Embattled CEO at OCPA Has Been Fired
On Wednesday (April 19th), the Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) board decided that Brian...
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Month: April 2023
Council Remains Divided Over Plans for an Aquatics Center at the Great Park
On April 11th, Irvine City Councilmembers sparred over a controversial plan to build an aquatics...
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City Council Votes for New Construction in Irvine to Be All-Electric
During the March 28th meeting, the City Council voted to have Irvine join dozens of other...
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City Council Again Questions Contract for Electric Charging Stations in the Great Park
In December 2021, Casco Construction was awarded a contract to install, maintain and operate vehicle charging stations at the Great Park, despite the fact that two other firms had been recommended by City staff following a formal bid process.
Councilmembers Mike Carroll and Tammy Kim urged the Council to award the contract to Casco because the company promised that the City would receive $2 million annually in revenue — much more than promised by any other bidder. And, Kim said that Casco’s proposed equipment supplier, Noodoe, would boost Irvine manufacturing jobs. (Then-Councilmember Anthony Kuo provided the third vote.)
More than a year after the contract with Casco was pushed through, City Manager Oliver Chi says the $2 million revenue promised by Casco has now been revised down to just 10% of that amount — if there is any revenue at all. And Irvine has actually lost jobs. The same month that Councilmember Kim was promising a boon in local jobs, Taiwan-based Noodoe was closing up shop in Irvine and moving its U.S. operations to Houston, laying off Irvine employees. It turns out that the chargers were never going to be manufactured here in Irvine, or even the U.S., but in Taiwan.
Landmark Deal to Be Signed by the City to Acquire the All American Plant & Restore the Land to Its Original State
The Irvine City Council is poised to approve — in April — a massive land deal to acquire and remove the All American Asphalt plant in north Irvine. The 12-acre asphalt plant and hundreds of acres surrounding it will become part of a 700-acre open space preserve that has been dubbed the “Gateway Preserve.”
“I am proud that my office heard the voices of the community early on and fought alongside north Irvine residents to help get this deal done,” said Councilmember Larry Agran, who is a longtime public interest attorney specializing in environmental law.
The key to the deal is the Irvine Company’s dedication to the City of nearly 500 acres of land surrounding the plant. The dedication includes 80 acres that the City will sell to residential developers to cover the cost of acquiring and dismantling the asphalt plant — and paying for the planning and establishment of the Gateway Preserve. Accordingly, the deal will not cost Irvine taxpayers anything.
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