By Grace Leung Newport Beach City Manager
The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, October 10. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here: https://newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/71681/72.
The regular meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. Agenda items include:
- A grant transfer agreement with the City of Anaheim related to the Federal Urban Areas Security Initiative (UASI) grant program, which supports local response to terrorist activity and natural disasters. The grant is managed through the City of Anaheim. If approved, Newport Beach would be eligible to receive equipment and training through the grant.
- Authorization of a grant application to the California Coastal Commission’s “Whale Tail” program to support Junior Lifeguard Program scholarships. The grant would help provide scholarships for low-income children ages 9-15 to participate in the Junior Lifeguard program.
- Acceptance of a $175,000 grant from the California Division of Boating and Waterways for the surrendered and abandoned vessel exchange (SAVE) program. The grant funding supplements existing City funds to remove abandoned or surrendered nuisance vessels.
- Acceptance of a $376,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to support Newport Beach Police Department traffic enforcement efforts. The funds would be used for a DUI enforcement and awareness program, traffic safety enforcement operations, and sobriety checkpoints.
- A public hearing on a proposed amendment to update the Newport Village development plan for the Corona del Mar Plaza Shopping Center area. The amendment would remove outdated references, create more consistency with the Newport Beach Municipal Code, and allow a more streamlined permit process for new tenants.
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.
