Thursday, January 12, 2017

Measure Y Gets The First Test Tuesday


FIRST MEETING WITH NEW (OLD) FORMAT
The Costa Mesa City Council meets on Tuesday, January 17, 2017 in City Council Chambers at City Hall beginning at 6:00 p.m. per the revised rules.  This meeting will be preceded by a Closed Session that begins at 4:00 p.m. in Council Chambers to take Public Comments, then moves to Conference Room 5A for the closed session.  Three items are on that Closed Session agenda, including the lawsuit between Yellowstone Women's First Step House, Inc and Sober Living Network, Inc v. City of Costa Mesa.  The full agenda for the entire meeting may be found HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBERS GET ONLY 4 MINUTES - FIRST TIME UP
When the open meeting begins at 6:00 they will follow the new agenda format.  Following Public Comments there will be Council Member's Reports, Comments and Suggestions, but each council member will be limited to only 4 minutes at this point.  If any council member has more things to talk about there is time reserved for that at the end of the meeting, before the City Manager and City Attorney reports.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar has another load of items on it - 13 to be precise.  In theory these items could be voted upon in one vote without separate discussion on them.  However, it's unusual for that to happen.  Any member of the council, city staff or public may pull an item for separate discussion and vote.  I won't cover all those items - you can read them when you click on that agenda link above.  However, there are some that require comment.
SPENDING OUR MONEY
Item #2, Warrant Resolution #2569, HERE, represents the expenditure of right at $4 million in city funds.  You can scroll down through the list to see if anything catches your eye.  Some items that caught mine are:
  • City of Huntington Beach - $23,100.00 - Helicopter Svcs, Nov. 2016
  • Clean Street - $60,590.98 - Street Sweeping Svcs Nov. 2016 Plus Power Wash Harbor/19th
  • G4S Secure Solutions, Inc - $50,823.18 - Jail Svcs Nov. 2016
  • Heroes Hall Veteran's Foundation - $25,000.00 - 2nd Grant for Vets Museum
  • Johnson Favaro LLP - $285,859.00 - Library/NCC Architecure 11/16-12/15
  • Jones & Mayer - $132,449.62 - Legal Svcs, various
  • Keyser Marston Assoc. - $4,774.00 - Nghd Improv/Homeless Nov. 2016
  • Lilley Planning Group - $9,720.00 - Planning Consultant Nov 2016
  • MPS Consulting, Inc - $9,666.25 - Planning Consultant, 11/1-11/22
  • Management Partners Inc - $8,631.00 - Consulting Svcs DS 11/16-11/30
  • Permit Management Solutions - $2,665.00 - Interim Permit Tech 11/21-11/23, 11/28-12/2
  • Scott Fazekas & Assoc. - $6,022.84 - Bldg Plan Check Svcs
  • Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth - $10,787.50 - Legal Svcs, various
  • The Code Group Inc. - $1,440.00 - Bldg Inspect. Svs 10/30-11/26
  • Interwest Consulting Group, Inc. - $22,960.00 - Bldg Ofcrs/Bldg Inspect Oct 2016
  • Kimley Horn & Assoc. - $40,548.00 - Group Home Consulting
  • Rutan & Tucker LLP - $83,285.35 - Legal various (No Growth & Fairview Park)
  • CSG Consultants Inc - $11,055.47 - Plan Check Svcs Nov 2016
  • Kitchell Cern - $3,990.00 - Const. Mgt.Svs 10/31-11/27
  • Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $5,973.10 - Legal various
  • Vincent Benjamin - $5,960.07 - Temp Staff, Treas. & Purch.
As you can see, we spent more than $230,000 on legal fees and more than $60,000 on various consultants.
CLEANING UP THE TOW POLICY
Item #3, HERE, is the modification of the Police Department Tow Policy.

SLOWING TRAFFIC ON EAST 19TH STREET
Item #6, HERE, is a $1.6 million Safe Route To School Project on East 19th Street from Church Street to Irvine Avenue and will involve so-called "traffic calming" measures the over that length.
These "enhancements" will slow the traffic on a busy residential street and almost certainly force traffic on adjacent streets - Costa Mesa Street, 20th Street and others - as traffic, like water, will find a way.  It will also include a new monument sign on a new median near the intersection of Fullerton and 19th Street.
BRISTOL STREET PROJECTS
Item #7, HERE, is a bundle of Bristol Street Projects totalling nearly $5 million.
HOUSING AUTHORITY FINANCIAL AUDIT
For you numbers people, Item #8, HERE, is the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Independent Financial Audit of the Costa Mesa Housing Authority.
BLOWING IN THE WIND
The first Public Hearing, HERE, is the 2016 California Residential Code Wind Speed Revision.  Yeah - I asked the same question - What the heck is that?  The staff report is short and this item may take a whole 5 minutes, max.
440 FAIR DRIVE - AND THE SMART GROWTH INITIATIVE
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is the elephant on the agenda, for many reasons.  This is the proposed project at 440 Fair Drive - the one the short-handed Planning Commission rejected.  According to the staff report, this one, if approved, will likely require a vote of the public before proceeding due to the requirements of Measure Y - the Smart Growth Initiative passed by the voters on November 8th.  The discussion of this item should be very interesting.
NAME CHANGES, PART 2
Old Business #1, HERE, is the second hearing of the change of the CEO and Assistant CEO positions to City Manager and Assistant City Manager.  This one will take about 2 minutes unless Jim Righeimer decides to launch off on a rant again.
WEST 19TH STREET BIKE TRAIL PROJECT
Old Business #2, HERE, is an amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with Dudek for Environmental Services for the West 19th Street Bicycle Trail Project.

MOBILE RECREATION PROGRAM REDUX
New Business #1, HERE, is the resurrection of the Mobile Recreation Program, abandoned a few years ago due to budget constraints.  If the council supports this idea the staff will develop a funding plan for the 2016/2017 mid-year budget report.  For some history, HERE'S the 2004 staff report for your recollection.
NEXT MEETING TO CONSIDER VOLUNTEERS
The council will adjourn to a special meeting on Tuesday, January 24, 2017 during which applicants wishing to be considered for positions on the Planning, Parks and Recreation and Senior Commissions will be interviewed.  The deadline for applying for these positions is 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 18, 2017.  Go HERE for more information.

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Where's My Coffee? said...

Thank GOD for Measure Y. That 440 project would be a horrendous fiasco if allowed. That developer must be out of his head.

1/16/2017 08:55:00 AM  
Blogger Flo Martin said...

Even the "new-and-improved" version of Sheldon's 440 Fair Drive project is unacceptable. I can't imagine living across a two-lane street from a "community." Here's a chance for the City to purchase the property and convert to a pocket-park and keep those lovely trees that line Carnegie now.

1/16/2017 10:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Atlas Shrunk said...

I saw yet another collision with the idiotic center median in front of Ralphs on 17th tonight.
When will our new council be removing and paving over this ill advised water wasting eyesore that obliterated safe access for a legal left turn into the wider driveway?

1/18/2017 09:07:00 PM  
Blogger The Pot Stirrer said...

Not likely unless members of the public speaks up. They love it and are going to do the same thing on Harbor between Wilson and 19th Street. Just like they are going to slow traffic on 19th Street between Irvine and Fullerton.

1/18/2017 09:55:00 PM  

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