Monday, March 20, 2017

Fairview Developmental Center, The Chargers, And More

 AN INTERESTING MEETING AHEAD
The Costa Mesa City Council meets again tomorrow night, Tuesday, March 21, 2017 beginning at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers.  That meeting will be preceded by a Closed Session beginning at 5:30 p.m.  which will be recessed to Conference Room 5A immediately following being called to order and the two issues read into the record.  You can read the full agenda HERE.
FAIRVIEW DEVELOPMENTAL CENTER IN PLAY?
This Closed session takes on a special meaning because an item was added to that segment of the agenda this morning.  That is Item #2, "Conference with Real Property Negotiator" for 2501 Harbor Boulevard... that's the address for the Fairview Developmental Center!  Yep, it does appear that the ball in now rolling on the possible sale of that 100 acres by the State of California to the City of Costa Mesa, and Assistant City Manager Rick Francis is the negotiator for The City.
THE WARRANT
The Consent Calendar has some interesting items on it, again.  Item #2, HERE, is Warrant 2573, which shows us how The City has spent nearly $3 million of our tax dollars.  I'm not going to give you a long list of items we purchased, but that link will help you review it.  We continue to spend tens of thousands of dollars on consultants and temporary employees throughout City Hall.  Scroll down the list and you'll see them clearly defined.
NEW SIDEARMS FOR THE CMPD
Item #7, HERE, is interesting.  This involves the complete re-arming of the Costa Mesa Police Department to the tune of nearly $85,000.  Currently the CMPD officers are issued Heckler and Koch (HK) .40 Caliber service pistol.  After extensive testing - that discussion can be found HERE - the committee recommended purchasing the Sig P320 for a price that roughly equates to the trade-in value of the current firearm.  You can read the Purchase Requisition for 230 guns and related equipment HERE.
DE NOVO HEARING ON PLANNING COMMISSION DENIAL OF A 1-YEAR EXTENSION, 2068 MAPLE AVE. 
Public Hearing #1, HERE, is a de novo hearing - meaning that they start from scratch - on the denial of a one-year time extension on a development at 2068 Maple Avenue.  This development was approved by the previous commission in 2015, changed hands in 2016 and the request for the time extension was denied by the current Planning Commission.  This is an appeal of that request.
CHARGERS TO USE JACK HAMMETT FOR TRAINING CAMP
New Business #1, HERE, is an agreement between the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League to use two of the six fields at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex on Fairview Road as a facility for their annual summer training camp.  The staff report outlines the particulars, but basically the Chargers would use two fields during the period when the entire sports complex would be dormant - roughly 5 weeks in July and August.  For that use they would pay the City a little over $150,000 per year for ten years.  In addition they will pay $50,000 towards the recently-approved mobile recreation van and $10,000 to AYSO 120 for dislocation the first year.  I did notice that The Chargers will rehab fields 3 and 4 each June.  I wonder if the kids that will be playing on it from August through June will be playing in the divots created by 400 pound linemen digging in?  Guess we'll hear about that tomorrow.  Read the staff report.  And, if you wish, you can take 30 minutes to view Barry Friedland's Costa Mesa Brief coverage of Tom Johnson's StuNews Sunday radio program yesterday, HERE, to see City Manager Tom Hatch and Councilman John Stephens discuss this plan in detail.  An interesting sidebar is the fact that Mayor Katrina Foley must recuse herself from this discussion because her home backs up to the site.
NEW SPORTS FACILITY GRANT PROGRAM?
New Business #2, HERE, the consideration of a Direct Partnership with the Newport Mesa Unified School District for the Sports Facility Improvement Grant Program.  This is VERY interesting because it appears to cut Costa Mesa United out of the funding loop.  Plus, it changes the terms to include, on an alternating-year basis, ALL Costa Mesa Elementary Schools, too!  In fact, if you look at the items below, one wonders what role Costa Mesa United will continue to play, if any.  This should be interesting.
NEW COSTA MESA COMMITTEES
New Business #3, HERE, is a discussion of new Costa Mesa Committees.  The staff is asking for direction from the City Council on the following committees:
  • Fairview Park Steering Committee
  • The Youth Sports, Open Space & Recreation Advisory Committee
  • The Youth Sports Committee
  • Open Space and Recreation Advisory Committee
The staff report contains all the particulars... read it.

AN INTERESTING MEETING, FOR SURE
Tomorrow's meeting should be VERY interesting.  There's plenty of cool stuff - The Chargers, for example - to draw folks to the chambers or watch on television or streaming on their computer.  Regardless, we'll be watching from somewhere and report later.


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