NEWPORT BEACH

As part of its effort to ensure a commercial airport is built at the former El Toro Marine base, the City Council on Monday approved a $150,000 grant to the Orange County Regional Airport Authority. In a letter to City Manager Homer Bludau, the airport authority’s executive director, Peggy Ducey, said the organization needed the money to continue its work with a membership that has doubled to 15 cities in the last six months. Within the next year, the county is expected to submit an environmental impact report and the airport master plan to the federal government for approval. Bludau said that as the airport authority’s membership has grown, “it’s ability to influence the El Toro process has grown.” Newport Beach has contributed more than $600,000 to pro-El Toro groups, including the Orange County Airport Alliance, the Airport Working Group and Citizens for Jobs and the Economy.