Another Packed Agenda For Tuesday's Council Meeting

 LOTS OF GOOD STUFF ON TUESDAY'S AGENDA
The Costa Mesa City Council meets again on Tuesday, April 4, 2017 for a meeting full of interesting stuff.  The meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers but a Special Closed Session precedes that meeting at 5:00 p.m.  You can read the full agenda HERE.

SPECIAL CLOSED SESSION FIRST
The Special Closed session has two items on it.  #1 is a conference with legal counsel on existing litigation - Timothy Dadey, et al v. City of Costa Mesa.

Item #2 is a conference with labor negotiators - Assistant City Manager Tamara Letourneau, regarding the Costa Mesa Firefighters Association (CMFA).

Any public comments on these two items only will be heard at 5:00 p.m., after which the council will recess to Conference Room 5A for deliberations.

The regular open meeting will commence at 6:00 p.m., or as close to it as possible following the Closed Session.

CONSENT CALENDAR
Following the opening events - National Anthem, Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, Public Comments and Council Member Comments the council will consider the Consent Calendar.  There are seven (7) items on the Consent Calendar Tuesday.  These are items that could be moved in one motion without separate discussion unless a member of the council, staff or public pulls one.  Those items will be discussed immediately following the vote on the remainder.  I'm not going to address them all - just a couple.  You can read all about them on the agenda link above.

MORE CONSULTANTS AND LEGAL FEES
#2 is Warrant #2574, HERE, which shows us how we spent about $4 million of our tax dollars.  I did notice that our list for our Contract Attorney firm, Jones & Mayer, is significantly lower this time around - just over $67,000.  However, combined with other legal charges from other firms, we still spent well over $100,000 on legal fees on this warrant.  And, of course, we continue to rack up large amounts for consultants for Plan Check, Building Inspection, Engineering, Department Management for Development Services and the like.  We also spent another $60,000 for helicopter support by the City of Huntington Beach.  Feel free to go to that link and scroll down to see for yourselves.

COIN HEARING FOR DIVISION MANAGERS
The first Public Hearing, HERE,  on the agenda will be a doozy.  This is the required first hearing under the Civic Openness In Negotiations (COIN) Ordinance for the adoption of the salary and benefits agreement between The City and the Costa Mesa Division Managers Association (CMDMA).  This group has not seen an increase in salary ranges since 2008 and they agreed to increase contributions to CalPERS without a salary increase in 2012, which resulted in a pay reduction.  Recruitment and retention is proving difficult under these circumstances.

OVERDUE CHANGES
The staff recommendation includes salary range adjustments between 2.00% and 15.88 % and has a handy chart to show those changes.  Changes in contributions to the CalPERS plan are included, as are reduction in the vacation cap and Executive Leave.  A Technology Allowance is created and the Car Allowance is increased.  Read the staff report.  It also includes those employees described as "Confidential".

REVISITING THE HELISTOP
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is a request for a retroactive time extension on a Planning Application and Conditional Use Permit for a private helistopat 3132 Airway Avenue that expired last November.  If approved the extension would run until November 3, 2017.  When the original request was approved in November of 2015 it was a split vote, with Foley and Genis voting NO.  This will be interesting.

OVERSEEING FAIRVIEW PARK
New Business #1, HERE, is Professional Services Agreement for Fairview Park Maintenance, Management and Biological Services in the amount of $397,640 for one year.  That number might increase by $30,000 or $60,000 if the council decides to include a Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) Program for one or two years.  Read the staff report.

PLACENTIA AVENUE MEDIANS
New Business #2, HERE, is the Placentia Avenue Median Improvement Project between Adams Avenue and Wilson Street.  Depending on which plant palette is utilized, it could result in 140 trees and over 3,000 plants installed in this median.  The Public Services staff secured a grant of $844,200, of which $738,400 is available for the construction phase.  See the full array of conceptual landscape plans HERE.

MORE APPOINTMENTS
New Business #3, HERE, is the final item on the agenda.  This is Appointments to various commissions and the Senior Commission.  The City Council will be asked to appoint forty-nine (49) regular committee positions, four (4) alternate members to committees and one new member to the Senior Commission.  Here we go again...

BIKEWAYS AND WALKABILITY COMMITTEE
The Bikeway and Walkability Committee consists of fifteen (15) members and we received sixteen applications (16).  Membership will be split between 8 for two years and 7 for one year.

CULTURAL ARTS COMMITTEE
The Cultural Arts Committee, which consists of eleven (11) appointed members, which serve staggered two-year terms, has seven (7) positions available, including one (1) alternate.  Fifteen (15) applications were received.  The newly-appointed members will serve two years.

HISTORICAL PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
The Historical Preservation Committee also consists of eleven (11) appointed positions which serve staggered two-year terms.  There are eleven (11) positions available - nine (9) regular and two (2) alternates.  We received nine (9) applications.  Newly appointed members will be  5 for two-years and six for one year.

FINANCE AND PENSION ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Finance and Pension Advisory Committee, created by combining two other committees will have eleven (11) members, one of which will by the Mayor's designee - Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Genis -  for a two-year term.  Of the remaining ten (10) appointments, four shall have pension knowledge and others shall be residents or other individuals that conduct business within the City and have significant financial background as defined in the staff report.  We received thirteen (13) applications.  Five will be for two-years and 5 for one-year.

HOUSING AND PUBLIC SERVICE GRANTS COMMITTEE
The Housing and Public Service Grants Committee will have ten (10) appointments, nine (9) regular and one (1) alternate and will serve staggered two-year terms.  We received ONLY seven (7) applications for the positions.

SENIOR COMMISSION
The Senior Commission has a vacancy because member Olga Reynolds resigned before she could take her appointed seat.  There are seven members of this commission, four of which serve four-year terms and three serve two-year terms.  This position will have an expiration of 2019.  We received two (2) applications.

HOW WILL THEY BE CHOSEN?
No mention in the staff report is made about the method of selection for these committees and commission.  You will recall the fiasco we had during the last such event.  I'm hoping we will not see a replay of that event.  When you go to the staff report for more information you will find links to all the applications by committee/commission as separate attachments.  Enjoy.

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.

More Storage, More Development And More Legal Fees

FIRST MEETING SINCE THE ELECTION
The Costa Mesa City Council will hold its first meeting following the elections last week on Tuesday, November 15, 2016 in City Council Chambers at City Hall beginning at 5:45 p.m.  There is no Closed Session prior to this meeting.  You can read the full agenda HERE.

CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar continues to provide fodder for discussion.  Even though all items on the Consent Calendar are, in theory, of such a routine nature that they all can be voted upon in one vote, without discussion, at least a couple of the items on this edition simply cry out for conversation.

THE WARRANT
Let's begin with Item #2,  the Warrant, #2566, HERE,  which lists dollars being spent on our behalf.  I'm not going to list all the entries that give me heartburn, but will mention a few that may do the same to you.

• Clean Street - $57,291.98 - Street Sweeping for September
• G4S Secure Solutions, Inc - $56,483.31 - Jail Facilities Svcs for September
• Jones & Mayer - $143,393.47 - Legal Svcs
• Kimley Horn & Associates - $25,981.50 - Consultant thru 9/30/16 (see report below)
• City of Huntington Beach - $23,660.00 - Helicopter Svcs, Sept. 2016
• Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth - $6,833.27 - Legal Svcs various

If you click on that link and simply scroll down through the pages of entries you will find more consultants, more temporary employees and other interesting items.

REMOVING GRASS IN MESA VERDE
Item #5, HERE, it the $457,737.00 contract to spruce up medians in Mesa Verde - you know, where the mayor and mayor pro tem live - by pulling out the grass and replacing it with drought-tolerant plantings.

MORE EXTENSION ON LEGAL CONTRACTS
Item #7, HERE,  is an increase request for legal services for Best, Best and Krieger, doubling the previously-authorized $75,000.  Each time we see one of these kinds of bills I find myself wondering just what the heck Jones & Mayer are doing for us as our contract legal department?  When they were hired it was on the presumption that their firm was a full-service legal firm and would be handling most, if not all, of our legal business in-house.  That has certainly turned out to NOT be the case.  For example, as Katrina Foley told us at the last council meeting, Rutan and Tucker cost us $50,000 defending Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer's botched ballot argument, which a judge ruled was a pack of lies and misleading to the voters.

ANOTHER EXPENSIVE CONSULTING CONTRACT EXTENSION
Item #8, HERE, is an extension of a professional services contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates.  Of all the items on the Consent Calendar, this one bugs me the most.  This one asks to extend the contract so we may continue to use the services of Sherri Vander Duessen as interim Assistant Director of Community Improvement Programs in the Development Services Department.  If approved, the City will spend just under $500,000 for 14 months work by Ms. Vander Duessen, which apparently focuses mostly on sober living issues.  We should have a chance to see her in action at the Planning Commission tonight, since that meeting will focus exclusively on sober living issues.  In my view, and nothing against Ms. Vander Duessen, this situation is a perfect example of the crappy management by the current City Council majority, whose dictatorial style has created such a toxic work environment at City Hall that many, many experienced leaders have either retired early or sought other jobs.  It is tragic.  We can only hope a change in the demographic on the dais can, finally, begin to rebuild what was once an outstanding municipal organization.

CREATION OF ASSISTANT BUILDING OFFICIAL POSITION
Finally, Item #9, HERE, is the request to create a new position at City Hall - Assistant Building Official.  Apparently this is intended to fill the gap created by the recent, abrupt departure of Building Offical Khanh Nguyen.  A consultant is currently filling the job at a cost of more than $262,000 per year.  This new position would be placed at a level of $194,330 per year and provide upward mobility.  Again, the departure of seasoned, experienced staffers bites us in the posterior!

SEPARATE DISCUSSION?  WE'LL SEE...
Again, if any of these - or others - are pulled for separate discussion they will be trailed to the very end of the meeting thanks to the policies implemented by the current council majority.
 
ADOPTION OF NEW CODES
Public Hearing #1, HERE, is a mandatory adoption of the most recent model codes including Building, Residential, Green Building Standards, Fire, Plumbing, Mechanical and Electrical.  This shouldn't take long.

REVIEW OF PLANNING DECISION ON "HOLIDAY"
Public Hearing #2, HERE, should generate a lot of interest by the public.  This is a review, requested by a council member, of the Planning Application for Holiday (formerly Lion's Den and Maison) on West 19th Street.  This controversial establishment has been in the news for a couple years and has apparently undergone a couple of ownership changes.  This review, a "de novo" review - which means the entire issue may be re-heard as though it is a brand new item - calls into question the decisions made by the Planning Commission regarding compliance with state noise laws.  This one could take awhile.

SELF-STORAGE AT 375 BRISTOL STREET
Old Business #1, HERE, is the second reading of an ordinance, passed by the council on November 1, 2016 on a 5-0 vote, for a re-zone of a business site at 375 Bristol Street for a self-storage facility/retail center.  This won't take long.

OLD LOS ANGELES TIMES SITE
Old Business #2, HERE,  is also a second reading.  This is a re-zone request for a 23.4 acre site in the north part of town - the old Los Angeles Times site plus an existing baseball field.  This also passed on a 5-0 vote on November 1, 2016.  This also won't take long.

MORE SELF-STORAGE?
New Business #1, HERE,  is a General Plan Screening for a proposed self-storage facility at 390 Ford Road and 1957 Newport Boulevard on both sides of Ford Road.

A NEW URBAN PLAN WITHIN THE SOBECA PLAN
The final item on the agenda is New Business #2, HERE.  This is a new Urban Master Plan within the SoBECA Urban Plan and calls for the re-purposing of existing business facilities at 769 Baker Street and 2972 Century Place.  Plans call for retail, restaurant and food stall uses totaling 22,000 square feet; add 10,000 square feet of new retail and office uses and construct 3 live/work units and 45 residential units.

COULD BE AN INTERESTING EVENING
I have no idea how long this meeting will last.  I expect a large crowd to show up for the Holiday item, but beyond that, it's any one's guess.  Heck, we may not have a full council since Gary Monahan has previously said there's no reason for him to show up since he's termed out.  And, will Mayor Steve Mensinger show up now that it looks like he's been de-throned?  Only tomorrow will tell.

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.

Small Agenda Faces City Council Tuesday

CAREFUL... DON'T OVERWORK THEM!
The Costa Mesa City Staff, apparently not eager to overwork the City Council after their nearly month-long hiatus, has prepared a very small agenda for their meeting Tuesday, September 6, 2016.  The agenda for that meeting, which begins at 5:45 p.m. in City Council Chambers, may be viewed HERE.

"SECURITY THREAT"?
As is usually the case, the regular meeting will be preceded by a Closed Session commencing at 5:00 p.m.  This one has three items on the agenda, the most interesting of which is the third item, which says: Threat To Public Services of Facilities.  Security Briefing by Rob Sharpnack, Chief of Police.  I don't ever recall this item having been on previous agendas, so perhaps when the regular session convenes someone will "report out" that information - or at least the reason for it.

THE LINE UP
Following the Costa Mesa Minute, the Mayor's Award, Public Comments, Council Members' Reports, Comments and Suggestions and CEO Tom Hatch's Report, if any, comes the Consent Calendar.

CONSENT CALENDAR
As has been the case over the past couple years, the Consent Calendar this time - items which are supposed to be "routine in nature" and would be considered with one vote - is packed with interesting stuff that you'll probably not hear about unless someone pulls them for separate discussion.  If that happens those items will be trailed to the end of the meeting to meet the Mayor's intent to stifle discussion of issues.  I won't comment on every item on the Consent Calendar, but I will give you my thoughts on a few of them.

MORE THAN 8.6 MILLION BUCKS!
Item #2, Warrant 2562, HERE, represents the expenditure of over $8.6 million of your tax dollars.  Because this warrant is so huge, with so many entries, I'm not going to attempt to list items, but  I will summarize some issues.  You can go to that link and just scroll down through the payments and seek out pearls for yourself if you wish.

Legal Fees!
Legal fees continue to spin the meter.  This time around we paid nearly $420,000, most of which went to our contract City Attorney, Jones & Mayer - something just under $200,000.

Trying To Fill Empty Slots
Consulting services and contract employees also continue to be a large part of our monthly expenditures.  We're spending at least tens of thousands of dollars each month on consultants and contract employees filling holes in the organization due to unfilled vacancies.  More on that later.

Jail and Streets
We spent outsourcing companies more than $110,000.00 to have our Jail staffed and our streets swept.

Two Hundred Grand in BIA Receipts
We wrote a check to Travel Costa Mesa for $213,369.36 which represented the VIA Receipts for June, 2016.

More New Library/NCC Fees
We also paid Johnson Favaro LLP $170,748.00 for their consultative support on the new Library/Community Center project.

Saving Money On Undercover Cop Cars
On the other hand, we spent only about half as much as usual to Enterprise Rental Cars for Undercover Police cars.  I guess we don't have enough cops to go undercover these days, so we're saving a few bucks on that line item.

Helicopter Services from NEWPORT BEACH?
I did notice a funny entry.  Apparently we cut a check to the City of Newport Beach for helicopter services  for June, 2016, in the amount of $26,385.50.  That's interesting, since I didn't know Newport Beach had any helicopters and also thought we had a contract with Huntington Beach for helicopter services.  Wonder what's up with that?

Sloppiness?
Which brings me to one final observation on the Warrant.  In recent months, unlike in previous years, we've seen several entries correcting previous errors.  This entry for helicopter service may be a similar situation.  This is NOT a place where sloppiness can be tolerated, so it makes me wonder just who's paying attention in the process.

TURF AT JACK HAMMETT
Item #5, HERE, is the resolution for the application of $1 million in grant funds to help replace grass with artificial turf on a couple fields at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex.  It will still cost the City an additional $3.5 million.

CHANGES TO THE FUAP
Item #7, HERE, contains amendments to the Field Use and Allocation Policy (FUAP) as recommended by the Parks and Recreation Commission at its July meeting.  It includes a Field Use Code Of Conduct.

FILLING CLAIRE'S VACANCY - TEMPORARILY?
Item #8, HERE,  is an amendment to the professional services agreement with Management Partners to retain Jay Trevino to temporarily (I think) replace departed Assistant Development Services Director Claire Flynn, who left to join the private sector.  This amendment presently has a $200,000 cap on it - but we've all seen how those caps manage to disappear.

BUILDING OFFICIAL CONSULTING
Item #9, HERE, is a similar situation with Interwest Consulting Group for Building Official services, apparently to fill the hole left by the recent departure of Khanh Nguyen, our Building Official, and other vacancies in that department.  This one is for $150,000.  You may recall that recently we also saw an approval to spend $900,000 for engineering consulting support.  Hmmm, wonder why we can't retain people?  Could it be the crappy contract the Miscellaneous employees were forced to swallow?  Smart money says it is.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST CODE
Item #10, HERE,  is the Biennial Review of City's Conflict Of Interest Code.  This one changes - adds and deletes - positions and groups that are subject to the Conflict of Interest Code.  Appendix A, HERE, shows those positions/groups.  I guess I understand it all with this exception.  At the end, under Commissions, it shows only the Parks and Recreation Commission.  What about the Planning Commission and Senior Commission?  And no mention of the City Council, either.  Maybe I'm missing something, but...?

FINAL OLD GENERAL PLAN REVIEW
Item #12, HERE, is the Annual Review of the Current Housing Element and Final Review of the Previous General Plan.  Interesting that they will likely just sign this without comment.

AMENDING NORTH COSTA MESA SPECIFIC PLAN
Public Hearing #1, HERE, is the city-initiated amendment to the North Costa Mesa Specific Plan related to the Segerstrom Home Ranch Site, 3350 Avenue of the Arts and Sakioka Lot 2 bringing them into conformance with the recently-approved General Plan.  The Planning Commission recently reviewed these items and moved them forward.

HOME RANCH DEVELOPMENT PLAN AMENDMENT
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is the Fourth Amendment to the development agreement for the Home Ranch.  Similarly, this brings this project into conformity with the new General Plan.

LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES VOTING DELEGATES
The final item on the agenda is New Business #1, HERE.  this is a fairly routine item, designating a Voting Delegate and Voting Delegate Alternate(s) for the 2016 League of California Cities Annual Conference in Long Beach, October 5-7, 2016.  Presently Mayor Steve Mensinger, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer and Council Member Sandy Genis are registered to attend, so this should be a no-brainer, huh?  Not so fast!  It seems that the Eastside Costa Mesa Neighbors Group Candidate Forum is scheduled for October 6th.  And, if that's not enough fun, I understand there may also be some kind of a fundraiser at Monahan's gin mill on the same evening.  This item should be worth waiting for at the tail end of the meeting.

MORE LATER...
We'll be watching and will report on the festivities following the meeting.  This one should not take long, but one just never knows these days.

City Council Holds Only Meeting Until September

ONLY MEETING THIS MONTH
The Costa Mesa City Council meets for its only official meeting until after the Labor Day holiday tomorrow, Tuesday, August 2, 2016 beginning at 5:45 p.m. in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  This meeting has a fairly short agenda, which you can read HERE.  The council has previously agreed to cancel the meeting scheduled for August 16th.  It will be interesting to see which council members show up for this one.

MESA WATER "UPDATE"?  ABOUT WHAT?
I did note with interest that early in the meeting Mesa Water District General Manager Paul Schoenberger will present an "update".  I wonder if he will talk about the one-sided bogus survey Mesa Water recently contracted for, and which apparently has caused their board to place a non-binding "advisory" measure on the ballot asking the voters if Mesa Water and the Costa Mesa Sanitary District should be merged?  Based on the public record of events and official utterances from folks on both sides of this issue, it certainly seems like this is just a hostile takeover attempt in a fancy dress.  And, it's my understanding that Mesa Water will spend over $150,000 to place the item on the ballot and conduct community outreach efforts to convince you voters of the value of their idea.  No biggie, right?  They'll just raise the rates if money gets tight.

CONSENT CALENDAR
The Consent Calendar has fourteen (14) items on it.  You will recall, in theory these items are of a routine nature and, therefore, could be voted upon with one vote without separate discussion.  And, the Mensinger/Righeimer council has implemented a policy whereby if a member of the public, council or staff chooses to ask for a separate discussion on any item or items, they will be trailed to the very end of the meetings - which sometimes turn out to be the next day.  I'll address a few of these items that caught my attention.

THE WARRANT
Item #2 is Warrant 2561, HERE. This is a roster of bills paid by the city. This time it amounts to more than $8 million dollars!  Some of the entries you may find of interest:

• Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth - $31,044.75 - Legal Svcs, Various
• Best Best & Krieger LLP - $10,211.42 - Legal Svcs
• Government Jobs.com Inc - $8,856.00 - App. Tracking System
• Interwest Consulting Group Inc - $7,360.00 - CIP Prog. Mgt.
• RJM Design Group Inc - $11,490.15 - Open Space Master Plan Update
• Jones & Mayer - $150,682.70 - Legal Svcs, Various
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $32,000.08 - Legal Svcs, Personnel
• Civil Source - $82,281.00 - Staff Support Various Proj. Apr & May
• Costa Mesa Conference & Visitor Bureau - $217,571.61 - BIA Receipts, May 2016
• HYM Engineering Inc. - $113,332.34 - Const. Contract City Pro (?)
• Johnson Favaro LLP - $115,632.00 - NCRnvtn Proj
• Jones & Mayer - $49,153.82 - Legal Svcs (Ddey) 
• Lilley Planning Group - $19,890.00 - Sr. Plng Svcs May and June
• Newport Mesa Unified School District - $508,432.12 - Developer Fees, April, May, June
• Wigmore Insurance Agency, Inc - $100,353.00 - Excess Wrkrs Comp Ins Rnwl
• Carl Warren & Company - $3,250.00 - Wkrs Comp Admin Fee June 2016
• Continental Interpreting Services Inc - $4,204.50 - Interpreting Svcs, 5 Dist. Voting Meetings
• Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $5,864.00 - Legal, Negotiations
• Orange County Treasure Tax Collector - $13,186.49 - Teletype Svc for June 2016 (?)
• State of Califorina Dept of Justice - $13,695.00 - Fingerprint Apps, June, 2016
• Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. - $425,300.12 - Insurance Premiums (Excess)
• Moore Iacofano Goltsman Inc. - $57,578.87 - Genl Plan Update and EIR
• RJM Design Group Inc - $16,521.62 - Open Space Master Plan Update
• WLC Architects Inc - $54,844.61 - Fire Station #1 Design Svcs
• Best Best & Krieger LLP - $8,137.64 - CEQA Legal May 2016 
• Compass Demographics Inc - $5,000.00 - Dist Formation
• Templeton Planning Group - $8,800.00 - Prof. Svcs, June

LEGAL FEES AND INSURANCE COSTS!
So, on this warrant we see nearly $290,000 in legal fees - just under $200,000 for Jones & Mayer alone.  And, I was interested to note the insurance costs on this warrant.  We spent nearly $600,000 for insurance costs.  Take a few moments and scroll down through the various entries.  I won't try to cover all the rest of the Consent Calendar items - you can scroll down through the agenda for that information.  There are a couple, though, that require comment.

SWAP A CODE ENFORCEMENT SLOT FOR A PLANNER
Item #9, HERE, is a request to swap one full-time Code Enforcement Officer position for a new Assistant Planner position due to the overwhelming workload in Development Services.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR "LIONS PARK PROJECTS"
This one is a contract for nearly $3 million for project management services for what is now being referred to as "Lions Park Projects" - the demolition of the Neighborhood Community Center and construction of a new library; the renovation of the current Dungan Library building as a community center and other park improvements - the total anticipated costs for which are $30 million.  The planning part will go through July, 2017 and the construction phase from that point forward to March 2020.

OPPOSING ELIMINATION OF DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME
Item #14, HERE, in which it is recommended that the City Council direct staff to draft a letter in opposition to Assembly Bill 385, which proposed to eliminate Daylight Savings Time in the state of California.  The Parks and Recreation Commission is opposed to this bill because it would severely restrict daylight field use - almost 4,000 hours of playable hours of field time - from March through November.

VACATION OF RIGHT-OF-WAY ON WESTSIDE
Public Hearing #1, HERE, is for the vacation of excess right-of-way at 671-673 W. 17th Street at two locations: W. 17th Street and Superior Avenue.  Significant new construction is taking place adjacent to these two sites.

APPEAL OF PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVAL
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is an appeal of a Conditional Use Permit and Share Parking at 3184 Airway Avenue involving a proposed Arts & Learning Conservatory.  The appellant, an attorney for Koll-Irvine Community Association, is asking the council to reverse the Planning Commission approval indicating the proposed use is not compatible with the other uses withn the complex.  This will be a "de novo hearing", meaning they will start over and can consider the project in it's entirety.  When this was heard by the Planning Commission the house was packed with interested parties.

CAMPAIGN SIGNAGE CHANGES
Old Business #1, HERE, is the second reading of changes to ordinances regarding campaign signage.

ANOTHER SMALL LOT DEVELOPMENT - 1974 CHARLE STREET
New Business #1, HERE, is a request to amend the land use designation from General Commercial to High Density Residential at 1974 Charle Street.  This proposal would replace existing commercial building with a 6-unit detached small lot subdivison.