By Breeana Greenberg, Special to the Independent
Laguna Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the 2021-22 budget totaling about $122 million. The city is heading into the 2021-22 fiscal year anticipating a recovering economy after seeing a decrease in revenue during the pandemic.
Among recent tweaks to the General Fund is an additional $600,000 for ambulance services reserved for a new ambulance service contract. While Council voted to extend the City’s current contract with Doctor’s Ambulance Service until July 1, 2022, Fire Chief Mike Garcia is looking for alternative plans, as Doctor’s will no longer be servicing Orange County.
$250,000 will go towards improving the Police Department restrooms and lighting in the City Council Chambers.
$200,000 will fund the Police Department Leadership Academy. This funding will also go towards developing and implementing professional development opportunities for Police Department staff as well as to acquire a consulting service to assist investigators.
The Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Committee recommended “a thorough structural evaluation of critical public safety infrastructure to determine seismic survivability and resilience related to current Code requirements”, according to the staff report. The budget allocates $100,000 to fund this study of fire stations, public works facilities, the sewer system, and city hall.
With COVID-19 restrictions being lifted by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the approved budget will increase spending on the Recreation Division’s contractual services by $150,000. This funding was cut in February due to the pandemic.
$100,000 will go towards assessing the feasibility and cost recovery of installing solar panels at all City facilities. This assessment would evaluate preliminary costs and potential energy savings as well as site constraints and infrastructure needs.
“The upfront problem is the cost, the upfront cost,” said Laguna Beach resident Hoiyin Ip. “But we all know, it’s cheaper in the long run. And most importantly, is local power resilience, I mean, nobody wants blackouts.”
The Council also voted unanimously to pass an amendment to the municipal code on business licenses. City law previously established a $5 processing fee and the amendment changes the law’s wording to allow the City Council to change the cost of the processing and license fees. The amendment will be up for a second reading at the June 29 city council meeting.
The City Council reallocated $2.5 million to the Wildfire Mitigation and Fire Safety Fund, reserving this money for Laguna Canyon Road utility undergrounding and other medium and long-term fire mitigation goals.
From the Parking Fund, $1 million will be transferred to the Capital Improvement Fund for property acquisition to replace Fire Station 4 at 31646 2nd Ave.
The budget also sets aside $100,000 for improvements to Riddle field. The Council voted to accept two $50,000 donations from the Offield Family Foundation which the city will match. The funds will go towards safety improvements and upgrades to the field.
The Park In Lieu Fund also has a reserve of $500,000 set aside for the South Laguna Community Garden set to expire on June 30, 2021. Council discussed extending the reserve.
“I’m tired of this coming up,” councilmember Peter Blake said, “It’s divisive as hell. It’s political as hell. And we’re just looking at, so we extend this thing for six months, we extend it for a year, six months or a year from now we’re going to get the same thing.”
Prior to the distribution of the agenda ahead of the meeting, the Council had received 21 emails in support of continued funding for the community Garden and one opposed. Many residents also spoke in support of the garden during the meeting.
Councilmembers noted that the location of the garden is less than desirable. Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf mentioned that the city could look to acquire property for the community garden at a better location or on property the city already owns.
The Council voted unanimously to reserve $500,000 for the community garden for six months. If a deal isn’t secured with the property owner by Jan. 15, 2022, the reserved funds could be released to other city programs.
Use that money to fix all of the broken beach access stairs. When will that huge safety problem be addressed??