RETIREMENT FUNDING 7-0 The City Council voted...

RETIREMENT FUNDING 7-0

The City Council voted to pay its entire Public Employees

Retirement System contribution in a single lump sum to save money.

The state is offering a 3.66% discount to local agencies that make

their entire retirement savings for 2005-06 by July 15.

The city is expected to save about $265,695 in the deal.

Retirement contributions are usually made in 26 biweekly payments.

WHAT IT MEANS

The council will allocate nearly $12 million this year for

retirement payments to fund the city pension plan. This year, the

city will spend about $9.2 million on retirement for public safety

officials including police and fire and an additional $2.8 million on

retired city staff.

GARFIELD AND BANNING BRIDGES 6-1

The council voted to approve a compromise deal with the Orange

County Transportation Authority that could result in the removal of

two controversial bridge projects from future road planning.

Councilwoman Debbie Cook voted against the deal.

For more than a decade, city officials have expressed formal

opposition to a plan to build bridges over the Santa Ana River at

Garfield and Gisler avenues and Banning Avenue and 19th Street. In

2002, the transportation authority launched an environmental study

looking at the possibility of removing both bridges from the area’s

transportation master plan, but that study was never certified

because of opposition from Fountain Valley and Newport Beach.

WHAT IT MEANS

Fountain Valley officials have obtained funding to pay for another

study of the bridge. In a compromise, Huntington Beach officials have

agreed to support the new study, as long as the old study calling for

the removal of the two bridges gets a fair hearing before the

transportation authority’s board of directors. City officials hope

this compromise action will lead to the deletion of the two bridges

from the transportation master plan.

CALIFORNIA ELECTRICAL CODE 7-0

The City Council agreed to formally begin adopting the new

electrical code imposed by the state.

WHAT IT MEANS

The council will hold a public hearing on July 18 to consider the

new electrical code. If given final approval, the California

electrical code will be the new standard for building.