The following is from the Laguna Beach City Council meeting of Aug. 1.
PUBLIC COMMENT
North Laguna residents Audrey Prosser, Debra Quam and Michael Levine complained about problems of odor and equipment noise since a new owner took over Husky Boy and extended the hours of operation. Councilwoman Toni Iseman said she smelled cooking odors while driving by Husky Boy and asked for a report from staff at the next council meeting.
COUNCIL/STAFF CHAT
Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider said that Proposition 90 was a hot topic at the recent League of California Cities conference, which she and Iseman attended on behalf of the city.
“On the face of it, the proposition appears to oppose eminent domain, but it actually limits local control of land uses,” Pearson-Schneider said.
Most of the cities’ representatives opposed it, as did she, according to Pearson-Schneider.
Councilwoman Jane Egly announced that Aliso and Woods Canyon Wilderness Park Resource Management Plan public workshop will be held at 6 p.m., Aug. 22, in Pauling Hall on the Soka University campus. She also announced that the divided lake in Laguna Canyon will be restored to one lake by this fall. Laguna Canyon Road was built through the lake, making it appear as if there were three lakes in the canyon. The divided lake was connected by a culvert under the road.
CONSENT CALENDAR
[Consent calendar items are approved in one motion unless a member of the council, staff or public “pull” the item, which then requires opening it to public comment and a separate vote.]
Approved without comment:
General warrants and payrolls totaling $2,637,933.49 from July 7-20. Among the warrants were grants to community performing arts groups, including $5,000 to CaDance; $15,000 to No Square Theater; $19,000 to Gallimaufry Performing Arts; and $19,500 to Laguna Beach Live!
An agreement with the Orange County Transportation Authority for a $100,000 Metrolink study grant. Laguna will use the money to study ways to link the city’s transit system with the Metrolink train service, which would provide visitors with an alternative to using private vehicles to come to the city. Although OCTA is not scheduled to approve the agreement until Monday, a city consultant has been working on the study since a contract was awarded July 3 to collect customer surveys and rider data this summer.
Initiation of a billing process to collect the costs of enforcing laws against driving while intoxicated. City statistics show 552 DUI arrests in 2005 at an average cost of $325 in staff time per arrest, for an estimated total of $179,400, which police Chief Michael Sellers described as a conservative estimate.
The council directed the city manager to enter an agreement with a collections firm to recover the costs from the violators.
SECOND CHANCE FOR TREE 5-0
A property owner was given the chance to work with an arborist to try to preserve the life of a tree previously ordered removed by the council. The tree roots are buckling the alley access to 225 Cajon Street, and that must be remedied so the pavement is completely level — at no cost to the city — or the tree will have to be removed.
PERIPHERAL PARKING 5-0
The city manager was told to contact state and county parks to determine if it is feasible to use the Crystal Cove and inland Aliso Creek parking lots in the summer for peripheral parking to service free tram riders.
— Barbara Diamond
