By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, April 23. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here: https://newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/73674/72.
The regular meeting will begin at 4 p.m. Agenda items include:
- An appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of an Orange County Sanitation District project to replace its Bay Bridge Pump Station and force mains at 250 E. Coast Highway. The Council will hear an appeal of a January 18 Planning Commission decision to approve a major site development review and coastal development permit to allow demolition of the existing pump station and construction of a new, larger facility and associated force mains.
- Approval of certain fee updates in the City’s Schedule of Rents, Fines and Fees. The City performs an annual study (of specific departments on a rotating basis) to ensure that fees and charges do not exceed the cost of providing services. This action would update certain fees in the Finance, Harbor, Public Works, and Utilities departments, following a cost recovery analysis. The recommendations also include adjustments to the Police Department’s towing fees, a credit card convenience fee for online transactions, and an update to the City’s methodology for annual Consumer Price Index calculations.
- Approval of the Community Development Block Grant 2024-2025 Annual Action Plan. The City receives funds each year through the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program to benefit those with low and moderate incomes, aid in the prevention of neighborhood deterioration, and meet other urgent community development needs due to natural disasters or other emergencies. The Council will consider programs and funding proposed for Fiscal Year 2024-25.
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.
