HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideNovember 24, 2015
Insider's Guide
From: Kiff, Dave
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2015 6:10 PM
Subject: Insider's Guide - Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Here's what may be of interest to you on the Newport Beach City Council meeting of Tuesday, November 24, 2015. I've
moved meeting information to the end of this e-mail.
There is no Study Session at this meeting. This clearly means that everything has been studied to death. O
On the Regular Session's agenda starting at 7:00 p.m., here is what jumps out at me:
• It's time for the vote and vote tally on Assessment District #117 (parts of Corona del Mar). This utility
undergrounding district covers the area bordered by Bayside, Avocado, PCH, and Carnation. If you live in this district
and still want to vote, make sure you review the materials or contact our Public Works staff (Mike Sinacori at 644-
3342). The public hearing for this item is moved up to the start of the 7:00 p.m. meeting so that we can tally the
votes before the end of the evening. The public is welcome to observe the tally. We don't expect any hanging chads
(I am starting to date myself — can you believe that was 15 years ago now?).
• Eastbluff Park will get some new ballfield improvements.
• MacArthur Boulevard is next in line for rehabilitation (this is a pretty big job — street rehab means much more than
just a slurry seal), this time between PCH and Ford Road. It's a project of over $2M, and will take advantage of
quieter asphalt to help reduce road noise to the neighborhoods around MacArthur.
• We've asked the City Council to authorize us to move the animals in the current animal shelter in Huntington Beach
to another location. The proposed placement of the new but possibly temporary shelter is off of Riverside in Santa
Ana Heights, in the "residential kennel" zoning area. We so appreciate the kennel operator's willingness to help out
with our animals. Additionally, an item asks the Council to enter into an agreement with a local vet to provide
veterinary services for the shelter animals.
• The Lido House Hotel returns for a public hearing to ratify some of the relatively minor changes that the Coastal
Commission made to the project plan and the coastal land use zoning for the "old" City Hall property. This is a
minor but important step for all of you following the LHH. There isn't any reason for concern here, in my opinion —
it's a procedural step. This also includes the Council's formal agreement for the FiiN program, which is a new twist
on the low-cost overnight accommodations that the Coastal Commission now requires of many hotel
proposals. With the FiiN program, the City (working with the Newport Dunes) would bring kids from Title 1 schools
to the Dunes for overnights. During the daytime, the kids will learn about the bay ecosystem, water safety, and
much more. We hope to see construction of the Hotel starting in Spring 2016.
The new Fire Station + Branch Library for Corona del Mar is set for concept design approval and a formal budget —
the proposed budget is at $8,000,000. This provides some savings versus building two separate facilities, but the
budget proposed is a bit larger than before because many community members (and members of the Library Board
of Trustees) preferred a design that increased the square footage from the initial concepts.
Following an RFP process (Request for Proposals — generally an invitation for bids), the City is proposing to award the
management of the moorings to the County of Orange. Folks in the harbor know that the County Harbor Patrol
currently manages our moorings, but we all felt that it was prudent to go out for bid to see what alternatives were
out there. Moorings cost about $300K to $330K/year to manage.
Another discussion item will be the Affordable Housing Task Force's recommendation to award about $4.2M in
affordable housing funds to three very worthy programs — one is Seaview Lutheran Plaza (in CdM), where existing
units will be rehabbed and the "covenants" that keep them affordable extended well into the 2060s. Another is a
cooperative venture by Habitat for Humanity and the OASIS staff that would establish a program to assist seniors
citywide who want to stay in their homes — so this program would provide some maintenance and improvement
money to help with upgrades that can make existing homes more livable (such as handrails, ramps, etc). The third
venture is in Newport Shores. Basically, it's a plan by two well-regarded partners (Community Development
Partners and Mercy House) that would rehab an existing 12 -unit apartment complex near Cappy's. Seven of the
units would be for veterans. I will butt in a bit here — I have known the folks at Mercy House for over 20 years. They
are terrific service providers, and they know how to run a good home and to make it work for the community. There
is no other manager I would want operating that complex if I lived nearby. Another bit of opinion: The City has an
obligation under state law to address affordable housing needs locally. Our Housing Element to our General Plan
calls out our various approaches, and it involves locations all over town and a variety of solutions. This is a small
solution using an existing apartment building. All across the county, cities are trying a bit harder to satisfy
challenging housing needs through methods like these.
• As the economy has gotten stronger and as wages are going up, our current landscape maintenance contractor
notified us that it can no longer honor the terms of their agreement with us (for many parks, parkways, medians,
and more). As such, we had to go out to an RFP again. The contract is proposed to go to Mariposa Landscapes at
$1.67M a year.
• A proposal to complete an audit of the Civic Center project is suggested at $613K with an award to RW Block
Consulting.
If you are so inclined, please weigh in on any of these issues by contacting the entire City Council with one email address
— that's CityCouncil@newportbeachca.gov. They appreciate hearing from you, especially about any agenda item.
Some notes:
• We've placed our updated Coyote Management Plan up on the City's website. Please review it if you are interested
in the subject. Comments are always welcomed, but it would be nice to have them on or before December 1, 2015
in case we wish to make adjustments to the Plan. That link is
here: http://newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/News/Nev✓s/4526/2720.
• You will note in local media that Newport Beach Police Chief Jay Johnson has announced that he will retire. I have
known about this for a bit, and tried several times to talk him out of it (I am sure I just sounded like a Peanuts
adult). Chief Johnson has been a large part of our community's success in reducing crime and improving our quality
of life, including helping to provide a better balance on the Peninsula and in West Newport between visitor impacts
and our residents' needs. Thankfully, the NBPD is a very strong department with some great leadership and terrific
rank -and -file that will remain as Jay transitions to retirement. I will miss Chief Johnson a great deal but wish him and
his family all the best.
• Remember that Marina Park's grand opening is Saturday, December 5 starting at 10:00 a.m. Come on down for
food from the new Lighthouse Cafe, tours, recreation class demonstrations, a band, bounce -houses, and even SUPs,
kayaks, and sailing. We'll also have the ceremonial and fully -clothed jump into the new marina, which I'm told is a
longstanding and traditional obligation for the city manager who worked on the project. Um, I'm told. Though I've
never actually seen this happen. But I'm sure my staff wouldn't lie to me. Hmmm.
• 1 wish you a great Thanksgiving weekend, and hope that your travels (if any — lucky you if you can stay close by) and
those of your family members are safe. City Hall and most city facilities will be closed Thursday and Friday of next
week. Libraries close at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 25th-, and will reopen for normal hours on Saturday the 28th
• We're approaching King Tide time, and one of them will be with us over Thanksgiving. However, it looks like there
won't be a storm with it, so our contingency plan to sandbag some of the sea walls along Balboa Island (such as the
north side) will not be activated at least until the next King Tide (nearer to Christmas).
As always, thanks for reading and have a nice weekend. Please feel free to forward this e-mail 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
2
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 starts at 7:00 p.m., and typically 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.
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 (Channels 3/31) or 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. You are encouraged to read the full agenda if you'd like — to do so, click here:
https://newportbeach.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx