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11/02/2023 - Meeting Minutes PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY Formal Meeting Thursday,November 2,2023 5:00 p.m.—7:45 p.m. Join Via Zoom:https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87469084580'?pwd—Zn10S2Myd2UwdkNITm9GTG5YZ1JLZz09 Or Join at the Public Lands Administrative Building: 1965 W.500 S.Salt Lake City,UT 84104 Upstairs Parks Training Room Join by phone Phone:1-253-215-8782 Webinar ID:874 6908 4580 Access code:393460 APPROVED MINUTES 1. Convening the Meeting 5:00 PM A. Call to order - Talula Pontuti - Dave John - Meridith Benally - Aaron Wiley - Phil Carroll - Melanie Pehrson - Jenny Hewson Kerri Nakamura Samantha Finch Ginger Cannon - Brianna Binnebose B. Chair Comments 5 mins Ms. Binnebose thanked everyone for completing the prioritization process for CIP and including their open-ended comments. She shared that Ms. Pontuti is the newest member of the communications subcommittee, and she will be helping with letter writing. 2. Approval of Minutes 5:05 PM — Approve October 5, 2023 meeting minutes 5 mins Ms. Cannon motioned to approve the October minutes. Mr. Carroll seconded the motion.The Board unanimously voted to approve the October minutes. 3. Public Comment 5:10 PM Verbal comments are limited to no more than 3 minutes; 15 minutes total. Written comments are welcome. Ms. Anne Cannon would like to thank Urban Forestry for the packet of information they sent for a tree she hopes to be planted this November in her front yard. 4. Director's Report 5:25 PM — Summary of current high-priority department items.—Kristin Riker 5 mins Ms. Riker said they're always in the middle of multiple projects, and one of the focuses right now is pulling together the FY2024/2025 Budget Insights. Ms. Larsen shared her screen to display photos of staff out planting.The greenhouses have been used for native plantings, and they've taken seeds from places in Utah and grown them throughout the summer.They've done plantings in Parley's Historic Nature Park, Cornell Water Lift Station, with 2,500 plugs and 150 wetland boxes. Ms. Riker- PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY said since they've gotten more positions with the budget, they are dedicated to adding two more native planting sites. Right now,they have Fairmont Park and Mary Springs. Ms. Riker continued to discuss the native planting. 5. Staff Presentations, Updates & Discussions 5:30 PM A. CIP Presentation.—Tom Millar 75 mins Mr. Millar gave a quick update on how the CIP process will go next year. Now that they have more information from the finance department.The internal applications will be due on January 5th. Staff still anticipates completing those in mid-December, but then after January 5th, a new city-wide committee called the Capital Asset Planning Committee (CAP) will meet to discuss those applications, both internal and constituent, to run through another scoring and criteria matrix, and then offer a city-wide recommendation to the CDCIP Board. In the future, the CAP Committee will prioritize all the ideas and move different department ideas from different years more in line with each other.As a City,they have all their capital asset and capital investment planning aligned. Ms. Pehrson asked who represents that group. Mr. Millar said it's representatives and department leaders from all departments and divisions within the City. It doesn't change anything for PNUT this year. Mr. Wiley asked if the Board makes recommendations, and then it goes to the CAP committee. Mr. Millar said the CAP Committee might meet regularly throughout the year as it's not just for CIP but all capital asset planning, such as impact fees, grants, and budget amendments.The Board and staff continued to discuss the new CAP Committee. Ms. Nakamura asked if any constituent applications overlapped with the internal ones. Mr. Miller said he will highlight those.There are 21 applications this year. Last year, there were 29 total for the whole city constituent applications, and 15 were Public Lands. Mr. Millar highlighted the constituent applications that overlap with internal applications. - Faultline Park Playground—Courts & Playgrounds - Victory Park Tennis Court Resurfacing—Courts & Playgrounds - International Peace Gardens—Glendale/Emerald Ribbon - Playground Shade—Courts & Playgrounds Mr. Millar began highlighting all the projects: - 51h West Commons Conversation Centers: the 500 W parks blocks west of the Gateway.This project aims to add space for people to face each other and have conversations. So picnic tables, benches, etc.This will create more active seating. - 800 East Parks and Pathway: the constituent doesn't have a fully baked idea, so that the staff will be working with them on this.They want more activity in these planted grassy tree line medians on the streets; 600 East, 800 East, and 800 West from South Temple to 900 South were included on their application. Maybe add some crosswalks, ramps,walking paths, and more trees, seating, etc. - Citywide Park Restroom Planning Study and Fairmont Restroom Conceptual Design: this is a repeat application, same applicant, and they're interested in making the bathrooms cleaner, safer, more accessible, open longer, less susceptible to damage,vandalism, camping, etc. through better design, materials, location, and study. Staff would like to study these things and then develop a design that can be implemented at Fairmont first as a pilot. The staff and Board continued to discuss the bathrooms at Fairmont. - Curtis Park Reimagined: Curtis Park is located at 2200 E and about 1400 S. Currently, it's just grass, benches, and sidewalks. No one loves using this park, so this project would replicate their doing with other playgrounds with the GO Bond, aiming to make it more fun and inviting. PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY - East Bench Preserve:This is a consistent application from a partner staff has been working with on the trails.This project is close to "H" rock.This project would include improving the trailheads on either side of the "H" rock, the trails themselves, and creating a more formalized area. - Equal Grounds Project (Calisthenics Fitness Area within Liberty Park): a specific area hasn't been identified yet, but this would be outdoor fitness equipment. Ms. Riker said they brought this to the planning commission around six years ago, and it was shot down because Liberty Park is a historic park. Mr. Millar said they had a similar application last year with someone who wanted to add additional crosswalks and access to Liberty Park on the 500 E side. It wasn't funded since it would be an alteration to a historic site.The Board and staff continued to discuss the Liberty Park project. - Fairmont Park Basketball Court:this project is to expand the existing half-court basketball court into a full-court.The applicant for this project is 11 years old.This would be full regulation-size hoops and additional lighting and benches. - Fairmont Park East Enhancement: this project would enhance the area around the pond along the east side of Fairmont. It hasn't been very active.As the properties redevelop on the east side, staff anticipates a lot more activity and demand on that side of the park. - Faultline Park Playground: this playground is about 20 years old. Bruce Brown,the landscape architect assigned to this project, also installed the playground 20 years ago. - First Encampment Park: this is a repeat application from last year to enhance the assets that are currently there and to add more historical and interpretive signage.The Board and staff continued to discuss this project. - Internal Peace Gardens: this application came from the Rotary Club and focuses on the element of peace, improving the education around peace, and the different gardens. The biggest cost they've proposed with this project is a perimeter fence so it can be secured at night or when it's not open. - Jordan River Trail Food Forest+ Partner Garden: this project will formalize and potentially expand the Og-Woi Garden formed here.This is in collaboration with Wasatch Community Gardens, which maintains it. - Jordan River Trail Safer Crossing Improvements:this project is to improve the Jordan River trail and the crossing at 200 S, right by Fisher Mansion. - Liberty Park Greenhouse Restoration: this is a repeat application.The greenhouse is in bad shape, and this project would assess and recommend designing physical improvements to the greenhouse.This would not only continue the greenhouse operation but also enhance the beauty and condition of that historic asset.The Board and staff continued to discuss the greenhouse project. - Liberty Well Community Garden: adding a garden to the west side of 700 E.This would add capacity to the Liberty Well Community Garden. - Playground Shade:the constituent listed every playground in their application.This would cost more than $500,00, so they will work with the constituents and experts to determine which playgrounds they should focus on.The Board and staff continued to discuss the playground shade project. - Pocket Park Community Space—Jake Garn Way: this is a nice green space close to the Jordan River, so that this project would enhance/formalize this area. Adding a playground, some walkways, benches, and signages, and improving the lighting within the park along the existing walkways. - Poplar Grove Park Lighting: this project is to improve the perimeter lighting within the park along the existing walkways.The staff recently invested a lot of money into the park with a full basketball court,tennis, pickleball, and horseshoes. - Riverside Park Pathway Loop:this would be putting a loop trail around Riverside Park using the Jordan River Trail as the western quarter of that loop.This would be formalizing the PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY walkway and widening and making it a path around the entire park, not just the amenities. The Board and staff continued to discuss the project. - Street Soccer and Futsal Courts (1:1 Match): Mr. Millar shared they recently converted an underutilized volleyball court into a futsal court at Sherwood Park.This project is a City match of$300,000 to invest$600,000 in converting more underutilized courts into futsal courts. Mr. Wiley shared he didn't realize how big of an impact the Sherwood Park futsal court would have on the community. He said he saw so many people together utilizing this space. - Victory Park Tennis Courts Resurfacing:this project would be resurfacing the existing tennis courts and putting up a practice wall. Mr. Carroll and Mr. Millar asked if the Board wanted to pick 10 of these 21 projects in their letter. Mr. Millar reminded the Board that since it's not Public Lands submitting the applications, all 21 will move forward to the CDCIP. Ms. Binnebose will send out a new form and track the constituent applications. Ms. Riker said the Board could share the full ranking with the CDCIP. Ms. Binnebose asked the Board if they would like to rank 10 or 21 of the constituent applications. Ms. Cannon said not knowing how the CDCIP ranks applications, it's hard to answer that question. Ms. Cannon said she thinks there would be some value in seeing all of them. Ms. Nakamura agrees with ranking all of them.They can still have a top 10, but show how they ranked all of them. Ms. Binnebose said they've ranked all of them in the past but turned in their top choices.The Board and staff continued to discuss rankings and the scoring system. Ms. Riker shared some examples of ranking criteria, such as required by law, protection of existing assets, health and safety, and other things like sustainability and equity. Ms. Riker said when staff looked at ranking their projects,they looked at items like activating a park community support or crime stats.The Board and staff continued to discuss criteria and ranking processes. Mr. Carroll asked how long the Board has to rank these projects. Ms. Binnebose said by the start of the December meeting.The letter will need to be submitted by mid-December. Ms. Binnebose and Ms. Pontuti will be starting the draft of the letter. She hopes folks will have things done ahead of time before the meeting. Mr. Carroll asked if the comments are required. Mr. Millar said the commentaries are helpful, especially for the internal applications, as they will help staff create their narratives for the applications. Staff provides support to the constituent applications, but comments could help provide them feedback. Ms. Pontuti thinks doing that is a great opportunity for transparency. Mr. Carroll said he filled out a comment about why he didn't select specific projects. Ms. Cannon asked if the staff had ranked the applications. Ms. Riker said no because the City doesn't want them to. Mr. Millar said what staff is required to do is add an attachment to all the applications with staff comments. The Board and staff continued to discuss comments on the applications. Ms. Hewson asked about the calisthenics project and whether it's more of an individual request versus a community request. Mr. Millar said there is a requirement for staff and the constituent to attach community support, whether it's a community council, group, or organization letter. Ms. Hewson asked if staff could share any projects they are concerned about. She thinks having that information would help her rank. Ms. Riker shared an example of a constituent application for a playground on a parcel of land that wasn't in Public Land's inventory and already slated for affordable housing. Staff wrote a letter explaining these reasons with the application. Ms. Hewson said she also noticed that two projects are for District 1 and worries about the equity issue. She said, for example, for Fairmont,there are multiple applications. She knows there are a lot of needs in this area, and it also has an active Friends of Group. She also noticed no applications for District 3 and asked if that was unusual. Mr. Millar said they've had a normal number of applications for that district in the last few years. Ms. Pehrson asked how to compare it to other funding sources and projects already in the works. Ms. Riker said this is a very imperfect process as not many cities go PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY through this process. Ms. Finch suggested doing two rounds of ranking as she worries about a lack of consensus.The Board and staff continued to discuss the ranking process. Ms. Finch asked if they would rank all 21 applications and have a discussion in the December meeting, and then people could have a couple of days to change their rankings based on the discussion. Ms. Cannon suggested an earlier deadline. Ms. Binnebose said there need to be some hard deadlines.The first round needs to be done by the start of the Communications Subcommittee meeting on Tuesday, November 28`". Ms. Riker said she likes the Board's system is great. Mr. Millar clarified staff comments on the constituent applications.The Board and staff continued to discuss application comments. Mr. Whittaker said he doesn't know if it's a subcommittee the Board makes, but he would love it if the Board had some sort of shared method to rank by their priorities and how it goes back to their mission. Ms. Binnebose suggested that Mr. Whittaker and Mr. Wiley could create a scoring matrix. Ms. Binnebose is open to a better process.The Board and staff continued to discuss the ranking process and the Board's comments on the applications. Ms. Binnebose suggested for next year the two-round system. Members submit their votes and comments before the meeting, Board members discuss during the next meeting, and then Board members have until the following Monday to amend their rankings—using the same system they're currently using. Ms. Nakamura said after hearing Mr.John and Ms. Benally have until Monday to submit their votes, and after tonight's discussion, she would like to amend her votes. Ms. Binnebose said Board members could have until 5 PM on Monday to amend their votes.The Board and staff continued to discuss the ranking process. Mr. Millar said he will update the constituent application to reflect if it's related or supports a project already happening.The Board and staff continued to discuss the projects. Ms. Nakamura suggested having some sort of perpetuity fund to pull from each year to two playgrounds yearly. Ms. Riker said they did something like that during Covid to have some funding for deferred maintenance and specified some areas but weren't specific with playgrounds and other amenities.The council didn't like this;they didn't want Public Lands to pick the project. Ms. Riker shared there are a lot of plans, but the Council doesn't like funding plans.The Board and staff continued to discuss the growth and development of the Public Lands Department. Ms. Riker said part of their budget insights is to ask for four more planners. Mr. Millar said there are nearly 80 projects, so each person has about 10. Ms. Nakamura asked if they had a list of all the open projects. Mr. Millar will share that list with Ms. Larsen, and she will share it with the Board. Ms. Binnebose summarized that for the constituent applications,two rounds of voting and comments are required. Everyone will have the opportunity to re-rank the internal projects by the end of the day Monday. Fleet Block will be removed from the list per staff request. Constituent applications ranking is due by November 28 at 7 PM. Staff will share the map once it's ready. B. Staff Updates.—Ashlyn Larsen 5 mins Ms. Larsen shared her screen to display a draft agenda for the retreat in January. Ms. Larsen asked Ms. Riker if a Golf update would go under her general update. Ms. Riker said Mr. Matt Kammeyer, Golf Director, could give the update. Ms. Binnebose said they can send this out with the December agenda for the Board to review. Ms. Binnebose reminded everyone that the December meeting will be busy with CIP. Ms. Hewson suggested moving the Urban Forestry update she requested to February instead. Ms. Pehrson suggested switching the Foothills update to December instead. Ms. Riker said maybe the staff is still working out some details from the evaluation. Ms. Larsen asked if the Board wants the Urban Forestry update switched to February and Foothills to December. Ms. Binnebose suggested leaving the Foothills on the retreat agenda and bumping Urban Forestry to PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY February so the Board can focus on CIP in December.The Board and staff continued to discuss the December agenda. Ms. Nakamura asked if there were specific things staff would need from the Board for any staff updates on the retreat. Ms. Riker said staff would prepare a presentation and then open it to questions and discussion about the project, so there wouldn't be much Board members would need to do. Ms. Binnebose explained another reason she wanted to get the agenda in front of everyone now is to start thinking about the Board discussion topic on creating new subcommittees. Some subcommittee ideas were Jordan River, 5016, Rec Policies, Golf, and Indigenous-specific.The Board continued to discuss the creation of new subcommittees. Ms. Finch said she thought a Miller Park discussion would be at the retreat. Ms. Larsen will update the draft agenda. Ms. Finch also asked if they would review their power and duties as a Board. Ms. Riker and Ms. Larsen will work with legal on having someone come and speak to the Board. 6. Board Discussion 6:50 PM A. CIP Prioritization and Rankings Discussion for Internal Applications 35 mins Ms. Larsen displayed her screen to see the prioritization results for internal CIP applications. Ms. Cannon said she maybe did something wrong, and then she returned and put '5s on everything. Ms. Cannon will correct her submission. A couple of Board members hadn't submitted, and with Ms. Cannon needing to fix hers, Ms. Binnebose gave everyone until the end of business on Monday to input and correct their submissions.The top choices so far are Glendale Emerald Ribbon, Courts& Playgrounds, Memory Grove, Building Resilient, and Fleet Block. Ms. Hewson asked for clarity on the count. Ms. Binnebose explained that the count is how many Board members ranked that item. Mr. Millar said they will probably be nixing Fleet Block;they anticipate spending the bond money on the things they anticipate spending in this application. If they need additional funding,they will apply for impact fees. Ms. Binnebose reminded everyone they could read everyone else's open comments if they'd like.These comments are helpful as they make writing the letter of support easier. Ms. Riker said she was glad to see the stage last.They'll probably still ask it because they can use impact fees, so it doesn't compete with anything else. Ms. Cannon is happy to see it in the top five; if Fleet Block moves, some changes will be based on more rankings. She's happy to see the Jordan River, Reliant Lands, and Property Acquisition in the top few as these have a large impact. Mr. Millar would like to hear the Board's thoughts on the rankings. Ms. Finch said she ranked the Emerald Ribbon lower because of all the funding and focus it's already getting this year because of the GO Bond. She ranked the RAC higher because of the public access opportunities. Ms. Hewson ranked the Emerald Ribbon plan higher because it impacts a diverse population and spans multiple geographies. She also wonders if there were any opportunities for some fund matching. Mr. Carroll ranked Memory Grove high and the Property Acquisitions, as land isn't getting cheaper.The Board and staff discussed the Property Acquisitions project. Ms. Cannon said she ranked the RAC and Property Acquisitions higher. She shared that she tends to think about other funding sources, where projects are in their stages, and if impact fees can be used. She continued to say she looks at how the finance drives some of these and whether these projects are servicing the whole city. Ms. Cannon continued to discuss her ranking process. Ms. Pehrson shared she ranked the Emerald Ribbon high as it's a meaningful investment they can give the West Side. She thinks people base whether the city cares about the West Side on how they take care of it. It's accessible to everyone, and having the one-to-one match is a massive argument for funding as it could help make a more significant impact. Ms. Pehrson shared she's not as familiar PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY with the RAC projects, and she wonders if there are other ways to get funding for that and more clear assurance that the community could benefit. Ms. Pontuti appreciates all the work for the Jordan River(Emerald Ribbon), and that's important to her. She shared she was also excited about the Green Loop project. She was thinking about the urban island impact of greenery in the downtown area. She shared with the Property Acquisitions that she wants the land preserved in a green space and has different opportunities for community management of the lands. Ms. Pehrson asked if Public Lands already owns the land that would be developed. Mr. Millar said yes. Ms. Riker added it's protected land water conservation, so only outdoor recreation can happen there. Ms. Nakamura suggested returning next year with the RAC with a plan to negotiate with the Administration and Council and use impact fees since it's an expansion. She also said it's so far away and hard to get to. She is pressed to see how it serves the community.The Board and staff continued to discuss the RAC project. Ms. Binnebose liked the one-to-one match for the Emerald Ribbon. She shared she ranked hers based on maintaining the current infrastructure. She said she understands the rising cost of land in the future, but it's harder to justify that if we don't take care of what we already have. She loves these big projects, but when we see concerns of stuff falling into disrepair and not being activated because there's no budget for programming,this is what she struggles with and wishes programming could be part of the CIP process. Ms. Binnebose continued to discuss activating the public space. Mr. Millar suggested including a paragraph after their top five rankings, or however many they choose,for the CDCIP Board to understand how six-nine ranked out since they are taking Fleet Block out. Mr. Millar shared that he likes how the Board has a ranking system with count and average rank. Regarding the Green Loop, Ms. Hewson suggested that there is a potential to marry it with the Library Plaza. Ms. Riker said the Green Loop has potential for matching funds with Transportation. She added it could find any other funding.The Board and staff continued to discuss the Green Loop project. Ms. Riker and Mr. Millar said tours are going through the 30th for the Green Loop held by Public Lands,Transportation, Engineering, and their design consultants,who are in town for a few days. Mr. Millar suggested coordinating different groups of PNUT Board members going on tours. The Board and staff continued to discuss the Green Loop. Mr. Wiley shared he is so excited to see Courts & Playgrounds as a high-ranking CIP application. He said it's probably one of the biggest things that he and his family use. He's excited for some more modern playgrounds. Ms. Pehrson said for the Building Resilient project, it was cool to read the projects that have already been successful. She would love to see this one happen. Mr. Millar thanked the Board for their comments; he will share them with his team on Monday so they can start making edits. Ms. Binnebose asked if they could be given until Monday's end of business day. Ms. Binnebose shared with Mr. Millar he can find the Board's open-ended comments on the ranking form. Mr.John asked if the Jordan River Garden project was the Og-Woi Gardens. Mr. Millar said yes; there is a current garden there, and this project would formalize it and add an orchard.The Board and staff continued to discuss the community gardens. B. Subcommittee Reporting 5 mins Communications Subcommittee Ms. Binnebose said the Communications Subcommittee update was the prioritization of CIP, so they don't have much else to report outside of that.They are also planning on canceling their December meeting. PARKS,NATURAL LANDS,URBAN FORESTRY AND TRAILS ADVISORY BOARD of SALT LAKE CITY Trails Subcommittee Mr. Carroll said Trails didn't meet. C. Board comments and question period 5 mins Ms. Benally said she is working with a group that will do a presentation on indigenous views regarding parks. She would like to share this presentation with the PNUT Board soon. She's not sure how it would be incorporated into CIP. Everything seems to be more on a development level and acquiring indigenous plants in each park.The Board and staff continued to discuss this presentation. Mr. Wiley asked if anything is being done differently than last year with how much snow we received. Specifically,the baseball fields were not being addressed because all the resources were diverted to flooding. Ms. Riker said that's a tricky question because they will always pull our people away if the City has an emergency. Last year was interesting because it stayed cold for so long in the year that staff wouldn't have been able to do any work and would have been behind anyway. She continued to say they partnered with other groups like Public Utilities and Streets to clear some creekways. She hopes because of the clearing work they did this year, it shouldn't be as bad next. Other than that,there's not much staff could do; more staff would help. Mr. Wiley asked about leveraging. He suggested involving the community in helping with creating sandbags. Ms. Riker said it was a great volunteer idea and to work with the staff volunteer coordinator, Van Hoover. Ms. Riker shared that some people want to volunteer, but they don't know what to do, so they'll work with Mr. Hoover. Ms. Hewson shared an example of a post-Memorial Day cemetery clean-up. Ms. Riker shared that the Cemetery has a strong Friends Of Group, which sometimes helps organize people. Mr. Wiley asked what the process is for creating a Friends of Group. Ms. Riker said some forms would need to be completed and to work with Mr. Hoover. Mr. Carroll shared that in relation to Indigenous Peoples Month, he read a statement during his community council meeting and that there's a lot of interest, at least in the avenues, about doing some education as that story isn't being shared. Ms. Benally said that would be a part of the presentation she mentioned. Ms. Nakamura asked if the 9-Line Trail was part of the trail ecosystem the Trails Subcommittee oversees. Mr. Carroll said they focus on the Foothills. Mr. Carroll said it could be a separate subcommittee, and the Trails Subcommittee is trying to work through the issues with the trails and reconstruction. Ms. Riker said the 9-Line is part of park maintenance, which is slightly different from the Foothill Trail system. Ms. Riker said Parks only has portions of the 9-Line, and Parks isn't building it.Transportation designs it, engineering builds it, and Parks maintains it. The Board and staff continued to discuss the 9-Line. Ms. Binnebose reminded everyone that December is chair and vice-chair nominations, and January is voting. Ms. Finch asked if the Board will accept nominations throughout December or if people have to come with nominations in the December meeting. Ms. Binnebose said people will come with nominations for the December meeting, and then Board members have time to accept the nominations throughout December. D. Next meeting: December 7, 2023 5 mins E. Request for future agenda items 5 mins Mr. Carroll motioned to adjourn the meeting. Ms. Finch seconded the motion. The Board unanimously voted to adjourn the meeting. 7. Adjourn 7:45 PM