Follow Provo

Council Meeting Preview – July 12th

Some pretty fun topics for discussion at tomorrow’s council meetings.

Here’s whats on the slate:

Work Meeting – 12:30pm

If you hate taxes, this may be the meeting to see.

First up, we have a discussion regarding the future of Downtown’s economic development. Will likely include discussions of the highest best use of tax dollars towards our downtown as well the role of the downtown business alliance or some other coordinator in helping downtown Provo grow. Interested in the downtown, or in how the city decides on creating new positions, this should be a fun conversation to see.

Second, a discussion regarding an idea to charge a ‘curb tax’ on properties within the city limits to cover the cost of street maintenance.  These types of fees are sometimes championed as one of the few ways that a municipality can have tax-exempt organizations help fund services like parks and fire departments.

Third we have preparation for the August 9th truth in taxation meeting regarding the proposed 16% increase in city property taxes.

Fourth, we have a discussion and approval of a process for redistricting city council and school board districts.

During the redistricting discussion I hope that we will agree upon a few guiding principles for creating our districts. Some which my constituents have identified are:

• That the districts be as equal in size as practical, not deviating more than 3.5%.
• That the districts be contiguous and as compact as practical.
• That as much as possible, boundaries for council districts and school board districts be similar.
• That the districts not be drawn in such a way as to prevent our student population from being fairly represented.
• That those drawing the districts do so in a public and transparent process and be directly responsible to the electorate.

Study Meeting – 3:45pm

If you’re interested in transportation, or the northwest connector you’ll certainly want to see this meeting.

First we have an update on the Northwest Connector, which perhaps due to the opposition it has seen, is now named the Provo Lakeview Parkway and Trail Project.

Next we have yet another change to the energy fees, as happened last year, a mistake was made and a fee was forgotten.

Third we have a discussion on our transportation master plan. Hopefully we’ll be able to update it to better reflect our efforts to improve biking in Provo, address the concerns on the Northwest Connector, consider complete streets and modal share goals, as well as outline what new roads will be built in the next decade. 

Fourth we have an easement discussion. This likely has to do with the Central Utah Pipeline project.

Fifth is an amendment discussion on minimum average residential unit sizes in the downtown. Sounds like some flexibility is needed for redevelopment.

Next we have a presentation on the property tax increase proposal.

Seventh we’ll continue the work we’ve been doing towards campaign finance reform in Provo elections.

Eight is a discussion on Board and Commission appointments.

Council Meeting – 7:00 pm

After all of that, the council meeting seems a bit dull in comparison. We’ll have the usual public comment period, some awards, and then a vote on the earlier discussed energy fees change.

Then we’ll vote on the boards and commissions appointments. Also discussed earlier in the day.

And finally, the vote on the easement we discussed in our previous meeting.

And that’s all folks, no more meetings in July, so we’ll gear up for the August 2nd meeting.  Interested in getting involved? You have until Friday to file to run for city council in Provo’s 2011 Elections.