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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 04/15/2008 - CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE M ITEM NUMBER: 6 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY DATE: April 15, 2008 FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Wanda Krajicek SUBJECT Consideration and Approval of the Minutes of the March 18,2008 Regular Meeting and the March 25, 2008 Adjourned Meeting. March 18,2008 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO Council-Manager Form of Government Regular Meeting- 6:00 p.m. A regular meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins was held on Tuesday,March 18,2008, at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the City of Fort Collins City Hall. Roll Call was answered by the following Councilmembers: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Roy, and Troxell. Councilmembers Absent: Poppaw Staff Members Present: Atteberry, Krajicek, Roy. Citizen Participation George Hoffman, 1101 Valley Oak Court,shared his concerns with the costs of the Mason Corridor. Eric Sutherland, 631 LaPorte Avenue, stated the money spent on renewable energy credits is not benefittin Fort Collins. The credits are not a good policy for PRPA and should be discontinued. g g P Y Cheryl Distaso, 135 South Sunset,stated next week was the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war and she urged Council to consider aresolution calling for the immediate withdrawal ofU.S.troops from Iraq. Joe Kissell, 913 West Oak, asked Council to consider a resolution that calls for the withdrawal of U.S.troops from the Iraq war. He stated the proposed newsrack ordinance was not an issue Council should take under consideration. Richard Knowles, 1809 North College, stated disc golf is a very popular, inexpensive recreational sport. The course located at Edora Park is heavily used and a new course is needed. He requested Council provide time to hear a presentation from the Northern Colorado Disc Golf Club about the urgent need for a new disc golf course. A. J. Kolarsick, 1020 Rolland Moore Drive, asked Council to consider approval of a new disc golf course or expanding the course at Edora Park. David Lipp,226 North Roosevelt,asked Council not to adopt the newsrack ordinance as newsracks do not need to be changed or fixed. The City logo should not be changed. Tom Ohlschwager, 1743 Eastwood Court,stated the overcrowding on the disc golf course at Edora is forcing many players to drive elsewhere to play. He asked Council to approve a new course. 195 March 18, 2008 Evan Brummet, 1113 West Plum, asked Council to consider approval of a new disc golf course as disc golf is a popular sport in Fort Collins and there are not enough places to play. Ben Schrader,928 Pioneer Avenue,ASCSU Chief of Staff,asked Council to expand the areas zoned for boarding houses as the current zones do not seem to be in areas where students live. Many areas zoned for boarding houses are in higher rent areas and are located farther from the campus. He also requested Council to consider a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S.troops from Iraq. NancyYork, 130 South Whitcomb, stated the Ira war has been waged for five years and she asked 4 g Council to consider a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Jim Neubecker,849 Sandy Cove Lane,stated his concern with the use of mercenaries in the Iraq war. Citizen Participation Follow-up Councilmember Roy asked if staff could answer Mr Hoffman's questions about the Mason Corridor. He stated Councilmembers could be contacted individually about the need for expanding disc golf opportunities. Councilmember Troxell stated the Electric Board is working on a policy that will encourage solar panels and other distributive power generators on homes,using the existing distribution system. He asked for further discussion of disc golf and the problems encountered by the players. He stated expanding the zoning for boarding houses would help provide affordable housing and should be discussed. Councilmember Ohlson asked for a report on the current status of disc golf and the proposals for the future. He noted Councilmembers are nonpartisan and are elected to deal with local issues, not national issues such as the war in Iraq. Councilmember Manvel asked for information about disc golf at the work session on April 8. Mayor Hutchinson suggested citizens should contact the elected representatives in Washington regarding their concerns about the war in Iraq. City Manager Atteberry stated closure of a disc golf course on the CSU campus has helped to create the congestion on the course at Edora Park. Staff realizes the need for more disc golf courses and is examining other alternatives that will be presented at the work session on April 8. He noted Brian Janonis, Utilities Executive Director, and Brian Moeck, Platter River Power Authority General Manager, will give a presentation on renewable energy credits at the March 25 work session. Mayor Hutchinson asked for a summary about the zoning of boarding houses and what rationale was used to set the current zoning. 196 March 18, 2008 Councilmember Troxell noted current regulations concerning newsracks need to be enforced and he stated his opposition to the proposed newsrack ordinance. Agenda Review City Manager Atteberry stated there was no change to the published Agenda. CONSENT CALENDAR 6. Consideration and Approval of the Minutes of the February 19, 2008 Regular Meeting, 7. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 023, 2008, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves. Ordinance No. 023, 2008, was unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 4, 2008. The Ordinance appropriates prior year's reserves for expenditures authorized in 2007 by Council but which could not be completed by the end of 2007. 8. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 024, 2008, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the Natural Areas Fund for the Puroose of Providing Natural Areas Programming Not Included in the 2008 Adopted City Budget. This Ordinance,unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 4,2008,appropriates prior year reserves in the Natural Areas Fund for the purpose of land conservation, construction of public improvements, fences and trails, restoration of wildlife habitat and other natural areas program needs to benefit the citizens of Fort Collins. 9. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 025, 2008, Authorizing the Transfer of Existing Management Information Services Appropriations from the General Fund to the Data and Communications Fund. This Ordinance, unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 4, 2008, authorizes the transfer of funds budgeted in the General Fund to the Data and Communications Fund to support operation of the 2008 Management Information Services (MIS) Program. 10. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 026,2008,Amending Chapters 8 and 23 of the City Code to Update Miscellaneous Provisions Regarding Purchasing and Personal Property. This Ordinance,unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 4,2008,changes Chapter 8,Article IV Section 8 of the City Code,relating to purchasing and contracting. The changes to the Code include housekeeping changes,increases to dollar limits and changes to improve speed, flexibility, service, and accountability. 197 March 18, 2008 Council has given direction that the purchasing ordinance is to be reviewed on a periodic basis. The following language will be placed in the purchasing manual where the rules and regulations for administrating the purchasing ordinances are documented: "The purchasing agent will conduct a periodic review of the Purchasing Code of the City no less frequently than every five years. Recommendations for changes will be made to the City Manager." 11. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 027, 2008, Authorizing the Lease of Natural Area Property at 1425 Overland Trail. The Andrijeski Farm was purchased on September 1, 2004 as part of the City's Land Conservation and Stewardship Master Plan. The farm is located within the City's Growth Management Area at 1425 North Overland Trail. In 2007, this property was incorporated into the Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. Since its acquisition,this parcel has been leased for agricultural production. This Ordinance,unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 4, 2008, authorizes the lease of the property to Roger and Keith Amey for agricultural purposes for one year,with the option of up to four annual renewals at the mutual agreement of both parties. 12. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 028, 2008, Authorizing the Lease of a Portion of a Building Located at Gateway Natural Area. This Ordinance, unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 4, 2008, authorizes the lease of a portion of one of the residential buildings at the Gateway Natural Area. to the Seasonal Maintenance Assistant. 13. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 029, 2008, Authorizing the Acquisition by Eminent Domain Proceedings of Certain Lands Necessary for the Construction of Trail Improvements. In assembling property interests for the south-west segment of the Fossil Creek Trail, the City has encountered a property with a significantly complicated and ambiguous ownership. Due to the degree of complication and the property's keystone importance, staff proposes condemnation as the most cost effective and efficient approach to acquire the City's desired purchase of 1,064 square feet. The City has contacted the personal representative of the only surviving original owner, and the representative was agreeable to the condemnation approach. Ordinance No. 029, 2008, unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 4, 2008, authorizes the acquisition by eminent domain proceedings. 14. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 030, 2008, Authorizing the Dedication to the County of Certain City-Owned Property as Tilden Street Road Right-of-Way. The City owns a parcel of land at 2313 Kechter Road as part of the City's Land Bank Program. The developer of the adjacent property, located at 2309 Kechter Road, has 198 March 18, 2008 proposed the City dedicate a strip of right-of-way on the City's property for use as part of the Kechter Crossing Development. The developer,Savant Homes,Incorporated,has agreed to cover all costs associated with the construction of the road and processing of the road dedication. The constructed road will then be available to be used as part of the future development on the City's property. This Ordinance,unanimously adopted on First Reading on March 4, 2008, authorizes the dedication of right-of-way. 15. First Reading of Ordinance No. 034,2008,Appropriating Unanticipated Revenue and Prior Year Reserves in the Street Oversizin¢ Fund for Transfer to the Capital Projects Fund - Drake and Ziegler Road Improvements Project, Phase III For Construction of Road Improvements. The arterial street improvements have been planned for the construction of Ziegler Road, from Environmental Drive south to Horsetooth Road(approximately 4,500 linear feet). This project is the third phase of the Drake and Ziegler Project,which began construction in 2005 with Drake Road from Timberline to Environmental Drive. A second phase completed drainage improvements last year. This is the third and final phase of improvements which will complete the arterial roadway. The Drake and Ziegler project has been a City project using funds from Street Oversizing Fees and developer contributions from Rigden Farm and Sidehill developments. 16. First Reading of Ordinance No. 035, 2008, Expanding the Boundaries of the Fort Collins. Colorado Downtown Development Authority and Amending the Plan of Development of the Authority. This annexation would expand the boundaries of the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority (DDA) District to include the following properties: • Fort Collins Regional Library District Main Library,201 Peterson Street(owned by the City of Fort Collins) • Library Park, 207 Peterson Street (owned by the City of Fort Collins) • Fort Collins Museum, 200 Mathews Street(owned by the City of Fort Collins) This annexation resulting in a boundary line adjustment will effectively amend the DDA's Plan of Development. 17. First Reading of Ordinance No. 036, 2008, Authorizing the Lease of City-Owned Property at 6916 South College Avenue for up to Five Years. The City acquired this 17.11 acre vacant property,known as the Bernhardt Property,as part of the Affordable Housing Land Bank Program. This lease is for land only and does not allow use of City-owned water on the property. Leasing the property will generate revenue for the program and eliminates the cost of ground maintenance for the City. The City has 199 March 18, 2008 leased this property for hay production since 2003 and would like to continue leasing the property. 18. First Reading of Ordinance No. 037, 2008, Authorizing the Use of the Zimmerman Conservation Easement as Match for a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Using the funds already spent on this conservation easement as match towards this grant will enable the City to get a secondary benefit from that investment. USFWS will be entitled to monitor and enforce the conservation of the Zimmerman property pursuant to the match obligation,which will be recorded against the property. The$250,000 grant will fund Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory's (RMBO) critical research and monitoring work to form conservation strategies and management for 28 high priority grassland birds within the Laramie Foothills Mountains to Plains Project and in the Chihuahuan Desert of Mexico. 19. First Reading of Ordinance No. 038, 2008, Designating the E. J. Gregory Property, 215 Whedbee Street, as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. The E. J. Gregory Property is eligible for recognition as a Fort Collins Landmark under Standard Three. Constructed in 1903-04 by Fort Collins builder S. J. Milligan, the house embodies many distinctive characteristics of the Queen Anne Cottage architectural style of the late 1800s and early 1900s. This property contains a historic dwelling, a historic single bay front gable garage, and a historic small gabled wood frame building. 20. First Reading of Ordinance No.039,2008,Desi ng ating the Bradley House. 1609 Remington, as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. The Bradley House is eligible for recognition as a Fort Collins Landmark under Standard Three. Constructed in 1926 by Isaac C. and Frankie M. Bradley,the house embodies many distinctive characteristics of the Craftsman Bungalow architectural style of the early twentieth century. This property contains a historic dwelling and a recently constructed garage. The garage does not contribute to the significance of the property, and is not a part of the landmark application. 21. Resolution 2008-031 Establishing Rental Rates and Delivery Charges for the City's Raw Water for the 2008 Season. This Resolution approves rates for the rental and use of the City's raw water supplies. The Water Utility uses these rates to assess charges for agricultural use, for various contractual raw water obligations and for raw water deliveries to other City departments. The proposed rate for each type of water is based on several factors including market conditions and assessments charged by irrigation companies. 200 March 18, 2008 22. Resolution 2008-032 Authorizing the Extension of a Lease of the City Ditch to Larimer Countv Canal No. 2 Irrigating Company throu hg_April 12, 2009. This Resolution authorizes the extension of a lease to Larimer County Canal No.2Irrigating Company of the City Ditch. Although the original 1906 lease provided for an automatic renewal of the lease for an additional 99-year term at the Ditch Company's option, the Council's authorization at the time only authorized the lease for the initial 99 years. Pending resolution of this matter for the long term,an extension for an additional one year will allow the continued use of the City Ditch for irrigation flows on the same terms as have been in place for the past 99 years,and will avoid disruption of the right to run those irrigation flows in the City Ditch for the 2008 irrigation season. 23. Resolution 2008-033 Making Appointments to Various Boards and Commissions. A vacancy currently exists on the Human Relations Commission which was not filled during the annual appointment process. Applications were solicited and Councilmembers Lisa Poppaw and David Roy conducted interviews. The interview team is recommending Kent Bryans to fill the vacancy with a term to begin immediately and set to expire on December 31, 2009. A vacancy currently exists on the Land Conservation and Stewardship Board due to the resignation of Gregory Eckert. Mayor Doug Hutchinson and Councilmember Ben Manvel reviewed the applications on file and are recommending Chris Gaughan to fill the vacancy with a term to begin immediately and set to expire on December 31, 2009. A vacancy currently exists on the Natural Resources Advisory Board due to the resignation of Amy Dean. Mayor Doug Hutchinson and Councilmember Ben Manvel reviewed the applications on file and are recommending Heather Manier to fill the vacancy with a term to begin immediately and set to expire on December 31, 2009. A vacancy currently exists on the Youth Advisory Board due to the resignation of Erin Rooney. Applications were solicited and Councilmembers Lisa Poppaw and David Roy conducted interviews. The interview team is recommending Caroline Wockner to fill the vacancy with a term to begin immediately and set to expire on December 31, 2011. ***END CONSENT*** Ordinances on Second Reading were read by title by City Clerk Krajicek. 7. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 023, 2008, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves. 8. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 024, 2008, Appropriating Prior Year Reserves in the Natural Areas Fund for the Purpose of Providing Natural Areas Programming Not Included in the 2008 Adopted City Budget. 201 March 18, 2008 9. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 025, 2008, Authorizing the Transfer of Existing Management Information Services Appropriations from the General Fund to the Data and Communications Fund. 10. Second Reading of Ordinance No.026,2008,Amending Chapters 8 and 23 of the City Code to Update Miscellaneous Provisions Regarding Purchasing and Personal Property. 11. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 027, 2008, Authorizing the Lease of Natural Area Property at 1425 Overland Trail. 12. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 028, 2008, Authorizing the Lease of a Portion of a Building Located at Gateway Natural Area. 13. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 029, 2008, Authorizing the Acquisition by Eminent Domain Proceedings of Certain Lands Necessary for the Construction of Trail Improvements. 14. Second Reading of Ordinance No. 030, 2008, Authorizing the Dedication to the County of Certain City-Owned Property as Tilden Street Road Right-of-Way. Ordinances on First Reading were read by title by City Clerk Krajicek. 15. First Reading of Ordinance No. 034,2008,Appropriating Unanticipated Revenue and Prior Year Reserves in the Street Oversizing Fund for Transfer to the Capital Projects Fund - Drake and Ziegler Road Improvements Project, Phase III For Construction of Road Improvements. 16. First Reading of Ordinance No. 035, 2008, Expanding the Boundaries of the Fort Collins, Colorado Downtown Development Authority and Amending the Plan of Development of the Authority. 17. First Reading of Ordinance No. 036, 2008, Authorizing the Lease of City-Owned Property at 6916 South College Avenue for up to Five Years. 18. First Reading of Ordinance No. 037, 2008, Authorizing the Use of the Zimmerman Conservation Easement as Match for a Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Grant Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 19. First Reading of Ordinance No. 038, 2008, Designating the E. J. Gregory Property, 215 Whedbee Street, as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. 20. First Reading of Ordinance No.039,2008,Designating the Bradley House, 1609 Remington, as a Fort Collins Landmark Pursuant to Chapter 14 of the City Code. 202 March 18, 2008 Councilmember Roy made a motion,seconded by Councilmember Troxell,to adopt and approve all items on the Consent Calendar. Yeas:Brown,Hutchinson,Manvel,Ohlson,Roy and Troxell. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. Consent Calendar Follow-up Councilmember Manvel noted Item #21 Resolution 2008-031 Establishing Rental Rates and Delivery Charges for the City's Raw Water for the 2008 Season allows the City to sell surplus water from its water assets. He thanked Utility staff for meeting with user groups and developing a better process to distribute the surplus water shares for this season. Councilmember Troxell requested a response to John Knezovich's newspaper column that claimed there was a large discrepancy between the City's report on the budget and his examination of the budget. City Manager Atteberry stated staff has met with Mr.Knezovich to address his concerns and will provide a report to Council. Staff Reports City Manager Atteberry stated Police Services and other county and state law officials held a DUI Sobriety Check Point on March 15 with 1357 vehicles stopped. 14 arrests were made for driving under the influence of alcohol and 2 arrests for driving under the influence of drugs. The Check Point was part of a CDOT campaign called"Over the Limit- Under Arrest." Councilmember Reports Councilmember Manvel attended the National League of Cities in Washington D.C. where he attended workshops on various national issues including the challenges of funding national transportation needs, legislating actions that would affect climate change and improving economic development in metro areas. Councilmember Troxell stated the Electric Board is working on policy changes concerning distributed power generation and will recommend that Utilities examine the possibility of adding "smart" meters and the underlying infrastructure necessary to support the meters. Councilmember Ohlson stated the Downtown Development Authority has adopted a resolution authorizing funding for more condomium units to replace newsracks, if the proposed ordinance regulating newsracks is adopted on second reading. Resolution No. 2008-034 Expressing the City Council's Opposition to a Proposed Charter Amendment Pertaining to Collective Bargaining and Binding Arbitration,Adopted The following is staff s memorandum on this item. 203 March 18, 2008 "EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A special election has been called for June 10, 2008 for the purpose of submitting to the electors of the City a proposed amendment to the City Charter which would grant certain City employees the right to organize and bargain collectively with the City and require impasses on contract issues to be resolved by a third party arbitrator. The arbitrator would not share the same responsibilities as the City's elected and appointed officials for balancing the needs of City employees with all other important financial needs of the City. The amendment also contains numerous ambiguities that will likely need to be resolved at considerable expense to the taxpayers. For these and other reasons stated below, City staffrecommends that Council adopt this Resolution expressing its opposition to the proposed Charter amendment and urge the electors to vote against the amendment. BACKGROUND An initiative petition proposing an amendment to the City Charter pertaining to collective bargaining and binding arbitration has been submitted to the City Clerk and has been determined to be suff cient for placing the proposed measure on the ballot at a special election to be held June 10, 2008. Chapter 2, Article VIII, Division 7 of the City Code already contains a collective bargaining process for police employees. The new collective bargaining system that would be established pursuant to the proposed Charter amendment would substantially increase the number of employees who could collectively bargain with the City so as to include over 800 employees in every department of the City. It would also require the City and the "employee organization" to submit unresolved contract issues to binding arbitration ifan impasse was reached between the City and the bargaining unit with regard to the terms and conditions of a collective bargaining agreement. Added concerns are discussed below. 1. It is not clear which employees of the City may organize into bargaining units. Why this provision is a problem: The Charter amendment is inconsistent and contradictory and will have to be arbitrated or litigated to clarify which employees may organize. The Petition Summary states that "all classified, Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) non-exempt employees" will have the right to organize. The Statement of Policy (Section 1.1 of the Charter amendment)says that "all classified non-exempt employees and non-supervisory employees ofany department are hereby accorded the right to organize..." The Definitions section(Section 1.2 ofthe Charter amendment) states that "all non-exempt employees employed within a particular department" maybe in bargaining units. Each of these three provisions sets forth a significantly different set of eligible employees. These and other inconsistencies will likely lead to immediate, costly arbitration and litigation. 204 March 18, 2008 2. Under the proposed Charter amendment current contract benefits and any additional benefits offered to bargaining unit employees outside the contract could never be reduced, no matter what the financial condition of the City or the citizens' willingness to pay, unless members of the bargaining unit agreed to the reduction. Not even an arbitrator could rule that lower benefits were appropriate. This `floor"means that benefits could only be increased but never decreased.' Why this provision is a problem: Any conditions in place that are part of an existing contract become the baseline or 'floor"for future negotiations under this Charter amendment. Pay range reductions, reductions in leave accruals, reductions in insurance coverage, reductions in insurance premiums could not be reduced unless agreed to by members of the bargaining unit. In essence, reductions and tradeoffs to the existing contract are off limits in the negotiations. This one-sided provision would make it very difficult for the City to maintain the cost of employee benefits at an appropriate level in comparison to the market and could unnecessarily increase the cost of those benefits to the taxpayer. . In difficult economic times, sometimes employees must pay higher insurance co pays and deductibles as a trade off for rising salaries. Without the ability to balance increases with decreases, it becomes very difficult to contain costs while maintaining, if not improving, services for citizens. 3. Under the proposed Charter amendment, if the City and bargaining unit employees were unable to agree on an issue such as rate of pay, medical benefits, hours of work, and working conditions, the City would be required to go through binding arbitration. Why this provision is a problem: Binding arbitration means that an unelected third party not accountable to the taxpayers would make the final decision as to how City tax revenues should be spent. Arbitration is costly. While the City would pick the pool of arbitrators,for all practical purposes, the minimum qualifications for the arbitrators set forth by the Charter amendment would limit the pool to attorneys who specialize in labor issues. The daily rates for preparing for the hearing, conducting the hearing, and writing a decision range from $750 to $2,100 per day plus costs and expenses and from$100 to$300 per hour for partial days. The taxpayers would pay half of these costs. Depending on the number of issues reaching impasse, the arbitrator hearings could be lengthy. The staff time dedicated to arbitration hearings would be substantial and with the financial stakes associated with a two-year contract being so high, it is likely that both the City and the bargaining unit would incur the costs of expert witnesses. Not only is binding arbitration expensive and time consuming but, more importantly, it removes the City Manager and the taxpayers'elected representatives (Mayor and City Councilmembers)from the process of deciding where limited City financial resources are to be spent. Staff believes that it is not in the best interests of the taxpayers to have critical financial issues decided by an attorney from a different city or state who probably has no idea about the local issues that are facing Fort Collins and who is not in touch with community values. Section 1.18 of the Charter Amendment. 205 March 18, 2008 4. The Charter amendment would require the Use of national salary and benefit data to establish local compensation and benefits for bargaining unit employees. Why this provision is a problem: Requiring comparison with similar "national"communities could be problematic, since the market and cost of living in other areas of the country may differ substantiallyfrom Fort Collins. Also, while the compensation for bargaining unit employees would have to be established by a national comparison. The City is in the process ofdeterminingfor each job category in the City organization which market is appropriate for comparison. The system of establishing compensation and benefits required under the Charter Amendment would thwart this effort and would likely result in significant disparities between the compensation and benefits of employees who were in bargaining units and those who were not. The methods for setting salary ranges would be inconsistent between bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit employees and g g g g g potentially result in different pay schedules for similar job classes. S. The Charter amendment goes beyond the collective bargaining rights granted to State employees by Governor Ritter. Why this provision is a problem: Governor Ritter's action was intended to implement a collective bargaining system involving a partnership between state management and line employees. The Governor was very specific in stating that the grant ofcollective bargaining to state workers did not include or promote mandatory binding arbitration. The Charter amendment would impose mandatory binding arbitration in the event ofimpasse between the union and the Chy's management and elected officials. Again, binding arbitration means that an unelected third party, not accountable to the taxpayers, would make the final decision as to how City tax revenues should be spent. 6. The Charter amendment contains important terms, such as "benefits," "working conditions,"and "terms and conditions of employment"that are not defined within the document. Why this is a problem: In order to determine the rights and obligations of the members of the bargaining units and those of the City, it is crucial to know the meaning of the key words and phrases in the Charter amendment. The likelihood ofdisagreement is increased when those words and phrases are not defined, leading to expensive arbitration and litigation. SUMMARY City employees, whether in Police Services, Utilities, Transportation or other service areas of the City, are valued and appreciated. They are competitively compensated, with due consideration given to the financial condition and needs ofthe City. In the limited circumstances where this has not been the case, City management has worked diligently to resolve those discrepancies. The Charter amendment, with its binding arbitration and prohibition against reducing pay, benefits, or any other working conditions without the consent of the employee organization will skew the job market concept of employment, drive up the cost ofgovernment, and severely limit local control of City finances, all to the taxpayers'detriment. 206 March 18, 2008 If the Charter amendment is approved, disagreements over compensation, benefits and working conditions would have to be settled through binding arbitration. Compensation rates would have to be set by comparison with other cities across the nation even if such compensation was not appropriate for a particular job category. Any reductions or changes in compensation and working conditions from one contract to another would not be allowed without support of members of the bargaining unit. For all of the reasons cited, the proposed Charter amendment is contrary to the interests and values of the City government and its mission. " City Manager Atteberry stated the staff recommendation urging citizens to vote against the proposed Charter amendment is not a statement about the City's work force or management's relationship with coworkers. The recommendation is about governance and who makes final decisions on behalf of citizens. An independent arbitrator should not make decisions for the City as the Mayor and City Council in partnership with the City Manager should have those decision making capabilities. The City's Executive Team does not believe binding arbitration is the solution to the challenges the City has faced over the past five years. The solution is not creating up to 35 separate employee organizations, which would be allowed under the proposed amendment. The City has had a good relationship with its employees in the past and has had a very difficult past five years in terms of economic challenges that have driven many of the issues with the workforce. The City's employees are a committed group and passage of the proposed amendment will have a great impact on the work force. Don Sheridan, 2600 Dumire Court, President of the Communication Workers of America Local 7707, spoke in opposition to the resolution and urged the Mayor to join in a debate of the issue. Jim Neubecker, 849 Sandy Cove Lane,urged Council not to adopt the resolution but to support the City employees. David May, Fort Collins citizen, recounted the history of the citizen initiatives on collective bargaining and binding arbitration and he noted collective bargaining was adopted in 2004 by a small majority of voters. Another attempt to add binding arbitration to the City Charter failed in 2006. He supported the resolution before Council and he urged citizens to vote against the proposed Charter amendment as it does not benefit the community. Rosemary Sheridan, 2600 Dumire Court,opposed the resolution and stated City employees should have the right to form a union. Carrie Ann Gillis, 8020 Park Hill, encouraged Council to adopt the resolution and she stated that while the City has been through some difficult economic times and has made cuts and changes that have led to employee unrest,the proposed Charter amendment will not be good for the community. Clint Skutchan,719 Great Plains Court,asked Council to adopt the resolution as budget constraints will become greater if the proposed Charter amendment should pass. Binding arbitration could force raising employee salaries, even if other programs and infrastructure needs were not funded. 207 March 18, 2008 Councilmember Brown asked for the cost of the special election. City Clerk Krajicek stated the cost will be approximately $100,000 that is currently unbudgeted and will come from a General Fund source. City Manager Atteberry stated the funds will probably come from the Community Opportunities Fund, which is a General Fund contingency fund. Councilmember Brown asked how the date for the election was chosen and if the election could have been held in November instead of calling a special election. City Clerk Krajicek stated timing was a critical issue. Staff discussed timing of the election with the petitioners to coordinate with the Larimer County general election or waiting until April 2009, which is the City's regular election. The petitioners did not wish to hold the election at those times but did work with the Clerk to time the election to be held before the Larimer County primary or the general election. The date was chosen to allow a protest period on the signatures collected and to allow time to amend the petition because they were insufficient the first time. The face of the circulated petition must state whether they are asking for a special election and this petition did state that fact. Councilmember Roy asked how many employees would be covered under the provisions of the proposed Charter amendment. City Manager Atteberry stated the language in the proposed amendment is ambiguous regarding which group of employees it relates to. Approximately 800 out of 2400 City employees would probably be eligible. City Attorney Roy stated the proposed amendment refers to"all non-exempt employees,"which would encompass about 1800 employees. The statement of purpose, attached to the petition, lists "all classified employees," which would contain about 800 employees. The statement of policy refers to "all classified, non-exempt and non-supervisory employees,"which would be about 600 employees. It is unclear as to which group the provision would actually apply. The City does not write the language for citizen-initiated measures so this ambiguity cannot fixed at this point because the courts have held that the measure must go on the ballot just as it is presented. Problems or questions about the constitutionality of the measure can be resolved by the courts only if and when the measure is adopted. If the measure is approved, it can be presented to a court or subsequent amendments could be passed to clarify the language. Council cannot amend a voter-approved ordinance presented by citizen petition. There is a provision in the measure that states "any disputes over whether an employee is within a particular bargaining unit shall be submitted to a neutral arbitrator and resolved according to the arbitration process described therein." City Attorney Roy questioned whether an arbitrator can resolve the larger question of interpreting the Charter language itself. He believed only a court could interpret the Charter language. Councilmember Roy stated asked for definitions of the terms in the proposed Charter amendment that speak to benefits,working conditions,and terms of employment. City Attorney Roy stated those terms are not defined in the definition section of the proposed Charter amendment. The terms are used in the proposed amendment, but no clear definition has been assigned to them. Councilmember Roy asked if there were any prohibitions that kept City employees from contacting Councilmembers about concerns they have regarding their employment. City Manager Atteberry stated employees are not prohibited from contacting Councilmembers. The Charter does not allow Council to make direct requests of City employees but requires Councilmembers to go through the 208 March 18, 2008 City Manager. That provision does not prevent employees from contacting Councilmembers or keep them from the day-to-day interactions with Councilmembers that occur in the community. Councilmember Brown asked how many valid signatures were required to prompt the special election. City Clerk Krajicek stated just under 9000 valid signatures were required. The Clerk's office verified about 9500 signatures,but many more signatures were submitted. About 40%of the signatures submitted were invalid signatures. Councilmember Ohlson asked what steps have been taken to improve communications and relations between management and employees. City Manager Atteber y stated new executive directors have been chosen who value open communication and building trustworthy relationships. The vision, values and mission statement for the City have been defined to help affect a long-term transformation in the City organization. He has met with groups of employees on numerous occasions and instituted"Issues and Answers"to improve communications. He hosts"Talk It Up" sessions with randomly selected employees on a monthly basis to talk about what is happening in the organization. An employee committee has been formed that is intended to have two-way conversations between the City Management and the employees to open communications. The employee committee was not formed to circumvent a union effort. Council set the new policy concerning employee pay which is now "market-plus" based pay and many employees have benefitted from this policy. As the market has changed for employee benefits, the City had to change, as well. Employees have been required to pay a larger portion of the cost for benefits than they did in past years. This increased cost to employees is close to the market average. Employees have received pay increases and no pay freezes have been instituted for the past three years. Open communication is essential to the organization. Councilmember Troxell made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Roy, to adopt Resolution 2008-034. Councilmember Manvel stated Governor Ritter has recently issued an order about collective bargaining. The proposed Charter amendment is very different from Governor Ritter's order. The proposed Charter amendment will allow employees to collectively bargain with binding arbitration. The responsibility and final decision on budgetary matters lies with the Council, according to the Charter,who are elected. Bindingarbitration takes that power away from the elected officials. The P Y proposed Charter amendment is supposed to be a citizens' initiative,but it has not been brought by City employees. Signature collectors were paid to gather signatures. He objected to the timing of the election and that a special election must be called. The election could have happened at a different time when it would not cost the citizens $100,000. The proposed amendment would incorporate the decision making process of the City into the Charter and take the decision away from Council. Council does debate City employee wages and benefits during the budget process. Councilmember Troxell stated the proposed Charter amendment will not benefit City employees or the citizens of Fort Collins. The City is a fair and competitive employer and the proposed amendment would create an adversarial environment. It cost the City $131,000 to go through the collective bargaining process with the Fraternal Order of Police in the past years. The proposed amendment would be costly and not in the best interests of the employees. 209 March 18, 2008 Councilmember Roy stated employees,as citizens,can contact Councilmembers about concerns and do not need to fear retribution because of that contact. Petition collectors were paid to collect signatures to put a measure on the ballot and then it was called a"citizen initiative"which does not seem like an accurate statement. While the City may choose a third party arbitrator from a small group in the state of Colorado, the decision made by the arbitrator is final and will not have input from Management or Council. The past few years have been difficult ones in dealing with budget constraints and the issues of employee benefits, retirement packages and market pay scales and Council had much discussion on these topics. Using a third party arbitrator would not allow Council to have the final say in those decisions. Councilmember Ohlson stated the City's pay scale is a"market plus" pay scale to ensure the City is competitive with the public and private sector. There must be a balance between being fair to employees and fair to taxpayers and rate payers. This is not truly a"citizen initiative"as the petition circulators were paid to gather signatures and gave out false information. Citizen initiative means citizens are so concerned about an issue they are willing to volunteer to gather signatures on a petition and are not paid. They share factual information about the issue and not mislead citizens. This special election is about binding arbitration which takes the decision making away from the elected officials. The proposed Charter amendment does not allow for reduction in current employee benefits unless members of the bargaining unit agree to the reduction. In the past,the City's health insurance and leave benefits were not in line with the market . The changes that have occurred in benefits would not have been possible if the proposed amendment were in place. The proposed amendment contains too much ambiguity to be place in the Charter and is unnecessary. He urged citizens to oppose the proposed Charter amendment. Councilmember Brown stated the signature gathering process was flawed with much misinformation given by the collectors. This proposed measure will create disparity between City employees who are represented by binding arbitration and those who are not and will affect the morale of the employees. Mayor Hutchinson stated the City government exists to provide services to its citizens. Employees are the most important element in providing those services. The Budgeting for Outcomes process allows Council to focus budget resources on what was needed by the people of Fort Collins, including fair pay raises for employees. The debate has not been about allowing City employees to form a union, but has been about the proposed Charter amendment and there are flaws with the measure. Much of the language in the proposed amendment is vague and difficult to interpret. Binding arbitration would be very expensive and would require the City to use an arbitrator to decide the issue. The arbitrator would not be from Fort Collins and would not be accountable. The vote on the motion was as follows: Yeas: Yeas: Brown,Hutchinson,Manvel,Ohlson,Roy and Troxell. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. 210 March 18, 2008 Other Business Councilmember Ohlson made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Manvel, to adjourn the meeting to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, 2008 for possible consideration of an executive session. Yeas: Yeas: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Roy and Troxell. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. Adjournment The meetingadjourned at 8:25 .m. J P Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk 211 March 25,2008 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO Council-Manager Form of Government Adjourned Meeting- 6:00 p.m. An adjourned meeting of the Council of the City of Fort Collins was held on Tuesday, March 25, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the City of Fort Collins City Hall. Roll Call was answered by the following Councilmembers: Brown,Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson,Poppaw,Roy, and Troxell. Staff Members Present: Atteberry, Krajicek, Roy. Councilmember Ohlson made a motion, seconded by Councilmember Roy, to postpone consideration of a possible executive session until the work session has concluded. Yeas: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Poppaw, Roy and Troxell. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. ("Secretary's note: The adjourned meeting reconvened at 9:55 p.m.) Executive Session Authorized Councilmember Ohlson made a motion,seconded by Councilmember Roy,to adjourn into executive session,as permitted under City Code Section 2-31(3)to consider the possible sale of real property. Yeas: Brown, Hutchinson, Manvel, Ohlson, Poppaw, Roy and Troxell. Nays: none. THE MOTION CARRIED. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 11:00 p.m. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk 212