HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideReceived After Agenda Printed
January 13, 2015
Insider's Guide
Brown, Leilani
From: Kiff, Dave
Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2015 9:38 PM
Subject: Insider's Guide - Newport Beach City Council meeting of Tuesday, January 13, 2015
A good early morning to you.
This is the first Insider's Guide of the 2015 year, and therefore we should probably get you up to speed from
2014. When we last left off, Lady Edith decided to have a neighbor family — over in Irvine — raise her child, so that she
could see the child grow upi at least until the father (lost in Germany) turned up. Lady Mary, getting well over the death
of Matthew, was entertaining two suitors. Bates and the rest of the servants downstairs ....
...wait, I am being told that Downton Abbey is not the subject of this Guide. Delete delete delete. Sorry.
OK, fine, back to the City Council.
Here is what's on the docket for the Council meeting of Tuesday, January 13`", 2015. There are some meaty issues. The
City Council meeting is held on the 2nd and 4 t Tuesdays of most months, with study session starting in the afternoon and
the regular session at its usual 7:00 p.m.. spot. The Council meets in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Center
Drive. There is plenty of parking - you are always welcome to attend! But you can also watch on TV (Channels 3/31) or
on your computer. I do not summarize every item on the Agenda —to read the full agenda, click here:
http: / /newportbeachca.govZ modules /ShowDocument.aspx ?documentid =4414
Study Session begins at 3:30. As a reminder, study sessions are for more in -depth discussions of policy issues, and
generally the Council provides some direction to us staff members but doesn't take a formal vote or action during the
sessions, saving those for night -time meetings. Public Comment is welcome at each session. At this week's Study
Session, these are the subjects:
• A Review of the Civic Center Project. Mayor pro Tern Dixon asked us to frame up a look back and "lessons learned"
of the big Civic Center project that started soon after Feb 2008 and was finished in about May of 2013. This roughly
$142.5 M project later included a park, a parking structure, a bridge, and an expansion to the Library in addition to
the City Hall. Many folks in the community have been and remain concerned about how the scope changed to the
larger project, and the ultimate cost. Staff will go over what happened and when, along with what we see as
important lessons learned from this project that can carry forward to other capital efforts. If the Council wishes, it
can ask staff on 1 -13 to dive deeper into aspects of the Project —for instance, an independent review of change
orders or other project costs.
• Preparation for an Audit /Review of Tidelands Activities. Later on the night's agenda is direction to staff to issue a
request for proposals (RFP) for an audit /review of the City's Tide and Submerged Land Fund, a fund within the City's
budget that accepts and spends revenue related to Tidelands —these include much of the Newport Harbor's waters,
some land, the ocean beaches, some of the ocean itself, and more. The Balboa Bay Resort is on tidelands, as are
about half the homes in Beacon Bay. Folks in the community have asked how we account for the Tidelands Fund —
as well as which revenues go in it and which costs come out of it. We'll spend some time with the Council framing
up the scope of the RFP in the afternoon session.
Evening Session starts at 7:00 p.m. The following items of note are on the evening session:
• It's second reading of some items for the Balboa Village area that were approved by the Council in November
2014. This does not include the residential parking program, for those following that issue. The "RP3" will go
through some more public outreach before coming back again. This item relates more to the commercial area's
parking management and the distribution of those parking funds for specific improvements in the Village.
• Mayor Selich's appointments of Council members to various boards and committees occurs at this meeting, and it
involves a lot of changes given four new Council members.
• We will ask the Council to award a contract to reconstruct portions of Ocean Boulevard and Marguerite in
CdM. This is a big $1M + contract, as these are concrete streets —and while they are expensive to replace, they last a
really long time versus asphalt. The bids were pretty good here — well below the engineering estimates for the job.
• The aforementioned issuance of an RFP for the Tidelands Review /Audit.
• Changes to the structure of the Finance Committee. This Committee has been a three - member committee of City
Council members, who meet in public once a quarter or so, sometimes more frequently. Mayor Selich and Council
member Peotter have worked on Mr. Peotter's request that the Council consider adding citizen members to the
Committee, and to move the Committee's meetings to evenings when more people might be able to attend. The
Council will consider a few options here for the restructured Committee. If citizen members are added, folks with an
interest in city finances and the budget will want to get their applications in.
• A change to the Council's Policy on Invocations. This change, if approved, would update the Council's 2004 -era
policy on invocations before meetings. The field of law has changed a bit in 2013, and the law generally now allows
speakers to specifically mention a deity (where arguably it died not before).
• Fire rings. In what could be a major discussion item of the evening, Council Member Peotter has asked that the City
reconsider our "charcoal -only' approach to beach bonfires. Since about March 241h -ish of 2014, in part to comply
with a new air quality rule, the only fuel that could be burned in a beach fire ring was /is charcoal unless the rings
were 100' apart from each other (I am generalizing here). This was controversial, as you can imagine.
There is a way to align the rings so that wood can be burned again, but it means spreading out the rings. If you
spread out the rings by at least 100' to make wood- burning OK, you impact more of the beach sand. Mr. Peotter has
worked with staff to try and develop a plan that would comply with the AQMD rule and not expand the fire ring
zones too much. It does consider placing 9 rings near the Newport Pier, and 7 at the Newport Dunes. Under this
specific plan, 18 would remain at Big Corona (down from 27) and 26 near the Balboa Pier (down from 33).
Another part of the action on Tuesday could be a short-term plan that would use the current fire ring configuration
(with one exception) to allow 15 of the existing rings to be used to burn wood, the rest charcoal. This is short -term,
because it should not require a Coastal Development Permit— but the 60 -ring plan does.
I'd just offer a commentary here. There is no perfect plan or perfect alignment of fire rings. If the community (and
the Coastal Commission) desire wood - burning rings, the AQMD spacing rule is now the law of the land. There isn't a
way to keep 60 rings in the city limits without increasing the footprint of the current zones or adding new, smaller
zones in other areas. At the same time, the AQMD has deemed that a separation of 100' from wood ring to wood
ring has fewer health impacts than the current footprints when those rings are within 700' of homes. And all of the
current 60 rings are within 700' of homes here. Your own thoughts as to how to navigate these challenging laws are
welcome — how would you align the rings when odds are you can't take them out, and some or all must be wood?
I would encourage you to read the staff report and look at the attachments /exhibits for this one. If the Council
chooses to act on Tuesday night (it could do so), there is another series of public discussions ahead, including at the
Coastal Commission (a meeting that likely will be nearby in March 2015 or June 2015).
Here is a link to the Fire Rings staff report and attachments:
http: / /novusagendapubIic. newportbeachca .gov /CoverSheet.aspx ?Item ID= 4676 &Meeti ngl D =667
If you would like to correspond with the Council on any of these issues (or any other), please use
CityCouncil @newportbeachca.gov to do so, as that gets to all seven of the Council members.
A calendar note for you: If you want to participate in the Council's goal - setting exercise this year, it is scheduled for
Saturday morning, January 31`t from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., here at the Civic Center's community room. Please join us
—there are goodies and coffee /tea to partake in to help keep you motivated.
As always, thanks for reading the Insider's Guide and forbearing with my long- windedness. I welcome your comments
or questions about these and any other City issues. Please also consider forwarding this to friends or to your community
or homeowners association list, especially if you represent one. If you would like to be removed from this list, let me
know and we'll do that.
A happy 2015 to you, and best wishes for a good start to the new year.
Dave Kiff
City Manager
City of Newport Beach
949 - 644 -3001