Corona del Mar Today: Town meeting aims to update community, answer questions
About 175 people attended the Corona del Mar annual town meeting on Wednesday at Sherman Library & Gardens, where residents and business owners mingled with City Council representatives, city staff and community leaders.
The event started with an hourlong community expo, where tables were manned by representatives ready to answer questions about everything from the drought and possible water restrictions to youth summer camp opportunities. Friends of OASIS were on hand, as well as lifeguards, police, fire, library and arts commission representatives.
The official program included five-minute opportunities for speakers to address the crowd. The Corona del Mar Residents Assn. and the Corona del Mar Business Improvement District co-host the event each year, and association President Karen Tringali and district Chairman Bernie Svalstad greeted the crowd.
Corona del Mar’s representative on the Newport Beach City Council, Scott Peotter, spoke about the big issues affecting the village — including beach fire rings, a contentious issue involving air-pollution complaints from neighbors that will go before the California Coastal Commission, probably in June — his plans to try to reduce the city’s business license tax, and the library and fire station construction project.
Planning Manager Patrick Alford spoke about the city’s efforts to create a local coastal plan. Public hearings will probably be held this summer, and the plan could be submitted to the Coastal Commission in the fall.
Mark Vukojevic, Newport Beach’s deputy public works director and city engineer, presented an update on the entryway project, which the City Council added to the proposed city budget for next fiscal year in a last-minute move suggested by Peotter.
If the project’s budget is approved, construction could begin in January, he said.
The plan would remove some parking spaces on East Coast Highway near MacArthur Boulevard to improve sidewalks and landscaping.
Jim Walker, owner of the Bungalow Restaurant, and fellow improvement district board member Scott Laidlaw told the audience about efforts to improve parking congestion in village “hot spots.” Newport Beach Public Works Director Dave Webb gave an update on a repaving project on MacArthur Boulevard between Ford Road and East Coast Highway.
City Manager Dave Kiff, former Corona del Mar City Council representative Nancy Gardner, Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce President Linda Leonhard, City Councilman Ed Selich and other local leaders also attended.
“I think it’s a great venue to get information to the public,” said City Councilman Tony Petros. “And more important, it’s a great way for me to get information from Corona del Mar residents. It’s a good way to interact.”
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Candidate Toerge may run again
Corona del Mar resident Mike Toerge, who lost a Newport Beach City Council bid in November, has filed papers with the city for another run in 2018.
The candidate-intention filing was stamped March 31, the date when Toerge filed notice with the city to create a committee called Mike Toerge for City Council 2018.
According to city records, Toerge’s 2014 campaign committee had a balance of $10,903 in January.
“I had excess campaign funds, so, I wanted to preserve my ability to utilize them in the future,” Toerge said.
Despite the filing, he said he wasn’t certain he actually would seek office again in four years. He won the most votes in Corona del Mar, but Peotter did better citywide.
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Highway-area construction to go on hiatus
A sewer line construction project that has snarled traffic on West Coast Highway for months will take a short break starting in May, a city councilman told members of the Corona del Mar Residents Assn. last week.
The project is replacing a 70‐year‐old sewer line from Dover Drive to the Santa Ana River in Newport Beach that takes wastewater to a treatment plant in Huntington Beach.
The project began in September, shutting down traffic lanes and removing on-street parking. In January, crews twice ruptured gas lines, creating even worse traffic problems, and in February crews accidentally damaged a power line, causing a traffic signal outage.
City Councilman Keith Curry said that work will stop May 22 and resume in September. The project is expected to be completed by April 2016.
Corona del Mar Today appears Sundays in the Daily Pilot. Read daily updates at coronadelmartoday.com.