o7Here are some items the council will...

o7Here are some items the council will consider tonight.f7

FIRE STATION DISPATCHING

Newport Beach Fire Chief Tim Riley is asking the City Council to

spend about $195,000 to install a new call-alerting system for five

of the city’s eight fire stations.

The Smart Station system, produced by Huntington Beach-based

WestNet Inc., can help firefighters get to emergency calls as much as

45 seconds faster.

Under the current dispatching system, an operator gets information

on the location and type of emergency and passes it on to a

dispatcher, who then contacts the closest fire station.

The new system would electronically notify the appropriate station

at the same time the operator is sending it to the dispatcher, so

firefighters can start putting on their gear and getting ready to

leave as they wait for more details on the emergency.

The three fire stations not included in this expenditure would

have the system installed later.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The council is likely to approve the new alerting system.

MASSAGE BUSINESS

A Corona del Mar salon that performs health and beauty treatments

wants to add massage therapy to its

offerings.

That’s allowed with a permit, which the city planning director has

granted.

But City Councilman Dick Nichols objected because of a rule that

bars massage businesses from opening within 500 feet of another such

business, and the rest of the council agreed on Sept. 27.

Planning department staff members point out that massage will only

be a small part of the salon’s business and no problems have been

reported when the 500-foot rule has been waived for other businesses.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Council members were concerned enough to call up the item for

discussion, but they may be persuaded by planning staff members, who

recommend allowing the salon to add massage services.

CITY HALL EXPANSION

Architects have drawn up preliminary designs for a

72,000-square-foot city hall as part of the roughly $46 million civic

center project.

They’ve also presented options to either expand the facility by

3,000 square feet when it’s built or make the structure capable of

handling future expansions totaling 8,000 square feet.

The 72,000-square-foot plan could accommodate the 216 employees

that now work in City Hall and up to 50 more workers in the future.

The council must decide whether the city’s needs will outgrow that

space.

WHAT TO EXPECT

The council building committee -- which includes Councilmen Tod

Ridgeway, Don Webb and John Heffernan -- deemed 72,000 square feet

adequate to the city’s needs and didn’t recommend adding space to the

building.

IF YOU GO

* WHAT: Newport Beach City Council meeting

* WHEN: 7 tonight

* WHERE: City Council chambers, City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd.

* FYI: Call (949) 644-3005 or visit o7www.city.newport-beach

.ca.usf7 online for agendas and staff reports.

-- Compiled by Alicia Robinson