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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - Minutes of the City Council Goal Setting Session 01/11/2014MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL GOAL-SETTING SESSION AMES, IOWA JANUARY 11, 2014 The Ames City Council was called to order by Mayor Ann Campbell at 8:15 a.m. on the 11th day of January, 2014, in the Parks and Recreation Activities Room, 1500 Gateway Hills Park Drive. City Council Members present were Gloria Betcher, Amber Corrieri, Tim Gartin, Matthew Goodman, Chris Nelson, and Peter Orazem. City Manager Steven Schainker, City Attorney Judy Parks, Assistant City Manager Bob Kindred, Assistant City Manager Melissa Mundt, and Management Analyst Brian Phillips were also present. Ex officio Council Member Alexandria Harvey was also present. WELCOME: Donna Gilligan introduced the agenda for the day. She noted that the two desired outcomes were to: 1. Establish a foundation for an effective working relationship as community leaders, and 2. Establish direction for the Ames City Council for the next two years. Ms. Gilligan asked the Council Members to suggest words or phrases to describe the January 4th meeting. Suggestions from the Council Members included: No hidden agendas Opening to listening as a group Actually fun Liked getting to know each other Casual meeting was comfortable Optimism that Council Members are good decision makers Encouraged. The level of respect went up Looking forward to working with group Excited about the future Dedicated group Ms. Gilligan reviewed what was said during the discussion on what makes an effective governing and decision making body. As Alexandria Harvey and Bob Kindred had been absent from the first meeting, Ms. Gilligan asked them to introduce themselves. SWOT ANALYSIS: Ms. Gilligan asked the Council Members to write down strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the City of Ames. These were placed on the SWOT board. The Council discussed the strengths and looked for themes or patterns in their responses. The meeting recessed at 9:11 a.m. and resumed at 9:23 a.m. The Council continued the discussion of themes in their responses for weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. BRAINSTORM GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: Ms. Gilligan asked the Council Members to spend five minutes writing goals that reflected the SWOT analysis comments. The Council Members then removed to the hallway, where they placed the goals on flipchart pages. Ms. Gilligan asked the Council Members to work silently to rearrange the goals into groups. The Council Members then worked to assign names to the goals. The meeting recessed at 12:25 p.m. for lunch and resumed at 12:50 p.m. Ms. Gilligan asked the Council Members to split into groups of two and each analyze one goal. The Council Members would then develop three to four objectives for each goal. The objectives established were placed on the overhead screen for discussion. The objectives that were modified include: Develop Process for Neighborhood Engagement to Proactively Address Community Issues City Manager Steve Schainker noted that some processes are required by law. However, there could be ways to require certain discussions in developments. This item would take some time to work on. Review “One Community” Report Mr. Schainker explained that this item would be addressed in a workshop setting. Inform ACSD about Broader Issues in the Community Council Member Betcher stated that she wanted to send a message to the school district. Mr. Schainker suggested that this topic might be addressed by an annual joint meeting like the one held with the Hospital Board. Mr. Schainker suggested that this item be changed to “Attempt to Identify Mutual Goals with the Ames Community School District.” Develop a Façade Program for Campustown Mr. Schainker said this item would be very exciting to work on. Consult with Main Street Iowa Regarding Downtown Betterment and Funding Opportunities Mr. Schainker stated that this would just require a meeting. Incorporate Environmental Assessment When Implementing or Developing New Policies Mr. Schainker said that this would not be a specific task, but would be incorporated into future reports. Council Member Betcher noted that tearing down a building has an environmental effect. Council Member Gartin stated that he did not know what “environmental assessment” meant in this context. The Council suggested that this item be changed to “Research what other cities are doing to consider the environmental impact when implementing policies.” The Council chose to also add “Explore options for parking standards that improve storm water management.” Build Energy Efficient Strategy into Transportation Planning Mr. Schainker noted that the City will soon be developing a new Long-Range Transportation Plan. Council Member Orazem suggested that he would like to see more construction of multi-use trails. Mr. Schainker suggested that be added as another objective. The Council chose to add “Develop a Greenbelt Trail Plan.” Develop Programs that Encourage Private Business, Homeowners, and Tenants to Reduce Waste, Energy, and Water Usage. The Council Members discussed whether this was already occurring. Council Member Betcher suggested that government could model the way. She suggested the use of Styrofoam cups at City Council meetings was not very sustainable. The Council agreed to eliminate this objective. The items regarding housing needs were discussed. The second objective was replaced with: “Re-evaluate building and zoning codes to determine if changes should be made to improve the existing housing stock at a lower cost.” Increase the Accountability of Funded Human Services Council Member Goodman asked what that meant. He suggested the idea of a youth master plan. Mr. Goodman asked how we process requests for funding related to youth. Mayor Campbell suggested that this was a topic for discussion by the ASSET board. Explore a Supported Community Living Option for Mental Health Mr. Schainker asked whether this was for all of ASSET or just Ames. Assistant City Manager Mundt stated that it would involve going to the ASSET joint funders and asking to investigate it. Council Member Goodman asked if a workshop could be held to coordinate the topics being brought to ASSET. It was decided to replace this objective with: “Proactively Engage with the ASSET Funders in Understanding the Needs in the Community (Including Mental Health and Youth Needs). Develop an Economic Development Policy Mr. Schainker pointed out that the City already has an economic development policy. Council Member Goodman stated that new research exists in effective economic development policy. There are unique ways to address this. Mr. Schainker stated that it would be good for the City Council to review the policy. The Council decided to add the following objective: “Identify characteristics of the type of community that supports ISU’s technology transfer efforts. Mayor Campbell suggested that this list should be emailed to the City Council for them to be worked on at home. The Council Members can rank the objectives with number one being the most important. The list would be due back on Wednesday. It was decided that a meeting would be held on Friday at 3:30 p.m. to complete the discussion. CONCLUSION: Ms. Gilligan asked to conduct a plus/delta review of the meeting: Plus Working through problems Learned new things today List is a good product Good to hear the passion and involvement Donna and City Staff’s input Delta Tend to dig down too deeply Could have skipped the SWOT or goal brainstorm step ADJOURNMENT: The meeting concluded at 4:33 p.m.