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HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideINSIDER'S GUIDE JUNE 26, 2018 From: Kiff. Dave Subject: Insider"s Guide for the Newport Beach City Council Meeting of Tuesday, June 26, 2018 Date: Friday, June 22, 2018 8:35:28 AM Happy Friday! School is out, Jr Guards will start soon, summer is still a bit June -gloomy, but there still is a lot going on here at City Hall. Here, then, is the Insider's Guide for the City Council meeting of Tuesday, June 26th, 2018. This Insider's Guide is not an attempt to summarize every item on the agenda —just the ones that seem of specific interest to me. I encourage you to read the full agenda if you wish. So then, here's a summary of what's on the agenda of the next City Council meeting: We will have a brief Study Session (well, I'm just hoping it will be brief, maybe too optimistically) starting at 4:30 p.m. to allow the Council to discuss and maybe straw vote on a possible dollar threshold for certain improvements funded with lease -revenue debt to go before the voters. All of that assumes that Council will want to put the item on the November ballot, and if they do, it allows staff a few hours before the evening meeting to fill in the blanks on the resolution that adopts the possible charter amendment. More on this below. During the 7:00 p.m. Regular Session, a number of items are worth mentioning: • Formal creation of the Harbor Department is on there, on the consent calendar. All of the heavy lifting was at the last meeting, when the budgeting for the Department was approved. Similarly, the Council approved the establishment of a Civilian Fire Marshal, something that will help us with our wildland fire preparation as well as regular inspections and plan check. The position's "job spec" and salary range is on this agenda. • Council completed negotiations with the Newport Beach Police Association (the labor group which represents the "rank -and -file" officers and civilians in the PD), and the NBPA recently ratified the agreement. Formal adoption by the Council is on the agenda for Tuesday evening. • More Irvine Avenue pavement rehabilitation — this time, the section between Santiago and 16th. Good, my chattering teeth think that's a good idea. O This is a cooperative project between Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, as we both have part of that stretch of road. • Our yearly July 4th resolution to close a handful of streets and parking lots for July 4 — but only if warranted that day — is there. Nothing too new here. And a Happy Independence Day to you all, as that day is not too far off. I'll be out with the West Newport parade group that morning, celebrating something like the 9th year (I can't believe that) of our Family -Friendly Fourth efforts. • At the last Council meeting, the Council discussed some of our options to lower residents' costs relating to utility undergrounding assessment districts, including doing the construction management and bidding ourselves. This seems to have succeeded for AD 117, which is in the CdM area. Contracts for construction of the undergrounding in AD 117 are on this agenda. • As noted in the Study Session item, the Council will consider putting a Charter Amendment on the November 6, 2018 General Election ballot that would ask voters if they would require voter - approval of certain debt, this time relating to lease -revenue bonds or Certificates of Participation (COPS). COPS are instruments where lease payments are established from municipal facilities, and the lease payments go to repay the bond obligations. The Civic Center and Park project was funded with about $124M in COPS, issued back in November 2010. Key issues for the Council on Tuesday will be what dollar threshold should require a debt issuance to go before voters, and whether there should be exceptions for bonds to repair infrastructure damaged in a disaster. Staff has tried to set this item up so that the Council will be able to consider it and send it to the November ballot all at the Tuesday meeting. • With preliminary findings complete on possible false signature gathering in the recent recall attempt, the findings may have identified problems with the paid signature gathering company, and how well or how poorly that company may have complied with State elections law relating to paid signature gathering. An ordinance on the agenda for Tuesday would amend the City Municipal Code to state that signature -gathering companies would have to provide documents to the City Clerk showing how they met State Election Code requirements. Additionally, this agenda item rescinds a resolution adopted earlier this year relating to subpoena issuance. • Appointments to the Finance Committee and other Boards, Committees and Commissions are on the agenda. I say this every year, but we all so appreciate the time and effort that so many volunteers make to serve on our many important boards, committees and commissions. Finally, for my last handful of Insider's Guides, I wanted to try to memorialize a few things in our community's collective knowledge so that they are not forgotten as I head off to other ventures. Gosh, that sounds kind of pretentious as I write that, but it's not intended to be. Let's call this "So Please Don't Forget This" (Part 1): So Please Don't Forget This — Part 1 One of my favorite all-time projects that I ever worked on is Sunset Ridge Park. The Park today exists (NW corner of W Coast Highway and Superior Avenue) because it was willed into existence by Louise Greeley, who passed away at something like 92 years young a few years before the park was done in 2014. She invited me to her condo porch in Newport Crest when I first arrived here in 1998. We looked out towards a flat field that was "left over' from the never -done Coast Freeway right-of-way. She said, "this needs to be a 'park for all ages,' including a place for butterflies." Today, the butterfly garden is named in her honor. Please don't forget Louise Greeley. Second part of this is that, as you know, the park is up a slope. It's a big slope. It has no parking lot and no easy way for Little League and Soccer kids, parents and grandparents hauling chairs, drinks, snacks and equipment to get to it. Please also don't forget that Sunset Ridge Park has a spot for a parking lot (behind the restrooms at the NW corner of the park) as well as an opportunity to have a pedestrian bridge allowing a near slope -less access way from parking on the NE side of Superior and W Coast Highway. The City designed this Park with a parking lot, and went to the Coastal Commission with it in there. But the parking lot's %-mile entry route — which involved land in the Banning Ranch - did not get approved. Rather than insist upon it with the Commission at the time and risk losing the park (passage was uncertain even without the parking lot road), we took what we could. So we have a park, but no easy parking. I would love to look back in a handful of years and see that our good Council and staff had found an easy way — either with that parking lot or the bridge (good news here —the bridge recently received OCTA funding, so it may be on its way!) —for folks to get to soccer and Little League, or to simply enjoy the great sunsets from the park. Insider's secret: Much of the Coastal Commission's debate on the Park rested upon the presence of a California native known as the California Brittlebush, or Encelia californica. While it nearly tubed our park, this is a genuinely beautiful native plant. To honor our Sunset Ridge effort, we made sure that there is at least one Encelia in the Civic Center Park. It survives today— it's doing great, in fact. When I walk by it, I remember the Battle of Sunset Ridge. Thank you for reading. Please 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 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 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 Time Warner / Spectrum 3 and Cox Channel 852 or stream it on your computer.