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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Legislative Review Committee - 08/13/2013 -City Manager’s Office City Hall 300 LaPorte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6505 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com Legislative Review Committee Agenda Meeting Notes August 13, 2013, 4:00 p.m. City Manager’s Conference Room Present: Wade Troxell, Councilmember; Lisa Poppaw, Councilmember; Ross Cunniff, Councilmember; Wendy Williams, Assistant City Manager; Steve Roy, City Attorney; Dan Weinheimer, Legislative Policy Manager Absent: None Guests: None Councilmember Troxell called the meeting to order at 4:08 pm. Adoption of the minutes from the July 9, 2013 meeting were moved for approval by Councilmember Cunniff and seconded by Councilmember Troxell. Minutes were adopted without amendment. Councilmember Troxell asked that Dan Weinheimer present the draft Legislative Policy Agenda (LPA) and provide an overview of the changes being proposed. Dan said that he envisioned some significant changes to the LPA document – combining the Legislative Priorities with the LPA so that there was one exhaustive reference for legislators and their staff, further demonstrating the alignment between legislative advocacy and Council-adopted strategic objectives, and distilling some important topics in order to make finding information easier. Dan presented the LPA while also noting that its length – 31pgs as a redline document – made it difficult to use. He recommended that there be two documents, one exhaustive for those interested in specific issues and one concise. The concise version would be provided to the public and legislators and focus on that year’s legislative activity. The shorter document would include photos and graphics in addition to text. Dan said that he planned to work with Communications and Public Involvement on the production of a shorter version of the policy agenda. Councilmembers reviewed the LPA. Councilmember Poppaw recommended the introduction (pg 3) include a reference to the community and to citizen feedback rather than only focusing on legislators. Councilmember Troxell commented that the objective statement for train horns be broadened to focus more on solutions to a problem rather than presuming the 2 solution. This comment generated discussion around cooperative demonstrations and incorporating innovative and technologically new ways to address both train noise and other similar issues in the community. Councilmember Troxell recommended that, as a guiding principle, Fort Collins supports the use of cooperative demonstrations and technology pilots. Councilmember Troxell further noted the possibility of a demonstration with regard to the next objective – funding transportation infrastructure. He said that there are opportunities to demonstrate point to point mass transit. He referenced the electronic taxi – a service allowing booking a taxi ride through a smartphone – as a possible transportation alternative to work with MAX. He thought that this service could even have a City connection to integrate it with mass transit. Councilmember Cunniff commented that there was not a priority objective about climate change. He said that especially around mitigation strategies he would like to see language added to the Legislative Priorities seeking federal support for climate change policy. Councilmember Troxell agreed, especially with regard to community-based solutions such as warning systems and technology that might provide citizens notice of dangerous conditions. Councilmember Troxell noted that there was not a mention of marijuana in the state priorities. He said his specific concern is addressing marijuana consumption in the under-21 population – increasing education and enforcement for that demographic group. Councilmember Poppaw agreed that under-21 marijuana use needs to be addressed and that a fact-based education approach to informing youth about the risks and consequences is needed. Councilmember Troxell sought to broaden a statement on waste reduction (pg 7) to read that Fort Collins supports legislation to encourage reduction of waste. He said that it is important to address point-source waste and to find alternatives to adding to the waste stream. Councilmember Poppaw sought to clarify whether this policy priority should include power to implement impact fees relative to waste creation. Discussion of the group indicated that this could be done already at a local level should Councilmembers choose to pursue such a policy. Councilmember Troxell made some general comments about the LPA draft, saying that he would like to see legislative information posted to the website including a tracker of City positions on bills. Dan said that he would look into that. Discussion of the policy statements in the LPA centered on economic health and economic development (pg 12). Councilmember Cunniff questioned putting tax increment financing under economic development, saying that it is not an economic development tool rather a financing tool. Councilmember Poppaw 3 agreed with moving this position statement back to the finance area. She also sought to add language about the use of metro districts and other financing mechanisms to the toolbox. Councilmember Troxell sought to add a statement about the City’s approach to economic development and innovation to the preface of the economic development section. He wanted to highlight innovation, the practice of global benchmarking and the use of the triple helix (university-industry-government relationships). Just before ending the meeting, Wendy Williams said staff would like to get LRC feedback on the rest of the draft LPA before the next meeting. Dan also mentioned that he had already gotten feedback from the Clerk’s office and Utilities managers by attending their staff meetings. He said he would be attending other service areas for including their suggestions to the 2014 LPA. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm.