A 90-minute regular session: a Marine memorial five years in the making got fully funded, pickleball players got two new championship courts, Selva Road got speed humps, the Pacific pocket mouse got another monitoring season, and the city modernized its public-comment process ahead of SB 707. Mayor Pro Tem Mike Frost was absent for closed session at 5 p.m. but joined the regular meeting at 6.

🎥 Full video: Dana Point City Council Regular Meeting - May 5, 2026

TL;DR

• 🎖️ Heritage Park Monument (Item 11) - construction contract awarded; dedication targeted Oct 27-30 alongside the national Remembering Our Fallen exhibit. Unanimous.
• 🏓 Del Obispo Park (Item 16) - 2 championship pickleball courts plus 3 more on a rebuilt basketball pad, all lit, drainage fixed. Unanimous, with $750K added.
• 🚗 Speed limits and humps (Item 15) - 5 mph reductions on PCH, two Niguel Road segments, and Selva Road, plus 5 modular speed humps on Selva. Subcommittee formed to revisit the 2005 traffic calming policy. Unanimous.
• 💰 Long-Term Financial Plan (Item 12) - structurally balanced through FY32; part-time permit tech approved. Received and filed.
• 🐭 Pacific Pocket Mouse (Item 13) - $26K LSA contract for track-tube monitoring at the Headlands plus $450 for soil sampling. Unanimous.
• 📺 SB 707 / Brown Act (Item 14) - Zoom public comment coming to chambers; council pushed back on adopting the optional "just cause" expansion. Received and filed.
• 🕊️ Adjourned in memory of surfboard craftsman Jean Pierre LaFlyVan (transcript spelling).

🎖️ Heritage Park Monument - Item 11

Pulled from consent for a presentation. After more than five years of work by the Dana Point Fifth Marine Regiment Support Group, council awarded the construction contract for the Returning Home monument.

🔗 1:26:55 - item pulled

Terry Rifkin announced the dedication will happen Oct 27-30, paired with the national Remembering Our Fallen photographic exhibit (35 towers, ~5,500 images of service members lost during the global war on terror), sponsored by Anduril at no cost to the city. The dedication may also coincide with the return of Fifth Marine commander Col. George Flynn from his rotation in Darwin, Australia. 1:30:15

Council Member Matthew Pagano, a veteran, thanked Rifkin: "without your push and passion and desire and leadership, uh this doesn't happen."

Approved unanimously (1:32:59). Contract to United Building and Development Services, LLC.

🏓 Del Obispo Park modification - Item 16

Mayor John Gabbard moved this up so the pickleball contingent could go home. Public Works reported 10 bidders (unusually high), with Elegant Construction as low bidder. The project adds 2 championship pickleball courts, demolishes and rebuilds the basketball court to fix drainage, and stripes 3 additional pickleball courts onto the new pad. Whole facility (including existing tennis) gets lit. CIP #1369 needed an additional $750,000 to be fully funded. 1:37:00

Public comment was, predictably, all pickleball:

• 🏓 Wayne Yoast (certified instructor): community center sessions sell out within minutes; waitlists exceed 100. 1:41:22
• 😅 Buzz Buster: "we have mastered two things. The dink shot and also waiting," and the courts are so full "you'd think that we were giving out free ice cream." 1:43:22
• ❤️ Pam Wheeler: spoke to social isolation among seniors and the value of regular outdoor meetups. 1:46:20
• 📊 Doug McCafferty (43-year resident): cited 55 players for 12 spots, 43 waiting. Asked the city to consider future foul-ball netting on the right field fence. 1:47:14 Approved unanimously (1:49:46).

🚗 Speed limits and Selva Road speed humps - Item 15

Council reduced 85th-percentile speed limits by 5 mph on four segments: Niguel Road (Stone Hill to Ritz Pointe and Ritz Pointe to Camino del Avion), PCH (Crown Valley to the Laguna border), and Selva Road (PCH to Ocean Front/Dana Strand). Selva also met criteria for 5 modular rubberized speed humps. 1:51:28

Federico drew the speed-hump-vs-bump distinction (12 ft gradual hump, not a 2 ft St. Edward's-style bump). 1:53:32 Captain Gonzalez (OCSD) said lower limits give deputies "another tool to use."

Two notable public commenters:

• 🛣️ Mr. Miller (Emerald Ridge HOA past president) supported dropping that PCH segment from 50 to 45 mph, noting Laguna Beach drops to 40 mph immediately at the city line. 2:01:48
• 🚨 Pikowski (representing Chelsea Point, Niguel Beach Terrace, and the Strand - 474 owners, 1,185 voters) described nightly racing at 80-90 mph on security cameras and repeated weekend explosions, including an April 6 incident where three individuals carried glass jugs of liquid to the beach and ignited them. He asked for an undercover detail at the Strands lot on weekend nights. 2:04:00 Mayor Pro Tem Frost flagged on the record that this installation deviates from the city's 2005 traffic calming policy and proposed a subcommittee to revisit it. City Manager Kelly Reenders agreed. 2:07:01

Ordinance introduced unanimously (2:11:15) for first reading; staff directed to install the humps; subcommittee to be appointed.

💰 Long-Term Financial Plan - Item 12

Finance presented the FY27-FY32 update. Top line: general fund structurally balanced through the forecast, reserves fully funded, unassigned balance at the upper end of policy range. Council also authorized a part-time (25 hr/wk) permit technician to replace a more expensive third-party contract. Federico's annual "where's our fiscal cliff?" yielded the same answer: there isn't one. 2:12:14

Received and filed. Personnel update authorized.

🐭 Pacific Pocket Mouse monitoring - Item 13

The night's best presentation. The city's Natural Resources Protection Officer walked council through a mouse declared extinct for 20 years, rediscovered at the Headlands in 1993, and now slowly migrating onto Hilltop and Harbor Point conservation parks. The 2026 program: 52 PVC track tubes across 34 grid cells following USGS protocol, two five-week sessions, plus new soil sampling sent to BYU's environmental analytical lab to support the San Diego Zoological Wildlife Association captive-breeding program. 2:18:21

Approved unanimously. $26,000 to LSA Associates plus $450 for soil sampling.

📺 SB 707 and Brown Act policies - Item 14

City Clerk Shayna Sharke previewed the city's response to SB 707: Zoom public comment is coming to chambers via Triton Technology, installed next week, before the July 1 deadline. Cox 855 and YouTube Live remain. New Policy 120 governs teleconferencing disruptions; new Policy 121 consolidates speaker-slip procedures and a code of conduct, retiring current Policy 119. 2:29:22

Federico flagged that adopting the optional "just cause" expansion for remote council participation is a may, not a must, and asked staff to take a closer look before recommending it.

Received and filed with feedback to staff.

💵 Other consent items of note

• Item 9 - OC Sheriff's Department FY27 contract authorized.
• Item 10 - Letter authorized to the California Fish and Game Commission supporting CDFW's recommendation to deny Petition 2023-2024MPA_AM (proposed Laguna Beach MPA expansion).
• Items 1-8 - reading-by-title waiver, minutes (council, planning commission, financial review committee, youth board), claims and demands, treasurer's report, and Q3 financial report. All received/approved.

Public comment, non-agenda

🔗 1:34:07 - Mary Heron spoke endorsing Diane Dixon for County Supervisor District 5, Michael Gates, Sonia Shah, Star Parker, and Ursen Wells in their respective races; raised concerns about AB 2624 and AB 2017; and complimented improved parkway tree maintenance.

🕊️ Adjournment

Council adjourned in memory of Jean Pierre LaFlyVan (transcript phonetic), described by Mayor Gabbard as a "master surfboard craftsman whose work and spirit helped shape the surf culture of Dana Point." 2:38:36

Cast of characters

Dais: Mayor John Gabbard; Mayor Pro Tem Mike Frost (absent closed session); Council Members Jamey M. Federico, Matthew Pagano, Michael Villar.

Staff: Kelly Reenders (City Manager), Patrick Muñoz (City Attorney), Shayna Sharke (City Clerk), Matt Sinacori (Public Works, transcript phonetic), Captain Gonzalez (OCSD).

Next regular meeting: Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., City Council Chamber, 33282 Golden Lantern, Suite 210.

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