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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.19.24 - Study Session NotesSTUDY SESSION NOTES CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO Hybrid - Virtual Meeting August 19, 2024 This meeting was conducted both as a virtual meeting and hybrid, where some members of the Council or City staff were physically present at the Municipal building, and some members of the public attended in person as well. A quorum of members of Council were present in Council Chambers for this session. The Mayor explained the virtual/hybrid meeting format, how citizens will have the opportunity to be heard, and the procedures and policies to be followed. 1. Call to Order Mayor Starker called the Special Study Session to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Attendance Council Members present: Jenny Snell, Rachel Hultin, Janeece Hoppe, Amanda Weaver, Korey Stites, Dan Larson, and Scott Ohm. Absent Leah Dozeman Also present: City Manager Patrick Goff, Deputy City Manager Allison Scheck, Assistant City Manager Marianne Schilling, Director of Public Works Maria D’Andrea, Sustainability Coordinator Mary Hester, Community Development Director Lauren Senior Deputy City Clerk Margy Greer, and other staff and interested residents. 3. Public’s Right to Speak Public Comments from Wheat Ridge Speaks: Re: 38th Ave Refresh Project Kelly Blynn Aug 19, 2024 at 11:38am Address: 4175 Brentwood St Wheat Ridge, 80033 ATAT Testimony on 38th Ave “Refresh” - 8/19/24 The Wheat Ridge Active Transportation Advisory Team (ATAT) stated she appreciated the opportunity to comment on tonight’s study session regarding the 38th Ave “Refresh.” She stated the group supports the focus on improving sidewalks and pedestrian access, including widened sidewalks, enhanced patio areas, and improved landscaping. These improvements will greatly enhance the corridor’s walkability. They also urge a strong emphasis on improving the area between Vance and Wadsworth, which is currently unfriendly to pedestrians and cyclists, and should connect to the new multi-use trails from the Wadsworth project. She stated the group’s concerns about the staff’s recommendation to remove the bike lanes on 38th Ave. saying it would be a significant setback for bike accessibility in the city’s most bike and pedestrian-friendly business corridor. While 35th Ave is a good alternative for east-west travel, cyclists still need a safe way to access businesses on 38th Ave, especially when crossing Wadsworth from the west. Cyclists also would need a way to access these refreshed businesses, restaurants, and patios. Ms. Blynn continued, talking about the co-existing of bike lanes and street parking; stating the city should manage street parking, not remove bike lanes; the City should consider extending the bike lanes east of Pierce to Sherian and west to connect with the multi-use trails; and supporting analyses of crash patterns but question the need for funding of traffic studies to confirm the current lane configuration. She stated the ATAT encourages the city to not be reactive to temporary impacts from the Wadsworth construction and think about the long-term vibrancy of this corridor; and to truly respond to residents’ clearly stated desire for a more walkable and bike-friendly city. She thanked Council for their consideration. Public Comments in Person: Joy Opp – Resident – Chair of Sustainable Wheat Ridge. She spoke about the history of the Sustainable Wheat Ridge Committee and how far the Commission had come in the seven years of its existence. She listed several of the accomplishments to date and how she enjoys being a member of the Committee. She stated it was now time for Council to adopt a plan which will move Wheat Ridge into the future. Amanda Burch – Resident- Member of the Sustainability Committee. She stated that she was excited to present the new Sustainability Action Plan to Council, saying it would enhance the daily lives of the residents. She Plan will help reduce waste, provide for community engagement, beautify he community, provide Green Building alternatives, conserve water, educate the community, concentrate on energy and transportation, and more. Adoption of the Plan would be a wise investment for the community. Betsy Coppock – Member of the Sustainability Wheat Ridge Committee. She stated that the Sustainability Action Plan will help make an impact on climate change on the local level. Heat waves are coming more often and at higher temperatures. This means the most vulnerable populations will be affected. Implementation of the Plan will help educate residents regarding solar panels, installation of heat pumps, efficient electrical systems, streamlining the permitting process, planting of trees and other alternatives. Connor Denton, Former Resident and Member of Sustainable Wheat Ridge. He stated sustainable development is included in the Plan which would include green energy, prioritizing energy efficient designs, and providing alternative transportation infrastructure, increase quality of life and economic stability. Amy DePierre – Resident – Sustainability Wheat Ridge Member. She spoke to Council about the Sustainability Action Plan as it can be affected by agricultural and pollinators. She stated that the practices should focus on rebuilding, reducing chemical use, and protecting the water supplies. She stated it is more than a trend, it is a Plan which needs to be continually implemented by supporting the Plan. She urged Council to support the initiatives around agriculture and green infrastructure and to show Wheat Ridge as a forward-thinking community that honors the past and protects the future. Stu Stewart – Vice Chair of Sustainable Wheat Ridge. He thanked Council, Staff and others for the future consideration of implementing the Action Plan. He stated that as the climate becomes warmer, it will damage the eco system and more fires will stress the water systems. The draft Plan is a good step toward a comprehensive multi-sector plan that will guide the community now and generations to come. He urged Council to formally adopt the Plan and create the framework and platform for the future. Sashi Burlingame – Resident. She stated she is a student at DU getting her degree in Environmental Policy and Management. She spoke to the Sustainability Plan, stating she was not on the committee, but wanted to support the Committee and promote their engagement and thank the city for allowing them to promote the sustainability initiatives. Carolyn Hushek – Resident – She spoke to the use of bicycles, bike paths, neighborhoods and visit the 38th Avenue businesses. She encouraged City Council to not remove the bike lanes form 38th Avenue. Julie Stern – Resident – 38th Avenue – She stated she loves to bike around the community and uses her bike and shops on 38th Avenue. She stated she needs a protective bike infrastructure, as she sustained a brain energy due to a bike accident. She stated that more bike routes were needed, not fewer.   4. 38th Avenue “Refresh” Project Discussion City Manager Patrick Goff introduced this item to City Council. Issue The overwhelming passage of the 2J sales tax extension, which focuses on funding critical public infrastructure projects, allows the city to re-examine improvements to 38th Avenue, between Wadsworth Blvd and Harlan Street. The focus of this effort would be to refine the latest version of the design as the starting point to effect a final design that could be constructed in the next 2-3 years. Minimal changes, if any, would be made to the street width. Instead, the focus of improvements would be to the areas between the curb line and the private property/right-of-way line. A design consultant team would be engaged to provide a robust traffic analysis, public involvement, and a preliminary design for the corridor. Staff is seeking input and direction from the City Council on this approach. Public Works Director Maria D’Andrea gave a PowerPoint presentation and spoke about the Revitalization of 38th Avenue. She stated that Phase II of the Green at 38th Project is the start of things along the corridor. This was brought to Council in 2016 when the City saw a growing interested in enhanced biking and walking opportunities and trees in an effort to revitalize the business corridors. The remaining of the improvements is along 38th Avenue from Wadsworth to Harlan. Discussion topics included wanting to know if the City wanted to undertake this project to make improvements on the 38th Avenue Corridor at this time; what other goals or outcomes shul be considered and should on street parking be retained in lieu of on-street bike lanes; and are there other elements that should be considered during this design phase. D'Andrea gave some background on the planning of the 38th Avenue Corridor and actions taken which included the City’s Downtown District, Main Street from Upham to Pierce; 38th Avenue Corridor Plan; Re-striping to a 3-lane roadway; Failed ballot measure for street width modifications and the “Cr8 your 38” effort. She followed with the 2019 Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy. 2011 Corridor Plan’s key elements were Identity, Vitality, Appeal and Mobility. When moving forward with design, will keep those elements in mind. She showed current conditions which need to be “refreshed.” She showed alternatives such as the Pavement Treatment near “The Green,” She also spoke to the Traffic Analysis which included: lane configurations, crash patterns, traffic signal controls, pedestrian improvements, connections to bike and pedestrian facilities, and parking updates. She showed existing on street bike lanes between Wadsworth and Pierce and proposed bicycle travel between Pierce and Sherian which would be directed to 35th Avenue. Council Comments Council Member Hoppe spoke to the long curb cuts along 38th Avenue and the access points. D’Andrea stated that part of the Plan is to absolutely help those willing business partners to accomplish secondary access points. She also asked about exploring putting artwork on the electrical boxes and updating the planter boxes on 38th Avenue. Council Member Ohms stated that he agrees with trying to get artwork on the electrical boxes. He stated the importance of keeping the bike lanes on 38th. He stated that parking is needed for bikes as well and reviewing what is needed to have a safe well-traveled bike lane. Council Member Hultin spoke to the importance of bike mobility and reduced parking of cars. She spoke to plan having bike connection on 38th Avenue from both the north and the south and needs connectivity. She stated that a design code is needed to make the corridor updated and look cohesive and updated. Council Member Snell spoke to the bicycle accessibility and the bikes and pedestrian traffic to and from the 38th on the Green activities. She stated she does not want to get rid of any biking and pedestrian opportunities on 38th Avenue. Council Member Weaver stated is not a bike rider and supports what other council members have said. She stated she wants to get rid of the car parking on 38th Avenue because the uses of the 38th Avenue Corridor have changed tremendously. She stated that the City needs to provide off-street parking as people have no problem walking a block or two to entertainment venues. Council Member Stites agreed with most of what was said by others. However, he stated that getting rid of the car parking may have an effect on our businesses. He has heard from neighbors that there is a surge of parking in the neighborhoods when there is an event on The Green. With less parking, it would be worse. He stated that the pedestrian traffic safety needs to be improved. Council Member Larson stated that this represents the end of the story regarding 38th Avenue improvements. He questioned why the City isn’t contacting Public Service to repair their utility boxes. He stated the earlier plan includes the same elements as today’s plan. He stated that the businesses should have a say about the parking issues. Mayor Starker stated that the City should look into alternative parking to off-street parking such as a parking shuttle and asked staff to look into other alternatives. Council Members continued to share ideas with staff regarding pedestrian, and bike traffic as well as parking and enhancements around 38th Avenue. Maria D’Andrea stated that she would be coming back to Council as they move forward with the Scope of Work. 5. Business License Improvements Patrick Goff introduced this item to City Council and turned it over to Alli Scheck, Deputy City Manager. Issue  The City of Wheat Ridge manages a robust business licensing program. Staff is planning to implement software improvements to streamline and modernize this program. In preparation for these changes, staff has developed several options for the City Council to further enhance the business licensing program.  Ms. Scheck introduced the City Treasurer Chris Miller, Finance Manager Mike Colvin and Cole Haselip. Cole Haselip gave a brief overview of the project. Mark Colvin (via Zoom) spoke to the many challenges they have due to the 4000 renewals, inspections, and specialty licenses handled by a small staff. He spoke to the launching of a new licensing software for the 2025 renewal season as part of the Next Chapter: Systems Transformation project. Chris Miller stated that inspections are required by those businesses requesting a business license, protecting the safety, health and welfare of the community, follow state laws and best practices, make it easier for our businesses, recovering costs and maintain licensing revenue. Cole Halesip spoke to the issue regarding Remote Sellers and a recent law that does not allow the City to license or charge the remote sellers a business license fee. He stated staff is asking Council to amend the Code to show these changes and make the city compliant with laws and best practices. Council gave consensus to move forward with this option. Council Member Stites questioned if the Mark Colvin spoke to the annual renewal process being a challenge to staff and the hope to have a bi-annual license renewal, which will help with staff’s workload. Council spoke to this issue asking if there could be a 3 or 5-year renewal process. Colvin stated that specialty licenses should be renewed more often. Council Member Ohms stated that the discount should not be given just because it is a bi-annual license. Council Member Hultin supported the two-year license and agreed with Ohms regarding keeping the license at $40/bi-annual. Council Member Stites asked if there could be a 5-year business license and that he does not receive any information from the sales tax department outside of his license. Ms. Scheck stated that staff would dig a little deeper and see if the system would allow for options. Council did agree to move forward with the two-year option. Council Member Weaver stated that the one-year option should be $25 and stated that the licenses should be revokable if the businesses are not playing by the rules. Patrick Goff stated that the Code already allows for this issue. Mayor Starker asked if the system would allow for log in by businesses to negotiate payments. Council Member Hopper asked for consensus on a two-year renewal at $40.00 and asked staff to look into a longer renewal process as well. Consensus was reached. Mark Colvin then spoke about late fees. Over 50% of the license renewals are late. Cole Haeslip reviewed the proposed business license late fees with Council. The goal is to receive less late submissions and collecting late fee revenues. Consensus was received by Council to move forward with the increase in late fees. Haselip stated the final item of discussion consolidating specialty licenses. There are two groups: Essential or Supplemental. Essential permits core activity. Supplemental Licenses permit complementary activities. Proposal is for one specialty license which consolidates the Essential with the Supplemental Licenses and requesting to increase the fees to include the cost of the supplemental license. Consensus was reached by Council. Mayor Starker recessed the meeting at 8:52 pm and reconvened at 9:00 p.m. 6. Sustainability Action Plan Update Patrick Goff turned the presentation over to Mary Hester, City’s Sustainability Coordinator. Issue The purpose of this study session is to provide City Council with an update on the Sustainability Action Plan Update project including the process to date and stakeholder engagement and culminating in the presentation of the draft Sustainability Action Plan Update: Five-Year Roadmap to ensure alignment with Council priorities. Mary Hester introduced Grace Sullivan of Lotus Engineering and Sustainability. Grace Sulivan reviewed the Action Plan, which was talked about earlier by the Sustainable Wheat Ridge Committee members. Sullivan gave a PowerPoint presentation which included an overview of the 2018 Wheat Ridge Sustainability Action Plan; the six areas of cous and the 20 goals and 125 strategies. She spoke about the core planning process, existing conditions analysis, the engagement plan, goal setting, prioritizing, implementation plan and tracker. She included the energy action plan, the bicycle/pedestrian plan, Open Space, and the environmental studies. She stated that the Engagement Plan included input from city staff, city leadership, water districts, Sustainable Wheat Ridge, small businesses and community members. She reviewed the prioritization methodology, environmental impact and resilience, Sullivan than spoke to the Sustainability Action Plan Overview for 2024 which included water, transportation, solid waste and recycling, renewable energy, energy efficiency and green building, businesses and jobs, communications and engagement, arts & cultures, all which equaled 24 goals and 113 strategies. She spoke to all of these and the focus areas for the new Plan. She showed how they would track the implementation of the Plan, the numbers of goals and action steps, action status, action by deadlines, relative cost of actions, action level of efforts and the responsible and reporting parties. She explained the next steps was to incorporate Council’s feedback, add graphic design to the Plan, and return to a regular council meeting for adoption of the Plan. Council Comments Council Member Hoppe stated she would like to study the proposed Plan and was looking forward to the final design. She stated how impressed she was with the workings of this Committee. Council Member Hultin said she was so impressed by the serious work being done by Mary Hester and the committee and their commitment to the Plan. Council Member Larson said the Plan was obviously the result of many hours of work and effort and thought. When he read through it, he stated there were two glaring omissions: one, the need for undergrounding of utilities and the need for noise pollution mitigation. Council Members thanked staff and stated their appreciation for their leadership and how they considered all aspects of the community: businesses, renters, owners, schools, etc. There was consensus to move forward with bringing it back to Council at a future Council Meeting. 7. Staff Report(s) City Manager Patrick Goff gave an update on Intermountain Health and the Lakewood Legacy Campus. 8. Elected Officials’ Report(s) Mayor and Councl Members reported on recent meetings and events they attended and upcoming activities in the community 9. Adjournment With no further business to come before Council, Mayor Starker adjourned the meeting at 9:47 p.m. _________________________________ Margy Greer, Senior Deputy City Clerk ________________________________ Korey Stites, Mayor Pro Tem