Sunday, October 16, 2016

Two Development Issues On Special Council Meeting Agenda MONDAY

SPECIAL MEETING (SO MAYOR CAN GO TO A PARTY)
The Costa Mesa City Council will hold a Special Meeting on Monday, October 17, 2016 beginning at 5:45 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  You can read the short agenda report HERE.  You may recall this meeting was rescheduled to Monday instead of the regularly scheduled meeting date of Tuesday, October 18th so some of the council members may attend a tribute to philanthropists  Julianne and George Argyros.  Hint: Mayor Steve Mensinger worked for Argryos after he left USC.  It will be interesting to see if all the council members attend this meeting since Katrina Foley told the council she had a conflict for this date.
MAYOR'S AWARD TO JOHN HAWLEY
Apparently Mensinger will bestow his Mayor's Award on Westside businessman John Hawley, the operator of Railmakers, a long-time Westside business that has been a cornerstone of the Harbor Area boating industry for decades.

CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar is short, but the Warrant, HERE, has some interesting items worth your attention.  For example, as I began scrolling down through the list that reflects more than $4 million in payments made on our behalf I noticed a few interesting entries that appear to be refunds for licenses for Sober Living Homes.  Among those listed are:
  • California Recovery, Inc. - $101.00
  • Casa Capri LLC - $201.00
  • Keystone Sober Living - $48.00
  • Orange County Detox - $101.00
  • Rock Solid Recovery, Inc - $402.00
  • Safe Harbor Recovery Properties, LLC - $1,031.00
  • Safe Harbor Treatment Center for Women - $804.00
  • Sure Haven - $724.00
  • The Recovery Center - $202.00
  • Time 2 Care - $52.00
Legal fees continue to mount.  Jones & Mayer billed us for $170,441.45 and other organizations also billed us for legal services.  We paid the City of Huntington Beach $24,290.00 for helicopter services in August.
$1.4 MILLION FOR RADIOS - NO DISCUSSION?
Item #7, HERE, is interesting.  It's the purchase of communications equipment for more than $1.4 million.  What's especially interesting is the dollar-juggling going on in the staff report to pay for it.  Take a look under the Fiscal discussion.
CONVERTING BUSINESS USES TO SINGLE FAMILY HOMES
Public Hearing #1, HERE, should generate some discussion from the public.  This is a General Plan amendment and Zoning Change to convert an existing business site into residential uses.  This is similar to another residential site that replaced the Christian Science Church with 10 dwelling units recently.  This one replaces a couple buildings and several businesses with 11 single family homes.  When the Planning Commission heard this one several members of the public spoke against it.

HIGH DENSITY AT SOBECA
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is also controversial.  This one is an amendment to the SoBECA Urban Plan to allow residential development at a maximum density of 40 dwelling units per acre for a total of 450 units within the urban plan.  This is yet another step in increasing the density of housing in Costa Mesa.
COULD BE A SHORT MEETING... OR NOT
Although there are only a couple items on the agenda, which should indicate a short meeting, one never knows what kind of discussions these two developments will generate.  And, we don't know how many council members will be in attendance.


Labels: , , , , , ,

8 Comments:

Anonymous Casual Viewer said...

Monday night football - will Steve be watching on his i-pad? Will Gary attend? Will Jim act like he's the referee? Stay tuned, folks.

$1.4 million communications equipment expenditure - a needed item that was delayed until after the fake numbers for the budget"surplus" were announced.

10/16/2016 04:44:00 PM  
Anonymous Where's My Coffee? said...

What is the communications system for? I suspect its for the police or fire department. If so, keeping up to date is a good idea. If its for more ipads for Steve's family, no way!!

Sad to see business getting kicked out as we need them so badly. But at least it won't be high density s&%t.

Will Jim and Steve have the police line the dais again? They like to portray themselves as victims anyway they can.

10/16/2016 06:59:00 PM  
Anonymous Casual Viewer said...

The close in proximity to Jim or Steve's homes, the less dense the project will be.

The communications expenditure is, I believe, related to emergency operations and was approved for purchase at a previous meeting some weeks ago. I was theorizing that the actual purchase was delayed to make the inflated budget surplus look bigger. Irvine and Santa Ana also had budget surpluses with no cutbacks to police.

10/16/2016 09:57:00 PM  
Anonymous Ken Nyquist said...

Just got back from the Barrett Jackson auction in Vegas held this weekend. What a blast. Mt buddy picked up a bunch of Chevelle's, 442's and Shelby GT's of different years.
Of course I had a hard time adjusting from a penthouse suite to my trailer, here in the desert. It might only be 120 sq feet, but it is home to all 6 of us. The hardest part of this trailer to deal with, are the desert views, just out the aluminum window, overlooking those 49,000 acres of expanse. It has been hard living up here the last 3 years though, since I miss all of my friends that post here and in the Pilot. I miss the fake sincerity and concern for all my friends on NextDoor, but hey, that's life.
I see no one has figured out who irishmccully is yet. Since I was so wrong about the battalion chief's identity the other day, and all of my closest friends pointed out that I should stick to my little trailer out here in the dreaded desert, I won't write that I had a dream and it is Director Jim, or as he used to be called, President Jim.
I was wringing my hands last night in agony, wondering if my vote for Trump will be the right one. I know if I still lived in my other trailer in Costa Mesa, behind my favorite motel in town, I would vote for Steve again, along with Mansoor to keep the majority that gets er done...enjoy your cheese sandwich, along with the whine.

10/17/2016 05:50:00 AM  
Anonymous Casual Viewer said...

Oops! The $1 million dollar expenditure is for communications which will tie into the county system (OC Register). So this is another million in addition to the million for the emergency generator, which was previously approved. That makes $2 million in expenditures Steve didn't count in his surplus number. The real number won't come out until after the audit - sometime in December.

10/17/2016 08:03:00 AM  
Anonymous Where's My Coffee? said...

Casual Viewer, thanks. I am very glad to see the new communications for the first responders. Anything we can do to assist. That's where money should be spend for a change.

I suspect you're correct about the delayed purchase. Sounds about right.

10/17/2016 08:08:00 AM  
Anonymous zennymoon said...

John Hawley is a long time business man, guess the mayor wanted to make sure he would get an endorsement but I think John Hawley is smarter than falling for the mayor award baloney. My money was on Gary as a "no show" because he was a mental no show for the past four years. Remember this flippant attitude when voting for Sanitary District, he and the other Irishman are not worthy of your vote.

10/17/2016 08:23:00 PM  
Anonymous Terry Koken said...

Geoff--
Just back from the council at 8:30 PM. Couldn't hack it any longer; allergies (I think) are acting up. You're probably watching the live feed, so you heard Mensinger slander me. In self-defense, I passed a copy of my three minutes to Luke Money; here is the same for you. Note that at no time did ever express a wish to see his house burn; I did point out that he was taking a risk slandering the firemen. Here 'tis:
****************
M is for the Million bucks he cost us,
A is for Acosta, whom we paid;
N is for the Niggardly reaction
That saw the Jobs Center unmade.
S is for the Silly legislation
He tried to pass to ICE our Mexicans
O is for the Odious reputation
He got in Sacramento, ’mongst his fans.
O is for the Opposite of nice guy,
We know that he’ll be nasty when he can;
R is for the ruined Reputation
He proudly shows off to his fellow man.
Put ’em all together, they spell BIGOT,
A just assessment of old Al Mansoor;
I think that we should take his butt and Kigot
Right out the council chamber’s swinging door.

And speaking of niggardly reactions, Mr. Mensinger, your snarky flyer on Costa Mesa’s fire personnel, which certainly tops ANYTHING I’ve ever done, is a prime example. Our brave and conscientious fire personnel are not saying a whole hell of a lot about this calumny. But you have gone out on a limb on this one, sir. Should your house catch fire, it would truly not be unjust if these men whose integrity you have so foolishly impugned took an extra half-hour to get to you. It is fortunate for you and your family that they take their ethics, and their duty, seriously – far more so than you take your duty and responsibility to us citizens.

One other item here, Mr. Mensinger: it’s about the way you heckled Ms. Foley at the last council meeting. Completely unjustified, and it also drove Mr. Monahan a little psychotic.

Webster defines a heckler as one who baits.

In other words, a baiter.

And you, sir, are a master.
****************

10/17/2016 08:27:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home