HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideInsider's Guide for the Newport Beach City Council Meeting on March 23, 2021
Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, March 23. Items that may be of interest are highlighted below.
The entire agenda, and all reports, can be viewed here.
There will be a Study Session at 4 p.m.:
• Representatives from the City's Harbor Commission will present the results of a recent study on
Newport Harbor that examined the types of stakeholders that use the harbor.
The Regular Meeting begins at 6 p.m. and the following are items of note:
On the Consent Calendar is:
• Two separate resolutions that would request time extensions for the City to spend Orange
County Transportation Authority Measure M2 grant funding. The first is an OCTA grant to fund a
feasibility study examining local transportation options to increase mobility at Balboa Island and
Corona Del Mar. Because COVID-19 has reduced the use of public transportation and altered
travel patterns, the City is requesting to delay the study until the 2023 fiscal year. The second
grant is to partially fund the Newport Bay Trash Interceptor project, which will collect debris from
the San Diego Creek before it reaches the bay, harbor and ocean waters. Because of COVID-19
related construction delays, the City is requesting a one-time, 24 -month extension.
• Authorizing the submittal of the City's 2020 General Plan update progress report and Housing
Element annual progress report to the State of California. The City is required by State law to
prepare and submit an annual report on the status of General Plan implementation.
• The Council will receive the results of the City's annual independent financial audit. The audit
was conducted by the firm Clifton LarsonAllen LLP for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020.
Public Hearings and Current Business include:
• A proposed increase in residential recycling fees to partially offset additional costs of meeting
new state mandates. California state law requires that every household, business and multifamily
property recycle their organic waste beginning January 1, 2022. To partially offset the increased
costs, the Council will consider a proposal to increase recycling fees. For most Newport Beach
households, the fees would increase from $3 a month to $6.28 a month. Households in the
Newport Coast area, which do not currently pay a recycling fee, would pay $5.86 per month.
Organics recycling is mandated by the state to reduce the volume of waste transported to landfills
and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from organic waste decomposition. The recycling fee was
last updated in 2009.
• To assist Newport Beach businesses with pandemic recovery, the Council will consider a oneyear
waiver of business license fees for Newport Beach businesses that were forced to close because
of COVID-19. The waiver would apply to business license tax renewals for businesses that were
required to close by order of the state of California at any time during the pandemic. The waiver
would apply for renewals processed between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022.