Video Description:
City Council Joint Meeting With State Legislators – January 24, 2022
Note: The following is the output of transcribing from a video recording. Although the transcription, which was done with software, is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or [software] transcription errors. It is posted as an aid to understanding the proceedings at the meeting, but should not be treated as an authoritative record.
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Unknown Speaker 0:01
24th 2022 City Council joint meeting with state legislators. This joint meeting of the Longmont City Council in our state legislators is now in session. The meeting is being live streamed for information about where to view the live stream, please go to www dot Longmont colorado.gov forward slash agendas, there will be only one opportunity for public comment at the end of the meeting. And instructions for calling in will be displayed on screen when it is time for public comment. You can see the screen up now and the number that you need to call in is 888-788-0099. Please enter the meeting ID 82879839401 and press the pound sign. Please kill them mute the video the sound on your computer when you call in. I would like now to invite Sandy cedar, our assistant city manager to introduce the legislators and get the meeting started. Thank you so much, Mayor Peck.
Unknown Speaker 1:13
i My name is Sandy cedar. I’m the assistant city manager and also the city’s Legislative Affairs person. So I’m the lobbyist for the City Council and help to connect our legislators with our city council members. So I’d love to introduce our city. Our representatives tonight we have representative Burnett, as well as representative McCormick. I was not able to confer with Senator Hopkins Louis. But if she’s able to join, hopefully she can jump in at some point as we go. So what I’d like to start with though, is I would love to hear a little bit about the legislative initiatives that Representative Burnett and Representative McCormack are running this session. So if it works for you all, we’ll start with Representative McCormick.
Unknown Speaker 1:57
Great, you caught me off guard. I thought you’re going out medical No, no, that’s
Unknown Speaker 2:00
good. Glad representative Burnett finish your dinner. She was still.
Unknown Speaker 2:06
Well, thank you, Sandy. And thank you, Mayor packin all our wonderful council members. It’s great to sort of see you. So I just so people that are listening, understand like which area I cover. The House District 11 Is my house district and it’s a large part of Longmont, not all of it. And then it heads west to lions Allen’s Park, and also picks up nyuad. And that’s how it will be for the rest of this year. Until we districting gets put into play in 2023. So that’s that’s my house district. And a lot of things, it seems like the legislative session kind of gets off to a slow start, as the hundreds of bills that everyone has been working on throughout the summer and fall, start to get into the system. It takes a while for them to be introduced, assigned to committee start to be heard and committee. So it seems like the train is just starting to chug along and get up to speed. But meanwhile, we have spent last weekend this week in our smart hearing acts which are the the hearings where we have accountability reports from the different departments in our state government report to the various committees of reference that relate to their their area. So last week, we had a very long day and the agriculture livestock and water committee listening to the reports from the Department of Agriculture here in the state as well as the Department of Natural Resources. And it was a very informative meeting, even though it was long, it was really great to hear all the great work that they’re doing at the state and the implementation of many of the bills that we passed last session with some of the stimulus money that was put to really good, good use through those departments. So that’s kind of what’s happening right now. I will I don’t know how much time I have. I can touch on some of the bills that I’m I failed to ask you that Sandy. Beginning. How much time do you want me to go?
Unknown Speaker 4:38
Because I would say How about maybe five minutes with kind of your major initiatives? Yes. Great. Representative
Unknown Speaker 4:45
will have countless. Oh, sounds good. So um, some of the things that I’m working on I was on a water resources review committee this summer. And out of that committee is a bill that it’s I’m not carrying it per se but It was part of our committee initiative to help the Republican River Valley and the San Luis Valley, areas of our state with Water Compact compliance and to help aquifer restoration in the southwest part of our state really, really important measure. So be on the lookout for that to come come down the line. I’m working on a bill to help occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech therapists who have used Equine Assisted Therapy. Yes, that’s horses for 40 years or more it with their clients scenario, Practice Act. And I and it just so happens that it starting in the house and I just so happened to be the only veterinarian down there. So that’s really exciting, that I am helping to craft the, the renewal of our profession, there are some amendments that are coming forward, we also have an exciting thing happened are not a recognized profession, but want to be. And so we are working very hard. It’s a pretty big deal to bring the veterinary technicians in to the veterinary practice act. And we have a lot of veterinary practices and veterinary technicians in law and law. So they are going to be hearing about this. I have a bill that I’m working with with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to help and this came forward from Marty Moore from Out Boulder County to have a way for better data collection for the LGBTQ plus community. So that we can better data drives better outcomes, as we know, and so we need better data to help with better health outcomes in this area, and so we’re working closely with cdphp to figure out how to do that. And that’s a bill that’s going to be coming forward. I’m also working with the Department of Agriculture with a bill that will help with resources and implementation of the very big lift the farmworkers bill that we carried last year, just to help get resources both to workers and employers on the implementation and training of heat, heat stress there ergonomics of hand weeding, overtime rules and all of that that is new information. We want to make it easier on them. And that’s that’s just a few so I’ll stop there and look forward to any discussion or questions.
Unknown Speaker 7:45
Thank you so much for presenting McCormick sounds like quite a full plate already even though we’re only a couple of weeks in. Representative Burnett, would you be willing to
Unknown Speaker 7:55
oh boy, yes. I want to say it’s so it’s wonderful working with rep McCormick. We have such a great group out of the legislature. So I just had to say that first of all, I represent the sort of eastern part of Longmont that it’s it runs through directly from the ute Creek Golf Course area in the northeast part of Longmont down diagonally to Creekside and includes prospect but you know, basically that’s that it kind of does is jaggedy line through Longmont and I have to say I’m running for reelection at 12 minutes redistricted and I will not be in Longmont next time. It kills me but so, rep McCormick is if we both get elected, then rep. McCormick will represent all of Longmont so but you know, my heart my heart’s with Longmont. So I so first of all, I do have to say that my district right now does include the marshal fire victims in Lewisville and part of Lafayette and so I’ve been this is, you know, well, many people were celebrating on New Year’s Eve, I was on the phone to all sorts of state officials helping helping residents with the evacuation and and recovery effort on university information technology projects, and we evaluate them from a technical standpoint. So I’m going through many days of hearings, making, really making sure that these projects are technically viable, that they’re well planned. And also, we’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars. And so we’re making sure making recommendations on what you know what ranking on all these wonderful projects, you know, it no anyway, what you know, rank them in terms of whether viable and whether we recommend they’d be funded. So that’s been a lot of my work. But, of course, I’ve been working on bills, so I’ll run down through those pretty quickly. My big bill is, is still going through a little bit of sausage making process. Before it’s introduced, it’s an air quality and ozone. Air quality improvement though. And as you all know, especially here in Longmont, we’ve had a real problem with ozone we are, the front range is about to be downgraded for the fifth time for ozone nonattainment. And this is this the wildfires that we’ve had over the last several years has only exacerbated the problem, we have an ozone problem anyway. And many of you might know that my son really died of asthma when he was a toddler, and I have asthma. In fact, I have to check the ozone levels before I go out and do my runs, because I’ve had to scrap a lot of work out. So this is really near and dear to my heart. So what this bill is, is focusing on improving the ozone air quality by looking at better modeling of emission sources. My air quality monitoring, permitting, reporting to the public enforcement, all those things, I’ve been talking to a lot of scientists, and people who really know what’s going on in this area to formulate something that will make a difference. Sorry, my phone, I forgot to put my phone in the other room there. So I’ll keep talking. But there’s an environmental justice component to it. And like I said, improved reporting to the public. I think this is something that many people have really wanted to see is improved a reporting public. It also sets up the framework for other air quality kind of legislations. Representative Kennedy is running a bill on top this focusing on toxic air pollutants like benzene. And so the my bill is providing a framework under which and other air quality bills can can fit in there. One of the other bills I’m running one of the big bills is a advanced energy codes for buildings. And this this has been pretty widely
Unknown Speaker 12:21
talked about so far. And it’s okay, so here’s the deal. Every single the state has to define model energy, minimum energy codes for communities, but each community, each city, each county, then adopts those codes, and enforces them. So this is this is not new, we did this in 2007. And again, I think there’s in 2018. And it’s time to update these codes. And what I really like about this is that they’re really forward looking. And we’re looking at three different codes. The first one, which cities would and counties would have to adopt by 2025. Looks at the latest IECC codes from 2021. And includes that the building codes for both commercial residential buildings must be electric vehicle ready, heat pump ready, solar ready. And these codes are going to be developed by the Colorado Energy Office. Okay, so that’s by 2025. Then in 2030, there’ll be model energy codes that require communities to to adopt near zero carbon codes. And by that I mean if you have an all electric building, it’s near zero in terms of carbon, except for the carbon that is produced by the utilities that that’s generating that electricity. So it’s near zero carbon. But I look at this bill as the Colorado way it says not banning gas at all. There are multiple has to the near zero carbon. So if residents or businesses want to have gas in their building, they can do that. It requires that there be an accommodation for or an accounting that the carbon is accounted for in a different way the carbon that’s used to that you’re burning by using gas is accounted for, say by more energy efficiency, or by solar panels or some other and so on. I’ll get a little wonky here but well That’s that’s the that’s the second of the codes. The third one is a voluntary code. This is for communities who really want to go beyond these other two codes and look at things like indoor air, its green code, indoor air quality, water conservation, all sorts of things like that. So it’s a voluntary code. So that’s, that’s my number two, Bill. And I’ll quickly go through the other three. Okay, another one is grid resilience. This is requiring the Colorado Energy Office to look at grid resilience. And by that I mean, resilience and reliability, everything from wildfires, just squirrels can cause a disruption in our grid, and saying, starting from that, and looking at the grid resilience of our, our state, and then identifying what are those critical facilities? And of course, you think of hospitals, but also grocery stores and senior centers and other things. And then what are those critical areas of our of the of the state that are more vulnerable to grid disruption, electric grid disruption, and then from there? To figure out if and how micro grids electric micro micro grids like think solar panels will storage? How micro grids fit in and can make the grid more resilient. This is technology agnostic, developer agnostic. And, and it’s also so there’s room for everybody. So it’s basically a study bill and a roadmap. And I can get into more details. But there’s a lot of excitement about this bill.
Unknown Speaker 16:57
Two more, I’ll just talk very quickly about one of them was I actually was working with the St. Vrain Valley School District. And this is an education procurement bill that basically saves school districts money and protects student data privacy. And, you know, I’m going to leave it at that because it you know, cuz I know people have questions and things like that. They final bill is basically modernizing some grant and loan programs to foster community investments in energy efficiency, and resilience and clean heat and just transition. So that’s kind of it in a nutshell. I think I’ve talked plenty.
Unknown Speaker 17:44
Well, thank you so much representative for that, you know, I would say that for the City Council on many of their priorities at the same things that you were talking around, you know, around energy, resilience, and around, you know, equity and saw the equity piece with the better data collection for LGBTQ better building codes that you’re speaking or say, you’re speaking very close to our heart. In my mind, I did have one quick question. Representative Burnett, one thing that I had heard around the air quality piece was, will you be focusing any on oil and gas air quality monitoring specifically, in Longmont, we certainly do a lot of air quality monitoring. And so we pay for that, and it does seem like perhaps the state is a little underfunded in their own monitoring of it. So I thought I’d at least ask the question.
Unknown Speaker 18:28
Um, yeah, well, okay, so any, my bill is focused, not just not just let me put it this way. It’s focused on sources that contribute to our ozone problem. Okay, and includes minor sources. So it’s looking at modeling, you know, we, I don’t know, if you, if you recall, there was a whistleblower report back in the spring that, you know, okay, nothing fraudulent was done. I want to make sure that people understand that nothing fraudulent was done. But it looked to me, okay, I’m an engineer. I looked at that and said, Hmm, you know, looks like we could tighten up that modeling process. So that’s really where that that really is. what spurred me to take a deeper dive at this.
Unknown Speaker 19:19
Okay. I’d love to introduce the city council. I have them introduce themselves and ask any questions that they may have. So, Mayor, would you like to go first?
Unknown Speaker 19:31
Well, I have a couple of questions, but I would actually like for the other counselors to weigh in first, but I do want to make a I should have written a fast email. Councilwoman Hidalgo fairing was going to come in late is there anybody watching to see if she’s trying to I just want to put that in. She was living
Unknown Speaker 19:51
in is going to text me when she was ready. But let me just double check my email to just to make sure
Unknown Speaker 19:56
Okay, is there anybody on council that would like to go first on q&a. Councilman Martin
Unknown Speaker 20:13
you’re muted. Marsha. my spacebar doesn’t work unless I press it really hard. Um, let’s see. So I’m on your I think it was your number two Bill representative Burnett, that which was about the building codes. Is that correct? Yes. Longmont is also working on sustainable building codes, specifically for electrification. And, of course, it’s it the recommendations of the electrification committee aren’t out yet. But it’s looking to me like one month timeline is going to be faster than the state’s timeline, which is not unusual. But I wanted to make sure that that the state legislation is not going to pose obstacles to municipalities that want to be ahead of the curve, and that we are going to continue to have local control about how soon you know, electrification, readiness, all electric, etc, is going to happen. I’m glad you asked that question. In fact, Lafayette, I mean, Lewisville has already adopted the 2021 codes. So, you know, so there’s, you know, there’s definitely a a very strong interest, especially here in Boulder County to do that. The model codes will be published, I believe in about six months before that. So but this is a stakeholder, you know, codes are very, they’re, you know, they’re very complicated. And so I think that there’ll be quite the stakeholder process with the Colorado Energy Office. And so I think that there’ll be plenty of opportunity for that communication. So when you said the codes will be published about six months before that before what I mean, since for offset before in like, mid 2024. Okay, sorry about that. So what happens to cities that have already adopted codes, the 21 codes and 22 or 23? Well, you’re ahead of the game. That Yeah, well, that’s how they are, is that going to become an impediment? When the state says, produces guidelines?
Unknown Speaker 22:47
Uh,
Unknown Speaker 22:49
you know, what? I I’d have to I don’t believe so. I think this is this will support what you’re doing. But let’s take that offline. Because I don’t want to answer you know, I would not want to miss answer the question. Let me put it that way. So let’s take that offline. And I will get you an answer on that.
Unknown Speaker 23:07
Thank you.
Unknown Speaker 23:11
Is there anyone else that would like to jump in here? Well, in that case, I’ll ask my questions. First of all, Rep. McCormick Karen, I would like to tell you that I really like the sunset review bill that you are proposing to get the the professions the veterinarian technicians into your act. I think that they absolutely need to be part of this this sunset, this act that that is going to sunset, the veterinary practice act. So kudos for doing that. Yeah. Well,
Unknown Speaker 23:48
I can add to that, because what happened is the the Colorado Association of Certified veterinary technicians, it’s a organized group here in our state, and there are certified veterinary technicians that have to achieve a level of schooling and pass a national exam that do work in our state. And then there are of course, folks that have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill in on the job training over the years. So what has happened is the the veterinary technicians that are certified, went to the Department of regulatory agencies and said, We want a sunrise review and so I just learned what sunset and sunrise were. They want to have their potential profession looked at to see if they could be eligible to become a regulated profession. So there was a whole year long study of the veterinary technicians with their input, and they produced a sunrise report in October. along with the sunset report from the veterinary community, and because we all get along so well, we have been working both with the veterinary technician community in the veterinarian community. And we’re, we’re attempting to take the sunrise report and make it into an amendment to amend into the sunset report, that sunset draft bill for the veterinary practice act. So I, my analogy is we’re making a really wonderful sandwich. And there are all these different parts to the sandwich that are critical to elevate the profession and guide the profession for the next 10 years and also give folks working as veterinary technicians that may not be certified a pathway to become certified. But also, we’re not leaving anyone out of the profession, if they don’t want to become certified. They’ve been working, and are extremely qualified and skilled, and they’ve been in that field for 20 years, they do not have to become certified, they can continue to work, they just at some point in time, and that’s in the bill, they won’t be able to call themselves a veterinary technician, they may have to call themselves a veterinary assistant or something else because the veterinary technicians want title protection once they get there, but we can’t afford to. To force anybody out of this profession, we are at a extreme shortage across our state and across the nation. And so anything that we can do to elevate and promote all levels of the profession is what we’re trying to do. So it will get we’ll have the report from Dora next Monday in that the agriculture livestock and Water Committee, which I’m the chair of, and that’ll be the kind of the first public step. So thank you, Mayor pack, because I’m, as you can tell, I’m really excited about I’m so super proud of my profession. And it’s just a thrill to be there and such an honor to be able to it just kind of luck that it all happen right now.
Unknown Speaker 27:15
And your passion shows, I’m really fortunate to have somebody in that area of expertise, because they have to be represented. And I just thank you for your service. This is
Unknown Speaker 27:29
It’s a quiet, it’s a quiet profession to guys. Not that many of us. But we are critical or critical to our $40 billion ag animal industry here in our state. And so it’s really important that we get this right, because once we do it, it’s it’s set for 10 years. It’s kind of like a census. You don’t get another go at it for 10 years.
Unknown Speaker 27:53
Help. Thank you very much. So and then going to Representative Bennett, Burnett, I’m sorry, got that totally screwed up. Sorry, Tracy. I’m on your ozone, air quality bill. I think this is a great bill. I’m really excited about it. But my concern is who is the oversight for this, if it passes, who would be the oversight to make sure that it’s being followed, because I am a little concerned that SB 181 doesn’t have much oversight. And annually, you know, this is only one year into that bill. And we’d really don’t know where to go with it as far as you’re not following it. So for me, it is after it passes, who do we contact? Who do we work with? If it isn’t met the code or the gold or the bill isn’t met? I am so glad you asked that question. And like I said, the bill is still being drafted.
Unknown Speaker 29:03
But
Unknown Speaker 29:04
I am talking to people who have been on the frustrations side of that issue. So I’ll leave it at that. I’m talking to us as scientists and people, you know, community members and people who are really concerned about that. So yeah, and I agree with you that it is not just oil and gas, even though that’s a huge component. And I want to thank you for the bill you ran last year about the methane that’s being produced from cement and hitting all sources. I think it’s great. The other thing, I love the Advanced Energy Codes for buildings and the opportunity for us to with your bills for us to move further on our goals of 100% renewable or just stuff, just cleaning up our environment and giving developers builders and the city the opportunity to to help all of us move forward. So, yeah, I, you know, I look at buildings, that’s the hardest nut to crack it is terms of, and it’ll take the longest time to decarbonize. That’s why, you know, as a new representative, that’s why I wanted to focus on buildings. And I think that it’s also really important if we want to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. That means that we have to start in our homes, in our businesses with how we heat our food, how we heat our buildings, how we heat our water. And so and along the line, I just have to say, it’s so important that we make sure that everybody is brought along on that path to sustainable infrastructure, the future. And so every single bill that I look at in this area, I have an equity lens, looking at disproportionately impacted communities, and also people who are lower on the income scale that is core to my being. Thank you. That’s exactly where I think we need to start to with the lower 20% and build up because the the higher economic scale can usually afford to do things for their homes, and we cannot leave everybody has to be included. Well, that’s it. I think, if I think of another comment, I’ll definitely speak up. And it is
Unknown Speaker 31:37
Eric, I probably should have switched these around and had council members introduce themselves as well before this, but I was so excited to get right into the meat. So I’m wondering if we could have our council members just give a wave and introduce themselves and looking on my screen. I know that Marsha was able to wave and say hello, and of course you so I’m wondering if councilmember Yarbro could introduce yourself to our representatives.
Unknown Speaker 32:04
Hello, thank you for meeting with us this evening. And she kita Yarborough so thanks again. Good to see you.
Unknown Speaker 32:14
Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem Rodriguez.
Unknown Speaker 32:18
Hello, representatives. It’s good to see you again. As always, I know we’ve seen each other a few times and spoken a few times. And I will have a question, but I’ll let the other council members or at least remaining council member introduce speaking.
Unknown Speaker 32:33
That would be me, I suppose. Yeah, you got Tracy and Karen, good to see you both. I won’t have questions. I just say thank you for your service and say, go for it. Good luck of this next election
Unknown Speaker 32:46
cycle. I don’t think you’re going to need good luck. I know you’re both well prepared, and you’ve done a great job.
Unknown Speaker 32:55
Thank you, Councilmember waters, I would love for Mayor Pro Tem Rodriguez to go ahead and ask his question. Mirror pic. I just checked everything. And I haven’t heard anything yet from councilmember Hidalgo fair. So I’ll just we’ll keep watching for her though.
Unknown Speaker 33:07
Thank you. Okay, I was just wondering, thank you very much for giving us a rundown on the bills that you both are will be running or at least plan on running in the coming session. I know how they have to go through, you know, committee and all that. And looking forward to seeing how that all goes. What I am curious about is I think we’re all very well aware of the problems that many of the communities on the Front Range face as far as our unhoused populations are concerned. And so just wondering if you know, of any particular legislature, because, you know, I tend to be of the feeling that we’re going to need a more regional approach, even if not a statewide approach, knowing that likely the federal government’s not going to be able to come together and do anything about it. So I’m just wondering if there’s anything you’ve heard from colleagues about, you know, maybe some strategies that they look at running Mills on.
Unknown Speaker 34:02
Council, Republican, Sandy take over. Care.
Unknown Speaker 34:14
Yeah, I just wanted to let you know that actually tomorrow, we plan to hear from the very critical task forces that were working this summer. One was the Housing Task, Task Force that’s really hard to say Task Force, the Behavioral Health Task Force, the Workforce Development Task, Task Force, I don’t know I’m having trouble and economic recovery. So tomorrow, we get to finally hear and I was not privileged to be on any of those task forces. But what we get to hear tomorrow is kind of what is coming out Have those task force’s what are their, their key items that they have distill down to work into potential bills, pieces of legislation to move forward. So maybe we can catch up with you once we kind of get get the Cliff Notes on that. I do know that Representative bass Necker and Representative Hooten are working on that, especially representative Hooton has been instrumental in, in mobile home park residents, rights and protections and Representative bass Necker is bringing forth a bill this year, that I don’t know the details about, but again, it’s to help with those in mobile home parks, potentially with some of the protections that they have desperately needed. So love to get back to you on what we learn. Tracy, if you know of anything in particular, please share.
Unknown Speaker 36:06
I think you did a great job. I just like to say that the ARPA money that we that we got us a state last year, we use some of it to stabilize our budget. We’ve spent some of it for immediate impact. But we held back a lot for those four important areas, affordable housing, behavioral health, workforce development and economic development. So there’s been many members have been working very hard on that. So I just want to I’m really looking forward to that because I think there’s such a serious need in all those areas, especially fordable housing and behavioral health.
Unknown Speaker 36:50
Thank you so much for that. Mayor peck at councilmember Hidalgo fairing just joined us. So councilmember dog fairing, if you’d like to introduce yourself, feel free to jump on and say hello.
Unknown Speaker 37:03
Hi, good evening. I’m councilmember Susie. They’ll go Perry. I was at the library board meeting. So I had to split my time here. But thanks for for letting me in.
Unknown Speaker 37:17
And councilmember daga, for I know, you’re just jumping in, we’ve just been talking about energy and building codes. And since it review processes, some of the ARPA funding and the priorities for the state. So if you have any questions, feel free to just jump on in and ask anything you would like at this point? All right. meritech. If there aren’t any other questions, I do have a couple things that have come up that are of concern for city staff that we are hearing might be coming along. And so we just wanted to mention a couple of things if that’s alright with you.
Unknown Speaker 37:50
Can I just add on what I was going to ask Representative Burnett, and I forgot in your building code. Bill, are you going to include schools in that our school districts because they have such huge buildings? And the opportunity to elect or do elect for electrification of school buildings would be huge. Any residential or commercial building that requires a building permit. So talking new buildings, as well as major renovations that require a building permit will be included in this. Thank you. That’s all I had Sandy.
Unknown Speaker 38:32
Great, thanks. So a couple of things that city staff are just concerned around. Part of this that I kind of mentioned during the air quality discussion was around co GCC and air monetary air quality monitoring for older wells didn’t know if there was going to be any legislation coming up around, you know, ones that are not subject to new regulations. And so just curious if there was anything that you’re hearing on that front? That’s well,
Unknown Speaker 39:00
as you know, this is a little bit of a sausage making process right now. But the governor Governor polis has, has put in his budget requests, significant invest requests and significant investments in air quality in several different buckets. One of them is in improving the air monitoring, with aerial monitoring, with mobile units, and also improving the I think there’s 42 stationary monitors around the state. So that’s one request and other one is significantly increasing the number of employees at the health department that we’ll be looking at monitoring and modeling and things like that. And there’s also a Yeah, I can’t remember how many how many employees but I know that the air quality but budget request is about $7 million. And then there’s another almost $13 million budget request actually just reviewed it literally just the other day. It’s it’s to upgrade the information technology systems that is used for permitting, for reporting, for enforcement, all those kinds of things that we all care about the it’s an almost $13 million investment in information technology right now, a lot of that permitting process is manual, paper manual. So So actually, this is I’m delighted that the the governor is is looking at it modernizing that. And this will not be shared only with the health department, but across departments like the Colorado oil and gas commission and, and the Colorado Energy Office are actually even talking about things like having a place for all the, you know, for collecting all the data on greenhouse gas emissions. So yeah, lots of stuff going on. Thank you, I
Unknown Speaker 41:16
was just gonna add to that. And I know, Rob Burnett kind of knows about this as well, but that there were some efforts to bring forth a bill to address the plugging of old and abandoned wells, and to do so with potentially better advanced materials and technologies. And so I had a couple of meetings with CO GCC about this idea of using biochar and certain cement mixes to use as a material for the plugging of wells, there is research across the world, and it’s being started in Tennessee as well, that this mixture could potentially be more durable, last much, much longer, and be more absorptive not only within the well, but also in the ground, around the well for absorbing these toxic materials. At this point in time, the CEO so there’s not a bill coming this year. At this point in time, they are looking into the feasibility of doing a pilot study, and trying to determine what the parameters of that study might be, what would be the best way to even measure outcomes, and so kind of nebulous at this point. But I was pretty excited when I heard about the whole idea of using biochar in this in this way. And we’ll be following up with them in late spring as they come forward with what they’ve learned at that point.
Unknown Speaker 43:08
That’s great. It’s wonderful to hear some of the new technology and the new investments that are being proposed, because we definitely think they’re needed. Yeah. One other one that came from our HR department was the Equal Pay Act. So what we’ve noticed is that since the Equal Pay Act has gone into play, that rules that were promulgated by the Department of Labor may not be consistent necessarily with what the law was was aimed towards and so didn’t know if you’d heard anybody potentially bringing in some cleanup legislation around that act.
Unknown Speaker 43:43
I’m not aware of anything but the the first bills just for read over just in the last couple days. So I guess include, we’ll keep our eyes out for that.
Unknown Speaker 43:53
I, I have not either, but Sandy, I would love to know more specifics about where the mismatches are where what exactly might need to be cleaned up with CDLA with their rulemaking. So if you if you’ve seen that, please shoot us an email and let us know what you’re looking at and where the discrepancies may be so that we can be following that or look into that. That would
Unknown Speaker 44:21
be great. I’d be happy to send you some follow up information.
Unknown Speaker 44:24
And I just like to point out to as you see bills being read over, please reach out to us if you see concerns. I and you know the way things work, bills read over then it’s gone into committee. If we are not on that committee, we do not see it until it gets on the on the floor. And by then it’s it’s really far along in the process. So let us know as soon as possible. If you see a problem with the Vilks, we really because then we can talk to the bill sponsors directly. When there’s a lot more To fix anything,
Unknown Speaker 45:03
thank you so much for that invitation, the way that we I know every municipality is a little different. The way that we do it in Longmont is that I read the bills for municipal significance, and then send that out to our staff to either determine whether I’m right or maybe not right, then we bring the bills that we think are either significantly good or significantly not good for long route, we bring those to the city council and they vote on those for an official position. We try to do that in like a one week turnaround. Now we’ve made some changes, thanks to council member Martin so that we’re trying to do that in the same week, so that as they’re hitting committee, we’re able to analyze and take a look at it. So we have kind of a rolling process with city council. So you’ll hear from me and email just like you did last year, when you see those bills coming through. And we do try to take that that job very seriously. So we’re not going to come on to every single thing. But the things that are significant to us, you will absolutely hear from us just as soon as I can get it out. Yeah, and in fact, one of those bills that we’re hearing about is the collective bargaining bill for municipal employees. And I haven’t seen a drop yet. But in case you did not know, the city of Longmont, as part of our charter has an amendment for collective bargaining for public safety staff. And so it’s our understanding that, that this bill may try to assert all of those agreements that are currently in place. And that would be really harmful for Longmont and obviously, take away years and years of work that we’ve been working with our public safety unions on. And so just just toss that out there that I haven’t seen the final bill draft, but if it is as overtaking as it sounds, then that’s something that our voters voted on our charter that allows our collective bargaining the way that it’s set up. And so we certainly wouldn’t want to invalidate their their votes with something that’s coming down from the state. So
Unknown Speaker 46:52
that’s good to know. And I know they’re still working on that, because the feedback just like that, so it is good to know. And I do want you to know how much I appreciate your emails when they come in, and you have your, you know, your bullet points of the particular bill. So thank you so much. And thank you to council for your work when you look at these bills and study them in such short measure and get your word back to us. It’s very, very helpful. So thank you.
Unknown Speaker 47:23
Thank you, Councilmember Hidalgo. Frank, did you want to add something?
Unknown Speaker 47:27
Yeah. And actually, that was one of the ones when Representative Burnett had mentioned something about, you know, expressing concerns or input on on bills. I was going to bring that that up. So for us in the US. So my understanding was it essentially codifies the right for public sector employees to unionize. Is that, is that accurate? Is that? You know, what is your understanding of the bill? One thing I did learn, though, is that the senator Finberg, was wanting to remove the K 12 employees from the bill. You know, for us, that would be that would not be a good in the public in the public education realm. So I know that some public sector sector groups are looking at this bill favor really? Well, you know, as I’m hearing public safety is not necessarily looking at this as a favorable move. So, you know, I’d like to, to get some more background in that, you know, at a later date. But, um, but as far as, you know, pulling public educators out of that, what was the rationale? Do you know?
Unknown Speaker 48:46
What I what I, my understanding, is that the point A month ago, anyway, so who knows where it’s at now? Yeah, is that if there were, if you were already involved in any group that has a union, that it would not affect what you presently have in place, and it also would not mandate unions to form what it would do is allow for the pathway for a group of public sector workers that wanted to, to be able to move towards that pathway where they could be recognized. But it would not automatically create a whole bunch of unions in that respect, and it and it was not supposed to interfere with existing unions and their ability to exist as they are. So again, that was my so then.
Unknown Speaker 49:43
So then in that respect, it would not negatively or have any impact at all to what we’re doing with our public safety. It shouldn’t. It shouldn’t. So and then, as far as the public educators, though, I know that there are several districts in the state who you meet and confer. So they do not have enough, I think the 50%. So the 50% threshold to even have a contract. In doing so by removing that subgroup of people from the bill, it will have a detrimental impact on people who, who just don’t have that ability to be able to collectively bargain for their for their contracts. So, you know, I think, you know, that’s something that kind of needs to be to be mentioned, as well.
Unknown Speaker 50:30
And councilmember had dug a fairing. As soon as I see that bill, we’ll be reviewing it for all of those aspects and being bringing it to you, because I think it is still shifting and changing. It is. Okay. You know, certainly burn is the is the right for public employees to be able to strike, which is not something that we currently allow with our public safety contracts for the because it’s public safety. We have lots of employees that are in that in that boat. And it was my understanding this last time that it actually did override existing contracts. So that’s, I’ll look for that specifically, because you just never know, right? So you see the bill? You know, you don’t know. So as soon as it drops,
Unknown Speaker 51:07
that we know, and I know, are you from our union in order to well, if we did strike, we did have to be the vote of the members. So if the members shut it down, we would not move forward with that. So there are, you know, several processes, and that’s kind of the last resort, we’d never want to go straight for burning burning that bridge. And then another one that I wanted to ask about, and I don’t know if this was mentioned earlier, my apologies for coming in at least. Are there any bills moving forward as far as strengthening tenant rights, or anything? And I don’t want to say you know, rent control, but rent control? Are there any bills or any discussion on looking at that component?
Unknown Speaker 51:53
Yeah, the only one I know about is the mobile home park. And I don’t have the specifics, but I believe there is at least one, maybe two, mobile home protection, rights type bills. So I just know that Representative bass neck or representative Hooton, so you could you could be watching for those. So other than in that space? I don’t know. But we might learn tomorrow. So really hear from the Taskforce. Got it. Okay, thank you. Okay, Mayor Peck, I
Unknown Speaker 52:32
would just ask and see if there’s any other council members that have questions or anything else that we want to share before we wrap up?
Unknown Speaker 52:37
Yeah, grab anybody out there. Anybody out there and zoomlion that wants to ask a question. I hear oh, do you want to make any comments or ask any questions?
Unknown Speaker 52:50
No, I think Sandy covered it on the Equal Pay Act, we will get that information. And just to give you a sense of what it does. It actually one of the things it does is it creates a position if you’re reorganizing it, it considers it an opening. So even though you have an incumbent in the position, you have to post it in there’s a chance that actually the incumbent could not get the position. And so it’s nuances like that, that really hamper us operationally in terms of restructuring and reorganizing within the organization, but we’ll get you all the details.
Unknown Speaker 53:25
Okay, thank you. I do have one, as we continue these conversations, things just keep coming into my brain as to what I want to ask. So I do have one. You know, when we talk about housing, there are all kinds of bills and grants for affordable housing, which I think is great. And along that sure takes advantage of those grants and those opportunities. But is there anyone in the legislative bodies that are thinking about attainable housing? Are there any grants coming down are there rather than just codes to help us meet that gap in our housing? Do you know if anybody’s addressing that? And if you know of any grants that developers can apply for or how we can move this forward?
Unknown Speaker 54:18
I’m not aware of
Unknown Speaker 54:20
anyone, anything along that line, but maybe we’ll learn more tomorrow. Okay, that would be great. If you could update us. Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 54:27
yeah, I do know that, that that folks are certainly using the same terminology. It’s not just all ways about affordable, it is about attainable. So I know at least the focus has shifted or been more inclusive of all of those differences depending on the the county that you’re in or the city that you’re in because it does make a big difference if it’s affordable and attainable. So if you
Unknown Speaker 55:01
hear of anybody in the legislature that is addressing this issue, I wouldn’t mind i and I’m sure some other people on council or in the city wouldn’t mind having a conversation with them to see if we can move something forward to help all of us out.
Unknown Speaker 55:21
So thank you. And thanks for
Unknown Speaker 55:24
thanks for bringing that up. It is an issue and I’m really glad you brought that up. Good. So, um, I think we’ve covered everything Sandy, do you think so? I think so, too. I
Unknown Speaker 55:38
just wanted to thank Representative Burnett and Representative McCormick for being here this evening remotely with us. We really appreciate the partnership every year. They do a great job of getting back to me about questions when I raise concerns, and I would love to offer our services staff expertise again this year. So if you have questions as you look to different bills, we are here to support you in that endeavor as well. So Mayor Peck, I do think we need to have a public invited to be heard.
Unknown Speaker 56:05
That’s right. And so okay, I have taken over at this point. Thank you do this one. A Dallas, would you mind posting the call in information and we’ll take a five minute break while people call in this will be the only time that we’ll have public invited to be heard tonight. So the number is 1-888-788-0099. Please mute your computer are turned off your mute so that we won’t get static. Your meeting ID code is 82879839401. Press the pound sign on your phone. Thank you and we’ll be back shortly.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:16
Mayor Peck and council we’re about 10 seconds out from the five minute mark. We do have a caller
Unknown Speaker 1:01:27
Oh, thank you, Dallas. Um, let’s, let’s just give him about two more minutes or another minute. Let’s make it another minute. Make sure everybody gets in.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:37
Sounds great. Thank you. I’ll let you know Yes. Okay, we’re approaching the six minute mark. I’m still not seeing any other colors, but we do have the one.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:24
So let’s go ahead and lock that and let that color
Unknown Speaker 1:02:27
in. Absolutely. Just one moment. Okay, color with the last three digits 879 color with the last three digits of their phone number 879. Would you unmute yourself? Hello, hello. There we can see and hear you.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:50
Hello, please state your name and address and then you can ask your question or comment.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:57
Christina Williams 117 quail road.
Unknown Speaker 1:03:02
Thank you, Christina. Go ahead.
Unknown Speaker 1:03:08
Good evening, and thank you for your service for all of you. I had a few questions and a few points I’d like to make about the smart meter rollout. So a perfectly possible scenario. Say in your house, you’re running the dryer, the refrigerator, the outdoor lighting, hot water heater, washing machine is on maybe six bulbs. And if you do maybe your husband’s in the garage with an air compressor and his tools. According to I looked all this up online as to what all of these units pull. As far as amperage and watsco, you could very easily be pulling about 26,000 watts. According to the specification sheet for the focus X smart meter. The service disconnect says 200 amps. And the nominal voltage in the United States is about 110 volts. So if you calculate the power on that, then that’s 2200 watts. So it’s underrated. I may have the wrong I’m hoping I have the wrong specifications. And I’m wondering if you could direct me to where I could find those specifications. Because I certainly hope these are not all underrated. Because I just showed how easily how easy it is to pull, you know as much as 26,000 watts. And it sounds like it would be very easy to overload one of these smart meters. What happens when the power goes out?
Unknown Speaker 1:04:32
Christina?
Unknown Speaker 1:04:34
I would like to know that I only have three minutes. So that’s why No,
Unknown Speaker 1:04:37
no What I am going to tell it. This is a special session with our two representatives online. This is a great question for our regular meeting tomorrow night during public invited to be heard. So if you have a question or a comment to our two representatives, that would be acceptable. Okay, do you have any comments for reps? Or
Unknown Speaker 1:05:07
a question? Yeah, I guess I have both. Please don’t do the smart meter rollout. I’ve done some research on this. And I think they’re unsafe. And not only are they unsafe, but I think they should be the personal decision of everyone who gets one. If you want one, then you could buy one. And if you don’t want one, then you shouldn’t be forced to get one. Thank you. And my questions are, where can I find the schematics for these smart meters that you guys have decided to us?
Unknown Speaker 1:05:37
If you will? Leave your email address? We can have somebody contact you. That’d be great. Okay, thank you so much for calling in. Thank you. So since that is our last caller, I think that we have come to the end of our meeting. And I want to thank all of you for showing up especially staff, because this is your second second meeting in a row this this week that is going to that is running late. So I thank you for your time and for hanging in there with us. And thanks to the our two representatives. We learned a lot and I totally support all the work that you’re doing. Thank you very much.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:28
Thank you have a good evening.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:29
Thank you all.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:31
Good night. Nice.