Agenda - View Meetings (All) (9335974366)

1.

Call to Order

Mayor Daggett called the meeting of the Flagstaff City Council held March 12, 2024, to order at 3:01 p.m.

NOTICE OF OPTION TO RECESS INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION

Pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.02, notice is hereby given to the members of the City Council and to the general public that, at this work session, the City Council may vote to go into executive session, which will not be open to the public, for discussion and consultation with the City’s attorneys for legal advice on any item listed on the following agenda, pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03(A)(3).

2.

ROLL CALL

NOTE: One or more Councilmembers may be in attendance through other technological means.

PRESENT:

MAYOR DAGGETT
VICE MAYOR ASLAN (virtually)
COUNCILMEMBER HARRIS (virtually)
COUNCILMEMBER MATTHEWS
COUNCILMEMBER MCCARTHY
COUNCILMEMBER SWEET

ABSENT:

COUNCILMEMBER HOUSE

Others present: City Manager Greg Clifton; City Attorney Sterling Solomon

3.

Pledge of Allegiance, Mission Statement, and Land Acknowledgment

The Council and audience recited the pledge of allegiance, Councilmember McCarthy read the Mission Statement of the City of Flagstaff, and Councilmember Matthews read the Land Acknowledgment.

MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the City of Flagstaff is to protect and enhance the quality of life for all.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Flagstaff City Council humbly acknowledges the ancestral homelands of this area’s Indigenous nations and original stewards. These lands, still inhabited by Native descendants, border mountains sacred to Indigenous peoples. We honor them, their legacies, their traditions, and their continued contributions. We celebrate their past, present, and future generations who will forever know this place as home.

4.

Public Participation

Public Participation enables the public to address the Council about an item that is not on the prepared agenda. Comments relating to items that are on the agenda will be taken at the time that the item is discussed. Public Participation appears on the agenda twice, at the beginning and at the end. If you wish to address the Council at today's meeting, please complete a comment card and submit it to the recording clerk as soon as possible. Your name will be called when it is your turn to speak. You may address the Council up to three times throughout the meeting, including comments made during Public Participation. Please limit your remarks to three minutes per item to allow everyone an opportunity to speak. At the discretion of the Chair, ten or more persons present at the meeting and wishing to speak may appoint a representative who may have no more than fifteen minutes to speak.

Mayor Daggett announced that the Council would take up to 30 minutes of participation at the beginning of the meeting and that public participation comments for items that were not on the agenda must be given only in person. She reminded the public that emails sent to publiccomment@flagstaffaz.gov would be entered into the public record.

Dennis Givens addressed Council and suggested the creation of a pedestrian mall on Aspen Street between Leroux and San Francisco Street and creating free parking for locals. He also suggested adding a parking garage on Beaver where the old courthouse was located. He also addressed antisemitism and hate speech stating that they had no place in discourse and that the United States should be a leader in climate change.

Sustainability Division Climate Vulnerability & Resilience VISTA Gracie Rechkemmer addressed Council to announce the new Climate Reliance Leaders workshop and spoke about the program and application process.

5.

Review of Draft Agenda for the March 19, 2024 City Council Meeting

Citizens wishing to speak on agenda items not specifically called out by the City Council may submit a speaker card for their items of interest to the recording clerk.

Councilmember Matthews announced that Councilmember Sweet’s 50th birthday was the same day as the March 19, 2024 meeting.

6.

City Manager Report

Mr. Clifton briefly reviewed his report.

Parks, Recreation, Open Space, and Events Director Rebecca Sayers briefly reviewed the PROSE Newsletter.

Sustainability Director Nicole Antonopoulos briefly reviewed the Sustainability Division monthly report.

Councilmember Harris asked if Climate Section Director Jenny Niemann had forwarded a video on a study on African Americans and the stress that climate change and sustainability had caused them. Ms. Antonopoulos stated that she would view the video and share it with the public.

Councilmember Matthews stated that she looked forward to helping with the stream cleanups and applauded the Sustainability Division for that program.

7.

Old Courthouse Redevelopment RFP Update

Planning Director Michelle McNulty provided a PowerPoint presentation that covered the following:

Framing the RFP
Vicinity Map
Old Courthouse Redevelopment
Proposal Qualifications
Evaluating Proposals
Timeline

Councilmember Matthews stated that she was happy to see the City not be prescriptive and allow for creativity in the project. She added that she was happy to see parking incorporated in the RFP.

Councilmember Harris asked if there was infrastructure for utilities at the parcels. Ms. McNulty stated that parcels were currently served by utilities, but she could not say for certain that a proposal would not require a water and sewer impact analysis to make sure that the infrastructure there was the right capacity to serve a new project. She added that there may be some needed upgrades.

Councilmember Harris asked if the developer would have any other impact fees since the utilities were already there or if they would have to pay anything to tie into the system. Ms. McNulty stated that they would have to pay any associated building fees, building permit fees, public safety and fire impact fees, hookup fees for tying into the system, improvement fees, and property tax.

Councilmember Harris also asked about housing on the parcels and asked if staff would encourage a response from someone who would include affordable housing as part of the project. Ms. McNulty stated that staff would encourage housing and weigh the response to each proposal, but staff would not be including an affordable housing requirement. She added that housing had been part of the conversation and there was somewhat of an agreement that this area might not be the best site for affordable housing. She indicated that if someone responded and stated that they were going to provide affordable housing, she thought that would probably be ranked high on the scoring. Councilmember Harris stated that she thought that shying away from talking about affordable housing at the location was unrealistic and added that other cities had affordable housing in their downtown areas. She commented that being creative with housing was the only thing that was going to get the City out of the housing flux and that they had to look at every opportunity.

Mr. Clifton stated that housing was being encouraged in the proposal, but that staff was not overly prescriptive about the types of housing or the quantity of housing. He added that staff expected housing to be a part of the proposals. He stated that staff was encouraging housing, especially affordable housing, and that staff was referring to the Downtown Vision Plan which focused on housing in the downtown area.

Management Services Director Rick Tadder addressed the water and sewer impact fees. He stated that the fees would depend on the project and added that there was a credit given for the existing size meter. He stated that the Water Services team would need to evaluate the impact on sewer systems, considering factors such as meter size and the number of units in a development. He added that the exact fees would vary depending on the specific project, so it was not possible to give a definitive answer at that time. However, he stated, it would be likely that there would be capacity fees imposed on water and sewer services.

Councilmember McCarthy addressed the parcels that were privately owned on the block and stated that the property owners were not previously interested in selling their properties. He asked if there had been discussion with the adjacent property owners on the block regarding redevelopment of the parcels. Mr. Clifton stated that the City had not initiated discussions at that time.

Councilmember Sweet stated that she appreciated the term "Mixed-Use Gateway for the Downtown" and that she appreciated the RFP being flexible enough to see what was submitted and yet tight enough to ensure that the project happened.

Mayor Daggett asked about procurement policies and how the climate and housing priorities were reflected in procurement procedures. She stated that she would like to see extra points awarded for affordable housing if that was within the legal realm. Purchasing Director Patrick Brown stated that staff would have points set in the RFP for project approach and those points would be assessed heavily depending on what the proposals provided. He added that there would not be specific language in the RFP about points being assessed specifically for affordable housing, but if it was part of the proposal and advantageous to the city, then they could potentially receive more points for that approach. Mayor Daggett asked about Procurement Policy amendments and if the city could explicitly ask and award points for affordable housing. Mr. Brown stated that staff was currently working with Housing on adding language about how to make that work, but it had not been included in the last policy revisions.

Councilmember Harris stated that the city was not pushing enough for new developments to include affordable units as well as market-rate units. She asked that a push be placed into the RFP for affordable housing if it was not against the law. Mr. Brown stated that staff was looking at what other municipalities were doing to see what could be done within the confines of the law.

Councilmember Matthews stated that she was cautious about requiring affordable housing since all types of housing were needed. She added that she would like to see the request left open to see what the project could look like for the best use for Flagstaff.

Community Investment Director Dave McIntire stated that there were ideas that many different diverse incomes would be welcomed in the downtown. He added that staff was conscious of the fact that the Foundation For Senior Living Project, which would add about 150 permanently affordable and exclusively affordable units, was scheduled for development. He stated that having 150 units of only affordable housing allowed some room for the city to see what the development community was willing to provide knowing that housing and affordable housing would be scored higher as something that the city values within the RFP, and that he wanted to ensure that there was room for diverse incomes in the downtown area.

Councilmember Harris stated that she heard what everyone was saying about market-rate and different types of housing. She added that having many different levels of housing; some affordable, market, and higher-end apartments was desired and was done all over the country. She encouraged the RFP to be open and flexible and to keep workforce housing in mind.

8.

Public Participation

None.

Mayor Daggett reiterated that Council would take public participation in person only and they would still take online comments for agendized items. She added that Council would also take up to 30 minutes of public participation at the beginning of the meeting and then take the remainder of public comment at the end of the meeting.

9.

Informational Items To/From Mayor, Council, and City Manager; future agenda item requests

Councilmember Harris shared that she had lunch with two black female high-school students who shared with her the challenges they faced in school and how they did not see themselves reflected in the Flagstaff community. She stated that she believed that when these things were not shared in the community, they were ignored.

Councilmember Matthews commented on what happened at the last meeting during public participation. She stated that she believed that one of the most important responsibilities of a Council was to do everything in its power to ensure and promote the city's mission statement. She added that to her, the mission statement also meant promoting a sense of community and a feeling of being safe. She stated that it became a challenge at the last meeting when, in her opinion, five paid antagonists polluted the airspace with offensive speech during the public participation section at the end of the meeting. She stated that Council’s hands were tied because of constitutional rights, but she wanted to publicly thank her fellow Councilmembers for making a very thoughtful and hard decision to go back to pre-COVID rules and require in-person public participation to ensure that the people speaking at meetings were in the community and representing the community, and were not people from the outside trying to create division, friction, and animosity.

Councilmember Sweet also commented on the last meeting. She invited Council and the community to hold space for everyone and added that she wanted to ensure that everything Council did strengthened and added love to the community. She added that Council had a role and responsibility to support the community and all of its diverse aspects and that the community should be a place where everyone feels safe and accepted. She stated that she hoped that Council could engage all of the faith-based organizations to have some discussion around difficult times and how the community wanted to engage in talking about divisive topics. She stated that Flagstaff was a Golden Rule City and read a few statements from the Golden Rule City ordinance. She added that the ultimate goal of a Golden Rule City was that its citizens treated each other the way that they would like to be treated, help those in need, embrace diversity, and transcend differences.

Councilmember McCarthy agreed with the previous Councilmembers regarding the discussion about public participation at the last meeting. He also spoke about the Kiplinger Letter newsletter that he subscribed to and read a paragraph from the most recent issue regarding how long Ukraine can hold out against Russia without more American aid. He also pointed out that the President was able to figure out how to fund arms and ammunition to Ukraine so they could defend Europe.

Mayor Daggett stated that it was good to reflect on how they want to treat people in our community. She stated her wish for all residents to feel belonging and a sense of safety and that she was glad that Flagstaff is a Golden Rule City.

10.

Adjournment

The Work Session of the Flagstaff City Council held March 12, 2024, adjourned at 4:18 p.m.