Thread by @shayshinecastle

Crap! It's almost 6 p.m. and I haven't done my obligatory, "Hey #Boulder, it's city council night!" tweet yet.

Here's what's on tonight (at least the big 'uns): Adoption of the open space master plan. Last visited in a joint study session with OSBT in June. boulderbeat.news/2019/05/15/59-…

Changes to use tables in the Opportunity Zone and possible lifting of the demolition and development moratorium EXCEPT for the areas that contain old, affordable apartments. Those will likely stay under a demo ban.

That was last visited earlier this summer, too: boulderbeat.news/2019/05/29/bou…

Not a public hearing, but City Attorney Tom Carr, City Manager Jane Brautigam and Municipal Judge Linda Cooke are all likely getting raises. More on that later, bc it's interesting.

We've got one other stuff going on, too. Like annexation of the Knollwood subdivision, and something else I didn't have time to read the packet about.

But I HAVE been working! I did a candidate interview Saturday and another one yesterday. 12 down; 3 to go.

VERY loud and crowded in here tonight. There are ppl with owl signs, bee antenna(sp?) on.

New agenda item: Council will discuss scheduling another discussion on large homes / large lots "as time allows."

This meeting is already supposed to last until midnight, so....

Lots of buzz/bee jokes from council, most of whom are wearing bee antenna. Up to 3 so far. I was done after one.

Sorry for the lack of tweets; Morzel is declaring September "Pollinator Month"; I'm re-watching the Raucous Caucus to make sure candidates are staying consistent. It was so long ago, I forgot about it!
facebook.com/boulderprogres…

"If we don't do anything, it will spell out our doom," Morzel says. (RE: Pollinator Month)

Carlisle is now declaring Pride Week, Sept. 3-8. I totally forgot Boulder's Pride is in Sept!

Happy Pride, ya'll!

Also Mardi Moore's rainbow button-up is 🔥
Gotta get me one of those.

There's a new LGBTQ Chamber in town, apparently. That's great! Sunday is Pridefest, Moore is reminding folks. Find events, etc. here. outboulder.org/events?view=ca…

Boulder continues to lead in this area, Moore says. Brautigam came to her in 2013 and said the city needed to do more: Help us.

Praising some of the actions, including inclusive bathrooms at the library, the LGBTQ police liaisons, the painted crosswalks.

"People feel included by a simple act," Moore said.

Also praising the vaping regs, bc vaping is even bigger in the LGBTQ youth community than the community at large.

"Thank you for all the work you do, and thank you for this proclamation."

We're moving into open comment. I'll keep an ear out and tweet what's relevant.

Cheryl Hall is here with a 709-signature petition against zoning changes in the RE and RR zoning districts.

There are no scientific studies or research showing the changes will enhance the neighborhood character or promote affordability? There are 1,700 units in development right now, according to the Camera, she says. Increasing density here may be unnecessary.

Stephen Haydel is here to talk about the 30th Street plungers! "It really exposed how bad our unprotected bike lanes are."

He is proposing getting rid of a lane on 30th; it can be done in 2 wks and cost $200K vs the $40M(ish) 30th St realignment the city is planning over the next decade or so.

We've had a couple speakers in favor of the open space tax; Ginger Tanner from Boulder Vapor House here protesting the city's new regulations before a licensing program is in place.

And Patrick Murphy, of course.

Amanda Bickel is asking that council keep the 20-yr extension for the open space tax. Councilwoman Mary Young has suggested shortening that to 10 bc of all the city's unfunded needs:

It would be "irresponsible not to consider all of the other city-wide unfunded ongoing needs as we make this decision," she wrote.

Darren O'Connor is saying that the police's Homeless Outreach Team is currently inactive. Wants it to be re-upped. And some of the officers to be removed based on their public statements and "problematic" interactions.

Elizabeth Black is back to teach us more about Colorado water law! I *love* this woman and her presentations. Such a public service.

Seriously, city of Boulder, hire this woman.

Peter Mayer from PLAN Boulder is here, speaking for that group, in favor of the open space tax for the full 20 years. "10 years is simply not long enough" given the needs across the system. "Please don't pull a last-minute switcheroo on us."

Boulderites will support other needs (library, affordable housing, etc.) WHEN "sensible" solid plans come forward.

Ina Robbins asking for a few things at Wonderland Lake, including a name change to Wonderland Lake Wildlife Sanctuary.

Casey Cook is also with the RE and RR zoning district group, which has a name: Preserve (or Save?) our Zones

"Tonight council made an impassioned plea to save the pollinators... these pollinators depend on these yards and flowers. We're gonna plow more ground under to increase density where the residents clearly don't want it?"

Boulder's need for affordable housing is being filled as we speak, Cook says.

Kirk Cunningham from the Indian Peaks chapter of Sierra Club is here with an owl sign to speak favorably about the open space tax ballot measure.

Brockett asking why the HOT (homeless response team for the police) isn't active.
One of the two members is "gravely ill" Brautigam says. But she'll look into what else can be done.
Carlisle asks that other officers can "fill in."
Carr says not any officer can do it.

"It's a challenging assignment that those officers do very well," Carr says.
Carlisle agrees, asks for more training so that there can be backup.

Young asks about the % of affordable housing that comes from preservation vs. development. "A great majority of the funds we provide to BHP is to renovate existing units," Brautigam says. Will get that specific info from the housing dept.

On tonight's consent agenda are the final ballot measures. Young is speaking to her open space tax suggestion.

"On Saturday, I was speaking with some ppl who live in affordable housing by NoBo rec center. They can't afford to live here bc taxes are high. I am concerned about the folks... everybody thinks we are a rich community, but everybody isn't."

She is reading the email I referenced earlier, saying it would be irresponsible not to fund the city's other needs. Transportation, affordable housing, the library, fire. $24M of annual ongoing unfunded needs.

We hear a lot about how we need more transit to accompany all this development so we don't increase traffic. If we don't fund it, it's not going to happen, Young says.

"All I'm asking is for us to consider the budget as a whole ... and not look at things in silos."

Open space is important, Young says: We should fund it. "But do we want it to be at the expense and hollowing out all the other needs in the city?"

"I may be a lone voice up here, but I had to speak my mind about that."

Brockett (kinda) agreeing. We do have to balance our needs... particularly our health and human safety. Calling out bringing EMS services in-house (to reduce response times) Vision Zero, the library "which is free for all" and therefore has an equity component.

Morzel "appreciates" Young and Brockett "bringing this up" but the process is done. Council voted unanimously Aug. 20 (including Young).

"It's not an increase; it's an extension," Morzel says. (True)

"Idk why we wouldn't move forward and keep our word to the roomful ... of ppl who were here Aug. 20. In my 19 yrs on council, I've never seen a switch" where council voted unanimously and then changed it.

If anyone wants to bring Sam and me some some caffeinated beverages, I forgot to consume any before this meeting.

Carlisle agreeing with Young on the need for a deep dive into the budget, but still wants to go forward with the open space tax. She has "never seen as much ... joy and goodwill" as was seen during the Aug. 20 hearing. Keep the good faith, she says.

Weaver also supporting the 20-yr extension bc it's not an increase; it's an extension. And the survey results: 90%+ supported more funding for open space.

We need to find another way to fund transit rather than sales tax, like we do with affordable housing, by impact fees on development.

That was Weaver.

Nagle: "My colleague raise great points, (Young) as well, but I will be supporting 20 year" option.

Yates: "It would be nice if we had all our needs in front of us and we could sit down and figure out what's our first, second, third priority."

"Maybe the next council can figure it out better."

Arguing that a unanimous vote from council is important when it comes to taking things to the voters. "In a perfect world we'd have all our priorities in front of us."

Ultimately, it's up to voters, he says.

Young: I asked ppl who emailed me if they supported open space tax at the expense of core services. And they said yes, 'we'll figure it out.'

"So let's figure that out."

So the 20-yr extension is moving forward; Young votes for it, too.

I'mma keep the same thread until one of the big(ger) discussions. Here's the staff presentation on the Knollwood annexation. 48-49 homes, zoned RE. www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/5A_Knollw…

A couple interesting things about this one: There was a vote in 2016(?) to adjust the Blue Line so that Knollwood would be below it. Also, it was a rare annexation by election, in which residents voted (85%, I believe) to annex to the city.

Other than that, pretty standard annexation.

87.5% in support, staff corrects me.

Barry Baer is our only public hearing participant. Love the name!

Council votes to annex in Knollwood.

The next item I know *nothing* about, but it's also kinda annex-y: Adding homes into this Forrest Glen district for the purposes of a neighborhood eco pass program.

Staff presentation here: www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/docs/5B_Forest…

Apparently having and eco pass increases the likelihood someone will use transit by 6X.

This is interesting: In 1990, 5% of residents took a bus trip once a day. Today (2018), it's 13%.

Boulder subsidizes these NEco-Passes: 50% for first year, 33 – 38% for subsequent years

$300K total spent for all Boulder neighborhoods in 2019

That was for 45 neighborhoods and 7,000 households

In 2017, Boulder NECO Pass holders took:
• 270,000 local trips
• 65,000 regional trips
• 20,000 airport trips

Back to Forest Glen: 21(ish) homes have been added outside the General Improvement District since it was formed in 2001. They want in on this NECO Pass stuff. (I don't blame them.)

This is located in the Norwood-Broadway-Quince-Wonderland Hill Ave area, btw.

Our only public hearing speaker, Joan Goodard, took the SKIP here and is taking it home! Good on ya, Goodard.

Brockett: "This is in my part of town; I'm a huge fan of Eco Passes. I'm glad to see this one expand."

Unanimous vote from council for that, too.

Gonna wrap this thread and head into Open Space Master Plan. @threadreaderapp, please unroll. Thanks!