February 17, 2022 Council Neighborhoods Committee

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Transcript

[00:00:07] Member Pat Showalter: Okay. Well,

[00:00:10] Member Pat Showalter: good evening, everyone. I'd like to bring this meeting of the council neighborhoods committee to order. Um, it's one of our regular meetings, and um, Staff, can we have roll call?

[00:00:27] Unknown Speaker: Yes, would you mind reading the um, Oh, should I do that 1st time? Okay. Prior

[00:00:32] Member Pat Showalter: roll call, of course. This meeting will be conducted in accordance with the state of California executive order in dash 29 dash 20 dated March 17th, 2020. All members of the council neighborhoods committee are participating in this meeting by video conference with no physical meeting location. As noted on the meeting agenda, members of the public may provide oral public comments during the public comment period for an item. Any emails and voicemail messages received by 5 p.m. Thursday. Um, February 17th were forwarded to the council neighborhoods committee. Emails received after 5 p.m. and prior to the close of the public comment period for the agenda item will be read into the record by staff, and any voicemail messages received will be played by staff. Now, I will ask staff to proceed with roll call. Chair, show, Walter. Here. Mayor Ramirez? Here.

[00:01:28] Unknown Speaker: Vice Mayor Hicks?

[00:01:29] Member Alison Hicks: Here.

[00:01:31] Unknown Speaker: All our present. Great. Okay. Oh,

[00:01:35] Member Pat Showalter: and thanks to the staff members for being here too. Appreciate this. Okay, so we are on to item 3 then. That's minutes approval, and minutes for the November 18th, um, uh, 2021 meeting have been delivered to all the committee meetings and we, we post copies on the city bulletin board. So if there are no corrections or additions, a motion is in order to approve these minutes. Does any member of the committee have comments or questions on the minutes?

[00:02:02] Member Alison Hicks: I actually do have a comment or question. I was not on the committee when that meeting was held, so I was going to abstain. Will that cause any problems for getting it to pass?

[00:02:14] Member Pat Showalter: I don't think so, because there are 2 of us, and we could pass it with two. Okay, good. Okay um. Mayor Ramirez, would you like to move approval?

[00:02:29] Member Lucas Ramirez: Uh, sure, did you want to take public comment first?

[00:02:31] Member Pat Showalter: Yeah, oh, right. Okay, do we have anyone here who would like to make a public comment on the minutes? Saying none? I like emotion? Um, Mayor Ramirez.

[00:02:48] Member Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, chair. I will move to approve the minutes.

[00:02:52] Member Pat Showalter: Great. And I will 2nd that. And then I guess we should have a roll call vote. Oh, are there any comments of the committee members? Okay, then we can have a roll call vote. Here, show, Walter? Yes. Mayor Ramirez?

[00:03:09] Member Lucas Ramirez: Yeah.

[00:03:10] Unknown Speaker: Vice Mayor Hicks?

[00:03:12] Member Alison Hicks: Abstain.

[00:03:14] Member Pat Showalter: Thank you. Okay. So

[00:03:18] Member Pat Showalter: the minutes pass. Um, uh, with uh, 2, 2 plus, 2, 4, and one abstention. All right, well next we come to item four, which is the oral communications portion of our meeting. And this portion is reserved for persons wishing to address the committee on any matter that is not on the agenda. Speakers are allowed to speak on any topic for up to 3 minutes during this session section. State law prohibits the committee from acting on nonagenda items. Would any member of the public on the line like to provide comments on the non-agenda items? If so, please click raise hand button in zoom or press star 9 on your telephone. Do you see anybody?

[00:04:00] Unknown Speaker: I do see one hand raised. Excellent.

[00:04:04] Member Pat Showalter: Okay. So, let's hear. I'll

[00:04:07] Unknown Speaker: allow Bruce England to talk. Welcome, Bruce. Thank you all. Um,

[00:04:14] Bruce England: I have a question, actually, before we go before you go into 6'one. I would like to talk from the public about potentially expanding the neighborhood's program in some ways, but it's beyond what you have in the 61 report. So I'm not sure whether to hold it for 61 or talk about what I'd like to talk about now.

[00:04:35] Member Pat Showalter: Well, I think, um, We're fairly informal here, for clarity's sake, let's just go ahead and let you talk now.

[00:04:44] Bruce England: Okay, fair enough. So, um, There are some ways, the neighborhoods, uh, grant program is great as it stands. However, the reasons to think that it might be somewhat restricted beyond where it ought to be. Um, there are members of the community that would like to do things within the community that don't necessarily fall neatly in the category of a neighborhood's event, like a block party or an ice cream social or something like that. And I'll give you a few examples. One is, Green Spaces Mountain View is currently working on a garden uh, pollinator garden project at Questa Park, uh, in coordination with the parks division, and it's working very successfully and all of that, but the money part of it is pretty much coming out of our own pockets. We have some grant funding potential. We're doing okay. But there are others in the community that might want to do similar things. And um, any sort of encouragement that they can have would be useful, not just for the money perspective. But, um, to help send the message from the city that these kinds of things are supported. Other examples could be music events. that are either neighborhood centric or more broad for all in the community to participate in, or having volunteer groups go and do plannings in planner strips and those kind of things. Those are just a few examples. So I'm hoping the committee would discuss this kind of, um, this kind of thing. And if it means that you need to explore it through a further agenda item at a later date. Of course, that's fine. This is just an idea that I'm floating out there. Thank you. Thank

[00:06:22] Member Pat Showalter: you. Okay, is there anybody else on the line? We don't see any other hands raised. Great. Okay. So that closes oral communications item four. And, um, uh, Then we get to unfinished business, which is number 5, and we don't have any of that, so we can move right on to number 6, which is new business. Um, 6.one and 6.2 or to review the neighborhood grant program guidelines, and the 2022 council neighborhoods committee work plan. And um, 1st we'll have a staff presentation and then committee questions and then public comment. If there's any additional. Thank you. So, take it away, staff. Thank you,

[00:07:08] Unknown Speaker: chair, show, Walter. So the 1st item tonight is to review the neighborhood grant program guidelines. Um, just as a reminder, I, the last few, the last year we used a tier structure to, uh, offer the grants, and it was based on the household size of different neighborhoods and then a maximum award for each, uh, size neighborhood group. Um, so that's something that worked, I think, quite smoothly last year, and I just wanted to make sure everybody was aware that, uh, that we had done that. Another thing that we worked on last year was a restaurant pilot program, so previously restaurant and catered meals were ineligible expenses under the program guidelines. But at the September 2021 meeting, uh, the committee voted to allow restaurant catered meals as a pilot program. The guidelines were that the delivery cost needed to be a maximum of $50. The per person cost needed to max out at $10 and food trucks were in allowed use in this pilot. Full service catering remained ineligible under the pilot. So the one of the questions we have for you all tonight. Is whether you'd like to institute that pilot in the neighborhood grant program guidelines for the 20223 cycle. And if you'd like to make any changes to it. That ends my presentation for a 6. one. Churchill Alter, would you like me to continue on to 6.2 before we discuss?

[00:08:40] Member Pat Showalter: Please, yeah.

[00:08:41] Unknown Speaker: Okay. So the next part of my presentation is our the work plan for the year. This year we hope to have 3 committee meetings, tonight being the 1st, 4 neighborhood meetings. Run the neighborhood grant program again, and we have some ideas about, um, some ways to make that work, which we'll highlight later. And, um, you know, as we are experiencing right now, we'll probably plan on beginning the meetings virtually as we are tonight, but we'll continue assessing opportunities to move the meetings to in person, and Lisa has already begun reserving spaces so that we can move to in person smoothly when the time is right. Here's a map of our neighborhood areas that we use. We do every other year at each area. So, um, this year, we will be doing meetings at the Grant Road Sylvan Park neighborhood area, the San Antonio Ranks Storf, Del Medio neighborhood area. There'll be the biennial mobile home park residence meeting. And then the Montaloma Farley Rock Street neighborhood area. As I mentioned, uh, we wanted to present some ideas to the committee regarding the um, networking event. Typically, we have a networking event for all the grant recipients after they've received the awards, and it's usually an in-person fun event with food. Um, Last year, in lieu of that, Staff held a preparation meeting for people to help to help people apply for the grants. It was over Zoom. And one thing we learn from that is that, you know, it's a great opportunity for neighborhood groups to ask questions for new neighborhood presidents to learn how the grant process works and for new groups to even consider applying for a grant. So what we'd like to propose and partially this is because of what we learned last year and partially it's because of the uncertainty around in person that we're still facing. is that we would hold um, a virtual grant preparation event like we did last year during the grant application cycle period, so probably in April. And then work to put together a networking event for all the grant recipients as we have in the past, hopefully in person later in the summer. So we'd love your feedback on that. This is the proposed 2022 calendar. Um, the grant application period or the grant application calendar is highlighted in yellow here. So we're proposing opening the grants in about a month. And then having that grant preparation meeting, having the committee review the grants in May. And then have a networking event in late summer. And then the green are the neighborhood area meetings and the CNC meetings that we're proposing. Some of the dates we've firmed up with the committee, and I will, um, follow back up with the committee on the Grant Road Sylvan Park neighborhood area meeting in the San Antonio Ranksdorf and Del Medio neighborhood area meeting. Our recommendation tonight is to adopt a work plan of 4 neighborhood meetings and the neighborhood grant program. And then confirm that grant program calendar so we can get started on it. And that concludes my presentation. Thank you.

[00:12:09] Member Pat Showalter: All right, so now is a good time for council questions. Any of the committee members have questions? Um, Council member Hicks. I mean, vice mayor Hicks. Sorry.

[00:12:24] Member Alison Hicks: So my 1st question is, I hope you're okay with me just raising my hand because I have trouble toggling between the document and the raised hand feature tonight. That's fine. Okay, good. So long as that works for you, chair. Um, and then my 2nd question is the, the, um, the grant preparation meeting, I was not on this committee when it, I've been on this committee before, but never when it was virtual. I assume that that particular meeting is not one that council members go to because I don't think I'd be very helpful. helping people fill out grants, but that's my question. Do we go to that one or not?

[00:13:06] Unknown Speaker: That would be my assumption also. I was also not here last year, so feel free to chime in other committee members if you have a different recollection.

[00:13:13] Member Pat Showalter: Well, I think I was there, but I am part of the, um, the, uh, Cooper Park neighborhood association. So, you know, that, I was kind of there for both, but I think, I think most of us were there. Lucas, were you there?

[00:13:30] Member Lucas Ramirez: No, I, I, I attended the, um, the fun events, but not the grant preparation.

[00:13:35] Member Pat Showalter: Oh okay. Well, I think the main reason why it was, uh, we, we decided to have it was because, you know, during COVID, um, what we could do with our money, um, really was narrowed. I mean, it was changed because, you know, the typical um, event that people had had were ice cream socials and and barbecues and, you know, there we were. Unable to get together physically. So, so the different neighborhood associations got pretty creative with ways to spend the money and, um, you know, get the community together, but not, but to do it virtually. So, so the meeting was really an opportunity to share those experiences. So that if other um, neighborhood uh, groups wanted to use them, that, you know, they hear about them before it was time to finish their grant application. And and I thought that was, You know, that was a good idea. Um, and and it was, and it was helpful to us because there were some things that we, you know, came to our attention that we hadn't thought of. Um. So that, that was sort of the basis of it to, you know, to give the um, uh, group's ideas. Um, and so I don't really think that council members do necessarily have to be there, but that's the basic idea. And if you have ideas, like I know you've lived in Old Mountain View for a long time, Allison. You know, maybe you'd want to have them. Talk about what are the things that your community really likes and has liked over time. Um, so, so that's, that's kind of what the, you know, what the prep meaning is.

[00:15:09] Member Alison Hicks: but not, it's good but not necessary that we go is what I'm, and I'm getting a fuller context of what that meeting consists of. Okay, I have a 2nd question. Which is that, um, I thought that, uh, that the things that, uh, Mr. England wrote, uh, raised during his public commentary actually do fit into, um, what we'll be talking about in the future, and, uh, so I'm, I'm hoping that we'll be able to, to talk about those as a part of 6.one, like you said, uh, Pat, this is an informal meeting. So I'm hoping that I actually think he should have spoken during the next part of the meeting and that we should talk about what he said. So I, so I'm hoping you all think so as well.

[00:15:58] Member Pat Showalter: Yeah, um, I, I think that's fine with me to talk about it. I, um, uh, Mayor Amirez, is that okay with you? You have your hand off to you.

[00:16:11] Member Lucas Ramirez: I have other questions, but that's fine with me. Okay.

[00:16:15] Member Pat Showalter: All right. Um, well, maybe we'll ask the questions and then we'll talk. How about that? Um, uh, vice mayor, um, picks. So, and we do have a hand up for public comment. we have to listen to public comment. Oh, we have public comment. I didn't know we had public comment. Well that's great. Okay, well, let's open up public comment. Would any member of the public like on the line? Lucas has to ask a question 1st and then public comment. Excuse me. Yeah, that's right. We're supposed to have that. I'm sorry, I haven't done this in a long time. I used to do it regularly, but it's been a long time. Okay, so, again, Mayor Ramirez, what's your question?

[00:16:51] Member Lucas Ramirez: Uh, I'm, I'm sorry. I'm, um, I'm curious about the, uh, input that city, the city has received related to the restaurant pilot, uh, from neighborhood groups who were participating. Uh, were there any recommendations for changes, uh, was it not, you know, well utilized for obvious reasons or were there sort of operational concerns that we should know or understand?

[00:17:21] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, I was hoping to um, that's a great question. I was hoping to. Get more feedback in advance, but I haven't really received much. Um, the, I think only one group has really used the exemption and that was for an ice cream truck. But I also, you know, the change was made in September and we still have some time to go in the year, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of it. Lisa, do you have any feedback that you wanted to share that you may have received?

[00:17:51] Lisa: As some of the food catering. We have had groups that have been.

[00:17:57] Member Pat Showalter: Can you speak up a little bit, Lisa?

[00:17:59] Lisa: Oh, I'm sorry. Can you hear me a little bit better now?

[00:18:01] Member Pat Showalter: Yeah. Okay, great. Thanks.

[00:18:04] Lisa: We have had groups. utilize, um, Like ordering pizza and picking up pizza as well as, uh, catering trays from places like Knob Hill, um, in the past. So some of the groups are still using that type of service versus, um, a restaurant, uh, catering or delivery service. Um, we have had some inquiries in the past, but there hasn't been an event that has been completed where they've requested the reimbursement through this new pilot program.

[00:18:43] Member Lucas Ramirez: And just to clarify, is staff recommending a one year extension or permanent adoption of the pilot?

[00:18:51] Unknown Speaker: I think I'd recommend permanent adoption of the pilot.

[00:18:55] Member Lucas Ramirez: Okay.

[00:18:55] Member Lucas Ramirez: Um, is, so, I'm, I'm okay with that, but, uh, we may discover down the road, uh, as the program is. More frequently utilized that there are some meaningful operational changes we will have to make, is, uh, committee approval necessary or can staff, uh, you know, make some changes administratively without needing to come back to the subcommittee. Uh if we find that there are some, you know. Maybe maybe the numbers stay the same or maybe the subcommittee could modify this or give staff the discretion to modify the numbers but I I guess what I'm saying is I don't necessarily want to have to schedule a subcommittee meeting to make changes to the program if there are modifications that are necessary to to make sure it's useful to neighborhood groups.

[00:19:54] Unknown Speaker: As it is written, I don't think that we could make the changes without coming back to you, but if you wanted to amend it to say, you know, generally these items and staff discretion may be used in special circumstances to adjust or something along those lines, that would probably cover what you're raising. Okay, that's helpful. And

[00:20:14] Member Lucas Ramirez: then, um, I have a question related to, um, what, uh, Mr. England and bicemar Hicks was, or we're describing. Uh, is there, is there sort of a formal process where members of the public or uh, community groups can share input outside of a subcommittee meeting about general expansions to uh, the grant program?

[00:20:40] Unknown Speaker: Not particularly beyond, you know, folks are always welcome to email neighborhoods at mountain view.gov and occasionally get some feedback that way and have some good conversations with, uh, with community members and sometimes we can do some interesting problem solving. But there's not a particular formal process otherwise.

[00:20:59] Member Lucas Ramirez: Okay,

[00:20:59] Member Pat Showalter: those are my questions for now. Thank you. I had one question as well too. Um, I was looking on, um, I guess it's the 1st page of the, the memo, and it says at the bottom that for full service catering, um, in order to be reimbursed for restaurant food, eligible grant groups must contact the housing division prior to placing an order to receive authorization. I was wondering, do you think that's really necessary?

[00:21:25] Unknown Speaker: No. I think that I think that we put that in, um, Because it was the 1st time and we wanted to make sure people understood what the parameters were. But I think, you know, Now that it's been out there for a while and the parameters are out there, I think that should be fine. I think really what we're trying to prevent is someone doing something that goes over, you know, the per person, head budget or the delivery budget and then, you know, feeling like they aren't able to get verse and that's not fair. So as long as we feel like people are clear on what the parameters are, I think it's fine.

[00:21:57] Member Pat Showalter: Okay, okay, great. All right. Well, I think that that ends the questions, right? For council questions. So we'll go on to public comment. Um, would any member of the public on the line like to provide comment? Oh, on this item? And if you have, oh, go ahead. Okay, if yeah, we do have one. All right. So, um, uh, please uh, welcome them. Hi, Stive. Thank you so much for coming.

[00:22:24] Steve: Hey, Pat. thanks for listening to me. Talk to you, Allison. Thanks for getting back to me on email I had a question. I'm retired. I'm starting to get involved with Mountain View and the community here. What is the relationship between the neighborhoods and the cert groups? I'm currently working with the Monteloma cert group. And you had a map there that showed the neighborhoods that showed the Monteloma Rock Street area all cover, but the Monteloma shirt doesn't cover that. So, you know, I'm kind of living in an uncerted area. And I was wondering, is that something that the search should cover that area or? What what what's going on with that? And the 2nd question is, um, when are they going to be, uh, starting up the search training again because I'm participating uh, through races Aries, but I don't have my city disaster service worker card yet. And that's all I had.

[00:23:25] Member Pat Showalter: Okay, thank you. Um, I know the answer to the 1st one anyway. Um, and that is that there, the, the surf boundaries and the neighborhood association boundaries are not the same at all. Um, the names are often the same, but the boundaries aren't the same. And um, so, uh, if you find it confusing, you're not the 1st person. Most people do. But, um, I know in our neighborhood, we normally have things together because, um, it's just, you know, it's just a good idea. Um, but, I don't know that every neighborhood does that, and, and, and it, and it, pretty much all the events, we have a, a certain table set up to encourage people to sign up for the cert team, and, and, um, get information about it. But certainly the cert has a lot of trainings that are not neighborhood association events that, you know, that need to need to happen. So um, So that's why it's confusing is because the boundaries aren't the same. And I don't know the answer of when the search training starts again. Perhaps, um, one of the staff does here. Otherwise, we'll get back to you. Uh, um, I don't have that, but, um, either

[00:24:40] Unknown Speaker: we can get back to you, folks here have your email address. It sounds like maybe some folks do or if you want to email neighborhoods at mountain view.gov, I can get the answer for you. Additionally,

[00:24:51] Lisa: uh, Robert Maitland is the individual staff individual that runs the cert program, and he would have, um, additional information. I do not have his extension number here, right in front of me, but it may be at the end of our information. Okay, his, um, phone number. If you have a pin handy is 650-903-6825. And his email address is Robert, R-O-B-E-R-T, dot Maitland, and that's M-A-I-E, L-A-N-D, at mountain view dot gov. Great.

[00:25:46] Member Pat Showalter: Okay, thank you. Um, is there anyone else who would like to speak to us for public comment on this?

[00:25:55] Unknown Speaker: I don't see any other hands up.

[00:25:57] Member Pat Showalter: Okay. All right. Well, then let's bring it back to the committee for discussion. We have 2 questions, right? Um, to answer. Um, the 1st one is to Approve the, um, Approve the, uh, the grant application program, right? The

[00:26:18] Unknown Speaker: 1st one to, uh, consider whether or not to include the restaurant program and the new guy, the 1st one is

[00:26:24] Member Pat Showalter: to consider the restaurant program. And, um, Uh, Vice Mayor Hicks. I'm sorry, you can read the 2nd one, Pat. I didn't mean to cut you off. Oh, okay. And the 2nd one is to um, okay, the work plan. And there really isn't one about okaying application, but we were just kind of talking about that as well. So maybe we'll kind of add that on our own to talk about, you know, any changes or additions to the application, which would be the list. Um, okay, so, um, vice mayor Hicks.

[00:26:57] Member Alison Hicks: No, so I'm all for, uh, okaying the the restaurant, uh, portion of the the agenda and the work plan as well. I'm actually very much behind the restaurant. I think that, the, uh, restaurant change. I think that, uh, the previous design where food had to be like your barbecue and so forth, sort of, uh, I mean, it seems like it was from my parents' generation when you, when, um, frankly, a lot of women didn't work and everybody could cook more, but I think people are super busy. I also think it's a way I also think it encourages purchases from small businesses, restaurants, and so forth, which are, um, you know, kind of many of them are in trouble because of the pandemic, and I would frankly rather that people get things from the Mediterranean grill, well, for example, which is a small business rather from Safeway, or so forth. So I fully support it and I also like the idea you had pad of simplifying it if possible so that people don't get caught at the last minute not having followed the rules properly. And I also support moving forward on the work plan or in, you know, endorsing that. And I would also, at some point, like to talk about whether it's now or later that's appropriate, uh, talk about, uh, either broadening, uh, what you're allowed to apply for as, uh, as Mr. England suggested, or possibly just clarifying that some of the things he suggested are already allowed in the, um, in the guidelines, as stated, I mean, it does some of the things he talked about. I think you could argue that, um, community gardens might be neighborhood beautification, but I think it would be good to clarify that because I know with our biodiversity, um, our, our, recent community visioning, including biodiversity. I think that that's something that many of our residents are increasingly focused on. Also with development and some amount of tree canopy loss. I think that, that those are things that people are thinking about a lot now, and I would, I would like to clarify that they would be, that they would be allowed activities. And the one that Bruce mentioned that seems like maybe it's excluded. is, I would like music to be allowed, I know that some community groups have done that. They've, they've done music, uh, particularly, but they felt a little unsure about whether they were allowed to. So it would be nice to specifically, uh, you know, mention that. And then the one, it does say in the street, right under ineligible activities, it mentions, if I can find it now. Um, Improvements in the public right of way. And it's, I don't, I don't know what the reasoning is for that. I understand you can't plant, you know, uh, anything you want, you can't plant a sequoia, sapling or something. Um, but, But I think, you know, a lot of our neighborhoods, people over time have filled the planning strips in with bricks or cement. And if a neighborhood wanted to take some of those out and plant something appropriate in it, I would I would think they should. I would think that should be a part of neighborhood beautification and it should be allowed. So those are my comments. Mayor

[00:30:41] Member Pat Showalter: Ramirez.

[00:30:43] Member Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, chair. So I largely agree with the recommendations that the vice mayor just made. Um, the only addition I would make is, uh, because it can be, uh, fairly cumbersome to have to convene another meeting if we want to make material changes to, um, some of the guidelines. I, I would also feel pretty comfortable giving staff more discretion, especially uh in the development of the, the restaurant pilot, which I guess will now become permanent if we approve it. Um, because I don't think we've, we've learned enough yet. We haven't heard from, uh, the neighborhood groups about what changes may be necessary, uh, to make the program more, um, you know, useful or desirable. So if if staff start to hear uh from neighborhood groups that there are some changes that are necessary. I'd rather not have to schedule a meeting too, uh, to approve those changes, so, um, I don't have language prepared, but to the extent, staff are able to incorporate some level of discretion, or administrative guidelines that you're allowed to, uh, to modify, uh, as needed. I think that would help achieve that goal. Um, and, you know, we don't have to do this tonight. But, um, I think down the road, um, we, I, I've been on the committee, this is my 4th year now on the committee, and there have been, um, you know, suggestions both from committee members and from the public over time about, uh, expansions of the program and, and, uh, new uses of funding, and I think generally speaking, they're all good ideas. Um, but we don't have um, we don't really have a formal process to, to consider them. uh. From when you have a subcommittee member who uh chooses to or is able to continuously serve, right? So John McAllister, for instance, was on the committee for 8 years, and because of that, because he was in, he, he had that institutional memory, he was able to uh advocate for some changes and sort of sustain them, just, just by virtue of his participation in the subcommittee. Um, and I'd rather not have to wait for a council number to champion a recommendation who has the good fortune to serve 3 or 4 years to see a change through. So if there's some, um, programmatic, um, approach we can take where if we get a recommendation like what Bruce had suggested or, um, a subcommittee member or something, um, you know, and it, it, and find a way to sustain, the development of that program, and not have it die just because a subcommittee member, you know, ceases to participate in the subcommittee, um, that, that would, and again, I'll have great ideas for that but I'd I'd love to to sort of find a way to um to make that work. Uh and and give staff an opportunity to bring back for consideration. Um, some of the, the more significant changes that we've, we've heard from the public. Um, and I, I don't have a problem with exploring, uh, you know, potential investments in public right away, and that kind of thing, the one thing that does come to mind, though, is there might be a liability issue. We probably will want to check in with public works to make sure we're not um stepping on their toes. Uh, this is a, you know, a big issue in, in my day job where, where these kinds of, um, inner departmental conflicts. Um, so, uh, I I like the idea, though. I think beautification, you know, the planner's trip or whatever, um, is, is a nice thing and it would be great to find a way to make that work.

[00:34:30] Member Pat Showalter: I would, I would just mention that my, the Cooper Park neighborhood association put in some of its money to partner with canopy to, um, plant trees at Cooper Park. And before we did that, um, uh, we talked to the, you know, the parks division about, you know, is that okay and how would it work? and they had worked with canopy before. So that, that was an instance where it worked, you know, it worked, it worked final, although we had, I just got a, um, I understand we're going to plant the trees on Arbor Day. So that's coming up. But, but, um, uh, I know that when Bruce talked to me personally, he was talking about how some of these might be for, um, uh, you know, a broader group than just one neighborhood group. And, um, I can see how that could happen too, but at the moment, we don't have sort of a proposal in front of us. Um, so, I, I, I think that we, and I was wondering, um, uh, Mayor Ramirez, you served on, um, the human relations committee, and one of the things they do is to, um, uh, allocate black grant money to a whole host of, of nonprofits that we support. And I could see that, um, this kind of, uh, greening of the community could also be done through that. Um, and I just wanted to ask you if you had experienced any of that or, um, know about it.

[00:36:07] Member Lucas Ramirez: Um, so, BDBG or home funding uh, has a bunch of strings attached that probably preclude a neighborhood group from easily accessing that funding. Uh, there's there's a, a huge amount of overhead. Uh, so I, I, I wouldn't necessarily use federal funding to achieve this, but, but I, I think, you know, uh, a, a, a broader conversation we might want to have at some point is allocating more funding to the program, you know, and and or, this is actually something that, that John McAllister had educated for just a few years ago. Um having uh sort of a parallel program specifically for beautification. Uh and I staff have done some analysis that I can't quite remember off the top of my head. Um, you know, I don't remember exactly why we didn't proceed at that time. Um, but we can, we can revisit that staff, you know, is able to easily access the work that you've already done a few years ago on beautification. Um, maybe that could be instructive for for the council. But, I think, you know, one of the key things is, I, I don't want that to detract from, um, the, right? And if you have like, if a neighborhood wants to, you know, do some beautification work, that's great. use your grant funding for that purpose. Um, but I don't want, uh, a, a group that is, you know, that, uh, that is affiliated based on a particular idea, as opposed to, you know, a neighborhood group, um, to necessarily detract from an opportunity for a neighborhood group to use the funding for, you know, uh, for networking or some social interaction, because, uh, it's important, but I think the, the, the utility of the program really is to help our community, you know, get to know each other. Um, so I want to be very careful about that. Yeah. Okay,

[00:37:55] Member Pat Showalter: so, um. Uh, vice

[00:37:58] Member Alison Hicks: mayor? Yes. So I just want to make sure, so 1st I want to make sure that we, um, Don't just talk about this and then it all kind of fritters away. Um, and so that's one thing I want to say, I want to, you know, uh, live here with some next steps. Um, and then the 2nd thing I was going to say is that, I actually think that, you know, neighborhood beautification is already one of the one of the eligible activities. And, and I know that like, like, um, uh, council member show alter has said that her neighborhood group is working with canopy. My neighborhood group, the old Mountain View neighborhood group also, uh, did some, um, park lighting, like holiday lighting. So I think it's a, uh, my memory is that that that has been used by various neighborhood groups, it's not just social events that, that, so I don't want to diminish that kind of thing. I actually personally would be more likely to participate in a community garden than an ice cream social. So I also don't want to, um, sort of, uh, diminish the potential of those kinds of activities for bringing people together. Um, anyway, that said, how can we make sure that in terms of community gardens, it seems like, To me, it seems like, that's a part of neighborhood beautification and doesn't need, any official additional recognition? Am I wrong or right? Um, we, we could just put in parentheses afterwards. For example, community gardens or do you think it needs some more official machinations before we can write that down and put it on a, you know, on a, on the, uh, list of eligible activities that we send out. And then, so that's one question. And the 2nd one is, how would we get live music to be on the list of eligible activities? And then the 3rd question is, how would we get it clarified? Uh, the question of how, how and whether people could, Um, do neighborhood beautification within the planning strips, the public right of way? Those, so those are my 3 questions. How to move forward on those three?

[00:40:24] Michaela: Would you like me to chime in? Yes, please. Michaela, yeah. So, um, I'm happy to, in the next round of uh, grant program guidelines, very clearly mention, you know, live music and community gardens as eligible uses. I think they they do clearly fall within what's already ineligible use. Let's make sure everybody knows about it. Um, and then as to the public right of way. I think I will follow up with my colleagues in public works and see if there's a process by which we, I think there is probably some process and just make sure that, uh, whatever it is, we lay it out clearly so we can say something like, you know, if neighborhood beautification involves a public right of way. Please, you know, follow this process. So I think that's probably, and if there isn't a clear process, then maybe we'll take some time to figure that out and let the committee know.

[00:41:13] Member Pat Showalter: Well, well, that's good. I'm a little concerned. I think we should be checking in too about the community garden issue because where, I mean, the community garden, um, I know when the parks have have established a park that's a community garden. There's a lot to it. You know, um, there's ownership of the land and, and liability and and designing it and putting in irrigation and, um, uh, you know, it can be quite complicated. So, you know, I can imagine if, If somebody wanted to, sort of, devote part of their yard to that, well, that would be great, but, but if it involved use of a city park, that's a much more complicated question. So, um, so, so I, I actually think. Yeah, we could just make neighborhood beautification in gardens in there and leave it really, really open. But, um, but clearly whose land you're going to use to garden is a big issue and that has to be clarified and straightened out.

[00:42:17] Michaela: Absolutely. And I will add, um, you know, typically any of the things that they can do are are subject to. You know, it being legal and right, you know, if they do it, if the community group wants to host a picnic, they have to get a permit. And all those different pieces. So, you know, that's always an underlying consideration. But I'm happy to reach out to just try to understand how folks can do it and maybe just even put some of it in the grant guidelines to be helpful. And Lisa, for example, is sharing the annual Arbor Day free tree application, which could be a really fun activity for a community.

[00:42:49] Member Pat Showalter: Like, like, for instance, I can imagine that, um, a, uh, a community group who wanted to, um, encourage the planning of native plants, could some people could raise some native plants, and then have a giveaway event. You know, where they gave it to their neighbors to put in. And, you know, it would be, or they could buy native plants. I mean, like there's a native plant nursery in Foothills Park. Maybe they would want to buy native plant. So that would be sort of like a gardening effort that I could see where, you know, it would fit in with the current, um, with the current guidelines, but I am a little concerned about, if, you know, we don't want to tell people that they have permission right now to just, um, uh, till up a section of a park, because we don't have, we don't have the, uh, the, uh, you know, the, the, uh, authorization to do that. So that's that's kind of what I, you know, I wanted to bring up. We would need to that would be a different, that's a different thing. Okay, so I think, um, Do we need emotion for this? Or have you gotten sufficient direction to move on?

[00:44:03] Michaela: I think I've gotten sufficient direction. Can I just read out what I have here to make sure? I think that's an excellent idea. Great. So, um, I'm gonna, going to amend the grant guidelines to make mention of music as an opportunity in gardens, and I'll work on finding resources for what people need to do if they're considering doing something in the public right of way. Um, they have to follow process, but that could be allowable under certain circumstances if the process is followed. Um, I'm going to amend the guidelines to include the restaurant, uh, the restaurant recommendations, and I'm going to say that the guidelines will be subject to the to administrative guidelines that staff uh, will manage. so that we can adjust them as needed. Um, And I'm going to, I think the only piece that I have, a little bit of a question is, and maybe this is just for us to bring up at our next meeting again, is, um, you know, if we wanted to talk further about a beautification program, or if we wanted to talk further about finding ways to develop changes, uh, to the program in a more formal way. And I'm happy to take your direction on when you'd like me to bring either of those up. Okay, um, by Spare Hicks. So

[00:45:24] Member Alison Hicks: I, I like all the things you said. Um, I, I am, I just want to make sure that we're not overcomplicating the nature-based solutions in terms of, of, um, In terms of neighborhood beautification, because I actually, you know, I brought up the example of my neighborhood, we did, um, we did holiday lightning. And and I had some concerns with that. I think that, you know, I don't know whether I actually want lighting at night in a park. Um, we, we've since then had a lot of discussions of whether that, uh, uh, kind of scares away birds and so forth. Um, so I think that any form of neighborhood beautification probably brings up some issues. And I don't want to think that nature-based solutions bring up more issues than putting lights all over the place, for example. So, um, I would like if you followed up. I endorse following up in the way that you mentioned, Michaela, you know, putting in adding gardens. I don't think they're more problematic than any of the other things on the list. But I do think there will need to be coordination sometimes with various staff. So I think you could bring that to another meeting. You know, maybe have a conversation. And and flush it out a little more and bring that to a next meeting, but I don't think that stops us from from, you know, writing in the word gardens along with live music. Um, yeah,

[00:46:55] Member Pat Showalter: I I also think that I would like for us in our, we have a meeting in the fall, right, to kind of complete things, right? Mhm. Yeah. Um, I would like to see it that next meeting if we could have uh, a description of what a parallel process for beautification grants might be. I mean, For instance, Bruce England was mentioning that, um, they had, uh, put in a pollinator, um, garden at Questa Park, and they had done this, they've done this in coordination with Parks and Rec. So it, you know, it's all square, but, but that they, they didn't really have a source of money. Um, and they would kind of like a source of money for the, for the, um, from the city, and, you know, these things I can imagine. help more than one neighborhood group, and there could be things that would help more the neighborhood group. So I just, and this is a year when we do have a little bit of extra money. So, um, I was wondering what other people thought about the idea of of just floating, the idea of having a small grant program as a pilot project maybe next year. Um, on uh, beautification. Uh, Mayor Ramirez, you look like you want to say something? Yeah. I

[00:48:18] Member Lucas Ramirez: I thought, uh, Bison Hicks had, unmuted herself, so I wasn't sure if you wanted to go 1st, but. You

[00:48:25] Member Alison Hicks: can go first. I was trying to raise my hand, but I'm having trouble with the control. I'm just trying to... Um,

[00:48:32] Member Lucas Ramirez: so I, I, I think, uh, before we, uh, provide too much direction on this, I think it would be helpful for staff to go back and share with us whatever their findings were from the, the last evaluation that they did on a beatification like program, because I'm, I have this strong recollection that we've talked about this before, but I don't remember what the. Um, the, the, so 11 thing that comes to mind though, I think a, a key distinguishing element is right now, the grant funding is available to specific neighborhood groups, right? So, there's an association based on proximity, as opposed to green spaces, mountain view, where many of the members may be, you know, spread throughout the city, and I, I do have a philosophical concern with a group like that competing against a neighborhood group for the same pot, right? Because then, you could end up with multiple groups, you know, that have different names and and art, technically all sort of, like, 11 neighborhood group, buying for the same pot of buns, and then you end up with, in, inequity and how the funding is dispersed across the city. So I do think a separate program is useful, if we're going to allow non-neighborhood based groups to, to compete for funding.

[00:49:47] Member Lucas Ramirez: Yeah, so. Sorry, do you want to recognize? Ice Mayor Hicks?

[00:49:58] Member Alison Hicks: Um, Yeah, so at the same time, I want to make sure we're not disallowing beautification as one. I mean, it's written in there as one of the things. Okay, so it's still allowed is one of the things. And, um, I think when the old Mountain View Neighborhood Association did the, the holiday lighting program, which is still, they, they still do the lighting, but uh, apparently they don't have to purchase new lights every year. Um, you know, we did the social event and the lighting, so one didn't seem to. There didn't seem to be competition, uh, between the, the groups of people who were working on the 2 things. I, I think that people, I'm assuming that people involved in green spaces also may also be involved in their neighborhood groups and may be a part of that process. But, um, yeah, I I, I do agree. I want to hear the, what, um, what the discussion has been on this committee in the past and whether we could learn from it and whether we need a separate fund as well.

[00:51:07] Member Pat Showalter: All right, so I think that that, um, Brings us to the end of. Item 6. Again, um, uh, Miss Helmet, tensure, do you have what you need? They do. Thank you very much. Good. Okay. So that brings us to um, item seven, committee staff comments, questions, and committee reports. Does anybody have a committee report they would like to share? Uh, Mayor Miras.

[00:51:38] Member Lucas Ramirez: Thank you. So, just to clarify, I think we provided a lot of input on the neighborhood grant program, but did you need a motion to approve the work plan for the year? Or is it sort of understood that we're comfortable with the work plan?

[00:51:57] Michaela: I think I just need an understanding that you're comfortable with the work plan. Okay. Hope so Um, you're

[00:52:03] Member Lucas Ramirez: comfortable with that, then I'm comfortable with that. Um, I did, I did have a question um, based on a conversation. I think we had, this may have actually been in the minutes. Um, the Matrix study is out, uh, and I did have a question about, um, you know, whether, uh, it, given the workload that housing staff have, whether it necessarily made sense for housing staff, also to, uh, uh, administer, you know, this program. Um, I don't remember what the matrix study said, but can. staff provide an update to us on whether there was a recommendation about who ought to be uh staffing the CNC.

[00:52:47] Michaela: I believe there was a recommendation in the Matrix study. Um, I'm trying to pull it up as we speak. Let's see here. Um, if you could just give me a moment. I believe there was a recommendation to consider moving it, I guess is what I'm trying to say, and I think staff are still talking about what is possible and where there might be capacity to do so. And we'll hold on to it until or that time or we'll continue to afterwards. I will share that, um, The capacity in the housing division is increasing, and we will have a new housing specialist on board by the time of our next committee meeting. Oh,

[00:53:26] Member Lucas Ramirez: that's phenomenal. Thanks for the update. It's great, yeah. Okay. So

[00:53:31] Member Pat Showalter: does that end item 6? Sorry. Um, everybody feels comfortable with the work plan and and, um, Okay, yeah. I think the only issue was exact dates for the meetings and they're going to work on that, um, off, offline. Okay. All right. Item 7 is committee, um, committee staff comments, questions, or committee reports? Does it, and no one, does anyone have a committee report? All right. Okay. And then, um, Do we need to have any more public comment for anything? Um, no? Okay, good. Um, so that brings us to adjournment. Thank you very much for your time and we've had a really good discussion. I, um, uh, I, I think this is, uh, this is very interesting and I, I'm really proud, frankly, that, that the city is, um, is using this, uh, this, um, program to be flexible, uh, to help, help our community. I mean, we, I don't know that a lot of communities have such a grant program, but, um, it is hard to sort of be flexible and change, you know, change the rules as you go along, but that's really what we've all needed to do during COVID, and I know, um, I was very, I was very thankful as when I was the president of a, of a neighborhood association that that was allowed. And I think it was a wise move, and I'm glad that we're sort of, you know, moving on further with that. I think that's really good. So thanks everybody. See you soon. Bye bye. We need adjourn. Thank you.

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