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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes - Read Before Packet - 10/15/2024 - Memorandum from Delynn Coldiron re: Leadership Planning Team Meeting Minutes – October 14, 2024 City Clerk 300 Laporte Avenue P.O. Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6515 970.221-6295 - fax fcgov.com/cityclerk MEMORANDUM DATE: October 14, 2024 TO: Mayor and Councilmembers FROM: Delynn Coldiron, City Clerk RE: Leadership Planning Team (LPT) Meeting Mayor Pro Tem Emily Francis, Councilmember Tricia Canonico, City Attorney Carrie Daggett, Deputy City Manager Tyler Marr, Assistant City Manager Rupa Venkatesh and City Clerk Delynn Coldiron met remotely on Monday, October 14, 2024. The following summarizes the discussions that began at 8:00 a.m. October 15th Regular Meeting • Item 17 - Water Supply Requirement Fee, Excess Water Use Surcharge and Pre-1984 Nonresidential Annual Allotments – Discussion about the feedback received on this item so far, including some continued question about the safety and contingency factors. A question was raised about the last time the WSR were updated and why it represented such a steep increase in 2018. Staff should be prepared to discuss the reasons for the changes in 2018. October 22nd Work Session • No comments. Six-Month Calendar • A discussion on ADUs is planned for discussion sometime during Q1 of 2025. This item will be placed on the unscheduled list until a date has been set. It was asked to ensure that this item went beyond code updates and includes discussion of potential ways to make ADU’s easier to move forward with. • Starting January 28, all work sessions for Q1 2025 will have two spots reserved for updates on Council priority items. Staff will get placeholders on the calendar for this. City Clerk Delynn Coldiron • To kick off the recruitment season for boards and commissions, the City Clerk’s office will be holding an Open House for those interested in learning more about opportunities for serving on City boards and commission. It is scheduled for November 7 at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall. Leadership Planning Team Meeting October 14, 2024 Page 2 of 3 •The Clerk’s office had a productive field trip to the City of Boulder to learn more about its ranked choice voting education and outreach. Boulder received recognition from the FairVote organization and from Governor Polis on its ranked choice voting efforts. Boulder staff were very helpful and open to giving us information and allowing us to access resources and materials to help us in our ranked choice voting journey. We look forward to this partnership with them. Assistant City Manager Rupa Venkatesh •Jacelyn Zuniga is a new administrative staff person who started today in the City Manager’s Office. It was noted that she is bilingual, and that staff is very excited that she has joined the team. •The US District Court for the Northern District of California recently ordered the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further address the risks of fluoride in water. Utilities staff has prepared a briefing that will be sent out to all of Council today and attached to these LPT notes. After reading this, if Council wants further information or a work session, please advise staff. Deputy City Manager Tyler Marr •Wanted to acknowledge Leslie Hill and Joel Nolte for their work related to water quality issues in mobile home parks, following a recent email from a community partner organization. He stated that the team has done fantastic work that has made a real difference. •Republic Trash Service Contract: o The cart manufacturer has a plant on the east coast and production has been stopped due to hurricane disruptions. This has created a shortage in 35-gallon trash and 65-gallon recycling bins. With customers waiting to exchange or receive carts, staff and Republic are working through solutions, including substituting different sized carts, until cart deliveries of those sizes can resume in approximately a week. o An automated message has been added to the City team’s waste and recycling phone number that enables a person to press 1 to be redirected to Republic automatically. This is expected to increase customer service and help avoid confusion. City Attorney Carrie Daggett •Marlene Brown is the new office manager for the City Attorney’s office starting today. She is coming from the City’s Municipal Court. Staff is excited to have that position up and running again. Councilmember Canonico •15-Minute City Neighborhood Centers: o Attended a recent neighborhood center event in her area and thought things went well. She thanked the team that has been working on this. Leadership Planning Team Meeting October 14, 2024 Page 3 of 3 Mayor Pro Tem Emily Francis • Attended the opening event for the rainbow crosswalk and thanked the team responsible for acquiring and installing the materials. She was glad that they went with the enhanced pavement markings so it will be longer lasting and easily cleaned. She was grateful for all who attended the event and noted Council’s support for this. The related video was mentioned as well; it was great. Meeting adjourned at 8:27 am. Attachment: Utilities Fluoride Briefing 10.11.2024 Fort Collins Water Utilities Summary of Recent National Toxicology Program Topic Overview and US District Court Ruling on Fluoride in Drinking Water The Fort Collins Utilities Water Production and Water Quality Services Divisions are aware of the ruling and have been following the robust and ongoing public discussion at the national level. The ruling speciﬁcally orders the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further address the issue. The ruling is long and complex, and we are in the process of evaluating it and the related studies. Background on Nation Toxicology Program Monograph on the State of the Science Concerning Fluoride Exposure and Neurodevelopment and Cognition The National Toxicology Program (NTP) released this Topic Overview in August 2024. The monograph states, with moderate conﬁdence, based on studies performed in 10 countries, including Mexico and Canada, that ﬂuoride exposures that exceed 1.5 mg/L of ﬂuoride are consistently associated with lower IQ of a few points in children. However, because no studies of ﬂuoride exposures and IQ have been performed in children in the United States, research that examines the association between ﬂuoride exposure and children’s IQ in optimally ﬂuoridated areas of the United States is needed to add clarity to the existing data. The monograph also states that it does not address whether the sole exposure to ﬂuoride added to drinking water in some countries (i.e., ﬂuoridation, at 0.7 mg/L in the United States and Canada) is associated with a measurable eﬀect on IQ. It additionally states that it does not assess beneﬁts of the use of ﬂuorides in oral health or provide a risk/beneﬁt analysis. Background on US District Court Ruling in Food & Water Watch, Inc., et al., v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, et al. Food and Water Watch, Inc. sued the EPA in federal district court under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act. On September 24, 2024, the court ruled that water ﬂuoridation at the currently prescribed optimal level (0.7 mg/L) presents an “unreasonable risk” of injury to public health. The court relied on studies showing a link between ﬂuoride exposure and reduced IQ in children of a few points. The hazard level has been reported as either 4.0 mg/L or 1.5 mg/L. The court speciﬁcally did not rule that ﬂuoridated water is actually injurious to public health, but just that there is a risk. The Court ordered the EPA take some regulatory action to respond to the risk, but the court did not rule what the EPA’s action should be. Other Organizations Positions Following the ruling, the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Centers for Disease Control all continue to support ﬂuoridation of drinking water at 0.7 mg/L. 10.11.2024 Fort Collins Water Utilities Fort Collins Utilities Current Practices Fort Collins City Code 26-50 states: “The City Council is authorized to ﬂuoridate the water supply system of the City. The utility is directed to ﬂuoridate its water to the levels established by the State Department of Public Health and Environment.” Currently, Fort Collins Utilities ﬂuoridates drinking water at 0.7 mg/L, as recommended by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). The level is monitored continuously by automated equipment, which is checked for accuracy daily by laboratory analysis. Feed rates are continually adjusted to maintain optimum levels. Next Steps The information contained in the ruling does not justify unilaterally ceasing ﬂuoridation without direction from Council. Although the ruling suggests a risk, there is nothing establishing an acute risk or imminent injury. Our plan regarding this ruling is to continue ﬂuoridating at 0.7 mg/L until direction is received from Council, EPA, or CDPHE to do otherwise. We are waiting for additional guidance from CDPHE, which we anticipate will be released soon. We plan to share information with the public as it becomes available through our website at https://www.fcgov.com/utilities/what-we-do/water/water-treatment/treated-drinking-water/drinking- water-ﬂuoridation. Questions and requests for information should be directed to: Gregg Stonecipher, Director, Plant Operations Fort Collins Water Utilities gstonecipher@fcgov.com (970) 221-6692 Leslie Hill Director, Water Quality Services Division Fort Collins Water Utilities lhill@fcgov.com (970) 221-6907