CITY COUNCIL MEETING PREVIEW

The following items were considered by the City Council Monday:

EXTENSION OF WIRELESS MORATORIUM

After opening a public hearing in which no members of the public asked to speak, the council unanimously approved a six-month extension of its moratorium of construction of wireless facilities.

WHAT IT MEANS

Facilities for wireless communication, such as cells for phone networks, cannot be built in Huntington Beach for six more months other than under specific conditions. The city has continued this moratorium for more than a year pending a rewrite of its rules on such facilities. The new rules should come before the council for a vote by the end of May.

COUNCIL POSITION ON PENDING LEGISLATION

The council unanimously approved the recommendations of its Intergovernmental Relations Committee on taking positions on bills pending in state and federal legislatures.

Bills supported include: AB 411, an Assembly bill aimed at keeping residential care facilities for the elderly from concentrating too much in one area; SB 1000, state Sen. Tom Harman’s bill to curb substance abuse recovery facilities; and SB 286, which funds transportation projects in accordance with the recently passed state bond Proposition 1-B.

Bills opposed include SB 303, which would require California cities to plan 20 years ahead in their general plans and update each element of those plans every 10 years.

“SB 303 would require the city to zone 10 years into the future,” said Councilwoman Jill Hardy. “If you think back to 1997, most of us were trying to add a second phone line to add this new thing called ‘Internet.’ Ten years ago we didn’t talk about mixed use or the revitalization of Edinger [Avenue]. To be held to that by the state and developers didn’t seem like a good idea.”

WHAT IT MEANS

The city has taken official positions on legislation pending this year, and will ask legislators to support those positions.

CONTRACT WITH FIRE MANAGEMENT ASSN.

The council unanimously approved a new contract with the Huntington Beach Fire Management Assn., which represents the six battalion and division chiefs in the Fire Department. The contract includes a 7% retroactive raise and a 7.25% raise in the future.

WHAT IT MEANS

For a two-year term, the new contract will cost the city $158,574 in wages and benefits. According to staff reports, the city wished to increase compensation to give rank-and-file more incentive to seek promotions, while at the same time asking for greater employee contributions to retirement plans.