HERITAGE HOME The owner of a Heritage...

HERITAGE HOME

The owner of a Heritage Registered home has asked to have it taken

off of the register. The Heritage Committee urged the removal based

on the size of a proposed addition, with the recommendation that

waived fees be paid.

However, City Manager Ken Frank pulled the approval off of the

consent calendar after Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman asked if other

benefits had been granted.

Incentives to put homes on the register include reductions in

parking requirement and setback restrictions.

WHAT IT MEANS

If the home were taken off the Heritage Register, the project

would be subject to the standard code. The property owner could apply

for variances.

CITY CLERK SALARY DEBATED

The City Council publicly debated the salary it would pay newly

elected City Clerk Martha Anderson. At best, it is an awkward

procedure.

Iseman and Egly said the job is the same as it was when retiring

City Clerk Verna Rollinger was doing it, and deserves the same

salary.

“Our city clerk probably works harder than the clerks of other

cities of comparable size,” Iseman said.

Egly said that the salary was in place when Anderson won the

election and should be continued or should have been reduced before

the election.

Dicterow said that would have meant reducing Rollinger’s salary.

Although the city clerk is elected, the council determines the

salary within a specified range that is roughly the same as senior

city department heads. The council can amend the salary annually.

“You don’t usually come in a new job at the top of the range,”

Pearson said.

WHAT IT MEANS

The city will pay Anderson at the half-way mark of the range.

“You will get your money’s worth,” Rik Lawrence said.

SENIOR/COMMUNITY CENTER

The City Council approved a revised contract with Laguna Beach

Senior Inc. for the construction of a center complex that will

include a Community Center, underground parking and maybe the

Community Clinic.

The deadline for the clinic to decide if it is in or out of the

project was extended. The council set Feb. 1 for a progress report.

With all three components in, the cost is estimated at

$15,285,000, which Frank warned the council could be on the low side

since the estimates have not been updated in recent months and

changes have been made to the exterior.

Asked for a more current estimate, the project architect said

estimates are difficult to make until the clinic makes up its mind.

The clinic’s share would be an estimated $3.5 million. The city

would have to come up with almost $10 million, more if estimates go

up. Less, if the clinic is out, because the city would not be picking

up the tab for parking under the clinic. The city has earmarked more

than $6 million for 178 underground parking spaces. The seniors’

financial obligation was capped at $2.5 million.

Frank said he would present a funding package to the council at

the Jan. 4 meeting. The package will contain a recommendation to use

the parking fund for the project. For several years, a percentage of

the parking fund has been infused into the city’s general fund.

Neighborhood opposition to the project continues to be based on

the added congestion on Third Street.

WHAT IT MEANS

The project includes about 178 parking spaces, all under ground,

close to businesses and restaurants -- a mixed blessing since the

Downtown Specific Plan urges parking outside of the Downtown basin.

Proponents said it would get employee parking off of the streets,

a long-time city goal. However, the city agreement with the seniors

stipulates they have the use of 43 of the spaces during the day.

Presumably the same stipulation would apply to the Community Center’s

55 spaces and the clinic’s 80 spaces.

Kinsman recused herself from the vote.

SEWER CONSTRUCTION

The City Council awarded a $3,311,910 construction contract to

Steve Bubalo Construction for sewer main rehabilitation at 25

locations.

WHAT IT MEANS

The project will cost more than anticipated and means a delay in

other projects, according to City Manager Ken Frank.

However, the city does have a windfall of grants, another $900,000

for the sewer system, thanks to the efforts of Congressman Chris Cox

-- the third grant he has arranged for the city.

The city also learned this week that the state has awarded a

$400,000 grant to be used to construct a sidewalk from Wendt Terrace

to Hidden Valley.

“We got almost as much as Santa Ana, which is 10 times our size,”

Frank said.

MARINE MONITORING

The City Council heard a report on the habitat protection programs

for the Treasure Island Park/Montage Resort and Spa and approved up

to $93,000 in consulting fees for next year with Coastal Resources

Management.

Surfrider Foundation representative Rick Wilson said he would like

to see more management practices included in the program. Better

enforcement of commercial lobster fishing is needed, Wilson said. He

believes the park should be a no-take zone.

Fred Sattler questioned wording in the report that he felt

slighted the efforts of Ocean Laguna’s Tidewater Docent Program.

City officials said no slight was intended to the group’s

contributions.

The city has nominated Treasure Island as a Marine Park.

WHAT IT MEANS

All of Laguna’s coastline would fall under the new state

classification of Marine Park if the California Fish and Game

Commission adopted it.

However, the classification falls short of a no-take zone.

Recreational fishing for nonprotected species, including lobster,

would be allowed.

MAITENANCE YARD PROJECT

Iseman and Pearson reported that a facilitator/consensus builder

had been hired to help forge a possible compromise on the relocation

of the corporation yard.

The council switched the dates of its retreat and the corporation

yard workshop.

WHAT IT MEANS

The council will hold its retreat Jan. 8. The workshop will be

held at 10 a.m., Jan. 15 in the City Council Chambers.

The switch will allow the council, which is divided on the

relocation, to discuss issues before the workshop.

No vote was needed.

-- Compiled and written by Barbara Diamond