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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Read Before Packet - 5/19/2020 - Memorandum From Delynn Coldiron Re: Leadership Planning Team Meeting Minutes - May 18, 2020City Clerk 300 LaPorte Avenue PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6515 970.221-6295 - fax fcgov.com/cityclerk MEMORANDUM DATE: May 18, 2020 TO: Mayor and Councilmembers FROM: Delynn Coldiron, City Clerk RE: Leadership Planning Team (LPT) Meeting Mayor Wade Troxell (by video-conference call), Mayor Pro Tem Kristin Stephens (by video-conference call), City Manager Darin Atteberry (by video-conference call), Deputy City Manager Jeff Mihelich (by video-conference call), Deputy City Manager Kelly DiMartino (by video-conference call), City Attorney Carrie Daggett (by video- conference call) and City Clerk Delynn Coldiron (by video-conference call) met on Monday, May 18, and the following summarizes the discussions that began at 7:37 a.m. May 19 Regular Meeting: The May 19 agenda items were reviewed. • Proclamations – an additional proclamation related to Class of 2020 Graduation Day has been added. The Mayor plans to read this proclamation in its entirety. • COVID Update – No staff report is planned for tomorrow night’s meeting. There was a question about whether a Technical Advisory Committee is being established related to the COVID emergency. Staff is exploring options, including opportunity for integration with existing county efforts, and will report back once information is available. • Hughes Stadium – There was discussion about meeting logistics. Plans related to physical distancing, the use of hand sanitizer, the use of facial coverings and participant flow in/out of the building have been reviewed by the Larimer County Health Department. Due to the extra precautions being taken, they have approved having an additional 2-3 people in Council Chambers to help facilitate the public participation queue. • Item #20 – Resolution approving a Development Agreement related to the Northfield Metropolitan District and Item #21 – Ordinance appropriating reserves for the Utilities Customer Information and Billing System project are being postponed to the June 2, 2020 meeting. 6-Month Calendar Continued: • May 26 o Mid-Year Reviews of the City Manager and City Attorney – Memos from the City Manager and City Attorney will be provided as part of Council’s Thursday packets. • June 2 o Three staff reports are listed. Staff will work to reschedule the East Mulberry Corridor Considerations item. Leadership Planning Team Meeting May 18, 2020 Page 2 of 4 • June 16 o Competitive Funding Process Funding Recommendations for Affordable Housing – It was noted that Councilmember Gorgol may need to recuse herself from any funding decisions related to The Family Center due to her new role with the organization. The City Attorney will follow up. City Clerk Coldiron: • Noted that board and commission members are starting to feel disconnected and anxious about getting back to work. The Mayor agreed to send a memo to board members providing them with some updates. It was suggested that we encourage them to stay connected with Council’s agendas and to participate as they can. We should include the link to Council’s agenda in the memo that will be sent. • Asked if there was interest in allowing all boards to participate remotely considering the growing concern from board members who want to start moving forward on things. There was discussion about Council action that would be necessary to make this change, as well as the capacity for staff liaisons to support. There was also brief discussion about the Reimagine Boards and Commission Work Session planned for July 14. Much of the engagement related to this item has been paused due to the COVID emergency. Changing the scope to focus on things such as remote participation was suggested. • Noted that questions about referendums and initiatives related to the Hughes Stadium item have been received. Staff has been working with the City Attorney to provide responses to these items. A referendum would ask citizens to overturn the ordinance adopted by Council on this issue. An initiative enables them to bring forward their own action. There was brief discussion about the mechanics of collecting signatures. Although the Governor has taken some action for changing the way signatures can be collected related to ballot questions, our process is governed by the Charter, which can only be modified with voter approval. Deputy City Manager Mihelich: • Noted significant issues that are occurring at the Mennonite Fellowship Church. Staff is diligently enforcing violations and responding to neighbors. Outside camping, litter and violations related to lockers are being addressed. Staff continues to invite Pastor Ramer to participate in neighborhood mediation efforts; however, so far, no mediation is planned. On a separate note, there was a question about whether people are starting to camp illegally at Heritage Park. Police are aware and watching for this. • Noted that staff has had some further discussions with Montava representatives about their service arrangements with ELCO Water District. Deputy City Manager DiMartino: • Noted there was a water line break at the Museum of Discovery yesterday. Offices and archives were impacted but there has been minimal damage to artifacts due to good storage practices that have been followed. Staff is working with insurance to figure out next steps. Leadership Planning Team Meeting May 18, 2020 Page 3 of 4 • Noted Camp FunQuest that will be opening in early June and the great work done by the team to get this in place. There was a question about whether this replaces Base Camp. It does not fully replace Base Camp but does accommodate some of the children involved. In support of the Council priority regarding childcare, staff is asked to investigate what other childcare options are reopening throughout the city and consider ways to promote the services that are available. • Noted that the Environmental Services Team has developed some comments related to the proposed Larimer County Behavioral Health Facility that will be going to the Larimer County Planning Commission and County Commissioners. The comments express concerns about the proximity of the facility to solid waste infrastructure, environmental justice for users and residents, the environment and future growth. A copy of the letter is attached. • Noted a request received by a resident asking for a waiver of the $100 licensing fee for his short-term rental due to lack of business and related revenues. For those with short-term rentals that conform with City rules/regulations, if they choose to forgo paying the $100 licensing fee, for additional $50 they can get their license back in place when they are ready to do so. However, for those with short-term rentals that are non-conforming, this does not apply. If they do not pay the $100 licensing fee, then their license will lapse, and they cannot get it back. This citizen has a non-conforming short-term rental. No change is being recommended to the process. • Noted the facial coverings ordinance ends on May 30. Staff continues to meet with the Larimer County Health Department and others to determine next steps forward. When a recommendation comes forward, related data and the basis for the recommendation will be included. City Manager Atteberry: • Noted that Chief Judge Kathleen Lane’s last day in the office is expected to be July 2. A time has been reserved for the afternoon of July 2 for a celebration of some sort. Ideas to formally recognize her many years of service were shared. Staff will explore details and bring those back to LPT for further consideration. • Noted the equity conversation that Council just had as part of their last work session and the numbers provided on the number of children that live in Fort Collins’ mobile home parks. Here is more detail: Mobile Home Park Address Number of Children Poudre Valley 2025 N. College Avenue 414 Cloverleaf 4412 E. Mulberry 256 Harmony Village 2500 E. Harmony 463 Timberridge North 3717 S. Taft Hill 187 Timberridge South 2300 W CR 38 180 Collins Aire 401 N. Timberline 181 Mountain Range Shadows 8401 Mummy Range Dr 121 Park Lane 411 S. Court Street 61 Hickory Village 400 Hickory Street 223 Leadership Planning Team Meeting May 18, 2020 Page 4 of 4 • Noted that the Governor has issued an order and may issue further orders to address state liquor licensing in a way that may help local restaurants by providing opportunities for expanded outdoor dining. A staff team is working on related efforts. More details will be provided as they become available. Mayor Pro Tem Stephens: • Noted she was asked to do a graduation video and asked if this is something Council could do jointly similar to the PSA that was done. There is interest in pursuing this. Meeting adjourned at 9:35 a.m. To: Larimer County Planning Commission From: City of Fort Collins Date: May 14, 2020 The City of Fort Collins values its partnership with Larimer County and appreciates the opportunity to share input about the location of the Behavioral Health Facility (BHF). We respectfully submit this letter to express the following concerns: Proximity to Solid Waste Infrastructure - Within the next 2-4 years, a waste transfer station and a recycling facility for construction and demolition (C&D) debris is slated to be built on the land adjacent to the proposed Behavioral Health Facility. These types of industrial activities – even with excellent management – can be noisy and dusty, which would negatively impact a health-oriented facility and seems highly inconsistent with the types of treatment that would be administered. - The site is zoned Industrial, which is appropriate for waste handling, but not for health-related land uses. - The site is well suited to and has been planned for expanded solid waste improvements under the Solid Waste Infrastructure Master Plan and the related Intergovernmental Agreement for construction of new solid waste facilities. Addition of the behavioral health facility may displace these planned and important uses, which are more compatible with existing industrial uses. Environmental Justice for Behavioral Health Facility Users / Residents - BHF clients are often vulnerable members of the community; the stigma attached to this type of illness could be inadvertently reinforced by the location of a treatment facility next to a landfill (e.g., unkind remarks about going to “the dump” for treatment) - The site is characterized by a nearly complete lack of public transportation options, which is an important issue for low-income clients who don’t have their own transportation - The site lies a significant distance from other health facilities where clients may also be getting treatment - Locating supportive housing on the west portion of the proposed Behavioral Health campus – the area closest to the waste handling activities - would make these buildings likely the most impacted. - “Quiet nature trails” shown on the site plan would also be negatively impacted by nearby industrial uses. - This plan would place vulnerable people adjacent to industrial activities, which is contrary to the goals of environmental justice. It is critical to protect vulnerable clients of the BHF from the impacts of noise and air pollution. Environmental Concerns - We hope the Larimer County Planning Commission will carefully revisit comments from the City about environmental and health impacts of gasses that have been detected in the immediate area of the nearby aging landfill, which has generated levels of methane (a potential explosive hazard) and other volatile gasses (a potential health hazard to building occupants) that exceed regulatory standards, and the recommendation to complete a Phase 1 environmental site assessment (ESA). If recognized environmental conditions (RECs) are identified, a Phase II ESA is recommended. Future Growth - The need to address future growth of both the waste handling infrastructure and BHF over time has not satisfactorily been addressed. - Although both facilities are placed apart now, as shown on the site plans, in future the only expansion options will be toward one another, which will exacerbate land use conflicts. Bottom line The City of Fort Collins strongly supports the goals of both facilities. However, the cost savings in the short term of using the proposed property for the behavioral health facility appear to be far outweighed by long term conflicts generated from the proximity of these two incompatible uses and displacement planned and agreed upon uses of the site for new solid waste facilities under the Intergovernmental Agreement. Thank you, in advance, for giving consideration to our concerns. The City welcomes the opportunity to partner with Larimer County to explore potential other locations for the Behavioral Health Facility that could support the health and wellness of community members.