10-04-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 4, 2010 APPROVED 46 47 Administration Director Tesch confirmed that he will be ensuring that the job description 48 is up to date based on current standards. 49 50 Staff directed to begin the search process and to keep the council up to date as it 51 proceeds. 52 53 3. Comprehensive Plan Review—Community Development Director Grochala noted 54 that the council has been discussing since August the proposed changes to the City's 55 comprehensive plan(the Plan) update that are included in the staff report. The changes 56 are in the area of growth management and housing. If these changes are approved,he 57 would proceed to prepare concurring amendments to the city's growth management 58 ordinance. 59 60 The mayor noted his goal of affecting three areas—pace, quality and density and Mr. 61 Grochala reviewed how the Plan addresses those areas. Regarding density,the Plan 62 includes a cap and is about as skinny as possible. On pace, he noted that the proposed 63 changes, coupled with the staging proposal,provide for land restrictions that will deal 64 with pace. On quality,he noted the inclusion of a resource management plan and 65 environmental requirements. 66 67 When asked by a council member how schools fit into planning, Mr. Grochala explained 68 that the school districts received the plan as part of the required review process. L 69 70 The discussion turned to the affordable housing component of the Plan. Director 71 Grochala noted the changes are included in the staff report(in red)removing some 72 specific comments (that were read). The changes make the intent clear that the city is not 73 guaranteeing construction of units through funding and allowing for more discretion for 74 the city. 75 76 The council concurred that they should vote on the Plan by the end of this year but will 77 have more discussion at the next work session. 78 79 4. Storm Water Utility Update—Community Development Director Grochala 80 explained that he is providing the council with a budget breakdown relative to a storm 81 water utility. He reviewed the budget line items. 82 83 When asked to explain how the cost to individuals goes up if the budget cost is actually 84 going down,Mr. Grochala said that it is based on spreading storm water costs to include a 85 larger base (not just property tax payers) and also basing the charges more on use and/or 86 discharge. 87 88 A council member noted that the question is whether these storm water costs should be 89 charged as a user fee. The objections the council has heard seem to envision that a utility 90 would be another fee with no accompanying tax decrease and no cap to prevent a 2