What's Up? - 5 March 2016

I'm falling behind. My council to-do list stands at 52, but I haven't added new items from recent email or the meetings of last week. I'm sure it would be over 60 now. I'm still trying to get into the groove and routine of serving on the Council. I'm sure I'll get faster and more efficient at certain things as I gain experience -- so much is new, and I'm still learning how to do things -- but I imagine I'll need to also adjust what I spend my time on so that I can accomplish the most important things.

I believe that communication with my constituents and other stake holders is one of those important things, which is one of the reasons that I write on this blog. It does take a lot of time though, time that I could be using to knock off a few of those "to do" items. If you read this, and find it worthwhile, please let me know with a short message however you'd like (801 310.9970, email, Facebook, Twitter, comments below).

There are some synergies with blogging. Writing the "What's Coming Up" feature helps me work through the material in order to be prepared for meetings, while authoring the "What Was Up" feature helps me organize and extract the "go do's" from our meetings.

One unusual thing that has taken up some spare time this week is our effort to find our next executive director. I snapped the photo on the right of the stack of applications, resumes, and other support documentation from the 47 individuals who have applied for the position. I estimate that there is around 350 pages. I finished reviewing them this morning. As daunting as the task of reading through this stack was, I couldn't help but think about the amount of effort that collectively went into creating these applications. Even more than that, the talent, skills, education, experience, and service that is summarized in this stack of paper is awesome. Literally. I am stuck with awe.

What Was Up? 

Council Work Meeting

12:00 PM, Tuesday, March 1, City Conference Room, 351 West Center

1. A presentation and discussion with Claudia O'Grady and Jonathon Hanks of Utah Housing Corporation. (16-030) Report Only This was a very informative discussion. My conclusion shared in the last "What's Up" about LIHTC only being available in parts of Provo and one small slice of Orem was incorrect. The map showed areas in which LIHTC proposals get location bonus points. Many LIHTC funded projects occur outside of these areas, but the map does encourage the more projects to be in this area, as do several other factors for which points are awarded, like close proximity to rail transit, proximity to jobs, proximity to social services. LIHTC funding is awarded to proposals which earn the most points, so this system has a concentrating influence on low income housing.
2. A presentation and report from the Administration regarding the 25 fees identified for review from the Consolidated Fee Schedule. (15-118) Council Member George Stewart motioned to move this item forward to the March 15, 2016 Work Meeting and Gary McGinn will prepare the comparative analysis of other cities’ fees for that meeting. Seconded by Council Member David Sewell. Approved 7:0. There was a lot of discussion about this presentation and the study and presentation of user fees in general. The decision about what to do about the user fees presented this round was postponed until our next meeting to allow for fees from comparable cities to be collected. I'm still not sure that we will have enough information next time because these Community Development fees are related to plan check and building fees, which were not studied, or the associated activities in departments outside of Community Development. I thought we had an interesting discussion about who the "customer" is for this process. Is the developer/applicant the customer, or is it the residents of Provo?
3. A discussion on the mission statement created for the Ad Hoc Housing Committee. (16-018) Council Member George Stewart motioned to accept the Ad Hoc Hosing Committee Mission Statement. Seconded by Council Member Gary Winterton. Approved 7:0. Council Members are to give suggestions to Council Member Kay Van Buren. The Committee Members will consider the suggestions and bring this item forward to the March 15, 2016 Work Meeting.We discussed the proposed Mission Statement before it passed. The scope is more narrow than it had been after the last Council started the project.
4. A follow-up discussion on Council Priorities and Vision for the City. (16-015) Ad Hoc Housing Committee has been formed and has a mission statement.
   
   Public Engagement – Council Member David Knecht motioned to accept Public Engagement as the name for this priority. Seconded by Council Member David Harding. Approved 7:0.
   
   Structured Policy – Return this to the Policy Governance Committee for discussion on the relationship of established policies as they relate to the Council and General Plan. Matthew Taylor will prepare an ordinance amending the duties of the Executive Director to ensure that the Council review established practices. This item will be brought forward to the March 15, 2016 Work Meeting.
   
   West Side – Council Members are to individually review the General Plan, Vision 2030. Community Development is to report on the Southwest Neighborhood Plan and a report by David Harding on his specific thoughts for the West side. Bring this to the March 15, 2016 Work Meeting.    
   
   Public Engagement – David Knecht will report on the first bullet point under outcomes. David Sewell will report on the second bullet point under outcomes. David Harding for third bullet point. The assignment wasn't so much to report on the bullet items as it was that we would be the "champions" of the item.
5. A discussion and review of the Development Review Process. (16-023) This item continued to the March 15, 2016 Work Meeting.
6. Council Rules Policy Amendment: Items Referred from the Planning Commission to Work Meeting Agenda. (16-020) This item continued to the March 15, 2016 Work Meeting.
7. A discussion on the status of infrastructure on the west side of Provo as it relates to future development. (16-031) Report only. We talked about both water and waste water. This and other infrastructure is needed for further development, and we need a clear vision of what the west side will become so that we can properly plan the infrastructure.
8. A discussion on the proposed 2016-2017 Annual Action Plan to be submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (16-033) This item is continued to the Redevelopment Retreat on March 22, 2016. We talked a lot about the value of the Social Services portion of the CDBG funding, and directed the RDA to prepare future proposals with 15% of the CDBG money going to social services.
1. 2016-17 CDBG Funding Recommendations
2. 2016-17 HOME Funding Recommendations
9. A discussion on the consideration of the transfer of property in downtown Provo to further the goals of the Redevelopment Agency. (16-034) Report only. This item was also heard in the Council Meeting. See my thoughts below.
10. Administrative Updates The process to update Vision 2030 is underway.
11. Closed Meeting A closed meeting was held.

Council Meeting

5:30 PM, Tuesday, March 01, Municipal Council Chambers, 351 West Center

1. A proclamation on Radon Awareness - Utah County Health Be Aware
2. A presentation on the Employee of the Month Award for the Month of February 2016 - Aaron Davenport, Water Reclamation Well done, and well deserved.
3. Public Comment <<crickets>>
4. A public hearing on a resolution appropriating $40,000 in the Mountain Vista Fund for various expenses for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016. (16-026) Approved 7:0 Well, so much for being prepared for the meeting. In the last "What's Up" I had a question about this item, but then I forgot to ask it in the meeting. I just emailed Economic Development the question. At least the follow up aspect of blogging is working. :)
5. An ordinance amending the Consolidated Fee Schedule with regard to Sanitation Fees charged at the Compost Yard. (16-029) Approved w/edits 7:0. The edits were to change "load" to "yard" if you read the pre-description of this item in the last "What's Up", you know what I'm talking about. Perhaps someone does read this. Or perhaps someone else caught the mistake.
6. A resolution approving a Power Plant Property Lease Agreement between Provo City and Utah Municipal Power Agency. (16-024) Continued to March 15, 2016 Council Meeting. Approved 7:0. We didn't hear or discuss this item. Only the continuation (i.e. pushing it off to the next meeting) was approved.
7. A resolution authorizing the transfer of property in downtown Provo. (16-034) Approved 7:0. This is pretty cool. Read about it in the Herald.
8. A public hearing on a resolution to adopt the Franklin Neighborhood Plan as a component of the Provo City General Plan. Franklin Neighborhood. (15-0003GPA) Approved with the charge to ensure that the Downtown Master Plan is amended to be consistent with the Franklin Neighborhood Plan in regards to Franklin Neighborhood Fig. 3.3. Proposed Changes in zoning and land use; Approved 4:3 (Winterton, Harding, and Van Buren opposed). This item is a big one. I could spend the rest of the day writing about it. I did spend about 50 minutes at the Franklin Neighborhood Meeting on Wednesday discussing it. I know that some people were upset at my vote and the discussion before hand. Some of these people were at the Neighborhood Meeting. I felt like we achieve a remarkable amount of understanding in those 50 minutes. I should have engaged more with the neighborhood before the vote. As I said in the last "What's Up", I wasn't expecting this item to return so quickly, and as I said earlier in this "What's Up", there are many things that I should be doing that aren't currently getting done. I also believe that we came to the understanding that we have the same desired outcome for strong, stable, healthy neighborhoods. I'm just questioning if we are on the right path to get there. I will be addressing this more later, I have a separate blog post partly written. But there are only so many hours in a day.
9. An ordinance amending Section 1.01.010 (Title - Effect on Prior Legislation) and Section 1.01.020 (Citation) of the Provo City Code, and revising, codifying, and compiling the general ordinances of Provo City. (16-028) Approved 7:0. Merely procedural