COC to partner with Lyft to ease parking demands

Students traveling to and from College of the Canyons’ Valencia campus will soon have a $5 discount on their ride if they are traveling with Lyft.

The partnership with Lyft, and the Lyft Code Order Form Agreement, is expected to be approved by the Santa Clarita Community College District Board of Trustees, which oversees COC, during its meeting Wednesday.

Through the pilot partnership with Lyft, students, staff and visitors will have a $5 discount on their ride if they are traveling to or from the Valencia campus. The cost of the agreement will not exceed $88,000 and is included in the district’s 2017-18 tentative budget.

The partnership aims to meet the shortterm parking needs of students, staff and visitors, as COC works to construct its new parking structure on campus.

Vineyard

The Board of Trustees is also expected to declare the Vineyard Grapes at the Valencia Campus as surplus property before approving an agreement with Pulchella Winery for procurement of the grapes.

This is the second year the district expects to harvest grapes from its vineyard. Last year, the college offered the grapes to three local winemakers and selected Pulchella Winery for sale of the surplussed grapes.

The district sent a letter to the winemakers on Aug. 15 requesting offers for the grapes and received one response from Pulchella Winery.

Through its agreement, Pulchella Winery will produce wine from the grapes at their expense and will be responsible for all aspects of producing the wine and any additional costs for supplies and equipment.

The winery will also provide the district with 300 bottles of Zinfandel wine, valued at $4,750, which was produced from the grapes.

Auxiliary Site

The Board of Trustees is also expected to approve a resolution to authorize a temporary lease of a building, located at 27125 Sierra Highway, for student instruction.

COC will lease the temporary-use buildings for three years from Z&Z Commercial Properties.

The space available for rent, located in the Sierra Crest Center on Sierra Highway in Canyon Country, will include three classrooms and three offices.

It will be used for offsite instruction of non-credit career technical education and English as a Second Language courses.

The lease will be funded mostly by the Adult Education Block Grant and will allow the college to offer up to 70 additional classes per year.