Agenda light for pre-election City Council meeting

Council members may get home at a reasonable hour after their regular formal meeting on Oct. 27. No public hearings are scheduled, and the list of presentations and business items is short.

Those interested in the resumption of council’s deliberations on changes to the Homestay ordinance will want to mark their calendars for the next council meeting. As part of its consent agenda, council will vote to schedule a meeting on Nov. 17 (and to cancel a previously-scheduled meeting on Nov. 24). Council will hear public input on the Homestay issue, as well as a change to zoning ordinances related to utility substations, at the Nov. 17 meeting.

Proclamation

November 2015 will be proclaimed “Adoption Awareness Month.” According to the website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, every November is designated as National Adoption Month, and this year’s focus is on older children:

This theme calls attention to our nation’s population of older youth in foster care who need loving, permanent families. Youth ages 15 to 18 make up 5 percent of the foster care population – 84,778 youth. Creating lifelong connections for these young people is critical in helping them prepare for successful adulthood.

Consent Agenda

Council members will vote on consent items including:

• Community clean energy policy framework: a policy guide for planning and projects to support the city’s 2013 commitment to support a clean energy economy
• $364,000 contract to Brown and Caldwell for engineering services related to upgrades at the North Fork and Mills River water treatment plants
• Authorization to apply for state emergency solutions grant funding to support emergency shelter and rapid re-homing services for homeless individuals and families
• Authorization to extend third-year options for landscaping services in certain city parks

Presentation

Sister Cities will present an update. A slideshow outlining recent activities of the volunteer organization can be viewed here.

Boards & Commissions

Council will conduct interviews with three candidates for two open seats on the Planning & Zoning Commission prior to the formal council meeting. The interviews will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 in Conference Room 209 at City Hall.

Finalists Thomas Muncy, Guillermo Rodriguez and Tony Hauser have been invited to the interviews. A fourth finalist, Sage Turner, has withdrawn from consideration.

In its regular session, council expects to appoint two of the candidates to the commission.

Other board and commission vacancies include:

• ABC Board
• Historic Resources Commission
• Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee
• Multimodal Transportation Commission

The deadline for consideration is Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 5:00 p.m. Call 259-5601 for an application form.

The full agenda and associated documents can be found here.