By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
Our next City Council meeting is Tuesday, January 10. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/68682/72.
The study session will begin at 4 p.m. The regular meeting will begin at 5 p.m.
Agenda items include:
- A construction contract award to Signal Hill-based Armstrong Cal Builders, Inc. for improvements to Gateway Park. The contract includes replacing turf and landscaping, reconstructing landscape walls, and installing new lighting and signage.
- An agreement with COAR Design Group, of San Diego, for services related to the replacement of the Balboa Branch Library and Fire Station No. 1 building. The agreement includes public outreach, concept development, design and construction document preparation. The library and fire station facility is scheduled for replacement in 2025.
- The Council will consider confirming mayoral appointments to various committees, boards and commissions. In alignment with Council policy, the Mayor annually appoints individuals to serve on Council committees, Council and citizen committees, resident advisory committees, and joint governmental committees, subject to City Council confirmation.
- Amendments to the General Plan, zoning map and coastal zoning map that would increase the maximum residential housing development on Bay Island from 23 units to 25. The amendments would correct an error in the 2006 General Plan update that inadvertently decreased the density of Bay Island to a maximum of 23 residential units, based on the existing number of homes on Bay Island at the time. However, the update did not take into account a caretaker’s housing unit and a dwelling unit that is constructed over two authorized building sites.
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 6 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 gets 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.
