By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 23. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here: https://newportbeach.legistar1.com/newportbeach/meetings/2024/1/3714_A_City_Council_24-01-23_Agenda.pdf.
The regular meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. Agenda items include:
- Establishment of an Ad Hoc Technology Implementation and Integration Committee. The Council will consider a resolution to create the committee and appoint three Council members to serve on the committee. If approved, the committee will review modern technology options to enhance and improve public safety and make recommendations to the City Council.
- Approval of a $489,000 construction contract award to R Dependable Construction Inc., of San Bernardino, for Bonita Creek Community Center improvements. The project includes: concrete work; technology installations; adding automatic locks to the restroom doors; replacing floor and ceiling tiles; painting; upgrading light fixtures and controls; and replacing the roof and fascias.
- Approval of a $244,000 construction contract to Swift Slip Dock & Pier Builders, Inc., of Westminster for a new public dock at 29th Street and Lafayette on the Balboa Peninsula. The project would remove a floating dock that is no longer in operation and replace it with a new public pier platform, gangway and floating dock. The new pier will accommodate up to four small vessels and enhance public access in the Cannery Village area.
- Financial statement audit results and related communication for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. The item includes a copy of the City’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) and the auditors’ opinion letter. The letter reflects
- an unmodified or “clean” audit opinion, meaning that the financial statements are
- presented fairly and in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles. The audit was conducted by an independent auditing firm, Davis Farr LLP.
- A public hearing and consideration of a project to convert a portion of a private, underground parking garage at 20 Corporate Plaza into a 5,081-square-foot medical office. Other planned improvements include: reconfiguring the project site to accommodate an office entrance from the ground and parking garage levels; widening the driveway access ramp; and restriping the parking garage.
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.
