City Council Meeting15-Apr-2014: Library Funding Discussion

This was a very good council meeting (aside from the fact that we ended earlier than normal).  What I especially liked is that we were able to have a vigorous discussion and share differing points of view without being disagreeable.

Agenda:

1. Public Comment: Most of the comments (7 out of 9) were about the library. I will summarize at the end of the post. One of the other commenters wanted more info about the trail system and shared a trail safety item; the trail sign near Caddy Lane is too close to the bike trail and riders risk hitting it as they turn onto the trail.

2. Highland Fling 2014: Ron Jewett discussed the upcoming fling. He pointed out that they expect to raise significantly more funds this year than last. They are already well ahead of last year in terms of ads for the Fling Booklet (Good job Emily!). One issue is that because the Fling budget only reflects net costs (expenses less anticipated revenues) when they try to spend more than the budgeted amount difficulties arise even though there are offsetting revenues from sponsors. Our finance director will look into how this can be resolved.. Evidently public accounting practices make this less than straightforward. Here is a video from last year’s Fling that was put together by one of the sponsors Color My Media:
   
   

   Highland Fling Days Slideshow from Color My Media on Vimeo.

3. Approval of Meeting Minutes for March 18: Approved.
4. Approval of Meeting Minutes for April 1: Approved
5. Library Funding Option Discussion: See below 

6. New Ad HOC Committee Discussion:
   The council discussed the proposed formation of 3 new ad hoc committees: Beautification, Economic Development, and Web & Social Media. Brian mentioned that at some point these should be turned into permanent committees as Ad Hoc Committees are supposed to have specific short term objectives and disbanded once the objectives have been reached. Dennis also discussed an economic development panel that Alpine has which meets monthly. It is composed of a council and planning commission member as well as other officials that could provide immediate feedback and feasibility answers.to anyone seeking to open a business in Alpine. Anyone interested in serving on these or any other committee should complete the volunteer form found on the city’s website and turn it in at the front desk of city hall. We will be taking a formal vote on the formation of these committees next council meeting.

City Council Meeting 1-Apr-2014

The most interesting part of the council meeting was the Road Maintenance Presentation and Discussion, which I will discuss at the end of the post. Here is a brief summary of the votes which were taken:

#	Description	Pass/Fail
1.	Motion: Ratify the Mayors Appointment of Kristi Vick to the Open Space Committee	P
2.	Motion: Ratify the Mayors Appointment of Scott Smith to the Library Board	P
3.	Ordinance: Amend Municipal Code 15.04.010, Adopting State Construction Code.	P
4.	Motion: Final Plat Approval for Pinnock Estates	P
5.	Ordinance: Amend Chapters 12.30 & 13.31, Removal of Neighborhood Trails	P

Issues and Information Meeting 2014-Q1

Mike Kennedy, our local state representative, joined me for my first Issues and Information meeting as a councilman. Thanks Mike! When Mike arrived at 6:50 PM we were the only two people in the meeting room. A few minutes later we were joined by one person and by the time people stopped coming (about 8:20 PM) over twenty people had attended the meeting.

The meeting was very interactive and since I was involved in the meeting I was not able to take notes. Lesson learned: ask someone to be the note taker for future meetings. Here is my brief summary which includes a link to the slides I used for my presentation.

City Council Meeting Mar 18, 2014

Below is the agenda with my comments in italics. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions (mannrw@gmail.com).

PRESENTATIONS

• Randy Paul – Economic Development
  Randy presented his views on what he sees as the most likely and best paths of growth for the city. In very short terms he does not see Highland seeing a lot growth in terms of businesses and he doesn’t think we should plan for that to be a significant source of revenue for the city. He does think that maintaining standards and services which make the city attractive to residents is one of the most important things the council can do. Subsequent to the meeting Randy sent an email to the council summarizing his points.
• Kent Loosle – IASIS Healthcare, Mountain Point Medical Center
  IASIS is building a new hospital and medical office complex on the west side of I15 near the Thanksgiving Point Exit. Kent wanted to review the services that will be provided and share the desire of the IASIS to serve N. County residents.