COSTA MESA CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

WHAT HAPPENED:

The council voted to free roughly $800,000 in city funds to reinforce

City Hall and the police facility, making them safer in the event of an

earthquake.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The council will start seeking bids for construction. The city already

has received more than $2 million in state grants for the project,

$350,000 of which it already spent to design the retrofit.

City Manager Allan Roeder said the City Council -- which has had ongoing

discussions about moving city buildings to 19th Street -- could

eventually choose not to proceed with the retrofit once bids come in.

Vote:

4 IN FAVOR / 0 AGAINST, Councilwoman Heather Somers was absent.

WHAT HAPPENED:

The City Council allowed a developer to construct a pedestrian bridge

near Bristol and Bear streets overnight, despite city codes prohibiting

nighttime construction there.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The city first agreed to let developer C.J. Segerstrom and Sons 14 nights

to build the bridge as a way to avoid clogging daytime traffic there.

The council -- in an attempt to speed up a project which has taken longer

to build than originally expected -- will allow the developer an

additional 70 nights for construction.

City planners determined that noise from nighttime work would not bother

nearby residents.

Vote:

4 IN FAVOR / 0 AGAINST

NEXT MEETING

May 15, 6:30 p.m., City Hall, 77 Fair Drive.