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Home My Public Portal About2021.01.29 Special Meeting Minutes MINUTES McCall City Council Special Meeting McCall City Hall--Legion Hall VIA TEAMS Virtual January 29, 2021 Call to Order and Roll Call Annual Retreat Work Session Business Agenda Adjournment CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Giles called the special meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 9:00 a.m. Mayor Giles, Council Member Callan, Council Member Holmes, Council Member Maciaszek, and Council Member Nielsen all answered roll call. City staff members present were Anette Spickard, City Manager; Bill Nichols, City Attorney; BessieJo Wagner, City Clerk; Erin Greaves, Communications Manager; Linda Stokes, City Treasurer; Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director; Kurt Wolf, Parks and Recreation Director; Tara Woods, Recreation Supervisor; Stefanie Bork, Parks and Recreation Admin; Rick Stein, Airport Manager; Eric McCormick, Golf Course Superintendent; Meg Lojek, Library Director; Chris Curtin, Information Systems Manager; Traci Malvich, Human Resources Manager; Justin Williams, Police Chief;Nathan Stewart, Public Works Director ANNUAL RETREAT WORK SESSION City Manager Anette Spickard welcomed the Council and set the stage for desired outcomes and shared her thoughts on what she would like to see for the City. Annual Department Accomplishments City Manager Council Member Maciaszek and Council Member Holmes both expressed thanks and commended all City staff for all their hard work. Airport Airport Manager Rick Stein gave a brief overview of an upcoming runway project. Council Member Callan commended staff for all their efforts City Clerk City Clerk BessieJo Wagner gave an update on the current Local Option Tax and answered questions. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 1 of S January 29, 2021 Special Meeting Community Development Community & Economic Development Director Michelle Groenevelt gave an update on the local housing program, the Housing Advisory Committee, City land banking, and the Urban Renewal housing focus, and answered questions. Council Member Nielsen expressed his concerns about the dire situation for housing for residents. Finance Council Member Callan asked about electronic ACH vendor payments and City Treasurer Linda Stokes explained the only change in the process is the payment will be made electronically rather than mailing a paper check.Council Member Callan also inquired if local option tax payments will be made available online and City Treasurer Stokes stated staff has been investigating a solution to this issue and she will be meeting with them soon to learn what they have discovered. Golf Course Golf Course Superintendent Eric McCormick gave a brief report on the condition of the greens and shared that the McCall Golf Course has been selected for the US Junior Amateur as a qualifier site which is rare and a huge honor. Information Systems Information Systems Manager Chris Curtin gave a brief update on RAPID. Mayor Giles commended the staff for doing a fantastic job with what was accomplished this last year. Library Mayor Giles expressed thanks for their hard work on the Library Bond initiative and Parks Department relocation. Parks & Recreation Mayor Giles commended the Parks staff for the great job on the snow removal program. Police Mayor Giles thanked Police Chief Justin Williams for stepping up to act as the Incident Commander and briefings. Chief Williams commended his staff for their efforts and working as a great team. He gave an update on the staffing and stated the department will have a full crew for the first time since he has come to work for the City. Public Works Public Works Director Nathan Stewart shared how proud he is of his team for all their hard work and stepping up to deal with the unusual circumstances of this last year. Council Pre-Retreat Survey Results Communications Manager Erin Greaves shared the priorities of results from the survey the Council had taken. Rec cog Council Member Callan asked about curbside recycling and if it is still an option for the community. City Manager Spickard gave a brief overview of the previous year's activity and focus of the County MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 2 of S January 29, 2021 Special Meeting to get a better recycling center to oversee the recycling process to cut back on the contamination of the product which reduces it to the landfill. She shared the challenge with curbside recycling is having enough people participate in the program to make it worth offering. She touched on the Lake Shore Disposal report to Council and discussed the issue of mandatory pickup. Legislation There were no questions or comments from the Council, but City Manager Spickard felt her takeaway on the survey was that she needed to provide more communication to Council. Lake Management Council Member Maciaszek reported that a consultant has been hired and will be starting the planning process. Community&Economic Development Director Groenevelt gave a brief update on the project. Structure and Processes Council Member Maciaszek shared that he echoed the sentiments of the survey comment number 5 about having a clear process for filling a vacant Council seat and the election process for Mayor. City Clerk Wagner shared her ideas of improving the process.Mayor Giles and Council Member Maciaszek were in favor of the City Clerk to write a process for selection of Council and Mayor and update the Governance Manual.The suggestion was given to also include a piece for the person expressing interest to state the reason for their interest in the nomination to be a part of the discussions between Council. MeetingTiming iming Communication Manager Greaves stated that the virtual meetings have been a learning experience for all and she shared ideas on how to make the meeting flow smoother and faster yet still allow the Council to participate which include:using the"raise your hand"feature over polling each member;using video when speaking so people will know who is speaking; and if thanks are being given to someone, the person initiating the thanks to include the statement"on behalf of the Council". The Council liked the suggestions. Council Member Maciaszek felt the "raise hand" feature may be a bit too much to keep track of. Increasing Community Communication Staff shared the outlets currently in use. The Council took a 10-minute break and reconvened at 10:20 a.m. Preparing for 2021 City Manager Spickard shared her thoughts on the value of being a Council Member and touched on the TedTalk video "The Power of Stories". Advocacy/Education for Elected Officials City Attorney Bill Nichols shared the State law on integrity in election = advocacy is prohibited but information is allowed. He shared the lawsuit that brought these laws into place and how it has affected public officials. Idaho Statue 74-602 Legislative Intent ultimately restricts public funds or property to be used to advocate for or against a candidate or ballot measure. The statue also defines what is advocating and what an expenditure, property resources, and public funds are and the exclusions. He MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 3 of 5 January 29, 2021 Special Meeting went through what is permitted and remedies and penalties. He gave an example of how to educate instead of advocate and first amendment rights response to the public. He advised Council to step back from the line when asked if they support or not support to not violate these laws. Public Entity Meetings and Procedures and Leadership Lessons from Other Cities Next, City Attorney Nichols shared horror stories from other government entities and gave advice on how to avoid problems working together and other pitfalls which are as follows: • Communicate—listen first, seek to understand, then speak • Show me the money! —pay attention to the finances both incoming and outgoing by reviewing the warrant register and budget • Preparation—read the packet, ask questions of staff prior to the meeting, compile questions in advance for the meeting, and looking for gaps where important information is missing so it can be addressed • No surprises — waiting until the meeting to surprise staff or consultants with items that could have been disclosed or asked ahead of the meeting so staff can be prepared to give answers so the whole council can be informed—it is detrimental to the public discourse • Solve problems—engage in finding solutions • No mystery funding sources — avoid being intellectually dishonest by being quick to cite a mystery funding sources to get out of paying for an item or project—discuss what those funding sources are • Civility—avoid making a disagreement personal or looking for a motive and work to agree to disagree • Role confusion— crossing over into the administrative rolls/responsibilities, be careful about liaison roles, and be educated to know how to respond when confronted by the public about something that is an administrative issue 2021 Priorities City Manager Spickard asked the Council to share what they feel should be the priorities for the City in 2021. Council Member Maciaszek felt there was good progress on the Endowment land, Lake Management, and other projects in the works. His biggest concern is work force housing. He knows people who have been offered a job but have been unable to move here due to lack of a place to live. He gave an example of homes on Dawson Street where the selling price in 2016 was $155k but this week a home was listed for$599k. He believes staff are working hard to find solutions and understands that it might not be one the Council can solve because they have no control over the economy and rising construction and housing costs. He wants this to be a priority. Council Member Holmes mirrored those same concerns. She also would like to see if there was a way to incentivize the business owners of empty commercial space to clean up and/or rent those spaces. Council Member Nielsen feels housing is the number one priority and collaborating with Valley County and Idaho Department of Lands to find solutions. He feels the same frustration with this issue. Another MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 4 of 5 January 29, 2021 Special Meeting item he would like to see prioritized is transportation issues such as the Deinhard bypass and pedestrian pathways. Council Member Callan agrees work force housing should be priority#1 and wondered on what other kinds of incentives could be had. She also feels something should be done about the empty commercial spaces. Mayor Giles feels land banking is a great way to plan for work force housing and wants to continue to put money away. He wants to continue with the regional approach to housing by working with Valley County and the adjacent Counties and communities to find solutions. He would like to see education and promotion to the community on what the City has accomplished to gain their confidence. City Manager Spickard stated she will craft a priority document that identifies all these items to give back to Council as well as give a status on the items in her monthly reports. BUSINESS AGENDA City Manager Spickard presented the letters to the Idaho State Legislature regarding SB 1021, HB 16, and HB 30. The Association of Idaho Cities (AIC) has highlighted three legislative bills in play that they, after analyzing them, concluded cities should oppose the bills. Those three bills are SB 102 — Emergency Powers of the Governor; HB16 —Reallocation of Liquor Tax Fund Dollars; and HB 30 — Limiting Property Tax Growth. The AIC has expressed concerns of the negative impact these bills will have on cities and has asked cities to write letters of opposition. She went through each letter and asked for feedback. The Council consensus was unanimous to send each of the letters. Staff will finalize the letters and bring back to Council for approval. ADJOURNMENT Without further business, Mayor Giles adjourned the meeting at 11:53 a.m. `,,�ttNtu 1111rrtrr. 11� � M C \ -U ATTEST: ?*$° Robert S. Giles, Mayor L •x essieJo W gner, City V&gLL. ID MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page S of S January 29, 2021 Special Meeting