Irvine : City to Pay $12,634 for Bay Silt Removal

The City Council is expected to approve a $12,634 reimbursement to the City of Newport Beach Tuesday night to pay for Irvine’s small share in the $5-million silt-removal project in Upper Newport Bay.

The first phase of construction of the Upper Newport Bay Sedimentation Control and Restoration Project was completed in November. The second phase of sediment-control facilities, known as Unit II, is ready to begin.

Second-phase work will include excavation of a 24-acre basin below the old salt works dike, excavation of two side channels connecting to the basin and excavation of a 100-foot-wide subtidal access channel from below the Pacific Coast Highway bridge to the southerly end of the basin.

The City Council also is expected to approve an $8,000 expenditure to help fund a state-approved Los Angeles-San Diego State Rail Corridor study.

The 15-month study, to be performed by a consultant for the state Department of Transportation, will identify how train schedules can be improved in the existing Los Angeles-San Diego rail line, investigate the feasibility of public acquisition of the line, and establish a funding and implementation plan.

Lee F. Deter, chairman of the study group, said that each of the participating cities were asked to contribute $5,000 to $10,000 toward the study. The Santa Fe Railroad agreed last September to allow two Amtrak stops a day in Irvine, culminating five years of efforts by the city to attract rail service and clearing the way for construction of a new $13.9-million transportation center.