City Council Preview for Feb 3

Here’s what’s coming up at the Council meeting this Tuesday

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS

The City’s attorney seems to be saying that building prohibitions of contractors giving money to City Council members (an all too common practice) is better handled by developing a separate ordinance, rather than putting the prohibitions into the contracts. Let’s see what the Council decides.

PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSIONERS

The City has 3 open spots on the PRC. Two incumbents (Jim Rosenberg, Loretta Herrin) have applied as well as five residents (Francisco Barajas, Gracie Duran, Bob Ferguson, Trudi Meyers, and Ray Silva).

While the PRC has achieved much, there is still a lot more work to do. Future projects may include –

• · Dog park (s)
• · Community garden (s)
• · City swimming pool
• · Ice skating rink
• · Pickleball courts

In addition there are several parcels of land that might be used for recreational purposes –

• · Whispering Hills
• · Normandale
• · 5 acre parcel on El Toro near RR tracks.
• · 2+ acres adjacent to the 5 Freeway

In addition, there is the new Portola Park that is being developed. As well the new PRC will be busy helping design the new programs associated with the Senior Center.

PARK MAINTENANCE AND JANITORIAL SERVICES

The City has 12 park bathrooms that need to be cleaned and re-stocked 365 days a year. Advertisements will start Feb 4, Bids are due by April 9, and the City plans to award the new contract by May 19.

The City has 20 “passive” parks which need landscaping, weeding, irrigation, etc. Advertisements will start Feb 6, Bids are due by March 16, and the City plans to award the new contract by June 2.

CITY DOCUMENT SERVICES

There are two bids for the City’s document imaging systems, which is an essential part of modern day functioning. Maris Imaging, the current contractor, is the highest scoring bidder and is also the lowest bidder in terms of price. The total for the 3 years is around $60,000.

WHAT’S NOT ON THE AGENDA

Two items are noticeably missing from the agenda – the proposed ordinance to prohibit feeding of wildlife and the initiation of an ad hoc Traffic Committee (as proposed by the Mayor). Hopefully we will see these at the next meeting.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 2 pm to 5 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting every moth. The next meeting will be Feb 14 from 2 to 4 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.