Travis Joralmon, President of the Flagstaff Youth Hockey Association, addressed Mayor and Council regarding the re-entry plan and to ask them to move forward in the re-entry plan.
 
Cathy McCarthy addressed Mayor and Council about COVID-19 and the bravery of firefighters and other first responders, essential workers, and teachers.
 
Judy Smith submitted written comments urging the Council to move to the next phase of opening the city.

None.

Comprehensive Planning Manager Sara Dechter introduced International Chair of IAP2 Kylie Cochrane and IAP2 USA President Gwen Howard. Ms. Cochrane gave a presentation to Mayor and Council highlighting the award. Slides included:

• Core Values Award
• Core Values
• IAP2 International Core Values Awards
• International Jury
• Organization of the Year (International)
• Finalists
• 2020 Winner Organization of the Year
• Project of the Year (International)
• Finalists
• 2020 Winner Project of the Year - Flagstaff
• Congratulations

Mayor Deasy thanked Ms. Cochrane, and congratulated the Southside Community Association, other partners, and staff.
 
Southside Neighborhood Association President Deborah Harris addressed Mayor and Council to speak about the award and thanked staff for all their work on the project. 
 
IAP2 USA President Gwen Howard expressed the pride IAP2 has for the City of Flagstaff and in this project.
 
Councilmember Shimoni expressed his appreciation to staff.

Human Resources Director Jeanie Gallagher, HR Manager Alan Keay, and HR Manager Jennifer Caputo gave an overview to Mayor and Council on the Human Resource Division. Slides Included:

• Agenda
• Purpose – Why Human Resources?
• Meet the Human Resources Team
• Human Resource Organization Chart
• Budget Information FY 2021
• Programs and FY 22 Priorities

Mayor Deasy thanked staff for their presentation.

Economic Vitality Director Heidi Hansen, Airport Director Barney Helmick, Community Investment Director David McIntire, Library Director Jared Tolman, and Tourism Director Trace Ward gave an overview to Mayor and Council on the Economic Vitality Division. Slides included:

• Agenda
• Overview of Division
• Org Chart
• Flagstaff Pulliam Airport
  • Budget
  • FY21 Accomplishments
  • What’s next
• Community Investment
• Arts & Science
  • Budget
  • FY21 Accomplishments
  • What’s Next
• Beautification
  • Budget
  • FY21 Accomplishments
  • What’s Next
• Economic Development
  • Budget
  • Business Attraction
  • FY21 Accomplishments
  • Business Retention and Expansion FY21 Accomplishments
  • Expansions
  • FY21 Other Highlights
  • NACET/Moonshot
    • Occupancy
  • What’s Next
• ParkFlag
  • FY21 Accomplishments
  • What’s Next
• Library
  • Locations
  • Funding & Intergovernmental Agreement
  • Distribution of Funds
  • Budget
  • Residents and Visitors
  • FY21
  • What’s Next
• Tourism & Visitor Services
  • Budget
  • FY21 Accomplishments
  • What’s Next

Vice Mayor Daggett asked what the timeline is for the entrance of the Library redesign and if there is an opportunity for the public to be engaged. Mr. Tolman stated that the Project Manager, Jeremy DeGeyter, and him just discussed the timeline and that groundbreaking could be in July or August and they are working with an arborist regarding the memorial trees. If they need to redesign the project, the project could be pushed back until next year. Mr. Tolman also spoke about the community input and how staff has worked with commissions to make the ramp inclusive and the public regarding the design of the ramp and the art piece. Beautification, Arts, and Sciences Manager Eliza Kretzmann added that a Community Forum Survey was done with almost 200 responses and focus groups on the art with a community selection panel.
 
Councilmember McCarthy asked what programs are available for blind people. Mr. Tolman stated that most of the programs are audible due to the new virtual nature of things. He added that when programs can be back in person, the Library is intending to create in-person programs. Ms. Hansen added that staff is redesigning the website for ADA compliance and ease.
 
Mayor Deasy called a break from 4:42 p.m. through 4:55 p.m.

Sustainability Director Nicole Antonopoulos, Climate Specialist Jenny Niemann, and Climate and Energy Coordinator Ramon Alatorre presented the Carbon Neutrality Draft Plan. Slides included:

• Discussion
• The Path to Carbon Neutrality
• Since the Climate Emergency Declaration was passed in June 2020…
• Carbon Neutrality Plan Draft Review
  • Vision
  • Mitigation goal
• To achieve carbon neutrality, we will…
  • Decreased Dependence on Cars
  • Electric Mobility
  • Clean Electricity
  • Building Fuel Switching
  • Reduced Building Energy Use
  • Sustainable Consumption and Waste Management
  • Carbon Sequestration
• The Path to Carbon Neutrality Scenario Review
  • Scenario Reduction Strategies
    • Scenario A
    • Scenario B
    • GHG Emissions Trends
    • Scenario example: On-road transportation
    • Scenario example: Home retrofits
• The Path Forward

Enoque Junior addressed Mayor and Council regarding greenhouse gas emissions and vehicles. He suggested that the reliance on cars in Flagstaff must be reduced to achieve the carbon neutrality goal.
 
Councilmember Salas asked Mr. Junior to provide specific recommendations to the plan and to send an email with what he previously stated. Mr. Junior spoke about the HOH plan with the limitations on room size and increasing the room sizes.
 
Michele James from Friends of Flagstaff’s Future addressed Mayor and Council and stated that F3 is encouraged by the plan and support scenario A but suggest developing a more robust plan so that the community can rise to the challenge.
 
Joey Bono addressed Mayor and Council regarding the city's plan to overhaul the municipal fleet to zero emission vehicles.

Hardy Strozier submitted written comments seeking an independent cost and feasibility evaluation of the plan.
 
Ms. Niemann stated that converting the city’s fleet to electric is in the plan and there is a policy in the fleet purchasing process to review and purchase electric vehicles which was established in the Climate Action and Adaption Plan (CAAP). She added that staff is working to finalize that policy now.
 
Ms. Antonopoulos stated that there is a draft energy conservation solicitation at this time to have all City buildings energy audited and to have all vehicles converted to electric.
 
Councilmember McCarthy stated that he finds the conversation frustrating and asked who is going to pay for all the changes. He added that he does not see anything specific to sequestration and asked how the ideas around sequestration would happen. He stated that he likes Scenario A the best but believes that Scenario B would be more attainable.
 
Ms. Antonopoulos stated that staff has done a lot of research on sequestration/offsets. The majority of the people who took the survey indicated that they would like to see local sequestration efforts and staff has had preliminary discussions. She added that it would take capital investment and staff will be working with investment consultants to develop and the investment plan which will come back to Council.
 
Councilmember Sweet asked Ms. Antonopoulos asked about the sequestration tipping point and the capacity of the ecosystem. Ms. Antonopoulos will follow up on this. Councilmember Sweet stated that the focus of the plan needs to be on local community behaviors. She stated that Scenario A is her choice for the long haul.
 
Councilmember Aslan shared that both scenarios present serious challenges and compared it to a community-wide diet. He stated that he is finding it hard to choose between scenarios and he finds that Scenario A might be unfeasible, but he recommends Scenario A to send the strongest message possible.
 
Councilmember Salas spoke about her experience with the Philippine Clean Air Act. She brought up having to be mindful about equity with climate action. She added that she is not ready to select a Scenario or to move forward and needs more time to vet the plan with the City’s stakeholders. She stated that she is concerned about cost.
 
Councilmember Shimoni thanked the community for their engagement. He addressed transportation issues and how they are being implemented in infrastructure plans. He added that capital improvement plans need to be flexible for potential grant funding and addressed partnerships. He stated that he is supportive of Scenario A.
 
Vice Mayor Daggett spoke about the cost but mentioned that the costs that would be incurred if this is not done would be greater. She added that she would like to see a specific focus in all plans going forward on how to incorporate climate action and how to minimize impacts on the least fortunate in Flagstaff. She added that she supports Scenario A.
 
Mayor Deasy stated that he also prefers Scenario A. He added that he is concerned about achieving the vehicle miles traveled metric due to tourism.  

Forest Health Supervisor Neil Chapman and Sustainability Director Nicole Antonopoulos gave an informal update on Sustainability and Forest Health collaborations within the Wildland Fire Management Program. Slides Included:

• Discussion
• Climate Projections for Coconino County
  • Changes in Precipitation
• Wildland Fire Management
• WFM Response to Drought Conditions
• 2021 Risk Reduction Projects
• 2021 Risk Reduction Collaborations
  • Fire Adapted Community
  • HEPA Air Purifier Pilot

Ms. Antonopoulos shared that they received a $10,000 grant from the National League of Cities for the Air Purifier Pilot project.
 
Mayor Deasy called a ten-minute break from 6:40 p.m to 6:50 p.m.

Zoning Code Manager Dan Symer gave a presentation to Mayor and Council seeking direction on the modifications to the Zoning Code related to the High Occupancy Housing (HOH) provisions.
 
Slides included:

• High Occupancy Housing Plan and Zoning Code
• Proposed Work Session
• Definitions
• Assessment
• Staff Recommendation
  • 1. Should the Area Median Income cutoff for a household be changed from 60% to 80% or less, in order to be consistent with the affordable housing incentives in the Zoning Code?
  • 2. Should the Zoning Code be amended to permit an affordable housing development as an allowed High Occupancy Housing Development of Mixed-Use High Occupancy Housing Development land use without the requirement for a Conditional Use Permit and, if so, should some high occupancy housing requirements be modified for affordable housing developments?
• City Council Direction

Tyler Denham addressed Mayor and Council to state that he is supportive of the modifications to exempt affordable housing developments from the High Occupancy Housing plan. He gave several suggestions such as allowing conditional use permits (CUP) by right, allowing some market rate units in affordable housing developments that receive exemptions, and making exemptions cover as many aspects of zoning as possible and as large as possible.
 
Councilmember McCarthy spoke about the reason he voted no on the amendment previously. He added that the City spent a lot of time coming up with the HOH rules so that these projects are put into appropriate areas. He stated that he is supportive of the staff recommendation.
 
Councilmember Shimoni spoke about mixed-used and mix of market-rate and affordable housing developments, the CUP, and LIHTC projects. He also spoke about the necessity of bicycle parking and asked what else could be leveraged in negotiations. He added that he is supportive of the staff recommendations.
 
Mr. Symer stated that there are different ways of providing bike parking rather than eliminating bike parking. He added that the footprint requirement and other such modifications could be used for negotiation as well as other items and that staff will look at everything.
 
Housing Director Sarah Darr addressed incentivizing LIHTC projects and how staff negotiates with developers on an ongoing basis. She added that staff is working on an update to the Affordable Housing Incentive Policy.
 
Mayor Deasy stated that he supports the staff recommendation.
 
Councilmember McCarthy clarified that the proposal is that the affordable projects are exempt from getting a CUP, but they still fall under the HOH requirements which would put these developments in commercial areas and recreational areas.

Management Analyst Sarah Langley gave an update on the current legislative session to Mayor and Council. She stated that she received a request for a letter of opposition from Mayor Deasy on HB2770, which would prevent businesses from being sued due to negligence regarding COVID-19.
 
A majority of Council supported the letter.
 
Councilmember Shimoni stated that he is in support as well. He asked if there are any updates from the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) bills. Ms. Langley stated that they have continued to progress and that the City is still in opposition.
 
City Manager Clifton stated that the letter will be put on a future consent agenda for retroactive approval but sent right away.

None.

Councilmember McCarthy shared that MetroPlan had a meeting over the last week and stated that the Chair of the Mountain Line Board, Steve Peru, has left his position. He added that they also discussed plans for Milton Road and spoke about earmark appropriations and the Board will stay flexible for that potential funding.
 
Councilmember Salas spoke about meetings with Senators Kelly and Sinema through the League.
 
Councilmember Shimoni added that he is now the Interim Chair for Mountain Line. He stated that the Indigenous Commission will be meeting. He also made comments about the County vaccinations.
 
Mayor Deasy spoke about the stimulus checks and that he is urging people to spend it in the local community.

The Work Session of the Flagstaff City Council held March 9, 2021, adjourned at 7:32 p.m.