The Lafayette City Council held its regular meeting on March 4, 2025, starting at 5:30 PM. The agenda included public input on several state land-use bills, a presentation on the implementation of 2024 state legislation, first reading of a collective bargaining ordinance for police officers, and appointments to the Downtown Development Authority board. The meeting featured extensive public comment, primarily opposing House Bill 24-1313 (transit-oriented communities), and unanimous approval of consent items, a proclamation, the collective bargaining ordinance, and board appointments.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are gonna go ahead and get this meeting started. I will call to order the Lockheed City Council meeting for March fourth, twenty twenty-five. And we will begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. Hello. Councillor Barnes. Good evening. Councillor Friedland. Here. Councillor Gallegos. Good evening. Councillor Sampson. Good evening. And Councillor Tapia Vega. Here. Mayor, we have a quorum. Sounds good. Thank you so much. All right. Well, we will begin tonight's meeting with uh public input. Um, if you wish to speak during this time, uh, please grab one of these yellow speaker forms that you can access through the glass doors in the back and pass it over to Clerk Beck here, and we can get you on the list. Uh, you may also call in it, call in as well. Uh, you'll have five minutes to speak, but please state your name and address before you do so. And uh for tonight, I know several of you are here for one particular topic. Um, so the council did also place one of these uh white um uh info sheets uh near um the speaker forms out there to give you all more info and context uh behind that particular issue that you may take a look at as well. All right, uh so we'll begin tonight with Karen Norbeck. Karen Norbeck, 800 East Genesee O. Good evening. On March 5th, 2024, I stood here to talk about House Bill 241313 and the continued actions from the state government diluting our home rule status. What I hope to see from you is a plan to push back. Tonight, the opportunity to do that has arrived, although you have already signed a resolution against it. The bully has come for us, and we need to say stop and loudly. I have watched Lafayette work for decades to address affordable housing. We are looking at a contribution from our small city of over 11 million dollars to help build the largest net zero affordable development in the state and possibly the country, Willoughby Corner. We gave half a million dollars to the La Luna Collective to help them buy their mobile home park. We are walking the walk, and we need to tell those at the State House so and in no uncertain terms. We spent thousands of dollars to write our comprehensive plan, as well as other guiding documents. These continued demands from the state will overrule them. It's a delicate balance to provide services to the community with a large portion of the funding coming from sales taxes, not property taxes. Rooftops don't pay for themselves. The more you add, the more services you need. More police and fire, more city staff, a larger library and rec center, more wear and tear on everything, and let's not forget water. There is more to water than just having a supply. We must store it and clean it and dispose of the waste. This all comes with a cost to the city, which of course means the residents. We must prevent reaching a point where the balance tips, and the only solution to funding the needs of the community becomes ongoing property tax increases. Currently, you are considering asking the voters to approve a property tax increase to fund three potential capital improvement projects with costs in the millions. That's nothing compared to what we could face if we just do what the state says. City staff puts it plainly in their memo. If realized, this growth would significantly strain city services, requiring substantial increases in infrastructure funding and staffing to maintain service levels.