CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

The following is from the Oct. 2 meeting of the Laguna Beach City Council.

?City Treasurer Laura Parisi announced she would be speaking at the Local Agency Fund Conference held Oct. 11 in Sacramento.

?Smithcliffs residents contacted Councilwoman Elizabeth Schneider to ask that a sidewalk be installed from Cliff Drive to Crescent Bay on the south side of North Coast Highway.

Schneider’s research showed the city would have to buy easements and work with Caltrans on the project.

“It could be as much as a three-year process,” she said.

The city manager is exploring possibilities.

?Mayor Toni Iseman reported attending meetings with the Red Cross, Vector Control and Laguna Coast Wilderness Park’s Coastal Greenbelt Authority.

She learned that core samples will be taken from a Laguna Canyon lake, which will yield more information about its history.

Iseman also attended a Mayor’s Roundtable, at which she asked if the state had considered the water shortage when it mandated affordable housing; a Temple Hills Homeowners Assn. meeting and a Village Laguna potluck, at which $6,000 was distributed to various groups.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: 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 for public comment and a separate vote.]

Approved without comment:

?Minutes of the Sept. 18 adjourned and regular meeting

?City Treasurer’s un-audited August report which showed a portfolio of investments and cash totaling $53,258,204.46, down from the total of $57,727,056.14 at the beginning of the month.

?General warrants totaling $2,354,191.89, issued Sept. 21 and payroll No. 6, in the amount of $759,650.47.

?Resolution extending the Bluebird Canyon Emergency Declaration, which is valid for only 21 days and must be renewed.

?A $46,822 contract awarded to Excel Paving Co. to resurface the Police Shooting Range. Five bids were submitted. Excel’s was the lowest. The company previously worked city projects, including the Glenneyre Street rehab and the Diamond Crestview road widening.

?A $20,726 contract with Waller Consulting to prepare the updated cost estimate for the Village Entrance project and approval of an agreement with Studio One Eleven to prepare a preliminary construction staging plan at a cost not to exceed $10,600, and another agreement with the firm to consult with the city’s selected cost estimator for a fee not to exceed $7,600.

?Termination within 30 days of the city’s Lexis Nexis service and a contract with Quality Code Publishing.

?Purchase of a Toyota Tacoma four-door, compact pickup truck for $25,410 from Toyota of San Juan Capistrano.

?Resolution authorizing staff to file an application for a Transportation Enhancement Activities Program grant for the Broadway Gateway Beautification project with an agreement to fund the city’s share of the costs.

A concept plan for the project was developed two years ago, with the goal of improving the aesthetic value of Broadway between Forest Avenue and the bus depot. The city has already added artist-designed benches to the area and upgraded the bus shelter.

The proposed project would provide decorative pedestrian walkways, public art, ambient lighting, street trees, landscaped planter, informative signs and attractive fencing along the flood control channel.

?Another eight contracts for the Community/Senior Center:

$444,367 to Masonry Concepts Inc. for masonry and stone;

$215,139 to Salsbury Engineering Inc. for earthwork;

$179,532 to Shapiro-Ben Basat for painting;

$179,080 to Anning-Johnson Co. for single ply flat roofing;

$50,050 to Viking Insulation for insulation;

$39,315 to Swinerton Builders for concrete fill;

$31,290 to Partition Specialties Inc. for folding wood glazed walls; and

$19,125 to Stumbaugh & Associates Inc. for toilet compartments.

?Revocable Encroachment Permit to replace and modify existing hardscape and at-grade paving in the public right of way at 374 Ledroit St.

The City Council appointed Max Isles, Christopher Prelitz and incumbents Lisa Marks and Greg O’Loughlin to two-year terms on the Environmental Committee.

Donald Black and Michael Gosselin were reappointed to the Housing and Human Services Committee. They were the only two applicants for the three open seats and the motion to appoint them passed 4-1, Mayor Pro Tem Jane Egly opposed.

Interviews and an appointment for the remaining position will be at the Nov. 6 council meeting.

Applications are available in the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall. For more information, call (949) 497-0705.

The council sustained the Design Review Board approval of a project at 175 Dumond St. with modifications and the Coastal Development Permit.

An appeal of a board denial of modifications to an already approved project at 539 Reed St. also was denied.

The city will ask the California Coastal Commission to certify amendments to the Local Coastal Plan that include the South Laguna and Laguna Canyon annexation area drainage course maps and associated text and policies.

The lack of commission certification affects policies and maps used in the review of coastal development permits.

Amendments were first addressed in 1993 and submitted to the commission in 1995. The commission staff recommended modifications and due to time constraints the application was withdrawn.

The application was resubmitted in 1996 and withdrawn in 1997 so city staff could attend commission workshops on issues that would affect the amendments.

A resubmitted application later that year was deemed incomplete because no public hearing had been conducted within four years of the submittal.

The Oct. 2 meeting satisfied that requirement.

City staff is working with commission staff on the protocol to scientifically establish the streams within Laguna Beach that come under commission jurisdiction. The amendments will be processed after the protocol is established and the project is budgeted by the council.

A study will be required before the amendment incorporating the updated maps can be processed. Once processed the updated maps should alleviate the appealability issues the city has encountered with its coastal development permits.