FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014

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1 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2014 POST COUNCIL DEBRIEF I met with executive staff Tuesday morning to review your City Council meeting direction and comments from Tuesday, September 2 nd. While there were many items on the agenda, I am providing this post meeting debrief to summarize direction and follow-up by City administration on several of the items discussed. Student Volunteers A student from NMSU suggested that City Council utilize NMSU graduate students to undertake research projects for members of the council. For many years now, the City has had structured programs in place with the MBA and MPA programs at the university. The current request seems to fall outside of these formal programs and may be tied to other colleges or governmental study areas. City Council can work directly with these students on a volunteer basis and the City s Community Liaison will be available to help facilitate these relationships. East Mesa Public Safety Community Input City Council took action to zone 50 acres of land to develop the East Mesa Public Safety Campus. Members of the adjacent neighborhood attended and presented concerns and requests from themselves and others who could not attend due to schedule conflicts. While the City Council has approved the zoning for the project, both Fire Chief Travis Brown and Police Chief Jaime Montoya have offered to visit the adjacent neighborhood and meet with the residents to help them better understand the proposed work on the project site. As future neighbors, we feel this will be a good place to start building positive relationships. Noise Ordinance A member of City Council reported concerns related to noise emanating into neighborhoods from adjacent commercial establishments in the core area of the City. The specific location is near Amador Avenue and Solano Drive. City administration will direct a focused effort in the area to address these reports. City Population Change Over Time - As part of a discussion on public transportation, a member of City Council inquired about population changes within the city over the years. A table (excerpt from the Vision 2040 document) containing this information is included on the next page. This list is not intended to be inclusive of all direction given, but it is a good representation of the major items raised. 1

2 PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE ACTIVITY REPORTS City administration and departments work closely with the City s Public Information Office (PIO) on a multitude of projects; advertising, public notices, educational messaging and much more. I find it helpful to occasionally feature and report on the good work of one of our departments. In an effort to illustrate what is done by PIO, staff developed two documents. One is a summary of activities covering the past six months, and the other is an action plan covering the next six months. Activity Report: PIO does much more than simply provide information in numerous formats. It is engaged in many projects requiring graphic design, developing outdoor advertising campaigns, providing photographic services for the city, issuing news releases (almost daily), developing employee newsletters, developing specialty publications, issuing the quarterly Community Connection report to the citizens, coordinating the development of newspaper advertisements for City activities, managing social media, utilizing emergency notification systems such as Nixle and staffing the main switchboard and information desk in the City Hall lobby. Additionally, PIO manages and operates CLC-TV, Comcast channel 20, to produce live broadcasts of City Council work sessions, regular meetings, Tax Increment Development District (TIDD) board meetings and numerous other community meeting events. They develop a monthly oneon-one interview on topics of community interest called Ask The. Weekly radio reports are provided covering current events and topics of interest. PIO also maintains a website, CLCTV.COM where live and archive video can be access anytime. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PIO ACTIVITY REPORT Action Plan: An action plan is in place covering activities scheduled through the end of this calendar year. Of course, we will see many of the same type of projects and activities that are reported above, but there are also several special projects anticipated as well. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE PIO ACTION PLAN The activities are numerous and voluminous, I urge you to review both reports for details. 2

3 CLC-TV Adds New Programming By Mark Winson, ACM/COO The City of Las Cruces will begin airing a new series on CLC-TV, Comcast channel 20. Starting at 7 p.m. Sunday, September 7 th, CLC-TV will air New Mexico True Television. The thirty-minute program features different cities and attractions throughout New Mexico. From small, out-of-the-way places to more familiar locations, the TV show is entertaining and informative. Each episode will air for one-month. Episode 1 takes viewers to Northeast New Mexico and a visit to an alpaca ranch, Old Pass Gallery, Shuler Theater, Vermejo Park Ranch, and the St. James Hotel. CLC-TV can also be viewed anytime online at CLCTV.C0M FINANCIAL AND INVESTMENT REPORTS My office receives quite a number of reports with excellent information to help me keep an eye on the dashboard of City operations. One is the Quarterly Financial Report that I am providing. It is actually comprised of two individual reports. One includes the General Fund, and the other covers all operating activity funds including the General Fund and Utilities. Both reports include only operating information year-to-date through June 30 of this year. Financial Services Director Victoria Fredrick and her Accounting Managers Maria Villa and Melissa Nelson, develop these reports to keep me and appropriate staff updated with timely and relevant information to enable City Council to be appropriately updated and advised about these matters. The Investment Report will continue to be developed by the City Treasurer. Some of the noteworthy content includes General Fund revenues at 99% of budget with expenditures being held to 91% of the budget with all departments contributing to the savings. Ending balances have met and exceeded twice the required reserve amount. The total City investment portfolio has a yield of 1.87% for the final quarter of the year. There is quite a lot of information contained in these reports. I urge you to browse them and inquire about any elements where you might have questions. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE QUARTERLY FINANCIAL REPORT JUNE

4 KEEP LAS CRUCES BEAUTIFUL AWARD Keep Las Cruces Beautiful (KLCB) has received its sixth consecutive Gold Award from New Mexico Clean and Beautiful. KLCB is a program of the Las Cruces Police Department s Codes Enforcement Division. It has been honored with a Gold Award each year since STATUS OF ARROYO PLAN By Brian Denmark, ACM/COO The 2013 award signifies that KLCB maintains good standing with the Keep America Beautiful and New Mexico Clean and Beautiful campaigns. KLCB has a network of thousands of volunteers who help with the citywide cleanups, graffiti abatement and other beautification projects within the city. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS KLCB AWARD INFORMATION Community Development Department staff are in the process of completing a final draft Arroyo Plan for City Council consideration in the near future. The Planning and Zoning Commission postponed action on the plan at its meeting on June 24 th, to ensure additional public comment was achieved, as well as revisions based on concerns expressed by commission members. As a result, staff conducted a public hearing on July 23 rd, after sending out 2,100 property owner notifications, and meeting with local developers and engineers. Most concerns pertained to the lack of clarity as it relates to the plan s arroyo characterization model, which staff is in the process of addressing through the latest revisions to the plan. The final draft is nearly complete and will be available for review. Staff anticipates forwarding the proposed plan back to the Planning and Zoning Commission at its regular meeting in October for a recommendation to the City Council. SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 TH City Council will hold a special meeting on Monday, September 8 th at 1 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall. The purpose of the meeting is primarily to address items relating to the proposed minimum wage initiative. Two additional items were added in an effort to accommodate a special event planned for the end of the month. The following is a brief summary of the items slated for action: Southwest Environmental Center Special Event A resolution will be presented authorizing High Desert Brewing Company to proceed with permitting from the state for the sale and consumption of beer. 4

5 Another resolution authorizes St. Clair Winery & Bistro to also proceed with permitting from the state for the sale and consumption of wine, both within a restricted and secured area for an event sponsored by the Southwest Environmental Center on Saturday, September 27 th. City Council is required to review and approve of such applications before the state will consider them. Minimum Wage Ordinance A final vote on an ordinance to raise minimum wage, index minimum wage to inflation, and establish procedures for enforcement will be presented. This ordinance is a result of a community initiative and petition asking City Council to undertake these changes. Special Election A resolution is included in the agenda that will only be heard if the City Council denies the aforementioned minimum wage ordinance. If it is heard, the resolution calls for a special election to be held on Tuesday, November 4 th, with a ballot question on the same ordinance and terms as defined by the minimum wage ordinance referenced above. This document includes the proposed ballot question in English and Spanish, so appropriate actions can proceed in the event City Council so authorizes. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION PREVIEW FOR MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 th The following item is scheduled for discussion by City Council on Monday, September 8 th, immediately following the special City Council meeting described above. This is a nonaction item where more in-depth discussion will occur compared to items discussed in regular City Council meetings. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA Welcome to Las Cruces Sign The City recognizes the value of marketing Las Cruces and welcoming guests, visitors and residents alike. For quite some time we have undertaken projects that help motorists know they are entering our community. They include signage along US-70 east of Las Cruces. Currently, we are re-establishing the Roadrunner sculpture on the West Mesa near the NMDOT rest area off of I-10. In that same general area, we are proposing to install the newest welcome sign. The work session discussion will seek input on design characteristics and elements, as well as suggestions for sign placement. THE WEEK AHEAD STANDARD, NON-STANDARD, OPERATIONAL AND JOINT BOARD AND COMMITTEE MEETINGS Courtesy of the Public Information Office 5

6 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 8, a.m. 12 p.m. University District Citizens' Design Review Board Meeting - City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Conference Room 1158 (CANCELLED) 1 5 p.m. Special City Council Meeting - City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Council Chambers City Council Work Session - City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Council Chambers (Immediately following the Special City Council Meeting). 5 5:30 p.m. City Council Agenda Setting Meeting - City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Council Chambers (Immediately following the City Council Work Session). TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9, a.m. 12 p.m. City Art Board - City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Conference Room 2007-A WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 10, a.m. Development Review Committee - City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Conference Room a.m. Valley Regional Dispatch Authority Board of Directors Meeting W. Lohman Ave., Conference Room 1 3 p.m. MPO Policy Committee Meeting - City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Council Chambers THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 11, a.m. Senior Programs Advisory Board Meeting - Sage Café, 6121 Reynolds Dr. 2 4 p.m. Extra-Territorial Development Review Committee - City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Conference Room p.m. Las Cruces Utilities Board of Commissioners Meeting - Utilities Center, 680 N. Motel Blvd., Conference Room 225 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2014 No Scheduled Meetings Meeting dates for boards and committees are gathered from the public meetings calendar in Outlook. Meetings may be cancelled or scheduled after this notice is issued. 6