The City Council met in Work Session on Tuesday, July 29, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. in Room 326, Committee Room, City County Building, 451 South State Street.
In Attendance: Council Members James Rogers, Kyle LaMalfa, Erin Mendenhall, Charlie Luke, Lisa Adams, Luke Garrott, and Stan Penfold.
Staff in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; Jennifer Bruno, Executive Council Deputy Director; Mayor Ralph Becker; David Everitt, Mayor’s Chief of Staff; Margaret Plane, City Attorney; Gina Chamness, Budget Director; Lehua Weaver, Council Legislative Policy/Project Manager; Alden Breinholt, Public Services Operations Division Director; Rick Graham, Public Services Director; Bradley Stewart, Public Utilities Engineer; Nick Tarbet, Council Policy Analyst; Russell Weeks, Council Senior Policy Analyst; Jeffry Niermeyer, Public Utilities Director; Jim Lewis, Public Utilities Finance Administrator; Nick Norris, Planning Manager; BreAnne McConki, Principal Planner; Larry Bowers, Airport Transportation Manager; Rusty Vetter, Deputy City Attorney; Marco Kunz, Senior City Attorney; Catherine Brabson, Senior City Attorney; Sean Murphy, Council Public Policy and Budget Analyst; and Scott Crandall, Deputy City Recorder.
Councilmember Luke presided at and conducted the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 2:10 p.m.
AGENDA ITEMS
#1. 2:10:25 PM INTERVIEW GINA CHAMNESS PRIOR TO CONSIDERING HER APPOINTMENT AS SALT LAKE CITY’S DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND BUDGET. (H3) View Attachments
Councilmember Luke said Ms. Chamness’s name was on the Consent Agenda for formal consideration.
#2. 2:20:16 PM RECEIVE A FOLLOW-UP BRIEFING ABOUT THE GOLF FUND’S LONG-TERM FINANCIAL ISSUES, AND WILL DISCUSS WITH THE ADMINISTRATION POTENTIAL OPTIONS FOR OPERATING SCENARIOS TO HELP MAKE THE GOLF FUND FINANCIALLY SELF-SUSTAINING. View Attachments
Mayor Becker, Jennifer Bruno, Rick Graham, Gina Chamness, Alden Breinholt, and Jeffry Niermeyer briefed the Council with attachments. Comments included long-term/short-term approaches, declining number of golfers, increased number of courses, self-sufficient enterprise fund, national/local studies, projected $1.3 million deficit, increase fees in September, historically play drops 6% with fee increase, sell properties as short-term fix, determine amount of acreage available, no impact to regular golf program, use surplus land funds to purchase property, provide additional open space amenities, establish timeline to address short/long term solutions, prepare a packet of proposals for public review/input, February 1, 2015 deadline, incorporate public ideas, have Westminster College students prepare business models, potential to make pros independent contractors, consider all ideas/approaches, revisit Wingpointe’s lease payment structure, quantify open space maintenance costs, joint Council/Administration effort, no closures this year, ombudsman approach, include other regional providers/stakeholders, watershed protection issues, enhance recreational opportunities, explore flexibility of State statues, utilize local expertise, encourage youth participation, total golf subsidy, and dissolve enterprise fund.
Mayor Becker said a five-year extension was negotiated with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding lease payments at Wingpointe. He said payments would increase approximately $50,000 per year over the next five years and then return to fair market value. He said he would continue discussions with the FAA to negotiate other considerations/relief.
Straw Poll: All Council Members to be involved in addressing golf issues including the Mayor’s proposal to sell portions of several golf courses to address budget short-falls. All Council Members were in favor, except Councilmember Penfold, who was opposed.
Councilmember Luke suggested having an additional meeting on August 26, 2014. Council Members Adams and Penfold said they would not be available. Councilmember Luke asked staff to schedule the meeting.
Discussion was held on mailing an opinion ballot. Councilmember Luke said he thought the Council’s intent was to do this in 2014. Councilmember LaMalfa said he felt there might not be enough time to do it this year. Councilmember Garrott said the County was concerned about the City mailing an opinion ballot during their election. Councilmember Penfold suggested having staff contact the County about the proposal.
Councilmember LaMalfa asked who would prepare questions for the ballot. Ms. Bruno said previously, staff discussed reviewing a draft with the Council regarding subjects Council Members wanted to include and having those reviewed by an opinion question professional. She said staff had not gone through the Request for Proposal (RFP) process because they wanted to confirm that was the direction the Council wanted to go. Councilmember Adams said questions other than golf needed to be included such as “how often do you ride a bike”, “how often do you use public transit”, and “how often do you use your car”. She said the Council needed to consider broader issues as well and wanted this to be a tool that would really benefit the City.
Councilmember Mendenhall said she was interested in bringing a professional on board to give the City solid short/long-term planning before sending out opinion questions. Councilmember Garrott said the Council’s goal was to get residents’ perspective about both golf and long-term recreation. He said a lot of information was already available from the phone survey and the County-wide poll conducted on open space recreation. He said mailing opinion questions might not be needed at this time.
Councilmember Luke suggested having staff hold off on working on the opinion question until the August 26, 2014 meeting. He said part of that meeting was to have answers to questions about the phone poll, whether or not someone was needed to help write questions, and how to gather information. Ms. Bruno said staff could come back on August 26th with a timeline for various aspects of the opinion ballot process.
Discussion on conducting a golf business plan contest included prize money, timing issues, advertising, collecting/sorting data, judging, etc. Councilmember Adams said students at Westminster College were willing to prepare business models for each City course by November, 2014. Councilmember Penfold said in addition to the contest, a professional could be hired to analyze all golf proposals/data and determine what was appropriate. He said if the contest was structured as an information gathering opportunity, there would be a better chance of consolidating results into a long-term plan. Ms. Bruno said the process could require a significant amount of staff time which needed to be considered. Councilmember Luke said buy-in was needed from the Administration in order for this approach to be meaningful. Mayor Becker said the Administration was open to competitions and utilizing professionals. He said the process needed to include effective public engagement to collect/consider a variety of different approaches/ideas but needed to be done fairly quickly.
Mayor Becker said in addition to gathering Council Members’ comments and ideas, his staff could compile existing data/ideas and then work with Council staff to analyze the information (determine associated costs) and then bring a proposal to the Council so decisions could be made. Councilmember Luke requested that the information/proposal be ready for the August 26th meeting.
Straw Polls:
•Council supports moving forward with a golf business plan contest with $30,000 cost. Council Members Mendenhall, Adams, Rogers, and Luke were opposed. Council Members Penfold, Garrott, and LaMalfa were in favor.
•Council supports requesting business plans from the broader community on golf issues. All Council Members were in support.
Councilmember Mendenhall expressed concerns about the impact on staff to gather and compile responses from respondents. Ms. Gust-Jenson said she felt the best approach was for the Council to work with the Administration to identify a “set of documents” that would be made available to anyone interested in participating and clarify that staff would not participate in ongoing conversations with individuals or continue to gather specialty information for them.
Discussion was held on Councilmember Adam’s request to revisit the Council’s previous decision regarding the proposed $1 golf fee increase. Straw Poll: Council support for increasing golf fees. Council Members Mendenhall, Adams, Garrott, Penfold, and Luke were in favor. Council Members Rogers and LaMalfa were opposed.
Ms. Gust-Jenson said in order to facilitate a September 1, 2014 increase, a formal vote was needed on August 12th. Ms. Bruno said other logistical issues needed to be clarified in the ordinance such as the “one discount per transaction”. She said for example, was the senior fee considered a discount or could it be combined with other discount programs. Ms. Gust-Jenson said staff would prepare options for Council consideration on August 12, 2014.
Discussion was held on the $1 per round fee previously dedicated to Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) in the Golf Fund. A majority of the Council wanted to retain the CIP fund to address capital needs, not for operating expenses. Ms. Gust-Jenson asked if this could be added to the Council’s guiding policy principles. No objections were raised.
Discussion on various aspects of the ESCO proposal included path dependency, critical replacement needs, long-term open space/golf watering commitments, short-term savings options, and explore secondary water sources including wells. Straw Poll: Utilize ESCO to move toward secondary water at Rosepark and Glendale and install new irrigation system at Bonneville including drilling a test well. Council Members Mendenhall, Penfold, Adams, Rogers, and Luke were in favor. Council Members Garrott and LaMalfa were opposed.
Councilmember Luke said on August 26, 2014 the Council would continue to discuss golf issues including the idea of having Westminster College students prepare business plans, Mayor Becker’s proposal, and turning golf course management/maintenance over to golf pros. He said a golf public hearing would be held August 12, 2014 and information would be available on Open City Hall and mailed in newsletters.
#3. 5:08:36 PM RECEIVE A BRIEFING ON A PROPOSAL THAT WOULD AMEND THE ZONING MAP FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 878-880 WEST 200 NORTH FROM R-1-7000 (SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL) TO SNB (SMALL NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESS) PURSUANT TO PETITION NO. PLNPCM2013-000942. The property currently has both a residential and retail use. The proposal would bring an existing legal nonconforming retail use into compliance with zoning regulations. Although the applicant has requested that the property be rezoned to SNB (Small Neighborhood Business), consideration may be given to rezoning the properties to another zoning district with similar characteristics. (Petitioner – Li Chen) (H1) View Attachments
BreAnne McConki, Nick Tarbet, Nick Norris, and Rusty Vetter briefed the Council with attachments. No objections were raised by the Council.
#4. 5:13:21 PM RECEIVE A BRIEFING FROM THE ADMINISTRATION ON: View Attachments
a) OPTIONS FOR THE CITY’S SPECIAL ASSESSMENT AREA STREET LIGHTING EFFORTS. Special Assessment Areas (SAA) are neighborhoods and commercial areas where property owners are charged a fee for requested additional street lights or decorative poles and fixtures. Under the proposed recommendations, a new fee structure would cover operations and maintenance as well as efficiency upgrades for lights in these SAAs. There would also be a new process for property owners who want enhanced street lighting to obtain funding for the initial capital construction and;
b) OPTIONS FOR CONTINUING THE CITY’S PRIVATE LIGHT PROGRAM. Under the Private Light Program, the City provides matching grant money for property owners who want to install private street lights, with the property owner paying all power and maintenance costs. There are currently no matching grant funds identified for the program.
Jeffry Niermeyer, Jim Lewis, Bradley Stewart, and Lehua Weaver briefed the Council with attachments. Comments included matching grants, City contributions, should contributions come out of enterprise fund or general fund, dark sky compliant fixtures/lights, only operational costs covered in SAAs, surcharge issues, option for homeowners to move lights, sense of neighborhood ownership, substantial fee changes, community improvement grants, private lighting applications, fairness issues, and large capital expenditures.
Straw Poll: Council support to move forward with private lighting program which would be managed by Public Utilities. All Council Members were in favor.
Councilmember Penfold asked staff during the next budget amendment to look at shifting any remaining funds over to get the program started up again. Councilmember Luke asked if any Council Members objected to allowing Public Utilities to immediately start re-accepting applications. No objections were made.
Discussion was held on requiring energy efficient/dark skies compliant equipment when City funds were expended on neighborhood projects. Councilmember Luke said in addition to energy efficiency requirements there needed to be language/process to allow a neighborhood to relocate lights in the event residents were not willing to maintain lights. Mr. Vetter said the City had to be careful regarding private property rights but thought because the City was contributing funding and lights were located in the public right-of-way the removal/relocation process could be facilitated through a revocable permit or neighborhoods could establish a liability company. Councilmember Luke asked if Council Members had any objections to the suggestion. No objections were raised.
Ms. Weaver said there was confusion about whether the $5,000 City grant was per block face or per street (both sides) and suggested having the Administration clearly define funding criteria. Councilmember Penfold suggested having Public Utilities address the issue since they were establishing guidelines. Councilmember Luke said he agreed. Councilmember Penfold said more information/study was needed on the surcharge issue before decisions could be made.
Straw Polls:
•Allow new SAAs with the understanding the 25% City subsidy would be eliminated. All Council Members were in favor.
•Phase out 25% City subsidy for existing SAAs (timeframe to be determined by Public Utilities). Council Members Mendenhall, Penfold, LaMalfa, and Luke were in favor. Council Members Adams, Garrott, and Rogers were opposed. Councilmember Luke asked Public Utilities to prepare a written briefing/proposal for the phase-out.
Ms. Weaver said for clarification the billing for existing SAAs would continue to be handled by the Treasurer’s Office but Public Utilities could come back to the Council with an alternative proposal to improve the process. Mr. Niermeyer said they had been negotiating with the International Center for approximately two years regarding the potential to implement a surcharge.
Councilmember Luke said more information was needed on the International Center (surcharge) issue before a straw poll was taken. Mr. Niermeyer said they would prepare a briefing paper for the Council on the International Center. Councilmember Mendenhall asked that the briefing materials contain information articulating what the City would gain with proposed changes and how that would benefit the overall system including potential improvements.
#5. RECEIVE A BRIEFING FROM THE ADMINISTRATION ON THE PROGRESS OF A STUDY OF DOWNTOWN STREETCAR OPTIONS, INCLUDING INFORMATION ON HOW STREETCARS DIFFER FROM BUSES. The study, titled the Downtown Streetcar Alternative Analysis, is a step in the ongoing development of a downtown streetcar system and is scheduled to be completed this fall. View Attachments
Item was pulled.
#6. 6:09:06 PM HOLD A FOLLOW-UP DISCUSSION ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE 2014 PRIORITY PROJECTS THAT WERE IDENTIFIED AT THE COUNCIL’S FEBRUARY RETREAT. The priority projects include: improving the City’s urban trail network, collaborating on air quality, and tracking park expenses. The Council also plans to work with the Administration on planning for needed upkeep at the City cemetery, improving sidewalk snow removal policies, and reviewing corporate campaign finance contributions. View Attachments
Jennifer Bruno, Nick Tarbet, Lehua Weaver, and Sean Murphy briefed the Council with attachments. Comments included pursuing a ban on seasonal wood burning, commitment to use financial mechanisms to assist people with limited incomes, enforcement issues/models, and community education.
Discussion was held on working with the County Health Board to address air quality issues/wood burning. Ms. Gust-Jenson said staff would contact the County tomorrow and get back to the Council. A majority of the Council was in favor of waiting for that follow-up information before requesting staff to proceed with preparing a wood burning ban ordinance. Councilmember Rogers requested air quality data for Davis County.
Discussion was held on the following questions:
•Is the Council in favor of closing the “Air Shed Coalition” task and instead working through the established air quality boards? All Council Members were in favor.
•Does the Council approve of continued staff attendance at air quality meetings hosted by City and regional entities? All Council Members were in favor.
•Does the Council wish to devote staff resources to producing a video to be filmed at the two Farmer’s Market dates (September 13 and October 25, 2014)? All Council Members were in favor.
Additional discussion was held on air quality issues. Councilmember Penfold suggested tying the City’s wood burning ban to a non-City standard such as a State air quality standard.
Discussion was held on the Urban Trail Network. Councilmember Penfold suggested exploring golf courses as part of the network including right-of-ways/purchases. Councilmember Adams suggested exploring a potential trail connection along the Bonneville golf course. Ms. Bruno said that could be included as part of the Administration’s latest land sale proposal.
Councilmember Rogers asked about utilizing money left over from the Jordan River Trail restoration. Ms. Bruno said the money (approximately $220,000) could not be spent without coming back in a budget amendment. She said staff would ask the Administration to include that issue. Councilmember Garrott expressed interest in publicizing information about the trail network which could help the City move forward with expenditures and suggested creating a video about trail opportunities.
Councilmember Mendenhall said another task list item was to explore an application for Congestion Mitigation for Air Quality (CMAC) funding to get 900 South capital projects moving forward.
Councilmember Garrott requested information about whether or not the right-turn lane, which would negatively impact sidewalk/pedestrian access, was going to be installed during the 1300 South reconstruction. Ms. Bruno said she would get more information.
Councilmember LaMalfa asked Council Members to join him in discussing Transfer Development Rights (TDRs). He said this was a powerful tool that could help the Council do a number of things. He said he also understood University of Utah students were working on a project to daylight rivers running into the City and asked staff to get a copy for the Council.
Discussion was held on other Council priority projects including Public Services cost accounting system, future Cemetery planning, sidewalk snow removal, and campaign finance.
Discussion was held on scheduling golf briefings. Ms. Gust-Jenson said if four or more Council Members attended a meeting an agenda would have to be posted and minutes taken. She said it would be helpful to have as much advanced notice as possible to make necessary arrangements.
#7. 6:35:47 PM 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.
#8. REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
Item not held.
#9. 6:45:50 PM CONSIDER A MOTION TO ENTER INTO CLOSED SESSION, IN KEEPING WITH UTAH CODE §52-4-205(1)(c) TO DISCUSS PENDING OR REASONABLY IMMINENT LITIGATION. (CLOSED SESSION HELD IN ROOM 326)
Councilmember Garrott moved and Councilmember Adams seconded to enter into Closed Session to discuss pending or reasonably imminent litigation, pursuant to Utah Code provisions 52-4-205(1)(c), Utah Open and Public Meetings Law. A roll call vote was taken. Council Members Luke, Mendenhall, Garrott, Penfold, LaMalfa, Adams, and Rogers voted aye. See File M 14-2 for Sworn Statement.
In Attendance: Council Members Rogers, LaMalfa, Garrott, Mendenhall, Luke, Adams, and Penfold.
Others in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Margaret Plane, Russell Weeks, Jennifer Bruno, David Everitt, Marco Kunz, Catherine Brabson, Larry Bowers, Mayor Ralph Becker, and Scott Crandall.
The Closed Session adjourned at 7:15 p.m.
The Work Session adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
This document is not intended to serve as a full transcript as other items may have been discussed; 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 July 29, 2014.
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