THOUSAND OAKS : Security Moves OKd for Old City Hall

Alarmed by vandalism of the old Thousand Oaks city hall on West Hillcrest Drive, the City Council has appropriated $30,000 to install chain-link fencing around the building and move a gate at the site.

The gate, now at the bottom of a hill, will be moved closer to the building to allow police to check the building more easily, Councilman Michael Markey said.

The move was the city’s latest effort to protect the building, which has been vacant for seven years. Last week, the council voted to declare the building unsafe to occupy. Anyone caught trespassing on the property can now be charged with a misdemeanor.

The fencing will be about 10 feet high and should deter all but the most determined vandals, City Manager Grant Brimhall told the council.

“They would have to use wire cutters,” he said. “Please don’t consider that an invitation.”

Also, a motion-detecting alarm system will be installed in the building.

Vandals had scrawled graffiti on the walls and had broken most of the building’s windows. Workers have now painted over the graffiti and removed the broken glass.