In a changing of the guard ritual, which has been followed since Malibu became a city, Joan House became the new mayor of Malibu and Councilmember Jeff Jennings the mayor pro tem at Monday night’s City Council meeting.
Also, in what has been another ritual to attempt to preserve the civility of the council, outgoing mayor Tom Hasse read his remarks covering the events and accomplishments of his year as mayor, and the incoming mayor spoke of her plans as mayor.
Several other members of the community came to praise Hasse, but a jarring element to the evening’s event were comments made by Bob Purvey of the Surfrider Foundation attacking newly-installed House. House did not appear perturbed by Purvey’s comments. In other action:
- The council announced, that in a closed session immediately preceeding Monday’s meeting, it discussed two litigation matters between the Kissel Co. and the City of Malibu. A settlement agreement has been reached and is on the agenda for Wednesday’s quarterly council meeting.
- The hiring of environmental consulting team Envicom Corp., to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) for the Malibu Bay Co.’s development agreement, was approved in a 5-0 vote by the council.
According to the city’s staff report, Envicom’s proposal “demonstrated a thorough understanding of the project and accurately identified possible areas of environmental concern.”
Dermot Stoker, parks and recreation commission chair, said about Envicom: “They’re the most expensive. I think they’re the Michael Jordan of companies that are going to be able to handle this for the City of Malibu.” The company is chosen by the city, but Malibu Bay Co will pay the cost.
- Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Jennings said he would like the city to avoid two key development problems when considering the development agreement — the concentration of square footage instead of what the square footage provides, and the cumulative impacts of commercial space in the proposed Civic Center project.
- After some recent problems with a traffic jam related to filming near Geoffrey’s restaurant on PCH, the City Council reiterated its position that it wants lane closures on PCH limited in summer from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays and from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weekends and holidays. Caltrans, which controls PCH, has been considering expanding allowable filming hours, had indicated earlier it would go along with the city’s desire.
- In another vote, the council approved, 4-0, with Councilmember Tom Hasse absent, a landscape and irrigation plan for the Malibu Canyon Road Landscaping Triangle. Councilmember Jeff Jennings requested that no invasive species or exotic plants be used for the project.
- And, a $132,768 two-year contract was awarded to Malibu Shuttle Service to provide shuttle service from Westward Beach to the Headlands Natural Preserve on Cliffside Drive. The service will launch on May 24.