Your Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce has made it a priority to be the Fort Collins Voice for Business. In the past two years, the Chamber has been represented at every meeting of the City Council. Additionally, the Chamber monitors the activities of many official City Boards and Commissions.
 
Stay informed. The Fort Collins City Council meets once a week on Tuesday nights. The Chamber will provide members with an overview of the most recent meeting.

The City Council met in a Regular Meeting on Tuesday, November 15, from six p.m. until nearly midnight. All seven council members were present.

There were 30 items on the agenda for action- 24 on the consent calendar (items considered routine that are deemed to require no discussion) and six items requiring individual action.

Citizen Participation

Only eight people spoke during the Citizen Participation part of the agenda. Most noteworthy:

·         A frequent speaker got up and asked about a news report he saw on television that “revealed lavish” expenditures on meals by the city council while cutting staff. (Note: The piece was on Channel 7 News and was, in our opinion, unfair.  Go to their website to view the clip.

·         Another speaker asked the City Council to do something about the Canadian Geese because “they dump on the sidewalk.” (Really… we’re not making this up).

·         Two property owners in downtown asked the City to deny a liquor license to a new bar.

Consent Calendar

None of the items on the Consent Calendar were pulled by the public or the Council and all passed as presented.

Two items on Consent were of note. Item #16 was a rebate of $168,000 in use tax to eligible manufacturers. Mayor Hutchison also reported that the City staff is studying the impact of the use tax. The other item is #27, which is the City Council’s two-year policy agenda. For the first time in memory, the Fort Collins City Council is putting strong emphasis on the economy in its policy agenda.

Rental Occupancy Limits and Registration

Item #33 on the agenda was a series of six related ordinances concerning the issue of rental properties. A long, long standing issue that goes back decades in Fort Collins, the most recent attempts to deal with friction between renters and homeowners has been underway for nearly three years.

The ordinances drew a large crowd of which 54 spoke on the issue. Of those, the vast majority- 49- took the landlord perspective.

If you want detailed information about the ordinances you can get them from the City’s website. In summary, here’s what happened with the two most important ordinances:

·         Ordinance No. 123, 2005 amended the Land Use Code relating to occupancy limits. On a 7-0 vote the Council agreed to limit occupancy in houses to three-unrelated adults, while at the same time broadening the definition of “boarding houses” in non-single family residential neighborhoods.

·         Option A of Ordinance No. 124, 2005 amended the City Code by a 7-0 vote. The fines for violating the occupancy ordinances were softer from first reading of the ordinance but still can reach $1,000. Also, this version of the ordinance did not contain so-called “truth in advertising” provisions and did not require a program to register rentals. Registration was deemed too expensive and intrusive on the privacy of landlords and renters.

Biennial Budget

On a vote of 5-2 (Ohlson, Roy voting “no”) the Council approved the adoption of the 2006-2007 City Budget.

Utility Fee Increases

In four ordinances (Nos. 132-136) the Council raised utility plant investment fees for water, sewer, electricity, and stormwater. The vote was 6-1 with Kurt Kastein opposing. He made the point that the City had not analyzed costs.

Employees Pay Plan

The last big item of the evening was Ordinance No. 139, 2005 adopting the Classified Employees Pay and Classification Plan for 2006. It passed 6-1 with Kelly Ohlson opposing. His opposition stems from how the City applies its policy on the 70^th percentile.

The next meeting of the Council is Tuesday, November 29. This will be a regular meeting starting at 6:00 pm at City Hall.

 
If you are interested in learning more, the Chamber encourages you to attend a City Council meeting. Help the Chamber Show up, Stand up and Speak up.

The Council meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesday evenings. The first and third Tuesday of the month are regular meetings with the second and fourth Tuesday dedicated to work sessions.  Meetings are held in the Council Chambers at City Hall West, 300 Laporte Avenue. Click for more information  or contact David May at davidmay@fcchamber.org or call him at (970) 482-3751 x102.