City Council Minutes 2016 07 05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes July 5, 2016 Page 6 of 10 noted the staff and Open Space Advisory Board (OSAB) use 20 different criteria to rank property and only pursue properties with a willing seller. He noted there is no formal endorsement process for the City Council to approve the priority list. He asked for discussion of how the criteria are working, how the Council would like to give input on the list, what properties to pursue, and how parcels are identified on the map listing the properties. He added OSAB will be looking at this list for 2016 in July to review the process and updating the property information. Mayor Muckle called for public comment, hearing none, he called for Council comment. Council member Stolzmann stated she would like to see Council get an opportunity to endorse the list and make sure everything on the list is something the City Council wants and to find out if there are other ways to acquire access to a property without purchasing it. She also would like to clarify which parcels require the City to have partners to purchase. She would like to have a discussion of each property on the list. She wanted to know why properties drop off the list over the years (were they purchased, annexed, etc.) so we can learn from those examples. She feels there are too many criteria and some are very closely related. Once the priorities are identified, she would like staff to contact property owners identified as top priorities so they know of our interest and can perhaps get the right of first refusal. Mayor Pro Tem Lipton stated the City does not have the resources or interest in going after every property on the list. He stated the list is an indicator of how important the properties are, but there is nowhere near enough money to purchase every one. He wouldn't want to see all the money spent on lower tier properties leaving no funding when the top tier properties become available. He added if the properties on the list have very low redevelopment potential, some redevelopment may be acceptable rather than the City buying it. Council member Leh felt it important the City explain the list to the residents and what is realistic. He stated he didn't think staff should be contacting people every year about the City's interest in purchase. Staff should have the discretion to contact people when it is appropriate and when a seller might be receptive of the contact. Mayor Muckle added OSAB works very hard on this list and works to use an appropriate scoring system. He noted in the past Council asked OSAB to rank them, but perhaps what is really needed is a more realistic conversation about what are the big priorities, what is the best way to meet the goals of the list, and what other options might there be other than acquisition. Council member Keany stated he wonders if the Tier 3 items are worth pursuing, the list is too long. Mayor Muckle asked for public comments and heard none.