The Imperial Beach City Council will meet Wednesday at 6 p.m.
A meeting was held last week, and meetings are typically held every two weeks, but a Dec. 19 meeting was rescheduled for Dec. 12.
If a 2013 meeting schedule is approved Wednesday, Council will not meet again until Jan. 23.
A closed-door meeting to discuss possible legal action against the city will be discussed at 5 p.m. prior to the start of the public meeting.
Council will vote whether to approve a street pavement preservation plan. The ordinance seeks to prolong the life of streets and asks public utilities that cut into the street to adequately repair roads after work is done.
This is agenda item 4.2.
Council will consider a contract for the Eco Bikeway on 7th Street and from 3rd to 7th streets. This matter was on last week's agenda but was rescheduled to be decided Dec. 12.
This is agenda item 6.1.
The city will hear plans for the construction of 216 three-story town homes at what is now Bernardo Shores RV Park. Click here to read more.
This is agenda item 6.2.
The city will consider whether to invest $30,000 in the July 4th Big Bay Boom fireworks show. The show became famous this year when the entire stockpile of fireworks that was supposed to go off in 15 minutes went off in 28 seconds.
A study released at the end of November found that the Big Bay Boom brings $10.6 million to the region and hundreds of thousands of dollars in free marketing. The city is reluctant to invest in the show since IB will likely be in poor financial condition for the next couple years.
No signs have been found in sales tax data or talks with the IB Chamber of Commerce that show an economic benefit that is worth $30,000, said City Manager Gary Brown in a staff report.
Since the elimination of the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition, July 4 has become the single largest day of beach attendance for the year in Imperial Beach. Fireworks were cut from the 2012-13 budget in June.
Click here to read more or see the results of an IB Patch poll asking readers if IB should keep fireworks.
This is agenda item 6.4.
City Council will again discuss the possibility of pedestrian-scale lighting on Seacoast Drive. Councilman Ed Spriggs and the Seacoasters, a group of waterfront residents and business owners, have advocated for pedestrian-scale lighting since a study was compiled by city staff in March.
Councilman Spriggs asked that the topic be addressed again at last week's meeting. Spriggs has maintained that pedestrian-scale lighting is necessary to provide the kind of environment that will attract new business and visitors and motivate guests at the new Pier South to leave their rooms. New Councilman Bobby Patton also expressed an interest in pedestrian-scale lighting during his recent campaign for office.
Pacifica Companies, owner of the new hotel, also supports the idea.
A source of funding for the lighting is uncertain, a staff report said.
This is agenda item 6.9.
The Imperial Beach Redevelopment Agency Successor Agency, also known as City Council, will receive a due diligence review that is a requirement of state law as part of the process to dissolve redevelopment agencies.
The review goes over the assets of the now defunct Imperial Beach Redevelopment Agency.
This is agenda item 7.1.
The city will seek to revise municipal code related to the use of signs in Imperial Beach with agenda item 6.3.
Under proposed changes to the city's sign laws, sign spinning on city property or within public right of way will be illegal. Billboards will also be illegal "to the fullest extent legally possible."
To avoid trucks and other vehicles parked for prolonged periods of time beyond 72 hours, city staff is asking City Council to pass a resolution and allow the installation of "No Parking" signs on the east side of 13th Street between Calla and Cypress avenues.
The is agenda item 6.5.
City Council will discuss a federal plan to protect natural resources at military installations called an Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan (INRMP). The plan is meant to guide commanding officers in stewardship activities and to incorporate efforts practiced by other governing entities in the area.
The document has already been approved by California Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a staff report said.
Comments will be limited to Naval Base Coronado installations in or near Imperial Beach: Silver Strand Training Complex-South and Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach.
The INRMP suggests revegetation projects to benefit the endangered Western Snowy Plover to protect again erosion and sea level rise. City staff recommend that the Navy join future sand replenishment to protect IB's beach economy and the bird.
Staff also recommend that the Navy take into account sea level rise studies being done by the Port of San Diego and NOAA as "areas owned by the Navy are subject to inundation in the future" to go along with their own studies.
The Navy could get involved with invasive plant species eradication efforts, the staff report said.
This is agenda item 6.6.
Annual assignments to boards, committees and other governing bodies will be made.
This is agenda item 6.7.
The 2013 Imperial Beach City Council meeting calendar will be reviewed and approved.
This is agenda item 6.8.
Imperial Beach's representative on the Board of Port Commissioners Dan Malcolm will give an update on Unified Port of San Diego activities.
This is agenda item 1.2.
The warrant registrar states that the city spent $1.7 million from Nov. 22 to Nov. 30, more than $900,000 of which goes to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department for August and September law enforcement services.
Hmmmmmm --- isn't this in the City of San Diego ???
SNAFU or FUBAR --- your call ...
gary brown and the chamber of commerce are both worthless institutions that take the tax payer dollar but never produce a viable result
'ADJOURNED CLOSED SESSION MEETING - 5:00 PM' 'ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING - 6:00PM' seems like the city is trying to cover their tracks from the last meeting when they held talks with the ymca after the regular meeting..
the original discussion was for mcgrane to come back only as temporary contract position for $30,000 maximum ...and the reason they needed to bring him on temporarily was because he was still on the payroll...to quote mr. lizard: 'he's already use part of the money'.. now they want to give him the same powers over the money as the treasure, but not have the same responsibility.... mcgrane resigned on july 5th because he could not close his books on june 30th....he's the one responsible for setting up the ghost and dump accounts .... up until 11/21/12 the check warrants sheet the title for the person verifying the checks was: 'finance director/city treasure'... as of 12/05/12 the check warrants state: 'administrative services director/city treasure'.... ordinance 20120-1133 eliminates the treasure position....the city is trying to bring back mcgrane and give him control over the money and signing of the checks... fiscal impact is listed as 'none'........mcgrane is obviously going on a massive salary, not '$30,000 that's already been used'...
i would say that 'did not have a positive economic impact' on a beachfront town on the 4th of july is impossible... has any member of the chamber of commerce spoken to their board about this statement?
the background of the ordinance states: 'the city attorney and the community development department were asked to review and update the code..' asked by who? was there a citizen outcry? there's no reason to make the area no parking... this constant waste of tax payer dollars and harassment of the citizenry is out of control...
...then it goes on to talk about 24' poles and even states: 4' taller than the recommended seacoast design standards.... ...and the number of streetlights increased from 22 to 34... i guess the theory was that if they added more lights it would make up for being 12' to high...but no, it only makes us very visible from space, but it still leaves the ground in the dark.... instead of solving the problem of pedestrian lighting down seacoast the city blew over $2 million ..... and now they don't want to talk about it... the people have already paid for the product and service...now the city officials and council can get together with the construction companies that ripped us off and decide who's going to pay to make the people whole... and as far as i'm concerned it can come right out of the pockets of every council member that approved the 24' poles in the 1st place...
the city has placed the value of the 9th/palm lot at $11 million... it wasn't worth $11 million when it had a strip mall on it...it's just a hole in the ground now... just because it's cost the city $11 million doesn't mean it's worth $11 million... the seacoast inn land is valued at $5.7 mil .....i'd say the beachfront property is worth more than 9th/palm ...
I think it is critical to at least acknowledge when the City of IB is trying to be fiscally conservative and prudent. You can't blast them for wasting funds and then turn around and blast them for not wasting funds on fireworks. It is hard to argue that funding fireworks is an essential government function. This is a perfect opportunity for the community and the private sector to pay for the costs of fireworks. $10,000 spend on fireworks for one evening could fund Junior Lifeguards for the summer and make sure that low-income kids have access to the program. If we are to view the fireworks as an economic "stimulus" for local business, there might be more effective ways to promote local business development for the long-term rather than just one evening.
holidays like the 4th are an excellent time for us to have city-wide event so that there are many revenue streams flowing... i was thinking maybe a 'vets olympics' would be a cool 4th of july event that could be hosted in various parts of the city to spread around the money....it would bring people in for the entire day .... also something like a chili cookoff....or ice cream making contest would bring people in with the 'we're going to eat there' mindset... the trick to making money locally is to use local resources so the money stays in the community ..
On another note, does City Council have a way to solicit input from citizens--like maybe an email signup with the agenda and instructions on how to speak or whom to write/contact on various subjects? Thank heavens The Patch sends out info, otherwise I'd have no clue what's going on there.
There is an email list who get the agenda ahead of times. Contact Ed Vea in the Office of the City Manager and City Council to be added. If you want to speak at a meeting, there are blue forms that you can fill out the day of. I usually have one "just in case". Second. Yes, Palm will be reduced to one lane. That is going to make Sun and Sea/Sandcastles/Fourth of July/ANY major holiday a traffic nightmare. Third, Khari does an amazing job here on the Patch. I hope this helps.
Re. Palm--I'm so sorry I didn't provide input since I think that's a terrible idea. I am all for biking, but reducing the flow of traffic into the beach ...?? Aren't we supposed to be encouraging people to come to town? Ugh. It's already busy on weekday mornings and afternoons!