OUR LAGUNA: What’s in store for Laguna Beach in ’08

Last year ended on a high note in Laguna Beach with the restoration of Bluebird Canyon completed and the legal vindication of the city’s Day Labor Site. But each New Year brings new challenges.

Among the council’s goals set for 2007 at the January retreat and met: Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman’s suggestion to hire a receptionist at City Hall to relieve the stress on front counter employees and answer questions that don’t need a planner, and Councilman Kelly Boyd’s determination to deal with homeless issues that resulted in a task force. The opening of the renovated ACT V parking lot and increased use of the free shuttles helped achieve then-Mayor Toni Iseman’s top priority of parking fixes. The increase in parking lot meter fees from $1.50 to $2 an hour proposed at the retreat went into effect June 1, expected to add $200,000 a year to the city coffers.

Here’s a preview of some of the stories the Coastline Pilot will be following in 2008, whether or not the council addresses them at the 2008 retreat, calendared for Jan. 19.

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ELECTION YEAR

Mayor Jane Egly, Mayor Pro Tem Kinsman, City Clerk Martha Anderson and City Treasurer Laura Parisi are up for re-election. Since the rather contentious council election in 2004, Egly and Kinsman have forged as working relationship unimagined by anyone, least of all them, similar to the bonding of Iseman and Councilwoman Elizabeth Schneider that led to the brilliant compromise on the Village Entrance/maintenance yard compromise. Anderson and Parisi ran unopposed in 2004.

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FEMA

Reimbursement by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the restoration of Bluebird Canyon and city facilities is anxiously awaited.

“My take is that it will be completely wrapped up by mid-February,” said Community Recovery Coordinator Bob Burnham, who last talked to FEMA officials before Christmas.

“That is a reasonable [amount] time for them to review all the documents and I think they are all convinced that we did the job in the most cost effective way possible.”

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MEASURE A

Laguna Beach voters approved a temporary one-half cent sales tax increase Dec. 13, 2005, to help pay for the restoration of the hillside in Bluebird Canyon that tumbled down June 1 of that year, the city’s infrastructure that went with it and to establish a disaster fund for the future.

The tax is due to sunset in 2011. Schneider hopes the term can be shortened.

“I’d like to close out Measure A and use income to pay off our debt, rather than taxes that negatively affect our retailers and artists.”

Tax Oversight Committee member and former Mayor Neil Fitzpatrick doesn’t see that happening this year.

“The committee will meet this first quarter after most of the expenses are in and we will probably know by then what FEMA is going to do “” the final figure,” Fitzpatrick said.

“Then we will make a recommendation to the council in regard to the fund.”

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ON TAP

South Coast Water District completed emergency repairs at 1000 Steps Beach of the tunnel that houses a pipeline through the bluffs from Three Arch Bay to Aliso Creek in 2007.

“The rehabilitation of the rest of the tunnel will be our No. 1 capital improvement project over the next couple of years,” district spokeswoman Linda Homscheid said. “This year, we will focus on design and getting the required permits.

Water will be a major issue throughout the drought-stricken western United States this coming year and for years to come. Laguna is particularly vulnerable because all of its water is imported.

South Coast Water District will be expanding its ground water recovery system. Translation: Find another well.

“We also will be reviewing and updating our water conservation contingency plan and our board will be holding a public workshop sometime in the first quarter of the year,” Homscheid said. “The date will be posted.”

The district is working with other agencies to pursue the possible construction of a de-salinization facility in South County. Five acres of South Coast’s property has been set aide for the project.

Laguna Beach County Water District is an eager participant.

“With no other source of water for Laguna except the Delta and the Colorado River, desalination is making more sense than ever,” district General Manager Renae Hinchey said.

And it is not just because of the drought.

“Even if we see rains of biblical proportions in 2008, Lagunans still need to conserve water,” Hinchey said. “The regulatory drought caused by the recent court decision that reduced supplies from the Bay Delta will leave us with 30% less water supply in 2008.”

District officials last year asked their customers to reduce water usage by 20 gallons a day per person. It’s too soon to talk about mandatory rationing, Hinchey said.

But it is something to keep an eye on.

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SUPER PROJECT

Locals have been trying to clean up Aliso Creek and the beach it pollutes almost as long as they have been trying to pretty up the Village Entrance, with about the same result. However, congressional approval last year of the $23 billion Water Resources Development Act included authorization for a $4.5 million down payment of the proposed Stabilization, Utility Protection and Environmental Restoration creek project. Appropriations are due this year.

“Once you get the money approved and your bank set up, you get funds every year “” you just don’t know ahead how much,” said Marilyn Thoms, Orange County manager of environmental engineering. “I am in this for the long haul and I am going to get it done.”

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OCEAN POLLUTION

Expect to see more recommendations from active individuals and Marine Protection Officer Allison Calla, who last year authored local ordinances and partnered with administrators of the Marine Life Protection Initiative.

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MORE WATER

A new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System is on the way for Orange County. It could have a significant financial impact on the city. Councilwoman Schneider, who sits on the board, said she will recuse herself from the vote.

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PROPERTY TAXES

Assessments were set last August. The downturn in real estate values, if any, will not impact the city until the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Budget hearings should be fun.

The effect of the property transfer tax will affect the city this fiscal year, which the council will hear about in the mid-year budget update at the end of January.

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DEVELOPMENT

A showcase Village Entrance, about 30 years in the making, could find its way from the drawing board this year. Could any single plan please everybody? Don’t hold your breath.

And the Aliso Creek redevelopment will be unlikely to suit everyone, what with some groups already on the record opposing residential development, a key component of the Athens Group plan.

Other major projects include the completion of the Heisler Park improvements, due by the end of June, according to Assistant City Manager John Pietig. He said the old employees parking lot on Laguna Canyon Road will be open to the public, “hopefully” by early March.

“I also am hoping to have a clear direction on South Coast Medical Center, and the Lifeguard Headquarters and restrooms at Main Beach,” said Pietig, who has served as staff point man on all three projects.

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PLANNING ISSUES

Completion of the Land Use Element will supply context for re-examination and possible update of the city’s General Plan. A review of the Downtown Specific Plan is being quietly debated.

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HOMELESS

Report from Task Force due this year.

Have we missed your special interest? Let us know what it is.

OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, 92652; hand-deliver to Suite 22 in the Lumberyard, 384 Forest Ave.; call (949) 494-4321 or fax (949) 494-8979.