Acceleration of Western Fire Station Proposed

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If passed on 2nd reading, Ordinance 1, 2022, presented by Allen Owens, Finance Administrator, the annual budget adjustment ordinance includes accelerating the construction of Fire Station 6 in Avenir. The requested allocation of $6 million for the project would be funded by: Restricted Reserves for Other American Rescue Plan $3,744,066, Budget Stabilization Reserve Account 1,055,934, and Fire Impact Fees 1,200,000. The fire station was planned to be funded by a loan in the future, but given projected inflation, staff calculated that building it sooner and without the need for a loan would both save the City money and provide necessary coverage to the western communities earlier. The ordinance also includes the staffing of 8 new full-time employees for the Recreation Department. The Council was supportive of the proposals and Ordinance 1, 2022 passed 5:0.

The meeting began with a presentation by Casey Mitchell, Director of Golf. The City’s 2021 15th Annual Mayor’s Golf Classic, is the largest event conducted every year, and coincides with Veteran’s Day. She recognized the 60+ staff and volunteers that made the event a reality, along with the sponsors. Dr. Ronald Williams, Jr., Chief of Staff at the VA Medical Center described how funds are used to help find veterans homes. $72691.11 raised this year.

The Consent Agenda passed 5:0 – with Mayor Litt pulling and reading the Black History Month proclamation, and Vice-Mayor Reed pulling the 211 Awareness Week proclamation and thanking the 211 services in suicide prevention.

In other business:

• Ordinance 2, 2022 – presented by Martin Fitts, Principal Planner, was primarily statutory in nature, however there was an explanation and some discussion about the rationale for removing the Urban Growth Boundary. The ordinance passed on first reading 5:0
• Ordinance 3, 2022 – City Attorney Max Lohman explained that the Council was previously granted, for a ten year period, the ability to abate property taxes for new capital investment satisfying certain qualifications or for existing investments if expanded – to encourage economic development. In the last ten years, the only company qualifying/granted the abatement by the Council was the Carrier Corp. The referendum is to renew the ability, and keeps ‘this tool in the toolbox’. The City will undertake an information program to inform the voters and is the only city question on the August ballot. The ordinance passed 5:0 on first reading.
• Ordinance 4, 2022 – Martin Fitts explained that the ordinance would allow covid testing/vaccination sites to be handled as a special event plus increase the time pumpkins and Christmas trees can be sold. In both topics, this allows for easier handling and approvals for setup and logistics. The ordinance passed 5:0 on first reading.

In Items for Council discussion

• Vice Mayor Reed highlighted a TPA Conference that discussed the Beeline Highway project. (Note: Joel Engelhardt covered a recent zoom meeting on the topic in his article here.)
• Mayor Litt mentioned major activities in February including Artigras  and the Honda Classic.
• Council Member Tinsley raised the issue of proposed redistricting maps dividing the City into more than one district. The Council still thought it was too early to raise a concern and weren’t sure whether being represented by more than one district was a good or bad thing.