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HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideSeptember 27, 2016 Insider's Guide From: Kiff, Dave Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2016 6:54 PM Subject: Insider's Guide for Tuesday, September 27, 2016 A good Thursday evening to you. Here's what's on the agenda for the Newport Beach City Council meeting of Tuesday, September 27, 2016. As I write this Guide, I'll note that StuNewsNewport is including these online now. One reader of StuNewsNewport who read this Guide for the first time two weeks ago emailed me back and suggested I was a tad cheeky and full of myself. Me? Cheeky? Full of myself? Longtime readers (the Guide's been annoying people for six years, by the way) will, um, agree. I really need a "full of myself" emoticon. More detailed Council meeting information is at the end of the Guide, and here is a link to the full Council agenda don't summarize every item on the agenda. There is no afternoon study session on Tuesday, so the evening's regular session will begin at 7:00 p.m. Here's what might be of interest to most folks: • The final public hearing and big vote tally for the utility undergrounding project in Newport Heights. If you are within this district and are the property owner of your parcel, you still have time to vote yes or no. The district will be formed if "yes" votes outnumber "no" votes (some folks right now are saying "duh, Dave" but with one vote per property, it's a little different from other types of votes). Property owners must bring their own ballots to the City Clerk's Office, mail them in in time for Tuesday's public hearing, or deliver them in person during the public hearing itself. The hearing will begin soon after 7:00 p.m. At the close of the public hearing Tuesday night, no more ballots will be accepted, and the City Clerk will immediately go into the Civic Center Community Room to count the ballots. The public can watch the ballot counting. These are signed ballots with pen markings, so there are no chads. If your name is Chad, we don't even allow you in the building. By the end of Tuesday's meeting, we should be able to announce whether the District lives or dies. More information about balloting guidelines is here. • There is a proposed new Council policy about how the City should deal with city council candidate forums in City facilities, including televising these on NBTV. This policy, if adopted, would not apply in 2016 given that we're pretty much done with forums for this election season. • For our neighbors in Newport Shores who have long been waiting for the City to dredge our side of the Newport Shores Canal (aka the Seminouk Slough), we had gone out to bid recently for construction. But we're going to have to reject these bids and go out again for a few reasons (as outlined in the staff report online). The new request for bids will go out fast, as we want to get this work done soon. Newport Shores has been waiting too long for this. O • Our good friends at the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation came through again with over $184K in contributions towards library programs, including our literacy services. Yay, Foundation. • And then there is 150 Newport Center Drive. This is the residential project at the Beacon Bay Car wash. As I write this Guide, the project applicant has requested delaying ("continuing") consideration of the Project until the Council's October 11th meeting. However, it is up to the City Council to grant the request or not. If you are following this project, I would not advise you either way on whether to attend the September 27th meeting or to stay home in your slippers, as Council could take a number of paths — agree to the request to move it to October 11, to uphold the Planning Commission's denial of the project, or to approve the project. Random Notes: • Monday, September 26th is a big night. It's Falcons v. Saints in New Orleans starting at 5:30 p.m. our time. And it's the US Presidential Candidates' first debate at Hofstra University at 6:00 p.m. our time. It's also another public workshop for Mariner's Mile. That's also at 6:00 p.m. at Marina Park. If I were you, I'd DVR the debate and turn off the radio 'til I get home to watch it. Falcons v. Saints — meh. Yes, we all admit we could have scheduled the Mariner's Mile thing better. Just as the I wanted to thank all of the folks who came out to help work on parking issues around CdMHS, including a number of parents, Mayor pro Tem Kevin Muldoon, and our PD and Public Works staff. Plus the 75 or so students who attended the 9-13 City Council meeting, many of whom spoke very eloquently about their concerns and ideas. thought that the students and parents who attended the 9-13 Council meeting were folks who make the community proud of so many CdMHS students and their participation. So I have to confess this last story about Concerts on the Green now that the season's over. If you've attended previous COTGs, you know that attendees have enjoyed tailgating up on the upper two decks of the parking structure. Fun, right? Yes, most of the time. But apparently at the Fleetwood Mac tribute band in August, a bit too many Red Solo Cups were out and about, and misbehavior combined with clothing loss (1) ensued. Misbehaving near a 20' drop isn't advised, nor is clothing loss in any public place. Our PD staff asked folks to rein the tailgating in a bit at the following concert (Springsteen tribute band), to mild chagrin from concertgoers. So for next year, please know that we hope and expect everyone to enjoy the concerts in a safe, clothed and fun way. Dear millenials: please commence appropriate cracks & tweets about Boomers Behaving Badly (#fleetwoodmactributebandsandboom ersdontmix) Two fun events coming up sponsored by the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. First is the Fire and Lifeguard Appreciation dinner at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 291h at the Newport Beach Marriott in Newport Center, and second is the Chamber's annual Sandcastle Contest —that is Sunday, October 2nd midday at CDM State Beach. More information is here. As always, thanks for reading and being cheekiness -tolerant. Feel free to forward this Guide 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 949-644-3001 City Council Meeting Information: The Newport Beach City Council meets on the 2"d 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 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: CityCouncil@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. 91