High Country Conservation Center Climate Equity Presentation

In 2022, High Country Conservation Center (HC3) received a grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency to develop a Climate Equity Plan for the Summit County community. Recognizing that equity was not adequately considered in the original Climate Action Plan, which was adopted by Frisco Town Council in 2019, the Climate Equity Plan presents strategies that not only decrease local greenhouse gas emissions, but also ensures underrepresented residents have access to the benefits of climate action. Strategies in the plan address three key sectors: energy, transportation, and waste reduction.

HC3 reached out with a survey in English, Spanish, and French and received 40% Spanish language participation. HC3 also did outreach with round tables in English as second language classes at Colorado Mountain College. Through these efforts, HC3 received a more comprehensive view of barriers around sustainability efforts. HC3 found a need:

• To improve existing energy efficiency programs and policies to increase participation around low and middle income residents
• To provide increased incentives for cold climate heat pumps
• To develop multilingual and multicultural educational materials
• To enhance public transit services so they are safer and easier to access
• To develop an electric vehicle car share program, which Frisco is currently working on
• To increase convenient access to recycling and compost programs, which Frisco is working on through Universal Recycling and Pay As You Throw initiatives

HC3 requested that Town Council formally adopt this Climate Equity Plan at a future meeting once they had time to review and consider.

Paid Parking and Enforcement

In May 2022, Council approved a three-year contract with Interstate Parking to manage paid parking at the Frisco Bay Marina (approximately 320+ spaces) and to enforce parking year-round on Main Street to resolve overcrowding, encourage turnover, resolve safety concerns, and provide more staffing and resources around parking issues. Parking on Main Street on the seven blocks from Madison Avenue to 7^th Avenue is free with a three-hour time limit and is enforced year-round, except during the months of April and October. Parking on the side streets adjacent to Main Street does not have a time limit, and parking there is just prohibited from 2:00am-6:00am

Parking ticket fees are set by the Town of Frisco with the municipal judge reviewing and revising fees each year as needed. The judge has set the parking violation fee for a signed parking violation at $50 for several years now, and the addition of a $25 surcharge was requested by the Frisco Police Department in 2017. This results in a $75 ticket fee.

Review of 2023 Paid Parking and Parking Enforcement

• Turnover for Main Street parking has increased by 30%
• Average transaction cost at the Marina is approximately $3.80
• Turnover has increased at the Marina, opening up spaces for more Marina users and pushing trailhead users to other parking, including at the Frisco Adventure Park  
• Some parking pass holders have commented that they do not want to be limited to “Fruit Stand Lot” during holidays and weekends
• 59% of parking passes were sold to slip holders

Future Recommendations/Direction for Discussion

During the October 10, 2023 Town Council work session, staff from Interstate Parking summarized the parking enforcement programs, commented on the effectiveness of the programs, and presented recommendations for changes to the program in 2024.

• Have a designated area for employee parking that does not impact Marina customers; this would include Marina, concessionaire, and Island Grill employees. Council was supportive of this and directed staff to continue to provide parking in other areas and incentivize all employees to use alternative transportation to get to work at the Marina.
• Implement holiday rates on all Saturdays to encourage turnover. Council gave direction to staff to bring back a discussion of all daily rates and gave initial feedback that they did not want Saturday rates to be as high as holiday rates.   
• Have a Monday-Thursday season parking pass for $99 and a seven day a week pass for $349. Council gave direction to not move forward with this recommendation to charge more for a seven-day pass.
• Add links to ParkFrisco.com that indicate bus stops, bike routes, Adventure Park, Marina rentals, ski areas, and a map of Frisco businesses. Staff can work on this with Interstate Parking.
• Have ten spaces at the front of the Marina parking lots to accommodate parking season pass holders on a first come, first served basis. This will need to be revisited at a future Council meeting because the direction was split with a three to three vote on this topic.  
• Council gave direction to extend the payment period for a parking ticket from 10 days to 30 days, and staff will review Town Code to see if this is possible under the current code and will return with options for further discussion.  
• Council would like staff to return with information on the possibility of reducing the parking ticket fee, which is set by the municipal judge (sets $50 fine) and Town Council (sets $25 surcharge).  

In summary, staff were directed to return to a future meeting with more options around on daily rates, options for pass holder parking, fines, and payment period for fines.

NHP Development Agreement

The NHP Foundation has an active development agreement with the Town of Frisco to develop over 100 workforce housing units between two projects. NHP continues to provide updates and propose changes to the development agreement to make sure that the current plans for the project and financing are coordinated with the code and agreement elements.

NHP has requested to meet with Council in work session to discuss the current state of the projects and possible amendments to the development agreement. NHP would like prioritize building the Galena Street project with units for middle income workforce in the spring of 2024. They then propose building the West Main Street project starting in 2025.

NHP is asking for the following actions from Town Council to amend the development agreement:

• Save $3 million by allowing on street parking at the 101 W. Main Street project
• Save $1 million by eliminating the planned commercial space at the 101 W. Main Street project
• Allow density bonus to apply to the project with missing middle housing up to 120% of area median income (Colorado Department of Local Affairs allows up to 140% AMI)
• Allow “excess density bonus” generated by the project to be monetized by allowing them to be transferred to other private projects in Town
• Come to consensus on a development program

Council indicated that they are comfortable with moving forward with the Galena Street project, but they directed NHP to return with more information regarding the 101 W. Main Street project that include looking at options without a parking lot adjacent to Ten Mile Creek, understanding current commercial space vacancies, understanding where the Workforce Center could be located if not at 101 W. Main, discussing residential on street parking and how it would operate, and discussing the idea of selling density bonuses to a developer of market cost housing to offset the cost of this project.

Lake Hill Extra-Territorial Water Request

On May 9, 2023 Ordinance 23-05 was approved, which modified Chapter 171 of the Town code by adding an application process for extra-territorial (out of Town boundaries) water requests. This new process requires prospective water users outside the Town of Frisco boundaries to submit a written application, to dedicate water rights, to provide a will-serve letter from Frisco Sanitation District, and to fulfill other conditions per the ordinance. Town Council will then grant denial or approval, with conditions, based on the best interest of the Town and its residents. In addition, the ordinance states that the Council will consider whether the request will result in detrimental secondary impacts to the Town or its residents. If Council approves a request, the applicant is required to meet all conditions, dedicate water rights, pay all fees and reimbursements, and execute an extra-territorial tap contract.

On July 13, 2023, the Town received an Extra-Territorial Water Application from Summit County Government for the Lake Hill Housing project for 440.8 EQR’s; an EQR is the typical amount of water resources used by a typical single family residence. The application indicated that phase II of the Lake Hill project could require an additional 384.2 EQR’s. Summit County indicated that it is unknown when Phase II would be built. Currently, the application for phase I is only being considered, which consists of  440.8 EQR’s to accommodate 438 residential units, a daycare, and a community center. Included with the application was payment of the required fees, a project narrative, and a drawing indicating how the proposed development would use the property.

Town staff and legal counsel met on July 25, 2023 to discuss the application and formulate a response to Summit County requesting more information, which was sent to the County on July 31, 2023. The County responded to the Town’s comments and questions in a formal letter on August 16, 2023. No additional follow-up has occurred since the August 16, 2023 response, as both parties agreed that the next course of action should be a joint work session between the Council and the County.

During the October 10, 2023, work session, Summit County consultants and staff presented the Lake Hill water request to Town Council for extra-territorial water taps for the proposed Lake Hill housing project. County staff and consultants acknowledged the need to address Dillon Dam Road and Highway 9 traffic/capacity with Denver Water and the Colorado Department of Transportation, public transportation across Dillon Dam Road, and trail and recreation issues, including improving the recreation path where it is directly adjacent to Dillon Dam Road.

Town Council reiterated that they are most concerned about traffic/capacity and planning for the Lake Hill project in advance of the development, improving trail connectivity and public transportation, ensuring that the development is water efficient, understanding the planning for phase II when possible, understanding and planning for the impacts on the school system (especially Frisco Elementary), seeing how Dillon Dam Road could accommodate Summit Stage and school buses, and the status of the County’s progress with the Frisco Sanitation District, which is not a part of the Town of Frisco but a separate district. Council concluded that more information is required to continue to review the water application.   

Mill Levy for 2024

As part of the regular budget process each year, staff was required to present Ordinance 23-21, which continues a mill levy in the amount of 0.798 based on the Town of Frisco property tax assessed in 2023, to be collected in 2024. FYI- the mill levy can only be increased through approval in a public election, and this ordinance did not impose or increase the mill levy. In Frisco, property tax collections are utilized for the purpose of defraying the expenses in the general fund, and this mill levy is forecasted to result in revenues of $299,092 in 2024.

Council approved Ordinance 23-21 on the first reading.

2024 Budget Adoption

Staff presented Ordinance 23-22, to adopt the 2024 budget and a five-year capital program for the Town of Frisco. This ordinance adopts expenditures totaling $41,296,533; revenues and reserves of $81,755,528 are adequate to meet those expenditures, leaving a total ending fund balance of $40,458,995 at the end of 2024. Details of this ordinance by fund are available in attachment 1, as well as a breakdown of the budget at the department level in attachment 2.

Since the September 12, 2023 work session presentation of the proposed 2024 budget, several changes have been made based on Council feedback:

• Increased nonprofit discretionary grants by $14,822 to accommodate grants approved by Town Council at the September 26, 2023 Town Council meeting. The total amount budgeted for nonprofit grants is now $214,822.
• Increased Town Council compensation to accommodate paying Council members $9,000 per year and $15,000 for the Mayor per year. This increase would not take effect for current Council Members; the change would only take effect when Council Members are re-elected or newly elected to Town Council. Finance staff have also budgeted $80 per Town Council meeting, as a childcare reimbursement for Town Council members who may need this. Both this and the salary increase for future Council Members are included in the proposed budget but would need to be approved through a future ordinance in order to go into effect for future Council Members.
• Added Planning Commission compensation to the budget to accommodate $100 payment for each Planning Commission meeting that Planning Commissioners attend. This addition of compensation for Planning Commissioners is recommended to take effect on January 1, 2024.
• Police take home vehicles- Council directed staff to budget for this but to bring the police take home vehicle discussion back to Council for further discussion and before making any purchases.

Council approved Ordinance 23-22 on the first reading.

Adoption of the Legislative Policy Statement

The Town of Frisco legislative policy statement is intended to provide guidance for elected officials, Town staff, community members, and advocacy partners representing the Town, who are interested in the Town’s official stances on bills introduced to the legislature at both the state and federal levels. Due to the fast-paced nature of the legislative process, it is important for the Town to proactively state and be able to refer to the Town’s stated priorities.

As the 2024 State Legislative Session approaches, Town Staff presented the proposed 2024 Town of Frisco legislative policy statement. This document is organized into relevant topics of interest to the community, and those topics are sorted into categories that support Town Council’s strategic plan priorities, including:

• We provide progress-driven Quality Core Services
• We support a Thriving Economy
• We enhance Community Inclusivity
• We provide Vibrant Culture, Arts and Recreation Opportunities

Council gave staff direction during the September 26, 2023 work session to adjust wording, to not use AMI as the only evaluation tool for housing, and to add some additional organizations to the appendix. Council also gave direction to add some language about reaching to Town Council individually when needed to receive last-minute direction on a legislative issue and to provide clarification on Council’s process for taking a stance on initiatives/ballot questions. These changes are included in Resolution 23-26.

Town Council approved Resolution 23-26.

Frisco Town Council Meetings: Ways to Participate

Frisco Town Council meetings are available to view via Zoom and YouTube, and are also held in person to make Town Council meetings easier to access for everyone.

The public can provide comment during meetings via Zoom or in person (not YouTube), and a public comment period will be available at 7:00pm; during the consideration of ordinances; and at the discretion of Town Council during work session items, which are discussions that don’t require a formal vote by Town Council and do not require public comment. Again, this hybrid approach is intended to make Town Council meetings more accessible, and meeting recordings will typically also be made available the day after a meeting in the meeting archive with agenda topics bookmarked to the discussions in the video.