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HomeMy WebLinkAboutYouth Advisory Board - Minutes - 04/02/2008YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES Regular meeting — April 2, 2008 7:00 p.m. Council Liaison: Lisa Poppaw Staff Liaison: Steve Budner, Recreation, 221-6861 Board Chairperson: Josh Disney Board Members Present: Lee Swanson, Laura Lamb, Matt Strauch and Caroline Wockner Board Member(s) Absent: Josh Disney and Scott Umbreit Staff Members Present: Steve Budner, Administrator — Recreation Department Carol Fahring, Staff Support — Recreation Department Guest(s) Present: Doug Hutchinson, Mayor Call meeting to Order: The regular meeting of the Youth Advisory Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Board vice - chairperson Matt Strauch. Approval of Minutes from February 6, 2008: Approval of the minutes was postponed to May 2 because there were several members absent. Agenda Review: There was no agenda review. Citizen Participation: There was no citizen participation. Chairman's report: There was no chairman's report. Presentation by Doug Hutchinson, Mayor: Mayor Hutchinson grew up in Fort Collins, attended Colorado State University and then joined the military. After his military career he returned to Fort Collins. The city needs more recreational facilities in the south part of town. It was painful to close the Youth Activity Center, but it was too expensive to keep it open. There is land set aside in both Spring Canyon Community Park and Fossil Creek Park for recreational facilities. Currently '/< of a cent of the 3cent sales tax goes to building new recreational facilities. The 3 unrelated rental discussion began in 1963. It's original purpose was to keep the number of cars on the street to a minimum. Currently in a single family neighborhood there is no flexibility in the law. However if it is not a single family neighborhood, then owners can get a permit to rent to up to 5 people. The city used utility bills to determine rentals. There is a map showing which neighborhoods in the city are single family neighborhoods. Youth Advisory Board Minutes April 2, 2008 Page 2 In 2007 there were 147 complaints under the 3 unrelated law. In 50 of those there was no evidence to support the complaint. All but 14 of the rest made adjustments. So only 14 were cited. City boards are good citizenship. The council needs to use the boards more. Lisa Poppaw can help the YAB with that. Boards can advise staff on policies and programs. They can attend council meetings or watch them on the city's award winning website. In the military, Mayor Hutchinson focused on resources needed to keep the military working. After returning to Fort Collins he did community columns in the Coloradoan. At his first City Council meeting in April 2005 after becoming mayor he threw out the old budget and went to the BFO process. The got it down to 7 outcomes of what people needed. They are: a healthy economy, a healthy environment, a livable neighborhood, a safe neighborhood, cultural and recreational opportunities, transportation and a high performing government. These 7 committees built a list with the most important items in each area at the top. Then they decided how much would go to each item in the list. When the money ran out, the items below that point were not funded. This cut 15 % from the budget. They had to cut some things which were important, but they had very few complaints from citizens. We now have an economic action plan and an economic advisory board. There are things needed now which are not covered by the budget. Police needs 40 more officers. Fire needs a new battalion. Streets needs more for upkeep and parks for maintenance. One suggestion is more sales tax. City Council believed that a new logo was needed to help economic growth. Out of the $80,000 spent in the branding process, only $4,000 went for the new logo. Contrary to reports in the media there were focus groups before deciding on the logo. However now that the new logo has been put on hold there are more visible outreach to the community about the logo. Other business: Liason reports: Matt reported on City Council. They want to put together newspaper condos downtown instead of individual newspaper racks. The first reading passed. Publishers are against it because of freedom of speech. Business owners like them and use them for advertisements. Lee had no update on Affordable Housing. He wanted to ask Karla how often they meet and are their minutes uploaded on the website. Laura reported on Poudre school district. There is a readiness plan for instituting grade configuration. It contains transition plans for staff and students and training for teachers. There are 4 scenarios for the new boundaries. The district is now compiling data from community input. There is now a graduation requirement study on how to prepare children for the 2l't century. They also discussed small schools in the district and a new mill levy. Caroline plans to be a liason to the Loveland board. Speaker series: The board would like to have Lisa Poppaw speak about where her interests lie regarding youth. After that we would delay the speaker series until fall. Youth Advisory Board Minutes April 2, 2008 Page 3 Caroline was introduced to the other members of the board. She is a 91h grader at Polaris. Her e-mail address is carowocknerlahotmail.com and her cell phone is 231-9069. Matt's cell phone is 310-7813. Steve will call Poudre school district administration to see how to advertise board vacancies in the schools. He will also follow up with Karla on the video for board training. Further he will write a letter to Kai about her absences. On a motion by Laura and seconded by Caroline, the board voted unanimously (4-0) to adjourn at 8:45 pm. Respectfully submitted, Carol Fahring, Staff support The next meeting will be Wednesday, May 7 at 6:30 pm at NACC.