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HomeMy WebLinkAbout7.16.2020 Joint City Council and P&Z Minutes_exppdf 1 Mayor Jerry Merrill Council Members: Christopher Mann Jordan Busby Mikel Walker Tisha Flora Brad Wolfe Bryanna Johnson Planning and Zoning Members: Chairman Rory Kunz Steve Oakey Randall Kempton John Bowen Sally Smith Greg Blacker Aaron Richards Vince Haley Todd Marx David Pulsipher Kristi Anderson City Staff and Others: Scott Johnson – Economic Development Stephen Zollinger – City Attorney Natalie Powell – Compliance Officer Tawnya Grover – P&Z Administrative Assistant Mayor Jerry Merrill opened the meeting at 6: 00p.m. He thanked the audience for being here. He appreciates the citizens are concerned about what is happening in our City. Prayer: Council Member Walker 1. 6:00 P.M. City Hall – Pledge to the Flag: Council Member Busby 2. Roll Call of Council Members and Planning & Zoning: Present: City Council: Jordan Busby, Bryanna Johnson, Mikel Walker, Brad Wolfe, Tisha Flora, Chris Mann, Mayor Jerry Merrill Planning & Zoning Commissioners: Chairman Rory Kunz, Kristi Anderson, David Pulsipher, Todd Marx, Randall Kempton, Sally Smith. Absent: Greg Blacker, John Bowen, Steve Oakey, Vince Haley, Aaron Richards. 3. Motion and Order to Amend Agenda per Idaho State Statute 74-204 – Addition of City of Rexburg Public Health Emergency Mask Order No 2020-01 Action Item Motion: Motion to amend the agenda to add the City of Rexburg Public Health Emergency Mask Order, Action: Amend, Moved by Bryanna Johnson, Chris Mann seconded. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 6). Yes: Jordan Busby, Bryanna Johnson, Mikel Walker, Brad Wolfe, Tisha Flora, Chris Mann. Mayor Jerry Merrill has invited two representatives from Madison Memorial Hospital to provide a status update from the Hospital. A lot of information is spreading around the community and the Mayor feels the community needs to know accurate information. Doug, with Madison Memorial Hospital – Thanked the City Council for letting him come. Leadership has to make some difficult decisions right now. He would like to share what goes on behind the scenes in a hospital. We have an incredible hospital. Rachel Gonzalez, the C.E.O. of the hospital, is also the Chairman of the Hospital Association, which means she chairs all of the hospitals in Idaho. Communication in the state during COVID is amazing; Rachel is constantly on the phone with C.E.O.s from all around the state. The hospital is also associated with the University of Utah and has close ties with the hospitals close to us. The main feeder hospital is E.I.R.M.C. in Idaho Falls. The hospitals collaborate on local situations, 35 North 1st East Rexburg, ID 83440 Phone: 208.359.3020 Fax: 208.359.3022 www.rexburg.org Joint City Council and Planning & Zoning Minutes July 16, 2020 2 sharing ideas. As far as testing, there has been seven hospitalizations for COVID; two are currently in the hospital and one will be released soon. The hospital has conducted 967 tests since the beginning of COVID. Out of those tests, 70 have tested positive. There are 62 people waiting for the results to come back. Since July, the number of people requesting tests and the doctors’ orders have doubled. Alan Brower is the Director of the Emergency Department; he is very knowledgeable. As the two men have assessed the numbers, they have determined the hospital is not seeing more hospitalizations from the testing they are doing; the numbers are staying fairly consistent. If someone asked the hospital, should facemasks be worn? We would say, in the hospital environment, they are masked all of the time, because they are treating all of the community. The hospital’s purpose is to give every care they can and to make sure all precautions are in place. Every perspective is different and every environment is different. The hospital has great potential and has great abilities to handle the cases in this area. If there is a surge, they would have to reach out to other hospitals to help with care. Connections and protocols are in place to address such a surge. Mayor Jerry Merrill would like to make an optional proposal. He referred to Boyd Matheson’s article from the Deseret News, “Over the past four months, Americans and people around the world have attempted to deal with the novel Coronavirus. States and nations have struggled with what do; what government mandates were needed or necessary and how to get individuals and communities to take appropriate action. Early success in flattening the curve were the results of respon sible citizens acting appropriately.” We, here in Madison County have been fortunate thus far, but we are not immune. If you check the website of the Public Health Department, we went for weeks with only one or two cases per day and even for one stretch of nine days, with zero cases per day. Unfortunately, that is not the case today. We are seeing our numbers increase recently. Our economy is fragile and another shutdown would be devastating. The upcoming school year is in question. The rising crisis will require real character and commitment in order to quell and crush it. A portion of the population views mask wearing as a political issue, rather than as a way to protect other people and ultimately to keep the city up and running. Fear mongering is real on both sides of the spectrum. It is time for all sides to lay down the Twitter battles, social rants and shun the false choices. Consider these compelling questions for every Rexburg and Madison County citizen:  If you believe it is vital your children and grandchildren to be in school this fall, what are you willing to do?  If you want to meet with friends, celebrate a birthday or attend church services, what are you willing to do?  If you want to support the local economy, build your business, advance your career, serve in your community, provide for your family, and have Madison County lead the State out of the pandemic, what are you willing to do? We have a shot at a common cause, all of us coming together to take on a global challenge. I am suggesting a united, community effort to voluntarily, vanquish this foe, COVID-19. We are team Madison and like all great teams, we need to focus on the fundamentals. We are being asked to social distance, wash our hands, stay home if not feeling well, self-quarantine if we have been exposed, and last but not least, wear masks in appropriate situations. There are arguments and shaming on all sides, but here is the simple truth, being kind is more important than being right. Being kind is wearing a mask when a store has asked me to, because they have their reasons. People ask you to take off your shoes when you come into their house. You do not argue. You do not belittle them. You do not say, I am never coming here again and storm out. You don’t tell them your shoes on 3 their floors is not a problem, because studies show that dirt and wear and tear happen, whether or not you wear shoes and some studies show that wearing shoes don’t add one more day to the life of your flooring. You do not say that is against my Constitutional rights to be told what to do. I should be able to make my own choices and not be mandated. You do not feel under attack or upset. You do not feel the big, bad homeowner is controlling you. You just take your shoes off, because it is not a big deal. Sometimes you wished your sock did not have a hole in it, or your feet were cleaner. You take off your shoes. Why? Because you respect the feelings of the homeowner. It does not bother you, even though your research shows it is not necessary to take off your shoes and it is a bit of a bother if you have to untie laces or zip up your boots. Because you are aware of others’ feelings, you choose to be respectful and kind. I think we have lost our focus. The opponent is not the government mandates and it is not each other. It is not about who is right and who is wrong. The opponent is COVID-19. We are falling behind a little bit and we are in danger of losing the game. Like most competitions, we got tired – tired of being cooped up. Unfortunately, the Mayor believes we got a little lax, while we had the game in hand and we did not stick with the fundamentals. Now, we need to get back to the basics. One of the basics is wearing masks in appropriate situations, places and times when social distancing is not easily done. It is difficult to know what is right. For every argument against masks, there is an argument for them. We think we know, but who really knows? The Mayor asks himself, who is the enemy? This stinking virus is causing all this illness, fear and lack of civility and kindness. Is it going to hurt me to let my ego and pride think maybe there is something to this mask thing? Is it really that difficult to carry around a clean mask that I can put on if I am going somewhere where it might be difficult to social distance? For those 15 minutes I am in the store, I can choose to wear a mask and help others to feel safe. I can walk out, take off the mask and go on my merry way, knowing that today it was my choice to be kind. The Mayor would like to propose an initiative, called “United We Stand Against COVID.” What will this initiative involve? For 49 days, in a show of solidarity, commitment and shared sacrifice, everyone can choose to wear a mask, maintain social distance, isolate as needed, support and celebrate health care workers, care for vulnerable neighbors and engage appropriately with local businesses. For 49 days, without shaming or judging, we can simply come together. When we encounter someone without a mask, we can assume the best, because everybody’s story is different and we do not know what their story is, right? For 49 days, families can continue to make hard decisions to honor loved ones, with small, private funerals and limit guests as they celebrate weddings and other important milestones. Those who love them can continue to be creative in their support as they practice social distancing. For 49 days, business can continue to support remote employees and responsible precautions at work. For 49 days, young people can sacrifice for the community by joining in this effort. Why is the time 49 days? 49 days is about the time that school starts. If we want our children to be in school and we want the BYU-I students to come back and stay in Rexburg and our businesses to thrive, we need to come together as a community and support a united effort. The Mayor’s goal is to unite to support families, individuals and sports teams. The Mayor has seen the community unite; last year the community united for the Mayor’s Water Conservation challenge and Rexburg was victorious over thousands of other cities across the nation. The Mayor knows the community can do it; we can unite against COVID. We can unite in kindness. We can be victorious as we focus on the fundamentals. He believes a mandate will divide the community, as we can see on Facebook, and all of the things that have gone on. The Mayor’s goal is to unite the community. He is asking the City Council members for support of this proposal. The Mayor has talked to a few different people in the limited time he has had and the suggestion has been to put together a committee of City Council, Planning & 4 Zoning, and some community members, who would like to be involved. The committee will work on encouraging and educating people about the fundamentals. Every good team, in order to be a championship team, needs to focus on the fundamentals. In football, it is blocking, tackling, speed and strength. With COVID, the fundamentals are washing your hands, avoid touching your face, social distancing and being responsible by trying to stay apart, so you are not spewing saliva on people, which spreads the virus. You can even wear a mask, if you are asked to, in a business. It is respect; respect for other people. The Mayor believes a mandate is not the way to go divides us more than unites us. He would like to see the community unite in encouragement and education to lead the State of Idaho out of this COVID pandemic. Like most teams, you want to keep score. The numbers coming from the Public Health Department and Madison Memorial Hospital every day are our scoreboard. If the numbers go up, we need to be more vigilant, and if the numbers go down, we cheer and keep doing the right things. If the Council Members feel like this initiative is something they could support, the initiative could be memorialized into a resolution. Discussion from the City Council: Jordan Busby thinks this proposal, which is not a mandate, is doable and seems to be common sense. He would like to give a statement after the discussion. Bryanna Johnson said she appreciates so many people have shown they care about the community. She shared where the City Council members were coming from in the discussion last night. American government was built on two principles: we are trying to provide for the general welfare, while protecting individual freedom, which has always been and will always be a balancing act. We do the best we can. We elect officials and trust them to make decisions. She can speak for the Mayor and the City Council; they really love their constituents. We love our residents. All of the items during the meeting were discussed out of love and worry for the well-being of all our residents, including the most vulnerable. If you had been here last night, and you heard what the Council said, they did not make a blanket mandate. The consideration was for indoor spaces when social distancing is not possible. There were exemptions for people with medical conditions, children and people who would need exemptions. She believes what the Mayor says has a lot of truth. She wishes the Council could be united on this. Her concern is in 49 days, what happens next? When the students go back to school, this might be when we are the most vulnerable as a population. What would the next step be? What happens when students from everywhere come in to the community and the 49 days have expired? The Mayor says the initiative might extend into overtime. Chris Mann believes this is the time for leadership. If I am going to err, it is on the side of public health. He thinks it will be a disaster to shut down Rexburg again. He is in favor of the mandate. The initiative has more loopholes than there are in his spaghetti strainer. There are ways for people who cannot wear a mask. You do not have to tell why you cannot wear a mask. You can social distance. We have to do something. Seventeen new cases were reported today in Bonneville County. Three new cases were reported today in Jefferson County and three new cases in Madison County. One new case was reported in Teton County. Other counties have passed a mandate. Ada County passed a mandate this afternoon. He feels the mandate is the best and most wise thing to do. Brad Wolfe is on the fence. He thought about this all night last night. He has a recurring fear that one of his friends in two or three months would come to him and say you had the ability to stop this and now my wife is dead, my brother had a stroke, my son is sick or my business is failing because I had to close it. He does not know if this will happen, but he thought about these things. He mentioned that to someone today and he/she said you should not put this on yourself. Your responsibility, as an elected official is to vote with the majority of the people. He neglected his business today and texted a bunch of people on his phone list. He probably asked about 100 people to tell him their feelings on this issue. The response was mixed. He had a concerned person 5 with cancer, who said I would die, but I do not want this economy to go bad. Brad asked where does my responsibility lie? He was elected as an official to make decisions for the betterment of the community. Some people are saying, let us be responsible and act for ourselves. Looking at the group tonight, he sees the group as a whole is not being responsible and that concerns him. He does not want to mandate, but what is the right thing to do? He likes what the Mayor said, but he is not sure the people will follow the Mayor’s words. 52% of the people he talked to like the idea and were in favor of the mask rule. The ones who did not like the rule talked about the rule taking away their rights. Personally, he feels it is selfish to dwell on personal rights at the expense of others. (People called out from the audience.) Mayor Jerry Merrill said the meeting will need to be closed if it cannot be continued. Respectfully, the Council has heard 150-200 emails and heard both sides of the arguments. Juliano Prieto called from the audience and asked to represent a group in the audience and speak for five minutes. He asked the audience to vote in the name of Democracy. A petition with 400 signatures has been submitted to the City Council. Brad Wolfe continued he does not belief you are selfish, but that feeling is selfish. (More vocal dissatisfaction from the audience.) Mayor Jerry Merrill said if the disrespect continued no one would be heard. The meeting is not a public hearing. Brad Wolfe spoke again, the feelings he expressed tonight are not all of his feelings; they are the feelings of the people he talked to today. The attitude he is describing as selfish, is because you want your rights, but you are not considering the rights of the other person. He cares about all the people. He wants to do the right thing. At this moment, he does not know how he is going to vote. If he felt the Mayor’s words would work, he would vote for them. Brad spent all day trying to find out how the people really felt. Tisha Flora, said often, when people disagree, they feel like the other person is not listening, does not understand or are not educated enough to side with the others’ position. She spent the day trying to put her thoughts on paper as she read every email that was sent in to the city. She tried to understand each person’s point of view. Any position you take, you can find some that will support or be in opposition. Tisha wants to see the community come together and stay strong by supporting each person in the community and their position. We can learn from both sides. We can learn to support those who are struggling with their health. We can keep our liberties and freedoms you are all expressing that you want. Each City Council member cares deeply about our citizens and our community. COVID-19 is a dangerous virus and the lasting effects on those who contract the virus are unknown and very frightening. Each person on this Council, no matter how they vote are doing what they feel is the right thing to do. She would do anything to preserve the life of just one person in the community. Tisha’s personal belief is that each person should do his/her part to protect each other. Ezra Taft Benson said, “All governments have a right to enact such laws as in their own judgements are best calculated to secure the public interest at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience.” The City Council is tasked tonight to decide how best to protect the health of our community. She would like to say to our community, the responsibility lies with each of us. You are tasked with how to best protect the health of our community. You are responsible for the health of yourself, your family, your neighbors and your community. While I believe we need to encourage and educate about the use of masks, I do not believe that as a government official, that I should be given the power by the people to mandate and fine those who cannot or will not wear a mask. While we do not know everything about COVID-19, we do know wearing masks helps. The mask wearing is not perfect and people will still get this sickness, but wearing masks helps. Can we rise as a community and do our best to help others? Tisha encourages all businesses to require wearing masks. She encourages all community 6 members to help slow the spread of the virus by wearing masks if possible. She thinks we can do this and she believes we do not need a mandate to do this. She supports the Mayor in his efforts. Council Member Walker thanked the people for coming and showing they care. He thanked the people for the emails for and against. His day has been nothing but listening to people. When he was elected, he promised he would listen to the people. He might not be able to do anything about the item he is listening to, but he will listen. He likes what the Mayor says; he believes the community can do the initiative and be unified. He has nothing against a mask; a mask is not a solve-all. If a business wants to require masks, that is the privilege and right of the business. He does not think that a requirement is needed. He asked the community to join the Mayor in his initiative. Masks are uncomfortable and he does not like them. There is a time and a place to wear them. We need to change our attitude, so we do not end up with a mandate. Do not judge or belittle others based on mask wearing. In the community, the people in Rexburg can join together and accomplish great things in unity. He thinks everyone can work together, so a mandate is not required. Jordan Busby appreciates the support of friends in the audience. Jordan’s wife took his phone away late last night because she was tired of it dinging. He was amazed at the number of people who had his phone number. Last night, a discussion item for the wearing of a mask mandate turned into a hot topic for the community and quickly turned into a wanted action item. The City Council has been accused of overstepping our bounds of governance, not being caring and sensitive towards a person’s health and their inalienable rights as a United States citizen. Hindsight is worth its weight in gold. Looking back, this could and should have been handled differently and he apologized. Although from the outside this may look like a planned and rushed decision on the part of the Council, he can assure the community that this was not the case. Jordan is against a mandate or ordinance that the Council cannot effectively enforce or infringes upon others’ rights, such as the one being presented tonight. When he mentioned the possibility of people being jailed for not adhering to the proposed mandate, he was wrong and far-fetched; his comment was said with the intent to merely make a point: an ordinance mandating something would need a consequence with an infraction and monetary fine. The proposed ordinance would be impossible to police. First responders would be overrun as noncompliant offenders are called out, causing the first responders to give of their time, attention and precious resources, attending to an infraction instead of more critical situations. Rexburg is unique and has been blessed with low numbers of COVID-19 cases and few cases requiring hospitalization. This does not mean we will not see spikes or surges in the number of cases in our community. We are a melting pot of sorts as we welcome thousands of students to take up residence and for thousands of visitors, who pass through our great city. With this knowledge, it is inevitable that we will see changes to our once low numbers. He agrees wearing a mask in close proximity to others, frequent hand washing, and practicing social distances have proven effective in helping to slow the spread of infection. He believes a mandate will have a negative effect, which is evident by the recent public retaliatory cry both locally and nationally. Jordan feels the best course of action is to redouble our efforts to inform, educate and encourage individuals to practice social distancing and responsible use of P.P.E. (Personal Protective Equipment). We now find ourselves with retail giants implementing such a mandate for us. It is a person’s right to choose to wear a mask. It is a business’s right to set restrictions for entrance. We are hedging toward a dangerous road by allowing small liberties to be controlled or mandated by government control. He believes in the citizens of Rexburg. He hopes and prays all citizens can be responsible and help the community be the safest it can be by the above-mentioned items in the midst of this crisis. We can crush the COVID-19 without crushing our citizens’ rights and liberties. He supports the Mayor’s proposal. The proposal may need some small adjustments, but he believes the proposal would allow the same things a mandate would do, but with us choosing to do it. 7 4. Item For City Council Consideration: A. Public Health Emergency Mask Order No 2020-01 – Order to mandate that when in any indoor or outdoor public place, completely cover their nose and mouth with a cloth or similar face covering, when members of the public are physically present for otherwise unprotected social interaction with certain exemptions – Mayor Jerry Merrill Action Item Juliano Prieto – No address. - He owns multiple properties in the city as an investor. He does not live most of the year here in Idaho. He brings his family, including three children, here in the summers and the winters to be influenced by the patriots in the community. City Council has given Democracy a chance. The agenda tonight is following the law and the Spirit of the law is entertained here tonight, giving him the chance to speak. He may not speak for everyone in the room; there may be people in the room who do not agree with what he has to say. He loves the people in Rexburg and everything Eastern Idaho has to over; he is passionate about the State of Idaho and that is why he invests here. This is the last stand in America for freedom. If you do not know that, then I do not know what you people are doing here. It would be wrong of him if he did not thank everyone who came out tonight on a few hours’ notice. City Council has shared a lot of stories and relational feelings. Mayor, your story tugs at peoples’ heartstrings and your opinions. Opinions are great, but data is awesome. How many people are wearing the paper masks? Some are wearing paper masks, while some wear masks made at home that are not certified. On the side of the box for the paper masks people are wearing, it says the mask will not protect people from COVID-19. 50% of these tests are false-positives. For those who do not know, the test for COVID-19 also tests for the common flu. He encouraged people to research his claims for themselves. If I test for COVID-19, I am going to take the test twice. After I take the test twice, I am going to go out, find another manufacturer for a test, and test twice again. He suggested two companies, checking each other’s results. The test also tests for antibodies; antibodies mean my body is already taking care of the situation. He is an engineering contractor. If I test anyone in the room wearing a mask, and I shove one of my oxygen meters in there, the alarm will go off in under 10 seconds; he has tried this himself. Wearing a mask does not allow enough oxygen per OSEA standards. Free agency is a divine gift, more precious than peace, more to be desired even than life. Any nation, any organized group of individuals that would deprive man of this heritage, should be denounced by all liberty-loving persons. With that said, no one in this room is against someone else wearing a mask. He is not against some businesses mandating a mask to walk in. Personally, he is not going to go into that business. You are going to have many students coming in. Are all of the students going to self-quarantine for 2 weeks? Are we looking at the data? Are we looking to see how many children are actually dying? If the real data says none, or pretty close to none. He personally takes risks every day, driving at night on a Friday or Saturday, when others are drinking and driving, and he believes this is high-risk. If he was to compare risks, the most important risk is how many children go missing every day. How many people are being trafficked? The largest amount of slavery globally is sex- slavery. Why aren’t we talking about this issue here? Let us bring the community together to watch out for everyone’s kids; let us make sure we are taking care of one another. Everyone should be able to practice his or her freedom for everyone else. Do not let the media suppress the truth. It is not about the masks. Thank you for allowing Democracy to take place today. 8 Annalisa Wade – 228 E 2nd S – She turned and asked the Hospital Officials, are there a high number of false positives? They responded there are not. Is it the same test for antibodies and COVID-19? Alan Brower, Nursing Director at Madison Memorial Hospital - there are tests out there where you can drive-up and be tested for free that are not specific for testing COVID-19. The tests used at Madison Memorial Hospital are two tests, one is an IGG test, which tests for antibodies. The IGG test will tell you whether or not you have had the Coronavirus, specifically COVID-19. The second test is a PCR, which will tell you if you currently are infected with the COVID-19 virus. The hospital is not getting false positives with these two tests. Annalisa feels these claims were not correct. The mask does not protect the wearer; it protects other people. The mask contains and helps the sickness to not spread to other people. Regarding oxygen meters and OSEA levels, you can ask doctors and dentists about wearing the masks all day long. Masks are safe to wear, excluding certain health conditions. The mandate written up allowed an exception for these people. There are people who are required to wear masks in their professions, all day and every day, and they are with us and alive today. Council Member Walker eloquently asked people to join with the Mayor voluntarily to implement and continue practices for the safety of the community. When this happened, the audience burst into applause. The Governor has requested the same things; the Governor has been pleading with people to wear masks. Medical officials have been pleading with people to wear masks, wash your hands and social distance. People have already been asking and asking. Council Member Busby also pleaded with the community to voluntarily follow these practices. If these practices are such a great idea, why haven’t people already chosen to wear a mask? A mask is serving other people and protecting other people around me. Hospital Administrators today have said there are over 60 tests waiting to get results; we do not know if those are positive or negative. We are weeks behind the curve in the rest of the country. We can still spike. We know we have many students that will be coming back. If we already have a culture in our community of wearing masks and socially distancing, the sickness will be less likely to spread, as the students will be required to wear masks in classes on campus. We have been told over and over again that we live in unprecedented times. We need to take unprecedented steps to try to maintain as much normalcy as possible. Most of the people last night were in favor of getting more people to wear masks. None of those concerns has changed overnight. None of the research and statistics from credible sources have changed. Wearing masks helps. Wearing masks protects other people. In a place where so many people profess to be their brother’s keeper and want to help whenever they are needed and where they have their leader pleading with them to wear a mask, it is not an infringement. It is an opportunity to help. Annalisa hopes a mandate would not be needed. You would think we live in a place that would be civic minded and want to help each other. Wearing a mask is to protect others – your elderly neighbor, the schoolteachers, etc. Little kids are not dying from COVID. Less than 1% of the people are dying, but this is hundreds of people. She hopes the community does not have to reach a crisis point where dozens of people have died or experience severe reprecussions. Jordan Busby wanted to answer her questions. Why aren’t we doing what we say we want to do? He feels like people are already taking care of their neighbors. He requests those efforts be redoubled. Mayor Merrill is asking people to consider doing things that are uncomfortable by choice, instead of by force. The City Council does not want to have to mandate people to do these safe practices. A committee will be created to get the message of the fundamentals out to the people. This is the gist of the initiative read tonight. 9 Motion: Motion to approve the proposal for the mandate to wear masks 2020-01 presented at the City Council meeting last night until we find the time when it is no longer necessary. Action: Approve, Moved by Chris Mann, seconded by Council Member Bryanna Johnson seconded. Discussion on the motion: Brad Wolfe came to the meeting in favor of the mandate. He is willing to try the freedom idea; I reserve the right if people are not willing to choose to do it, to return to the mandate. Vote: Motion fails (summary: Yes = 2, No = 4, Abstain = 0). Yes: Chris Mann, Bryanna Johnson. No: Jordan Busby, Mikel Walker, Brad Wolfe, Tisha Flora. Motion: Jordan Busby motions to approve the “United We Stand Against COVID-19”, knowing it will be tweaked as the Council moves forward. Moved by Jordan Busby, Seconded by Council Member Mikel Walker. Discussion on the motion: Bryanna Johnson said the majority of the people in this room are not voluntarily masked. Your resolution leaves us without a plan when the community will be most vulnerable. Mikel Walker said the resolution does not say we have to mask every time, but when appropriate. He suggests the people work on the initiative, so a mandate is not needed. Chris Mann is not getting what he wanted, but he would vote in favor. The Mayor’s words today were well done, he is not sure it is far enough. Brad Wolfe wanted a raise of hands if this is an appropriate place to social distancing. A few hands were raised. Vote: Motion passed (summary: Yes = 5, No = 1, Abstain = 0). Yes: Mikel Walker, Brad Wolfe, Jordan Busby, Tisha Flora, Chris Mann. No: Bryanna Johnson We will move forward with this resolution. The number of hands that were raised discourages the Mayor. Honestly, we hope more cooperation will happen to keep ourselves safe. Greg Blacker and Steve Oakey arrived to attend this part of the meeting. 5. P&Z Minutes: A. Planning & Zoning Meeting July 2, 2020 Action Item 6. Work Meeting: Comprehensive Plan Map Designation table – Alan talked about the sheet in front of all of the meeting attendees. 10 All of the Comprehensive Plan designations were adopted in 2008 in the table on the right. The next table, moving left, is what is shown in our Development Code as the adopted current Planning & Zoning designations. Alan did some analysis of the table on his own. The designations looked like they could be simplified. He indicated his original proposal he took to Staff. The chart on the far left was the summary of a meeting with Staff. The yellow box on the left is a result of form-based regulations passed for the downtown. The Central Business District will disappear and the City Center form-based designations will take its place. Form-based zoning is looking at the form of a building and how it interacts with the street. Staff has focused their form- based efforts on the street as their guiding principle. The City Center is a 12-block area the community wants to densify, while creating a walkable environment where people are comfortable. Buildings can build high as long as you can make it fit on the lot. Do I feel comfortable walking down this sidewalk? Storefronts should invite the pedestrian into their store. Staff is in the final stages of preparing form-based code; they are testing the code to see how it works with different projects coming in to the city. The governing bodies should see the code by October. A committee of Planning & Zoning and City Council members will be tasked with reviewing the code prior to October. The key part tonight is the discussion on the left table. Does it work? Staff discussed Public Facilities, Open Space and the University as having the same characteristics to be in a single Comprehensive Plan designation, because they are all public facilities. Mixed Use will enforce 10% commercial. We want the HDR2 to be adjusted to encourage the higher densities. Moderate to High Density Residential, Low to Moderate Residential and Rural are all residential designations. The MDR1 is shared to allow some transition. Rural includes Rural Residential 1 and 2, Transitional Agriculture 1 and 2. He is looking to the group for feedback. Steve Oakey thinks this is good; reduction is good. Are there any negatives? Steve’s preference is to change things up. On the residential, this is the most sensitive part of the Comprehensive Plan. He would concede his preferences to get this passed. He believes the Industrial could be included in #2. Industrial will select itself; it is likely this use will not go into residential areas. Industrial is likely to be on the periphery. Steve anticipates the form-based; he likes the direction the proposal is heading. Chris Mann talked about the Medium-Density Residential and how things changed over time. Fifteen years ago, there was a concern about gradual change between homes and apartments. Now, we build 4-story apartments next to homes. He is not sure the transitional zones have been used as intended; they were a good concept. The transition is probably not as much of a worrisome thing as it has been in the past. Kristi Anderson likes the designations proposed. She does not believe the Comprehensive Plan should be changing as often as it has been. Alan said we do not like to have to bring a Comprehensive Plan Map change each time there is a rezone. Sally Smith said by putting residential with commercial for Mixed Use, what would the highest density be? 30 units per acre will stay in Mixed Use. 42 units/acre will be available in High-Density. Parking restricts the maxibility of the lot. The Infill/Redevelopment and PED changes will come to these groups soon for changes. Forcing the 10% will allow regulation. HDR2 will have the maximum density. 11 Tisha Flora asked about how the map will adjust to the reduced designations. Once we designate the groups on the chart, the Planning & Zoning and City Council will decide where the designations will be placed on the map. Tisha rephrased her question, currently, are you going to put the designations for what is already there? Alan responded, Public Facilities and Industrial probably would not change. Low to Moderate Density Residential will probably stay the same. But out by Thomson Farms and north of town, what do we think the patterns of development show? Tisha said, isn’t this driven by the market? The group looks at the way the current patterns are moving and infrastructure and determine what the city can support. Trends. What are our visions in our Impact Area? Where is the growth? We should not wait twelve years to relook at the map. Once a year, the map should be looked at and determine if the plan is correct. Mayor Jerry Merrill said he read an article in the Boise newspaper, Farm and Ranch section, which said so much farmland has been eaten up with subdivisions, people are getting concerned; there is not enough farmland to feed the people. In the Envision Madison plan, there was some concern about keeping the bench areas in farmland. That is a delicate balancing act; maybe that farmer is getting older and he wants to sell land to his kids and retire nicely. This is a balancing act of personal property rights verses looking far enough into the future to plan good things for the community. We have to look at many different things to project the Comprehensive Plan designations. Alan read the article as well. All cities were developed in a crossroads of prime farm ground. In Rexburg, we have a little different situation because the bench is a higher-producing area. As you get into some areas, the smaller farms are not able to sustain themselves. Where we can, we protect what is best for the community, determined by the voice of the people. The Mayor said the farmers were interviewed in that article. The farmers said it is difficult to farm in between subdivisions. You spray the weeds in your wheat and it kills some plants and trees in peoples’ yards. Farmers have to drive up and down busy roads to move their farm equipment from field to field, making farmers inefficient. Steve Oakey says the direction the conversation is moving is not correct thinking. Go to the state of Oregon and see the ribbon growth boundaries. It highly distorts the market. There is an opposing point of view. He is against controlling a farmer’s property as much as he is against controlling his property. Mayor Jerry Merrill suggested incentives that could be presented to maintain farm ground. Alan said the role of the group is to determine if a use can be supported by city infrastructure. Steve Oakey said the government should not insert itself into the market. The discussion needs to be Comprehensive. The City needs to be able to balance their budgets and support the growth. How do we grow smart? David Pulsipher said one of the appendices in Envision talked about Open Space. In the old plan, there were some clusters of uses. Alan said a professional company came in and decided where the clusters would be. One of the clusters they chose was over the cemetery. Clusters are a good idea. Kristi Anderson looked at the Low to Moderate Residential, thinking about Chris’s comment. She is concerned it might make it more difficult to deny medium-density in an area we think should just be low-density. She asked Steve Oakey, did you call it Single-family? Steve Oakey called it Residential. The Comprehensive Plan is currently creating a barrier. Alan eluded to it today; every time we rezone, we have to change the Comprehensive Plan. If you call it residential, the zoning will control the density. He wants the Comprehensive Plan to be a true guiding principle. The City has used the Comprehensive Plan as a second zoning mechanism. Simplify the Comprehensive Plan and use the zoning to regulate. Alan said the challenge is as Spencer said, the Comprehensive Plan should set the bounds of what you can do. If you put residential in different areas, the plan should say you cannot put HDR here unless you visit with the governing bodies to determine if the project can be supported. Randall Kempton said if the Comprehensive Plan Map were set up right, the zones would do what the zones are supposed to do. If a request is in the Comprehensive Plan, the group does not have a lot of power to turn a request down. Alan feels like he does not know what the limitations currently in the Comprehensive Plan and we all could use some education about the Comprehensive Plan and the responsibilities of the groups. During Tawnya’s training, she learned Staff is to remain neutral. Staff’s job is to hand you the information, to make it possible for you to make an educated decision. Chairman Rory Kunz feels Staff has remained neutral. He believes Staff lets the group know what items need to be considered, for example, site drainage needs to be handled on site or a 12 Parking Management plan is needed. Kristi Anderson has hesitation; she feels like she needs to know more. To deny some things, there needs to be good reasons. She would like to be able to say there are no apartments here, but she hesitates. David Pulsipher says the designations should be able to limit zones. He is in favor of simplified categories, to allow the group to only deal with the zone change. The challenge is when adjacent zones are different. It is hard to say no to someone, when we have allowed his neighbor to zone to a certain designation. Alan says you still have the option when the zone change is presented to the groups. You can look at the area and see if a proposal fits. Chairman Rory Kunz said we run into this issue all the time. Alan said if the code would work the way it is supposed to, the Comprehensive Plan, if set up correctly, would guide our decisions. Randall Kempton said the Plan should guide developers and the City should stand firm. We need to be able to back up our decisions and not change as each developer comes along. Steve Oakey said the developers do not build on a whim; it is extremely difficult to assemble property. In addition, you have to get financing and get the government to say o.k. For those reasons, that keeps many people out of the business. Some of these are legitimate barriers. The State puts a finger on each assembled property every step of the way. Customers, health and safety, zoning- all inhibit assembly of a project. His role is to try to minimize the barriers and allow the creation of wealth and the provision of services. Often times the obstacles are put on those who can least afford it. Keep this in mind. When he sees trailer courts, driven by State restrictions, and the Comprehensive Plan mandate to provide low-cost housing, they contradict each other. The government solves the problem by providing subsidies and extracting wealth from other people. Each barrier makes housing more expensive. Protecting farm ground, inflates property taxes and house prices. Businesses are also affected. There is actually a shortage for non-approved housing in the City of Rexburg. The decision the college has made to separate the sexes, drives a market to build tall in order to apply the principles the college wants. University of Montana and Boise State have different housing options. Chris Mann said these Universities are all envious of how Rexburg has kept student housing close to the University. Alan said the differences in our culture and the type of University in the City make it difficult to compare the City to others. How does the campus affect the environment? Sally Smith said a lot of housing has been able to be built. Someone came in and said have you ever looked at Pocatello? Most of the area around the University is Rural. Changing the Comprehensive Plan used to be fewer and far between and the State came out and said you can change it more often. She likes the three residential designations; a break is needed; we have a responsibility to help decide where the community goes. Greg Schneider with GIS spoke. Alan invited him to sit in on the meeting. As we start getting into the planning, Greg will help with how the designations are physically put on the map. He maintains the viewer and the GIS department has built a couple of apps. Alan said there are some questions; sometimes when drawing circles or boundaries, we have parcels that have different designations. Would you prefer to follow parcel lines or are you comfortable with the generalizations? By parcel, sometimes you will not see the requests. If the boundary goes across the parcel, can they use either one? They can. The requests still needs to come before the group to clean up the designations. Chairman Rory Kunz said natural barriers could be used – bridges, railways, canals, etc. David Pulsipher is inclined to broader definitions, so they do not have to be changed every time. When the Comprehensive Plan is revisited, boundaries can be expanded as needed. Randall Kempton said if there were fuzzy boundaries on the Comprehensive Plan Map, this would allow for flexibility. Steve Oakey asked can a revision be written into the Comprehensive Plan to allow the parcel to change to the one chosen designation without coming before the group? We as the City cannot choose to change the Comprehensive Plan Map, except every 6 months, but the owner can make a request. Sally Smith asked if both changes could be made on a single application. David Pulsipher said one of the things he likes about the plan is the community-based focus. If the Comprehensive Plan is changed, he feels like it should not be moved for just one parcel. Simplifying in terms of the number of categories is a good step. If we are doing broad boundaries, an applicant would need to convince the whole neighborhood to move the boundary. Sally Smith said on an individual parcel the Comprehensive Plan should be a cooperation of neighbors. When we see changes 13 requested several times in an area, the group should look at that area to determine if the boundaries should be expanded. Alan talked about an applicant coming in and paying the money to make a change, being encouraged by Staff to include others, which get to ride the change at the applicant’s request. Does anyone have problems with the designations on the left? Are you ready to move forward on the proposed designations to map them? No one objected. A hearing has been scheduled for 6:35p.m. on August 6th. A work meeting could be held before or after the Planning & Zoning hearing on August 6th. The group decided the work meeting would be after the hearing. Maps will be provided at the work meeting with street names to help laying out the Comprehensive Plan Map designations. 7. Heads Up: August 6th Planning & Zoning Hearings: (20-00426) – Rezone – 53 & 55 E 1st N