News: Councilwoman Nancy Gardner

city council district 6 v corona del mar & newport coast

Nancy Gardner

councilwoman v newport beach, california

JANUARY UPDATE

PREDICTIONS
I made three predictions at the beginning of last year–that there would be a site selected for city hall, a group home ordinance passed, and a decision made about Banning Ranch. Two out of three’s not bad.

As for Banning Ranch . . . A “consultive pricing study” is now complete, sort of an appraisal-lite which looked at properties with features similar to Banning Ranch and used these to establish a low and a high-end value for the land. The results will be presented to the Council at the study session on January 27th. At the same time, the City’s consultant will present information on the potential availability of financing for the property. Hopefully, this will give us a better idea of the feasibility of Option 1 in the General Plan, the purchase of the property for open space.

SHORE BOAT
I always thought a shore boat was a wave you caught when you were cold and ready to get out of the water. Here in Newport we have our own definition: a vessel that washes up on the sand at Big Corona. Fortunately, help is on its way. Boating and Waterways has given an unofficial okay to the City’s proposed ordinance for the area off Big Corona. This would set a mooring limit of three days in a month and require someone on board from dusk to dawn and during weather conditions. This latter requirement will allow the Harbor Patrol to tow unattended boats to safe harbor so that they won’t end up on the beach. If the Council approves the ordinance, it will go to Boating and Waterways for formal approval.

FED FUNDS
Like probably every other city in this country, we are lining up our infrastructure projects, getting them as ready as we can to compete for the expected dollars. Completion of the Back Bay dredging project is high on the list.

PLANNING SESSION
At the beginning of each year, the Council sets priorities for the coming year. This year’s session is scheduled for Saturday, January 10, 8:00 am, at the Friends Room of the Central Library. The public is welcome, and there will be public comment. For those of you who have more pressing things to do on a Saturday than listen to us for six or seven hours (filing your nails, flossing), feel free to send me your thoughts. Certainly one of the topics will be the economy and contingency plans for the City’s budget.

Last year’s priorities, in addition to city hall, group homes and Banning Ranch:

Update the facilities financing plan and implement the planning, financing and construction of the identified projects (ongoing)
Prepare and implement a water quality master plan (ready to present to Council)
Institute benchmarks to measure department effectiveness (ready to present to Council)
Implement an effective traffic management plan (underway)
Minimize the impacts of John Wayne Airport (MOU with Costa Mesa, other ongoing efforts)
Align the City’s codes with the General Plan (underway)
Provide more public parks and recreation facilities (concept plans for Sunset Ridge and Marina Park approved, Coastal Peak Park nearing completion)
Implement an effective communication plan to provide info to residents (new public information officer, more frequent City Manager newsletters, City web site being redesigned)
Update city fees to ensure most fee services pay for themselves (completed except for harbor fees which will be addressed shortly)

=> Return to Newsletters

FUTURE TOPIC SUGGESTIONS

This is a two-way process, so please don’t hesitate to contact me with your ideas and opinions.

Councilwoman Nancy Gardner

QUALITY OF LIFE Advocate FOR NEWPORT BEACH

City of Newport Beach - 3300 Newport Blvd - Newport Beach, CA 92663

Phone: 949.644.3004 - EMAIL: gardnerncy@aol.com