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04/17/2018 Minutes� � � CITY OF GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION April 17, 2018 Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a Study Session of the City Council of the City of Grand Island, Nebraska was conducted in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 100 East First Street, on April 17, 2018. Notice of the meeting was given in the Grand Island Independent on April 11, 2018. President Vaughn Minton called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following Councilmembers were present: Mitch Nickerson, Mark Stelk, Jeremy Jones, Chuck Haase, Linna Dee Donaldson, Vaughn Minton, Roger Steele, and Mike Paulick. Mayor Jeremy Jensen, Councilmembers Julie Hehnke and Michelle Fitzke were absent. The following City Officials were present: City Administrator Marlan Ferguson, City Clerk RaNae Edwards, Assistant Finance Director William Clingman, City Attorney Jerry Janulewicz and Public Works Director John Collins. President Vaughn Minton introduced Community Youth Council members Isaac Ruzicka and Connor Henke. INVOCATION was given by Community Youth Council member Isaac Ruzicka followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. SPECIAL ITEMS: Discussion Regarding On Street Parking and Street Widths. Regional Planning Director Chad Nabity reported that in 2014 the Grand Island City Council adopted revised street standards and typical street cross sections to Chapter 33 of the Grand Island City Code. These new standards specifically allowed public street widths narrower than the 37' standard street with restrictions on parking. Since 2014 some of these narrower streets had been built and others had been approved with parking limited to one side of the street. City staff was concerned that long term this would create enforcement issues. City staff was recommending the following changes to Chapters 33 and 36 to address concerns with street widths and parking. Remove Appendix C from the Subdivision Regulations and replace it with the Street Width Matrix. Appendix C was adopted by Council as the street standards for the City of Grand Island in 2014. The typical street standards regulated by Appendix C, including the preferred location for utilities and sidewalks would be maintained and enforced by the Grand Island Public Works department as plans for new streets were submitted for engineering approval. The Street Width Matrix would provide guidance to and options for developers regarding allowable street widths in various zoning districts along with street parking availability within those districts based on the street width. Page 2, City Council Study Session, April 17, 2018 Along with these changes City Staff was recommending that the Yard Requirements and Off Street Parking Requirements be amended to specify that residential units with garages facing the street need to have a minimum setback from the garage door to the property line of 25 feet to allow a vehicle to be parked on the driveway without overhanging the public right of way. Some communities allowed parking on both sides of the street on narrower streets. This creates issues for maintaining a 20' fire lane. For fire safety and access it was necessary to maintain at least a 20' lane. A 32' wide street with parking on one side allowed for at least a 24' wide fire lane. Kearney had recently approved changes to allow 32' wide streets with parking on both sides provided the driveways to the houses are offset in such a manner that parking was not allowed on both sides of the street at the same location. This maintained a 24' fire lane and allowed parking on both sides of the street. This does require that the developer commit to where the driveways will be placed on the lots at the time of platting and street design. The street width matrix presented would become part of the Subdivision regulations if adopted and would dictate widths and what parking was allowed. The proposal would require that developers who want to build 32 foot streets specify where the driveways would fall on each lot at the time of subdivision to insure that the minimum fire lane could be maintained. The second change suggested would require that overhead doors for residential garages set back a minimum of 25 feet, at least one car length from the property. The Regional Planning Commission discussed these proposed changes at their February meeting and recommended approval of them after a public hearing at their March meeting. Comments were made by Council concerning not being in favor of parking on one side of the street. Mr. Nabity said they had not had any input from developers regarding these changes. Presentation of OpenGov Budget Tool. Assistant Finance Director William Clingman reported that on November 7, 2017 a presentation was given to the City Council about the OpenGov budget tool that the City was looking to purchase. On November 14, 2017 the purchase of the OpenGov software was approved. Given was a brief overview of the OpenGov budget tool that City staff would use for the 2018- 2019 budget year. City Council members would be given read access to the proposed budget once it had been reviewed by City Administration. Mr. Clingman stated the OpenGov platform provided two basic reports, the budgeting platform and the budget book tool. The two basic reports were the Budget Milestone Report and Budget to Actual Report. Reviewed were the two reports, primarily the budget to actual report. The final step of the OpenGov budget process would be to create the budget book that would be provided to the public and City Council. This was in the process of being created and it would not be ready to present until approximately July 2018. Page 3, City Council Study Session, April 17, 2018 Discussion was held regarding Council budget polices. Initial proposals by the departments would not be seen by Council until Administration had reviewed the figures. Mr. Clingman stated they could export the figures at any given time so Council could see the changes. City Administrator Marlan Ferguson stated he had advised the departments they could figure a 2% increase on General Fund expenses from last year's budget. June 12, 2018 would be the beginning of the budget process for FY 2018-2019. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 p.m. �� �, � , � RaNae Edwards City Clerk