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HomeMy WebLinkAbout0 - Public CommentsFebruary 11, 2014, City Council Agenda Item Comments The following comments on items on the Newport Beach City Council agenda are submitted by: Jim Mosher ( iimmosher(a-)vahoo.com ), 2210 Private Road, Newport Beach 92660 (949 -548 -6229) Item 1. Minutes for the January 25, 2014 Special Meetings; and the January 28, 2014 Study Session and Regular Meeting The page numbers below refer to Volume 61. The passages in italics are from the staff report, with suggested changes shown in °t" eeiit underline format. Page 417, sentence 1: "Jim Mosher believed that items not on last year's list should have been pr- evldeel reviewed so this year's list would be more comprehensive." Page 419, line 1: "He requested that staff keep residents informed about the Semeniou Semeniuk Slough Project." Page 419, paragraph 3 from end: "Howard Gale Cork, Newport Bay Conservancy, noted ... Page 421, paragraph 3: "Regarding NBTV, Public Information Manager Finnigan indicated that it will be transitioned to VNB either by the end of February or early March." Page 424, last line: "She added that +nave maybe the only way to increase tenant interest." Page 421, paragraph 7: "Mayor Pro Tem Selich stated that he is familiar with the Bluewater Grills Grill's Avalon facility..." Pages 425 -6, connecting sentence: "He addressed the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ( NPDES) permit history and requirements, NPDES Construction and Municipal inspections, CaFnFn^° ^r °r°^^' ^stFial ° Gilit • kWeGtions Commercial /Industrial and Restaurant facility inspections, Program and Policy Oversight, ..." Note: the minutes copy in their capitalized form many of the bullet point items displayed in Public Works Director Webb's PowerPoint presentation. For the most part, I believe the bullet points were simply identifying the general and specific topics to be discussed, and should not be capitalized unless they are the names of officially recognized staff or Council programs. For example, in the preceding fragment, I think "Construction and Municipal," "Commercial /Industrial and Restaurant" and "Program and Policy Oversight' should appear in the minutes in lower case since they are not, to the best of my knowledge, proper names. In what follows, I would question the need to capitalize "Sediment TMDL Numeric Targets Compliance, " "Sediment Loading," "Natural Treatment Systems," "Reduction in Nitrogen Loads," "Reduced Algal Growth," "Organochlorine Compounds, "Bacteria Concentrations," "Selenium Hot Spots," "Selenium, " "Trash Skimmers, "Infiltration Gallery, "'Annual Drainage System Cleaning," "Street Sweeping and Household Hazardous Waste Collection," "Public Education and Community Outreach," "Water Quality Capital Program Costs" and `Annual Water Quality Related Program Costs." February 11, 2014, Council agenda item comments - Jim Mosher Page 2 of 5 Page 426, paragraph 2: "Public Works Director Webb continued with the presentation with information regarding Fecal Indicator Bacteria (FIB) TMDL, ..." Page 426, paragraph 3: "At the request of Mayor Hill, Public Works Director Webb pointed out the location of the fish and wildli California Department of Fish and Wildlife wetlands." Page 426, paragraph 3 from end: "Assistant City Engineer Stein reported that the City negotiated special protections with the State Water Quality Board in 2012 and that presently; the City is in a monitoring mode to see if there are constituents causing a problem to MPAs." Page 427, paragraph 3: "Public Works Director Webb distinguished between various types of fecal material noting that one the indicator is not a disease pren disease - causing bacterium." Page 427, paragraph 5: "He asked regarding penalties of exceeding bacteria and not meeting the standard other standards." Page 428, paragraph 3: "Public Works Director Webb noted that the City has more salt marsh than it needs and that the information situation will be rectified." Page 433, paragraph 2 from end, sentence 2 from end: "He referenced a statement by the BreekPln Brookings Institution that 98% of economists ..." Page 433, last paragraph: "Council Member Petros reported on the Leadership and in Energy and Environmental Design L( EED) rating relative to reduction of green house gas emissions." Page 434, paragraph 2: "Dan Golden, Chemical Engineer and Economist with Fluor Corporation, noted that the af#ests effects of climate change are real, ..." Page 434, paragraph 1 under Item 12, end of sentence 1: "... so that the renewal process can begin (Item No. 12)." Page 435, paragraph 1 under Item 13: "... Council is being asked to renew the NBTBID changing the term to ten (10) years, setting the assessment rate at 3% and would add adding the Island Hotel to the NBTBID." Page 435, paragraph 3 under Item 13, sentence 1: "... it clearly states that for the next ten (10) years, the meeting meetings of Visit Newport Beach (VNB) will be open to the public and subject to the Brown Act ..." Page 435, paragraph 3 under Item 13, last sentence: "He added that the organization is restricted by State law #rem to spending money for the benefit of member hotels within the District and not for the benefit of the rest of the City." Page 436, paragraph 1 under Item 15: "Community Development Director Brandt reported this is the second appeal of a Planning Commission decision refers to a decision made in November 2013 regarding a lot merger." [note: although the previous item was an appeal from a Planning Commission decision, that decision was made in August 2013 and it did not involve a lot merger] February 11, 2014, Council agenda item comments - Jim Mosher Page 3 of 5 Page 436, paragraph 3 under Item 15: "In reply to Council Member "ass Gardner's inquiry, ..." Page 438, paragraph 1: "City Clerk Brown reported that the Qtu City Council will vote by paper ballot..." Page 438, paragraph 2: "Jim Mosher ^ammented ^•^ ' an commended the Ad Hoc Appointments Committee for bringing before Council more than the required two candidates." Page 438, last paragraph: "Jim Mosher stated that this is not a complicated Policy and felt it is a good idea when Council is reviewing applications when it knew-s that it to know if they will be rejected by other agencies." Page 439, first full paragraph: "Terry 1444 -gnH Welch, Banning Ranch Conservancy, noted a recommendation ..." Page 439, paragraph 2, sentence 2: "... it read the Mask 1setter Iaw black letter law ..." Page 439, paragraph 3: "... Mr. Ray corrected the statement to saw that the Crystal Cove /Coast project was done by the County..." Page 440, paragraph 3: "... there were two Citi zen Committees citizen committees ..." Page 441, paragraph 2 from end: "Council Member Curry reported that it has been proposed in the new legislature and that there are a 213 majority of Democrat legislation legislators looking for an opportunity to move forward with "Split Roll "." Page 442, line 2: "... and Council Member Daigle abent absent from the vote." Page 443, paragraph 3, sentence 2: "He noted that this has nothing to do with the NBTBID and that the money is not coming from them or but rather from the general TOT intended for promotion of the City as a destination." Page 443, paragraph 9 ( "Motion "): "... and b) bring the item back in June for the Council t�orovide direction on how the City will use the proposed $150,000 in annual public benefit funding provided for in the Amendment to the 2011 Agreement." [note: the "motion," to the extent there was one, is found at around 2h:00m in the video. Without the suggested correction, the minutes are simply repeating staff's request for direction from Council as listed on the agenda, not the Council's action on it.] Page 444, line 1: "He reiterated that he believes it is inappropriate to mix this with the general X19 TOT promotion on behalf of the City, as a whole." Page 444, last two lines: "In response to Council Member Daigle's inquiry regarding the City's belief that there is no one - size - fits -all solution for fire rings and whether this is a City policy, Page 445, paragraph 5: "City Attorney Harp noted there are many issue issues in play including nuisance issues where different policies and interests are being merged." Page 446, paragraph 5: "Jim Mosher commented on the definition of fuel sources, in partisulaxly particular that of fire logs." February 11, 2014, Council agenda item comments - Jim Mosher Page 4 of 5 Item 3. Adoption of Ordinance No. 2014 -2 Relating to Beach Fire Rings In my view the proposed language is flawed in several ways: 1. It fails to make clear if the new rules are intended to apply to both public and private fire rings. 2. As applied to the City -owned rings, it implies all the listed fuels are allowed to be used in all of them, which seems unlikely to be the outcome the Council desires. 3. The attempted definition of "natural gas' is sufficiently broad to allow the burning of propane and other gaseous hydrocarbons, even though at least some Council members have previously stated they don't want propane tanks on the beaches, particularly, I would assume, if used without supervision by private parties. 4. On the other hand, the language appears to ban all liquid fuels, even though the South Coast AQMD's Rule 444 allows them, making it unclear how the fires are to be ignited. 5. Likewise, the definition of "fire log" is so precise that it may prohibit the burning of the low emission log exhibited at an earlier Council meeting. 6. The final "Whereas' in the recitals indicates the ordinance is intended as an experiment to operate only for "a fixed period of time," yet it contains no language to effectuate that intention (aside from the limited term for clause C, only). Moreover, as was admitted when staff proposed this, passage of the ordinance, by itself, would not appear to satisfy the requirements of both the Coastal Commission and the AQMD. In view of that, and since AB 1102 would provide relief from that situation, but not until its effective date in January 2015, 1 believe the City, rather than opposing AB 1102, should be advocating that it be passed as an emergency measure, effective as soon as (and if) it passes. That would protect the City from the threat of regulatory fines during a period of limbo from March 1, 2014, to January 1, 2015. If the Council chooses not to do that, it might be useful to recognize that compliance with AQMD Rule 444 does not require the all- charcoal option, which seems to be the only one considered by City staff. Rule 444 would actually allow untreated wood to continue to be burned in some rings (either if the total number of rings in which wood is allowed on a contiguous beach is small enough, or if a sufficient distance is maintained between those where wood burning is permitted), and charcoal (or gas) could be used in the remainder [the Rule 444 distinction is that the burning of wood on public sand is regarded as "beach burning," which is restricted, while the burning of gas, propane or charcoal is not, and is unrestricted]. Item 4. Adopt a Resolution for Street Sweeping Parking Restrictions on Domingo Drive and Amigos Way 1. This item raises the obvious question of what happened to the promise to bring back for discussion the student parking problem on these streets, as was done for Aralia Street. 2. 1 would think the proposal to allow no parking on either side of either street for three hours each week would impose a considerable hardship on residents. February 11, 2014, Council agenda item comments - Jim Mosher Page 5 of 5 Item 5. Resolution No. 2014 -9 - Expressing Support for "The Pension Reform Act of 2014" The California Government Code was amended, effective January 1, 2001, by the addition of Section 54964, which reinforced existing case law with the statement that "An officer, employee, or consultant of a local agency may not expend or authorize the expenditure of any of the funds of the local agency to support or oppose the approval or rejection of a ballot measure, or the election or defeat of a candidate, by the voters." Despite this clear stricture, the Newport Beach City Council has, since then, on at least five occasions attempted to influence the electorate with statements of support or opposition on measures that had qualified for the statewide ballot (Resolutions 2002 -10, 2002 -17, 2006 -93, 2008 -80, and 2010 -110). Considering the questionable propriety of using public resources for electioneering, I find it unconscionable that this, and the accompanying Item 6, have been placed on the consent calendar with staff reports that not only read like campaign speeches, but suggest the City Council has already made up its mind on these. Unfortunately the new rule requiring written comments to be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on the day preceding the meeting, and the new public comment rules which severely restrict the public's right to present opposing views for their consideration at the meeting, especially on Consent Calendar items, prevent me from expressing my concerns with greater clarity. Item 6. Resolution No. 2014 -15 - Expressing Support for Proposition 13 and Opposition to a Split Roll Please seem comment on Item 6. Item 7. Approve Agreement for Grease Control Inspection Device Program with Jon Kinley The report says only one bid was received. Did staff contact Environmental Engineering & Contracting (EEC), which I believe provides very similar services for the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, including in the areas of Newport Beach that it services?