Irvine : City Wants to Appeal Denial of Road Funds

The City Council has directed the city attorney to begin exploring an appeal of the county’s recent decision to deny Irvine its $4-million share of county highway funds. The council also directed the city manager to set up a meeting between county and city officials to discuss the matter.

The County Board of Supervisors last week voted to deny Irvine its share of state gas tax money because county officials say the city’s road improvement plans are not compatible with the county’s master plan for roads. Laguna Beach is the only other Orange County city to have been denied gas tax money by the supervisors.

Mayor Larry Agran defended the city’s improvement plans Tuesday night and said the county decision was unfair. “I don’t intend to beg Supervisor (Thomas F.) Riley in this matter,” Agran said. “The county made a mistake. I’ll help them rectify it. . . . I don’t intend to sit there and listen to the county berate us.”

Agran added that he would like to meet with County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish, who criticized the mayor personally in the dispute. City Manager William Woollett Jr. offered to meet Parrish in Irvine, where the county official lives, and jokingly added, “We have already cut his water off.”