NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL PREVIEW

-- Compiled by June Casagrande

WATER QUALITY

City staffers are recommending to the council that the Santa Ana/Dehli

Channel, Buck Gully, Newport Bay and seven other waterways should be put

on a federal list as “water-quality limited.”

What to expect:

If council members agree with this suggestion, they will send a letter

to the State Water Resources Control Board to list the areas as problems

because of bacteria, sediments, nutrients, trash and other contaminants.

LOCAL COASTAL PROGRAM

Moving ahead with plans to create a Local Coastal Program, council

members will consider whether to award a contract of up to $67,684 with

Coastal Resources Management to study environmentally sensitive areas

that serve as habitat for wildlife and plants.

What to expect:

If the council approves the contract, Coastal Resources Management

will conduct a thorough study of these sensitive areas -- identifying

where they exist, assessing potential threats and proposing ways to

protect them in concert with the proposed Local Coastal Program. The work

must be done in time for the city to submit an application to the

California Coastal Commission by June 30, 2003. The information will also

be used to help guide the general plan update that is underway.

CITY OIL FIELDS

Two items on tonight’s agenda pertain to the city’s 16 oil and gas

wells in West Newport. The first will consider whether to extend the

contract with Sampson Oil Co., the company that has operated the city oil

and gas production facilities since 1984.

Council members will also consider whether to increase the fees it

pays to the company that disposes of waste waterfrom the production

facilities. West Newport Oil Co. has been disposing of waste water from

the operations since 1994 by discharging into the company’s well

injection system. The city has been paying 10 cents a barrel for this

service, totaling about $40,000 or $45,000 a year.

This year, however, the city stopped sending waste water into the

company’s system and instead now sends it to the city’s recently

installed injection system. In the future, the only time the water will

be handled by the company is when the city’s systems are shut down for

maintenance or repair. For this reason, the company has requested that

the city double its per-barrel fee to 20 cents.

What to expect:

If the council approves that contract with Sampson, that company will

continue operating the fields for another five years, with a 5% increase

in the monthly service fee it pays the city raising that amount to

$5,040. Council members may likely take into consideration the fact that

since the company has been operating the production facilities, there

have been no mechanical failures or spills that required emergency

response.

The city’s Oil and Gas Field Operations Committee supports the request

of West Newport Oil to raise its per-barrel fee, and council members

might well agree.

BAYFRONT REPAIRS

A $198,810 contract up for consideration tonight could determine

whether CGI Construction Inc. will begin repairs on Balboa Island’s

bayfront.

What to expect:

If the council approves the contract, it will mean that portions the

75-year-old sidewalks encircling Balboa Island and Little Balboa Island

will be rebuilt, with drainpipes installed underneath at some locations

along North Bay Front, between Ruby and Marine avenues.

FYI

* WHO: Newport Beach City Council meeting

* WHEN: 7 p.m. today; study session will begin at 4 p.m.

* WHERE: Council Chambers at City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd.

* INFORMATION: (949) 644-3000