asphalt paving materials (picture of plant on display). 5. At a later date during the early 1920's, two new asphalt plants were constructed on the property known as 3200 E. Vernon Avenue. (Photographs on display). Mr. Leonis Malburg November 10, 1995 Page Two E. RUSSELL WERDIN 177 RIVERSIDE DRIVE NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92663 (714) 673-1237 (619) 778-8204 6. After my father passed away on October 6, 1932, the L.A. Paving Company continued to operate for a short time at this address until the property was sold back to Mr. John B. Leonis. 7. After the property at 3200 E. Vernon Avenue was sold, E. Russell Werdin con- tinued to operate the L.A. Paving Company from the property known as 3700 S. Soto Street, which he had subsequently acquired. 8. E. Russell Werdin conducted the L.A. Paving Company construction operations (where he had installed a new asphalt paving plant) at 3700 S. 80to Street, until the Los Angeles County Road Department constructed a bridge over the L.A. River and extended Bandini Boulevard across the bridge and through the L.A. Paving Company property, which the City of Vernon had acquired by the right of eminent domain for road purposes. 9. At this point, the L.A. Paving Company had to move its operations to a plant site in the City of Carson, and its offices to 3600 Wilshire Blvd., City of Los Angeles. 10. E. Russell Werdin then leased the remaining portion of the property at 3700 S. Soto Street to the Chevron Company, who constructed a service station at this site. 11. The Chevron Company recently informed me that they were not going to renew their lease and would remove all of their service station equipment and would restore the property to its original condition. B. CURRENT STATUS I. E. Russell Werdin, over a period of years, had preserved and restored many of the early pieces of construction equipment owned and used by the L.A. Paving Com- pany since 1912, and completely restored other pieces of equipment used in the business, as well as the office furniture and fIxtures and records of the business operation, photographs, and other historical information relating to the City of Vernon since the early 1920's. 2. All of the equipment, photographs, and memorabilia pertaining to the L.A. Paving Company and the City of Vernon is currently housed and maintained in two buildings in Costa Mesa, California. C. PROPOSED PLAN FOR RELOCATING SAID EQUIPMENT, ETC., KNOWN AS "THE WERDIN MUSEUM" TO THE PROPERTY KNOWN AS 3700 S. SOTO STREET, VERNON E. Russell Werdin proposes the following: ,.. Mr. Leonis Malburg November 10, 1995 Page Three E. RUSSELL WERDIN 177 RIVERSIDE DRIVE NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92663 (714) 673-1237 (619) 778-8204 1. Construct a new building to house all of the equipment, etc., at 3700 S. Soto St. 2. Convey by gift, conforming to all legal requirements and procedures, the land, building, and all contents housed and stored in said building, to the City of Vernon at some future or present time, depending on circumstances, details to be set forth in future documents. 3. It is our intent and purpose to retain and preserve in perpetuity said property and its contents as an important historical monument to the development and growth of the City of Vernon. 4. Upon acquisition oftitle to the above mentioned property by the City of Vernon, it would then be maintained and preserved by the City of Vernon in perpetuity. 5. After acquisition oftitle by the City of Vernon, the City would grant permission to E. Russell Werdin and/or his designated agent for access to the property and building for the purpose of inspection and/or addition of important artifacts and/ or memorabilia to the collection. 6. A special room would be provided in the building for the City of Vernon, if it should elect to do so, to add any important documents, photographs, etc., that the City would like to have on permanent display. D. CONCLUSION 1. When the City Council of the City of Vernon would pass a resolution of intent to accept such a gift as outlined above, E. Russell Werdin and his attorney William Hanley would then proceed to prepare a formal proposal for such a gift of property, building, and contents to the City of Vernon. 2. Upon mutual acceptance in writing of such formal proposal of the gift to the City of Vernon, E. Russell Werdin would proceed to have an engineering and archi- techtural fIrm familiar with the requirements of the City prepare plans for the construction of said building. 3. It is our desire and intent to have this museum building reflect and preserve the historic and signifIcant part that the City of Vernon had in the growth and development of this area. 4. It is also our intent to work closely with the City of Vernon and its various departments and offIcials to design and construct a museum building that would be an outstanding historical monument to the City of Vernon and its founders, John B. Leonis and the Furlong Brothers. " Mr. Leonis Malburg November 10, 1995 Page Four E. RUSSELL WERDIN 177 RIVERSIDE DRIVE NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92663 (714) 673-1237 (619) 778-8204 Thank you for your consideration of this proposal. We trust that this project will be of benefit to all parties concerned. Very truly yours, ~ '.400-- ....... - ,., . ~- E. Russell Werdin ~ ---...