The City Council met in Work Session on Tuesday, June 16, 2015, at 1:20 p.m. in Room 326, Committee Room, City County Building, 451 South State Street.
In Attendance: Council Members James Rogers, Erin Mendenhall, Charlie Luke, Kyle LaMalfa, Luke Garrott, Lisa Adams, and Stan Penfold.
Staff in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; Jennifer Bruno, Executive Council Deputy Director; David Everitt, Mayor’s Chief of Staff; Margaret Plane, City Attorney; Boyd Ferguson, Senior City Attorney; Russell Weeks, Council Senior Policy Analyst; Greg Davis, Public Services Finance Director; Mary Beth Thompson, Payroll/Accounting; Jill Love, Community and Economic Development Director; Mike Akerlow, Housing and Neighborhood Development Director; Lehua Weaver, Council Senior Public Policy Analyst; Sean Murphy, Council Public Policy Analyst; Libby Stockstill, Council Constituent Liaison/Budget Analyst; Nick Tarbet, Council Senior Public Policy Analyst; and Nicole Smedley, Assistant City Recorder.
Guests in Attendance: Terry Feveryear, Housing Authority Executive Director; Neil Lindberg, Council Legal Advisor; Philip Bernal, Housing Authority Board Chair; Palmer DePaulis, Housing Authority Vice Chair; Siobhan Locke, The Langdon Group; and Lindsey Ferrari, Wilkinson Ferrari and Company.
Councilmember Garrott presided at and conducted the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 1:20 p.m.
AGENDA ITEMS
#1. 1:22:36 PM HOLD A DISCUSSION ON ITEMS RELATED TO THE PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2015-16 ANNUAL BUDGET. Unresolved issues include all ideas Council Members have for altering the proposed budget. It could include restoring funding for a program that was proposed to be cut, or changing the number of employee positions a department is allotted. The Council reviews and discusses these kinds of potential changes during the "unresolved issues" portion of Council meetings in May and early June before taking action on the budget. Although the briefing will focus on unresolved items, any budget related matter may be discussed, including the budgets and ordinances associated with all enterprise funds and special funds subject to adoption by the Salt Lake City Council.
Jennifer Bruno, Lehua Weaver, Greg Davis, and Mary Beth Thompson briefed Council from attachments. Ms. Bruno said the Redevelopment Agency (RDA) revenue pass-through could not be excluded from the Fund Balance calculation this year. She said the RDA pass-through raised the 10% threshold level, and $1 million needed to be kept in Fund Balance to remain in good standing with credit agencies.
Council inquired about the change. Ms. Bruno said it was a ruling/mandate from the State Auditor’s office to recognize RDA tax increment as both a revenue source and expenditure to the RDA fund. She said the City’s credit rating would drop if they had anything less than 10% in Fund Balance.
STRAW POLLS:
Council support for Administration to seek additional funding in the upcoming Legislative Session to augment the Structural Safety Program as Council reduced funding to $50,000. The motion passed 4-2, Councilmember Luke was absent for the vote.
Council support to adopt legislative intent for a Sugar House fireworks cost allocation similar to Liberty/Jordan Parks, including an enhanced budget above $15,000 for Police and Public Services. The motion passed 4-2, Council Members Adams, Mendenhall, Rogers, and Penfold voted in favor. Council Members LaMalfa and Garrott were opposed. Councilmember Luke was absent for the vote.
Council support to schedule a discussion to consider an ordinance establishing a timeframe for responding to a Human Resources sustained complaint and setting parameters for violations of City Policy that rise to the level of termination. All Council Members present voted in favor. Councilmember Luke was absent for the vote.
Council support to adopt legislative intent for Administration to seek parking lot related uses for parking citation revenue. All Council Members voted in favor. Councilmember Luke was absent for the vote.
Council support to adopt legislative intent expressing support for the Downtown Clean Team. All Council Members voted in favor. Councilmember Luke was absent for the vote.
Council support to adopt legislative intent for Administration to develop an ordinance that would allow for cancelation of Citywide fireworks shows depending on air quality measurements. The motion passed 6-1, Council Members Adams, Mendenhall, Penfold, Garrott, Luke and LaMalfa voted in favor. Councilmember Rogers was opposed.
Council support adopting legislative intent formalizing Council’s request for a briefing and expectations from the Arts Council. All Council Members voted in favor.
Council support adopting legislative intent asking Administration to provide a report mid-year as to the progress of items added/enhanced to the FY 2015/2016 Budget by Council. All Council Members voted in favor.
Council support adopting legislative intent that the $50,000 funded for cost estimations be managed by Community and Economic Development for projects associated with Master Plans/City Council projects. Council asked that all proposed 5-year projects in Master Plans include a cost estimate. All Council Members voted in favor.
1:58:07 PM Ms. Bruno said the next section for review was the potential contingent appropriations for FY 2015-2016.
STRAW POLLS:
Council support for a firework ordinance, not a contingency appropriation. All Council Members voted in favor.
Council support for new funding for Pioneer Park events contingent upon a report advancing the cause of governance and alternative financing by the end of FY 2016 budget. The motion passed 6-1, Councilmember Luke was opposed.
Council support to make funding for all new positions in the Police Department (civilian and sworn) contingent upon the department using any new or freed-up staffing resources to provide for increased patrol coverage/bike patrol in neighborhoods. As part of the contingency, the Department would report back on: a) the average number of patrol officers assigned to neighborhood patrol during the previous determined time frame, along with reasons for any significant fluctuation in numbers; b) other relevant points of data to be determined by the Council, with input by the Police Department, based on a single, agreed-upon source of data for each. The motion passed 6-1, Councilmember LaMalfa was opposed.
Council support for the effectiveness of resources to be discussed at a later time. All Council Members voted in favor.
Council support making the additional Urban Forestry positions contingent on staff being assigned to all trees in the urban forest, including park strips as well as City property, increased education on property owner role in health/care for park strip trees, reporting on types of trees being planted (the Council encouraged broad canopy trees), and exploring a dedicated source of funding for future years. All Council Members voted in favor.
2:28:51 PM Ms. Bruno reviewed Legislative Intents from the previous year.
STRAW POLLS:
Council support for Administration to research options for third party management of the Community Improvement & Outreach Grant. Councilmember Penfold said he thought Administration felt comfortable administering the program in-house. Ms. Weaver said it was left in as an option and they could still choose to do it in-house. All Council Members voted in favor.
Council Support for Administration to research historic designation of City cemeteries. All Council Members voted in favor.
Council support for the Citizen’s Compensation Advisory Committee to include an evaluation of living wage in salary adjustments in addition to the work done for market comparisons tying a minimum wage to an economic indicators. All Council Members voted in favor.
Council support to remove 1% Operational Cuts. The motion passed 6-1, Councilmember LaMalfa was opposed.
Council Support to hold a briefing regarding the costs of services provided for Central Business District maintenance. All Council Members voted in favor.
2:35:23 PM Ms. Bruno said there were a series of fees in Community and Economic Development and Public Utilities that were delegated to the authority of the department director; usually for special events or youth/family programs. Discussion followed regarding transparency, cost recovery, some fees being a significant policy decision, all fees in the Consolidated Fee Schedule being adopted by Council, flexibility with policy standards, 60-days for Council to review changes, including guidance and parameters for delegation, Finance Department having analyzed every department’s fees, airport being allowed to delegate fees; Public Services delegating fees similar to the airport, and small events getting priced out in the civic process.
STRAW POLLS:
Council Support to pull the ordinance delegating fees from budget adoption tonight. The motion passed 4-3, Council Members Mendenhall, Penfold, Garrott, LaMalfa were in favor. Council Members Luke, Rogers, and Adams were opposed.
#2. 3:12:12 PM RECEIVE A BRIEFING ABOUT A RECENT STUDY THAT REVIEWED THE ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CITY’S HOUSING AUTHORITY AND THE COUNTY’S HOUSING AUTHORITY AND THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF A MERGER OF THE TWO ENTITIES. View Attachment
Sean Murphy, Mike Akerlow, Terry Feveryear, Philip Bernal, and Palmer DePaulis briefed the Council from attachments. Mr. Murphy said the study’s end result was to not merge the City Housing Authority and the County Housing authority. He said the study suggested merging the Section 8 Voucher Programs. He said the Housing Authority scheduled a retreat to discuss the Section 8 Voucher programs for June 29, 2015. Councilmember Garrott inquired about decision-making authority. Mr. Bernal said it would take the County and the City’s Housing Authority to make the final decision. Mr. DePaulis said the Council was invited to the retreat to keep informed.
Discussion followed regarding a meeting with the entire Housing Authority Board, Bonneville Research, Council/Housing and Neighborhood Development Staff, a regional authority to manage all vouchers for the City and County, the board creating a 3 to 5-year plan, merging the two housing authorities was not likely to result in cheaper, more efficient services, and the voucher merger worth looking into.
Councilmember Mendenhall inquired about the $1 million annual limit for any one entity. Ms. Feveryear said if the Authorities combined, they could only apply for $1 million dollars combined.
Councilmember LaMalfa inquired about Housing Authority guidelines. Discussion followed regarding master plans, Mayor’s office representation on the Housing Board, all affordable housing should not be on the Westside, low-income housing being in various locations across the City, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires the Housing Authority to do a 1 in 5-year plan, Housing Authority being obligated to work with Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) to produce plan, overall goal to provide affordable housing, family self-sufficiency programs, education and job training skills, first time homebuyers program, mixed income housing, RDA partnership to pick up affordable property on the Eastside, and long-term lease agreements.
Councilmember Mendenhall asked why the City had more Section 8 Vouchers than the County and the County had were Non-Section 8 Vouchers than the City. Ms. Feveryear said there are Regular Vouchers and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers. She said the City had more VASH Vouchers and the County, having more public housing units, had more Regular Vouchers.
#3. 3:46:15 PM A BRIEFING FROM THE ADMINISTRATION ABOUT ITS RECENT PUBLIC OUTREACH FOR THE PARKS, TRAILS AND OPEN SPACE INITIATIVE. An effort to explore a possible bond on the November ballot that would fund open space and outdoor recreation needs in the City. View Attachment
Lehua Weaver, Libby Stockstill, David Everitt, Boyd Ferguson, Siobhan Locke, and Lindsey Ferrari briefed Council from attachments. Mr. Everitt said outreach was in response to Council’s request for future uses of Glendale and Jordan River Golf Courses as well as other parks and open space needs.
Ms. Locke reviewed the public engagement process including two stakeholder workshops, eight open houses, Open City Hall survey, telephone interviews to 400 residents, door-to-door contact in the refugee community, Rose Park Community Festival, and the Living Traditions Festival. She said an interpreter was present at each event.
Ms. Locke said there was strong support for natural open spaces such as mountain biking, parks, and river sports. She said the public spoke about what they thought the City needed more of, such as connectivity and trails, expanded foothill trails, and disk golf. She said the public was concerned about taking care of what the City already had, completing trail connections, operations and maintenance costs over time, safety, and a secondary water investment.
Discussion regarding how secondary water was defined included ideas about secondary water being river or waste water that did not need to be treated to the level of culinary water, responsible management of water supply, proper infrastructure not being in place for secondary water, and difficulty of secondary water implementation being site-specific.
Ms. Locke reviewed the results of what types of space/amenities should replace Glendale Golf Course/Jordan River Par 3. She said wetlands/wildlife habitat and disc golf were in the top.
Councilmember Mendenhall asked why the two golf courses had similar results. Ms. Locke said they were provided the same options at each event for each golf course. Councilmember Mendenhall said going forward she requested results based on neighborhood needs keeping in mind amenities in surrounding areas. Ms. Locke said raw data was broken up by district.
Ms. Ferrari said the telephone poll was broken up evenly between districts. She said there was strong support for parks, trails & open space. She said the public understood the value and wanted the City to invest and residents were willing to pay for enhancements.
Mr. Everitt said the Administration was compiling a list of projects that would best meet resident needs/desires. He reviewed evaluation criteria such as compatibility, livability, feasibility, and affordability. He said they would continue to receive feedback from the community through Open City Hall and submit a package to Council in early July.
Councilmember Luke asked if there was a group that was going to run a campaign in favor of this. Mr. Everitt said the City could not engage in advocacy, only education. He said they did not have a clear linkage to any group that would be an advocate as of yet.
Councilmember LaMalfa said other cities were ahead of Salt Lake regarding open space and felt it was time to catch up with the rest of Utah.
#4. 4:45:06 PM INTERVIEW JUSTIN NEVILLE PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION OF HIS APPOINTMENT TO THE HOUSING ADVISORY AND APPEALS BOARD. (ITEM H1)
Councilmember Garrott said Mr. Neville’s name was on the Consent Agenda for formal consideration.
#5. 4:48:19 PM INTERVIEW ANNE OLIVER PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION OF HER APPOINTMENT TO THE SALT LAKE CITY & COUNTY BUILDING CONSERVANCY AND USE COMMITTEE. (ITEM H2)
Councilmember Garrott said Ms. Oliver’s name was on the Consent Agenda for formal consideration.
#6. 4:50:01 PM INTERVIEW HEATHER WILSON PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION OF HER APPOINTMENT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION. (ITEM H3)
Councilmember Garrott said Ms. Wilson’s name was on the Consent Agenda for formal consideration.
#7. 4:51:25 PM INTERVIEW ANDRES PAREDES PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION OF HIS APPOINTMENT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION. (ITEM H4)
Councilmember Garrott said Mr. Paredes’s name was on the Consent Agenda for formal consideration.
#8. 5:00:10 PM A BRIEFING ON A PROPOSED ORDINANCE THAT WOULD ENACT TEMPORARY LAND USE REGULATIONS FOR FACILITIES THAT PROVIDE END OF LIFE CARE AND RESPITE CARE, AS REGULATED IN THE SALT LAKE CITY ZONING ORDINANCE (Title 21A)(Item F2) View Attachment
Nick Tarbet and Neil Lindberg briefed Council from attachments. Mr. Tarbet said the ordinance added an End of Life Care and Respite Care definition to the Assisted Living Facility definition. He said it excluded Assisted Living Facilities, End of Life Care, and Respite Facilities from the Eleemosynary Facility definition. He said it would add a maximum occupancy of twenty-five for Assisted Living Facilities in the Institutional Zone.
Councilmember Adams inquired about facilities that already had more than twenty-five residents. Mr. Lindberg said the motion sheet included language for facilities established prior to June 12, 2015 not being subject to the occupancy limit.
Councilmember LaMalfa asked what an eleemosynary facility was. Ms. Gust-Jenson said the category was established for facilities like the Ronald McDonald House where families stayed, not patients. Mr. Lindberg said the proposed ordinance added an additional condition (assisted living facility licensing from the State) not prohibit existing facilities.
#9. 8:15:11 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.
See File M 15-5 for announcements.
#10. REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
No discussion was held.
#11. 5:05:09 PM CONSIDER A MOTION TO ENTER INTO CLOSED SESSION, IN KEEPING WITH UTAH CODE §52-4-205 FOR ANY ALLOWED PURPOSE.
Councilmember LaMalfa moved and Councilmember Mendenhall seconded to enter into Closed Session to discuss Attorney-Client matters that are privileged pursuant to Utah Code §78B-1-137, and discussion of the character, professional competence, or physical or mental health of an individual §52-4-205(1)(a). A roll call vote was taken. All Council Members voted in favor, except for Councilmember Garrott who was absent for the vote.
See File M 15-2 for Sworn Statement.
In Attendance: Council Members Lisa Adams, Erin Mendenhall, Stan Penfold, James Rogers, Charlie Luke and Kyle LaMalfa.
Others in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; Jennifer Bruno, Executive Council Deputy Director; Margaret Plane, City Attorney; Jill Love, Community and Economic Development Director; Mary DeLaMare-Schaefer, Community and Economic Development Deputy Director; Nora Shepard, Planning Director; Paul Nielson, Senior City Attorney; Sean Murphy, Council Public Policy Analyst; Neil Lindberg, Legal Council; and Nick Tarbet, Senior Public Policy Analyst.
The Work Session meeting adjourned at 5:06 p.m.
The Closed Session adjourned at 5:40 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 June 16, 2015.
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