The City Council met in Work Session on Tuesday, February 4, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. in Room 326, City Council Office, City County Building, 451 South State Street.
In Attendance: Council Members James Rogers, Kyle LaMalfa, Stan Penfold, Luke Garrott, Erin Mendenhall, Charlie Luke, and Lisa Adams.
Staff In Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; David Everitt, Chief of Staff; Margaret Plane, City Attorney; Jennifer Bruno, City Council Deputy Director; Sylvia Richards, Council Research & Policy Analyst; Lehua Weaver, Council Research & Policy Analyst; Gina Chamness, Budget Director; Mary Beth Thompson, Revenue Analyst/Auditing Manager; Vicki Bennett, Sustainability & Environment Director; Robin Hutcheson, Transportation Director; Rick Graham, Public Services Director; Mary De La Mare-Schaefer, Community & Economic Development Deputy Director; Dan Bergenthal, Trails Coordinator; Brian Dale, Fire Department Deputy Chief; John Vuyk, Fire Department Financial Manager; Michael Akerlow, Housing & Neighborhood Development Director; Katherine Lewis, Senior City Attorney; Jaysen Oldroyd, Senior City Attorney; Jan Aramaki, Council Research & Policy Analyst; Ben Luedtke, Council Policy Analyst; Nick Tarbet, Council Policy Analyst; Lynn Pace, Senior Advisor; and Sonya Kintaro, Chief Deputy City Recorder.
Guests in Attendance: Mike Reberg, Salt Lake County Animal Services Director; and Blaine Overson, Owner of Carriage For Hire.
Councilmember Luke presided at and conducted the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 2:10 p.m.
AGENDA ITEMS:
#1. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. RECEIVE A FOLLOW-UP BRIEFING REGARDING BUDGET AMENDMENT NO. 2 FOR FISCAL YEAR 2013-14. Budget amendments happen several times each year to reflect adjustments to the City’s budgets, including proposed project additions and modifications. This amendment contains a number of proposed adjustments to the FY 2013-14 Budget, including funding for:
•A portion of the costs of the Sugar House Streetcar, and various improvements to create a "greenway" within the corridor.
•A Transportation Planner position to assist with Capital Improvement (building and roadway) Projects.
•The City’s Transit Master Plan, Phase 2 of the Sugar House Streetcar Plan, and a study of Foothill Drive (funding from Utah Transit Authority).
•An additional trained Nurse Dispatcher to manage non-emergency calls from the 9-1-1 call-takers (donation funds from the Utah Hospital Association). View Attachments
Jennifer Bruno, Sylvia Richards, Lehua Weaver, Gina Chamness, Mary Beth Thompson, Vicki Bennett, Robin Hutcheson, Rick Graham, Mary De La Mare-Schaefer, Dan Bergenthal, Brian Dale, and John Vuyk briefed the Council with attachments.
Discussion was held regarding the decrease of expected revenue from parking pay stations and the number of tickets issued.
Item A-1: Climate Adaptation Project ($120,000 – Refuse Fund) Discussion was held on funding to hire a consultant to further the climate adaptation and mitigation plan. Councilmember LaMalfa asked Ms. Bennett to provide a copy of the materials presented at a previous briefing on the Sustainability Plan.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Straw Poll: Council would keep funding of the climate adaption project in the budget opening. Council Members Penfold, Mendenhall, Adams, and Luke voted yes. Council Members Rogers, LaMalfa, and Garrott voted no.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Item A-2: UTA Transit Planning Assistance (TPA) Funding ($207,300 – CIP Fund). Council did not have objections to funding the Transit Plan and Foothill Corridor Plan.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Straw Poll: Council would keep the Streetcar Greenway funding in the budget amendment. Council Members Rogers, LaMalfa, Penfold, Luke, and Adams voted yes. Council Members Mendenhall and Garrott voted no.
Item A-3: 500 West Portable Restroom Rentals and Island Reconstruction ($41,401 –General Fund) Discussion was held regarding the Administration proceeding with a project before receiving approval on funding. Council asked Administration to inform the Council before work began on non-funded projects. Discussion followed on the type of portable toilets used and the costs to install and maintain.
Item A-4: Jointly-funded Sustainable Business Ombudsman (Joint funding with Downtown Alliance). This item was withdrawn by the Administration but Ms. Chamness briefed the Council on the role of the ombudsman. She said this item might appear as part of the regular budget request.
Item A-5: Fire USAR Funding ($125,362 – General Fund) The Council had no comments on this item.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Item A-6: John Glenn Road Incident ($23,213 – General Fund) Discussion was held on the equipment lost in a hazardous material incident. Council Members LaMalfa and Luke said they wanted to review the City’s cost recovery ordinance in hazardous material situations.
Item A-7: Transportation FTE (No budget impact) Council had questions about using money saved from a vacant position for other purposes. Discussion was held regarding the hiring of a Full-Time Employee (“FTE”) versus hiring on a contract basis. Ms. Hutcheson said their intention was to build the entry and middle levels of the organization. She said if they hired on a contract-basis, a staff person would have to be assigned to oversee the projects.
Straw Poll: Council would support the Administration advertising the Transportation FTE position prior to the formal approval of the budget amendment. The vote to support was unanimous.
Item A-8: Placeholder-Council CIP Bonding ($ TBD – CIP Fund) Ms. Bruno said this was the Administration’s proposal on structuring the bonds to accomplish the projects the Council identified in the last round of CIP funding. She said the Administration would transmit the information to the Council in a few days.
Item D-1: Pulled Prior to Transmittal
Item D-2: US Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration -Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks (TACT) Readiness Grant Budget Adjustments ($239,721 – Misc. Grants) Council had no concerns.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Item D-3: Jordan River Parkway Trail – Budget Re-appropriation to Parley’s Trail ($219,375 – CIP Fund) Discussion was held on using the available funds at other locations other than Parley’s Trail.
Straw Poll: Council would leave the extra funds in the budget amendment and revert back to the CIP cost overrun account. Council Members LaMalfa, Garrott, Mendenhall, Adams, and Luke voted yes. Council Members James and Penfold voted no.
Item D-4: Cost of Issuance for Sales and Excise Tax Revenue Bonds, Series 2013B(Sugar House Streetcar Project)($110,839 and $45,272 – CIP Fund) Council had no concerns.
Item D-5: Principal and Interest Expense on Bonding for Sales and Excise Tax Revenue Bonds Series 2013B (Sugar House Street Car and Greenway Project)($442,607 – Debt Service)($442,607 – CIP Fund) Council had no concerns.
Item D-6: Principal and Interest Expense on Bonding for Sales and Excise Tax Revenue Bonds Series 2013A (UPAC Project - Sales Tax Portion) ($20,137,577 – Debt Service) ($64,730,000 – CIP Fund) Council had no concerns.
Item D-7: Principal and Interest Expense on Bonding for General Obligation Bonds Series 2013C (Open Space 3rd Segment)($10,039 – Debt Service) Council had no concerns.
Item D-8: Interest Income on Bonding ($1,064,292 – CIP Fund) Council had no concerns.
Section E: Grants Requiring No New Staff Resources, Items E-1 through E-5. Council had no concerns.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Item F-1: Utah Hospital Association Donation ($454,211 – Donations) Deputy Chief Brian Dale and John Vuyk briefed the Council. Councilmember Garrott asked about negative results. Deputy Chief Dale said in their visit to three locations with an accredited dispatch center, there were no deaths they knew about and very few complaints.
Item I-1: PLACEHOLDER - Request for 1.0 FTE Management-level position for Public Utilities at Waste Water Treatment Plant ($TBD - Sewer Utility Fund) Councilmember LaMalfa said there was a shortage of skill capacity at higher levels of management. He said money would come from the money planned for other projects from the Sewer Utility Fund.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Item I-2: PLACEHOLDER - Cost of Design Plans for a City-sponsored Daycare Center ($15,000 -General Fund) Councilmember Penfold asked about public funding in the next budget cycle. Ms. Chamness said it would be part of a CIP request.
Item I-3: PLACEHOLDER - Constituent Tracking System – ($200,000) The Council had questions on the placeholder status and the possibility of use beyond the Council Office.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Item I-4: NOTE - Citywide Transit Pass fees. Council had no concerns.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Councilmember Added Item: Councilmember LaMalfa said the West Salt Lake Master Plan and 9-Line Master Plan would be presented for adoption in the near future. He said he wanted a financing plan to follow the two master plans. He proposed a consultant be hired to advise the Council on funding mechanisms to accompany the master plans by reallocating money. Council Members Garrott and Adams said they supported prioritization of master plans. Ms. De La Mare-Schaefer said Planning Division was on the verge of making a proposal on plan implementation. She said Planning could be ready with a template within a month and definitely before the new budget year.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Councilmember Luke asked Administration to return with different ideas on Councilmember LaMalfa’s proposal before the budget hearing.
#2. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. RECEIVE A BRIEFING REGARDING THE ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CITY’S IMPACT FEE SCHEDULE, INCLUDING A POTENTIAL REDUCTION IN THE PROPOSED FEE. View Attachments
Councilmember Penfold, Jennifer Bruno, Michael Akerlow, David Everitt, and Katherine Lewis briefed the Council with attachments and a PowerPoint presentation. The briefing included the types of impact fees and how impact fees could be used.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Ms. Bruno responded to Councilmember Rogers question and said $1.2 million of roadway impact fees would be refunded to the companies who were incorrectly charged.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Councilmember LaMalfa asked for a list of projects eligible for impact fee use.
Discussion was held on setting priorities on projects before applying general fund money to match impact fees that might be lost if not spent. Councilmember Penfold said the challenge was lining up the 10-year plan with the CIP process. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Ms. Bruno said the consultant reviewed the general fund money available and the projects eligible for impact fees to identify the projects that could be done. She said another view taken was to calculate the impact fees based on need, then determining what the general fund match would be. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Ms. Gust-Jenson said a meeting was scheduled with Administration to look at integrating the CIP Master Plan, the CIP 10-Year Plan, the City’s Master Plan, and the Impact Fee Plan.
Discussion was held on strategic planning for growth.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Mr. Akerlow said Administration recommended a short-term and long-term resolution in parks and roadway impact fees. Discussion was held on Administration’s recommendations, impact fee study comparison with other Utah cities, impact fees collected in single family homes, available downtown locations for parks, and Administration’s collecting of ineligible impact fees.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Councilmember Luke discussed as next steps the opening of the 10-year CIP plan and identifying where projects should be as master plans were submitted. Discussion was held on the time-frame to open and discuss the 10-year CIP plan and alerting Administration to the Council’s intent to open on a two or three year basis, a realistic time line for reviewing the plans, and lowering fees temporarily while reviewing the plans.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Discussion was held on the current ordinance that exempted roadway impact fees throughout the City except in the west-side industrial area. Administration was directed to brief the Council in March on options for an ordinance fix.
Council directed staff to return in March with a list of projects currently identified for impact fees in the categories where the Administration was proposing changes and to include the difference of what would be collected in the full-fee scenario and what might be collected in a lesser-fee schedule.
#3. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. RECEIVE A FOLLOW-UP BRIEFING AND HOLD A DISCUSSION ON PROPOSED REVISIONS TO HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGE REGULATIONS IN SALT LAKE CITY. The follow-up discussion will include, but will not be limited to: whether to keep horse-drawn carriages on City streets and evaluating temperature range, carriage routes, and fees.
The revised proposal is in response to the Council’s request from their initial September 24, 2013 briefing to have the Mayor’s Administration and Salt Lake County Animal Services develop recommendations for horse-drawn carriage regulations. Council Member Charlie Luke’s recommendation was used as part of the framework in developing their recommendations. In addition, at the January 7, 2014 follow-up discussion by the Council, they unanimously supported having Salt Lake County Animal Services’ additional revisions merged into the original proposal and changing the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to a contract-based approach. View Attachments
Rick Graham, Jaysen Oldroyd, Mike Reberg, Ben Luedtke, Jan Aramaki, Blaine Overson, and Mary Beth Thompson briefed the Council with attachments.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Councilmember LaMalfa asked about the article on cold air-induced late-phase bronchoconstriction in horses (Attachment 2). Ms. Aramaki said it was a test done on a number of horses to determine the effect of sub-freezing temperatures on their respiratory systems. Discussion followed regarding the heat index documents regarding live-stock in strenuous activity in certain extreme temperatures, components of the carriage committee.
Carriage Committee Discussion
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Mr. Graham briefed the Council on the member component of past carriage committees, Administration’s recommendation for the new committee, and current ordinance. Discussion was held on including members with expert knowledge of the horse-carriage issues, the committee accepting public input in an open meeting, being a committee to oversee compliance with contracts and legislation, committee meeting schedule, incident reporting process, and the identification of types of members Council wanted to additionally include on the committee.
Straw poll: Council would reinstitute the Carriage Committee as reported in the proposed ordinance with the addition of an industry representative who worked with horses, an equine vet, and two at-large general public appointments from amongst residents of Salt Lake City. Council Members Rogers, LaMalfa, Garrott, Luke, Adams, and Mendenhall voted yes. Councilmember Penfold was not present to vote.
A discussion was held with Mr. Overson about horses that could not work due to age or performance, the horse carriage business in Salt Lake City, permits to operate inside and outside the area, Mr. Overson’s experience in the horse-carriage business, the length of work shifts, horses that slip on the pavement, controlling the behavior of horses, where the horses are bought, and if the horses need training in an urban area. Mr. Overson spoke on the proposed changes to the map.
Education on Horse Carriages
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Councilmember Rogers said it would be a great opportunity for the industry and public to be educated through brochures, pamphlets, or videos about the day in the life of a horse, how the horses were treated, where they lived, or how they were fed.
Straw Poll: The Council would support adding the education piece to the contract. All Council Members voted yes.
Fee Structure
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. A discussion was held on keeping the fees the same.
Straw Poll: The Council would support adding the fees to the contract. Council Members LaMalfa, Garrott, and Mendenhall voted no. Council Members Rogers, Penfold, Luke, and Adams voted yes.
Temperature Range
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Councilmember Luke proposed 90 degrees as the top temperature and 27 degrees as a low air temperature. Discussion was held regarding using air temperature versus a heat index, using the air temperature reported in the downtown location, and allowing the carriage committee to make the decision on temperature.
Straw Poll: The Council would support setting the high temperature at 90 degrees and the low temperature at 27 degrees. Council Members Rogers, Penfold, LaMalfa, and Adams voted no. Council Members Mendenhall, Luke, and Garrott voted yes.
Straw Poll: The Council would maintain the current contract language at the 104 degree heat index and 10 degrees ambient temperature, defer the temperature decision to the Carriage Committee, and use the downtown weather bug station as opposed to the Airport. Council Members Rogers, Penfold, Garrott, Adams, and Mendenhall voted yes. Council Members LaMalfa and Luke voted no.
Carriage Routes Discussion
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. A discussion was held regarding Councilmember Luke’s proposed route from the stable to North Temple, then to Memory Grove.
Straw Poll: Council would add Councilmember Luke’s proposed horse-drawn carriage route. Council Members Rogers, LaMalfa, Penfold, Adams, and Mendenhall voted no. Council Members Luke and Garrott voted yes.
Discussion followed regarding changes to the routes and fees. Council deferred decision-making to the Carriage Committee regarding the fee schedule, random drug and alcohol testing of drivers, time of operation, and the minimum age of a horse to begin service.
#4. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. RECEIVE A BRIEFING REGARDING THE QUARTERLY HOUSING REPORT, WHICH IS PROVIDED BY THE ADMINISTRATION TO KEEP THE COUNCIL INFORMED AND UP-TO-DATE REGARDING THE CURRENT STATE OF THE CITY’S HOUSING PROGRAM. The report is given once each quarter during the fiscal year. Included in this report is more information about the City’s First Time Home Buyer Program. View Attachments
Nick Tarbet and Michael Akerlow briefed the Council with attachments regarding the housing program, use of Federal funds, and modes of outreach.
Discussion was held on additional context to future reports and aligning the report with the Council’s Housing Policy. The Administration said they would add context tied to the Council’s policy and housing plans.
#5. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. HOLD A DISCUSSION REGARDING INITIATING AN AUDIT OF THE CITY'S CONSTRUCTION PROJECT BID PROCESS (PROCUREMENT). The City issues and manages several large construction projects related to roadways, buildings, parks, the Airport, Public Utilities, and other capital projects. The audit would be used to find opportunities for streamlining the process within City departments. View Attachments
Lehua Weaver briefed the Council with attachments.
Discussion was held on streamlining the project bid process, managing large projects, and financing project management. Council directed staff to draft options to incorporate the management of large projects and financing project management into the audit.
Straw Poll: Council would support an audit to find opportunities for streamlining the process within City departments. Council Members LaMalfa, Penfold, Garrott, Adams, Luke, and Mendenhall voted yes. Councilmember Rogers voted no.
#6. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INCLUDING A REVIEW OF COUNCIL INFORMATION ITEMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. The Council may give feedback or staff direction on any item related to City Council business. View Attachments
See File M 14-5 for announcements.
#7. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
Lynn Pace briefed the Council on major issues at the State Legislative Sessions regarding air quality, transit funding, and transportation funding.
Councilmember Garrott asked about a bill regarding gathering signatures by electronic means to get on a state-wide or city-wide ballot. Mr. Pace said he had not heard but would make an inquiry.
#8. (TENTATIVE) CONSIDER A MOTION TO ENTER INTO CLOSED SESSION, IN KEEPING WITH UTAH CODE § 52-4-204, FOR ANY ALLOWED PURPOSE.
This item was not held.
The meeting adjourned at 8:48 p.m.
This document is not intended to serve as a full transcript as additional discussion may have been held; please refer to the audio or video for entire content.
This document along with the digital recording constitute the official minutes of the City Council Work Session meeting held February 4, 2014.
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