Video Description:
Longmont City Council – Regular Session – December 12, 2023
Read along below:
Speaker 1 12:40
Thank you for your patience with us. I’d like to call the December 12 2023 long months City Council regular session to order the livestream at this meeting can be viewed at the city’s YouTube channel. It can also be viewed at Longmont public media.org forward slash watch, or on Comcast channels eight or eight at May we have a roll call please. Mayor Peck Here.
Speaker 2 13:04
Councilmember Crist present. Mayor Pro Tem Iago faring. Councilmember Martin. Councilmember McCoy, Councilmember Rodriguez. Councilmember Yarborough?
Unknown Speaker 13:14
Mayor, you have quorum. Thank
Unknown Speaker 13:16
you. Let’s stand for the pledge.
Speaker 3 13:27
One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Speaker 1 13:37
As a reminder to the public, the rules for providing public comment are as follows. Each speaker must give their name and address and is limited to three minutes. Only Longmont residents and employees of the city of Longmont may speak during first call public invited to be heard. And you must sign up on the list prior to the start of the meeting. And the list is outside the chamber. Persons wishing to speak on a specific second reading or public hearing item or asked to add their names to the speaker list for that specific item prior to the start of the meeting. Anyone may speak and no signup is required to speak during final call public invited to be heard. We now have the December 5 minutes that we need to approve. No, I’m sorry. There are no minutes that we’re going to. We’re going to approve those next time. Do any counselors have agenda items that they would like to direct the manager to put on a future agenda for now, Councillor Hidalgo ferry.
Speaker 4 14:39
Thank you, Mayor. So I just had a conversation with David Bell in the back. So we do have an upcoming resolution I believe it is on the approval for the Outlander open space. And you know in our discussion one of the things is a lot of public aren’t really aware of how much land we have dedicated to work on preserving, especially along the River Corridor and near Union reservoir. So I would move that we allow for time for it are open, open space, natural, natural works group to come and present on the work that they’ve been doing as far as Open Space Preservation and what are the areas that are designated open space and what is our plan in the future.
Speaker 1 15:39
So that’s been sick. That’s been motions made by Councillor Hidalgo fairing seconded by Councillor McCoy. I do have a question though. Do you have a specific time when you want this to happen? No.
Speaker 4 15:49
So it’s going to be totally at staff capacity. Okay.
Speaker 1 15:53
Any other comments or discussion? Seeing none, let’s vote.
Speaker 1 16:07
And that passes unanimously, thank you. I do have one other item several months ago, Hannah, which is the historical East Side Neighborhood Association. They asked me to consider a request from Hannah, to support a conservation easement proposal. I asked him to wait until that was evaluated by the historic preservation commission. And after December 7, meeting, they okayed a resolution for the overlay. And I believe I got a copy of that resolution, but I did not send it out to everybody in northern. Neither did Hannah. I believe that one of our staff members did get that. And if anybody, counselor or staff would like that resolution, I can send it to you. But I’m going to move to direct staff to initiate the conversation overlay process for the historic Eastside neighborhood and to consider waiving the planning fee and the 1000 foot peripherial area notification requirement. But in doing this, I would like this whole process explained, hopefully by our project, our major planning planner Glyn van Nijmegen, so I was trying to figure out how do I work better and so possibly during the first quarter of the year? So I made the motion. It was seconded by Councillor McCoy. Is there any other discussion? Seeing none, oops, that’s okay. Councillor Yarborough?
Speaker 5 17:55
Thank you, Mayor. I was a little confused. Yeah. Can you repeat that again? For me? So we’re directing staff to explain it to bring it back to explain it to us before we approve to waive the fees, because
Speaker 1 18:13
we don’t even know exactly what we’re voting on. Unless there used to be a historic preservation overlay.
Unknown Speaker 18:19
Michael,
Unknown Speaker 18:21
microphone. Aren’t I talking loud enough.
Speaker 1 18:26
So there used to be a historic preservation overlay on the historic east side, if I remember correctly. I don’t understand all of it. And that’s the point of having it come back to be explained to us so we can decide if this is something we want to do or not. Okay, I see plan. Okay. Does that make sense? Yes.
Unknown Speaker 18:47
I got a mirror. Yep. Okay.
Unknown Speaker 18:52
Counselor, Crystal
Speaker 6 18:55
says this refer to the general business line item A. Five, five.
Speaker 1 19:02
Where? Yeah, and I’ll explain it to you in a second. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Yeah, we do. I’m just listening for for a minute. Okay. All those Let’s vote.
Speaker 1 19:25
That carries unanimously, thank you, everybody. And now we’re going to have the city manager Mayor
Speaker 2 19:29
before you move on. I apologize. Yes, city clerk. There are a couple of agenda revisions that I thought they were in your script, maybe not. 90 has a typo in it. It should be ordinance 20 2404. It says ordinance 2023. So just wanted to make that correction. Good. Also wanted to note that items seven B and nine e will be pulled from the agenda. The presenters ill so that item staff is pulling those will bring those back I think on December 19 is The theory at this moment. Okay, both items, yes, the presentation on the chips incentive program and then the resolution to adopt it. They’re related. So all of those will be pulled for future agenda.
Speaker 1 20:12
Thank you, Don. So let’s move on to the city manager manager’s report. Our city manager is on Zoom. Tonight, as you can see, so
Unknown Speaker 20:26
he will give his report from their mayor. Sure.
Unknown Speaker 20:28
Thank you. Yeah. mayor,
Unknown Speaker 20:30
Mayor and Council. Herald
Unknown Speaker 20:33
we, we can’t hear you.
Unknown Speaker 20:36
Very well.
Unknown Speaker 20:37
Can you hear me now?
Unknown Speaker 20:40
Here comes help.
Speaker 7 20:47
You heard me while ago. Oh, you’re getting better. Okay. That works.
Speaker 8 20:53
Mayor Council. We have your contingency and it’s just a slightly your council contingency, which is just slightly over 86,000. That will be remaining this year. And I just need Council direction to carry that over. forward next year. So if council wants to direct staff to carry the contingency over, we’ll start that process.
Speaker 1 21:19
Can I have a motion to do that? Second, it’s been Moved by Councillor Martin seconded by Councillor McCoy to move the council contingency fund over 220 24. I have an echo.
Unknown Speaker 21:38
Let’s vote.
Unknown Speaker 21:44
And that passes unanimously.
Unknown Speaker 21:49
No more comments.
Unknown Speaker 21:52
Okay, thank you, Harold.
Speaker 1 21:56
Yes, a little better, a lot better. Thank you. So our next thing on the agenda is a special report from the st. Green Valley School District for their updates. And it looks like superintendent Dodd is going to come to the podium.
Speaker 9 22:22
Great, thank you, Mayor pack and city council. I’m going to provide a this update on the district I’ve had an opportunity to do this at all of the municipalities. And as you know, st brained spans out over 411 square miles. And it includes Lyons and Mead and Frederick and Firestone and Erie and nyuad and de como. And obviously our largest area here in Longmont. And currently we have 33,000 students, and we’re at 60 schools. And we’re continuing to grow. We’re unique in that capacity, because most of the school districts around us are losing enrollment at a pretty fast pace. But we’re continuing to grow. And so we’ve got some plans that I’ll share with you. But couple things I was at a, an event downtown in Denver at Power Stadium today. And they were talking about economic development. And there was just a large, large room full of different people, legislators, elected officials, obviously, and business and corporate, folks. And the comment that struck me the most is they were talking about the economic development and the economy in Colorado. And they tied it into what they refer to as one of the single most important factors that will influence that is the graduation rate of our students. And right now in America, we have 90% of all of the K through 12. Children are moving through public schools. And so if you just fast forward, it stands to reason that 90% of our population has is or will be educated in the public school system. And the public schools are responsible for so much. Obviously, we teach our children the content, and they go through the coursework. But we oftentimes don’t talk about the fact that a community cannot have a strong economy unless it has a strong school district and a community’s public safety and a nation’s national security. Those two things become severely compromised if you don’t have a great school district, and the values of our homes and the values of our properties, business and otherwise, all ebb and flow based on the quality because the two main questions people ask when they move into a community. Tell me about the schools and tell me about safety. Those are the two things they want to know first and foremost, and the quality of our service industry because most of the people that we encounter every day are graduates from the Public School System, and our workforce pipeline and our democracy and just about everything that you can talk about that’s important to us in this country starts in the public schools. And I share that with you because I think it’s important that the public hears that over and over and over, so that they recognize that schools are places of extreme and significant importance. In St. Rain, a couple of things that we’re excited about, we have the highest graduation requirements among all of the surrounding districts and throughout Denver. And, and that’s by design, because we want to make sure that when our children graduate, they graduate and they’re prepared for either the workforce, a two year associate degree, for a year, the military, whatever it is that they’re going to choose to do. And so we’ve set the bar really high and used to be over a decade ago, our graduation rate was at 75%. And that was when we actually had lower requirements, because we’ve since raised those requirements. Now our graduation rate, and this is the on time graduation rate is at 94%. And that’s on time, that means in a four year period of time, our dropout rate used to be at seven to 8%. And it’s at 0.6. So 99.4% of our students are going to finish whether it’s in four years at the 94% rate, or four and a half years or five years. And what’s even more impressive by our teachers, and our students and our parents is that a large number of students are graduating not only with their high school diploma, but they’re graduating with either one full year of college under their belt and starting as a sophomore, or they accomplish a two year associate degree at no cost to the student. And we have five of those associate degree programs right now one in computer information systems, one in cybersecurity, one in business, one in medical and biosciences and the pharmaceuticals, and one in teaching. And so we have five associate degree programs with large numbers of students earning their associate degree at the same time, they’re earning their high school diploma at no cost to the student. And they go right into the workforce, or they can take that two year associate degree and move into a four year experience as a junior. And so there’s a lot of excitement around the results that we’re seeing. We also outperformed the state on 100% of the state required tests. And that’s a pretty significant accomplishment by our teachers and our students, and our parents, not by 80%. But 100% of the tests, we outperformed the state, and we continue to see them rise even though they’re high, they continue to go up. We also have experienced a lot of success from the College Board, which is arguably one of the most prestigious educational institutions in America for high schools, and public schools. And all but one of our we have right now we have eight comprehensive high schools, we also have three that are either online or virtual and those types of things, but eight comprehensive high schools, and seven of them received the highest recognition in the country being recognized as an advanced placement College Board, high school Honor Roll school. And that is a pretty amazing feat because a lot of districts would be excited if they had one of their high schools achieve that. But to have that many, we also very proud of our co curricular programs. When you think about music, for example, band, choir orchestra, all of those things. We for the last three years have been rated and identified as one of the top 15% in the country for our music programs, and no other school districts in Colorado. One other has done it once but no other school district has done it even once. Except that one and no one has done it twice. And this year, we were recognized at the state level at the Colorado association of school boards, we have long mots
Speaker 9 29:11
music program they were able to perform. And so that was very exciting for them. And our athletic teams and our drama programs and our theater programs. We’re seeing those Excel too. I’ll give you an example with athletics in the last two years, we’ve had more higher percentage of state championships individually and team than any other school district in the state. And so our kids are excelling academically, and the co curricular all of these metrics, where we can be excited as a community, because they’re going to at some point in time, be me and you and all of the rest of us. They’re going to graduate and they’re going to become our leaders, both in Longmont in Colorado in our nation and in our world. So we’re very excited about that. Couple of other things that are noteworthy our robotics teams, we have 250 robots teams spread across 60 schools. They’ve won the state championships at the elementary, middle and high school level for several years. And last year, they won the world championships in Texas, and the only system to ever win both the large division and the small division in the same year. And clearly the only one in Colorado to ever win. But so we’re very excited. There were 70 countries competing. And so that’s another demonstration, we also took first place in the world artificial intelligence competition with our students. And we were one of four, I was China, same brain, Saudi Arabia, and then district out in Pennsylvania. And again, we were able to host that here in St. Vrain, at the Innovation Center. And we were also able to host the World underwater robotics championships at our new, aquatic center. So there’s a lot of things that are happening, we’re growing as a district, again, we’re at 33,000, our build out plan is for 70, to 75,000. So we’re going to keep growing for many, many years to come. And you know, because you can see in the 411 square miles, there’s a lot of room in 2024. In November, we most likely will go for a bond initiative, not a mill levy override, we have a large amount of funding and reserves in our operations funding program. So we don’t need to go for a mill levy override, we have to go for a bond because it’s the only mechanism in Colorado where you can build more schools. And we have to do that. And we have to upgrade safety measures and the environment within our all of our facilities. So our board will be looking at that. And they will most likely approve that. Now the good news is because the assessed valuation in our 411 square miles, has grown so much, we can go for a relatively large bond without having to raise anybody’s tax rates. And that’s a pretty unique position to be in to say we’re going to build new schools, we’re going to double the size of the innovation center, we’re going to put a career and tech ed center on the other side of our district to match the one that we have here, we’re going to build out another swimming pool, we’re going to upgrade all of our safety features, we’re going to replace carpets strengthen our roofs, do all of the things that we need to do for maintenance. And we’re not going to have to raise anybody’s tax rate to do it. And that’s a very unique position to be in. We have to have a vote because that’s the law. But to say to our public, we’re not going for a mill levy override, and we are going for a bond, but the bond will not result in your tax rate being increased. And that’s a pretty strong fiscal place to be in. And with that I’ll share with you when I talk about finances. for over 15 years, the St. Vrain Valley School District has been recognized by the Association of School Business Officials and the governmental Financial Officers Association with the two highest awards you can receive in financial transparency and management. And that’s for over 15 years in a row. And our bond ratings are the highest in the state for public schools. Because of our reserves, because of the way in which we manage our money, and the support that we’ve received from our community, we have seven different areas where we have mayors and councils and I’ve had the opportunity to visit all of you and I’m continuing. I’ll be back again in the spring just to keep updating you. But my hope is that when we do move forward, if we do I always say that but I’m pretty confident that we will with a bond, that Mayor you and the council will endorse that bond as it will bring a lot of benefit to Longmont but also throughout the entire community. And I am you know going into my 40th year in public education. I’m in my 15th year as a superintendent, same brain. I’ve watched this community grow. And I’ve watched the opportunities that you’ve provided for this community and that well, we’re all providing for our children. And I just don’t think that there’s a greater investment. And our board and I have both made the commitment that we will stop at that dollar amount so that it does not raise anybody’s taxes, we will not go any higher than the amount that would trigger an increase in tax rates. So that’s it in a nutshell. I could probably go on and on. But I know you’ve got business, but if you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them. I will say this councilmember McCoy, my daughter was in your class and always speaks very fondly of you and the experiences that she had. And she’s 29 years old now and just tackling the world and she’s a perfect example of when you have great teachers and that’s a big plus for a child. But do you have an Any questions or anything? Yes,
Unknown Speaker 35:01
I see that Councillor Hidalgo faring has a question.
Speaker 4 35:06
Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I heard the speech or I heard your talk earlier at the AR meeting. But thank you for taking the time to come out, you know, I, I have seen, you know, just as a classroom teacher, but also as liaison to the youth council, the phenomenal work that the kids are doing, and the critical thinking that is happening and how they collaborate, and I totally attributed to the, the teachers they’ve had, and very supportive families and supportive community that has, you know, I, when I first came into this district, in the early 2000s, I mean, it was I came at the very start of the financial crisis, and I was like, that’s why I got the job. And so we’ve really come a long way. And I appreciate the connectedness the community, you know, something that I would like to see more of, is a collaboration between, and I already see it with public safety or SROs, in the school. But more around, you know, I see a lot of our kids that kind of fall through the cracks that are not invested in, in school, and, you know, you know, the Battle of trying to get that that intrinsic motivation, sparking in them. And I know, our city has dedicated a lot of time, we have a lot of great talent, people in children’s use, and families who have programs that are outside of the school realm. So maybe they’re not playing sports, or they’re not invested in school, or they don’t, they don’t meet the grades. So, you know, finding ways and for a lot of our kids, it’s transportation, getting to the youth center. So it’s such an asset for the kids at Timberline, but, you know, kids, maybe Long’s peak or Indian Peaks are sunset, trying to get them out over there. So, you know, having some kind of collaboration where we could provide transportation or something that we that we can work more closely on, on kind of filling in those, you know, some of those those gaps as well, because I know that for kids who are invested in it. I mean, we’ve provided there’s so much resources in the district that helped them, you know, sky’s the limit, and, you know, kind of want to, you know, help make sure, yeah,
Speaker 9 37:17
well, great, buddy. Yeah, the good news is, is 99 point 99 point for themselves. They’re getting there. Yeah, 4% Are there. Yeah, so we’re talking about a small number, oh, number, you know, and a very important number. But one of the things we’ve been fortunate enough, since you bring up transportation, you know, we’re a district that has not yet had to start canceling bus routes, most of the districts have had to cancel Boulder Valley, Jefferson County, and we’re because they don’t have bus drivers, we’ve been able to hire very well, so our buses are running full fleet. And what we’re doing to your point a little bit, we’re going to purchase a number of small buses. And so when we travel for athletics and other places, it keeps some of our larger buses in, you know, online here. And so that will help us from a gas perspective, but also a gasoline perspective, but also from availability, you know, to have those buses. The other thing that for a lot of the students who do struggle, we’re able now to provide them with breakfast, lunch, and after school meals at no cost to the students. And so that’s another benefit that we’re so between preschool at no cost to the students full day kindergarten at no cost to the students, which we’ve been doing for over, you know, over 15 years, even though the state’s trying to make it work now. And then all of the educational programs, and then a college education at no cost. And all of the members of our community pitching in through mill levy overrides and bonds and corporate sponsorships and everything our children are very well taken care of. And we would welcome any assistance that you would like to provide. So if you have transportation that you would like to provide for our students, we definitely and again, I visit with both the mayor and the city manager at our Economic Development Council board meetings, and we have a great relationship with the SROs. And we have a relationship with other members of your staff as well. So we feel that there’s a lot of support that we receive, and we’re grateful, and a lot of support that we want to give back. And so and shade that Yeah,
Speaker 4 39:37
and I have one more question and then I’ll, I’ll stop talking. So a question that I’ve actually received a lot during when we during the last election season as a candidate as well as you know, the council member who brought who approved the our ballot initiatives on the Rec Center was and they And I didn’t want to answer that, because I don’t have, you know, I don’t have that background. And I’m going to give you that, right? It is around the pool. So, you know, a lot of questions that I asked, well, can we use the pool? Can we use the pool and, you know, like, you know, you’ll have to talk to, you know, direct to you, but it was something that kept coming up over and over again. So just really for public record, you know, if you can address, you know, what, what’s the nuances behind that? Yeah, well, we
Speaker 9 40:30
built the school for our multiple swim programs. And so we have, in the wintertime, we have the pool being used early morning, afternoon evenings. And then again, in the spring, the summer provides a little bit more option. And I know that you guys closed your pools, because you couldn’t find lifeguards. And so we’re hoping that that’s been rectified, because I know that we had a lot of questions about why are all the city pools closed yet? Or why do they need maintenance? And I said, Well, I can’t answer the questions, you have to go to city council to find out why they’ve closed all these opportunities for students. But from our perspective, we do have the pool open, we’re planning to build another pool on the east side of the district. Those will be primarily for our programs, our physical education programs, our sports programs, our robotics programs, we are in conversation with a couple of organizations, where we might be able to find some time when we can open the pool. But you know, we’re gonna continue to grow. But if there’s anything that we can do to help you to open your pools, to the community, and I know Harold remembers when we tried to go for a, an initiative to build a rec center for the city of Longmont. And unfortunately, that would have included a pool and an ice rink and things like that. But excuse me, unfortunately, that did not pass. But if there’s ever a time when you might want to try that, again, we can certainly have those conversations and may or we can talk about it at our Economic Development Council. But anything we can do to help you to open your pools, because we noticed that and we heard a lot about that, too. And so you’ve got some good pools here and having them closed. is I know it’s tough on you. It’s hard to find lifeguards. But so that’s the question. And I think it was red fins and maybe one other group that had come forward that we were going to have some conversations with about some oftentimes for our pools to be used. The nice thing about our pool is we were able to build that off of interest. So we did not spend any general fund dollars or any taxpayer dollars to build that pool. We built it off of investments. And so we’re hoping that if we can get another one on the other side that between the two we can accommodate our 33,000 students. Great,
Unknown Speaker 42:48
thanks for your find that Yeah, you bet.
Speaker 9 42:50
And Mayor on answer any other questions, but I wanted to just say thank you for the time you’re
Speaker 1 42:54
welcoming for the residents. We do have enough lifeguards, our pools are going to be open and are open. Great.
Unknown Speaker 43:02
Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 43:03
I was gonna say our pools have been open for a while. Yeah.
Speaker 9 43:07
Yeah, that’s great. I’ve maybe it was last summer. I don’t remember it wasn’t.
Unknown Speaker 43:11
We’re all good. We’re all good. But Councillor McCoy
Speaker 10 43:17
thank you for your pack. Super into superintendent Hey, Dad, I really want to thank you for everything you do. Because, you know as a as a product of the same family School District, my wife and I and my and my daughters also graduated from Simi Valley School District schools Silver Creek, you know, you guys do a wonderful job. And they wanted to give a shout out to Jim Gibbons from Longmont high, who has really been a really incredible advisor for future business leaders and what he’s doing now with that program for the high schools of business, you guys have got a heck of a program, there are over 300 kids involved with business related certifications, and also with FBLA. And it’s the largest chapter in the state of Colorado. And we’re holding a conference in Longmont high in February. And we couldn’t do that without the generosity and the stable environment of St. Rain. So thank you.
Speaker 9 44:24
I’m glad you mentioned that because I was going to tell you what you already know it’s the largest one in the entire state. And they just do an amazing, amazing work just
Speaker 10 44:32
incredible, just incredible. And those guys are doing great work.
Speaker 9 44:37
And I know that I gave a compliment too. But I do want to follow up working with John Garcia and with the entire department, your chief everyone they just have been phenomenally supportive. And I could not be more grateful for them and the work that they provide in our children really enjoy interacting with them and learning from them. So thank you for all of that support as well.
Unknown Speaker 45:03
Councillor Martin?
Speaker 11 45:05
Thank you, Mayor Peck. Superintendent. I have a question about the future. You know, I’ve been a club sponsor Girls Who Code and such, like, for many years, and intermittently, and absolutely agree that we, you know, we’ve seen the the quality of education and St. Frame valley schools improve over the last 15 years tremendously. And I liked the list of different academic areas of endeavor. There’s one that I didn’t hear. And I found working from the outside in the last municipal election, that we have a real lack of understanding among our electorate, of city civics. In these are people who’ve mostly, as you said, 90% been through the public school system, not all of them here, of course, because of the growth that we’ve had. So my question for you, is, over the next few years, what are you doing to improve public understanding of the workings of government and the workings of democracy?
Speaker 9 46:21
Well, you know, that’s been a state requirement for years. So all of our students are required to go through programming around civics and government. And so it’s not something new. It’s it’s something that all of our graduates experience, and they experience it at a pretty high level. So I’m not really sure what you’re referring to, other than I do believe that. People aren’t paying as close attention. They get a great education while they’re in school with us. And then they move on out of school. And I think sometimes they get disconnected because I was having this conversation with some other people about just the low turnout at, you know, had elections. And then afterwards, when they find out who’s been elected, they’re like, then they have something to say. And it’s like, well, you should have said this, that the only thing, but we have, you know, voting promotion, we registration for our students that happen in our schools, the county comes in and helps our children register to vote when they become a team. We have a formal civics program, that’s a graduation requirement for all students to experience. And the history courses that they take are they have three years that they’re required in high school? And so it’s, it’s pretty extensive. I think the question is a good one, though, in that, how can we, as a city council, engage the community, to get them to understand the importance of showing up and the importance of voting. And we also have a number of speakers that come in, we have a lot of elected officials that come in and explain the legislative process in our schools. We have a student senate, where Brandon Schaefer, who is a former State Senate President brings people to bring students together. And they actually go down to the Capitol, and they testify on certain bills and legislation. And so there’s it’s a pretty robust program. But I’d be interested in partnering with you to find out how can we engage our community to get them to understand some of the pressing issues in our society so that they’ll engage more?
Speaker 11 48:30
I think the the reason that I asked the question is, is maybe because you know, if they’re going through the class, it always used to be I don’t see how all this math is relevant to my life. And I think I suspect that what’s happening is that students go through and say, I don’t see how all of this government stuff is worth is irrelevant to my life. And that’s how they behave once, once. They are in the electorate. Oh, there was an election. Wow, I don’t like the results, just as you said. So my question is, how do you get up to the award winning level in that so that we have engaged students who stay engaged? Yeah,
Speaker 9 49:09
well, you know, a lot of it. We have the student government, the student government programs at all of our high schools and in middle schools. And so they don’t necessarily recognize those all the time with national awards and stuff like that. But I can tell you, our student governments are very, very active in all of the schools in our they call Student Council, some college student government, and that’s over and above the coursework that they have to take. And, you know, the person that you’re sitting next to there can testify to that because he taught in that subject area, and I will tell you that a lot of our kids are very engaged. A lot of them are very engaged. As I said, they go down to the Capitol building, they’re testifying, they’re doing all kinds of things. I do think that there’s there’s there’s Something that’s going on with politics, you know, people are engaging in ways that are not as civil. They’re engaging in ways that are not as active, you know, proactive and getting involved in the way that they should. But But yeah, and again, any suggestions that you have, we are more than happy to hear them and stuff. But right now, it’s a pretty vibrant program.
Unknown Speaker 50:22
Thank you. You bet.
Speaker 1 50:23
Thank you, counselors in superintendent Dodd and we do have the council and school board meetings where we get together and that’d be a good time to quiz all of you. Yeah. So thank you.
Speaker 9 50:37
I actually saw a picture of some of our kids getting, I don’t know if it was somewhere I saw picked it that they come in. Maybe it was through the Chamber of Commerce program. We have kids that are part of leadership Longmont and maybe that’s where I saw them come and take the carry Adams brings her carry, it’s here. And Carrie Adams, we have a student leadership program, a student advisory program, and Carrie Adams is kind of helping facilitate leadership among a large number of students.
Unknown Speaker 51:05
Thank you very much. Great presentation.
Unknown Speaker 51:08
Thanks for your time. Okay, take care.
Speaker 1 51:11
We are now at first call public invited to be heard and remember, we need your name and address and you have three minutes. The first one on the list is Leo boo Hakka boo hiker. And sir, I would like I just want to ask you that you have tin a on here, which is on second reading. Okay. Do you want to wait? off okay.
Speaker 12 51:35
Okay, so thank you, mayor elect Peck councilmembers. Eugene hurled. I have an aging friend who is a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin and out of respect to the Dipali event here just a word of contemplation for the professors who were shot by Anthony Alito at UNLV. The historic just a couple of quick things this work Eastside overlay I think is a great idea. I just agree with you Miss Mayer peck on Mr. Hate ads presentation is the worst presentation I’ve ever heard. His focus was on pools. Maybe I should have brought my bikini. And he says that bond increases in spinning interest is not a form of taxation. Well, I need to debate Minister Hey dad, because any type of bond or is a form of taxation. And anytime you guys spend $1 of taxpayer money, it’s a form of taxation. And I want to focus more on the point 1% or less than half of a percent of the students and teachers who are of African American descent versus the sugar coated numbers that he presents. The next time the city of Longmont and Mr. Hate as plan are not sustainable. So the next time the city of Longmont Trey’s any type of tax increase bonds, it said I will begin circulating a tax and budget petition for codification, requiring under penalty that the city along might reduce sales, and all municipal really taxes reduce staff in spinning with an additional red production point at 25%. The other side of the equation of raising taxes with the exception of five key city of Long my positions is all city workers will be put on an indefinite furlough and replaced by part time volunteers. I want to be the volunteer dog catcher. As far as combat goes the Do Nothing loser not never been a Republican Ken Buck. House Speaker Mike Johnson pushes in a Supreme Court justice a part of an undocumented political party called the Confederate Christian anti abortion. Pro spinning liberals are capitals. The capitals are 14 of them haters third party swing votes. Currently there are 115 couples in the house. 115 Lincoln Republicans like Uber and Lampert and 215 Union Democrats truly the postponing liberals hold 330 seats. The link Republicans only hold 115 the capitals continue to lead the US into a kazillion dollar deficit obliteration of the 14th amendment and then to slavery. Recall on the eve of the civil war to end slavery, the 36th Congress resembled today’s Congress had I been Abraham Lincoln, I would have executed Jefferson Davis put his head his head in the rotunda. And of course, after guiding freed slaves to the north D Mo, tracing the confederacy of all weapons and artillery executing all Confederate soldiers, and I would have left Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana secede, go ahead and make our day DeSantis is a suitable confederate. Thank you.
Unknown Speaker 54:49
Next on the list is Sarah Graham.
Speaker 13 54:59
Hello Thank you for letting me participate. My name is Sarah Graham. I’m a Longmont resident, local elementary school teacher. And let’s see, a big part of what I love about my job is the component of peace education. And I love that Longmont can highlight and celebrate our community’s diversity. I’m here as a neighbor, a parent and an educator in support of the beautiful in front of cultural events that you all support available to the whole Longmont community. And specifically, I’m here today in the hopes of getting more support for Nepali dogtra, which is full of joyous celebrations that I think we I find very valuable. And so to my students, thanks.
Unknown Speaker 55:44
Thank you very much Pushpak guru.
Speaker 14 56:02
Hello, Mayor Peck, my name is Pushpak wrong and my address is 2422 Turanian circle. I moved here in Longmont, 2003, and I have been a real estate agent since 2015. My intention here is to share my experience as a real estate agent in the area. What city’s planning to create more new build homes if the planning allows that I know as a real estate agent that that attracts people with Nepali heritage or background because they take pride in homeownership. That’s what you know, my experience has been the but that’s what I have absorbed over the years. Because I have seen in two communities harvest junction and see in a park, that those two communities when they were built that brought about 50 families in those communities. But the challenge is current challenges that are not enough new built homes right now. So I wanted to know, compared to the you know, the neighboring city Erie, there is the, you know, explosion of expansion in Erie. That’s not my intention to happen here, but at least you know, have the option if people wanted to move here for better, you know, quality of life schools opportunities, inclusiveness, diversity and things like that. And I wanted to know also what city of Longmont is offering up in terms of inclusiveness or diversity. I think Nepali jata created that opportunity for people like us, and also share our cultures with people with other backgrounds as well. Many citizens with Nepali heritage are also business owners and what the city offers to small business owners who are from different backgrounds and heritage. So in my opinion, along with excellent schools we have because two of my kids graduated from St. Ren school district with the you know, mentioned factors I just mentioned here, we can focus on that I think we can really attract more people with a poly heritage background. There are currently about 200 families in Longmont and I hope you know we can grow that numbers in the future with more planning and you know, what people Nepali people with Nepali heritage you know, focus on what the you know, what interests them and things like that education and business, cultural diversity and things like that. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 1 58:47
Thank you Pushpa CMCP
Speaker 15 58:56
Good evening. Sam safey 1741 Crestone drive. Madam Mayor, you have seen you for the last 20 years most of you you have known you have known me for 20 years, I have been participating in multi Multicultural Activities, and I’ve enjoyed living here in Longmont. I’m here to show my support for the Nepalis within three years really be took over other all other activities that we have supported for the last 20 years. That shows leadership. So thank you. Where is she here? I’m sure we will hear from Sandra later on. But she might be small but she’s she’s a giant in her own way. So I’m here to support her efforts. And on Item agenda item J. Thank you.
Speaker 1 1:00:07
Thank you, Sam. Naveen Duta.
Speaker 16 1:00:18
Good evening, Mayor Peck and other council members. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to come here and speak a little bit about Nepalese yatra. I’m also here to support Sunanda Nepali yatra. I am the founder and member of Rocky Mountain prints from Nepal.
Unknown Speaker 1:00:32
Can I just ask for your address?
Speaker 16 1:00:34
Sure. Oh, sorry. Red Cloud wrote, Longmont. So I’m the founder and president of Rocky Mountain principles, which has been in existence since 2002. Even before that, actually a bunch of Peace Corps members that are served in Nepal, they opened that organization, but it was registered in 2002. And so I was the founder president of that organization. And we’ve done many, many years of, you know, cultural events like this to assimilate our community better in the society here in the United States. But what Sunanda is doing here in Longmont is just exemplary. It’s really, really nice that, you know, we have something of that nature that gives the public here in Longmont, the general public because that that program is open to general public. So it gives the public a glimpse into what Nepali society is like what Nepali culture is like. And as you might have seen over the last couple of years, that program has been packed. It’s always been sold out. So it’s my pleasure to come here and support Sunanda on that front, I’m sure that she’s gonna be doing good with the dollars that the city provides her for her program. She’s a very strong woman and obviously, very with a loving husband and beautiful kids. So hats off to us, Linda, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to come and present here on behalf of Nepali
Speaker 1 1:02:07
yatra. Welcome. And I want to ask for apologies if I mess up this next name, promote Sri Suta.
Speaker 17 1:02:20
cleric very close, it’s pronounced pronounced resta. Okay, thank you, Mayor, City, council members, employees of the city fellow long Munsters Hello, my name is promotes Tresta. I live at 1715 Sunset Street. And I’m here to talk about in support of Nepalese yatra. I, myself, I’m from a Nepali background here. And talking about inclusiveness or diversity. I’m married to a girl from Mexican background. The purpose of life is happiness, and abundance. And based on that fact, all the cultures, all festivals or traditions, that’s what it’s based on. And the festivals and cultures are meant to be shared. And because they become, they bring inclusiveness, when I feel inclusive. When I feel included, it brings security because as a social being, we when we know when you know the other person, or the individual, I feel safe. And that’s exactly what Nepali Satra is doing it, and the purpose of the data itself, it’s celebration. And then and to talk about Nepali chatra, to another celebration from a different culture. This is the perfect time because we have the time of the celebration. As a Nepali community member, we just celebrated the SE, which is one form of celebration. And then after that, there’s another festival of lights you guys have might have heard about it as a Diwali because this, the people from Indian background celebrate the same thing. We call it De Paoli, which means the Festival of Lights. So so I’m going to come back to the party chatra it’s important because it increases the sense of inclusiveness among different communities. And then it’s also going to be a jump start point where different community members come and over their different community members can come the no talk about each other, they can support their business. And at the end, whatever funding you guys going to provide to this project is going to go right back to the cities and to talk a little bit about Nepali community in Longmont. The presence is growing as a few other speakers have already said. Now the community owns five different restaurants. If you haven’t gone please do so rest is one. There is a different right at the At the villas, there is one at the Francis Street. There’s another restaurant there Nepali restaurant. goolka is another one. It’s right and over. There’s one grocery store if you want a spicy food, definitely go. That’s at Francis street also. And there are a few gas stations there. And then at the same time, we have some Lions Club one Lions Club, and then we are supporting the people here too. So basically, the presence of Nepali community is growing. And we like to be here. We love living in Long Island. It’s amazing place and I hope city of Longmont supports this chatra Thank you.
Speaker 1 1:05:38
Thank you, militia and I’m not going to try to pronounce the name last name.
Speaker 18 1:05:48
Good night. Good evening, everyone. I’m Melissa Shrestha. I live in Magnolia Street. And I’m delighted to be here to talk about the significance of our culture, and why celebrating it is so critical. Growing up in an every family I was immersed in a rich variety of festivals, traditions and cultural practices. Those events not only shaped up my upbringing, but instilled in me the belief that they foster togetherness in communities and create bonds that surpass individual differences. Growing up by witnesses How does even serve as a powerful medium to connect people and build bonds that transcended differences? This insights increase my desire to help build a venue where people of other ethnic backgrounds can join together to celebrate and learn more about Nepalese culture. My journey led me to discover the club name, NSA at CU Boulder where passionate young minds like mine, I aspire to share our Nepali culture and festivals, we work hard to create events that will not only resonate with our own community, but also serve as a breeze for people from different backgrounds to learn and appreciate our heritage. Furthermore, I want to share a memorable experience during an average Ultra. Our NSA group was honored with an invitation to participate, promoting us with a unique opportunity to actively contribute and immerse ourselves in the festival. This country of collaboration not only strained our connection with the Navy culture, but also deepened our understanding of events like in Regatta. It’s through such inclusive initiatives that we can truly appreciate and learn from each other’s traditions, fostering a spirit of unity and cultural exchange. The mission of our club is to provide opportunity for everyone irrespective for their culture background. And I believe that people should know more about our culture not just to these clubs, but also to our older generations by hosting events so that we can learn and teach our next generations. And with your guys and everyone help, we can showcase the vibrant tapestry of Nepali festival art and tradition, so that more children who come here at a young age just like me can learn about their rich cultural heritage and be connected with their own culture. And if there are many Nepali events happening here in Longmont, Colorado, not only myself, but countless other children and individual residing here will have the chance to learn experience and appreciate the beauty of our culture. So together let it let let us make a and celebrate diversity promote understanding and build a stronger and more interconnected community. Thank you.
Unknown Speaker 1:08:43
Thank you Ayesha. Ayesha, Project party. It was militia that I was thinking
Speaker 19 1:09:01
hello in Namaste. My name is Aisha, I live in 2155 meter cord long men. Thank you for inviting us in this event. And let us speak about few things about Nepali chatra. And I like to thank everybody who have helped us and supporters this and this year too, and maybe we’ll get to get more about this in upcoming years and we can put this alive in us. So I’m here to emphasize on giving the continuity to the culture for our new kids and new generation who are here in us. And then I would like to say, you know, we have been in our country and we have live our all our lives, being in the culture and talking about the all the traditional rituals that we have and we’ve been getting passing on from our ancestor and our grandparents. So we like to pass it on our kids what we are referencing on, you know, I cannot reference what is the river There is a data I can show them in YouTube. But can I rephrase them what it is and how it is shown, because it has so many contents and so many things to imitate. And, you know, we lacking the limitation of support. Like I recently saw in Main Street, I saw Christmas slideshow, it really motivates me and, you know, makes me feel like we should have one of our chariot thing that we go on to, like in Nepal, there is a chariot lot of things that go hand in hand it’s such a lot of bustling things that you get to see there’s multiple cultural diversity a lot of people gather together hand in hand together, I missed that to showcase my children, my upcoming generation you know, being in hand in hand looking at those cultural dance music festivals that crowd oh my god, I missed that crowd and I cannot showcase that my children so it’s so important to have something in this place to and give them the continuity of the culture when when we always learn about the culture ritual tradition, we always say it must be passing on from one generation to another and keep it alive but what we have to do that for our upcoming generation our kids that are going to be here leaving so I think it’s going to be so much important to sulcus them that whatever we have and we can pass it on to you and there is so many things there is a broad ideas and then there is so much culture in it that we can showcase to you as well and having giving us the opportunity to showcase those Of course there is a lot of thing that we can work on and we can get help from you guys. And participation is the most important thing that I feel like to showcase them and encourage them in this data to data is not just about one tradition or festival or occasion it also helps us to come together and live our life and showcase how we it is so important that the culture that we come from it is too important to you know make alive in us so thank you so much. Thanks for giving me three minutes and then if I have made any people you know any questions let me know and then thank you for giving us that place to grow
Unknown Speaker 1:12:21
Turlough keep Patel
Speaker 20 1:12:33
Good evening mayor and good evening everybody and thanks for inviting us here I’m I’m also have for inviting support for Nepalese yatra. And it’s really lucky I live in Longmont since 2019 Can you tell us what your address is? It can fit into our circle very close to the Scott s Garden Park and then apologize all my speaker a lot of a speaker to talk about an apology for what is this and how is worked as like it’s basically from the new file, but I’m here to be what did the importance of novalja track in regard long man is the startup from the celebration but now is growing as like a biggest stage for the advertisement of the nipple, like a local weakness or a small business like ours. I’m also doing a business and business owner I’m doing a business in LogMeIn since 2022 And now Now I have to destroy and in barter I think I made made before before there where it made us to enter in birth grandpa’s cafe, but I was still living here well so he’s a very good goodest history advertisement of our small business and also it’s give us a place to be invite people from like from other city and they come here over and support the business to end the during the celebration going on. So thanks all that’s all I have to be say about the Nepalese Yatra
Unknown Speaker 1:14:00
thank you so much. You’re welcome. PJ shrift. Shrestha.
Speaker 21 1:14:09
Good evening, Mayor and councilmembers My name is Beatriz Shrestha. I live in 2191 Angus Street. Today I’m here to talk on behalf of Nepali chatra. Myself I was one of the performing artists at Nepalese yatra. And I play instruments, sitar and Tabla. This form of music you know, classical music was passed down to me from my dad, and then to him from his grandfather and his girls and both my parents are musicians. I moved here in 2016 and you know, always wondered like, How can I keep this legacy continued keep on going? And I was really glad you know, I met with Sunanda z and the concert At the organize the program, they polish Yatra it was really a great platform for me to showcase our art and culture. The concert was great success, you know, not only with the numbers of people that came into the concert, but even after the concert, like people were asking about the form of music, and then the cultures, the traditions, it was also a great exposure for a lot of even the Nepalese people that they were seeing this instruments and music for the first time. A lot of people were interested in learning this form of music. So it was such a great, great platform. And I really, you know, request you to support Nepal etc. For upcoming years. Thank you.
Speaker 1 1:15:46
Thank you very much. Sunanda dongle.
Speaker 22 1:15:55
Namaste, everybody, Mira Peck, and out of the continent members. I had the privilege of putting the show together and some of you I think,
Speaker 1 1:16:07
had Sunanda Would you mind giving us your address please? Sorry,
Speaker 22 1:16:11
2038 Red Cloud road. Thank you. Some of you had witnessed the event in person so I’m really glad that you were able to come. I have a lot to say but I know I have only three minutes. So what I wanted to say is Longmont is an inclusive community where people from all over the world seamlessly blend in the warm reception of the first edition of Nepali giedre at Longmont museum was not surprising, drawing an overflowing audience. For the second year we expanded to four venues within the museum. However, the overall space proved insufficient for our vibrant community. The enthusiastic crowd clearly indicated a desire for Nepalese opera to grow bigger and better and I believe this alone should be the reason to extend your support to Nepali yatra. Thank you very much. And we look forward to welcoming you in our third edition at Roosevelt Park. Thank you very much. Thank
Unknown Speaker 1:17:16
you slander, button order.
Speaker 23 1:17:34
Mayor and Council, Martin orner 1417 Auburn court in Longmont. Of course, cultural and religious diversity can only help us be a stronger community. With that being said, I live near Hanover Park. And I went into the temporary facility which was placed there since the the pagoda the other facilities closed for the winter. And I was shocked to see the graffiti on the walls inside that temporary facility which the city pays the vendor to place there. There is no place in this city or in this country. For the things that are written on the inside of the walls of that facility. I have called the vendor. They said talk to the city. I called parks. I heard nothing back. I called parks again. I received a message from the park superintendent, which honestly was just just a bunch of gobbledygook about nothing really being done. I have saved that voice message. It’s on my phone. I have photographs of this terrible stuff. On my phone, which I would like to show to some representative of the city here tonight. I ask that the city please have someone get back to me about what’s going to be done about that temporary facility, whether that graffiti was on it when it was delivered to the city. I don’t know. Maybe it was put on there since it’s been here, unknown. Nevertheless, the vendor should be responsible for cleaning that stuff up. Or taking that facility out and replacing it with one that is not defaced in that manner. So if it’s okay with you, I’d like to show these photographs to somebody here so that they can witness what I have seen
Speaker 1 1:19:46
is to honor yours. You’re standing right next to the person who can help you and the gentleman in the back. So if you he’s raised, he’ll raise his hand and you can talk to him. Thank
Unknown Speaker 1:19:57
you for your dedication to our city. You Welcome,
Unknown Speaker 1:20:01
Lance Whitaker.
Speaker 24 1:20:19
And City Council My name is Lance Bleeker, 1750 Collier. Oh, to short. Here we go. He gave me an expert this by now, huh? Yeah. All right. Let’s start over. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you Council. My name is Lance Whitaker. 1750 Call your street. I’ve been living in Longmont since around 1980. That is national gingerbread house day. It is also national poinsettia Day, National and Broza Day, National billing Day, and National Day of neutrality. And as for all the people with the Nepal celebration, and even hear about it, and Lance likes to hear about a good party, so next year, I’ll be attending that. I’d like to also remind you all that the Nash the American dream is not about a house with a white picket fence. It is about religious persecution and how we need a land that does not persecute the other for whatever belief state may have. That is what’s called Liberty. Thank you, Mayor and City Council.
Speaker 1 1:21:59
Thank you, Lance. Seeing no one else on the list. I’m going to close first call public invited to be heard. Do we need a break? We’re gonna take a five minute break
Speaker 1 1:28:51
consent agenda and introduction and reading by title of first reading ordinances. And, Don, would you mind reading the consent agenda into the record?
Speaker 2 1:29:01
Absolutely. Mayor the public hearing and second reading of the ordinance is introduced tonight on this agenda will be held on January 9 2024. Item nine A is ordinance 20 2401. A bill for an ordinance conditionally approving the 11386 East Rogers road annexation and concept plan, generally located in the southwest quarter of Section Two Township, two North range 69 west of the six primordium and zoning the property mixed use employment. Nine B is ordinance 20 2402. A bill for an ordinance authorizing a farmland lease agreement between the city of Longmont and David Asbury on the Montgomery farm. Item nine c is ordinance 20 2403. A bill for an ordinance amending chapter 14 section 1408 related to sewers. Item 90 is ordinance 20 2404. A bill for an ordinance authorizing the city of Longmont to lease the real property known as brands brand municipal airport hangar parcel H 44 C to V ebma hanger 44 C LLC. Item nine e is the item that we’re pulling that’s resolution 2023 103 We got in chips. Item nine F is resolution 2023 104. A resolution of the Longmont City Council authorizing the agreement between the city of Longmont and Western equipment and truck Inc. for the purchase of real property for open space purposes. Nine G is resolution 2023 105. A resolution of the Longmont City Council approving the intergovernmental agreement between the city of Longmont and the city of Fort Collins for flex bus services. Nine H is resolution 2023 106 a resolution of the Longmont City Council establishing fees for criminal justice records. Nine is resolution 2023 107 A resolution approving a purchase and sale agreement with diamond G concrete company for the purchase of real property for a future affordable attainable development project. Nine j is approved request for city sponsorship of the Nepali chatra. Event 9k is approved one capital improvement program amendment nine L is approved City Council on LH a board of Commissioner meeting schedule for January 2024 through January 2025. And nine M is approved City Council liaison appointments for January 2024 to December 2025. Thank
Speaker 1 1:31:18
you Don. Do Council any counselor want to pull one of the items off of the consent agenda? I do. I’m going to pull nine J and Councillor Chris.
Speaker 6 1:31:35
Thank you Mayor Peck actually had three items that I had questions about and I want to compliment staff on working me through some of these topics. So I actually have one item and that would be H nine H
Unknown Speaker 1:31:49
Okay. Councillor Martin?
Speaker 11 1:31:54
Yes. I just wanted some clarification because I didn’t miss. I think the city clerk said that you were going to pull a couple of this permanently polar until a subsequent meeting. And which were those two?
Speaker 1 1:32:07
It was nine E on the first reading the first ordinance. And then there was another one on sec.
Speaker 2 1:32:15
Now the other one pulled was the special presentation. Oh,
Unknown Speaker 1:32:18
I’m sorry, it was the presentation four.
Speaker 2 1:32:23
So resolution four nine we went to three is pulled.
Speaker 11 1:32:27
E J, and then councilmember Christmas. Ah, okay, thank you.
Unknown Speaker 1:32:37
So, okay, go ahead.
Speaker 11 1:32:39
I’ll move the consent agenda excluding items e j, and H.
Speaker 1 1:32:45
Right. That’s been Moved by Councillor Martin seconded by Councillor Yarbro. That’s vote.
Speaker 1 1:32:55
And that carries unanimously. Thank you. So we are going to move to the ordinance on second reading and public hearing on any item. The first one is a 2023 67. It’s a bill for an ordinance making additional appropriations for expenses and liabilities of the city of Longmont for the fiscal year beginning January 1 2023. Are there any questions from Council on this bill? Seeing none, I will open the public hearing on 2023 67 Is there anyone in the public that would like to address this ordinance? Seeing no one I will close the public hearing and ask for a motion.
Speaker 10 1:33:44
I move 2023 Yes 67 Second.
Speaker 1 1:33:50
Moved by Councillor McCoy seconded by Councillor Hidalgo fairing that’s fine.
Speaker 1 1:34:00
And that passes unanimously. The second one is 2023 Dash 68. This is a bill for an ordinance amending section 3.0 4.85 of the Longmont Municipal Code, adopting an amendment to the employee contribution requirement of the city of Longmont general employees retirement plan. Is there anybody on council that would like to address this ordinance? Seeing no one I will open the public hearing. Is there anyone in the public that would like to address this ordinance? Seeing none, I will ask for a motion.
Unknown Speaker 1:34:40
I move. Oh 2023 second
Speaker 1 1:34:50
that’s been Moved by Councillor McCarthy seconded by Councillor Martin.
Speaker 1 1:35:08
And that carries unanimously. We’re now at the items removed from the consent agenda. Don, did you want a presentation on E? Are you just pulling it for
Speaker 2 1:35:18
later? We’ll pull it. We’ll bring that item back on a future agenda. Mayor. Thank
Speaker 1 1:35:22
you. And then we will move to the one that Councillor Crist, which is Item nine H.
Speaker 6 1:35:38
Is there anyone from staff that would like to talk about the establishing fees for criminal justice records? I couldn’t. The problem I’m having is I couldn’t find a list of what the prior fees were. For comparison. I’m looking for a percentage of change on those
Speaker 25 1:36:01
of you here, okay. Yes. All right. All right. Councilmember Chris, Councilmember, Mayor Peck, Zack Arias, public safety chief. There was I do have a whole fee schedule in front of me, I’m happy to share that with you. My understanding is that what we did is we looked at our current fees are what they were right now we have a lot of body camera video. And in car video, that takes time. And so we reassessed the cost based on raises admits our manpower hour would take to retrieve these types of documents to redact them. And so that is what we proposed as far as the new request for the fee schedule. But I am able to give you the old fee schedule, if you have a particular question about a certain item, or if you just want to see him who,
Speaker 6 1:36:48
who requests this type of information. Who
Speaker 25 1:36:51
requests this anyone in the public. So anybody that comes in, wants a copy of a report. Anyone that wants copy of the video, news media, a wide variety of things we prepare, we also prepare for courts, defense attorneys, city courts, state court, anyone that may need this information. Okay. Looking
Speaker 6 1:37:11
at your fee schedule, I noticed some of it was hourly, some of it was, you know, a set fee. It was a little difficult to ascertain how much documents a document request would cost for someone requesting information. And I’ve just have in my business had time to be in court and have gotten there to find out that we haven’t paid enough in fees or you know, we’re quoted the wrong prices. And I just have a concern about this making it more transparent, I guess, to those who might request the information.
Speaker 25 1:37:52
And I’m a little confused by your question. So if I don’t answer it, please, please stop me correct me. So when folks come in, we have a fee schedule for certain documents or documents pulling a report. Pulling an accident is very simple to do. Where you get into the hourly rate is the time it takes for an actual person to sit down and review the video. So whether it’s redacting audio, because there’s personal information such as social security numbers, birth dates are not allowed. It is blurred out faces because there are juveniles involved. In this case, it does take an extensive amount of time to pull that and we have people who will come in to request hours of video, we have some people who will come in and just ask for a very specific period for videotapes. And depending on how many officers were at the scene, each one of those is a different body camera. Depending how many vehicles were at the scene, those are also different pieces of video that need to be redacted. So when you see a flat fee for something that is covering the time, the printer the copy that making the paper and getting that item back down to an individual, when you see it, it was an hourly rate. You’re seeing the time it takes manpower for an individual to sit there and go through that video, minute by minute second by second to redact things you cannot be released publicly.
Speaker 6 1:39:00
Yes, I have some experience with video. Also, and it does take it’s very tedious does take a lot of time. Is that something that you’re getting a lot more requests for? Currently? Yeah,
Speaker 25 1:39:09
since we since video cameras or body cameras have been introduced, we get quite a few requests for that. And again, like I said, We also do it for the prosecution, we do it for the public defender’s office. We also do it for individuals that come in and requests that video, because they may have a civil case, they may just want a copy of the video because of an incident that occurred and they read a newspaper. It could be for a wide variety of reasons but we actually have two individuals that are assigned to do videos, nothing but videos.
Speaker 6 1:39:39
Okay, so you don’t really have a baseline for video, redaction and and review. What do you mean by this? Well, long have you been doing video redacting and providing for individuals?
Speaker 25 1:39:53
So I’ve been here for two years, so I’ve been here for two and a half years. They’ve been doing it before I got here because they had video No camera, told the five is how long they’ve had body cameras. Okay, I’ve worked at other agencies with other states, we’ve been doing it for 10 years plus,
Unknown Speaker 1:40:07
okay. Yeah, we’re gonna let Harold speak to this.
Speaker 8 1:40:13
I think one of the things, it’s hard to say is it really depends on the scope of the request. And so not only do we deal with this and public safety, but open records request generally. And we have to give ask them, I mean, we give estimates of here’s what we think it’s going to cost. One of the things that’s pretty consistent, is we also try to work with folks to understand what it is think what it is that they really want, in order to potentially minimize that cost. And so it’s hard to say, because as Zack indicated, what I can say is generally just open records request, you will get some that are relatively simple and others that require hours upon hours of staff time to work through, and it’s the request that really generates How much is it going to cost? So it’s hard to say there’s a real answer, because they all vary.
Speaker 6 1:41:14
And are you able to generally give a good estimate? Yes, when we are like
Speaker 25 1:41:21
Mr. Dominguez says what we do is we actually sit down a lot of requests, we are very vague, we want all the body camera or all the video related to this incident. And so we meet with those individuals we talked to them typically come to the window, sometimes we get email request, we reach back out to them and we explain to them the amount of hours it’s going to take the number of videos that there are and what their estimated cost is looking at. So there is this upfront communication with an individual if he or she decides to pursue that, then again, they have an up front, knowing what the cost is going to be at least a ballpark of what that would be. Again, and so we do communicate that with him, we do communicate fee schedules are how much paperwork is or how much this actual import will be. And so all of those things are communicated to the public, our friends, we don’t try to surprise anyone, this isn’t a surprise to folks.
Speaker 6 1:42:10
I value what you do. And I know that this service, and this information is very much needed and requested frequently. I’m just concerned about it was really more of a policy type idea, which were a policy board. And we’re talking about, you know, how do we keep the cost of living low in Longmont and one of the one of the things that drives inflation is continually rising costs. And so, and one of the one of the ways to, to circumvent that or to try to put a lid on inflationary costs, is to find ways to do the same type of work in a cheaper or more cost effective way. And often in the past that’s been through technology. And I think what we’re seeing now is technologies actually, maybe providing more cost. But I just wonder if there’s any way to minimize the non video related costs, in terms of filing and what have you. And just to just to keep it as low as possible for the public?
Speaker 1 1:43:22
Can I can see that that’s a very difficult question to answer right now. And perhaps you and Councillor Crist could sit down together if she has more questions on this subject.
Speaker 25 1:43:33
Yes, I’m certainly happy to do that. What I will say in closing is, where our costs were, where they have been, and where they are at now is us looking at when when we have to stop what we’re doing to do other work, we now have to shift that work to stop can’t do the work that’s going on now. Because we have to stop to fulfill that request that we have, that can take time and take hours of this trying to recoup some of the money that the city of Longmont is already paying that employee to do their job. And so we don’t have just an individual sitting there waiting for open records request, we add that work on to what they’re already doing. And they have and so they have to stop the work they’re doing to do this. And so really this reimbursement doesn’t come back to the public safety, it actually comes back to the city to offset that employee salary, or the time that he or she has to stop doing their job in order to fulfill the open records request. So we are happy to sit down and talk about the cost for the mayor, as you suggested, I’m happy to meet with you, Councilman, Chris, and talk through that with you. But I just wanted to leave that piece with you.
Speaker 6 1:44:38
Oh, yeah. And let me reiterate. I totally appreciate the effort that you put forward on this. Appreciate some time that we could get together to discuss it further. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Sure.
Unknown Speaker 1:44:51
I just like to tell you that I’m sorry. I’m Jody, queasy. I work at the record.
Unknown Speaker 1:44:57
Can you hold the microphone over to your mouth?
Speaker 26 1:44:59
Now, I’m JD quazy I work over at records, one of the things I wanted to bring to your attention is that some of our older records aren’t kept on site. So we have to request them from Iron Mountain which is an off site storage facility. And currently it costs us $30 To bring the box in and we have been charging 15 For the past several years. So we kind of had to reevaluate where our costs were because we’re just in a hole with just that records are kept five years previous records are kept five years and our department everything else has to come in from our off site storage. So that’s that was one of the increases that I thought maybe you’d have a question about because it is a large increase. So I just want to let you know that thank you for your time. Thanks shape that
Speaker 1 1:45:47
that helps a lot. Thank you, Councillor Chris Do you want to move on nine h then make a motion we’ll just make a motion to approve it and it will automatically go to the Secretary of resolution.
Speaker 6 1:46:38
I’ll move that we we move resolution hr 2023 Dash 106 to the 1219 meeting
Speaker 6 1:46:57
Well, it just gives me time to get more information on what was the base schedule and what are the increases in fees and why and it just said we didn’t have time to talk about that today before the meeting
Unknown Speaker 1:47:18
Do we have a second Seeing none it dies for lack of a second okay. So I’m going to move resolution nine H and moved it Councillor Hidalgo Ferring seconded it. Let’s vote.
Speaker 1 1:47:46
And that passes six to one with Councillor Crist in opposition. And I brought up nine J which is approved the request for city sponsorship of the Nepali event. And I am going to vote for this. I just think that it might be confusing to some of our residents as to what this really is. And it is a sponsorship. But what is that sponsorship from the city involve? And it involves the the Nepali community asking for the use of this of Roosevelt park at the stage, water and electricity, Paul Police and trash and use of the museum if they want and that amount comes to about $5,300 Just for your information that does not come out of the city budget. It comes out of the city contingency fund, which means that I’m sorry, not the city, the council contingency fund, which means the money that we can use as discretionary for just about anything. So I am going to move to approve the request for city sponsorship of the Nepali Jabra event. So it’s been moved. I moved it and it was seconded by Councillor Yarborough. Let’s vote.
Unknown Speaker 1:49:18
And that passes unanimously thank you
Speaker 1 1:49:29
now we’re going to have a staff presentation. And this is by our principal planner. Glen van Morgan. Yeah, he’s also the planning director. He’s principal and he’s he’s director. So this is what the proposed amendments to the Longmont Municipal Code chapter 2.5956 historic preservation shim commission regarding designations of districts and landmarks, maintenance and demolition of structures 50 years and older revising enforcement and adding decision making capacity
Unknown Speaker 1:50:16
or hang on one moment we’re trying to find his presentation different
Unknown Speaker 1:50:32
and I’m wondering
Unknown Speaker 1:50:34
I don’t think we pause it because we went straight into.
Speaker 27 1:51:46
Mayor and council I would like to introduce we have a couple of our HPC members here. Our chairs, Steven lane is here and our Commissioner Doug Mendelsohn is here that our Nerd I’m sorry. Sorry. Sorry, Douglas.
Unknown Speaker 1:52:04
Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better.
Speaker 27 1:52:10
And our assistant city attorney, Jeremy Terrell worked tirelessly on this as well. So that’s what we have to show you. You’re more than welcome to the zoning map. I have one for Joanie as well. Anybody else would like a zoning map? Let me know. It’s paper. So one, two, anybody else? Any other takers? Three. Okay. This is rolled up. But yes, it will cover your wall
Unknown Speaker 1:52:53
you can mount it on foam core.
Unknown Speaker 1:53:14
Full Screen and get it with a keyboard. Give this to you and you. So I can. Yeah, that goes. It goes up. All right, excellent.
Speaker 27 1:53:32
Okay, I’m ready when you are. So we covered the first slide, I want to introduce the dignitaries that are in the meeting even though I messed up their name. But we just want to talk about the actual changes that are being proposed to Section 2.56. Some of you remember a year ago, we did kind of delve into this in detail and executive sessions. And in a joint meeting with our historic preservation commission. We have an amended this section of the Longmont Municipal Code. The historic preservation portion was added in 1993. And we’ve had a couple of minor edits in 2003 and 2005. Staff and various staff and the historic preservation commission had been working on amendments to this section of the code since 2021. We brought in outside counsel last year to draft some amendments and they made some presentations. And it was a very large effort. And I think the Planning Commission or the sorry, historic preservation commission, felt a little overwhelmed it included we discussed districts and landmark process. Certificate appropriateness is what we issue when somebody makes changes to an adopt Did landmark in the community. We talked about demolitions. And then it was proposed that we adopt a historic preservation overlay zoning for all our existing landmarks and future districts, which would then precipitate a legislative change to the zoning map. And then we also discussed additional enforcement recommendations. Staff went back to the HPC and said, What Why did you get into it to begin with, because I was prior to my time and they said, we really wanted to button up some changes, primarily in the demolition section. But we did hear some things through that process a year ago. So staff is also proposing some other changes. So just to kind of talk about geography a little bit, the important parts that we’re going to be talking a lot about is the original town site for Longmont, which is the blue line that basically goes from Ninth Avenue to First Avenue Martin to I think, Bowen on the west. So and within that blue area, you see a lot of red dots, those are all landmarks that have been designated by the city council after a recommendation by the historic preservation commission. And that’s done by ordinance and that gets recorded against the property. Then we have these three areas there, green, blue, and pink. Those are national districts that are on the National Register, and also on the state register. But they are not local Longmont districts. But as you can see, most of our historic resources are in the town site. So we do pay particular attention to what occurs in the original town site.
Speaker 27 1:57:09
So one of the changes that staff brought forward to the historic preservation commission had to do with how many landowners do you need on a petition to ask for a new district? Again, we don’t have any yet. But this is something that’s been in the code and right now it’s 25%. And I know I heard comments from either it was our outside counsel, or maybe it was council members that 25% That’s not much. You got 12 landowners within a proposed district, you only need three to to sign the application and move it into this preservation process. Staff thought well, more is better. So we propose 75% create a very strong district where everybody’s behind it. But after negotiating with HPC, they thought well, I mean, the majority is what rules right. So they ended up at 51%. And I think we support that. Another section of the code says When you adopt a new district, there is an opportunity to create design guidelines of what is appropriate changes to the homes within that district. Again, the right now it says 51%, we stuck with that staff has to again, be consistent go at 75. But if we keep the first one and 51, it makes sense to keep this one at 50%. Then the code does allow for folks with in a proposed Historic District to opt out if they get a certain ways along and they signed on for it and they say, Gee, no, I don’t think I want to do this at that point. Right now the code says 51% of those folks that have signed on to a future district can sign a petition saying we want to remove our names and basically stop the process. We basically with the 51%, reduce that down to 30%. And it’s something that the HPC agreed to. And then we have a process where somebody can revoke a district and that goes through the historic preservation commission. It was only 25% of the folks within that district and it was increased to 51 just to be consistent. So again, we don’t have any districts yet but we hope to at some point in the future so again, the main point, I think of historic preservation was reviewing the permits for demolition and moving of on designated structures. So though This would be structures that have not been identified as a landmark, and identified as as adopting an ordinance by this council saying it is a landmark. So there’s kind of a wide net that’s thrown in the current code. It says anything in that town site, that original town site, if it’s 50 years old, it gets a review. And its initial review is by our staff liaison who’s Jennifer, who had Apperson. And a councilmember. We’ve just kind of picked Aaron in the past, because he’s been our He’s been our representative from Council. But the code isn’t very specific on that. I think from town staff, from the staff standpoint, that’s problematic. And in a few areas in that, ultimately, you may be asked to vote on revocation or something like that, and working with the applicant might be problematic, but that was something we looked at. And then this would not apply if the building official or the fire marshal said this is an unsafe structure. It’s we can’t save it, and it’s going to hurt somebody if it doesn’t come down. So they overruled the process, and the structure can be removed at that point. So the process is proposed to change a little bit. So right now, this is what it looks like. Somebody makes an application for a demolition of a structure that’s 50 years old, in the original town site. It gets reviewed by staff person and the council member. And basically, you’re asking yourself, Is it landmark eligible? So in most of the original town site, or a lot of the original town site, we’ve done surveys, so we know those sites that are potentially historic and could be meet the criteria for becoming a landmark. But not all of them. If those two folks say, No, this really isn’t contributing to the historic Reese’s resources of Longmont, then they go ahead and give the okay to the demolition permit. If they say, Well, you know, it is it really ought to be considered right now, today, it goes directly to city council. And then you review that, with whatever evidence we have and have the same question. Is it worthy if it’s not go ahead and approve the permit to demolish it? If it is, a few things happen. The the actual timeline on the permit gets extended. So staff and it’s actually a code states, it’s the city manager could negotiate with that landowner to see what can we do to convince you to preserve that structure. And then, if that doesn’t work out, ultimately the Council could be asked to designate it by ordinance as a landmark. I don’t believe we’ve gone through this process all the way. But again, this is this is today’s process takes about 60 days, in fact, it’s capped at 60 days, so we will not delay somebody’s demolition permit more than 60 days. So what’s proposed by staff in the historic preservation commission is that instead of a the staff and the liaison review it, it would be the HPC chair has some technical expertise in this area. That would do the initial review, same questions apply, same actions apply, except that if they state that, okay, it’s worth an additional look, it would go to historic preservation. And then Historic Preservation would have the same decision. Should we push it up to council or should we go ahead and approve the demolition permit? If it goes to council, same rules apply same decision. The only difference here is in time is that this does take additional time. It’s 90 days total. So we add 30 days with this process. However, from the applicant standpoint, they get a couple of hearings to make their case so they get a little bit more democracy I guess out of that additional three days and even at that it’s it’s going to be it’s going to be a crunch. But something that the Commission added that’s new is basically rules that it If you have a landmark, you have to maintain it, you cannot just utilize planned obsolescence, to allow it to degrade to a point where demolition is the only answer. So there is a short section in there that says if you have a landmark, you must maintain it so that it doesn’t become structurally unsafe. And thereby, the only answer is demolishing it as we use a different term, deliberate neglect deterioration of the landmark to the point that there’s structural damage, and there’s no going back, basically. So that’s a new section of the code. And then enforcement penalties. You know, let me grab my notes, because this is something a little confusing for me. But right now, it goes to we have, it goes to a section of the code that basically says there’s a one time penalty, that if somebody changes, a landmark and say they make changes to an approved landmark, without going through a certificate of appropriateness. The only enforcement we have now is a $500 fee, we can take it to court, and basically ask the court, he knew compel the owner to put it back the way it was. So it does have its significance that was taken away. What we’re actually adding is
Speaker 27 2:06:41
that it be administrative enforcement, which is what our code enforcement folks do, they have a little bit more discretion, they have kind of an increasing penalty, if somebody is non responsive, to bring it back. I think the fees go from $100. If you don’t do anything, and you basically ignored staff, it goes to 200 and up to $500. So it’s what we use in code enforcement. And really our goal there is to get to compliance, not necessarily charge people fees. So that process I think, works a lot better in getting to where we want to be. And that’s restoring any landmarks that have been degraded by somebody’s action. One of the other things we’ve seen other cities do is if you demolish a landmark, without any approvals, you have a moratorium on future building permits of two years. And we’ve seen that in other communities, I think Westminster and I forget the other one. If you just make changes, and you don’t get a certificate of appropriateness, there’s one year that’s how we present it to the historic preservation commission. But the Commission said, Well, wait a minute, that could be deleterious to our historic area by having nothing happen on this site. So we’re proposing that the HPC if, if whoever it is, as well, I do have a great replacement that will fit in the district. This is what it is, they can reduce that time. So there, there’s potentially an out from that process. One thing staff added was historic preservation commission is a quasi judicial, they make quasi judicial decisions, on changes to landmarks, which is a certificate appropriateness recommendations on districts. And I think certificates of hardship are all quasi judicial decisions. So we wanted to put in place the same rules that apply to the city council and the planning commission for those decisions. So it’s actually taken right out of chapter 15. For the planning commission. There’s nothing really different in that section of code. So that’s it very quickly, a lot of information. But we’re just asking if if you feel the the red lines that are before you are worthy of going forward to an agenda. We haven’t placed it on Agenda yet. We will do that. If you have any proposed change. Let us know and we can address that or you think all of it’s a bad idea and we will pack our bags and go away.
Speaker 11 2:09:49
Thank you, Mr. Peck. Yeah, I think it’s overall a good idea. I have a couple of requests for clarification first on slide four. Way back There we go. Opt Out means that only the people who asked to opt out are exempted. Is that correct? Yes. versa. So but you have to have a third wanting to opt out for anybody to opt out. Is that right? A
Speaker 27 2:10:22
third of the folks 30% of the 51%. Yeah,
Speaker 11 2:10:25
yeah. Okay. And then replication of design, if you get 51% that one out, then the whole thing’s off. Right. Okay. Now, I don’t think it’s about nine or 10. The proposed prot 90 day process for demolition hearings. Yeah, this one, there was no number visible. I’m so sorry about that. You mentioned that the initial review is by the historic preservation chair and the staff liaison, is that correct? Right. And it raised the question for me, I guess the staff liaison always has a certain amount of expertise. But the chair of the I, the current chair of the historic preservation commission has a lot of expertise. But will that always be true?
Speaker 27 2:11:21
Well, we are actually by city ordinance required to have people on HPC that have expertise in various areas. So maybe it says the chair, no, would necessarily always be the chair but I think we put or designee
Speaker 11 2:11:36
okay, because it doesn’t say that on the slide. So yeah. And I’d be willing to have Steve, answer that as well. But designee is the is the or designee. So the assumption of the presumption is that somebody on historic preservation is an appropriate second to the staff liaison. Right.
Speaker 27 2:12:00
And perhaps we need to add that clarifying language. It wouldn’t be that big of a change, but somebody with the technical designee with a Yeah. Define
Speaker 11 2:12:08
the technical? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Well, that’s a suggestion, but that was just what I tripped over when you’re saying it. Thanks.
Speaker 1 2:12:18
Councillor Martin, did you want to put those as amendment because that’s one of the options. Do you want to amend this? To state that? Okay. Councillor Yarborough?
Speaker 5 2:12:34
Thank you, Mayor. I just have a question and thinking about, you know, all that we’re doing with affordable and attainable housing. Are there any unintended consequences that may come about with all of this? Just thinking about that, especially like when you think about redevelopment with the historic areas? So? I don’t know. Because I’m not, you know, I’m still learning all of this. But I will just I know, that’s our goal, right. That’s our vision about attainable and affordable housing. So are there anything that maybe we don’t foresee right now that can come up any consequences towards that?
Speaker 27 2:13:22
There are some communities and I’m thinking in California where they have a little bit stronger mandate for affordable and attainable housing. There have been people that said we’ve seen an increase in people applying for national registration. The assumption is, maybe they’re trying to block that effort. I think what I would tell you for Longmont is this doesn’t really affect vacant land. It’s a small part of the community. I don’t think it’s gonna hinder our abilities to provide affordable housing.
Speaker 5 2:13:58
Okay. And redevelopment either, right? Correct. Okay.
Speaker 6 2:14:08
Well, I was thinking along the same lines as Councillor Yarborough in that we’re having a lot of capital improvement projects that are stalled because of the increased costs of of redesign, redevelopment, what have you. And I would be concerned with somebody that has an older property that suddenly needs a lot of work. Usually those can go into the 1000s of dollars, and is there going to be time and a working with attitude to help people improve their properties? You know, it’s sometimes you can’t fix it that year. You have to save up for it. Right?
Speaker 27 2:14:46
Yeah. And anybody that has a landmark, hopefully they know that now. Something that historic preservation commission has said is, maybe we need to retrace our steps and notify those folks that you A that plaque means something on your structure, it means there’s special rules that apply. The other thing that HPC is and staff is putting together is a survey plan to identify those areas that we may not have not looked at, of whether there’s a potential landmarks, so we could potentially reduce the amount of the on designated structures that are going through review. But you’re right. And, in fact, we had a, an HPC. member that was a little concerned that are we telling somebody and maybe in the side at one time, those were affordable homes, you have to maintain these up to a certain standard? I think in in what we’re proposing here, I don’t think is too overreaching. It says, You must keep it from falling down. So I think that’s a standard most folks could meet. Am I answering your question?
Speaker 6 2:16:06
So you’re saying you’re keeping the bar, very reasonable. But you’re also going to identify properties, where people bought them maybe as a modest investment or, you know, a fixer upper that was affordable or attainable. And now you’re going to identify it as potentially something that must be maintained to an HPC level? And are you gonna give them some grandfathering? Or some time to come up to that standard? Or?
Speaker 27 2:16:37
Well, the the only thing that if you’re not a landmark, the only thing this ordinance touches you as if you want to tear it down. And that’s when we would look at and say Well, geez, you have a lot of you click a bunch of the boxes as far as it being a landmark. If they become a landmark, then we do have carrots, we can write off building permits, and a number of things to as an advantage to somebody to maintain
Speaker 6 2:17:09
historic property. So but you aren’t going to be identifying more Landmarks than exist right now.
Speaker 27 2:17:14
If we find things that are potential, right, our first step would be reach out to them and see if they would, on their own, bring it in and tell them the benefits of being a landmark and online, and
Speaker 6 2:17:27
that the majority will be geared towards demolition, you know, reducing demolition of right.
Unknown Speaker 2:17:37
Those landmarks, yeah, stay.
Unknown Speaker 2:17:39
Okay. Thank you. Sure.
Speaker 1 2:17:43
Seeing no one else in the queue are our options to give her to direct staff to bring back for adoption, an ordinance to approve the proposed changes or direct staff to bring back for an adoption and ordinance to approve the proposed changes as proposed with changes or amended. That’s why I’m as amended. Yeah. Okay. Or forget it. Don’t bring back anything. So, can I have a motion? Well, I am going to move actually to direct staff to bring back for adoption in ordinance to approve the proposed changes to the Longmont Municipal Code pertaining to historic preservation as recommended in the attached redlined draft. Okay, seeing no one in the queue for discussion, let’s vote
Unknown Speaker 2:18:49
that was moved by myself and seconded by Councillor McCoy.
Unknown Speaker 2:19:04
That thing?
Speaker 2 2:19:07
Councilmember Yarborough and Christie if you’d like to verbalize your vote, I can record it for you.
Unknown Speaker 2:19:28
Thank you, Director ven nimbu near Morgan.
Speaker 1 2:19:33
We have another presentation tonight and this is the city council work plan reporting. And I would like to in vite Becky Doyle to the podium
Speaker 28 2:20:23
There we go. Good evening, Mayor Peck members of council, I’m Becky Doyle from strategic integration. Right I have for you tonight is, is an item to help you all track the progress toward the work plan implementation for the council, city council work plan that was identified at the last retreat and officially adopted in August. And obviously may be amended at a future Council retreat. So looking essentially for feedback or direction, if this is something that’s helpful for you for you to see on a quarterly basis, which is our proposal that we would include this as an information item quarterly moving forward, to make sure that everyone’s on the same page as far as what has been accomplished, toward the council’s goals. Obviously, this is supplementary to some of the tracking mechanisms for things that are already part of city plans and other things, you know, such as our climate action reports and goals. But a tool for you all.
Unknown Speaker 2:21:38
Any thoughts or questions?
Unknown Speaker 2:21:45
Okay,
Speaker 1 2:21:46
we’re trying to get the screen to come on. I’m sorry about that. We did listen. Counselor.
Speaker 11 2:21:52
Yes. I love the idea of having this quarterly report for report. And, yeah, probably even more, but. But but I’m not sure how to interpret the stacked graph. Sure. So for example, one that’s near to my heart is assess the housing need gap. It just just to give us some factual references, right. So we did the council acceptance sometime last year, the housing needs assessment. And so I can clearly understand that that was a big thing. And it’s completed because Council accepted it. And yet, nevertheless, you can’t tell how many houses are needed. And and so we have heard from the housing authority, that they have additional data from state agencies that clarifies that? And how would we know whether that’s what the In Progress part is the clarification, or what the other stuff is?
Speaker 28 2:23:03
Sure. So in this case, what you see in this stacked graph here is that this indicates that three specific actions around assess the housing needs, or gap were identified, two of those actions are complete, and one is in progress. To look at these specific action, you’d go to the housing page. And look at all of those those four items under assess the housing need or gap. Okay, that is three. So that’s helpful. And note that the In Progress item is residence surveys at events and online. So I think perhaps that the the state agencies additional information has not been identified as an action in the adopted action plan.
Speaker 11 2:23:52
Ah, so good. So does that then mean that at these quarterly reports, we would have the opportunity of identifying new actions that could be added to the stack? I
Speaker 28 2:24:06
won’t put that question to assistant city manager, Sandy cedar.
Speaker 13 2:24:12
Mayor pack members of council Sandy cedar assistant city manager, Councilmember Martin, I think what we want to do is have this as an annual planning event, and then be able to report on our progress as we go, as is a meeting, you’re certainly welcome to make motions and have discussions about additional work plan items. I think this is really more to show you what the progress has been made between quarter to quarter. And so I would say that in any kind of conversation, where you’re adding items to the work plan, probably needs to be met with a balancing of that work plan as well. So every time you add things, what other things might need to either come off or other priorities that maybe are completed? So it’s kind of a tricky question, because in some cases, one thing leads to another leads to another and so we want to make sure that we’re reporting those actions as well. Yeah,
Speaker 11 2:24:58
you know, In the again, in the example that I can come up with it was sort of yet we thought that was a fascinating report. And we all thought that the methodology was good and everything, and then we tried to use it to get answers. And we found out that now can’t do it. So, you know, I would sure hate to wait till 2025 To get a better get better answers out of that, because it’s critical information.
Speaker 13 2:25:30
So, member Martin, I would also mention that this isn’t the only time that you’ll see these items, right. So this is just the reporting of the work plan in general, which we’d like to do quarterly, to ensure that you know, what kinds of actions are being taken and how far forward we’re moving with those goals. Housing items will come back on their own to be able to move forward as well. So that’s more of the conversation and the action planning and where you may want to take different policy decisions or add different actions. This is really more intended to report on the things you’ve already given us.
Speaker 11 2:26:03
Okay, so then the, the the question then for how to interpret the stacked graph, is that every stack is is the same width. And you have to go look at the other page to see what they are. That’s
Speaker 13 2:26:21
if you want more detail, then there’s more detail that you can dig into and take a look at. It’s supposed to be I think, a quick like, Oh, hey, we’re making progress in these areas. Yeah, and here’s some areas were concerned about, perhaps,
Speaker 11 2:26:32
and this is a live dashboard. So we could, we could click and
Speaker 28 2:26:36
this was not live, this is this is a PDF, we can probably discuss how we might do something more applicable. But there are,
Speaker 11 2:26:45
you know, I’d take them to cool implications. Take the PDF, there’s a data analysis, we want more. Okay, but thank you,
Speaker 13 2:26:53
because we want to make sure that this is the information that council is looking for out of this reporting. So this was she’s kind of mocked this up for your approval if this is helpful for you all to be able to kind of keep track of the work plan and how things are going. And we’ll continue to move forward with it. And it’s quarterly the right cadence, you think?
Unknown Speaker 2:27:11
Yes. Yeah.
Speaker 8 2:27:14
If I can jump in mayor. I think one of the things is, as we’re moving through this to Councilmember Martin’s point, hey, we’re going to be learning through this document and what we’re doing. So I don’t think that it’s going to be static and that we’re going to evolve, as we’re seeing things. And I think what we’re finding similar to the housing conversation that we had, as lmha commissioners versus you know, what we talked about the housing study, we may identify things for we all council may go, well, we want to know this. And it may it’ll make sense, but it may be in the housing discussion. The other thing that we’re talking about, and they’re building is the concept of the live dashboards. And so they’re working on some of those things now. In terms of, of what we need to see operationally and we are talking about how do we give counsel a view and this and we’re building some of those now, but just know that’s coming as part of this overall reporting process.
Unknown Speaker 2:28:30
Counselor Crist.
Speaker 6 2:28:33
I really liked the report. And I think we’re always more attached to our own spreadsheets and what have you. But I found this specially the strategy progress was very helpful. And the overall progress, I was surprised to see that not started, the transportation actually has a large bar. Because last night, Phil Greenwald gave a rundown of all the projects that were started, and there’s quite a few actually. So it just tells me that there’s a lot more so. But I think the thing I had the hardest time with was the task counts by due date. And, and I think, and I’ll just make this suggestion, I don’t know if it would be helpful to anyone else. But when you scroll down, you’ll notice that the first line is the due date is the fourth quarter. And it might be a little easier if it went from first quarter down through you know, if you just rearranged it. So the quarter one was first for the due date, everything that needs to be done in in first quarters is listed first because it would follow this, this graphic, you have task counts by due date a little bit more. You could say okay, oh, q2, we have four and those would be the first four. Otherwise, I found I was looking for them. Yes, yes. Well done. Ladies. Thank you.
Unknown Speaker 2:29:51
Thank you. We will take a look at that. Thank you very much. All Becky No, no all ANNA all our staff so great. Oh, I think we’re good, or do we need direction? Thank you all very much.
Unknown Speaker 2:30:12
You don’t need this was just a presentation you don’t need direction we did give it.
Speaker 13 2:30:17
I think we were just looking to make sure that this is the direction that you’d like us to go that these are helpful answer any questions about the graphs and show you how to use the detail. And it sounds like a live kind of look would be desirable and that you’d like to see quarterly reporting. So yeah, and
Speaker 1 2:30:34
I did I didn’t look at the second page that you pulled up very well. But you pulled it up. Because I was wondering what inside those marks the blue, the brown, what were the tasks you perform to get there? And that was the second page.
Speaker 13 2:30:51
Is that correct? Yes. Okay, that way you have the details but you’re able to look at it, you know, kind of a quick look to see how things are going. Alright. And Becky’s right, it is the whole staff pulling together to get this work done.
Speaker 1 2:31:03
Thank you very much. We appreciate it. So that is the end of our special presentations. We are now at final call public invited to be heard. Is there anybody from the public that would like to address Council? Seeing none, I will close final call public invited to be heard. We are now at Marin Council comments. Do we have any comments from council?
Speaker 1 2:31:36
So let’s go to city met city manager reports or remarks. Herald.
Speaker 8 2:31:44
No comments, Mayor Council. Thanks for affording me this opportunity remotely.
Speaker 1 2:31:48
Glad you’re taking care of yourself. City Attorney remarks.
Unknown Speaker 2:31:54
No comments, Mayor.
Speaker 1 2:31:55
May I have a motion to adjourn. All right. It’s been moved and seconded that we adjourn everybody. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed? We are adjourned.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai