ON THE AGENDA Here are a few...

ON THE AGENDA

Here are a few items the city council will consider tonight.

TIME, DAY AND ORDER OF COUNCIL MEETINGS

City council meetings could be moved from Mondays to Tuesdays, and

the order of agenda items could be shuffled, depending on what the

council decides tonight. At a study session in January, council

members talked about when to hold public comment and where on the

agenda other items should go to use meeting time fairly and

efficiently.

Planning Commission study sessions are now held on the same night

as council meetings, as are council meetings in Huntington Beach and

Santa Ana. Other possible changes include holding closed sessions at

5 p.m., before the study session begins at 6 p.m., and limiting the

time for public comment at the beginning of the meeting but allowing

it to continue at the end.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Council members don’t seem to have a particular attachment to

Mondays as a meeting day, and some indicated that Tuesday meetings

would give them more time to prepare. City staff members are waiting

for specific direction, so the council may not make any major changes

Monday.

FEDERAL HOMELESS SERVICES GRANTS

Every five years the city must create a “consolidated plan” that

details how it will spend federal grants from the Department of

Housing and Urban Development. In the past, that money has gone to a

variety of programs to assist seniors, improve existing housing,

assist low-income families and do public projects. Up to 15% of the

funds can go toward public-service programs, and the city now directs

25% of that total toward homeless prevention and assistance.

Members of the city’s Redevelopment and Residential Rehabilitation

Committee suggested reducing the homeless service funding from 25% to

10%. Other areas where the money could be directed include services

for youth, seniors and the disabled.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Mayor Allan Mansoor has said he’d like to see more focus on

helping the city’s senior citizens. Even if the council decides to

reduce the amount of funding to homeless programs, the change won’t

become effective until 2006, because the latest round of grant

applications has already been solicited under the old 25% formula.

HARBOR BOULEVARD IMPROVEMENTS

With heavily used freeway entrance and exit ramps and a business

district along Harbor Boulevard between Sunflower and Gisler avenues,

traffic is close to the road’s capacity. The city would like to ease

congestion by adding a fourth northbound lane between the San Diego

(405) Freeway’s south onramp and Sunflower Avenue, a fourth

southbound lane from South Coast Drive to the freeway’s south onramp,

and other minor construction improvements.

WHAT TO EXPECT

A public hearing is scheduled on whether the project will have a

major impact on the environment, but an earlier study found it won’t

be detrimental, and no community members raised complaints.

If the council decides the project won’t make a significant

environmental impact, the next step is final design of the project.