Insider's Guide

Insider's Guide for the Newport Beach City Council Meeting of November 19, 2019

Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, November 19.  Items that may be of interest are highlighted below.  The entire agenda, and all reports, can be viewed here.

Study session begins at 5 p.m. for this meeting, and includes a discussion on proposed changes to the City’s ordinance on short-term lodging, as recommended by the Council Ad Hoc Committee.  The Ad Hoc Committee has met several times and received public input on potential revisions.  It is anticipated an updated ordinance will be introduced in early 2020.

The regular session begins at 7 p.m. and the following are items of note:

• On the consent calendar is the restructure of the Homeless Task Force, as recommended by the task force on November 12.The restructure into an Ad Hoc Council committee will provide greater public participation directly with Council members and allow recommendations to be made in a more expedited and efficient manner.
• Also on the consent calendar is the proposed consolidation of two existing waste collection contracts into one for commercial refuse removal services, following a procurement process.The single contract, to CR&R, provides for more efficient administration and expanded service terms to ensure compliance with new state laws diversion program requirements.
• For public hearing is approval of conceptual design for the Superior Avenue Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge and Parking Lot Project.This project includes a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge across Superior, and two design options are presented for Council consideration.The project also includes a larger replacement parking lot and a recreational area.Based on feedback from the community, three alternatives for the recreational area are presented, with a dog park included as one of the alternatives.If the concept design is approved, the project will move into final design and construction is estimated to begin summer 2021.
• Also on public hearing is consideration of a water rate increase.Water rates have not increased since 2014 and adjustments are needed to fund the increased costs to purchase and pump water, to operate the system, and fund the water system capital improvement program.To properly sustain the water system over the long term, 7.4% increases each year for 5 years is recommended.The average rate increase for the first year is approximately $3.38/month per household.The first rate increase would be effective January 1, 2020.
• On current business is approval of a project design consultant for the proposed new Central Library Lecture Hall building design.At the March 12 Council study session, City Council endorsed support for this project and in July established the Library Lecture Hall Design Committee.The committee reviewed design consultant proposals and recommends Council award a contract to Robert Coffee Architects + Associates.The proposed fee of $637,670 includes developing four conceptual designs, attending community and committee meetings, and presenting concepts to Council.The fee also includes the next phases of final design and planning approvals and preparing the construction bid documents.The time necessary to complete all of these phases and award a contract for construction is estimated to be 18 months.Project construction would be anticipated to begin summer 2021.

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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