Newport Beach plans improvements
Council gives initial OK for $67 million for recreation and facilities projects.
A $67-million capital-improvement budget that includes long- and short-term construction projects for streets, buildings, parks and beaches has received preliminary approval from the Newport Beach City Council.
Highlights of the plan for the coming fiscal year include:
$10.9 million for facilities projects, including repairs and reconstruction of three fire stations and conceptual designs for the West Newport Community Center.
$9.1 million for parks, the harbor and beaches, including the eventual replacement of the aging Balboa Island sea walls.
About $8.16 million for water main and sewer repairs throughout the city, and about $5.4 million for water-quality projects such as the dredging of the Semeniuk slough.
About $3.1 million for traffic-signal synchronization and other transportation-related projects.
Being on the list for 201516 doesn’t necessarily mean a project will be completed during the fiscal year.
Listed projects are funded from ongoing revenue such as dock fees, the state gasoline tax, utility enterprise fees and city general funds, according to a staff report.
The spending plan for capital improvements edged up from the original $66.6 million after Councilman Scott Peotter suggested that improvements to the Corona del Mar entryway be included.
The staff had proposed delaying the $410,000 project and a handful of others for a year.
The entryway project would relocate eight parking spots along East Coast Highway near MacArthur Boulevard and expand sidewalks and landscaping. The plan is to make Carnation Avenue a one-way street between 4th Avenue and East Coast Highway.
Peotter said that because the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District has already paid about 10% of the project’s total cost, it should be greenlighted this year. “I have a problem with that being left out,” he said.
City Manager Dave Kiff vowed to search for available resources to add the project to the budget for 2015-16, which begins July 1.
The council is expected to give final approval to the entire city budget, which includes the capital improvement plan, by June.
The planned sale of the city-owned Balboa Performing Arts Theater would eventually add to city coffers.