Council Meeting - 18 December 2018

On Tuesday we have a special holiday bonus meeting. The agenda last week was so full that we pushed a few items to this Work-Meeting-only special.

I feel the Ranked Choice Voting item is pretty significant, as is the item on housing affordability.

PROVO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
Work Meeting Agenda

12:30 PM, Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Work Meetings are designed to be a less formal venue for discussion among Council Members. Generally, no public input is taken during the meeting.

Business



1. A discussion on a statement of intent regarding the voting policy in Provo City. (18-088)
   Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of choice. If your top candidate can’t win, your vote counts for your next choice, until someone wins with a majority. Utah passed legislation earlier this year to allow cities to pilot ranked choice voting. A presentation was given at the September 25 work meeting. Cities have until December 31 to indicate to the State if they would like to utilize ranked choice voting in the 2019 election. The Council discussed ranked choice voting (RCV) in the fall. At the time we understood that we had a binding decision to make by December 31st whether or not Provo would use RCV in our fall 2019 elections. That was also the time that much of our energy and outreach was focused on the bond. The general consensus was that there wasn't enough time to properly engage with the public before making the decision. Also, there was a concern about adding another change after the County has struggled to administer vote-by-mail elections in the first two years after making that change. The State has now indicated that cities who declare their intent to use RCV in 2019 can still change their mind during the springtime. This would allow us time to engage with the public, be a part of the discussion about changes the State will make to the program in their legislative session, and monitor changes the new County Clerk/Auditor as she takes over the administration of elections. From my perspective, the main decision the Council was considering was whether to declare our interest to the State to preserve the option of using RCV in 2019. I believe this would have given us a (better) seat at the table with the State to discuss changes to the State statute governing the use of RCV, and would have focused the public discussion on whether RCV should be used in Provo municipal elections. The counter-argument was that the Council and public needs more time to consider RCV and the State needs to fix the statute, so we shouldn't preserve the option to use it in 2019. The Mayor expressed her opposition to preserving the option for 2019. It was apparent that 4 Councilors were also against preserving the option for 2019. Rather than pursuing that motion, we voted on a motion to pass a statement of intent which stated that we are interested in learning more about RCV and engaging with the public to decide if it will be a good fit for Provo, but that we don't feel that 2019 is the right time. The motion to release the Statement of Intent was passed on a 4-3 vote.
2. A presentation and discussion on recent updates to Stormwater requirements from the State Division of Water Quality. (18-102)
   Erica Gaddis from the State Division of Water Quality will be here to present on the recent updates to requirements. Last week we had a presentation regarding concerns our Public Works Department has about potential regulations that are being discussed by the State. Dr. Gaddis has met with the Council in the past regarding wastewater treatment and has been very helpful in both our understanding of the issues as well as in coordinating State assistance with our new wastewater treatment plant. She will be discussing stormwater and possible new regulations. The implementation deadline will be pushed back again to allow further discussion with local governments about the best way to reach to objectives. No Council action was taken.
3. A discussion on an appropriation for the Urban Deer Program. (18-061)
   In FY 2016, the Municipal Council appropriated $35,000 to fund an urban deer removal program on an interim basis. On May 15, 2018, the council evaluated the program and voted to extend the program for an additional year. In that motion, the council recommended the funding be included in the FY 2019 budget. Through the changes that were made to the budget, that change was not incorporated into the new-year budget. The annual cost for administering the program last year approached $20,000. The request before the council is to appropriate an additional $20,000 to fund the FY2019 portion of the program. I am very interested to hear the updated stats of the problem and the program. I do believe the program has been beneficial. The question is is this the best use of this money? The program has two parts, a professional bow hunting component, which can only be used in the less populated parts of the City, and a live trap-and-relocate component that can be used in the more populated parts of the City. The trap-and-relocate part is more expensive in terms of both money and burden on our police officers. Also, reviews of similar programs show a low survival rate of the relocated deer. One solution would be to cut the trap-and-relocate portion of the program, but “urban deer” (deer that change their behavior and live in the city year-round) are the main problem, and they are located in the more populated portions of the city. The Administration agreed to look into whether trap-and-euthanize is an option available to us.
4. A discussion on a Provo River Corridor Plan. (18-101)
   A class of BYU students has been working with a Steering Committee to formulate the Provo River Corridor Plan. They will present the draft plan to the Planning Commission on November 28. The Plan is not in a final form yet, and it will take well into the new year to get it where it needs to be, but Bill Peperone would like the students to have the experience of presenting what they have so far to the Council. During the discussion on the Southwest Area Future Land Use Map, I pushed for protection and a plan for the River corridor. I didn't know that a class was already working on one. I'm curious to see what they've come up with so far. The Plan is still in its early stages and is very high level. It is also very bold and would direct the redevelopment of significant areas of Provo over many decades. I absolutely agree that Provo City needs to do a better job of embracing the river in the more developed areas of the City.
5. A discussion on affordable housing policies in Provo City.
   At the August 7, 2018 Work Meeting, representatives from The Salt Lake Chamber came to discuss a policy initiative they recently headed and referred to as the Housing Gap Coalition. As part of their presentation, they discussed with the Council a study their group had recently commissioned with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. The study uncovered several areas dealing with housing affordability and availability that were of concern and in need of attention. One of the primary asks of this presentation was that the Council consider and pass a resolution which would unite cities in the state and partner with the Housing Gap Coalition to address housing affordability. The Council has had numerous discussions regarding this resolution, but never adopted the resolution. Council Leadership asked Council staff to review the housing policies in place and to particularly look at current policies and whether current policies would create a duplication in effort. The Council's Policy Analysts have authored a great report discussing the proposed resolution, but also many of the related developments and efforts in the County and the State. We ran out of time and continued this item to the next Work Meeting.
   
   

   Adjournment