https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4nb_Shvcao
Video Description:
Longmont City Council – Study Session – October 1, 2024
9:42
Sleep
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Hello everyone, and I apologize for the late attendance, I mean for the late meeting time, but I would now like to call the October 1 2024, Longmont City Council’s study session to order. The livestream of this meeting can be viewed at the city’s YouTube channel or at Longmont public media.org, forward slash watch or a Comcast channels eight or 880 May we have a roll call please don
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Mayor Peck, present, Council Member Christ present. Mayor Pro Tem Ed go faring here, Council Member Martin here, Council Member McCoy, Council Member Rodriguez and council member Yarbrough. Mayor, you have a quorum.
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Thank you. Let’s stand for the pledge. I
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pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. I Yeah.
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Anyone wishing to speak at first call, public, invited to be heard, will need to put his or her name on the list outside the council chambers. Only those on the list will be invited to speak at the first call, public invited to be heard, and each speaker is limited to three minutes. Do we have any motions to add agenda items to the agenda? I don’t have anything. Mayor you don’t have anything. No. How about council members. Is there any future agenda items you would like to add? Seeing none. We will move on to our public invited to be heard. Remember that you have three minutes and we need your name and address. The first one on the list is Audrey Dunn.
18:42
Thank sorry. Beth, hello, Betty, thank you for having me tonight, and I want to cook all your attention to some issues again, but I know I’m supposed to address the commissioners, but I’m not going to be able to stay that late for that meeting. My best will be picking me up at about nine, 839, somewhere, and they’re taking back home. So tonight, I’m hiding issues with doing my laundry I have on myself the CSC Go app to do laundry. You put money in that app, and then you tap on this machine to bring it up and start washing. I can’t do it anymore. I got money on that on the app if I cannot access it and I need to do laundry, I’ve been doing my laundry by hand out the bathtub, and that’s not easy for me to do. And the reason I need to do it now is because I’m set to have surgery probably next week after cataract surgery. I can’t add any issues with that. I don’t know what’s going on with the Internet. I thought maybe with my phone, because the SIM card of my phone was dead standing somehow, some ways, I put any sim card I still can’t access. The issue of self. I tried to solve it myself, but I’m not that technically, there’s just a lot of things going on down there. I don’t know what’s going on. Nobody’s been communicating the issues with me at all. So another thing is, this just might be my last attendance at the city council meeting diamond gates, we married in December. Oh, congratulations. So I don’t know yet either this December or next December, because there’s some roadblocks in front of us, so we need to kick out of our way. But I didn’t want to come tonight and say thank you to all of you, and I will miss you if I don’t show up again after my marriage. But this is really, really bothersome. It just seems like life is getting harder to live with disabled people at the sweets and I’ve done everything I can to solve the issues for everybody, but I’m not getting in cooperation. And this means there’s many people there now who have wheelchairs. I have art, and I just, I don’t know, it breaks my heart that if things can be going backwards and get forwards for those of us who are disabled. And so thank you again. Thank
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you very much. Audrey, you the next one on the list is Keith Griffith.
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Oh, thank you. My name is Keith Griffith. I operate a business on the Longmont airport 229, Airport Road. My comments tonight are about the proposed annexation at 8809 Nelson Road, which just to locate you, is north of Nelson road and just east of the modern West one development in June of 2016 the Envision Longmont long range plan was passed, like any long range plan. It’s not perfect. It has its flaws that have been discovered in the practical day to day business of building a city. There were no stone tablets handed down with that document. In the eight plus years since the development environment has changed substantially with the impact of covid. Mixed use projects that seemed viable and promising at one point are clearly not now. There are parcels along the north edge of Nelson road that were planned by envision Longmont to be zoned m u e, that’s mixed use employment, as we learned with modern West one and 2m, U, e allows high density residential as a secondary use, as discussed extensively just five weeks ago tonight, high density residential this close to the airport is not compatible with the safe and efficient operation of the airport. It’s also not conducive to a happy and healthy citizen. Citizenry. No resident will feel safe and well sleeping under this part of the airport traffic pattern. You may suppress the legal consequences of the inevitable complaints with a strong navigation easement, but that won’t make these poor souls living here any happier. I suggest that you avoid the high density residential question entirely for this parcel, this new parcel at 8809 Nelson, by not annexing this parcel with the zoning suggested by envision Longmont not written in stone. Any other zoning that recognizes the very close proximity to the airport would be fine. You would be saving everyone, both the developer and the airport and the city departments and council a lot of future cost and trouble by just saying, Welcome to Longmont, but not this spot cannot support high density residential in any use, primary or secondary. Please learn from the stakes that have created such a contentious mess in the modern West, one and two incidents. Thanks,
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thank you. Keith l manly,
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Mayor, Peckham Council, Al Manley 940, Ranger lane, Longmont, 80501, I just want to make a suggestion, if I could I see more development planned on Nelson road in the vicinity of the airport, and to avoid situations like Keith just discussed with modern West two, I’d like to suggest that the Planning and Development code or processes be revised to any. New development or zoning change that falls under the airport influence zone, that notification of the lease holders at the airport be informed of the proposed developments or the zoning changes. Thank you.
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Thank you. Al Seeing no one on the list, I’m going to close first call, public invited to be called, be heard, and we are going to now to move on to our city manager reports. Oh, we do have a special report. This is a proclamation designating October 6 as electrify Longmont day, a proclamation designating October 6. 2024 is electrified Longmont day in Longmont, Colorado, whereas petroleum fueled vehicles, gas appliances and yard equipment are a contributing factor to air pollution and climate change threatening the health of our citizens and the sustainability sustainability of our planet. And whereas Longmont is a leader in supporting 100% clean renewable energy for electricity generation, and whereas the transportation sector needs support to move toward adoption of clean energy technology, including plug in electric vehicles, that reduces our dependence on fossil fuels and supports a healthy environment and economy and whereas the adaption of electric heat pumps for heating and cooling our homes, electric stoves and electric yard equipment provide efficient, non polluting methods to replace pollution from fracking for natural gas. And whereas Longmont is dedicated to being a leader in the use of clean energy, establishing policies and programs that conserve energy and promote sustainability. And whereas September 27 to October 6, 2024 has been designated as National drive electric week throughout the USA to educate our citizens about the benefits of plug in electric vehicles and to promote their adoption. Now therefore I Joan Peck, Mayor, by virtue of the authority vested in me and the city council of the Longmont of city of Longmont, do hereby proclaim October 6, 2024 as electrified Longmont. Day in Longmont and call upon all residents of this great city to join me in supporting the aims and goals of this worthwhile effort. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to address this? I see Karen dyke.
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Karen dyke, 708, Hayden court Mayor Peck and council members. Thank you so much for this proclamation, sustainable, resilient. Longmont sponsored the first national drive electric week in Longmont in 2019 for the last two years, we have not only highlighted the benefits of the EVS, but have also moved to all types of electric appliances in our homes, and this year we’re also going to focus on yard work. This year we are returning to the Boulder County Fairgrounds for our event. We’ll have the usual EV ride and drive area, which also includes e bikes. We’ll have areas with vendors that are knowledgeable about electrifying your home with heat pumps, getting started with energy audits and information about rebates and incentives will be available. A kids area with lots of activities is also planned. We’ll have a drawing every hour, and I know that there’s at least one electric leaf blower in the drawing. We want to thank all of our supporters who make this event possible. And the weather is predicted to be really good. This year, it’s going to be 74 and sunny. That’s kind of nice. It’s a good event. A good event needs food trucks, a kids area, a few vendors handing out information and some music. So this is going to be a good event. We’ll have all of those. We’ll hope you’ll join us October 6, 10am to 2pm at the Boulder County Fairgrounds again. Thanks so much to the city for this proclamation and for your ongoing support.
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Thank you. Thank you. Karen, would you like a picture with this. Yes,
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okay,
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big smiles, 123, you. Excellent.
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Thank you guys.
30:22
Okay, okay, so now we’re going on to our study session items. We have the second public hearing on the 2025, budget and final Council direction, And I’ll invite Teresa Malloy, you
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good evening, Mayor, you
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good evening, mayor and city council. Theresa Malloy, Assistant Chief Financial Officer, this is going to be a short presentation for us this evening, because really, all we have on the agenda for tonight is our second public hearing, and then we need direction from you all in order to prepare our ordinances and resolutions to adopt our budget. So what you see on your screen is the total 2025 proposed budget. It does include the changes that we have spoke to you over the past month. And really those changes are only in three funds, and it is the property tax in the general fund, the DDA operating and the GID, as well as the changes that Jim spoke to you about two, three weeks ago regarding the DDA construction fund changes. The all of that information is outlined for you in attachment queue. So what basically attachment Q shows you. Here was what our proposed budget was when we first presented it to you. Here’s all the changes. Here’s what it is now. So 473,577,005 97 is what our 2025 proposed budget is at this point, and it does include a little over $71 million in CIP projects. So with that, I’ll let you hold your public hearing, in case there is anyone in the audience that would like to speak to you all, and then we’ll ask you for your final direction.
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Okay, thank you. That was the shortest presentation on this budget I’ve ever seen. So are there any questions from councilors? First of all, Councilor, Hidalgo ferry,
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Thank you, Mayor. So actually, I do have a question, and it was something more specific that was brought to our attention from a constituent. So this might be directed towards Harold or David Bell. I thought I saw him. There you are, away from me. So the concern was in regard to using the open space fund for 2.2 FTE positions that cover neighborhood, neighborhood, community and neighborhood resources, as well as a equity position. And so my understanding is when we pull when we like split the funding of different FTE, it it’s because part of their job that they’re tasked with is addressing needs within open space. Could you speak a little more to that?
34:14
Yeah, no, that’s correct. We have actually a number of positions within our budget that have split revenue sources. And when we do that, we’re specifically looking at they are doing work for the particular fund that is part of their overall funding component. So in these positions, what you will, there’s a number of groups that are funding it, and so it’s really attaching the work that they’re doing for the various funds for these positions. So your statement is correct, and David can probably give you more specifics on what they’re doing on behalf of the open space fund,
34:55
okay, and I know that part of our open space mission is a. Us the education and stewardship. So I, when I think about the work, you know, as we’ve incorporated social equity into across, you know, it’s not a separate pocket or a separate entity that works on in a silo, but really how social equity is embedded throughout our whole organization and how we operate so and even looking at the positions, it’s not the full FTE, I see that it is a point to two Yes, point two, and it was Yeah, and it was in there in 2023 2024 and 2025 so it’s not in addition to this year. I just wanted to clarify, correct that it has been ongoing. Okay? And then neighborhood, the Neighborhood Resource Coordinator, what specifically would that? What would their job tasks be in relation to open space?
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So I’m going to have David come down and talk, talk through that. I bill,
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mayor and council. David Bell, Director, parks, natural resources. These positions, as Harold mentioned, are ones that we have across the departments. As we try to figure out how much time an individual employee is providing services to a group, as you mentioned, as we look to equity, we’re definitely tapping into that with the with the neighborhood and resource specialist. We use that probably more often in our parks department. We have taken advantage that in open space. But if you think about things we’ve talked about, from the neighbors and communities wildfire coming up, to the cities, if we want to hold meetings with a community to talk about how open space is managing areas to address fire, those are places we probably do a better job of using that resource. So I think part of is a learning piece for us as we recognize we don’t have to do it all ourselves anymore. I think they also the important piece is it’s been there for a while, but we always can go back and reevaluate and if we’re not hitting that or not striking that balance, because, again, on any given day, it’s not going to be that, but over time, we try to hit that. And we would definitely go back to leadership and say we don’t think that this is appropriate. But this point, I think we still have opportunities to try to figure how we can better engage our community using that resource.
37:15
Okay? And thank you. And actually, as I’m looking at the document again, it’s on page 607 of the budget. It’s the positions actually are a point 02 FTE, is that correct? Because I see a point two for other positions, but in both the Neighborhood Resource Coordinator and social equity coordinator, it shows as a 0.02
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I fortunately have Theresa Molly, maybe next to me that can double check that for me, because I don’t have that memorized.
37:48
I’m sorry, 602 is that correct?
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I’m hearing from the back room that is correct.
37:55
Okay, so it is a very small portion of that. FTE,
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it’s a very small portion and and sometimes what you see is, as they’re doing work, that they’re adjusting those I mean, the reality is, when you look at these positions, it’s probably at the end of the day, they’re probably doing more than the point 02, but that’s how, when they look at funding these we put together to to at least connection, connect them into those areas that they’re serving. And then sometimes, as you see the work change, it could go up
38:28
Correct. Okay, okay, very good. Thank you for that clarification. Thank
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you so to simplify it for me, it is the portion of their FTE that they are working in whatever department it is. It’s that department that is paying for that service, for that FTE, am I correct?
38:50
Correct? So in this case, you have Neighborhood Services, right? That is a general funded position, correct? Teresa, this one is, yes. Is this one general funded?
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It’s split across
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multiple funds, yeah, but the position sits in the general fund, so it reports
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to the general fund, right? So
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it’s here they work on behalf of a lot of departments in the work that they’re doing. So those departments then fund into it. So probably a more tangible example in some of the work that they’ve done is so when we were undertaking price Park tank replacement, correct that I think there’s a bigger chunk in water for this position, but Wayne was directly involved with the water department in terms of the interaction with the neighborhood and advising in terms of how we needed to approach this, and so that’s a more tangible example, but that’s the work they do on a regular basis, supporting the entire organization in whatever it is that we’re doing
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so, and I think that’s where the confusion for the residents come from, is that knowing that it comes out of the general. Fund, and knowing that it is someone that is has a different title in a different department, and they’re going to a different department, there’s an assumption that they’re not getting paid from the appropriate department in their you. So I think this makes a lot of sense your explanation so,
40:18
and I can certainly tell you how that position is funded in its entirety. If that would if that would be helpful,
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sure that would be okay. Yeah, you bet.
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So 65% of that is funded out of the general fund. So 65% point six five FTE covers the entire general fund, all general fund services. Point oh eight FTE is in the sanitation fund. Point oh seven is in the electric fund. Point oh four in broadband. Point oh six in water, point oh two and sewer, point oh six and street, and then the point oh two in open space.
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Great. Thank you very much. So are there any other questions from councilors? Seeing none? I am going to open up the public hearing for the second public hearing on the 2025 budget, and final Council direction. Is there anybody in the public that would like to address the second presentation on the council budget, the staff budget? Seeing no one. I’m going to close the public hearing on the 2025, budget and final Council direction.
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Do you have presentation? The
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Thank you. All right, so the these same topics is what we’re going to need direction from you all on this evening.
42:19
So I need a motion on this. Do not, do I not. Are we going to wait until this presentation?
42:29
Well, we really don’t have a presentation but, but we do need direction from you on each one of these. It can be, you know, one broad motion or a motion on each
42:42
I would think a motion, one broad motion on this would work, since it’s all about the budget. So we did the public hearing, and now we need a motion.
42:58
Yes, please. Thank you, Mayor. I move the presented budget. Councilor Martin
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second, okay, it’s
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been moved by councilor McCoy, seconded by councilor Martin, that we move the presented 2025, budget. And final Council direction, all those Let’s vote. Oh, I need to go back.
43:31
Yes, you can give yay, yes, yes.
43:39
Easier, thank you. Yes, I
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Okay. I’m sorry I’m struggling with here. That’s fine. So that that passes five to zero with counselors, Rodriguez and Yarbrough absent. Thank you.
43:59
No thank you. Now we’re at the mayor and council comments. Do we have any comments? Councilor Martin, do you have your hand up?
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Oh, no, that was, that was the second
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okay.
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Councilor Crist.
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I just want to recognize our accounting team for their excellent work on what was a difficult budget, and also to Mr. Golden for living, leaving us in a good position in reserves. I I also just want to mention that going forward, I as more money becomes available, I’d like to see more go into the library fund. You know, most, most areas had to take some money out of their existing balance or fund balance, and the library was no different, but it particularly hits them. Percentage wise. So just going forward as a council, let’s keep an eye on that and make sure that the library gets funded.
45:07
Thank you. Councilor, Chris, anyone else? Okay? Seeing no one else, we will move to the city manager. Remarks,
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no comments, Mayor, council other than we, you know, you all have had a series of really long and taxing meetings, and so we were trying to keep this meeting as short as possible based on the work you’ve been putting in. So that’s all I wanted to say.
45:33
Thank you for that. City Attorney. No comments, Mayor, thank you. Yes. I’ll second that it’s been moved by councilor McCoy, seconded by me that we adjourn all those in favor. Aye, we are adjourned. Thank you, everyone. Thank
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you.
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