City Council Meeting Recap

October 20, 2020

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Lafayette public safety commitment to uphold best practices and community values

The Lafayette Police and Fire Departments presented information regarding their current activities that support and uphold community values. Both departments are committed to hearing from the community and continuing to learn what is best for the Lafayette community.
 
Police Chief Bashor recapped his appreciation for the sometimes difficult conversations held during the three Seek to Understand public gatherings. A collection of transparent police documents such as policies, use of force reports, complaint process, and crime statistics are available at cityoflafayette.com/Police. The Lafayette Police Department (LPD) is now partnering with Boulder County to provide a mental health co-responder program that will be regionally headquartered at our police department. LPD’s Use of Force Policy prohibits chokeholds, is aligned with national best practices. Body worn cameras will be purchased in 2021. In accordance with Senate Bill 20-217, proactive training is being provided to staff on use of force, courageous conversations about racism, and how to be an anti-racist. Sister Carmen’s has agreed to act as a conduit and liaison for community members who need to deal with an issue or file a complaint pertaining to the police.
 
Interim Fire Chief Garrett has made the proactive decision to suspend the use of Ketamine for patients exhibiting excited delirium. Although this medication is approved and commonly carried by emergency medical responders, and the Lafayette Fire Department (LFD) is certified to use it, LFD will delay use until the time CDPHE (Colorado Dept. of Public Heath & Environment) finalizes its current evidence-based review.

New website redesign reveal

The Communication Department provided City Council with a sneak preview and walk-through of the website refresh project. The new design will launch on October 26 and will have an updated domain address. The new url will be lafayetteco.gov.
 
COVID recovery and sustainment; Small Business Sustainment Grant Program
On Oct. 21, the City will be announcing a second round of small business grants called the Small Business Sustainment Grant Program. Up to $300,000 from the City of Lafayette and up to $200,000 from the Lafayette Urban Renewal (LURA) will be available. Business eligibility includes 1)Businesses with a physical location and 1-50 employees can apply for up to $10,000 2)Home-based businesses can apply for up to $5,000. The application period will run from Oct. 22 through Oct. 25. Information can be accessed at cityoflafayette.com/SmallBiz

One Lafayette funding distribution

Due to the COVID pandemic, the One Lafayette Grant program has been repurposed this year to provide additional funding to Sister Carmen Community Center and Meals on Wheels, while honoring prior multi-year commitments. The following non-profit contributions will occur in 2020.

• Sister Carmen: $22,000                             
• Immigrant Legal Center: $3,000
• Coal Creek Meals on Wheels: $5,000
• Intercambio: $3,000
• Clinica Family Health: $3,000
• SPAN Safehouse: $3,000
• ELPASO: $3,000
• TRU Community: $3,000

1105 N. 120th St - Concrete Works final site plan: approvals and denials

Concrete Works is an industrial concrete paving contractor seeking development approval for an office and maintenance campus at their property at 1105 N. 120th St. The proposal for the 10.59-acre, industrially zoned project includes 7,351 square feet of office space, a six-bay maintenance building, a private fueling facility, and a 5,721-square foot multi-use building with a caretaker dwelling unit. An existing 1.78-acre outdoor storage lot on the site will remain. To fulfill their Public Land Dedication, 1.05 acres will be dedicated to the City for a trail easement. VIEW project information.   

• The Minor Subdivision, Final Plan/Planned Unit Development, and Site Plan/Architectural Review were approved.
• The request for one "hardship pool" Growth Management permit was denied.
• The Special Use Reviews for the private fueling facility and the caretaker's unit were both denied.

2021 recommended budget – approved on First Reading

The 2021 Recommended Budget is $79.8 million and represents a 31.3% decrease from the 2020 Budget. The primary factor in this budget decrease comes from an anticipated 2020 debt issuance in water reclamation for $23.8 million and several large capital projects planned in 2020. When considering these 2020 one-off budget items, the 2021 Recommended Budget is a 5.4% decrease from the adjusted 2020 Budget. The General Fund Budget, the City’s largest fund, remains flat from 2020.

Despite multiple challenges during 2020, there are some positive indicators looking ahead. Locally, the City of Lafayette has been relatively fortunate compared to neighboring communities. Our diversity of revenue types and mixture of businesses within the City have provided some stability during these uncertain times.

There was no public comment during the public hearing. The 2021 Recommended Budget was approved on first reading. Second reading and adoption of the proposed budget, is scheduled to occur on November 2.
 
All proposed 2021 budget materials are available at Lafayette-Listens.com/2021BudgetProcess.

Ordinance approved: Allow remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax

The City’s new Sales Tax Manager presented a recommendation to update our tax code to impose new or expanded sales tax licensing and sales tax collection responsibilities on certain remote and online sellers, such as Amazon, that make sales into the City. The proposed ordinance was approved. 
 
Ordinance approved: Pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) expansion
In light of City Council waste diversion goals (50% diversion by 2026), in 2018 Council directed staff to research mechanisms to expand three cart PAYT service to the entire community. The intent on expansion was to move the City forward on its ambitious waste reduction goals. The licensing requirement will ensure that service reaches all residents within one year of adoption and assessing a waste collection fee after three years will likely cause eventual migration to a city-wide waste contract, but still allowing existing HOAs contracts to terminate in a timely fashion.

The proposed hybrid ordinance is not a perfect solution, but staff believes it is the best mechanism to achieve Council’s goal of expanding the three-cart PAYT program to the entire City. Some background information and a composting video can be found at Lafayette-Listens.com/PayAsYouThrow. Twenty residents provided public comment in support of expanding the PAYT program. This proposed ordinance was approved on first reading. Second reading is scheduled to occur on November 2.

Resolution approved: Allotment contract with the Windy Gap Firming Water Project

In 2003 the City sought inclusion into the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District (NCWCD), with inclusion in June of 2004 in an effort to firm up future water supply. A condition of inclusion was a requirement of having one Acre Foot (AF) of supplemental water for every two AF of Colorado Big Thompson (CB-T) water. Windy Gap water was purchased to fulfill this requirement. The Windy Gap Firming Project is construction of Chimney Hollow reservoir and associated pipelines and channels to increase the value of the Windy Gap water by storing it during wet years and having it available during drought years.
 
By participating in the group participant funding, the City’s annual payments for participation in this project will be reduced over the 30 years, with the dollar amount depending upon the interest rate and the terms of the financing. Total project cost is $6,000,000. This proposed ordinance was approved.

Reports

City Administrator/Deputy City Administrator: Due to the interest of Council to engage the community in conversations surrounding Mary Miller’s name represented on City assets, staff is working on efforts to provide options. It has been brought to the City’s attention that descendants of Lafayette founder Mary Miller were a part of or held ties to the Ku Klux Clan. Staff is researching ways to provide a chronological history of the Miller family as well as a method to gather statistically valid community input.