NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

Here are some of the decisions coming out of the Newport Beach City

Council meeting on Tuesday.

Not so EZ Lube

WHAT HAPPENED:

A controversial request to build an EZ Lube in Corona del Mar did not

get its day in chambers as expected. Though council members were prepared

to consider the request Tuesday night, the matter was postponed at the

applicant’s request. EZ Lube has asked the council to reconsider the

Planning Commission’s decision to deny the company a permit to build a

2,641-square-foot auto service facility at 3600 E. Coast Highway. The

Planning Commission had shot down the request because, they believed, the

business would not fit in well with the neighborhood.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The matter is scheduled to come before the council at its Aug. 27

meeting.

Vote: n/a

Traffic signals

WHAT HAPPENED:

A $303,759 contract to improve some traffic signals in the city sailed

through the council on Tuesday. Contractor F.J. Johnson won the contract

to improve traffic signals on Jamboree Road at Eastbluff Drive-University

Drive and also on Jamboree at Island Lagoon-Hyatt Newporter; on Newport

Center Drive at Santa Cruz Drive; and on Superior Avenue at Ticonderoga

Street. Also, as part of the project, battery backups will be installed

in traffic signals at six locations on Jamboree, six on Coast Highway,

and at the intersection of Newport Boulevard and Hospital Road.

WHAT IT MEANS:

Council members approved the contract to improve traffic flow and

safety, which -- it is hoped -- will be the result.

Vote: 7-0

Buck Gully sewer pump

WHAT HAPPENED:

An aging waste-water pump station near Little Corona Beach will get a

$762,511 upgrade, council members decided. The contract approved Tuesday

with Caliagua Inc. will bring the pump station, which was built in the

1940s, into the 21st century. Worn-out and obsolete equipment that makes

up the station will be replaced, and a backup generator will also be

installed. About $680,000 of the contract will be paid from a city

capital improvement account set aside for pump station improvements. The

remaining cost will be paid for from reserves in the city’s waste-water

fund.

WHAT IT MEANS:

The improvements will better meet regional water quality board

requirements for a “spill-free” waste-water system.

Vote: 7-0

NEXT MEETING

WHEN: 7 p.m. July 9WHERE: City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd., Newport Beach

INFORMATION: (949) 644-3000

--Compiled by June Casagrande