What's Up? - 23 February 2017

For those in a hurry, I recommend item 6 in the Work Meeting and item 7 in the Council Meeting.

The black text below comes straight from the published agenda. My current comments are in bright blue. The muted blue text signifies my comments from past reports. The sections of brown text are quotes from the informational documents supplied with the published agenda.

What's Coming Up?

COUNCIL WORK MEETING

2:30 PM, Tuesday, February 21st, City Conference Room, 351 West Center

1. A discussion pertaining to a proposed ordinance amendment to the Provo City Permit Parking Area Program
   Motion to move this item to the March 7, 2017 Council Meeting. Approved 6:0, Council Member Kim Santiago excused.
   This is mostly a straightforward code cleanup in preparation for the coming of a City Parking Manager, license plate readers for parking enforcement, and expected changes to one of our permit parking areas.
2. A discussion about Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Property Conversion pertaining to the Bounous Park property
   Motion expressing Council’s approval for the Parks Department to continue moving forward with the conversion process. Approved 7:0.
   Bounous Park is adjacent to Timpview High. The school would like to purchase it in order to build a softball field on campus. Many neighbors are concerned about losing access to a nearby park. The School District has worked with neighbors to try to address their concerns and to find a solution that works for both the school and the community. One complicating factor is that the park property was originally purchased with LWCF monies. This presents significant hurdles before it can be sold. The money generated by the sale must be used to create a new park.
3. A discussion on a Budget Committee request for a Water Division review
   Motion that the Council invite the Public Works Water Division to present during work sessions over the next few months (beginning as soon/as quickly as they are ready to do so), working from the higher level questions [Chair David Sewell’s summary of three core questions] and detailed questions [compiled by Council Member Kim Santiago, Budget Committee Chair] as reference points. Approved 7:0.
   This was one of our more intense discussions of the day, and all the way through it sounded like everyone mostly agreed with each other. We will receive a series of presentations on the status and future of the Water Division.
4. A discussion on a proposed amendment from the Rules Committee changing the Implied Motion language in the Council Handbook
   Approved 6:0, Council Member Kim Santiago excused.
   This is a simple tweak to the way the Council conducts business. We passed a fairly significant set of changes a few meetings ago, and now after trying them out, we see something that can be improved. The wrinkle was promptly ironed out.
5. A discussion on a change to the Provo Landmarks Register: Wendy Holdaway requests the Nomination of the Erik C. & Sine J. Henrichsen House, located at 690 West 300 South, to the Provo Landmarks Register. Franklin Neighborhood.
   No action taken. This item is scheduled to be heard at the March 7, 2017 Council Meeting.
   There were a few questions about the nature and draw of Landmarks Registry. 
6. A discussion on a proposed amendment: Provo City Community Development Department requests amendments to the parking ratios for the Off-Street Parking Standards for Baching Singles (Section 14.37.060), the ITOD Zone (Section 14.23.120), the General Downtown Zone (Section 14.21A.150) and the Downtown Core Zone (Section 14.21B.140) to consider increasing the minimum parking requirement within these zones. City-Wide Impact.
   Motion to follow the plan outlined by Council Leadership to continue discussion of this item at the March 7, 2017 Work Meeting and hold public hearings on this item at the March 7, 2017 and March 21, 2017 Council Meetings. Approved 7:0.
   If I had to recommend one item from this meeting for the general public to watch, this would be it. At 50 minutes long, though, not many would be willing to see it through. It is a perfect example of the issues that Provo is facing at this point in our history. Who are we? Who do we want to become? How do we get there? This is the parking aspect of those questions. I do recommend watching this clip if you are interested in the future of Provo. We will be discussing this again at our next Work Meeting, as well as at our next two Council Meetings.
7. Administrative update on the BRT project
   This item was postponed to a future work meeting.
   A Councilor expressed concern that UTA had more representatives at the Executive Committee meeting than the other participating entities. The administration was asked how the seating at the table is decided.
8. Closed Meeting
   No closed session was held.

COUNCIL MEETING

5:30 PM, Tuesday, February 21st, Council Chambers, 351 West Center 

5. A resolution appropriating $47,525 in the Mayor's Office for the Hiring of a Parking Manager and appropriating $57,066 in the Finance Division for funding a full-time collections person and an Accounting Clerk applying to the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017.
   Approved 7:0.
   Have you noticed a parking theme for Tuesday's meetings? I think the above "short title" is a bit misleading, a net total of $45,925 is being requested. The increase is due to the hiring of a new Parking Manager. The rest is a shuffling of responsibilities, positions, and employees between our Justice Court, Customer Service, and Finance Division. The net difference because of the shuffle is a savings of $1600.
   I believe that this is the first step in changing the parking paradigm in our city and actually addressing our long-standing parking problems. I believe that there are new tools for regulating on-street parking and that a Parking Manager will allow us to implement these new tools. I believe that Item 6 above and Item 9 below are temporary solutions until the paradigm shifts.
6. A resolution appropriating $2,040,000 in the Vehicle Replacement Fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017 and approving the execution of a Master Tax-Exempt Lease Purchase Agreement for the purchase of fire apparatus.
   Approved 7:0.
   During the May 17, 2016 Council Work Session, the Fire Department discussed the need for purchasing two new fire trucks and related equipment. The two trucks that have been selected as best meeting the needs of the Fire Department are the Rosenbauer Fire Engine (pumper truck) and the Pierce 105’ Ladder Truck (Quint). A summary of the equipment costs is outlined below:
   Rosenbauer Engine $675,000
   Engine Equipment 150,000
   Pierce Truck 1,065,000
   Truck Equipment 150,000
   Total $2,040,000 
7.  An ordinance enacting Provo City Code Chapter 9.18. Prohibiting Camping on Public Property.
   Approved 7:0.
   This was the most controversial item of the night. I was very encouraged to see people from the community turn out to speak on the proposed ordinance. The people who come to Council meetings to speak on items are often the people who are most directly affected by the pending legislation. For example, when we were considering changes to the fee structure for solar users, we mostly heard from solar users. But for this item, we mostly heard from caring residents speaking up for a group who generally doesn't have a voice in local government.
   I assume that most of the people we heard from are disappointed in the outcome of the vote. We carefully listened to the concerns presented. Many of them reflected the concerns that we first had at the beginning of this process. And these were mostly the same concerns of the authors of the ordinance tried to address while tackling a very specific problem.
   The specific problem is that public property in the City was not intended for people to camp on, and there are not sufficient facilities to allow for camping in a safe, sanitary, healthy way. Public property has been used for camping in an unsafe, unsanitary, unhealthy way, but our police had no way to address it.
   Here is a recent example. It was shared a couple weeks ago, along with a fairly graphic photo, so I may have some of the details wrong, but it illustrates the problem. Up until a few weeks ago, a man had been camping for months under the State Street Bridge along the Provo River. The man dumped his trash and human waste over the wall separating the River Trail from the River. It piled up on the rocky bank and would have been carried away as the River rose in the spring. The man was there for months. Services were offered to this person -- food, shelter, mental health support -- but were refused. The situation was unsafe, unsanitary, and unhealthy for the individual as well as for the community. It was dangerous for both this man and for the users of the Provo River Trail. The only thing the police could do was to cite the man for littering, and the citations were ignored. They had no authority to require the man to move or to clean up. The trail is a wonderful amenity for the whole community, something that the community has invested in. The misuse of the trail drives many in the community away from using it as intended.
   This ordinance gives the police a new tool. They can now ask someone camping to "cease and desist" and it is only a violation of this ordinance if the individual does not comply. The ordinance allows the police to clear camps that are abandoned or if the occupants refuse the "cease and desist" order. This would have allowed the police to address the situation above in a timely manner, rather than allowing it to go on for months.
   Homelessness is a complex problem. This ordinance was not intended to address homelessness. This ordinance addresses a very specific problem and it prohibits anyone from camping on public property that isn't intended for camping.
   Our community offers many services to homeless individuals, but people can't be forced to accept these services. I imagine that it isn't easy to go through treatment for some of the underlying causes of homelessness. By allowing camping on public property we are enabling behavior that is detrimental to many individuals and often harmful to the broader community.
   To anyone interested in actually addressing homelessness in our community, I highly recommend getting involved with the Mountainland Continuum of Care coalition.
8. An ordinance amending Provo City Code Section 3.04.030 (Disposal of Property - Surplus Property List).
   Approved 7:0.
   This proposed ordinance would allow surplused property to remain on the Surplus Property List until sold or until it is removed by the Council. Currently, the property is automatically removed at the end of each fiscal year, causing problems when negotiations extend across multiple years. The ordinance also adjusts property value thresholds when certain provisions kick in, like when Council approval is necessary or when multiple appraisals are necessary. I think it makes sense to adjust these thresholds to keep up with inflation, but I'll be carefully considering if we are being asked to inappropriately give up too much oversight.
   The threshold values hadn't been updated in at least 20 years, in which time inflation has doubled prices. This adjustment moves us back to where we were 20 years ago.
9. An ordinance amending the boundaries of the existing Foothill Park Permit Parking Area.
   Approved 7:0.
   This was the third of the three required meetings. Unlike the other two meetings, no one showed up to speak to the issue. Councilors had no comment either. Everything that needed to be said had already been said.