City Council Meeting Wrap-Up

The following is from the Feb. 12 City Council meeting.

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PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS

The public is allowed to speak on any subject not on the agenda. Speakers generally are limited to three minutes, but the time can be adjusted by the council.

View Equity Committee member Chairman Larry Nokes reported the committee had held its first meeting, (the second took place Feb. 19) at the Third Street Community Center. He encouraged public participation.

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COUNCIL AND STAFF CHAT

Council members and staff report on events they have attended, people with whom they have met and other items of public interest.

•City Clerk Lisette Chel announced that interviews and appointments to the Environmental Sustainability Committee will be made at the March 5 council meeting. Applications for any committee appointments are available in the city clerk’s office or online at https://www.lagunabeachcity.net with specific deadlines set for submittals.

•Councilman Bob Whalen informed the council that he attended a Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau board meeting. Discussion items included the possible expansion of the trolley service and a plan to help finance the expansion. Whalen said the bureau also discussed a valet parking plan for the downtown area during the summer months.

He also toured the Festival of Arts grounds with board member Tom Lamb. Whalen is a member of the Irvine Bowl Policy Committee.

Whalen said he and City Manager John Pietig learned at a meeting at the Laguna Art Museum of plans for some minor interior improvements to the building that will be presented to the City Council in the next couple of months.

The councilman congratulated Museum Director Malcolm Warner for the music, lecture and film events held at the museum, and he encouraged the public to attend the museum’s upcoming Thursday events.

•Councilwoman Toni Iseman said the Laguna Canyon Foundation acquired an amazing property on Lavender Lane for $1.4 million.

Among her activities since the last meeting, Iseman said she attended the Patriots Day Parade Honorees Brunch Luncheon at Tivoli Terrace and was seated with the Citizens of the Year Arnold and Bonnie Hano; attended a luncheon with the new owner of The Orange County Register, who stated that the Register looks forward to 20 more years of print; and attended the Festival Coordinating Committee meeting, at which summer plans were discussed.

•Councilman Steven Dicterow announced several meetings with Mayor Kelly Boyd related to a skateboard park, and he looks forward to presenting ideas to the Recreation Committee and ultimately to the Council.

•Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Pearson said she and Boyd will be the city’s representatives on the Laguna Beach School District’s Use of Facilities Subcommittee that reviews joint uses of the Artists Theatre, the Community Swimming Pool, public tennis courts and the athletic field.

Pearson said progress has been made on the Village Entrance Project and urged the public to attend a meeting at 5 p.m. March 26.

Her activities since the Jan. 29 meeting included attending the Orange County Watershed Management Agency and the city Economic Development Subcommittee. Pearson said she and Iseman discussed with Assistant City Manager Christa Johnson and the city’s lobbyist funding for the projects they were working on, including the Village Entrance Project.

Pearson wished Boyd a Happy Birthday, two days hence, and led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday.”

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CONSENT CALENDAR

Consent calendar items are approved unanimously in one motion unless a member of the City Council, staff, or public “pulls” the item, which then requires opening it for public comment and a separate vote.

Pulled for discussion:

•Set March 19 as the date to interview and appoint five members to the Heritage Committee, four of them to serve terms ending March 31, 2015 and one to serve a one-year term ending March 31, 2014; approved 5-0.

March 12 is the deadline to submit applications to the city clerk’s office.

•Approval of spending federal and state asset forfeiture funds of $173,610 on equipment; approved 5-0.

•Establishment of new electric-car parking and charging fees and regulations; approved 5-0.

The electric-car parking/charging rate is half of the established parking fee during the festival season and zero outside of the festival season for the first four hours of parking. Between 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., a citation may be issued after the four-hour parking limit. Between the hours of 7 p.m. and 8 a.m., a $5-per-hour charge will accrue to a maximum of $25 per 24-hour period.

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REGULAR ORDER OF BUSINESS

Mozambique project delayed 3-0, Whalen recused

Pietig recommended the council move Item 15 ahead in the agenda order to consider continuing it. The continuation would allow time to restake the required elevator shaft in a different location, said Pietig, who commended Mozambique for working with the neighbors.

Whalen recused himself from the item because he had voted on it as planning commissioner.

Committee appointments, expansion approved 4-0

The council voted 4-0 to expand the Recreation Committee to seven members.

Allen E. Doby, Dawn Franz, James Howard, Katrina Puffer and Danielle Ward were appointed to the committee for terms through Feb. 28, 2015.

Holly Dennison, Lawrence D. Esten, Ernest Hackmon, Jennifer Welsh Zeiter and Darrylin Girvin were appointed to the Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee for terms through Feb. 28, 2015.

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CLOSED SESSION

Any action taken must be reported publicly. No action was reported.

•Labor negotiations conference with the Laguna Beach Police Employees and Laguna Beach Municipal Employees Assn., Laguna Beach Marine Safety Assn., Orange County Professional Fire Fighters Assn. and unrepresented management employees; city representatives are Pietig and Peter Brown of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore.

•Conference with legal counsel regarding three items of existing litigation: a workers’ compensation claim by Jeff Wood; Ghasemian vs. City of Laguna Beach (Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2011-00527865); Keegan vs. City of Laguna Beach (Orange County Superior Court Case No. 30-2011-00529369).

•Conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation related to a sewer spill at 741 Summit Drive.

•Conference related to permanent supportive housing project.

Dawn Price, executive director of the Friendship Shelter is the project representative. Pietig represents the city.

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NEXT MEETING

The next regularly scheduled meeting will be held at 6 p.m. March 5 in the City Council chambers, 505 Forest Ave.

Meeting agendas are available by 4 p.m. on the Thursday prior to the meeting in the city clerk’s office in City Hall, 505 Forest Ave. Agendas are also published on the city’s website https://www.lagunabeachcity.net.

Compiled by Barbara Diamond from information provided by the city clerk’s office.