Others present: City Manager Josh Copley; City Attorney Sterling Solomon.

Mr. Copley provided a PowerPoint presentation that covered the following:
 
MUNICIPAL IDENTIFICATIONS CARDS
WHAT ARE MUNICIPAL ID’S?
MUNICIPAL ID CARDS – CITY SERVICES ONLY
RISKS
WHAT HAS SLOWED PHOENIX DOWN?
SAMPLE FRONT
SAMPLE BACK
CURRENT CITY POLICY
CONSULAR IDENTIFICATION CARDS
DISCUSSION
 
Vice Mayor Whelan asked if hair and eye color could be included on the card. Mr. Copley stated that if the Council would like to include that information it is a possibility.
 
Councilmember Putzova asked what the Police Department considers appropriate identification and how that standard is determined. Mr. Copley explained that the Police Department accepts passports or identification issued by a state agency. As far as how that policy is determined, he would have to get that information and report back to Council.
 
Councilmember Odegaard asked if the Municipal ID card would allow someone to open a bank account. Mr. Copley stated that the card states that it is only permitted for municipal services and it would not be considered valid identification for that purpose.
 
The following individuals addressed Council in support of Municipal Identification Cards:

• Sarah Wilce
• Robert Neustadt

The following comments were received:

• The City should look further into how the card can be used and be useful to residents.
• The card needs to be helpful for people who are in changing circumstances, immigrants, homeless, domestic violence victims and others.
• The card should be able to open a bank account or cash a check, register a child for school or provide proper identification to pick a child up from school.
• There are a number of cities that have implemented programs; find out how they dealt with some of the problems.
• This needs to be a card that will help people bank and work for identification with the police.
• The program and card must reflect the values of the City of Flagstaff.

Mayor Evans stated that she is in favor of moving forward with the original concept. She is also interested in Consular identification cards and if Flagstaff can institute a policy that would allow those cards to be acceptable identification. She would like to see Flagstaff lobby the State to accept that form of identification as well.
 
Councilmember McCarthy offered his support for Mayor’s requests.
 
Councilmember Putzova would like staff to work with the Police Department to figure out what the minimal standard for identification they would accept.
 
Vice Mayor Whelan offered her agreement with the direction given. She added that she would like staff to look at what banks would require for identification and work that into the municipal card.
 
Councilmember Overton expressed concern about running into the same issues as the City of Phoenix and expending resources only to hit a wall. With the numerous time constraints and heavy workload of staff, he does not feel that the municipal Identification cards rise to the level of moving forward.
 
Mayor Evans offered that the major roadblock is how to make sure the information provided is secure and not subject to records requests once the cards are issued.
 
Councilmember Putzova stated that the card must be useful for City services as well as interaction with all City departments including the Police Department. People need to feel encouraged and safe to report crime and interact with the City.
 
Councilmember Odegaard cautioned that if the City goes down the path of making the card more detailed and meaningful the City would have to take ownership and have programs in place to protect against identity theft and records requests. It will be a very costly program.

Capital Improvements Engineer Bret Peterson provided a PowerPoint presentation that covered the following:
 
RIO DE FLAG FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT
PROJECT UPDATE
PRESENTATION
PROJECT VICINITY MAP
PROJECT PURPOSE
100 YEAR FLOOD IMPACT
 
Councilmember Odegaard asked when the last major flood event was in Flagstaff. Stormwater Manager Chris Kirkendall stated that the last event was in the late 1930’s.
 
Mr. Peterson continued.
 
PROJECT HISTORY
PROJECT FUNDING
2 YEAR PROJECT FUNDING – STORM WATER FEE INCREASE
PROJECT PATH FORWARD
PROJECT CONSTRAINTS
PROJECT UPDATE
OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC INPUT: COMPOSITE CHANNEL
RIO DE FLAG PROJECT MAP
COMPOSITE CHANNEL – CONCEPT PLAN VIEW
CONCEPT USACE CROSS SECTION
COMPOSITE CHANNEL SURFACE ELEMENTS DESIGN
QUESTIONS
 
The following individuals addressed Council about the Rio de Flag Project:

• Lance Diskan
• Dr. Tom Whitham
• Richard Miller

The following comments were received:

• There are 12 owners on Navajo Drive that will be dramatically affected by the project.
• There has been discussion about a floodwall along the entire block to push the water out into the Thorpe Park ball fields; as designed, it was estimated to be 35 feet tall along the back property line.
• The neighbors would like a meeting with the City, the Army Corps of Engineers and their consultants to discuss the various stories going around.
• The neighborhood should also be included in the composite group study.
• The engineering on the box is unclear; they should only be used during floods.
• As much water as possible needs to be kept in the channel.
• Some cities use these types of areas as showpieces for their communities.
• Keep the area wetted and plant it in a way to highlight the community.
• Funding may be even more difficult to obtain based on the recent damage of the hurricanes this year.
• It will be difficult to get the Rio project high enough on the list to be funded.
• The process remain as open as possible to the public.

Councilmember Odegaard stated that it is important for the City to stay proactive with the federal government. He would like to see NAU brought into the discussions as well because if there were a major flood much of the campus would be affected.
 
City Engineer Rick Barrett offered that there is a unique situation in the area near the pond and on Navajo and without the final design it is difficult to answer the questions and provide information. He is working to make sure that the community is as informed as possible. He acknowledged that it has been very frustrating and unfortunate for everyone involved that there has been so much stopping and starting. The $1 million will result in a final design and then questions from the community can be answered.
 
Community Development Director Mark Landsiedel stated that it is important to understand that the City does not get to sign off or approve the Army Corps of Engineer’s design. There are requirements set by the federal government and there is limited ability for the City to interject in the process. The City was involved in doing a Value Engineering Study seven years ago, that was presented to the Army Corp of Engineers and it has not been advanced by them at all since that time; the wall is one of the things addressed in the study. One of the City’s wins was to get the Army Corps to hire a consultant that are experts in value engineering and they are working very closely with the Corps.
 
Councilmember McCarthy stated that there might be engineering tradeoffs that the City, the Army Corps and homeowners can discuss once the design is complete.
 
Mayor Evans stated that the economic impact of a 100-year flood is approximately $1 billion and is something that the entire community will bear the burden of. Having NAU as an actual partner would be more meaningful to the project as a whole. She encouraged staff to engage the neighborhood to provide clarity on what is and what is not currently in the proposal. Other places will have a much higher cost to benefit ratio and at some point, the City may need to consider another way to complete the project.
 
Councilmember Overton agreed that having the full and complete design would answer some questions but there are thousands of projects ahead of this and the cost to benefit ratio does not score well. The City will not get to the finish line until the funding rules are changed. Discussions are still needed about funding and the City matches or possibly completing the project on its own; alternative funding methods are going to be needed.
 
Councilmember Putzova offered that the City should start putting together some partnerships and envisioning the project at a lesser degree with a more realistic budget and financing. The longer this takes the more the community will be paying.
 
A break was held from 8:10 p.m. through 8:19 p.m.

Deputy City Attorney Kevin Fincel provided a PowerPoint presentation that covered the following:
 
OVERVIEW OF PROP 207
THE PLAN FOR TONIGHT’S DISCUSSION
A.R.S. § 12-1134
WHAT IS A LAND USE LAW?
EXEMPTIONS
PUBLIC’S HEALTH AND SAFETY
COMMON MISUNDERSTANDINGS
 
Mayor Evans asked if a Prop 207 claim means that a city is breaking the law. Mr. Fincel stated that cities are not breaking the law; the law is written in a way that it is telling cities and towns that they can take action and if a valid claim is brought forward, there are steps cities can take to remedy or address.
 
Mayor Evans asked who determines the reduction in fair market value. Mr. Fincel explained that it is somewhat unclear but it would likely come down to an appraisal.
 
Mr. Fincel continued the presentation.
 
MAKING A CLAIM
CITY’S OPTIONS IN RESPONSE TO CLAIMS
DENYING A CLAIM
TIME LIMITATION
QUESTIONS
 
Council requested that Mr. Fincel’s presentation be put online for the public to reference.

Mr. Copley stated that every year he likes to have Council review their Intergovernmental Priorities and provide any direction to change or add to them. Recently the Council has asked for the addition of legislation calling for the acceptance of Consular identification and a change to the PACE legislation to include commercial property be added to the state priorities. He introduced State Lobbyist Richard Travis who is available for any questions from the Council.
 
Rick Moore addressed Council on behalf of the Grand Canyon Trust thanking them for including commercial PACE in the legislative agenda.
 
State Legislative Priorities
 
Councilmember Putzova requested the addition of enabling legislation that supports affordable housing.
 
Councilmember Barotz requested the addition of a review of legislation that governs mining of uranium at both the state and federal levels.
 
Mayor Evans asked for advocating for an open application process for low income housing tax credit. Applications are only allowed in April and she would like to see it open at any time or at least multiple times per year.
 
Mayor Evans also asked for advocating for 100% reimbursement for disability related service providers; the change in minimum wage has made the situation much more difficult for them to manage.
 
Mayor Evans requested lobbying for a tax on alcohol, similar to that of tobacco, to address the issue of street intoxicants and serial inebriates.
 
Mayor Evans clarified that all consular identification, from all countries, should be considered acceptable identification.
 
Councilmember Odegaard stated that he would like to see a push for more local control concerning single serve alcohol and hours of operation.
 
Councilmember Overton would like to continue pushing for Capital Improvement Projects with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT). There is a lot more in the ADOT program that the City can advocate for outside of HURF.
 
Mr. Travis suggested that the Council consider adding advocating for the protection of funding for the Veterans home from sweeps. Revenue is currently below projections and it would be unfortunate if the funding that has been set aside for the home were used for other things.
 
Federal Legislative Priorities
 
Mr. Copley explained that the Council has taken recent action with DACA, the transportation of uranium and carbon fee dividend.
 
Councilmember Barotz suggested mirroring the state priority at the federal level with regard to uranium mining.
 
Mayor Evans stated that she would like the Housing Section to give information about the challenges to the Section 8 funding and provide information on what needs to be advocated for.
 
Tribal Priorities
 
Mr. Copley stated that one of the requests from the Indigenous Circle of Flagstaff report was the establishment of a cultural community center. Mayor Evans stated that there was more than just the community center and she would like the Indigenous Circle of Flagstaff report included as part of the priorities.
 
Councilmember Barotz stated she would also like to include the uranium issue with tribal relations.
 
Mayor Evans stated that there has been previous discussion about inviting the Hopi and Navajo delegations to come to Washington D.C. with the Council to lobby for the Veterans Home and other items that are in common. Mr. Copley stated that he would extend invitations as the planning efforts get started. He added that the Council would be doing its first lobbying trip to Phoenix. It will be done similarly to how the federal lobbying trip is conducted.
 
Mr. Copley will work with staff to incorporate all the suggestions from Council and update the legislative priorities to bring back for consideration and possible approval.

Councilmember Odegaard asked that a thank you letter from the Mayor and Council be sent to APS and Palo Verde thanking them for the tour.
 
Councilmember Odegaard reminded the Council about the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Plan Dry Lake Hills tour tomorrow.
 
Councilmember Odegaard stated that Saturday October 28, 2017 is Make a Difference Day; he extended thanks to those who will be participating. He suggested that the Council find another date in the future for another community project; it would be great to have the whole Council involved.
 
Councilmember Odegaard inquired about a striping request that was made recently. Mr. Copley stated that he believed that the striping had been done that day and if not, it is in the work plan for the coming week.
 
Councilmember Barotz reported that the Palo Verde tour was remarkable and she is grateful for the once in a lifetime opportunity.
 
Councilmember Barotz stated that she has been attending the meetings organized by Coconino County Supervisor Art Babbott about the gridlock issues; she is optimistic that there will be some relief this coming winter.
 
Councilmember Barotz attended the HYPO2 open house at the Business Incubator to celebrate their success so far.
 
Councilmember Putzova reported that she had the opportunity to tour some affordable housing in Santa Barbara, California. It was interesting to learn from a community that experiences similar problems to Flagstaff. They have taken some interesting steps to address some of their problems. While there, she visited with the Central Coast Collaborative on Homelessness Executive Director and hopes that once the camping ordinance comes back to Council she can share some ideas and strategies they have used.
 
Councilmember Putzova stated that she saw the Equality Index Code Card and was surprised how low a score Flagstaff received as a community for working with or serving the LGBTQ community especially becuase Flagstaff was the community that lead the lawsuit for marriage equality. She requested a FAIR item for a comprehensive discussion of policies, services, law enforcement practices and relationships regarding equality.
 
Mayor Evans offered that she is not sure there are gaps in service but rather the lack of reporting. It will be important to look at what reporting has been done and if there are ways to improve that level of reporting.
 
Mayor Evans reported that she, along with Vice Mayor Whelan and Supervisor Babbott, participated on a panel for the Flagstaff Leadership Program to talk about why more people need to step up and participate in their government.
 
Mayor Evans was also thankful for the tour of the Palo Verde Plant; she found the tour amazing and informative.
 
Mayor Evans asked how she could expedite a FAIR request. Mr. Solomon stated that if the FAIR item gets four head nods from Council it can be moved up on the list for consideration. Mayor Evans stated that she would like to request an expedited FAIR to consider a repeal of Transect Zoning.
 
Mr. Copley reported that the October 31, 2017 meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. with an Executive Session beginning at noon. Mayor Evans asked if it would be possible to start the Executive Session at 12:30 p.m. to accommodate the schools that come through City Hall for Halloween. Mr. Copley stated that it would be tight but they could potentially get things done in 30 minutes.