Newport council to reconsider rejected Irvine Avenue street and landscape project

Proposed landscape and street improvements along Irvine Avenue that were previously rejected by Newport Beach council members will be heading back to the City Council on Tuesday.

The council voted 4-3 on June 14 to reject part of a roughly $1.7-million bid to complete street and landscape work on Irvine Avenue between Santiago and University drives, adjacent to Upper Newport Bay. The move meant that public works staff likely would have to offer the project for bid again, which could delay the work for months, staff said.

However, Councilman Ed Selich, who originally voted against the proposal, asked his colleagues to reconsider the item at Tuesday’s meeting.

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Selich said he was initially concerned that the city was spending too much money on the Irvine Avenue median work and might have to forgo other median projects in the city.

However, after the June 14 meeting, he met with city staff members who told him there was enough money in the budget to cover the Irvine Avenue project and still replace other browning medians with green ground covers, which are more drought-tolerant.

“They convinced me we have enough in the budget to get it done,” he said.

Staff on Tuesday will again propose entering a contract with All American Asphalt to reconstruct sidewalks, curbs and gutters, access ramps and pavement, as well as fix the irrigation and plant new drought-tolerant landscaping on the median. The grass along that stretch of road is currently dead or brown.

Councilman Scott Peotter had suggested the city scrap the landscaping portion, estimated to cost about $500,000, and instead put down wood chips or hydroseed grass.

Councilman Tony Petros took issue last month with Peotter’s proposal to go with lower-cost landscaping.

“If you want to make something just hideously ugly, let’s just put some wood chips down on one of the most beautiful ... spots in the city,” Petros said.

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Hannah Fry, hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCN