Below is a summary of what’s on the City Council agenda for this coming Tuesday, October 13, 2026. In this agenda summary, I cover what I think are the more noteworthy items that will appear on the Council agenda. If you want to see the entire agenda, click here. My agenda summary doesn’t include all of the items up for consideration – just ones that I think should have additional community awareness. Please share this with others if you represent a neighborhood association (thanks!).
Our meetings generally start at 5:00 p.m. on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month at Laguna Beach City Hall, 505 Forest Avenue – the meeting is in the Council Chambers adjacent to Fire Station #1.
There is no study session this week, but there is an extended closed session.
This meeting, then, starts at 5:00 p.m.
I’ll highlight these items on the Consent Calendar:
- Dedication of the soon-to-be-restored Seagrave Fire Engine (dating to 1931) for retired captain Eugene “Diz” D’Isabella – Diz and family and friends may be present for the dedication, so this should be a nice presentation. The Seagrave itself is not yet restored, but it’s coming along. Our thanks to all who donated to its restoration and to those who encouraged the restoration.
- An item about changing Title 18 of our code (which relates to beaches and parks) to require certain safety equipment (like helmets, knee and elbow pads) at the skate park and related facilities.
- An item that appropriates funds from the Wildfire Mitigation and Fire Safety allocations for a couple of things, as recommended by the City’s ad hoc committee on fire safety (Kempf and Whalen) – improved extrication equipment to ensure we can safely get folks out of newer, stronger cars; software and shelter supplies for the EOC and disasters; and an assignment of funds for longer maintenance of the outdoor warning system.
That’s what’s on the consent calendar. The regular business calendar has these items:
- An appropriation from the Disaster Contingency Reserve for consultant services relating to keeping an ER/Emergency Department in South Laguna. This follows an RFQ process for consultant services that didn’t get a lot of responses, though a lot of firms looked at it. Since then, the City Attorney and I have worked with the ad hoc committee to revisit the needs, with a focus on legal and regulatory issues. As such, the item sets aside up to $500K for special services that will assist the City in keeping hospital services in town. I am recommending use of the Disaster Contingency because the closure issue has life-safety implications – and it also provides smart direction to restore the amount reduced to the Reserve over up to 3 budget cycles. This agenda item also includes a letter that Council Members Rounaghi and Whalen sent to the CA Attorney General in late September.
- A study session-ish item about the right surface material if we are to repair the Boardwalk at Main Beach. The Planning Commission suggested Douglas Fir, which is fine, but we felt it important to have more awareness of the issue and some Council input before going forward with additional design work. No changes are proposed for the width, length, curvature, or nature of the Boardwalk – just a discussion of the best surface material.
- We’re returning to the Council with an item to in part meet the State’s EV mandates for municipal vehicles – this is the infrastructure / charging station side of that, and includes off-setting rebates and a cost-benefit analysis done by a 3rd party.
- There’s a ratification of yet another Declaration of Local Emergency, which I made today due to impacts starting yesterday of the remnants of Hurricane Rachel. The State – through CalOES – asks that we declare separate emergencies for each storm by name. A bit frustrating.
There are no appeals on Tuesday night’s meeting. We did hear word today (Friday) that Pacific Edge has withdrawn its application to place construction worker parking in the lot near Laguna Terrace, due in large part to community concerns from Laguna Terrace residents. Therefore, an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of that application – tentatively set for November 5, 2026 – will not be necessary. Pacific Edge told us in the letter that it will seek out other options.
A couple of community notes:
- I sent out an email earlier today (Friday) about Hurricane Rachel issues and preparations. Speaking of that, we have an El Nino Preparedness Page and a Workshop scheduled for Monday, October 12, 2026 – information is here. Suffice it to say that this has been a rough year, and staying ahead of the weather and climate change hasn’t been easy or simple. With that earthquake in Panama this morning, I was curious as to what else could befall us. I’ll go over more of what we’ve been working on re: El Nino preparedness during my always-scintillating City Manager’s comments on Tuesday night.
- The current work on the Promenade includes finishing up the new crosswalk texture (brick) at Forest and Glenneyre – I know that this is a hassle, but most of the work is night work. Today, as the contractor was buttoning up the location in the a.m., the timing was such that the flooding on Coast Highway was also hitting. Let me apologize for that for anyone stuck in traffic – we’ve already moved to adjust that timing. And there’s not much more work to be done. Also, a few more grates trickle in from backorder, and those are installed as they come in (with the commensurate removal of some of the more dusty DG). We’re still struggling getting permits off of desks at Caltrans (for the PCH side), and awaiting full power that would allow the fountain to operate (and more lighting). Argh.
As always, thanks for reading this far.