Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Ranked Choice Voting

Ranked choice voting (RCV) allows voters to rank candidates in order of choice. If your top candidate can't win, your vote counts for your next choice, until someone wins with a majority. Utah passed legislation earlier this year to allow cities to pilot ranked choice voting. A presentation was given at the September 25 work meeting. Cities can opt into an RCV pilot program. The opt-in is nonbinding, but cities must declare their intent in a letter to the Lieutenant Governor by December 31, 2018.


After discussion in the December 18 work meeting (shown in the video above), Council issued the following statement of intent:

Summary of Action | Meetings on December 11, 2018

PROVO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

Work Meeting

12:00 PM, Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Room 310, City Conference Room
351 West Center Street, Provo, UT 84601
Summary of Action


Agenda

Approval of Minutes


1. November 29, 2018 Joint Zoning & Housing Committee Meeting
Approved by unanimous consent.

Business

2. A discussion on an ordinance amending Provo City Code to clarify requirements regarding
customers that generate electric energy (18-103) Presentation only. This item was already
scheduled for the December 11, 2018 Council Meeting.


3. A discussion on policies regarding impact fee policy (18-099)
A motion that the Council commit to have a discussion at a later point regarding an exemption for low income housing and criteria for the necessary City ordinance and that the Housing Committee prepare a recommendation, but that the discussion not delay a vote on the impact fees at the December 11, 2018, Council Meeting was approved 6:1, with Kay Van Buren opposed.
A motion to change the implied motion to reflect an effective date of July 1, 2019 was approved 5:2, with George Stewart and George Handley opposed.


4. An update on the state loan and financing for the Wastewater Treatment Plant and a discussion on
the Westside map (18-052)
A motion to indicate that the Council is interested in moving forward with the loan offered by the
State as a general method of funding the sewer treatment plant, that the Council invite a proposal
from staff regarding the issue of sewer capacity banking, and that the Council evaluate the net
present value calculation of the State loan vs. traditional revenue bonds was approved 7:0.


Saturday, December 15, 2018

Citizens Agenda for Meetings on December 18, 2018

Citizens Agenda

Council meeting agendas are often difficult for people to navigate. Filled with jargon and legal requirements on how an item must be listed, it can be a challenge to determine what Council members are actually discussing or deciding on.
What follows is a staff interpretation of the agendas.
The official published agendas and supporting materials can be found here:  http://agendas.provo.org

PROVO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
Work Meeting Agenda
12:30 PM, Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Work Meetings are designed to be a less formal venue for discussion among Council Members. Generally, no public input is taken during the meeting.

Business

  1. A discussion on a statement of intent regarding the voting policy in Provo City. (18-088)
    • Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of choice. If your top candidate can’t win, your vote counts for your next choice, until someone wins with a majority. Utah passed legislation earlier this year to allow cities to pilot ranked choice voting. A presentation was given at the September 25 work meeting. Cities have until December 31 to indicate to the State if they would like to utilize ranked choice voting in the 2019 election.
  2. A presentation and discussion on recent updates to Stormwater requirements from the State Division of Water Quality. (18-102)
    • Erica Gaddis from the State Division of Water Quality will be here to present on the recent updates to requirements.
  3. A discussion on an appropriation for the Urban Deer Program. (18-061)
    • In FY 2016, the Municipal Council appropriated $35,000 to fund an urban deer removal program on an interim basis. On May 15, 2018, the council evaluated the program and voted to extend the program for an additional year. In that motion, the council recommended the funding be included in the FY 2019 budget. Through the changes that were made to the budget, that change was not incorporated into the new-year budget. The annual cost for administering the program last year approached $20,000. The request before the council is to appropriate an additional $20,000 to fund the FY2019 portion of the program.

Sunday, December 9, 2018

Citizens Agenda for Meetings on December 11, 2018

Citizens Agenda

Council meeting agendas are often difficult for people to navigate. Filled with jargon and legal requirements on how an item must be listed, it can be a challenge to determine what Council members are actually discussing or deciding on.
What follows is a staff interpretation of the agendas.

The official published agendas and supporting materials can be found here:  http://agendas.provo.org

PROVO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL
Work Meeting Agenda
12:00 PM, Tuesday, December, 2018

Work Meetings are designed to be a less formal venue for discussion among Council Members. Generally, no public input is taken during the meeting.

Approval of Minutes
  1. November 29, 2018 Joint Zoning and Housing Committee Meeting
Business
  1. A discussion on an ordinance amending Provo City Code to clarify that unauthorized energy generation shall not receive any rate or bill credits (18-103)
    • Provo City Code prohibits self-generation of electric energy unless the generation is licensed by the Provo City Energy Department. Additionally, licenses for electric self-generation by industrial and commercial customers have only recently been authorized by the code. Because self-generation without a license it prohibited, such generation would not qualify for any rate or bill credits. However, with rising interest in self-generation by residential, commercial, and industrial customers, the Energy Department believes it would be prudent to add language to the code explicitly stating that entities that engage in unauthorized self-generation shall not receive any rate or bill credits.
  2. A discussion on policies regarding impact fee policy (18-099)
    • There is a clear cost of growth in any community. A city's infrastructure provides a given quality of life in a community, and growth can put strain on that infrastructure. Water, electricity, sewer, street systems, and more must be modified to address the needs resulting from new growth. State law provides a mechanism, called impact fees, to collect funds to offset the City's cost of accommodating that growth. Provo City's ordinance provides that impact fees and capital facilities plans should be reviewed on five year intervals. The Impact Fee Review Committee (comprised of Council members, City staff, developers, and community members) has been meeting since early 2017 and working with a consulting firm to bring forward updated recommendations. The results of their work was presented at an Impact Fee Open House on November 8, 2018. Council will be holding public hearings at the November 27 and December 11 meetings and will then vote on the adoption of updated impact fees. Current impact fees are listed on the consolidated fee schedule.
  3. An update on the state loan and financing for the Wastewater Treatment Plant and a discussion on the Westside map (18-052)
    • The Public Works Department will come to provide an update to the Municipal Council on the discussions that the Public Works has had with the State regarding a loan for a portion of the cost of this project. They will also update the Council on the location issues that they've uncovered as they've started to narrow the location for the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Finally, they intend to discuss the financing options available to pay for the Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrades.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Summary of Action | Meetings on November 27, 2018

PROVO MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

Work Meeting

12:30 PM, Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Room 310, City Conference Room
351 West Center Street, Provo, UT 84601
Summary of Action



Business

1. A discussion on the proposed Council Meeting schedule for 2019 Presentation only. This item will be scheduled for the December 11, 2018 Council Meeting.

2. A presentation on the option for municipalities to create a local government disaster fund
Presentation only.

3. A discussion on an ordinance amending Provo City Code to clarify that unauthorized energy
generation shall not receive any rate or bill credits Presentation only. This item will be scheduled
for the December 11, 2018 Work and Council Meetings.


4. A presentation about the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce Presentation only.

5. A presentation on the Timp Kiwanis Bounous Park (TKP) LWCF Final Environmental Assessment
Review (17-036) Presentation only. This item was already scheduled for the November 27, 2018
Council Meeting.