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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWORK SESSION SUMMARY-10/22/2024-Work SessionFinance Administration 215 N. Mason Street PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522 WORK SESSION MEMORANDUM Date: October 29, 2024 To: Mayor and City Councilmembers Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager Travis Storin, Chief Financial Officer From: Kerri Ishmael, Senior Analyst Subject: October 22, 2024 Work Session Summary: Grants Development Update BOTTOM LINE The purpose of this memo is to document the summary of discussions during October 22, 2024, Work Session. All Councilmembers, excluding Councilmember Canonico, were present. DISCUSSION SUMMARY The Grants Development staff report provided an overview of the types of government sourced funding the City receives (formula versus competitive funds). Based on the demands of continuous formula funds received yearly by City’s Social Sustainability and Transfort, these groups have dedicated staff to support development of grant funded projects and management of the compliance aspects of the corresponding federal grant programs. Grants Administration, established in late 2022, supports City departments with competitive funding opportunities offered through state departments and federal agencies, as there are not dedicated staff members within other City departments in identifying, pursuing and managing competitive grant funds. The discussion highlighted aspects of work by departments in collaboration with City Grants Administration and use of third-party firms in pursuit of highly competitive funding opportunities, highlighting success of certain departments in utilizing City’s Grants Administration and third-party firms in pursuit of grant funds. City departments have performed well throughout 2023 and 2024 in pursuit of unprecedented funding under both the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Budgeted funds are set aside as part of the department’s operating budget when third party support is deployed, although to date not all departments have utilized this resource strategy in pursuing funding opportunities. Compliance aspects and the work involved on the post-award side were discussed, demonstrating the demand for department personnel and Grants Administration over the many components in managing a grant through close-out to ensure compliance. The City does not outsource work involved in managing the many compliance requirements of government sourced grants. NEXT STEPS None identified FOLLOW-UP ITEMS None identified Docusign Envelope ID: 56C26E42-9024-48B8-AAC9-7F85E27D7354 Natural Areas Department 1745 Hoffman Mill Road PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522 WORK SESSION MEMORANDUM Date: October 22, 2024 To: Mayor and City Councilmembers Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager Tyler Marr, Deputy City Manager Dean Klinger, Community Services Director From: Katie Donahue, Natural Areas Director Julia Feder, Natural Areas Environmental Program Manager Subject: October 22 Work Session Summary: Natural Areas Strategic Framework Update BOTTOM LINE The purpose of this memo is to document the summary of discussions during the October 22nd Work Session. All Councilmembers except Councilmember Canonico were present. DISCUSSION SUMMARY Staff presented an overview of the public engagement and draft vision, values, and goals for the Natural Areas Strategic Framework. Discussion: 1. Overall support for the direction of the plan 2. Appreciate the comprehensive community engagement effort 3. Like the simplicity and approachability of the plan 4. Desire for more detail under goals and values to help articulate concepts such as land acquisition, wildlife, humans connecting to nature, and managing visitation growth 5. Clarified additional community engagement will occur when the draft Strategic Framework is completed NEXT STEPS 1. Public draft is scheduled for release Q1 2025 2. Item is scheduled for first reading in Q2 2025 Docusign Envelope ID: 3C201227-4DF9-407A-95AA-C181373C320B Financial Services 215 N. Mason Street – 2nd Floor Fort Collins, CO 80522 fcgov.com/finance CC: Randy Reuscher, Lead Rate Analyst – Utilities; Marc Virata, Engineering WORK SESSION MEMORANDUM Date: October 29, 2024 To: Mayor and City Councilmembers Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager Travis Storin, Chief Financial Officer From: David Lenz, Director, Financial Planning & Analysis Subject: October 22, 2024 Work Session – Impact Fee Discussion BOTTOM LINE The purpose of this memo is to document the summary of discussions during the October 22, 2024 Work Session on Impact Fees. All Councilmembers, with the exception of Tricia Canonico, were present in person. DISCUSSION SUMMARY Staff provided an updated overview of the Capital Expansion Fee Study and Transportation Capital Expansion Fee Study that were completed in Q4 2023, including a comparison of potential 2025 fees with the actual 2023 and 2024 fee schedules. The results of the Utility model updates that were completed last year were also reviewed, along with proposed fee changes for 2025. Staff reviewed the methodologies underpinning the capital expansion fee studies, which adhere to the standards based (incremental expansion) approach which bases fees on the existing levels of service. Plan-based methodologies are also utilized to provide improvements for Active Modes. Industry best practices have been utilized to show the nexus and proportionality for each land use type. A sampling of different project types was presented to illustrate the impact fee costs by different property size and land use type, as well as a comparison of capital expansion fees across several neighboring communities. Differences in levels of service and how items are paid for in other communities were discussed. Councilmembers expressed continued concern over rising costs impacting the affordability of housing and non-residential developments, as well as a desire to better understand what other levers staff might have to address these concerns. There was also continued discussion about Council priorities, study methodologies and existing Colorado law, and the challenge of aligning values-based approaches within the legal constraints. Additional information was requested on the inputs/assumptions used in the study as well as the 2017 task force work that led to updates Docusign Envelope ID: 671CFC02-0B8A-454B-8838-EC87775FD4A7 that year. Clarity was also provided to Council in response to questions about how redevelopment projects are subject to the various impact fees. Staff also presented an overview of the timeline for future fee study and model updates. NEXT STEPS The impact fee adjustments for 2025 are scheduled for 1st reading with Council on November 19. In response to Council input, staff will bring forward: Options for consideration, including inflation-only adjustments to the fee schedules. Background information on 2017 efforts and the task force Inputs/assumptions used in the study Options for updates in advance of the next regularly-scheduled update in 2027 FOLLOW-UP ITEMS A separate Work Session is scheduled in Q1 2025 to address the larger issue of affordable housing fee credits and other topics in conjunction with Council’s priority in this area. Additionally, staff will continue to monitor the data environment for warranted adjustments to methodologies, timing, and magnitude related to impact fee adjustments. Docusign Envelope ID: 671CFC02-0B8A-454B-8838-EC87775FD4A7 City Manager’s Office 300 Laporte Avenue PO Box 580, Fort Collins, CO 80522 1 WORK SESSION MEMORANDUM Date: October 29, 2024 To: Mayor and City Councilmembers Through: Kelly DiMartino, City Manager Rupa Venkatesh, Assistant City Manager From: Claudia Menendez, Equity & Inclusion Office Subject: October 22, 2024 Work Session Summary – Equity Indicators Update BOTTOM LINE The purpose of this memo is to document the summary of discussions during the October 22, 2024 Work Session item on the Equity Indicators Update. All Councilmembers were present with the exception of Councilmember Canonico who was absent. DISCUSSION SUMMARY The Council work session on Equity Indicators covered the various workstreams the Equity & Inclusion Office has underway to help the City organization embed equity into all areas of work. The AIS and slideshow presentation offered several examples of work teams are doing with guidance from the Equity & Inclusion team. Examples mentioned were: Equity Readiness Assessments- facilitated conversation with project teams that use a series of questions to evaluate a project using an equity lens. Health Equity Index Maps- Engineering and FC Moves are using as a way to demonstrate that equity indicators have been used for planning purposes. It was suggested that additional projects could be added to the maps to show investment by council district or council priorities. Light & Power – example of how feedback from the Spanish language community connectors group propelled the Light & Power engineering team to do a neighborhood walk through at Hickory Village Mobile Home Park and asses that additional lighting was needed on Hickory St to create a safer environment for residents. This mobile home park is in an industrial zone therefore has lamp post spaced further apart than a residential zone who have. This is one way of providing equitable services to a neighborhood that is often disproportionately affected due to it being a mobile home park. NEXT STEPS Council and community will continue to receive updates on how the Equity & Inclusion Office is guiding the City to make progress on advancing the Neighborhood and Community Vitality Docusign Envelope ID: A2DF0AFA-54AF-4558-B39E-A4899B780975 2 Strategic Objective 3 that strives to: Identify and remove systemic barriers and advance equity so that persons of all identities, including race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, mental and physical abilities, and socioeconomic levels can access programs and services with ease and experience equitable outcomes. Equity in action qualitative data or narratives will provide evidence of the systemic barriers that have been identified and what actions have been proposed and or taken to remove the barriers. Ongoing cross-departmental to create a more cohesive data-driven storytelling efforts to help answer the following questions: Who do we serve? How do we know we are serving them well? How do we know if they are positively impacted by our services? FOLLOW-UP ITEMS Slide 16 of the presentation provided some examples of metrics already being collected by City departments that help show how we are addressing the needs of Council Priority #2 Improve Human and Social Health for Vulnerable Populations. A suggestion was made to include the socioeconomic needs of populations being served by the mentioned programs which listed the following: Financial assistance to third parties serving older adults, people with disabilities, immigrant community, childcare programs, food systems programs, diverse health needs. A suggestion was offered to create 1-page infographic to help communicate to community members of all education levels how the City is advancing equity. This type of infographic may be included in the end of year report. Docusign Envelope ID: A2DF0AFA-54AF-4558-B39E-A4899B780975