01/14/2020 - Work Session - Minutes MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020
The City Council met in Work Session on Tuesday, January 14, 2020,
in Room 326, Committee Room, City County Building, 451 South State
Street .
In Attendance: Council Members Chris Wharton, James Rogers, Andrew
Johnston, Analia Valdemoros, Daniel Dugan, and Amy Fowler.
Staff in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Council Executive
Director; Jennifer Bruno, Council Executive Deputy Director; Erin
Mendenhall, Mayor; Rachel Otto, Mayor' s Chief of Staff; Lisa
Shaffer, Mayor' s Deputy Chief of Staff; Benjamin Luedtke, Council
Public Policy Analyst; Lehua Weaver, Council Associate Deputy
Director; Mary Beth Thompson, Chief Financial Advisor; Jonathan
Larsen, Transportation Director; Russell Weeks, Council Policy
Analyst; John Anderson, Planning Manager; Molly Robinson, Planning
Manager; Allison Rowland, Council Public Policy Analyst; Katherine
Lewis, City Attorney; Nick Tarbet, Council Senior Public Policy
Analyst; Lisa McCarver, Revenue and Collection Director; Elizabeth
Buehler, Civic Engagement Manager; Aaron Bentley, Chief Technology
Officer; Cindy Lou Trishman, Council Administrative Assistant;
Julianne Sabula, Transit Program Manager; Matthew Cassel, City
Engineer; Samantha Slark, Senior City Attorney; Lorna Vogt, Public
Services Operations Deputy Director; and Kory Solorio, Assistant
City Recorder.
Guests in Attendance: Paul Skeen, Eide Baily Certified Public
Accountant (Item No. 1) ; Michael Michelsen, Eide Baily CPA (Item
No. 1) ; Nathan Ricks, STACK Real Estate (Item #2) ; Doug Thimm,
Architectural Nexus (Item #2) ; Andrew Bybee, STACK Real Estate
(Item #2) ; and Jeffrey Barrett, Rocky Mountain Power (Item #3) .
Councilmember Wharton presided at and conducted the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 4 : 28 p .m.
AGENDA ITEMS
#1. 4:28:32PM BRIEFING REGARDING THE CITY' S COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE PREVIOUS FISCAL YEAR, AND THE MANAGEMENT
AUDITOR'S LETTERS REGARDING INTERNAL CONTROLS AND COMPLIANCE. View
Attachments
Paul Skeen and Michael Michelsen briefed the Council with
attachments . Comments included: overview of the audit process,
required communications from audit standards, financial audit
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report, and compliance reporting.
Discussion was held regarding the audit firm (Eide Bailey)
being under contract with the Council, department audits, and
determining which expenditures (200) were audited.
#2 . 4:42:45PM BRIEFING REGARDING A REQUEST TO INCREASE THE
BUILDING HEIGHTS WITHIN A PORTION OF THE GATEWAY MIXED USE (G-MU)
ZONING DISTRICT FROM A CURRENT MAXIMUM OF 120 FEET UP TO 190 FEET
ACROSS PORTIONS OF TWO SEPARATE BLOCKS LOCATED BETWEEN 500 WEST
AND THE RAILROAD TRACKS (APPROXIMATELY 625 WEST) AND 200 SOUTH AND
400 SOUTH. The applicant is requesting the change for a specific
development project and is not seeking to alter height limits
across the entirety of the zone. Petition No. PLNPCM2019-00639.
View Attachments
Russell Weeks, John Anderson, and Molly Robinson briefed the
Council with attachments. Discussion was held regarding Planning
Commission' s reasoning for a negative recommendation of approval,
east and south gateway concepts, downtown area marketing
needs/growth patterns (University of Utah, east downtown,
intermodal hub) , other potential areas which could request the
maximum 190 feet building height and setting a precedence.
4:58:18 PM Nathan Ricks, Doug Thimm, and Andrew Bybee
(Petitioners) briefed the Council .
Straw Poll: Support allowing the applicant/petitioner to
continue their presentation (after the allotted five minutes) . All
Council Members were in favor.
Discussion continued regarding if the project was not
feasible at a 120 foot building height, urban design versus block
design, building height/square feet, parking, consideration of an
affordable housing component, permits for Station Center, how this
development would affect/fit in with the Downtown Alliance Public
Market Study, text amendment inclusion, future site/block design,
collaboration with surrounding property owners, clarification that
the proposal was for all parcels fronting along 300 South,
Redevelopment Agency (RDA) urging the Council to consider
maintaining existing minimum building height requirements in G-MU
zone/increasing maximum permitted building height, and
conversations regarding the effects to adjacent property owners .
Straw Poll: Support further briefings/conversations with
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Planning Staff and the RDA regarding the effects to adjacent
property owners . All Council Members were in favor.
Council Members requested the following items from Staff :
• Briefing from the Planning Department on how the project
intersected with transit nodes (in particular height based) .
• Meet with the RDA concerning effects to the City and adjacent
property owners.
Councilmember Rogers left the meeting at 5 : 37 p.m.
#3. 5:40:51 PM BRIEFING FROM ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER
REPRESENTATIVES ABOUT ITEMS SUCH AS LONG TERM RESOURCE PLANS,
EXISTING AND POTENTIAL PROJECTS IN THE CITY, AND OTHER PROJECTS
AND ISSUES RELATED TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER'S SERVICE IN SALT LAKE
CITY. View Attachments
Nick Tarbet and Jeffery Barrett briefed the Council with
attachments . Discussion was held regarding the number/percentage
of municipalities' voluntary participation in renewable energy
programs, incentives offered to commercial/industrial consumers to
lower energy usage, replacing old power lines, fire prevention,
efficiency/load control, and electric vehicle infrastructure
plans.
#4. 6:20:15 PM UPDATE REGARDING THE REORGANIZATION OF THE
BUSINESS LICENSE OFFICE AND ITS NEW ONLINE CUSTOMER SUPPORT. The
Office will demonstrate its business licensing software and the
user interface that will enable online access for members of the
public to apply, change, and renew business licenses. The software
has been piloted to new business license applicants through a kiosk
in the Business License Office since late December 2019. View
Attachments
Allison Rowland, Mary Beth Thompson, Lisa McCarver, and Aaron
Bentley briefed the Council with attachments . Discussion was held
regarding mitigating new business license inspections, business
owner complaints regarding inspection process, software backend
process problems, and what prompted the software change.
Council Members requested the following item from Staff :
• Review (on a future agenda) the business licensing process
from start to operation.
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#5. Dinner Break
#6. 8:12:21 PM DISCUSSION REGARDING THE PROCESS FOR
INTERVIEWING APPLICANTS AND FILLING THE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT FIVE
VACANCY. View Attachments
Lehua Weaver and Cindy Lou Trishman briefed the Council with
attachments . Discussion was held regarding elimination/inclusion
of questions to the applicants and interview process .
Questions for applicants per Council direction:
1 . What do you think are the top issues facing District Five and
how would you approach each of them?
2 . With limited budget resources and unlimited wants, prioritize
what you see as the top three infrastructure needs for Salt
Lake City over the next five years and explain your choices .
3 . What do you believe your role is as a City Council Member?
4 . What is an example of a City project or program that you think
was a success, and why do you think it was successful?
5 . What are the most important values you will bring to your
time on the City Council?
6 . What else would you like the Council to know that you have
not had a chance to share?
Straw Poll: Support approving applicant questions with a
submittal deadline of Friday, January 17, 2020, at 3 : 00 p.m. All
Council Members were in favor, except Councilmember Rogers, who
was absent for the vote.
Interview process per Council direction:
• Each applicant will be given five minutes to provide a verbal
presentation on topics of their choice to the City Council
during the public meeting.
• After hearing from each applicant, the Council will begin the
process of narrowing the applicants through percentage voting
(eventually resulting in the Council selecting an applicant
to fill the vacancy or choosing to continue the interview
process through a potential second round of interviews) .
• If a second round of interviews are determined necessary,
there may be a second opportunity for the applicants to
address the Council in a two-minute window after narrowing
down the applicants.
• The Council indicated their preference to select a new Council
Member on January 21, 2020, if possible; however, they may
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also make changes to the process depending on how interviews
and voting proceed.
• The Council will select a candidate to fill the District Five
vacancy between January 21, 2020 and no later than February
4 , 2020 .
Straw Poll : Support approving the selection process for
interviewing applicants and filling the City Council District Five
vacancy. All Council Members were in favor, except Councilmember
Rogers, who was absent for the vote.
Ms. Weaver noted interviews would be held in the Council
Chambers . She said once the Council selected a candidate, the City
Recorder would administer the Oath-of-Office to the selected
candidate (that night) and they would then take their seat at the
dais for the remainder of the meeting.
#7. 7:47:20 PM UPDATE REGARDING SALES TAX REVENUES FOR THE
"FUNDING OUR FUTURE" INITIATIVE, RELATED ACTIVITIES AND NEXT
STEPS. Funding Our Future is an initiative to address four critical
needs: public safety, affordable housing, improved streets, and
better transit options. The Council approved a 0. 5% sales tax
increase in May 2018, and during the City's annual budget process,
allocated funding from anticipated sales tax revenue to each of
those needs. View Attachments
Benjamin Luedtke, Mary Beth Thompson, and Lisa McCarver
briefed the Council with attachments . Discussion was held
regarding street funding availability.
#8. 7:51:30 PM UPDATE REGARDING THE FUNDING OUR FUTURE
INITIATIVE, ABOUT ACTIVITIES AND NEXT STEPS RELATED TO THE VOTER-
APPROVED $87 MILLION STREETS RECONSTRUCTION GENERAL OBLIGATION
BOND AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM PROJECTS. Funding Our Future
is an initiative to address four critical needs: public safety,
affordable housing, improved streets, and better transit options.
The Council approved a 0. 5% sales tax increase in May 2018, and
during the City's annual budget process, allocated funding from
anticipated sales tax revenue to each of those needs. View
Attachments
Benjamin Luedtke, Mary Beth Thompson, Matthew Cassell, and
Elizabeth Buehler briefed the Council with attachments . Discussion
was held regarding the street reconstruction schedule for each
District.
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#9. 7:54:34 PM QUARTERLY UPDATE REGARDING TRANSIT-RELATED
PROJECTS AND PROGRESS AS PART OF THE FUNDING OUR FUTURE INITIATIVE,
SUCH AS THE FREQUENT TRANSIT NETWORK, TRANSIT ROUTE IMPROVEMENTS,
AND BRANDING AND OUTREACH EFFORTS. Funding Our Future is an
initiative to address four critical needs: public safety,
affordable housing, improved streets, and better transit options.
The Council approved a 0. 5% sales tax increase in May 2018, and
during the City's annual budget process, allocated funding from
anticipated sales tax revenue to each of those needs. View
Attachments
Benjamin Luedtke, Jonathan Larsen, Julianne Sabula, and Lisa
Shaffer briefed the Council with attachments. Discussion was held
regarding transit stop shelter/bench placement goals, transit stop
maintenance, extending transit stops (zoo and Natural History
Museum) , and graffiti removal .
#10. 8:07:39PM UPDATE REGARDING IMPROVING THE CONDITION OF CITY
STREETS AS PART OF THE FUNDING OUR FUTURE INITIATIVE. Funding Our
Future is an initiative to address four critical needs: public
safety, affordable housing, improved streets, and better transit
options. The Council approved a 0. 5% sales tax increase in May
2018, and during the City's annual budget process, allocated
funding from anticipated sales tax revenue to each of those needs.
View Attachments
Benjamin Luedtke and Lorna Vogt briefed the Council with
attachments . Discussion was held regarding residential street
treatment selection.
STANDING ITEMS
#11. 8:41:14PM REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INCLUDING A
REVIEW OF COUNCIL INFORMATION ITEMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. The Council
may give feedback or staff direction on any item related to City
Council business, including but not limited to scheduling items.
See File M 20-5 for announcements.
#12 . REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
No report/discussion.
#13 . 6:44:01PM CONSIDER A MOTION TO ENTER INTO CLOSED SESSION,
IN KEEPING WITH UTAH CODE §52-4-205 FOR ANY ALLOWED PURPOSE.
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Councilmember Fowler moved and Councilmember Johnston
seconded to enter into Closed Session to discuss the pending or
imminent litigation pursuant to Utah Code §52-4-205 (1) (c) ; and
Attorney-Client matters that are privileged pursuant to Utah Code
§78B-1-137, Utah Open and Public Meetings Law. A roll call vote
was taken. Council Members Johnston, Wharton, Valdemoros, Rogers,
Fowler, and Dugan voted aye. See File M 20-1 for Sworn Statement .
In Attendance: Council Members Johnston, Valdemoros, Wharton,
Rogers, Fowler, and Dugan.
Absent: Councilmember Rogers
Others in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Erin Mendenhall, Benjamin
Luedtke, Samantha Slark, Katherine Lewis, Jennifer Bruno, Lehua
Weaver, Allison Rowland, Nick Tarbet, Lisa Shaffer, Rachel Otto,
Cindy Lou Trishman, and Kory Solorio.
The Closed Session adjourned at 7 :43 p.m.
The Work Session meeting adjourned at 8 :49 p.m.
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This document is not intended to serve as a full transcript
as other items may have been discussed; please refer to the audio
or video for entire content pursuant to Utah Code §52-4-203 (2) (b) .
This document along with the digital recording constitute the
official minutes of the City Council Work Session meeting held
January 14, 2020 .
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