By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 26. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here: https://newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/71682/72.
A study session will begin at 4 p.m. Agenda items include:
- Corona del Mar Village commercial corridor land use and parking study. City staff will present information related to a potential economic development study for the CdM business corridor. The study may include measures to support existing businesses and attract new ones, address parking issues, and reduce impacts on residential neighborhoods.
- Consideration of nightly closures of public restrooms. Staff will present options for future Council consideration related to the operational hours of public restroom facilities and potential nighttime closures.
The regular meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Agenda items include:
- Community Development Block Grant program annual performance and evaluation report. The Council will conduct a public hearing to receive comments on the 2022-23 program year prior to considering approval and submission to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
- Approval of the City’s 2023 water and sewer rate studies and setting a November 14 public hearing to consider related fee increases. The Council will consider recent rate studies that evaluated water delivery and sewer service charges. In recent years, costs have increased in every aspect of water and sewer systems, including the cost of buying and pumping water, operational increases, and the cost of maintenance and infrastructure. Customer fees are the only source of funding, as no taxes support Newport Beach’s water and sewer systems. The studies recommend an updated rate schedule that increases the average household monthly rate by about $6 per month for water through 2028 and $2.20 – $3.50 for sewer charges through 2028. This agenda item does not increase water or sewer rates. Council members may approve the studies, direct staff to send a notice of proposed rates to customers in compliance with Proposition 218, and set a date of November 14 to hear public comment and consider the proposed rate increases. The water rate study and sewer rate study that informed the proposed changes are available to the public for review.
Water Rate Study: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/73783/638303804714500000.
Sewer Rate Study: https://www.newportbeachca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/73807/638306463989400000.
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.
