Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-112 - Relating to a Lower Newport Bay Dredging ProjectRESOLUTION NO. 2011 -112 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH RELATING TO A LOWER NEWPORT BAY DREDGING PROJECT WHEREAS, Newport Harbor, also known as Lower Newport Bay, is a body of water generally described as southerly and coastward of the property controlled by the State of California (Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve) and that includes the Newport Dunes area, the Dover Shores area, and the entirety of the Bay coastward and beneath the Coast Highway Bridge; and WHEREAS, Newport Harbor includes tide and submerged lands controlled by the City under the City's tidelands trust, also known as the Beacon Bay Bill (Chapter 74 of the Statutes of 1978 as amended), tide and submerged lands controlled by the County of Orange also under trust agreements, and some privately -held properties (inclusively, the "Lower Bay "); and WHEREAS, the Lower Bay contains a Federal Navigational Channel as well as "design depths" that set forth navigable passageways for commercial and recreational boating, and WHEREAS, over the years since the Lower Bay was formed, these passageways have been dredged to design depths only rarely and sporadically, and generally only when a limited amount of funds became available to do so; and WHEREAS, the City's long -term goal has been to completely dredge the Lower Bay to design depths or other appropriate levels in partnership with the County of Orange, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and local property owners (where appropriate); and WHEREAS, completely dredging the Lower Bay would require the removal of about 1,300,000 cubic yards of material, some of it not suitable for ocean disposal. The cost of this "complete" dredging project is estimated in 2011 at about $25,000,000.00, and WHEREAS, because that level of funding is not available from the Federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has planned, approved, and bid a small -scale Lower Bay dredging effort for 2012 that would accomplish the removal of up to 350,000 cubic yards of material; and WHEREAS, the Port of Long Beach ( "Port") has tentatively agreed to continue to accept sediment not suitable for ocean disposal from the Lower Bay at the Port provided that the sediment is delivered to the Port in a manner timely for disposal in the Port's construction efforts; and WHEREAS, the City, the County, and private property owners may be able to assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in expanding the small -scale Lower Bay dredging project to instead complete a moderate -scale dredging project that would improve navigation, remove and dispose of a significant amount of the material not suitable for ocean disposal at the Port, and put the Lower Bay on course for a future project that might bring the entirety of the Lower Bay to navigable and non - contaminated levels in the future; and WHEREAS, Mayor Henn on his own initiative has proposed organizing a group of private property owners, business owners, and friends of the Lower Bay to assist him in identifying and securing private donations to help fund the Lower Bay's dredging costs; NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Newport Beach that it hereby states and authorizes the following: 1. The City expresses its commitment to assisting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in its effort to significantly improve navigability and contaminant removal in the sediment of the Lower Bay via a Lower Bay Dredging Project; and 2. The City is hereby authorized to accept donations or other contributions of private individuals or entities, and public entities such as the County of Orange provided that such funds are used solely for dredging within the Lower Bay; and 3. The City's staff is authorized to create a receipt account, enterprise fund, or other financial mechanism within the City's formal budget documents that would accept, conservatively invest, protect and sequester donations or other contributions so that the funds could be used solely for dredging within the Lower Bay; and 4. The City Council acknowledges and appreciates the contributions and efforts of individuals to solicit or otherwise encourage or supervise the donation or contribution of funds to said receipt account, enterprise fund, or other financial mechanism provided that such solicitation is done in full compliance with the City's Charter and other local, state, or federal law. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the City Council, and the City Clerk shall certify the vote adopting this resolution. ADOPTED this 13th Day of December, 2011. ATTEST: aw - Kw,,_ LEILANI BROWN City Clerk MICHAEL F. HENN Mayor STATE OF CALIFORNIA } COUNTY OF ORANGE } $a. CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH } I, Lellani I. Brown, City Clerk of the City of Newport Beach, California, do hereby certify that the whole number of members of the City Council is seven; that the foregoing resolution, being Resolution No. 2011 -112 was duly and regularly introduced before and adopted by the City Council of said City at a regular meeting of said Council, duly and regularly held on the 13th day of December, 2011, and that the same was so passed and adopted by the following vote, to wit: Ayes: Hill, Rosansky, Gardner, Selich, Curry, Daigle, Mayor Henn Noes: None Absent: None Abstain: None IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed the official seal of said City this 14th day of December, 2011. 4-, h hu—/ City Clerk Newport Beach, California (Seal)