Westminster City Council members postponed a decision last night on whether to share the cost of a traffic study of the Route 97 corridor near the county air business center.
The request for cost-sharing had become confused in some council members' minds with a request for a $25,000 city contribution to the planned expansion of Marada Industries Inc., an auto parts manufacturer that is adding facilities on the east side of Route 97 to its existing plant in the air business center.
The two requests are unrelated, County Planning Director Edmund R. Cueman told the council. Mr. Cueman did not put a price tag on the city's proposed share of the traffic study. He said the county Industrial Development Authority has pledged $25,000 toward the study, and he is unsure of the total cost.
The other request, which came in a July letter from IDA Chairman Russell Sellman to Mayor W. Benjamin Brown, asks the city to "provide $25,000 as its share of the cost to assure an additional 50 jobs and about $2 million in added tax base."
Mr. Cueman said the traffic study is needed to assess what might have to be done to county roads to relieve congestion as the air business center develops.
He said Westminster will benefit from development there because the center has been annexed to the city.
The council scheduled a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 14, to discuss the traffic study request.