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Home My WebLink About00 - Insider's GuideReceived After Agenda Printed March 24, 2015 Brown, Leilani Insider's Guide From: Kiff, Dave Sent: Friday, March 20, 2015 4:11 PM Subject: Insider's Guide - City Council meeting of Tuesday, March 24, 2015 A good Friday afternoon to you. Part II of a review of capital projects, starting design work for the CdM "Fibrary", and the Marcus Lot are some of the issues on this coming Newport Beach City Council agenda. For more detail, please read on. Here is the Insider's Guide to the Newport Beach City Council meeting of Tuesday, March 24, 2015. The City Council meeting is held on the 2nd and 0 Tuesdays of most months, with study session starting this coming Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. and the regular session at 7:00 p.m. The Council meets in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Center Drive. There is plenty of parking -you are always welcome to attend! But you can also watch on TV (Channels 3031) or on your computer. I do not summarize every item on the Agenda —to read the full agenda, click here: http: / /newportbeachca.gov/ modules /ShowDocument.asox ?documentid =4414 If you are so inclined, please weigh in on these issues by contacting the entire City Council with one email address — that's CityCouncil @newportbeachca.aov. They appreciate hearing from you, especially about any agenda item. Study Session begins at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, again a half -hour earlier than usual because of the capital projects review. There are two items: • It's Part 2 to the meeting 2 weeks ago to continue discussion about the many capital projects lined up for design, construction, or completion in the coming several months and years. This ranges from street reconstruction to a new Community Center on the west side of town to landscaping improvements to the Balboa Theater to the Fibrary in Corona del Mar. It's the "early look" at the Fiscal Year 15 -16 Capital Improvement Program. It's a chance for the Council to ask more questions and provide direction about what projects they might like a lot now or want to slow down. This item is set up as a second joint meeting with the new Finance Committee. Please consider joining us in person if you have thoughts or ideas about our construction efforts. But this too will be televised in case you want to watch from home. • Second item is a possible new design for the directional signage below traffic signals (currently white on green). We'll talk about a white on blue to look more like our neighborhood street signs. Yes, the traffic signal signs are being replaced anyway as they get worn out — with LEDs, too. Evening Session — starts at 7:00 p.m. These items might be of interest: The Marcus Lot— a new parking lot is planned for the of Blockbuster building (a bank building before that...) at the corner of 32nd and Newport Boulevard. We have redesigned the planned lot to address some strong concerns by the folks on Marcus, who didn't want the lot's entrance and one exit to go on Marcus. So the new plan has it going off of and on to 32nd Street. We'll ask the Council to approve that. Additionally, we're recommending it become a pay lot, as the on- street meters it will replace were indeed, um, meters. A plan for a small pocket park in Corona del Mar next to Hobie Sports (aka the surf shop with the Hurley sign up front, which confuses me enough to call it the Hurley - Hobie shop) will come before the Council. Local CdM residents like Ron Yeo have advocated for this small park, and it's now in the City's name and will be constructed at a bid price of about $78K. About the Fibrary — the combo Fire Station and Branch Library in CdM. This item will approve a contract with an architectural firm to further advance design work on both the library side and the fire station side. We have a rough concept drawn out, but we need more public input about the interior of the Library as well as the overall design and look of the combined building. This is early in the design process (early! Did I say early? I meant early!), so please make sure you weigh in with your thoughts once the architect is selected —part of the architect's contract involves public engagement with the community, CdMRA, and the Library Board of Trustees. • Council will be asked to select a restaurant vendor for the Marina Park cafe — it's suggested to be Lighthouse Cafe, a concept put forth by the owners of Ruby's. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all on the menu. Hey, for a very cool You Tube /Drone look at what's going on at Marina Park construction -wise, please click here: http: / /Voutu.beZ6bzxc9bn3Co . The overall project remains on schedule and under budget. • Area real estate agents affiliated with larger brokerages have asked to be exempt from the City's business license tax. The Council last year asked for this change, and we did it administratively last year. But an item on Tuesday's agenda makes that permanent in the code. • Council Member Peotter asked at the last meeting to see if the Council wanted to consider establishing a separate fund for debt management, so the entire Council can discuss whether they'd like to do this (with public input, of course). Calendar Items and Other Notes: • For CERT folks, the first Drill the Skills day of 2015 is coming up next Saturday, March 28t" from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Santa Ana Heights Fire Station. CERT members can attend and re -learn skills, update records, get a new badge, etc. For more information, call 949- 644 -3112. Our thanks to all of our hundreds of CERT members across the community who are ready to protect their neighborhoods and assist in times of need. • For all of us PCH travelers, there is updated traffic information at Mariners Mile AND between Superior and Prospect for the big OCSD Newport Force Main Project — it's here: http:// www .newportbeachca.gov /index.aspx ?page =99 &recordid =4034. There is a suggested detour map on that page. Thanks for hanging in there with us as we work with OCSD to get Phase I of this project completed. Yes, there is a Phase II starting in September. O • Back Bay Drive is re- slurried and restriped — and ready for travel again. Please wander out there on your bike or on foot and check out the new (and hopefully more multi -user friendly) lane striping. This busy recreational road /trail often has challenges accommodating so much use — without restricting any use, our Public Works traffic engineers worked to develop a new lane system as well as a more rustic /park looking sign profile. Both are in place now. Happy riding, walking, and running. Driving, too, though slowly. As always, thanks for reading. If you have any questions about this Guide, the Council's agenda, or any other City issue, please ask. I always appreciate it if you pass this along to others in town who might get value from it, especially if you represent an HOA or community association. If you would rather not receive this e-mail, please contact me with a return email and I'll take you off the list. Sincerely, Dave Kiff City Manager 949 - 644 -3001 dkiff(@newportbeachca.gov