CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

Here are some of the items the City Council considered at its meeting Monday:

Five-year plan in southeast Huntington Beach

The council voted 7-0 to pass a five-year plan to redevelop Southeast Huntington Beach’s blighted and environmentally compromised areas, a plan required by the state for the area’s Redevelopment Agency. The main goals of the plan are to lessen the environmental impact of the industrial and landfill sites that city officials say lower property values in the area.

  WHAT IT MEANS

The new plan replaces a 2002 five-year plan, which had more ambitious goals, making it impossible to fulfill, staff reports said. The earlier plan aimed at demolishing the AES power plant on Newland Street, but the plant had its life extended after the 2001 energy shortage. Other plans include a cleanup of the former Ascon landfill, a state Superfund Site, but a lack of available state and federal funds and difficulty in negotiations has slowed the effort. Other efforts supported include support of the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center and negotiations to demolish, but a lack of money for the redevelopment agency means most of its plans are merely to “assist” cleanup efforts rather than fund them.

Appointments

The Council voted 6-1 to pass its annual assignments of council liaison to various regional bodies like the Orange County Vector Control District, and the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.

The normally routine vote hit a point of contention when Councilwoman Cathy Green, the sole dissenting vote, protested Mayor Debbie Cook had replaced her on the Orange County Sanitation District with Councilman Don Hansen, who lobbied for the position last year as well. But her motion to change the assignment failed, 2-5, with Councilman Joe Carchio also voting yes.

  WHAT IT MEANS

Council members said it was traditionally the mayor’s prerogative to choose such appointments. Green said she had gained important committee positions for the city in the sanitation district, including a spot in the committee that deals with the Groundwater Replenishment System. But Hansen said he had been assured the city would keep its committee positions no matter who filled them.