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Home My WebLink AboutConstituent Letter - Read Before Packet - 10/08/2024 - Emails and letters sent to Council between September 27 – October 7, 2024 re City Manager’s Recommended BudgetFrom: Kathy Miner <kathyminer88@gmail.com> Sent: Monday, September 30, 2024 2:14 PM To: City Leaders <CityLeaders@fcgov.com> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Please fund horticulture positions at The Gardens Hello City Council Members. As a member of the board of directors at Friends of The Gardens on Spring Creek, I urge you to fund the horticulture positions requested by The Gardens Executive Director Kim Manajek. Kim reported at our September board meeting as follows: In addition to our ongoing budget (plus a continuing enhancement that should eventually get folded into our ongoing budget), the Gardens submitted a request (the City parlance for this is “Budget Offer”) for 3 full-time Horticulturists. If you dig here, you’ll see that that request (Offer #26.13) is currently listed as UNFUNDED. Here’s how it reads: In 2019 the Gardens on Spring Creek fully completed its expansion, adding 5.5 acres of new gardens and a North American Butterfly House housing a pollinator loving garden. Since the expansion, staff have struggled to keep up with the demands of a property that requires intensive plant health care, curation management and gardens maintenance. Current operations are not sustainable, and staff rely on chemical intervention more than they would like. Care of The Gardens is disproportionately managed and maintained by part time and unpaid staff, which is an unreliable and perilous management practice. Retaining staff is also a challenge under these conditions, resulting in increased staff time for continually hiring and training new employees. The Gardens experienced significant staff turnover in 2022 with workload and burnout identified as significant factors. Moving forward, the Gardens will be looking at strategic growth, organization and retention strategies for the workforce to support the expansion of operations, programming and gardens with a focus on fiscal sustainability and transparency. The Gardens on Spring Creek employs approximately one full time horticulturalist for every 2 acres. Out of ten other public gardens surveyed, 80% of the gardens have a higher staff-to-acre ratio, and the two that have fewer staff per acre than The Gardens have fewer maintenance requirements. The average among the surveyed gardens is one person for every 1.2 acres. Increasing Horticulture staff by 3 FTE will approximate this average, provide needed relief for existing staff, and prepare The Gardens for consistent maintenance over time, at the high standards of the public botanic gardens industry, which will grow The Gardens’ reputation and lead to increased attendance. Emails and letters sent to Council between September 27 - October 7 re: City Manager's Recommended Budget Kim makes a strong case for funding 3 full-time Horticulturists. I know that you have many competing priorities, but it would be a shame to let this impressive City Landmark fall into disrepair, especially after the investment has been made to expand it. I truly appreciate your consideration of Kim’s request. Regards, Kathy Miner Friends of the Gardens on Spring Creek Board Member since 2020 PO Box 873 Fort Collins, CO 80522-0873 www.HomewardAlliance.org www.MurphyCenter.org (970) 658-9878 September 30, 2024 To City of Fort Collins Councilmembers, This letter is being sent on behalf of the Murphy Center Partner Council, which is comprised of eight independent, non-proﬁt organizations working collaboratively within and outside the walls of the Murphy Center for Hope, and in partnership with the Northern Colorado Continuum of Care. Partner agencies include Catholic Charities, Crossroads Safehouse, Family Housing Network, Fort Collins Rescue Mission, Homeward Alliance, The Matthews House, Outreach Fort Collins and SummitStone Health Partners. Together we outreach, shelter, support and serve unhoused and unstably housed youth, families, individuals, veterans, seniors and those ﬂeeing domestic violence across Fort Collins and beyond. We are writing to express our support for the continued funding of Sunday and Holiday bus service. In 2016, Fort Collins residents, non-proﬁts, and other stakeholders engaged in a robust civic engagement campaign expressing our support for Sunday bus service. The city listened, implemented Sunday services, and conﬁrmed our belief that the voices of our community members are valued in the budget process. We know that many low-income and unhoused individuals and families rely on Sunday and Holiday services to get to work, appointments and engage in community activities. The reasons for the need for Sunday services—transportation for those who cannot drive due to age or disability as well as those without vehicles due to ﬁnancial reasons—all remain the same or more urgent as they were eight years ago. We were disappointed to hear that the city's current recommended budget for 2025 and 2026 lists Sunday and Holiday Transfort service as an unfunded item. It is especially concerning given that losing this service would disproportionately impact our community’s most vulnerable residents. As organizations that collectively serve thousands of community members each year who are experiencing homelessness and housing instability, we see ﬁrsthand the very real, positive impact on people’s lives when they can access reliable transportation. Thank you for your consideration and your continued support. We appreciate your work to make Fort Collins a great community! Sincerely, Murphy Center Partner Council September 19, 2024 Fort Collins City Council 300 LaPorte Avenue Fort Collins, Colorado 80521 Honorable Mayor Arndt and Councilmembers, For more than fifty years, Housing Catalyst has been building community in Northern Colorado. As the City’s designated Public Housing Authority, we address the growing need for affordable homes through innovative, sustainable, community-focused solutions—developing and managing residential properties, administering housing assistance, and coordinating community programs and services. Housing Catalyst is also a mission-driven real estate developer. We own, manage, or have been instrumental in the creation of more than 1,800 local residences. More than 2,000 residents live affordable homes managed by Housing Catalyst and we administer rental assistance to more than 1,500 local families each year. Our work moves people out of homelessness, stabilizes families, and improves the lives of thousands of community members, including seniors, individuals with disabilities, and children. To accomplish our work, Housing Catalyst utilizes many sources of funding. One critical resource is the City budget. We were disappointed to learn that the City Manager’s Recommended Budget for 2025-2026 “preserves historic funding levels” and does not increase funding for affordable housing. Maintaining historic funding levels is insufficient, particularly as the cost to build one unit of affordable housing has increased more than 65% in the last five years. If City Council chooses to follow this recommendation to ‘maintain’ funding for housing, the City will continue to fall behind its adopted policy goals in the Housing Strategic Plan to have 10% of all housing affordable by 2040 and its affordable housing production commitment under Proposition 123 of 185 units per year. Maintaining funding also does not meaningfully advance Council’s adopted priority to Operationalize City Resources to Build and Preserve Affordable Housing. We urge City Council to consider increasing the amount of local funding dedicated to housing production and preservation. In particular, fully funding Offers 44.10 (Affordable Housing Fee Relief) and 44.8 (Affordable Housing Program Funding Increase) in this and future budget cycles would demonstrate an ongoing City commitment to addressing one of our community’s most pressing challenges. Funding these Docusign Envelope ID: 5F20CDBB-5312-4594-9C67-C45244FBFB74 offers will benefit all affordable housing developers and will help Fort Collins move closer to a future where everyone has healthy, stable housing they can afford. Housing Catalyst appreciates the opportunity to provide comments on the City budget. Respectfully, Jennifer Wagner, Chairperson Housing Catalyst Board of Commissioners Docusign Envelope ID: 5F20CDBB-5312-4594-9C67-C45244FBFB74 City Clerk’s Office 300 LaPorte Ave. 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6515 970.221.6295 - fax boardsandcommissions@fcgov.com MEMORANDUM DATE: October 3, 2024 TO: Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Erma Woodfin, Interim Chair of Human Services & Housing Funding Board Olga Duval, Vice-Chair of Human Services & Housing Funding Board RE: Budget Offer NCV 44.3 – Human Services Program Grants Dear Mayor and Councilmembers, On Tuesday, September 11, 2024, the Human Services and Housing Funding Board convened and discussed concerns raised by the Interim Board Chair regarding the proposed budget, specifically Budget Offer NCV 44.3: Human Services Program Grants. The proposed budget does not recommend maintaining the current funding enhancement of $150,000, which is not a request for new funding but simply the continuation of existing support that has been in place since 2018. In 2018, a large group of nonprofit leaders advocated for increased funding, and City Council honored their voices by adding $150,000 to the human service grant budget. As it is, in 2024, local human service organizations requested $2,029,600 in grant support, and $920,287 was available to award, leaving $1,109,313 unfunded. Without this funding, our community will face a $150,000 reduction in human services grants, leaving even more requests unfunded. As the human services and nonprofit sectors are already preparing for the loss of ARPA recovery funding in the coming months, this potential reduction would compound an already challenging funding environment. The organizations receiving these grants address the priorities of the City and Council, including community safety, services for vulnerable populations, housing, and diversity. Their work directly advances the goals set forth by the City and Council. Furthermore, this Board intends to deepen the impact of grant funding in alignment with the Human Services Priority Platform. We are excited about these improvements, and now is not the time to reduce funding when a meaningful shift in priorities, methods, and funding approach is on the horizon. We are deeply concerned about the impact this reduction will have on some of our most vulnerable neighbors and respectfully urge you to reconsider your proposed budget cuts. As stated above, we are not asking for additional funding but simply for the continuation of the funding level that has been in place for the past six years. Thank you for your consideration and willingness to engage on this critical matter. Respectfully, The Human Services & Housing Funding Board Erma Woodfin Olga Duvall Chris Coy Lori Kempter Mike Kulisheck Michaela Ruppert Jan Stallones Christine Koepnick Mayor City Hall Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.416.2154 970.224.6107 - fax fcgov.com October 1, 2024 Water Commission c/o Jeremy Woolf, Staff Liaison PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 Dear Chair Radin and Commission Members, On behalf of City Council, thank you for providing us with the September 30, 2024 memorandum regarding the 2025-26 City Manager’s Recommended Budget. We understand that the Board supports increasing the salaries of field operators to be on par with plant operators for the reasons outlined in your letter including reducing turnover, acknowledging the significant investment in training, similar job requirements, compensation equity, physical demands, increased job mobility and financial impact. Thank you for the expertise and perspectives that you bring to the Board and share with City Council. Best Regards, Jeni Arndt Mayor /sek cc: City Council Members Kelly DiMartino, City Manager September 30, 2024 Dear City Council, I am writing to express the unanimous support of the Fort Collins Water Commission for the Fort Collins Water Utilities' proposal to increase the salaries of ﬁeld operators to be on par with plant operators. This adjustment is a critical step in the One Water initiative and will contribute to the long-term sustainability and efficiency of our water system. Key arguments in support of this proposal: • High Turnover: Field operations have the highest turnover within water operations. This constant turnover leads to increased training costs, decreased efficiency, and a loss of institutional knowledge. By improving compensation, we can signiﬁcantly reduce turnover and offset much of the salary increase costs. • Signiﬁcant Investment: Our utility invests substantial resources in training ﬁeld operators, including Commercial Driver’s License (CDL), two Colorado Certiﬁed Water Professional certiﬁcations, and safety training. Equalizing their pay with plant operators recognizes the value of these skills and the ongoing commitment to maintaining a highly qualiﬁed workforce. • Similar Job Requirements: While ﬁeld operators and plant operators’ speciﬁc responsibilities differ, both roles require a high level of technical expertise, physical ability, and periodically require on-call shifts. • Compensation Equity: Currently, ﬁeld operators are not compensated equitably for their contributions to our utility. By leveling their pay with plant operators, we are recognizing the value of their work and ensuring fair treatment for all employees. • Physical Demands: Field operations is a physically demanding job, often involving heavy lifting and exposure to harsh weather conditions. Recognizing the physical challenges of this role is essential for fair compensation. • Increased Job Mobility: The high turnover mentioned earlier is due in part to ﬁeld operators seeking higher paying plant operator jobs. Equalizing salaries will mitigate this imbalance and perhaps encourage movement in both directions. This can lead to a more ﬂexible workforce, improve morale, and provide opportunities for career advancement. • Financial Impact: The proposed pay increases, effective January 1, 2025, will be shared by the Stormwater, Water, and Wastewater funds, with an annual cost of $295,000 per fund. While this represents a signiﬁcant investment, it is essential to consider the long-term beneﬁts of a more stable and motivated workforce. In conclusion, the Water Commission strongly believes that increasing the salaries of ﬁeld operators is a wise investment in the future of our water utility. It will beneﬁt our community, our employees, and our system as a whole. Sincerely, Jordan Radin, PE Chair, Fort Collins Water Commission On behalf of the Fort Collins Water Commission