o7Here are some items the council will...

o7Here are some items the council will consider Tuesday.

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MEETING MINUTES

The written -- and permanent -- record of council meetings could

change if the council agrees to a new format for meeting minutes. As

the city prepares to make streaming video of council meetings

available online, city officials are proposing using an “action

minutes” format for the written record.

With an average meeting lasting more than four and a half hours,

it can take city staff up to 30 hours to prepare minutes for a single

meeting. Minutes are not a verbatim transcript, but they now include

a summary of public comments and council discussion along with the

council’s motions and actions on business items. The new format would

be shorter and easier to prepare. It would include the motions and

actions and the names of people who speak about an issue, but no

details about their comments.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Council members might favor the new format because it will free up

city staff members to work on other tasks, but they’ll have to

consider that the permanent records of meetings would be less

detailed. Online video records of council meetings must be archived

only for a year.

RESTAURANT APPEAL

The council will hear objections to a plan that adds outdoor

seating at Beach Pit BBQ on Tustin Avenue. The planning commission on

Aug. 8 approved the plan, which allowed the restaurant to park cars

at a 17th Street lot and to share parking with Frazee Paint store.

Neighbors in Mesa Heights appealed the commission’s decision,

complaining that the plan doesn’t provide enough parking and that the

outdoor eating area won’t mesh with their residential neighborhood.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Parking is a problem in many parts of the city, but the council

could agree with the planning commission that the restaurant’s plan

provides enough spaces.

PLACENTIA AVENUE MEDIANS

The city could add up to 12 landscaped median islands on Placentia

Avenue between West 16th and West Wilson streets if the council

approves a proposed plan. The medians would reduce access to some

driveways, but they are expected to make the street more

pedestrian-friendly and reduce head-on collisions.

The project is part of a plan to install medians on a number of

major thoroughfares such as 19th Street, where construction is

underway, as well as Baker and Bristol streets, Fair Drive and

Superior Avenue.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The council is likely to approve the project, since it would

further the goal of Westside improvements by beautifying Placentia

Avenue. Also, $500,000 for the work already is included in the city’s

budget.

o7-- Compiled by Alicia Robinsonf7