Last City Council Meeting of Year Is Quiet

The Laguna Niguel City Council ended 2011 on a quiet note Tuesday in its last meeting of the year.

Among the discussions, it announced that the city is inviting additional public input on the planned improvements for Crown Valley Community Park. The council received a report on the ongoing process of the park’s improvement planning at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. 

Among the improvements that are being suggested:

• Better car and pedestrian circulation with linkages to the park’s facilities.

• Improved signage with a singular theme.

• Improved lighting.

• Maximization of the open spaces between the recreational facilities in the park.

The city hopes to minimize both reconstruction and demolition during the process while making sure that the improvements are resource sustainable and “user-and-maintainance-friendly.”

Planners are not yet finished with taking input from the community for the plans, however. They are inviting the public to attend a special community workshop on Dec. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Crown Valley Park View Room.  All residents are invited to join.

In addition to the workshop, residents are invited to take part in an online survey that is being conducted to assess specific community needs.  The survey will be available until Dec. 16 at 5 p.m. Preliminary results for the survey will be shared at the Dec. 12 community workshop.

At the last regular meeting of 2011 the City Council also:

• Officially adopted the new Laguna Niguel .

• Awarded the contract for the Crown Valley Community Park soccer field synthetic grass replacement project to Hellas Construction. The new synthetic grass replacement will cost an estimated $360,000.

• Approved the freeway maintenance agreement for Crown Valley Parkway between the state of California and the city of Laguna Niguel.

• Made revisions to the policies and procedures for city community services and the Cultural Arts Grants Programs. These changes combined the funding for the two programs into one account. 

• Allocated the after school grant program funds.

• Approved the new compensation packages for the Orange County Employees Association for both the maintenance, clerical and technical unit and the middle management, professional and supervisory unit. 

City Manager Tim Casey also conducted a preliminary discussion of the rental policy for the new City Hall community room, but no decision has been made regarding final policy yet. 

The City Council meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at the  at City Hall, 30111 Crown Valley Pkwy.