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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEconomic Advisory Commission - Minutes - 12/14/20111 Minutes City of Fort Collins Economic Advisory Commission Regular Meeting 300 LaPorte Ave City Hall December 14 2011 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. For Reference: Bill Timpson, Chair 493-3673 Council Liaison Wade Troxell Josh Birks, Staff Liaison 416-6324 Wendy Bricher, Minutes 221-6506 Commission members present: Commission members absent: Jim Clark Michael Kulisheck Christophe Febvre Kevin Shaw Blue Hovatter Channing Arndt Bill Timpson Stu MacMillan Rick Price Guests: Eric Sutherland Glen Colton Ann Hutchison, FC Chamber of Commerce Caroline Alexander, TIP Strategies Staff Present: Christina Vincent, Redevelopment Program Administrator Wendy Bricher, Minutes Josh Birks, Economic Advisor Bruce Hendee, Chief Sustainability Officer Ellen Switzer, Utilities Financial Operations Manager Brian Janonis, Utilities Executive Director Lance Smith, Strategic Financial Planning Manager Agenda Item 1: Meeting called to order Meeting called to order at 9:06 a.m. Agenda Item 2: Approval of Minutes Unanimous approval of minutes dated 10/19/2011 Financial Services 300 LaPorte Ave PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com 2 Agenda Item 3: Public Comment Eric Sutherland commented that he believes the memo distributed to the EAC regarding the financing of RMI2 did not address the concerns he has raised regarding what he believes to be illegal financing of RMI2. He stated that he did request information through an Open Records request; the information could not be disclosed due to client/attorney privilege. Christophe Febvre commented that the mission of the EAC is not to discuss legality issues and maybe this is not a topic the EAC should be addressing. Rick Price was absent from the meeting in November, but will review the memo that was provided. He will bring the topic up again in January if needed. Glen Colton provided feedback regarding the first draft of the Economic Health Strategic Plan. His main concern is that the plan promotes growth, and he believes that we simply cannot keep the quality of life we have with 500,000 people planned to come into this area. He believes we should be building strategies on self-sustainability and not on growth; cities with more growth do not always do better (in his opinion). Mr. Colton also stated he did not find anything related to local economy in the report and suggested it should be included. Agenda Item 4: Follow-up Discussion Regarding Previous Meetings None. Agenda Item 5: Member Updates/Future Agenda Items Discussion The Economic Strategic Plan is scheduled on January 17. There will likely be an additional work session before the plan is finalized for with plan adoption to occur in February. Further review of the draft plan will be scheduled at the EAC meeting in January. Bill Timpson asked for additional information regarding the Sister Cities agenda item. Staff will put him in touch with a staff member who will be able to answer his questions regarding a possible relationship with a city in Africa. Jim Clark provided an update regarding the FCCCV agenda item. At this time, the update will be informational (benchmarking) and will not address a lodging tax increase. Rick Price pointed out the Transportation Master Plan discussion in March and asked the EAC to continue discussion regarding prioritizing future bike program ideas including the bike library, education plan, safety plan, event management, etc. Rick agreed to provide written material for EAC review in January. Blue Hovatter suggested future agenda items should include the Parking Plan Update and KFCG funding/reporting. Blue Hovatter and Bill Timpson would also like to keep an eye on the Housing Authority issues. In addition, the Flood Plain item will be included at the February meeting. Agenda Item 6: Utility Rates Staff members Ellen Switzer, Brian Janonis, and Lance Smith provided an overview regarding electric rate changes for 2012, rate comparisons, and the Utilities future outlook. An 8.3 rate increase was approved in 2012 with the main component associated to Platte River’s whole rate of 6.4% or 4.8% at retail. Prices will vary seasonally and are generally higher in June, July and August. The cost increase was necessary to slow the use of reserves and to cover the cost of current and future capital projects. Growth is eventually going to push us in to new generation. EAC members asked about the cost differences between the different types of power; solar vs. wind. Vs. coal vs. natural gas prices were estimated at 100.00 to 60.00 to 40.00 to 60.00 respectively. Statewide, Fort Collins in lower than Xcel and Poudre Valley REA. Discussion included data centers and that the City of Fort Collins does not incentivize them because they are generally very expensive due to “chilling”. The future outlook includes PRPA forecasting a 9-10% increase for 2013. Council has asked that that increase be spread out. 3 The Utilities is now developing a strategic plan as it is estimated that we will reach our capacity in 2020. At that time, we will be looking at another gas-fired turbine with estimated capital costs of 50 million. Coal prices are expected to go up as well. Agenda Item 7: TIP Strategies – Draft Economic Health Strategic Plan The first draft of the Economic Health Strategic Plan was presented to the Economic Advisory Commission for review. Caroline Alexander commented that TIP Strategies had received feedback regarding better explanation of how the report should be used, growth vs. no growth, attracting business/talent to the community, and how the plan is marketed. It was also suggested that underemployment is not necessarily an issue in a city that includes a state university. Caroline asked the EAC for their feedback regarding the Vision Statement (page 8). Initial feedback included the following:  living laboratory might be better as a guiding principle vs. a vision  the vision is hard to interpret  the vision should include terms such as local, regenerative, transformative  model vs. laboratory  communities vs. cities Framework and guiding principles were also discussed. Initial feedback included the following:  service vs. coordination (political advocacy)  synergistic solutions – non political environment  better system for interaction between employers and talent to reduce the skills gap  recognizing that quality play of life plays a huge role Systemic issues were also discussed; it was suggested by the EAC that underemployment not be deleted from the plan, but recognized as a possible issue. Hard messages should not be deleted, but maybe re- worded. The Economic Advisory Commission agreed to review the plan further and provide more feedback. Caroline will provide “homework” for the EAC to complete on their own and will be reviewed and finalized at the January meeting Meeting adjourned at 11:58 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled on January 18, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. CIC Room, City Hall