City Council Meeting Wrap-Up

The following is from the Laguna Beach City Council meeting of June 15.

Volleyball team honored

The Laguna Beach High School boys’ volleyball team and coach were presented with a proclamation in honor of their triple championship season, with a 25-8 record.

The team was the CIF champion for the first time in 27 years, Orange County League champion, with an 8-0 record, and state champion.

Lance Stewart was the coach.

Mayor Elizabeth Pearson read the proclamation, citing the distinction, sportsmanship and class with which the team had represented Laguna.

Next season is looking good, with only four

seniors graduating this year.

HIV testing yields new cases

HIV Advisory Committee member and Laguna Beach Community Clinic supervisor of HIV testing Kim de St. Paer announced that the clinic provided free testing for 1,124 people and identified 17 new cases.

She said early intervention will enable them to

receive treatment and

help prevent new infections.

A letter from committee Chair Michelle Sherman was read into the record, thanking the council for funding related HIV services. Laguna Beach has had the unenviable record of the highest per capita incidence of AIDS in the country.

Hazardous waste contracts

The council unanimously approved an amendment to the contract with Curbside, Inc. in the amount of $35,000 and extending the contract for collection of household hazardous waste through fiscal year 2010-11.

The council also approved unanimously an amendment to the contract with Mercury Disposal Systems for an amount not to exceed $5,300 for collection and disposal of batteries and fluorescent lamps and tubes during fiscal year 2010-11.

Easements abandoned

Resolutions were adopted, 5 to 0, to abandon easements and rights-of-way no longer needed because the Bluebird Canyon landslide recovery project has been completed

WHAT IT MEANS

New easements have replaced the ones required during the rehabilitation of Flamingo Road and the sewer main. According to an agreement between the landslide victims and the city, the city must abandon easements that are no longer necessary.

Street resurfacing contract

The council voted unanimously to appropriate $320,000 from the Capital Improvement Fund for street projects in 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal years, subject to passage of the new budget, which occurred later in the agenda. The projects include slurry sealing

A $1.6 million contract was awarded to Pavement Coatings Co.

WHAT IT MEANS

Last year the city completed a 13-year project of resurfacing city streets.

The 10-year slurry seal project will keep them “nice,” said Public Works Director Steve May.

Coastal Plan amendments approved

The California Coastal Commission approved proposed amendments to the Local Coastal Plan, including clarification of how to measure building heights and a ban all subterranean garages within a blufftop set back.

City staff recommended approval and the council unanimously endorsed the two changes, passing the proposed ordinance amendments to a second reading, which is required before adoption.

WHAT IT MEANS

Subterranean garages in a bluff top setback are not ever going to happen, so that was not an issue, Community Development Director John Montgomery said. However, Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman said the new rule would significantly impact the Boom Boom Room project.

Montgomery explained that the rules in effect when the application was approved would still apply.

Parking credits for 2 projects

The council unanimously approved reductions in parking requirements for the renovated Heisler Building at 400 to 420 S. Coast Hwy. and for the renovated building at 1006 S. Coast Hwy.

Reductions were justified by the historical character of the buildings and the outdoor seating at 1006 S. Coast Hwy.

WHAT IT MEANS

Neither project will be required to provide the standard number of parking spaces, which is an incentive to restore or maintain local historical structures.