A dirt lot alongside the El Camino College police station is all the progress made so far in a years-long effort to replace the building’s aging power generator.
With the original generator first installed in the 1990s when the station was built, a modern replacement was needed.
El Camino Police Chief Michael Trevis said the generator couldn’t handle the department’s current power requirements during a visit to The Union newsroom in the Humanities Building on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
“It only generates [power] for a few things and not everything, like dispatch,” Trevis said. “You know, you need to keep dispatch up and running completely.”
El Camino already bought the new generator, but progress has since been stalled for years when it came to the installation.
“It’s been sitting over at [the facilities department] ever since,” he said.
Trevis said there has been some work done for the generator, including digging out a section of the police station to prepare for the generator’s installation.
El Camino contracted out the project to a private company, GA Technical Services Inc., for $211,000 in August 2021.
While some work has been done, there is still much more to complete in preparation.
“When it’s going to be placed in, they haven’t told me,” Trevis said. “They’re working on the infrastructure, the utilities of that thing.”
