INSIDE CITY HALL Here are some...

INSIDE CITY HALL

Here are some of the decisions coming out of the Newport Beach

City Council meeting on Tuesday.

BIG CANYON RESTORATION PROJECT

Wildlife habitat and water quality could benefit from a council

decision to grant a $110,000 contract to an environmental firm to

study and plan restoration at Big Canyon Creek. Funded by a state

grant for environmental restoration, the project will look at ways to

restore the homes of wildlife damaged by human encroachment while at

the same time providing non-intrusive access to people who enjoy the

creek area and Big Canyon Nature Park.

WHAT THEY SAID:

“My concern is that this is just one of many waterways that

Newport Beach has going to the ocean and the Back Bay. ... I’m

concerned that we’re setting a precedent here with such an extensive

survey.”

-- Councilman Dick Nichols

MARINERS LIBRARY

Council members agreed to grant a $472,867 contract to Thirtieth

Street Architects Inc. to begin planning the joint-use Mariners

Library project. The library, once built, will serve as the city’s

Mariners Branch Library and also as the school library of Mariners

Elementary School. One of the most important tasks for the new

architect is to design the library in a way that protects school

children from contact with the general public. Preliminary designs

for the library already include ways to keep the two groups separate,

but the architects must create the final detailed plans.

UTILITIES UNDERGROUNDING

Yet another area of the city may see its unsightly telephone poles

removed from views. The council on Tuesday voted to set aside

$100,000 to begin the process of moving underground utilities lines

in the peninsula alley bordered by McFadden Place, Balboa Boulevard,

14th Street and Ocean Front West. A contract of $55,000 with Harris

and Associates was also approved for the company to begin the

process. Residents in the area will pay for the work, the cost of

which is not yet estimated, through an assessment district that

Harris and Associates will help coordinate.

-- Compiled by June Casagrande