Police pensions, park survey on Costa Mesa council’s agenda
The Costa Mesa City Council is scheduled to discuss a host of topics Tuesday, including a community survey on Fairview Park development and having ranking police officers continue paying more into their pension plans.
The eight members of the Costa Mesa Police Management Assn. have agreed to pay an additional 5% into their pension funds for the next 26 pay periods, about 50 weeks, as negotiations between the association and council continue.
Per Costa Mesa’s labor negotiation ordinance, Civic Openness in Negotiations (COIN), the council must conduct two public hearings before approving the police’s pension proposal. The first hearing would be Tuesday, followed by a second on March 17 and then a vote.
Should the council approve the officers’ agreement, the estimated savings is about $69,000 through June 2016.
The management association’s contract expired in June.
Mayor Steve Mensinger’s proposal, first announced earlier this month, for a “community consensus survey” on the future of Fairview Park is also up for discussion.
Mensinger is asking for council support in approving a professional survey that will gauge residents’ desires for the 208-acre park, including sports fields or facilities in its southeast quadrant, home of the Orange County Model Engineers.
The cost of the survey is still to be determined. Applicants interested in conducting the survey would undergo a competitive bidding process.
Mensinger told the Daily Pilot earlier this month that he hopes the survey will dispel false rumors about the park, such as proposals to build homes or a casino there.
“We’ll take a time out. We’ll all take a break,” Mensinger said. “We’ll all learn that it’s not a casino.”
Fairview Park’s advisory committee is still finalizing recommendations for new park additions. It was scheduled to vote Wednesday on recommending sports facilities to the southeast quadrant, but the meeting was canceled for a second time this year and rescheduled to April 1.
Should the committee recommend the sports fields, the matter would go forward to the Parks and Recreation Commission and potentially the City Council for final approval.
Fairview Park development plans have generated significant community debate in recent years, with many arguing that the park should be left in a more natural, unaltered state. Others have said Costa Mesa’s youth sports community needs places to play, and portions of Fairview Park might fit that bill alongside the model engineers’ ridable train tracks.
