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HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideJune 13, 2017 Insider's Guide From: Kiff, Dave Sent: Friday, June 09, 2017 12:48 PM Subject: Newport Beach Insider's Guide - Tuesday, June 13, 2017 As always, a happy Friday to you. On Tuesday, June 13th, the Newport Beach City Council will meet briefly for a few presentations starting at 6:00 p.m., then go to Closed Session, then will have the Regular Session starting at 7:00 p.m. More detailed Council meeting information is at the end of the Guide. I 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. As noted, the evening's Regular Session is at 7:00 p.m. The items worth noting are: • Two items under Public Hearings relate to the yearly renewals of the Business Improvement Districts (BIDS) for Corona del Mar and for Restaurants across Newport Beach. • The annual City Budget is up for adoption, pretty much on schedule with past years. As I noted two weeks ago, this proposed budget: • Allocates a total of $50M for pensions (that's a lot). About $9M of this is an "additional discretionary payment" above and beyond what we are required to pay. The LA Times wrote about this last Sunday. Importantly, about $10M of the $50M is paid for directly by employees (me included). A number of residents regularly ask me about pension issues — I am always happy to discuss it with anyone, so please call or e-mail me. • It proposes reserving about $6M towards critical harbor infrastructure, including sea walls around Balboa Island. • Is balanced. • The capital project side of it: o Proposes some new efforts that Mayor Muldoon first spoke of back in January, including using better technology for traffic solutions and to start an update of the 2006 City General Plan. o Allocates funding for the Corona del Mar Library and Fire Station, as well as for a replacement of Fire Station #2 next to Lido Isle. It allocates the funds, but does not expend them — that would take separate action by the City Council at a later date. On the subject of the Budget, we have a new "budget portal" to allow you to get to know the budget better. What fun! O You might want to take some time to look at the portal a bit — it's really pretty interesting (says the guy who thinks budget are interesting O). Doing this will make you more educated about your local government and the least popular person at area cocktail parties. For our Newport Heights neighbors, the long-awaited Heights alley repair project is up for contract award. It's nearly a $4M item. If approved, it means that work will start in just a few weeks—first up will be the new 15th Street Sidewalk. So it's actually an Alley Repair and Sidewalk Contract. Read more about it here. Today's Fun Questions from Residents/Visitors: • Are we having Junior Guards this summer even with shark sightings off of the Orange County coast? Yes. For more details, I will defer to Amy Senk as she fills in relevant facts via her column in Stu News. • What's new on July 41h this year? Well, it's a Wednesday this year which may tend to lower our crowd levels. Beyond that, not much is new, but we still expect a fun time for all on Independence Day. If you live in the West Newport Beach "Safety Enhancement Zone" area, be sure to be aware of and learn more about the additional regulations that apply in this Zone between 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, July 4, and 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 5th. Please do not bring in fireworks in any part of town. Fireworks are illegal here except for the really great shows that the City and others produce on the evening of July 4. Remember the family -friendly activities and parades — there will be one in West Newport and the Mariner's neighborhood, as always. More details to come. As always, 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 dkiff Onewportbeachca.gov 949-644-3001 City Council Meeting Information: The Newport Beach City Council meets on the 2"d and 4`h 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: CityCouncil@newportbeachca.eov. 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 Time Warner / Spectrum 3 and Cox Channel 852 or stream it 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.