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HomeMy WebLinkAbout00 - Insider's GuideJune 28, 2016 Insider's Guide From: Kiff, Dave Sent: Friday, June 24, 2016 2:01 PM Subject: Insider's Guide for Tuesday, June 28, 2016 Summer has officially begun. The crowds are here, the traffic is bad, and 90% of our emails are about loud parties, trash on the beach, overwhelmed restrooms, parking problems, and construction noise. Anyone else glad it's Friday? An early PS — if you have visitors coming into town who need to pay for parking, tell them about the ParkMobile app. They'll thank you. No, I don't get a cut. But I really like the product. Oh, one more thing —for you loyal and longtime walkers around Balboa Island and Little Island (such as one determined 70 -year old lady (9), 1 get that this a route you've loved for years, but please don't climb under or over the barricades, fence, signs and caution tape around the old bridge. You're killing the neighbor's daylilies and you're probably going to fall and hurt yourself. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Here's what's on the schedule for the Newport Beach City Council meeting of Tuesday, June 28, 2016. More detailed Council meeting information is at the end of this e-mail, and here is a link to the full Council agenda. I don't summarize every item on the agenda. We again start our Study Session at 5:00 p.m. rather than 4:00 p.m. Can I confess to you that figuring out when to start the Study Session is a taxing mental exercise? First you guess at how long each item might take, including public comment, and back it up from 7:00 p.m. if there is a closed session, you add time for that, also based on how long the closed session items take. It's a huge guess. Which I've been wrong at lately. The goal is not to have staff, the audience, and the Council sit around for an hour until the 7:00 p.m. meeting starts with absolutely nothing to do but make small talk — looking at me like, "nice job, Dave - you blew it again..." Anyway: • July 4 update. Yes, July 4 will occur. And occur here. And it's a Monday. With most folks having work days the next day. That's good — usually. Makes for less carousing. This is our annual update to you all about what to expect from the PD and Recreation staff during that whole weekend from July 2-4. Parades, Family Fun Festivals, patriotic dog costumes, people in dunk tanks, fireworks, fun and frivolity. But in a family -friendly way. With open streets. • Seguing to Segways. It's been a while since we've asked the City Council whether it wants to do anything differently on the Ocean Front Walk (don't call it the boardwalk!) to make it more peaceful there. The usual battle between surrey cycles (you can't use those on the Walk, and they're not really safe on the streets), speeding cyclists and skateboarders, Segway groups and Segway individuals, and the poor outgunned cowering pedestrians will be discussed, with a matrix of ideas for Council to consider (assuming they want to change anything at all). We'll also talk about the width and length of the Walk. • A big pending Santa Ana River sand project. The County of Orange is about to scoop out a lot of sand from the lowest reach of the Santa Ana River (all the way from Adams). They've done this before, and it's an important part of making sure that the River maintains its full flood -control capacity. The sand there — sand that would otherwise be pushed offshore by a big storm (those of you too young for that should Google "big storm") — is important for our beach replenishment efforts, too. So much of that will be manually placed offshore, with some onshore (followed by emails to me saying "the sand is too high" or "the beach is too wide" or "there's too much silt" or "you ruined my surf break"). To rope in even another group, there is a chance that this project may affect Dog Beach, too, as if a lot of sand is removed from that area, the profile of Dog Beach could change a great deal. No, this is not our fault. Things are never easy, are they? Except maybe the evening part of the meeting — that might be easy. Starting at 7:00 p.m.: • There is a drought -related action for us all to be aware of—the City will propose a goal of 15% water use reductions (down from that awful 28% standard and even the later 21% adjustment) for the months going forward. You'll recall that the State now allows us to set our own standards based on local and regional supplies. A 15% reduction seems pretty attainable for most places — the City will continue to help with our own municipal watering practices, too. • Our annual allocation of about $300,000 in grants or waivers for various fun events is up for Council review and approval. Recipients could include the Race for the Cure, the Christmas Boat Parade, the Newport Beach Film Festival, and more. If you applied for one of these grants, please review the staff report here. • You know that big sphere by the pedestrian bridge over San Miguel here in the Civic Center Park? The Arts Foundation has recommended buying it and making it part of the City arts inventory. Right now, it's just on loan. • A we prepare to re -do the cement alleyways in Newport Heights, we'll also ask the Council to let a bid for upgraded sewer work there — about $1.5M worth. See? Sometimes governments do try to repair the underground infrastructure before a street is nicely repaved, instead of the week after the cement dries. O • The Council will make its annual appointments to various Boards, Committees, and Commissions. As always, our sincere thanks for all of the good folks who apply for these positions —the meetings can be long and the pay invisible. We appreciate all of the hours, though — it makes for a better community. Some notes: • We keep writing this, but.... Jr Guards starts Monday—over 1,000 kids daily M -Thursday, comprising two shifts, headed to the Balboa Pier, many on bikes from all over town. Many other summer programs involving kids and bikes start Monday, too. Let's all be extra alert out there. • It's not too late to enroll kids (or visiting or bored grandkids — are those the same thing?) in some of our fun summer camp programs —many are for just 4-5 days. Search here for more information. • Or, the Newport Beach Public Library has its great summer reading program ready to roll. The adult part of that program says, "read away your summer." Hmm. I think I just might. • Lunchtime lap swim! Yes! Starts Monday and lasts through 8/18! Between 11 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. M -Th at CDMHS and between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. M -Th at NHHS. It's only $3/visit with a pass. I am totally biased and totally promoting this so it comes back every year (disclosure: this way i don't have to swim with the sharks). • There was another remarkable pool rescue in recent days, this time in Dover Shores. Thankfully, the mom and a neighbor knew CPR and a young child is alive and well today. Pools need fences (with closed gates) and they need good supervision at all times when kids are within the fence perimeter. OK, soapbox time officially over. 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, 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. From: Kiff, Dave Sent: Friday, June 24, 2016 3:40 PM Subject: Insider's Guide -- Supplemental Email about a Supplemental Item One more thing. There is an item added to the June 28th 2016 meeting that is a draft report back from the auditing firm working on the Civic Center audit. That material can be found all the way at the end (#S21) of the document linked here.