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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/13/2012 Work SessionCity of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2012 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, February 13, 2012 at 5:30 p.m., with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors Pishioneri, VanGordon, Moore, Ralston and Woodrow. Also present were Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Matt Cox, City Recorder Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Wylie was absent (excused). 1. NEDCO Springfield Main Street® Program: • Design Committee Priorities for Downtown Revitalization. Planning Supervisor Linda Pauly introduced Ted Corbin from the NEDCO Design Committee. Ms. Pauly served as staff liaison of that committee. The committee served as a liaison between interested people in the community and the City to help people navigate the bureaucracy. The Main Street committees were a great example of the Council goal of encouraging economic development and revitalization through community partnerships. Mr. Corbin said the Design Committee was one of the four committees of the Springfield Main Street® program which was used to help downtowns revitalize. The other three committees were Organization, Promotion, and Economic Restructuring. The concept for Main Street was for the four committees to work together to provide the stepping stones for revitalization of downtown. NEDCO had been sponsoring this effort for about two years. The aspiration of the program was to set small goals at first and build from there. Mr. Corbin said in November 2011, the Design Committee had helped .organize a Charette for downtown. The Charette included a great group of about 40 participants and provided great work. He discussed those that participated in the Charette. The report outlined feasible, reasonable and cost effective solutions for downtown. They now had a document that allowed the committee to pick and choose programs they felt could start revitalization in downtown. The committee also identified other issues that adversely affected revitalization, which were included in the letter from John Lively, Chair of the Design Committee (Attachment 1 of the agenda packet). Mr. Corbin noted others from the Design Committee who were in the audience. He also introduced Kristin Sanger from Cottage Grove who played a similar role in Cottage Grove and who would be available to answer questions. Mr. Corbin said the object of Mr. Lively's letter was to reinforce that revitalization would depend on providing opportunity and predictability for entrepreneurs, retailers, and developers looking to come into downtown. Each of those groups needed opportunity to do something no one else was doing, but they also needed predictability to know the economic landscape of downtown and City regulations downtown. The partnership they were trying to develop was a good balance between the opportunity and predictability. A quarterly mixer was recently held for the Design Committee with about 20 people attending, 8 -10 from downtown businesses. During the mixer, one of the business owners had a question that would normally be answered by a Downtown Manager. Fortunately a staff member City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 2 was attending who could answer the question. They were looking to have someone in the position of a Downtown Manager for merchants to go to with questions about ideas. A person in that position could be the interface with City staff. Mr. Corbin said one of the things business owners would like to address were the vacant storefronts and neglected buildings downtown. The Design Committee was encouraging the City to come up with some sort of program to prohibit people from neglecting maintenance on their building. When people went to downtowns, they rated them on appearance and maintenance. There were mechanisms that could be put into place to address that issue. A Downtown Manager could present that information to businesses with an explanation from a different perspective from the City. Neil Obringer from NEDCO provided printed copies of the Charette to the Mayor and Council. Mr. Corbin said there were three sections to the Charette: the preamble and goals; the findings; and tools and guidelines that could be implemented with the findings. The teams established at the Charette were asked to come up with affordable things business owners could do to enhance the look and feel of downtown incrementally. They were asked to focus on projects that could be done in the short-term, were affordable and could qualify for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. As a result, details of the Charette included fagade improvements, coordinated awnings, paint schemes, reopening windows, and other solutions, all between $100044000. The Charette was an opportunity for business owners to be objective and not bring their own issues to the table, but rather to look at the downtown as a whole. Mr. Corbin said a downtown manager had been discussed in the past, and had also been done in the past, sometimes with success. He didn't want history to be a shackle to current decisions. The opportunity to create a public /private partnership between the Main Street Program, City Hall and the downtown businesses was in a different place than in the past. They could use past experiences as a guide, but they also needed to look beyond. From the Design Committee's standpoint, there was a lot of interest among businesses to seize the momentum to move forward and help Springfield grow economically. Councilor Woodrow spoke regarding the short-term improvements. She asked if there was a long -term image that the -short-term projects would be working towards, such as colors and styles. . Mr. Corbin said there were pros and cons to that approach. He provided the example of the City of Sisters which had a very strong theme -based overall look to their downtown. There were more downtowns that failed at trying to reach that goal. In terms of their design planning, the concepts for incremental design improvement could fit into a theme, but didn't require the goal of a theme to be successful. Design goals such as transparency (seeing through buildings) or signage for pedestrian and vehicular traffic could lend themselves to a more thematic goal. Councilor Woodrow said she didn't intend to be that specific. She thought an image such as a destination place where several places were part of a theme would draw people to downtown. Mr. Corbin said one of the key components to that was the economic restructuring and business recruitment. efforts. The efforts of the Downtown Revitalization Citizen Advisory Committee to bring that appropriate mix of businesses and amenities to the downtown would have as much to do with making downtown a destination as anything else. City of Springfield e Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 3 Councilor Woodrow said she would think that being part of that identity would also be an attraction to businesses. Mr. Corbin agreed. Councilor Moore asked what the City would be contributing to downtown and Main Street, such as lighting. She asked how design standards could be applied to old buildings while maintaining a balance between owner's rights and the City's interest in those standards. Mr. Towery said staff had talked about lighting and other improvements. They hadn't moved ahead on those in order to allow the Main Street Program to get up and running and get through the public process. The City would be working on how to address those improvements. Mr. Corbin said having one or two projects getting done right would be helpful in getting other businesses on board. That could be through a grant or other funding. He asked Ms. Sanger to provide information on how that could be addressed 4n her role with Cottage Grove. Ms. Sanger said Cottage Grove had an Economic Improvement District (EID), Business Improvement .District (BID) rather than an urban renewal district such as Springfield. The City contributed in specific ways and they collaborated by bringing all of the stakeholders together whenever an opportunity arose. Of the dollars collected by the EID/BID, one -fourth went towards the Main Street Manager. The rest of that position was privately funded. They were also looking at earned income as a way to fund the position. Ms. Sanger said jobs were created on Main Street. Cottage Grove just received their Main Street report for the Oregon Main Street Program. She noted some of the figures from that report: private investment for transforming communities was over $2.5M; public investment'was just over $1M; net businesses gained were 73; and net jobs gained were 138. The total investment statistics statewide reported over $8M in private funds and over $18M in public funds. Net businesses gained statewide were 151 and net jobs were 435. Having that Main Street person in place did mean economic impact. She was an advocate for. private /public partnerships to make things happen. Mr. Towery said as staff worked on the downtown circulation project, they were looking at the possibility of building in a demonstration project that would include some lighting improvements. He was scheduled to meet with Claire Seguin - Carpenter from NEDCO later in the week to talk in more detail about a Downtown Manager. Councilor Woodrow said she had been in contact with a Downtown Manager from her hometown in Pennsylvania. They had increased the value of their square footage in downtown from $50 /square foot to $400 /square foot. i Mayor Lundberg said she believed that any endeavor was only as successful as the person chosen to dedicate their time to the project. A Downtown Manager was key to that. She believed in public /private partnerships and would like to see some examples of how that could work. Fagade improvements, or pilot improvements, had been proposed by staff. It would be legitimate to use downtown set -aside funds from the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) for those types of projects. She would like to see someone get a letter of intent to the committee for this year's round. She noted that in the past, the system development charges (SDCs) for downtown were reduced by 100 %, then 75 %, and now were at 50 %. In this period of time, when trying, to do economic stimulus, i i City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 4 the City might want to provide downtown with a 100% reduction again from now until December 31, 2012 to match the other SDC reductions. Councilor Pishioneri suggested adding a fourth section to the SDC schedule that Council adopted last week to include businesses in the downtown district. Councilor Moore said Mohawk and other areas could also benefit from being included in an SDC reduction. She would like to look at retail redevelopment and improvement throughout the whole City. Mayor Lundberg said the broader SDC (adopted last week) was to encourage jobs. Because there had been a specific reduction program for downtown, this might be the right time to bring it back. In the past when the downtown was separated for the reduction, she did not recall negative feedback from other areas in the City. Reduction in SDCs was something the Council could continue to look at for other areas at a later date. Mayor Lundberg said this was wonderful work. She thanked the committee for their efforts. Mr. Corbin said they were always available to answer questions. Their goal was to bring statistical information back to the Council. 2. Sustainable City Year Fall Term Summary. Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery introduced Chris Jones, program manager of the Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI), Eko Larko, professor of architecture at the University of Oregon and co- founder of the SCI, and Robert Liberty, executive director of SCI. Mr. Liberty thanked the City for being wonderful partners. One term's result had been done and there were two left. The partnership had been very rewarding for the students, faculty and the City. He noted an email he received regarding the Library project, which was copied to the Chair of the Architecture Department at the UofO, who was going to use it for public relations. They had enjoyed working with Courtney Griesel, Jeff Towery and Len Goodwin. Chris Jones, program manager at the SCY referred to the power point that was to be presented. The power point included a collection of images from the fall term which was completed at the end of December, as well as some of the progress work from the winter and spring terms Mr. Jones said the SCY program included fourteen City projects created by the City and tied to Council Goals and the Strategic Plan. Those projects had been matched up with 30 courses in nine different departments across the university. By the end of the year, there would be more than 400 students involved in these courses. These projects also included the TEAM Springfield partners (Willamalane Parks, Springfield Utility Board, and the Springfield. School District), as well as United Way of Lane County, Good Company and some private business owners. ) Ms. Griesel spoke regarding the fall terms projects. There was a great group of staff from the City who had done a wonderful job on these projects. The City would continue to benefit from the internal partnerships made during this project for years to come. She discussed the, Library design project. The students had focused on the property across from the front entrance of City Hall. She displayed some of the images designed by UofO students. The students had worked closely with Library staff. Other projects highlighted were the bicycle and pedestrian planning project and the Waremart project. The property owner of the Waremart property was invited to be involved in that project, as well as other City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 5 businesses. A number of various uses were explored for this site. Through their work, they maintained flexibility on the site to allow for a number of uses. The students also looked at the streets around this area and steps to make it a more pedestrian and bicycle friendly area. She acknowledged the work done by students and staff on these projects. Ms. Griesel said students had done a community outreach plan for the City's Adopt -a- Waterway program. The Laura Street and Promise Neighborhood projects were worked on at the same time. Students met with neighbors in that area and heard that they liked barriers that blocked some connectivity, but felt those barriers could be improved aesthetically. Promise Neighborhoods was done in partnership with United Way of Lane County, and focused on getting children ready for school and making them successful through their entire educational career. They did that through healthy lifestyles, education and access to healthy foods. Ms. Griesel said they were in the report writing phase of the fall term projects. During winter term, they would be working on several projects. The first was wayfinding in Springfield and signage. She discussed the process for this project. Another project was Demonstration Stormwater which would go to build between the Brattain House and Springfield Middle School. The team leader for this project was in the audience. The team included 6 students who were designing and would be building a rain garden at the site. Meghan Murphy from the City and SUB had been involved in this project which would also include educational kiosks at the site. Another project was the Booth Kelly project which was a three term project. She referred to images of that site. They were trying hard to connect the Mill Race through this project. Mr. Jones spoke regarding the Jasper Natron project which was a two -term project. Students were halfway through and had already come up with some design concepts. Ms. Griesel said Jasper Natron project was a lot of work and included a lot of dialogue. The school site in this area had some difficult transportation issues so the students learned fist hand of the challenges that could go into these types of projects. There were more projects ahead including carbon footprint. They were also looking at LEED incentive and transportation and would be performing cost benefit analysis on current policies and how to incentivize new development. Willamalane was looking at marketing strategies and a business plan development for some of their facilities including Dorris Ranch. Councilor Woodrow said the Library presentation the other night was fascinating. It was nice to see that the models were in context with the other things and facilities around them. The students did a great job. Ms. Griesel said the students were very bright and they had wonderful staff at the UofO. Councilor Moore thanked Ms. Griesel for her work and commended her. Ms. Griesel said a number of staff had put in many hours to help make this a success. Mayor Lundberg said she was interested in raising children to appreciate the nature we had around here. The stormwater between Brattain House and the school was an excellent educational opportunity about our waterways. People and children appreciated what we had and that was a great location. She was very excited to see Willamalane's involvement. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 6 Mr. Jones said City staff members Rachael Chilton and Megan Murphy, along with Amy Chinitz from Springfield Utility Board (SUB) chose several sites for consideration. That site was chosen for its visibility for providing education to many people. Councilor Moore said the decision on the name for the school was scheduled for tonight. The teachers were" excited about the stormwater site at the location. Mr. Jones said one of the benefits to the City of being involved in the SCY was the number of staff involved. The staff really enjoyed working on the projects and with the, students. The students benefited from working on real world projects, the residents had benefitted in hearing about the new ideas and city government was interested in the new ideas. As these projects went from ideas to implementation, the City would see even more benefit. SCY was about expanding the conversation beyond what seemed possible. He referred to work posted on the walls from the architecture studio from the UofO. A model of the Waremart site was out in the Lobby. Ms. Griesel said the Library models were also in the lobby. Mayor Lundberg said they were very happy with the work. 3. Street Operating Fund Communication Plan. Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin and Maintenance Manager Brian Conlon presented the staff report on this item. While a Right -of -Way fee imposed on the Stormwater and Wastewater utilities in April 2011 allowed the Street Fund to stabilize operations and maintenance for FY 2012 and 2013 at significantly reduced levels compared to FY 2008, there continued to be no significant funding for preservation work. The City now faced going into the fifth consecutive budget cycle without preservation resources. Council, in April 2011, directed staff to further analyze a Street Preservation Fee as proposed by the 2008 Street Preservation Task Force, and the prospect of a bonding preservation spending after reviewing a number of revenue options. As part of that effort staff surveyed citizens' views on issues related to operating and maintaining the street system infrastructure. Results of one recent public outreach in the form of an internet survey were attached. The results of the recent survey had led staff to the recommendation that it was important to provide further public outreach and to engage in a community dialogue about the needs of the street system before considering action on either a street preservation fee or the issuance of some form of debt. For that reason, staff had prepared several educational materials, including a Street System Communication Plan, an informative Street System PowerPoint, and a speaker's guide resource. These items were in draft form and staff requested feedback for refinement. Staff recommended that the City engage in a program of outreach and community dialogue, while research continued on the options of bond issuance and a street preservation fee, plus other ideas that emerged from the community dialogue, and review the results with the Council after the summer recess for further consideration and discussion of possible action. Mr. Goodwin noted those involved in the team that had been working on this project. This group was made up of staff from throughout the City organization. The group had the task of determining how to have a conversation with the citizens about who owned the streets, who needed to worry about them, and what citizens wanted the City to do to keep them in good condition. They felt that it would be iI I City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 7 more effective to get citizens' support for some type of program rather than proposing a program that would likely cause debate. Mr. Conlon said the group put together a Street Fund Communication Plan. After the April meeting with Council, management staff met and identified some early goals. One was to provide citizens with more useful information about the benefits of timely preservation, and to develop understanding around the economic sense of that. They had learned that approach from. the 2008 Task Force findings. They had used a Talent Model to comprise the team members. The team was selected from staff from four departments, and they found there was a fresh perspective and insight from those members. The team did the heavy work and Rachael Chilton had put together a briefing guide. The contents of the guide included communication principles, key messages, street communication plan, street fund survey, street system power point, street system fact sheets, website content, information about the Mayor's Task Force in 2008, and additional background information. This was still in draft form and they. hoped to get feedback from the Council. Mr. Conlon said the purpose of the guide was to serve as a reference and provide stakeholders with consistent and accurate information. The principles- were as follows: • Inclusive two way communication and dialogue. Get the message out, but listen and encourage participation. • Be proactive in telling the story and provide consistency in the message. • Develop a speakers' bureau. They would need the City Council to help identify people that could serve in that role and get the word out Mr. Conlon reviewed the key messages: Message 1: We all need the streets. At $400 million (2008), Springfield's street system is one of the City's most valuable assets. Message 2: Good streets bring businesses & jobs. The streets are wearing out faster than they can be fixed. Message 3: Due to funding changes, and a growing transportation system the City is no longer able to fund an active maintenance and preservation program. Message 4: In order to keep up with maintenance and preservation activities the City has to look at new revenue options. (Staff would work with the Council to select a preferred option, which would then become part of the guide.) Message 5: Want this to resonate with citizens so they become the owners of the street system. Street system includes signals, landscaping, sidewalks, street lighting; etc. Mr. Conlon reviewed the Street System Communication Plan. The plan document provided background information regarding the transportation system, including the description of the maintenance and funding needs. It presented goals and objectives, listed key messages, identified stakeholders, identified communication tools and tactics, provided an implementation and timeline, and estimated a budget for the outreach efforts. This plan was a starting point and. would be refined. Ms. Chilton .spoke regarding the communication tools and tactics used to get the information out to the stakeholders.. The plan was to not only use the web, social media, and traditional media, but to go out into the community and meet with the citizens. They would like to recruit community members who were opinion leaders, prominent in the community and interested in the street system to serve as a Speakers' Bureau. These people would be provided with a standard power point template, training and would be scheduled to speak to community groups. Staff members would also accompany them to answer technical questions. The briefing guide would be provided to those! speakers. The Speakers' City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 8 Bureau was a two way communication vehicle to allow the City to hear what people were saying about the street system and their concerns about maintaining the system. Mr. Conlon said most people surveyed felt the streets were in fair to good shape and that the City did a good job. That was encouraging, although based on information gathered on the streets in 2010, the streets were not in good condition. The perception was positive, and there was confidence, but that could change quickly. Councilor Moore said she appreciated the presentation. She noted the slide. that showed a roundabout when talking about the street system, and felt that could bring about other issues not related to the street condition. She suggested they use a different picture to keep the focus of the conversation on the streets and not on other issues. She also thought it would be beneficial to have all of the 5t' graders in Springfield do a `survey' of just their street as part of a project. They could name their street, go out and look at the condition of.their street, and report back to their class. It would be a way to get parents involved as well, who may not attend community meetings. Councilor VanGordon said he liked the concept of the roundabout and what they were trying to show, but understood the issues it could bring. He would like to see a concept about the problems with the gas tax.'Any presentation given to the public needed to address that issue. If they talked about a preservation fee, that would need to be included in the presentation at that time. He thought it would help if the presentation listed how funds could be, used and what each option would provide in the way of improvements or maintenance. People needed to see the benefit as it directly related to the individual. Mr. Goodwin said staff had talked about the gas tax with the Council, but that was not the same as talking with the public. He felt Councilor VanGordon's suggestion was a good one. Councilor VanGordon asked how the City recouped money from the damage caused by bus traffic. Mr. Goodwin said the City had not been successful in doing that. Councilor VanGordon said that might be a question that needed to be addressed. He liked the communication plan and educating the public that everyone owned the streets. Councilor Moore said the issue of the gas tax came up at the Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) and that there was no funding from the State. Federal funding for transportation was also an issue. i Mayor Lundberg said she looked at this like a campaign. People were very busy and didn't always take note of the condition of the street unless they hit a pothole. The message needed to be clear about how the streets were paid for and why there wasn't enough money. She liked relating it to the neighborhoods and picking a street so people could relate. It was important to explain how the City was going to try to pay for things. Industrial areas needed to be shown, too, because streets to those areas brought jobs. The revenue ideas needed to be communicated in a simple and easy to understand way. She noted the comments in the back of the survey and felt they should be considered. She agreed that the streets included landscaping, lights, sidewalks, etc. It was a great Iidea to get out and talk to people about the need for funding for our streets. I Mr. Conlon said he had thought about relating this to the fees for stormwater and wastewater. Streets didn't have the same regulations, yet a fairly small amount of money bought a lot in regards to our streets. i I City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 9 Mayor Lundberg said that would be a good idea. They also needed to relate to citizens how bad rough roads were on cars. The elected officials would be happy to go out and speak to the community. Councilor Pishioneri spoke regarding the comments at the end of the survey. He suggested that the presentation include information about when City staff were used to perform the work and when it was more costs effective to contract out. Mr. Conlon said much of the preservation money created jobs and was often contracted out. Councilor Pishioneri said he would volunteer his street as a demonstration. His street had no gutters or stormwater service, yet he paid fees. He spoke regarding issues with the gas tax. A bond measure was limited, but a combination of funding avenues could put us in position to have a stable system. He was supportive of getting the word out and felt staff was on the right track. Mr. Goodwin said staff was reluctant about getting into revenue discussions without Council direction. Mayor Lundberg said that was the first. question that came to people's minds. She appreciated the plan. 4. Sanipac Rate Increase and Volunteer Food Waste Program. Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin presented the staff report on this item. Staff from Sanipac were in the audience to answer questions if needed. Sanipac; the City's franchise hauler for solid waste, requested an increase of 6.95 percent for residential and 7.95 percent for commercial hauling rates and to add a voluntary Food Waste diversion program for commercial customers. Finance Department and Public Works staff had reviewed the request and found it appeared to be reasonable, given the period of time since the last rate increase. After the January 9, 2012 work session Sanipac had reviewed and revised the rate increase proposal in an effort to be more sensitive to citizen affordability. Sanipac's rates had not increased since July 2009, when Sanipac passed through a fee increase imposed by Lane County to cover disposal of waste at the Short Mountain Landfill. Prior to that, the last increase in Sanipac rates occurred in May 2008. During that time, consumer prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, all Urban Consumers (Portland —Salem MSA), had increased by 6.79 percent. At the time of the 2008 adjustment, staff concluded that the increase at that time would provide an appropriate rate of return for minimum of two years. Under this proposed increase, the rate for a 3 5 gallon container would increase $1.00, from $14.45 to $15.45, and for a 65 gallon container $1.45 from $20.95 to $22.40. As part of the proposal Sanipac had added a 21 gallon Every Other Week service and a Recycling only service. Both of those alternative services presented challenges to Sanipac, although they believed they could accommodate. Residential Ctmrnercial Rate of Return on :Assets rate increase rate increase (avera e 3 ears) Original 9.95% 7.95 % 8.2% inal Proposal Revised 6.95% 7.95% 7% Pro osal P Sanipac's rates had not increased since July 2009, when Sanipac passed through a fee increase imposed by Lane County to cover disposal of waste at the Short Mountain Landfill. Prior to that, the last increase in Sanipac rates occurred in May 2008. During that time, consumer prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, all Urban Consumers (Portland —Salem MSA), had increased by 6.79 percent. At the time of the 2008 adjustment, staff concluded that the increase at that time would provide an appropriate rate of return for minimum of two years. Under this proposed increase, the rate for a 3 5 gallon container would increase $1.00, from $14.45 to $15.45, and for a 65 gallon container $1.45 from $20.95 to $22.40. As part of the proposal Sanipac had added a 21 gallon Every Other Week service and a Recycling only service. Both of those alternative services presented challenges to Sanipac, although they believed they could accommodate. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes February 13, 2012 Page 10 Staff recommended that Council direct staff to present the proposed increase of 6.95 percent in residential and 7.95 percent increase in commercial for Sanipac's hauler's portion of the solid waste collection rates for all categories of waste collection for consideration and possible action on February 21,2012. If approved at that time, the effective date for the rate increase would be March 1, 2012. Staff also recommended that the voluntary Food Waste program for commercial clients be submitted for consideration and possible action at the same time. Councilor Pishioneri thanked everyone for their work. It was difficult to speak out about the increase at the last meeting, but he felt they couldn't move forward with the original proposal. He understood Sanipac may come back sooner for their next increase. He appreciated that they lowered their proposed rates and provided alternatives. Councilor Woodrow thanked Sanipac for addressing Council's concerns. She felt it was a good plan. Councilor Moore asked if they had the 21 gallon can. Yes. The smaller can would be a great advantage for older people. She thanked them for working hard to get to the lower increase. She also appreciated them offering recycling exclusively. She confirmed that the yard debris and recycling were on opposite weeks. Councilor VanGordon said he also appreciated their work. There might be other alternatives Council may ask for in the future. He asked Sanipac to let them know if the alternatives didn't pencil out because they understood Sanipac needed to run their business. Councilor Pishioneri said he agreed. Mayor Lundberg said their work was appreciated. Having the franchise with Sanipac allowed them to be efficient as a sole provider, but did limit the ability for people to use another service. Mr. Goodwin said this would be on the regular agenda February 21 for formal approval. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 p.m. Minutes Recorder — Amy Sowa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: Amy Sow City Recor er