Alex Coolman
NEWPORT BEACH -- Art, development and a little city improvement
will be discussed at tonight's City Council meeting.
The city will finalize its list of this year's art grant recipients,
which include organizations such as the Laguna Playhouse, Ballet
Pacifica, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum and the Newport Beach Film
Festival.
Also, the meeting will likely see some of the first steps taken to put
to work money the city received as compensation after the American Trader
oil spill of 1990.
Newport Beach received nearly $5 million in settlement money in April.
City officials have proposed preparing studies for the more than
$2-million renovation of Balboa and Newport piers, a project that will
probably be funded with the oil money.
"This is the next step of the process," said assistant city attorney
Robin Clauson. "We agreed to use the money for certain things, and one of
them was the rehabilitation of the piers."
The council will also consider plans to move utility lines underground
on Little Balboa Island. The proposal is not expected to be
controversial, and city development engineer Richard Hoffstadt said it
can make significant aesthetic improvements to the area.
A second, revised report on the Greenlight initiative will also be
accepted by the council. The report has been criticized by some
Greenlight proponents as failing to address statistical problems in its
analysis of the measure.
The council will meet at 7 p.m. at Newport Beach City Hall, 3300
Newport Blvd.
