HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideNovember 7.2016
Insider's Guide
From: 0ff,Dave
Sent: Thursday, November O3.20l64:l3PK4
Subject: Insider's Guide for MONDAY, November 7, 2016
A happy Thursday evening to you.
Here's what's onthe agenda for the Newport Beach City Council meeting nnMONDAY, |nthe spirit
of Throwback Thursday (Monday), the Council will move its Tuesday meeting to Monday (one time only), in order to
keep people from watching the Bills v.3eahavvksgame. Actually, no, but | think agood handful ofus(like George
Schroeder) remember when Council meetings were regularly scheduled on Monday nights (up to 1999-2000 or so). Yes,
the Council at the time was annoyed at missing Monday Night Football and said that we should meet on Tuesdays, like
most cities. Sovvedid.
This meeting ismoved back toMonday because this is the first time ever (that | can determine) that the U5Presidential
Election and aCouncil meeting have fallen onthe same night. |naddition tubeing distracted bvreturns, the Civic Center
itself isapolling station. Speaking of the US Presidential Election, a local realtor sent out an e-mail this week entitled,
"Thinking ufmoving tnCanada? VVecan sell your home!!" And they had somewhat unflattering pictures ofboth major
candidates on their ad. |hadtoohuckle—averyshrevvdbipartisanpitch. 9
Back tobusiness. More detailed Council meeting information isatthe end ofthe Guide. | don't summarize every item
on the agenda, so make sure you look at the City Clerk's agenda page to read the whole agenda if you'd like.
Thenight's , and seems like kwill bealot shorter than | first pontificated about. |rea|k/
only see two items worth noting now:
A public hearing on the Implementation Plan (113) to the Local Coastal Program (LCP). I won't spend more time
explaining what this is, but if you missed it at the 10-25 meeting AND you live in the Coastal Zone, it's worth re-
readingtheGuidefromtvvovveeksaQo. |fadopted atthis meeting, the LCP/|Pneeds asecond reading atan
upcoming meeting too.
A public hearing on the adoption of changes to the California Building Standards Code with Local
Amendments. What does this mean? |tmeans that our regular updates tomany construction codes are ready to
roll before the start ufZO17. If you're an architect, a builder or in the construction industry at all, hopefully you have
participated inour Building Division's workshops inthis regard. None ofthe changes are too earth'shatterinQ,and
this is a regular effort every three years to update these codes ( Building, Residential, Fire, Electrical, Mechanical,
and Plumbing tnname afevv). |fyou have any questions orconcerns about this action, please contact our Building
Division staff. This too will require asecond reading ifpassed nnMonday night.
Asfolks now know, the proposed Auto N atio n/Porsche project was set for this meeting, but the applicant withdrew
the project from consideration. Those planning onattending the meeting for that purpose can stay home and
watch the Bills lose.
Some random notes:
Standard time begins. Remember tomove your clocks back anhour between Saturday night and Sunday
morning. |t'sa good time to replace smoke detector batteries, ton.
Road Paving! Two items are worth your attention.
o First |sIrvine Avenue. This ioapavement and median beautification project and it's underway now. Public
Works and its contractor (All American Asphalt) began work on Monday with median turf and concrete
removals for the existing medians between Santiago Drive and University Drive. Currently, the inside lanes
inboth directions may beclosed between 7:UUa.m.and 4:38PM. Our staff will monitor traffic conditions
and adjust lane closures accordingly. This isa$1.6Mproject that will both improve the street pavement and
also install a new water -efficient irrigation system with California -friendly landscaping. You may recall that
water was turned off for the grass due todrought. Work will continue through the next few months and vve
will make as -needed adjustments during the Holidays. Final paving and striping should becompleted by
March 2017.
o Second lsthe upcoming (not yet started, but soon) MacArthur Boulevard paving project. This also isabig
repaving effort, but the landscaping isOKthere. The project includes concrete sidewalk and curb repairs,
street pavement patching and then resurfacing the entirety of MacArthur from East Coast Highway to Ford
Road. Concrete replacement and repair will be the first item of work and will include some closures of one
lane inareas ofwork (remember there are three lanes ineach direc1ion\. This work will happen in
November and into early December. Most ofthe impactful work will occur after the Christmas and New
Year's Holiday.
With both projects, feel free tocontact Public Works at or949'644-333Ofor any
questions orcomments.
NemtGenand the FAA. You may have seen inthe news that the City Council, ons7'0vote, decided tofile litigation
against the FAA associated with the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the FAA's Southern California MetnoP|ex
"NextGen"project. NextGen is an effort nationwide to standardize departure/landing procedures. Generally, it
means that the flight paths will narrow (less dispersion) and bemore consistent. The City's reasons for challenging
the EAwere these, among other things:
o We did not feel the detail in the EA was sufficient enough to determine where the flight paths for
departures from ]VVAactually were. The maps provided were sn3[\Q80'-ish(Mgurative|y)itwas impossible
tosee the departure paths over our community. This issignificant because itmeans the FAA, atsome point,
may argue they have analyzed the environmental impacts for departures from JWA over a significant
portion of Newport Beach. The environmental document prepared bythe FAA did not come anywhere close
to analyzing these impacts and we think it is important to set the record straight.
u We were concerned that not enough analysis went into air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and noise
(among other thin8s).
If you have any questions about this, it's always good to look at our Aviation page or you can call or e-mail me.
Document Shredding. CR&R, Inc. and the City host a free document shredding event for CR&R's Newport Beach
customers on Saturday, November 5, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the parking lot of Mariners Elementary School, 2100
Mariners Drive.
Areminder mfupcoming meetings. The conclusion ofthe City Council's 2814'16term isupon us. The Council as
currently configured will meet acouple nfmore times —this coming Monday at6:O0p.m,then at7:08p.m.on
Tuesday November 22 d (this is Thanksgiving week so the agenda is fairly light), then at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday,
November 29th tohear the proposed Museum House project, then finaUmyTuesday,December1] (start time TBD)
for a few wrap-up items and the swearing in of Council members elected on November 8 th After that date, the new
Council doesn't meet again until January loth ,2O17.
Asalways, thanks for reading. Please forward this Guide to family, friends and members of your HOA if you represent
one. I always like hearing from you, too, so please don't hesitate to ask a question or offer a comment.
Sincerely,
Dave Kiff
City Manager
City Council Meeting Information: The Newport Beach City Council meets on the 2nd and 4t" Tuesdays of most months
(the exceptions are August and December). Typically, there is a Study Session that starts at 4:00 p.m. Study sessions
are times for the Council to take a deeper look at a specific issue, or hear a presentation, that might eventually lead to a
specific and more formal action. A closed session often follows the Study Session. Closed sessions are typically to
address legal, personnel, and other matters where additional confidentiality is important. The Regular (evening)
Session typically starts at 7:00 p.m., and often has a specific listing of 20-40 different items ready for formal
votes. Items on the "Consent Calendar" are heard all at once, unless a Council member has removed (aka "pulled") an
item from the Consent Calendar for specific discussion and separate vote. If an item on the agenda is recommended to
be "continued", it means that the item won't be heard nor voted on that evening, but will be pushed forward to another
noticed meeting.
Public Comment is welcomed at both the Study Session and the Regular Session. The public can comment on any item
on the agenda. If you want to comment on a Consent Calendar item that was not pulled from the Consent Calendar by a
Council Member, you will want to do so at the time listed on the agenda — right before the Council votes on the entire
Consent Calendar (it's Roman Numeral XIII on the posted agenda). If an item is pulled, the Mayor will offer that
members of the public can comment as that specific item is heard separately. Additionally, there is a specific section of
Public Comment for items not on the agenda, but on a subject of some relationship to the city government. If you
cannot attend a meeting and/or want to communicate with the City Council directly, this e-mail gets to all of
them: CitVCouncil@newportbeachca.gov. Please know that I get a copy of that e-mail, too, because in almost all cases
it's something that the City Manager follows -up on. It's my head -start.
The Council meets in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Center Drive, off of Avocado between San Miguel and East Coast
Highway. There is plenty of parking in the parking structure behind City Hall. You are always welcome to attend in
person, but you can also watch on TV (Channels 3/31) or on your computer.
This Insider's Guide is not an attempt to summarize every item on the Agenda —just the ones that seem of specific
interest to Dave. I encourage you to read the full agenda if you wish.