Insider's Guide

Insider’s Guide for the Newport Beach City Council Meeting on July 28, 2020 

Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, July 28.  Items that may be of interest are highlighted below.  The entire agenda, and all reports, can be viewed here.

There will be a Closed Session at 4 p.m. and there is no Study Session.

The Regular Meeting begins at 5 p.m., please note the start time, and the following are items of note:

On the Consent Calendar is:

• A request to amend an agreement with Hoag Hospital as it relates to natural gas.  The City owns several oil wells and a by-product of oil production is natural gas.  For a number of years, the City has been providing this natural gas to Hoag Hospital which benefits both the City and Hoag.  This agreement would extend that partnership until August 2020. 
• An additional phase of the Sculpture Garden is on the agenda for City Council consideration.  This item is approval of Phase VI which is fully funded by a State Grant.  Art pieces are rotated every two years and the Sculpture Garden has become known as a museum without walls.

Public Hearings include:

• A proposal to modify the Development Agreement between Hoag Hospital and the City as it relates to the ability to implement their planned future development due to COVID-19 related impacts.  This agreement provides for an additional two years in which to build out their facility.
• Zoning Code and LCP Amendment Related to Corrections, Clarifications, and Inconsistencies.  As the City continues to implement the Local Coastal Plan, occasionally minor modifications and corrections are needed to ensure consistency across the City’s various planning documents.  This item will make minor clarifications, and corrections related to lot size and dimensions, overlays and public hearing notices.

Under Current Business:

• Review of the Aviation Committee’s evaluation of the John Wayne Airport Fixed Based Operator (FBO) proposals will be considered in advance of the County Board of Supervisors’ meeting on August 11.  Selection of the FBO’s are a key component of the County’s project to update the general aviation facilities at the airport.  The City’s Aviation Committee has reviewed the publicly released portions of the proposals for how closely they align with the City’s goals related to this project.

Thank you for reading.  Feedback is appreciated so please don’t hesitate to ask a question or offer a comment. 

Grace K. Leung
City Manager, gleung@newportbeachca.gov

City Council Meeting Information

The Newport Beach City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of most months (the exceptions are August and December). Typically, there is a Study Session that starts at 4 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 p.m., and often has a specific listing of 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. The City Manager also get's a copy of the email, because in almost all cases it’s something that the City Manager follows-up on.  

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. You are always welcome to attend in person, but you can also watch on TV, Spectrum channel 30 and Cox channel 852 or stream it 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 the City Manager. You are encouraged to read the full agenda if you wish.

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