City Council Meeting Recap

July 18, 2023

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View ways to participate in City Council meetings remotely and in person at lafayetteco.gov/CityCouncil.

OPENING OF REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING

PUBLIC INPUT

APPROVED 6-0: CONSENT AGENDA

• June 26, 2023, City Council Special / Rescheduled Regular Meeting Minutes
• June 26, 2023, City Council Workshop Summary

PRESENTATIONS
Boulder County Regional Minimum Wage Work Update
In 2019, the Colorado General Assembly passed HB 19-1210, Local Government Minimum Wage, which permits a unit of local government to establish a minimum wage for employees in their jurisdiction. Some members of the Boulder County Consortium of Cities are interested in collaborating to study and potentially enact a regional minimum wage within Boulder County. 

A project representative provided an overview to City Council and answered questions. Councilors indicated they would be interested in having a seat at the table as analysis and discussions begin.

2023 Resident Survey Results
Resident surveys assist municipalities and elected officials to measure the diverse opinions of a broad range of residents in a community by collecting data to compare past service benchmarks, gauge satisfaction levels, and better understand residents’ vision for the future.

The City successfully concluded the deployment of and data collection for the 2023 Lafayette Resident Survey on July 9 and presented a sampling of the results. A total of 1,342 surveys were completed. A public, interactive dashboard will be available the week of July 24 at www.lafayetteco.gov/ResidentSurvey providing visitors the ability to view results for each question, filter and compare categories, and compare year over year results.

A sampling of some results:

• 93% of residents feel that the quality of life in Lafayette meets or exceeds their expectations.
• 88% of residents feel that the quality of services provided by the City meets or exceeds their expectations.  
• 2 out of 3 residents feel that Lafayette is headed in the right direction. 
• 7 out of 10 residents feel Lafayette supports and is welcoming of diversity. 
• 95% of residents feel safe during the day.

STAFF INTRODUCTIONS
Public Works Department
Angela Goodman | Deputy Director of Public Works
Angela brings a wealth of technical and leadership experience including work with the City of Englewood, City of Aurora, and as a consultant. The Deputy Director is a new position created in 2023 to oversee the newly created Public Works Engineering & Capital Projects Division.

Leslie Ewy | Senior Civil Engineer
Leslie most recently owned her own engineering consulting firm and is highly regarded by municipal engineers and planners across Boulder County. The Senior Civil Engineer is a new position approved in the 2023 budget to be the lead engineer for stormwater and flood management and provide expertise and support to land development review and permitting functions.

Casey Carlson | Civil Engineer I
Casey recently relocated from North Dakota where he worked for a consulting firm performing engineering and construction management work for local governments. The Civil Engineer I position was originally added in the 2020 budget, but hiring was deferred due to economic concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. This position supports transportation, water, wastewater, and stormwater projects.

Finance Department
David Scott | Revenue Manager
David has over sixteen years of municipal sales tax experience, most recently serving as the Sales Tax Manager for the City of Northglenn. He also has retirement plan oversight experience having served 12 years as an elected pension board member. David fills the Revenue Manager position that was vacated in early 2023 and will be focused on improving the efficiency of revenue collections.

Liz Messner | Contracts and Purchasing Manager
Liz has over nine years of public procurement experience, most recently serving as the Contracts and Purchasing Manager for Front Range Community College (FRCC). The Contracts and Purchasing Manager was approved in the 2023 budget to rebuild and manage the City’s contracting and purchasing program with the goal of implementing industry best practices to better ensure competitiveness, risk mitigation and cost-effectiveness.

COUNCIL APPOINTMENTS
Appointment to the Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission
Council appointed Melissa Wall as a full member of the Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission for the remainder of the three-year term running from February 2021 to February 2024.

Appointment to the Lafayette Public Art Committee
Council appointed Kelly Morgenstein as an alternate member of the Lafayette Public Art Committee for a three-year term from July 2023 to July 2026.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT 

• The LERN (Lafayette Employee Resource Network) employee intranet website is live.
• Madi Vargas was promoted internally to the Arts and Cultural Resources Program Manager position. 
• Polling for the potential Boards and Commission ballot question is open through July 27.
• The Mental Health and Human Services Grant program is opening on July 19 and will be accepting applications through Sept. 12. 
• Upcoming meetings/topics of interest: land use code rewrite, HB 1233 and Proposition 123 discussion, City Administrator recruitment, accessory dwelling unit ordinance, short term rental ordinance, resolution to call the 2023 election, boards and commissions ballot survey results, 2024 budget preview.

COUNCIL REPORTS
City Administrator Search
In May, City Council authorized staff to issue an Executive Search Firm Request for Proposal for Services (RFP) for the City Administrator recruitment. The City received nine proposals in response to the RFP which closed on June 28. Council passed a motion to enter into a contract with SGR for professional/consultant services. This firm will be invited to the August 1 Council meeting for discussion and review of the city administrator search and timeline and an executive session in which Council will determine positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiations, develop strategy for negotiations, and instruct negotiators pertaining to the search for a new city administrator.

Mayor Mangat: Willoughby groundbreaking on July 19. Will be hosting a town hall with Rep. Kyle Brown on July 31 5:30pm at Library to discuss state and local issues.

Councilor Barnes: Has enjoyed the Chat with Council events and interaction with residents. Continue to hear concerns about traffic and volume. SRAC is working on the Climate Action Plan.

Councilor Samson: Chat with Council is a great opportunity for residents to connect with Councilors. Shared some of the comments she has been hearing. www.lafayetteco.gov/Chat 

ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION
Pursuant to subsections (4)(a) and (4)(e)(I) of Section 24-6-402 of the Colorado Revised Statutes for purposes of discussing the potential purchase, acquisition, sale, or lease of real property to be utilized for public safety communications facilities and other communications facilities, and for purposes of determining positions relative to negotiating such purchase, acquisition, sale, or lease, and instructing negotiators regarding same.

For a complete listing of all agenda items (in English and Spanish) and staff reports visit www.lafayetteco.gov/agendas.