HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideMarch 13, 2018
Insider's Guide
Mulvey, Jennifer
Subject: Newport Beach Insider's Guide - Council Meeting of Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Happy rainy Saturday. It's a good day to be inside writing the Insider's Guide, and maybe also to read it. And
remember to set your clocks forward tonight. Or do what I do and set them forward several days from now
when you finally find the owner's manual that tells you how to do it.
Here is a summary of what's on the agenda of the next City Council meeting (set for Tuesday, March 13th). In
the below e-mail, I try to summarize items that caught my attention. I don't summarize the whole agenda,
though. To see that, please click here.
Study Session begins at 5:00 p.m., and the Regular Session at 7:00 p.m. More information about where the
Council meets and public comment opportunities are at the bottom of this email.
At the Study Session, Council will congratulate the NHHS Girls' Water Polo team on their CIF -SS Division 2
championship win. Then the only business item is our annual "Early Look" at the Capital Improvement Plan
for Fiscal Year 2018-19. This is staff's chance to go over with the Council (and community) what construction,
repair, and maintenance projects are slated for the coming months and year. Public Works staff will
summarize things like road projects, water & wastewater, facilities, parks, and more. This is a good issue to
follow if you're a community member wondering "when will be built?" or "when can I expect my key
commuting road to be resurfaced so that two weeks of my life can be ruined?"
The Regular Session at 7:00 p.m. has these items that caught my attention:
• We received a new state grant to help us corral fuel spills on the Harbor. This is another expansion of our
new Harbor Operations work, in this case maybe allowing us to be a little more nimble out there when we
see a problem. The grant is $35,000.
• Another State -related item is one that ask the City to identify to the State key roadways — in this case San
Joaquin Hills Road — as the first place that about $1.4M in new gas tax revenue would go as a result of the
State's recent increase in the tax (aka SB 1). We have to let the State know which roads upon which we
will use the revenue by May 2018.
• A proposed new Council Policy would consider whether the Council would explicitly block any expenditure
of funds on advocacy measures related to a tax.
• The State also requires us to complete a detailed assessment of how Sea Level Rise might affect our
Tidelands, including our harbor and ocean beaches. This $134K item would undertake that review to make
sure we comply with the law.
• We have a small item accepting about $23K in funds from the California Library system for our literacy
program. If you don't know about that program, it's a great one. Primarily led by volunteers, the program
has small group and one-on-one tutoring for low -literacy individuals — it's been going on quietly for 25
years. It's helped many, many folks get the skills they need to prosper in society. If you want to help
volunteer or to learn more about it, click here.
• The City will also consider hiring advocates to help marshal AB 2464 (Harper) through the State
Legislature. This is a bill that would create a special carve -out for Newport Harbor so that, potentially, the
City Council could issue local coastal approvals for various infrastructure efforts on and near the waters of
the Harbor. Today, residents and businesses have to go to the Coastal Commission for these permits. A
local "Port Master Plan" would be akin to a "Local Coastal Program" or LCP for the waters, versus just the
land.
A few notes:
Thanks to all who attended our 5th "Friday Forum" on the airport on Friday, March 9th. It was a really
interesting presentation on how the Airport Noise and Access Office allocates "slots" for air carriers. We
were appreciative of the attendance of Supervisor Michelle Steel (2nd District), her assistant Tim Whitacre,
a representative from Congressman Rohrabacher's office, as well as officials from Laguna Niguel and Costa
Mesa. If you missed any of the forums, we're posing the materials from each one on our website — you'll
want to click here. I'm happy to report that there seems to be a larger groundswell of support towards
continuing to work on ways to reduce noise and pollution from 1WA. While hurdles are ahead, I remain
optimistic. My thanks, too, for everyone who sent me the article from the Wall Street Journal about how
airspeed restrictions are being considered at Boston/Logan. That's worth reading for all of you airport
followers.
Harbor Commission meets this coming Wednesday, March 14th at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers.
The City's Finance Committee meets this coming Thursday, March 15th at 3:00 p.m. in Bay 2D of City Hall
at the Civic Center.
Thanks to all who have written in about a proposed new "Permanent Home" for the Newport Beach
Junior Lifeguard Program. We really appreciate the messages. This is one of several projects desired by
community members and groups that, if successful, will likely have to have a very robust private donation
program to carry the ball forward. Please reach out to the Newport Beach JG Foundation for more
information.
Thank you 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@newportbeachca.gov
949-644-3001
City Council Meeting Information: The Newport Beach City Council meets on the 2nd and 4th 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.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 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.
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