New city hall heads list of town projects

Alicia Robinson

City hall is bursting at the seams, and officials want to do

something about it as soon as possible.

Addressing overcrowding at city hall topped a list of priorities

for 2004-05 that City Manager Homer Bludau last week presented to the

City Council. It’s a problem the city has been looking at for several

years, although it only ranked No. 7 on last year’ priority list.

“It is a big space concern,” Bludau said of the city hall

situation. In recent years, two trailers have been installed to add

office space.

The city hired a firm to create some preliminary designs and

collect public input on whether to build a new city hall for roughly

$30 million or renovate and expand the existing facilities for an

undetermined cost. The council shelved the work when the head of the

project took another job nearby that could create a conflict of

interest, Bludau said.

Councilman Don Webb would like to look into renovating the current

city hall, a view Bludau said few other council members share.

“I felt that the old part of the building was one which has a

little bit of historical significance, in that it was built in 1940,

and I would like to see that maintained,” Webb said.

An expansion and renovation would be less expensive than a new

facility, he said.

Councilmen Steve Bromberg and Steve Rosansky said right now

they’re leaning toward a new city hall.

“It’s an old building, and we’re in the 21st century now, and a

lot of times it’s cheaper to just start over than to retrofit a

building,” Rosansky said.

“It’s a dinosaur,” Bromberg said.

A number of public facilities projects made the city priority list

this year, a change from previous years, Bludau said. Also included

are construction of the Mariners joint-use library, at No. 2 on the

list; a fire station and training facility in Santa Ana Heights,

which comes in at No.3; and planning for community centers in Newport

Coast and Santa Ana Heights, priority Nos. 6 and 7.

Two of this year’s priorities may look familiar, because they

weren’t completed in 2003-04 and are back on the list.

Those are getting a Local Coastal Plan in place and completing a

25-year update of the city’s general plan.

In Bromberg’s book, those issues should be near the top of the

priority list, but trumping city hall as the most important issue is

discussion of sphere issues, he said.

The city approached county officials in December about expanding

its role in several areas, including John Wayne Airport,

redevelopment of Santa Ana Heights, administration of tidelands in

the city and environmental protections at the closed Coyote Canyon

landfill.

The idea of giving Newport Beach sole control over the airport

didn’t fly with the county or other cities like Costa Mesa, Bromberg

said, but creating joint powers agencies for some issues has gotten a

warmer reception.

“I’m comfortable with where the talks are right now,” he said.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.