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Home My WebLink About04-09-09 Minutes�F,W PpRT �� n City of Newport Beach Coastal/Bay Water Quality Citizens Advisory Committee Minutes DATE: 4/9/09 TIME: 3:00 P.M. LOCATION: Fire Conference Room 1. Welcome/Self Introductions Committee Members: Chairwoman/Council Member Nancy Gardner Council Member Mike Henn Dennis Baker George Drayton Ray Halowski Tom Houston Randy Seton Guests: Ambrosia Sarabia, The Log Newspaper Jack and Nancy Skinner City or County Staff: Dave Kiff, Assistant City Manager John Kappeler, Code & WQ Division Supervisor Chris Miller, Harbor Resources Manager Shirley Oborny, Administrative Assistant 2. Approval of Previous Meeting's Minutes The minutes from the February 22, 2009 meeting were approved. 3. Old Business (a) Bay and Ocean Bacteriological Test Results Mr. Kappeler reviewed the latest bacti reports. Mr. Skinner said the County of Orange has called a meeting to prioritize water quality in the bay and the City has been asked for its input. The question is whether the Arches storm drain can be diverted. Discussion ensued. Mr. Kiff said he's not convinced that particular storm drain is contributing to the problem at Newport Island. Mr. Kappeler said he would attend the TAC meeting on April 23rd. Mr. Skinner suggested he, Mr. Kappeler and Mr. Kiff hold a pre -meeting to prioritize. 4. New Business (a) Newport Beach Tidepool & Education Program This item was continued to the May 14' meeting. (b) Transient Boaters & Live-Aboards in Newport Harbor 1 Chris Miller talked about the requirements for a live aboard permit. Upon annual renewal he said the y-valves are inspected. He believes the permitted live aboard boaters care about the Harbor and are not the problem. He thinks the transient boaters probably stay aboard their boats when they rent a mooring from the Harbor Department. The problem is nobody is verifying their y-valves are operational and in the closed position. Mr. Miller approached the Harbor Department last fall to see if they would be willing to place a dye tablet in these boats when they come to their office to rent a mooring. Their response was they couldn't do it due to time and resource constraints. Continuing, Mr. Miller explained that staff recently rewrote the entire section in the municipal code that deals with how moorings are transferred between people. The City Attorney is reviewing it, followed by the Harbor Commission and then the City Council. Live aboards will be permitted on short-term rentals but not on long-term rentals. In the proposed codes it says the live aboards may be permitted on short-term rentals "...pending vessel inspection and subsequent re -inspection per each short-term rental renewal." He explained that the contract with the Harbor Department will be expiring soon so he'd like to have the inspections become part of their responsibility in renting the moorings. Mr. Drayton suggested the anchorage areas be included. Mr. Kiff said he's concerned the County will request more compensation to do the added work. Council Member Henn suggested that when the time comes to present the new code Mr. Miller should show what it used to say as well. (c) 2008 Draft 303d List & Draft NPDES Permit 2008 Draft 303d list - Mr. Kappeler said a couple of months ago he came to this committee because the Regional Board proposed listing a new listing of enterococcus for the Upper Newport Bay, Lower Newport Bay and all of Newport Beach. Staff talked to them and they agreed the data was incorrect. They will not be listing those areas now but they will list the Santa Ana River mouth and the Seashore Drive drain. The Regional Board also proposed to list the Newport Slough behind Cappy's restaurant on Lancaster and 615t Street and the Seminouk Slough at Grant Street near the Beach and Bay mobile home park. In response to Mr. Drayton, Mr. Skinner explained how ultraviolet rays and bleach treatment kill the bacteria but not the viruses. Draft NPDES Permit — Mr. Kappeler reviewed the proposed changes to the North and Central Orange County draft NPDES Permit that he presented to the committee in December 2008. At that time, he said staff felt it could easily accept and comply with the proposed changes. In the second draft there were significant changes in the development section but he still feels City staff can handle the changes. The Irvine Company (TIC) and the OC Building Industry Association (OCBIA) had a lot of concerns about the draft permit. The Regional Board held several workshops for the building community to talk about the changes. In addition, he said they eliminated certain sections. They did; however, replace that with a section that says between pre and post -development there must the capacity to retain and infiltrate up to a two-year 2 storm. He said the Regional Board is tripling the inspection requirements for commercial property so some cities with a lot of commercial property will be burdened more than others but Newport Beach doesn't have a lot of commercial properties. The meeting to approve the adoption of the NPDES permit and the 2008 303(d) list will be held on April 24t". (d) Beachgoer Education Display Program Mr. Kappeler said he, Chairwoman Gardner and Mr. Kiff met with MiOcean. They proposed a pilot program to place 42" flat screen monitors at one to four selected beaches. One would be at the Corona del Mar State Beach near the concession stand. The monitors would list: • Air Temperature • Water Temperature • Surf Forecast • High and low tides • Water Quality in the area (as compiled by Heal the Bay) • Public education message He said there wouldn't be sound. MiOcean would pay for it and the City would enter into a one-year contract for the pilot program. The committee suggested it could be used for tide pool information, jellyfish infestations, etc. 5. Public Comments on Non -Agenda Items Ms. Gardner said a meeting will be held to discuss the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) on April 15t" and April 16t" in Dana Point for public comments. Chris Miller said it will also be discussed at the April 23rd OCCC meeting. Chairwoman Gardner said the Newport Bay Watershed Executive Committee (WEC) met yesterday. The ongoing issue is: (1) whether Central Orange County should be its own watershed region for State grant funding purposes because our watershed already has a plan; or (2) whether we should join with the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) and its attempt to tell the State that we are one large region including portions of San Bernardino and Riverside counties (in effect, coterminous with the Santa Ana Regional Board's jurisdiction). The majority of the WEC members said that Newport Beach should go with SAWPA because SAWPA will more than likely receive bond money. The WEC also worked to rewrite some of the language in what would be guiding principles for Orange County to be protected and respected within SAWPA's One Watershed One World concept. In the meantime, the County staff will hold a marker so the City will not miss its deadline if the County changes its mind and decides to apply for the bond money as our own region separate from SAWPA. Mr. Baker announced that he put together a collection of Newport Beach Film Festival movies to be played on Earth Day, April 26t", at the Muth Interpretive Center from 3 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Some movies being shown are: Incident at Tower 37, Blue Gold, and Food Fight. He said other environmental movies to be shown at the Film Festival are Earth Daysand Cove. Mr. Miller announced a segment currently playing on Heart of the Harbor, a City government program channel, discussing pump outs. Mr. Skinner said two days ago the National Panel on DDT was asked to determine whether TIC's plan to ask for a less stringent level of DDT in fish and sediments in the bay should be considered. It would mean changing Federal standards. He said a week ago the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) released new data on the DDT levels in forage fish in the Newport Bay. There was a high level of DDT in the anchovies in the upper bay and the mullets that the Osprey feed off of. Discussion ensued. Mr. Skinner also announced he had to resign from the DDT Committee and the Selenium Committee due to conflicts with his calendar. They are looking for replacement members. Ms. Skinner said she and Mr. Skinner would be meeting with Dr. Alfred Dufour from US EPA during the Beach Conference and they plan to discuss the speciation issue. 6. Topics for Future Agendas (a) Water Conservation ordinance (b) Update of the NPDES Permit draft (John Kappeler) (c) Harbor Patrol y-valve inspections (d) Rockweed update 7. Set Next Meeting Date The next meeting was scheduled for May 14, 2009. S. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 4:44 p.m. W