HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideJanuary 8, 2019
Insider's Guide
From: Biddle, Jennifer
Subject: Insider"s Guide - January 4, 2019
Date: Friday, January 04, 2019 5:30:29 PM
Forwarded on behalf of City Manager Grace Leung...
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holidays. We visited family on the east
coast and while I enjoyed reconnecting with family and friends, I am happy to be home in
sunny and warm Southern California. I am excited for the new year. A lot will be going on in
2019, to be kicked off with our first meeting of the year!
Our first meeting of 2019 is on Tuesday, January 8. Council members will be in their new
seating arrangement with Mayor Diane Dixon presiding. A warm welcome to new Council
member Joy Brenner! The following are items that may be of interest. As always, this is not a
summary of the entire agenda, which can be viewed here.
We will have a Study Session beginning at 5:00 p.m. to discuss the General Plan Update. It
has been twelve years since the General Plan was comprehensively revised so we are due for a
review. Staff will present an overview and discuss the proposed process, including the
creation of a steering committee and a citizen advisory committee, the necessary consulting
services, public outreach and engagement, and the overall scope and timeline.
The Regular Session begins at 7:00 p.m. and the following are items of note:
• Two labor contracts are on the consent calendar: the Adoption of a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Newport Beach Firefighters Association and review of the
Tentative Agreement with Newport Beach Employees League Association. Both
agreements follow extensive negotiations and are for three-year terms.
• After the City took responsibility for managing harbor operations in July 2017, staff
conducted a comprehensive review of the Harbor Fees. Recommended updates were
reviewed by the Harbor Commission and Finance Committee and are now before City
Council for approval.
• With the establishment of a new program to regulate and permit sidewalk vending, a
sidewalk vending permit application fee needs to be set to recover the cost of City
staff time to process the application. Because this is a new program, the fee is based
on estimated time and will be adjusted in the future following actual experience. The
Sidewalk Vending Program is effective January 1, 2019.
• Phase IV of the Sculpture Exhibition in Civic Center Park is scheduled to begin in
2019. Before work begins, the City Arts Commission is requesting City Council
approval to waive some conditions applied for this phase and transfer funds between
programs to fully fund this phase.
As a reminder, public comment is welcome at the City Council meeting. The public can
comment on any item on the agenda. If you cannot attend the meeting and/or want to
communicate with the City Council directly on an item, the following e-mail address gets to all
of them: City Council.
The Week in Review was on break due to the holidays. The next edition will be provided next
week. Past editions are posted on the City's website; the last edition can be found here.
Thank you for reading. Feedback is appreciated so please don't hesitate to ask a question or
offer a comment.
Here's to a great 2019!
Grace K. Leung
City Manager
City of Newport Beach
100 Civic Center Drive, Bay 2E
Newport Beach, CA 92660
gleungl@ newportbeachca.gov
P: 949-644-3001 F: 949-644-3020