DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — City Council returned from recess last Friday, and this week holds a full slate of Council and committee meetings. Downtown's attention should be focused on filming and congestion.

MONDAY: At Public Safety committee, CF 08-2476 is a proposed ordinance adding new training requirements to highrise evacuation codes. Back in November we noted that the Building Owners Management Association is in favor, despite some new fees.

At 3pm, the Ad Hoc River committee will hold a joint meeting with the Planning and Land Use Management committee to discuss river-related items, including the creation of an overlay zone and supplemental use district.

The Budget & Finance roadshow heads down to the Expo Center in Exposition Park for a 6pm meeting. As usual, the city's financial state is the main topic. Of note: $56 million is being transfered from the Special Parking Revenue Fund to cover general obligations.

TUESDAY: Council is in session, and four committees are meeting.

Jobs, Business Growth & Tax Reform Committee will be the latest stop for the debate over filming. On the docket is CF 08-1783, a motion that started as a tax credit inquiry but now contains a number of provisions specifically for Downtown. Back on the table are infrastructure nodes, kiosks with power hookups designed to lessen the use of generators on shoots (an idea we last heard about in 2006). Two recommendations deal with parking issues Downtown, with an eye toward offering shoots cheap or free parking and base-camp sites on government owned lots.

WEDNESDAY: Council and two committees are in session.

At Council, CF 09-0427 instructs city departments to explore the use of Twitter to disseminate information. LAFD can run the classes.

Item 23 is CF 08-1783, the filming motion from Tuesday.

At Transportation committee, CF 09-0099 is a discussion of the items to be submitted for Metro's 2009 Call for Projects. We'll run through the Downtown projects inside before the meeting.

CF 08-3754 looks to bring two "smart" transportation projects to Downtown. The first, the Downtown Intelligent Parking Management (IPM) Project, would install wireless sensors in 5,500 on-street parking spaces Downtown, automatically adjusting meter rates based on parking demand. The system would be operational by the start of 2011. Second, the Downtown Los Angeles Transit Priority System (TPS) would provide signal priority for buses on Figueroa between Adams and Wilshire and on Flower between Wilshire and Olympic. As part of the project, the bus lane on Figueroa, currently only active in the mornings, would be extended to PM service as well. System is proposed to be live August 2010.