Brighton City Council Study Session - July 23, 2024
Brighton City Council Study Session - July 23, 2024
The Brighton City Council met on July 23, 2024, starting at 6:00 PM, for a study session to discuss contract transparency, the future of the outdoor warning siren system, impact fee proposals, community recycling and composting options, and the Brighton High School parking permit program.
Consent Calendar
- No consent calendar items were presented at this study session.
Public Comments & Testimony
- During the parking permit discussion, Councilmember Pelowski expressed concern that residents should not have to pay to park in front of their own homes, and noted that the school district's promised additional parking lots are not yet complete. Other residents' concerns were referenced but no direct public testimony was given.
Discussion Items
- Contract Listing – June 2024: Finance Director presented the first periodic contract listing after a code change raising the city manager's contract approval limit to $500,000. The report covered contracts executed in June, including a $2.8 million contract. Council appreciated the transparency and requested continued updates.
- Outdoor Warning Siren Update: Emergency management staff reported that all 12 sirens (10 within city limits, 2 in fire district) are non-operational due to outdated radio communication technology. Repair costs estimated at $131,000–$150,000, plus $3,500–$5,000 annual maintenance. Alternatives discussed include the opt-in Code Red system (reaching ~15,000 residents) and NOAA weather radios. Council consensus favored decommissioning the sirens and investing in enhanced public notification.
- Impact Fee Proposal and Municipal Code Updates: Staff proposed increasing residential impact fees by 50% in 2025 and 50% in 2026 (from $6,342 to $11,000+ per single-family home), with an inflationary index. Non-residential fees would remain low to attract business. Code updates included clarifying single-family vs. multifamily definitions, moving fees out of code into annual fee resolution, and utility code cleanups. Council expressed support for the phased approach and directed staff to bring ordinances for first reading in August.
- Community Recycling and Composting: Consultants from Ecocycle presented an 8-month feasibility study. Options included open market (current), municipally run collection, recycling drop-off, mandated recycling, and a citywide hauler contract. Recommended model: a single contracted hauler with volume-based pricing, a hauler licensing ordinance, and public education. State producer responsibility law (2026) may provide free recycling. Council discussion showed division; Councilmember Snyder opposed, citing cost and loss of choice; others supported moving toward a contract to get ahead of state mandates. Staff will return with more detailed options.
- Brighton High School Permit Parking Discussion: The council revisited the permit program passed in December 2023 (2 passes per residence, $25 one-time fee). Chief Domico reported passes were already issued and signage installed. Some council members wanted to reconsider the fee or timing due to incomplete school parking lots. Mayor Pro Tem Padilla noted he believed the fee was annual, not one-time. Despite concerns, the majority decided to maintain the current program, with the caveat that enforcement may be delayed until adequate student parking is available.
- Policy Items – Budget Meeting Scheduling: City Manager Martinez proposed a budget meeting on August 27, 2024, starting at 1:00 PM with lunch at noon. Council agreed to the schedule.
Key Outcomes
- Outdoor Warning Sirens: Council directed staff to decommission the siren system and allocate funds to enhance Code Red registration, purchase NOAA weather radios, and conduct a public education campaign.
- Impact Fees: Council supported the two-year phased residential impact fee increase (50% in 2025, 50% in 2026) and the accompanying code updates. Staff will bring ordinances for first reading in August.
- Recycling and Composting: No final decision was made. Council directed staff to return with a concrete plan for a potential citywide contracted hauler program, including cost estimates, opt-out provisions, and impacts on HOAs.
- Parking Permits: The current program (two permits per household at $25 one-time fee) stands. Enforcement may be delayed until the school district completes additional parking lots (expected by October 1, 2024).
- Budget Meeting: Scheduled for August 27, 2024, at 1:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Um, Council member Pelovski to Lisa the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you for leading the pledge. Let's come back to the meeting, folks. First item on the agenda is contract leasing for 20 or June of 2024. City Manager Martinez. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem. And Council. As requested by Council, we this is our first of many, where we are bringing back the contract listings to report back to you. So I'll turn it over to our finance director to explain more. Thank you, Michael. So, Council, you may recall in May of this year, you approved a code change that um increased the city manager's contract approval limit to 500,000. And at that time you asked for some periodic updates on the contracts that have been executed by the city. So this is the first of these uh listings, so definitely open to feedback if there's information you'd like to see um differently or um in more detail, less detail. But this um listing is for contracts executed during the month of June. Um just some context around what this includes and doesn't include. This is procured contracts, so contracts where we are doing some sort of solicitation uh process to buy something. Um it also includes amendments and change orders for those procured contracts. This listing does not include IGAs development agreements or other non-procured contracts. Um those would uh especially larger ones would typically come uh before you anyway. Um this also does not include um situations where the purchase order is a contract, that would typically be smaller dollar goods purchases, um, you know, under $15,000. So with that, um, this is the listing of what was um what was approved during the month of June. If it says MPA, that's a master price agreement, and the dollar amount is a not to exceed amount. So we use we we can use that amount throughout the year for um for services as needed. Um if it says you know, contract, new contract, that's that's a new agreement with um a dollar amount that uh has been authorized. So with that, I can um I'm happy to answer questions to the extent I'm able, um, depending on what the contracts are. I can tell you they were all procured through our procurement process appropriately. Anybody have any questions for our finance director? Councilmember Green. Uh just a comment, because uh if you do look over the list, you'll see that there's one that's 2.8 million dollars. So I think that really kind of skews what we're looking at there. So uh if you're trying to get an average, I know it's six million dollars seems like a lot, but three million of that just came from one single check. So uh I think that's important to point out. Uh because I was gonna ask you for an average of it, but I'm looking at it. I'm like, holy crap. Yeah, it's a bit all over the place with our contract amounts, right? Sometimes we have very, very large ones, and those ones come before council um for approval anyway. We include them here just for completeness. So since this is going um in the packet for the public as well, so they can see everything that's been signed. That would definitely be an outlier. It's good to see those. Yeah. Absolutely. Councilmember Pelowski. Thank you, Mayor. You know, my my concern with this is like, for instance, on that two million dollar one, it says a new contract. So that does that mean there was an old contract with the same company. No, a newly executed contract, newly approved. Okay. That's what I was curious about.
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