Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideMay 10,2016 Insider's Guide From: Obomy,Shirley, Sent: Friday, May 06,20l66:27PK4 Subject: FW: Insider's Guide for Tuesday, May 10, 2016 From: KKtOove Sent: Friday, May 06, 2016 3:59 PM Subject: Insider's Guide for Tuesday, May 1U,IU16 A pleasant (and somewhat damp) Friday to you. Here's what's on the schedule for the Newport Beach City Council meeting of Tuesday, May 10, 2016. Some up -front notes before |get too wordy: 0Get helpful advanced notice of upcoming traffic advisories here. It helps you plan your cursing in advance!; and (2) with no appropriate segue from cursing, the City's proposed FY 16-17 Budget isnow online here. k4onedetai|edCound|meetn8infnrmadonisat1heendofthise'noai[andhereis a link to the full Council agenda don't summarize every item onthe agenda. The Study Session starts at 4;00 p.m. with three hems: � Anupdate onarts and cultural activities. The City Arts Commission has worked onaplan moving more arts programming toprivately-funded efforts. This came atthe direction ofthe City Council about ayear ago, when Council members expressed a hope that more activities, like the next phases of the Civic Center sculpture garden, have less taxpayer support. Our Public Works staff will roll out the proposed infrastructure program for the coming fiscal year, asking the Council and community ifit's nntarget. Before you hit the snooze button here, this isNOT aboring subject. It's not, it's not (minor temper tantrum there}. It's vital toour success aaacommunity — from repairing Harbor sea walls to keeping our streets and alleys well -paved to upgrading older water and sewer lines. VVeare anold city — over 1OO years. And our infrastructure must beregularly upgraded. P|easeperusetheC|Portuneintothepresentation—iys agood way toknow what may becoming toaneighborhood near you. I also have an item on there about John Wayne Airport, following up on a request by the Aviation Committee to have the Council consider whether to embark on additional air or water quality studies regarding aircraft emissions (we had study done in2U09'1U). |amonthe fence about this. | think more data isusually good, but also under consideration must be what can be done — if anything — with the data. And localities have no success record at all in using emission data tochange airport operations oraircraft standards. The 2UU9study was interesting, but concluded inpart that our area always met Federal air quality standards. The nighttime Regular Session at 7:00 p.m. has some interesting subjects (but most are not nearly as much fun as two weeks ago), and I'll highlight the neighborhoods that might have a special interest: � If you live in Newport Heights and you're part of the rather vociferous utility undergrounding or assessment district (AD) discussion, the Council will consider whether to move to a ballot vote for proposed AD 114 (bounded by Tustin, 15 m Street, Irvine Ave and Cliff Drive) and AD114b(bounded byRivmerside,15 Street, Tustin, and C|iff). This comes atthe request not ofour staff but ofthe undergroundingproponents. Here's what's not under debate: Bylaw, all assessment district formations (and levies) require property owners who control over 50% of the proposed assessment to OK the district's formation in a formal ballot proceeding before an AD can be formed. 5d|| with me? Good. The mild controversy isthis: Our past rule ofthumb has been that inorder toinvest City funds up -front in moving to a formal ballot question, property owners representing at least 60% of the proposed assessment sign petitions saying generally "indeed,we'll vote yes ifasked." The petitioners inAD114and AD114(b) appear tohave signatures representing 54.21% and 59.71% of the proposed assessment respectively (though even this can change between now and Tuesday as different sides work the neighborhood). So if Council wants to move to a ballot (again, the balloting requires only >50% approval), doing it without 60% petition support would be a change to past practice. If you're a supporter of this district, you want the rule of thumb set-aside here and believe that each petitioner will come through with yes votes when formally asked. If you're not a supporter, you'll suggest that moving forward with less than 60% on the petitions puts City dollars at risk as the actual ballot measure might be defeated. Hopefully I put that equitably enough so that I will not get trolled O by either side. Please. No trolling. Just trying to do my job. if you're curious about the AD process overall, click here. • A minor one, but our contractors have just re -done circuits and transitioned another 214 streetlights to LEDs — at a cost of about $972K (mostly in the Westcliff and Irvine Avenue areas). This project also involved major rehabilitation to the lights' infrastructure, thus the higher per -light standard cost. Another item later in the agenda (this time $1.06M) will "just" replace 3,113 light fixtures to LED. This is funded in large part by Edison incentives and "on -bill" financing (also by Edison) due to the significant reductions in energy costs — and regular maintenance costs - that LEDs bring. • Balboa Village will soon get its new "entry arch" at Balboa Boulevard and Adams. This is a $260K project and looks like this. Will entry arches become a "thing" in other villages? I could see this in Newport Shores, for instance (kidding! 1). • Council Member Duffield "called for review" of the Planning Commission's recent OK of a conditional use permit (CUP) for the Newport Dunes, more specifically its special events. We'd been issuing the Dunes regular special event permits event -by -event, each with its own fee and conditions, and both the Dunes and the City staff thought that wasn't the best way of going about this. A master permit system that applied to all events might work better. So the Planning Commission approved a process like that, and most folks thought it was pretty good. With a few minor adjustments, i get the sense that all involved (Dunes, Dover Shores, more) are OK with it —thus the Gall- up to make the adjustments at the Council level. But as I'm often told, what do I know? Some notes for your calendars... • 1 do have some current news here for those following the Banning Ranch Project's review by the California Coastal Commission. The item was to be heard on Thursday, May 12th, here at the Newport Beach Civic Center as the Commission comes to town for its 3 -day May meeting session. But this afternoon, the project proponents sent out an e-mail asking the Commission for more time to review and respond to Commission staff's comments. Proponents have the right and ability to ask for a postponement, so I would assume that this will be granted. As such, it is unlikely that Banning Ranch will be discussed at all during this visit of the Commission. Which makes for a very short day on Thursday for them. Their next meetings are in Santa Barbara (June) and San Diego (July). Typically, the Commission's goal is to meet in a geographic area close to any controversial project's location, so that interested parties can attend fairly easily. • You've seen the signs. On Saturday, May 14, 2016 the community's nationally -recognized and award-winning Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Volunteers will conduct their 3`d annual multi -neighborhood Emergency Preparedness Drill as part of FEMA's "America PrepareAthon" Event. Participating neighborhoods from all over Newport Beach will set-up Neighborhood CERT Command Posts in accordance with FEMA/City of Newport Beach activation procedures and protocols. CERT volunteers will display more signs around their respective neighborhoods to indicate a simulated disaster incident. As they survey their neighborhoods and discover these "incidents" they will respond according to their training and protocols, using search and rescue techniques, first aid/CPR, HAM radio and telephonic communications, as well as utilizing their organizational skills to manage their command post personnel and incoming information. CERT encourages you to visit any of the clearly marked CERT Neighborhood Command Posts, and observe these dedicated volunteers in action. This is all very timely given the recent news about The Big One on the San Andreas fault just waiting to happen. Gosh. • Don't forget Mom. Sunday. As always, thanks for reading. 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, F] Dave Kiff City Manager dkiff@newportbeachca.gov 949-644-3001 City Council Meeting Information: The Newport Beach City Council meets on the 2nd and 4t" 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: CitVCouncil@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 (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. I encourage you to read the full agenda if you wish.