Thursday, April 14, 2016

What's Up? - 13 Apr 2016

What Was Up?

COUNCIL WORK MEETING

11:00 AM, Tuesday, April 12, City Conference Room, 351 West Center
  1. A tour of the Public Works Water Reclamation Facility.
    The tour was very informative. It is very apparent that we have outstanding civil servants keeping our drains flowing. It is apparent that Public Works has tried to stretch every dollar and to keep things lean. It is also apparent the Provo has underfunded this operation, and has charged rates well below what was necessary to keep up with the long term capital replacement needs of our waste water system. The infrastructure is literally crumbling. More on this later.
  2. A discussion regarding the approval of a lease agreement between Provo City and Utah Transit Authority regarding various Provo City streets for the purpose of constructing a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System.
    Report only, item to be heard at April 19th Council Meeting
    We received an update on the project and corridor design, including stations and projected timelines. We also had the opportunity to discuss the two proposed agreements. There are some obviously wrinkles to work out, but we have been promised the final versions soon. Everyone appears committed to working together to make this project as good as it can be.
  3. A discussion on the Parks and Recreation Capital Improvement Plans and the plans for the RAP Tax.
    Report only
    I was wrong on my earlier speculation of this item. We neither heard from Grantwell or discussed much the delayed implementation of the RAP tax. It was mostly a review of all of the park upgrades and creations that are in the works. One Department worry is that residents will be so excited that they won't want to wait for the improvements which will happen steadily over the 10 years of the RAP tax. I was perhaps most excited to see an actual concept for the long rumored Beach Park on the shores of Utah Lake.
  4. A discussion regarding Eagle Summit Construction, LLC request for a zone change from One-Family Residential (R1.10) to Low Density Residential (LDR) for property located at approximately 2470 West 1160 North. Lakeview North Neighborhood.
    Report only, item to be heard at April 19th Council Meeting
    I think I'll stick with my description from before.
  5. Council Rules Policy Amendment: Items Referred from the Planning Commission.
    Approved with changes to handbook amendment - 7:0
    We gave our Chair more flexibility in scheduling Land Use items on our Council Meeting agenda to hopefully avoid a super crowded agenda that takes us late into the night.
  6. A discussion regarding the Council Executive Director's duties.
    Continued.
    We were running way over time, so this was punted until our next Work Session.
  7. A discussion and review of the Development Review Process.
    Continued.
  8. A follow-up discussion regarding the Community Development fees identified for review from the Consolidated Fee Schedule.
    Conintued.
  9. A discussion regarding Public Works infrastructure in Provo City.
    Much of our waste-water facilities are nearing their end-of-life. We have the option to replace the equipment and structures at the current waste water plant in phases over the next several years, or build a new plant.
    The previously proposed rate hikes will not be sufficient for either scenario. One thing that we can do is change how we charge the base rate (the portion of the bill that stays the same regardless of how much waste water you produce. It is intended to cover the fixed costs of the waste water system). Currently we charge one base rate for every meter: $7.31. A single family home with one meter is charged $7.31 per month. A 300 unit apartment complex also gets charged a single base rate of $7.31 per month, if it uses a single (much bigger) water meter. If this proposal is adopted the waste water charges to large multi-family complexes will go up much more than the general population, if they have had few meters than units. The counter argument is that they haven't been paying their "fair share" all along. If this proposal is adopted then the rate increases for the rest of our residents will still need to be larger than previously presented, but not by as much as they would otherwise.
    Over the next 85 years, the rebuild in place and the move the plant scenarios will cost the City roughly the same, but the rebuild scenario pushes the most expensive years out for another 50 years, the new build would cost a lot more up front. There are a variety of reasons why a new build, in a location that makes more sense, would be good in the long run, but I'm not sure I can be convinced that we should pay more in the short run when we seem to be so far behind and need to catch up in so many other areas as well.
  10.  Closed Meeting

What's Coming Up?

CITIES OF OREM AND PROVO JOINT CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION

12:00 PM, Tuesday, April 14, City Council Chambers, 56 North State Street, Orem
  1. Discussion/Update – Balance of Housing Distribution
  2. Discussion – Provo/Orem TRIP Lease Agreement
  3. Discussion – Trampoline Gyms
  4. Discussion – Orem NIA Program

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