CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

The following is from the Oct. 16 Laguna Beach City Council meeting. Councilman Kelly Boyd was absent from the meeting.

? PUBLIC COMMENT

?Pat Barry expressed on behalf of the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee support for the information provided in local papers about the water shortage.

“The local water district supplies water to over 17,000 local residents, 2,500 hotel rooms and about 100 restaurants, along with numerous other businesses throughout Laguna Beach,” Barry said. “These businesses contribute to the economic base of the community. We are all in this together.”

Barry said the City Council should stay abreast of remedial measures being debated and provide occasional updates to the community on steps being taken in Sacramento and should encourage residents and businesses to start conserving water now.

“The 20-gallon cut in water usage being encouraged by the Laguna Beach County Water District and the Municipal Water District of Orange County is a great start, but it is not a long-term solution,” Barry said. “We need our elected officials on a local and state level to address this problem head-on and think about the future.

“The business community, your residents and the thousands of visitors to Laguna Beach each year depend on it.”

?Three Arch Bay residents Kathleen Miller and Sid Danenhauer accused Councilwoman Elizabeth Schneider of having a conflict of interest in voting for a project on Bay Drive that they opposed, citing as one example her husband’s employment at a firm they had hired.

City Attorney Philip Kohn said the claims made at the meeting by Miller and Danenhauer had been considered by a trial court during legal action they brought against the city and rejected.

? COUNCIL/STAFF CHAT

?Mayor Pro Tem Jane Egly announced the first anniversary of the Nix Nature Center will be celebrated at 9 a.m., Nov. 3. For more information, visit www.LagunaCanyon.org.

?Mayor Toni Iseman said the Homeless Task Force is close to choosing a police officer to serve as liaison with the homeless community.

? CONSENT CALENDAR

Editor’s note:Consent calendar items get approved in one motion unless a member of the council, staff or public “pull” the item, which then requires opening it for public comment and a separate vote.

Approved without comment:

?Minutes of the Oct. 2 adjourned and regular meeting

?General warrants totaling $2,698,534.36, issued Oct. 5, and payroll No. 7, in the amount of $622,000.33, issued Sept. 27.

?Resolution extending the Bluebird Canyon Emergency Declaration, which is valid for only 21 days and must be renewed.

?Resolutions establishing parking restrictions on Bluebird Canyon Drive east of Galen Drive and establishing a parking restriction for 30 feet on the south end of Baja Street.

?Revocable encroachment permit for decorative pavers and a picket fence no more than three feet high at 337 Hawthorne Road.

?Lot line adjustment for the properties at 1361 and 1377 Lewellyn Court.

?Authorization for the city manager to sign a one-year agreement with Scientia Consulting Group to provide services to the Laguna Beach Police Department, including on-site and after-hours support and the installation of a 24-hour monitoring program on all servers and personal computers. The city will pay $116,850 for the service, offset by the savings in salary for an information system specialist, which the department was not able to fill.

?A $41,750 contract to Lightning Fence Co. for construction of the Diamond/Crestview guard rail.

?Six contracts for the Community/Senior Center: $188.462 to Louis Lopez Inc. for concrete; $149,998 to Western Door for doors, frames and hardware; $78,128 to Western Paving Contractors for concrete paving; $58,616 to CSF-Enterprises, doing business as Golden State Framers, for fir sheathing ceiling; $3,900 to Prestige Striping Services Inc. for pavement marking; and $2,225 to Glendon Co. for fire extinguishers.

Pulled for discussion:

?The annual Hospitality Night festivities to be Dec. 7, including a public address system, closure to vehicle traffic of portions of Forest, Avenue, Beach and Third Streets and the Peppertree parking lot, restricted parking on Forest were approved. The council also authorized the Sawdust Festival to cover the parking meters on Laguna Canyon Road from Nov. 23-25 and reserve parking for buses on Laguna Canyon Road as needed for the Winter Fantasy. 4-0

?Authorized the city manager to award a contract up to $45,000 to Talimar Systems Inc. for furniture and a contract for up to $80,000 to an unnamed shelving and storage company for the Corporation Yard building. Approved 4-0

? GALA TABLE 3-0

City Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman proposed taking $2,000 in unused funds from the council’s travel and training budget to buy a table at the South Coast Medical Center fundraiser Nov. 17.

Egly asked why not just give the hospital the money, but Kinsman said it was important for the council to be there to show support.

“And also [Assistant City Manager]John Pietig and his wife should be there, because he has worked so hard for keep the hospital here in town,” Kinsman said.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Schneider recused herself from the vote because she works for the hospital foundation.

? BLUEBIRD NUISANCE 4-0

The council declared the properties at 1060 and 1071 Flamingo Road a public nuisance because they lack erosion control measures and the council required the measures to be installed by Nov. 5.

Waivers were signed by all the other affected Bluebird Canyon property owners allowing the city to install erosion control. The declaration allows the city to proceed on the two properties for which waivers were not signed.

“We will pay for all of this,” Frank said. “It won’t cost [the owners] a thing.”

Frank said the importance of the control measures became evident after the recent rain when mud poured onto five properties.

A completion date for the entire restoration project depends on how quickly utility companies pull their conduit, which must be done before Flamingo Road can be paved, according to Frank.

“I think it could be by the end of November, which is good because that is the last extension date for FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] money,” Frank said.

Frank also said the Recovery Coordinator Bob Burnham is optimistic that FEMA will pay a substantial portion of the costs of the restoration.

“But we won’t know for months,” Frank said.