LAGUNA BEACH CITY COUNCIL WRAP-UP

The following is from the Laguna Beach City Council meeting of Aug. 4. All council members were present.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Editor’s note: Members of the public generally are allowed three minutes apiece to comment on issues not on the meeting agenda. The time may be shortened or lengthened at the discretion of the council.

 Ganka Brown said if the dead trees in Laguna Canyon had been removed when they died, the power outage and traffic problems over Labor Day weekend could have been prevented.

“I was here three weeks ago to talk about the dead vegetation along Laguna Canyon Road,” Brown said. “I hope it wasn’t a premonition.”

Iseman said the city was aware of the dead vegetation, but it is on county land, not the city’s.

CONSENT CALENDAR

Editor’s note: Consent calendar items are approved in one motion unless a member of the council, staff or public “pull” the item, which then requires opening it for public comment and a separate vote.

Approved without comment:

 General warrants totaling $4.149,736.21, issued Aug. 1 to 24 and payrolls of $756,084.16 and $762,077.74.

 City Treasurer’s report for July showed a portfolio of cash and investments with a cost/book value of $57,727,056.14, down from the $59,043,678.63 at the beginning of the month.

 Resolution extending the Bluebird Canyon Emergency Declaration, which is valid for only 21 days and must be renewed.

 Resolution entitling city employees to purchase California Public Employee Retirement System service credit that enables the employees to pay for them over time with tax-exempt compensation.

Service credits are an elective benefit, wholly paid for by the employee, with no city contributions associated with the purchase, nor with the tax deferral benefit.

 A $25,040 contract with Bureau Veritas North America Inc. for a Comprehensive Infrastructure Asset Record to meet the requirements of Government Accounting Standard Board.

Assets include roads, drainage, water, sewers and lighting systems. The information will be incorporated in the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.

 More contract bills for the Community/Senior Center construction: $586,165 for structural steel, $169,680 for finish carpentry, $114,995 for flooring, $82,110 for food service equipment, $72,341 for tile, $68,539 for steel deck, $68,157 for the elevator and $26,399 for acoustical ceilings.

 A $31,600 purchase of seven AutoCite parking citation writing devices from Duncan Technologies, funded in the Police Department June 2007 budget.

 Purchase of a Toyota Prius hybrid sedan from Powers Toyota for $27,000, the same price paid by the city earlier this year for two of the hybrids.

Bids were submitted by three Toyota dealers at that price and in January Powers, in Irvine, was selected because it is the closest for warranty work.

 Authorization to buy a Caterpillar backhoe from Quinn Co. of Irvine for $93,518 and sell a surplus Case backhoe to the company for $10,000.

Pulled for discussion:

 Minutes of the 4 p.m., adjourned regular meeting of Aug. 7 and the 6 p.m., adjourned ad regular meeting were approved except for Item 26, which will be agendized for clarification at Tuesday’s meeting.

The minutes were pulled from the consent calendar by Sid Danenauer, but morphed into a discussion that was beyond the scope defined by City Attorney Philip Kohn as permissible for an unnoticed item.

Dannenauer objected, but Kohn prevailed.

Approved 3-2, Schneider and Boyd opposed

 Resolution approving changes to the Joint Powers Agreement for the California Insurance Pool Authority and authorization for the city manager to sign any JPA documents on behalf of the city, pulled by Egly for a brief presentation. Approved 5-0

 Proposal to change the name of Gainsborough Way to Pacific Vista and a renumbering scheme. The council agreed to hear the proposal at the Oct. 2 council meeting. Approved 4-1, Egly opposed

RESIDENTS VOTE TO UNDERGROUND 4-0, KINSMAN RECUSED

The council voted to reduce the view benefit factor for three parcels in the proposed district encompassing the Harold/Poplar/Lookout/ Linden/High/Olive area and to increase the factor to one of the five city-owned parcels, to accept any final ballots, close the public hearing and table the item for 30 minutes to allow staff to count the ballots, under observation.

Following the announcement of the vote, which favored the district, the council voted to confirm the assessments, ordered the improvements, designated the city treasurer to collect the assessments, and awarded the $565,829 construction contract to W. A. Rasic Construction, subject to bond receipts; and appropriated $28,367.10 from the city’s Street Lighting Fund to pay for the city’s assessed parcels.

Kinsman recused herself because one of the property owners is a client of her accounting firm.

DUMOND PROJECT DUMPS VARIANCE 5-0

The council approved a proposal to modify the design of a home already under construction at 175 Dumond Drive that removed the need for a variance and allowed construction to continue on the portion of the project that is not affected by the variance. Faced with a council majority which wanted the variance removed, the applicant’s attorney, Gene Gratz, opted to dump the variance and bring the project back to the council at the Oct. 2 council meeting.

THIRD STREET PROJECT 4-0, KINSMAN RECUSED

The council granted an in-lieu parking certificate, conditional use permit, coastal development permit and Planning Commission approved design for a new office building at 349 3rd St.

Kinsman recused herself because she is in the noticing area for the project and is banned by state law from participating in the discussion or vote on the project.