[13:51] Good afternoon, everyone. Is that working? Doesn't sound like it. Sure doesn't.
[13:55] it has a green light. Hello. Hello.
[14:21] good afternoon. Can you use the other one?
[14:28] good afternoon. Is that one working test? Test? I don't know
[14:32] if they ate.
[14:53] test, test.
[15:28] try to shut down.
[16:07] oh, I think we're live. Yes. We don't have any screens at the moment,
[16:11] but, uh, we do have mics.
[16:17] should we start? You wanna
[16:21] wait one minute? Yep. We'll wait. And, ah, they're coming up slowly.
[16:25] as soon as we can do presentations, we'll get started. I,
[17:40] it looks like we're good to go. Alright, I would like to, good afternoon
[17:45] everyone. I'd like to call the mobility ports and infrastructure committee meeting to order for
[17:49] january 20th, 2026. Could I have the clerk please? Call
[17:53] the rule councilwoman soro. Present
[17:58] vice chair thrash took chair kerr. Present. We
[18:02] have quorum. Thank you. Uh, could we please read the first item,
[18:07] item one. Recommendation to approve the minutes for the mobility ports and infrastructure
[18:11] committee meeting of wednesday, november 19th, 2025.
[18:17] move second. We're so used to doing voice votes.
[18:21] . I, I know. I was like, uh, we have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion
[18:25] on this item? Is there any public comment on this item?
[18:29] if any members of the public would like to speak on this item, please come to the podium now.
[18:34] no public comment. Chair. Seeing none, uh, if we could take the vote, please.
[18:43] yeah. Roll, roll call. Vote, right? Oh, no. Oh, I'm
[18:47] just waiting for it. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't switch. Just
[18:52] waiting for a presentation. There we go. We could just do voice work for this one. Sorry.
[18:56] it used to roll call . Um, yeah, we gotta reorientate
[19:00] ourselves. Motion carries. Thank you. Um, item two,
[19:04] uh, public works. The neighborhood traffic management plan. If we could read the item, please.
[19:09] item two. Recommendation to receive and file a presentation from the public works department
[19:14] on the city's neighborhood traffic management program. Wonderful. This is, um,
[19:18] a presentation I know many folks have been looking forward to, and I see that
[19:22] the public works and traffic team are at the table. And I will turn it over to
[19:26] director hickman to begin. Thank you. Welcome.
[19:30] thanks for having us, and thank you councilwoman. Really excited
[19:34] to be here. I know this has been a program and a project and an effort that's
[19:38] been underway for quite some time. And happy to be here this afternoon to provide
[19:43] an update. We did release a tff memo, two from
[19:47] four memo from the city manager on december 30th that has
[19:51] a lot of information contained within it. Uh, a lot of references to other
[19:55] materials and a new website. So if anybody's interested in following along from home, you
[19:59] can check out that tff and the supporting information there. We also
[20:03] have a few items that, um, based on this presentation here, uh,
[20:07] this afternoon, we have on the agenda for city council. Uh, this evening we have
[20:12] three separate items that will be considered, uh, this evening to move this program forward.
[20:20] okay, so our agenda for this afternoon here, we're gonna provide a vision
[20:24] zero update. We have the traffic calming evaluations, the results, the
[20:28] recommendations that came out of the evaluations. We have the strategies
[20:32] and timelines that we'll be undertaking over the next few, few months and
[20:36] our, uh, procurement efforts.
[20:41] so for starters, uh, our engineering bureau is one of six bureaus within the
[20:45] public works department. It's comprised of 87 full-time employees
[20:49] across three separate divisions focused on civil engineering, stormwater
[20:54] engineering, and traffic engineering. So everything we're gonna be talking about here today falls within
[20:58] our traffic engineering division, and that's why we have both our city engineer, keith
[21:02] toey and our city traffic engineer, paul van d**e here, uh, with me
[21:06] today. So, safe streets,
[21:10] long beach, and the vision zero plan has a number of different priorities within it. Uh,
[21:14] we're gonna focus in, uh, on a couple of those here today. So for the first
[21:19] priority, dedicated staff and funding, uh, over the last couple years, there has been
[21:23] a, uh, some turnover on the team and there's been a real push to fill all those
[21:27] vacancies. We're happy to report now that, uh, not, not quite fully
[21:31] staffed, but we've made a lot of strides in in staffing, uh, this
[21:35] team up. Um, priority number two, lowering the vehicle speeds. This
[21:39] really comes in a couple different flavors. So the first one, 2.1,
[21:43] engineering solutions for the high injury network. These solutions you typically would see,
[21:48] uh, as part of our cip program, our capital improvement program,
[21:52] reducing the neighborhood speed limits, that's something we'll be talking about here today. A little bit further,
[21:56] our automated speed enforcement program, we brought that item to city council,
[22:01] I believe it was december 16th. Uh, we've been moving forward in earnest
[22:05] with that program. Um, and then a couple, um, items to united city council will
[22:09] help us move that forward as well. And then priority three, implementing street
[22:13] design standards. Uh, this is an ongoing, ongoing effort across all of our different
[22:17] networks. So I wanna spend a few minutes
[22:21] on, on this slide here. We've received a number of requests
[22:26] for devices, assessments, bike racks, parking signs. And
[22:30] this, what you're seeing here on this chart is over the two year period from
[22:34] january of 2023, up until the end of last
[22:38] year, we received a total of 2,121 different
[22:43] requests. And those requests fall into a few different buckets that
[22:47] you see here on the screen. So we have open items and number
[22:51] of closed items. These are the total number of items that were
[22:55] received, uh, that came in over the last two years. How many, uh, are still
[23:00] remain open, and then how many have been closed. Uh, good news is over the
[23:04] last month since this report was published, we've since been able to,
[23:08] uh, tackle a number of these items. So for starters, the bike racks, the
[23:12] 20 open items, they've all been, uh, addressed. They've all been installed.
[23:17] and, um, the, as we go down the list, there's been updates to,
[23:21] uh, parking signs. So lemme pull up my trusty updated sheet
[23:25] here. So, of that four of the seven have been addressed. Uh, an
[23:29] additional 27 locations have received curve painting, and,
[23:34] uh, we've been able to close out nine of the roadway markings, another
[23:38] 18 of the signs and one of the signals. So our,
[23:42] our commitment is to continue getting closer to closing all
[23:47] of these items out, uh, getting ourselves back to a, a reduced backlog.
[23:51] um, but the good news is, over the last two years, we received 2100
[23:56] requests. 1200 of them, uh, were closed as of the end of last
[24:00] year. Uh, or I apologize, 800 were closed, leaving 1200
[24:04] open. We're we're still getting through that backlog today. So what we're
[24:09] here to talk about this afternoon is specific to the category of the traffic
[24:13] calming evaluations. So we received a total of 220
[24:17] requests. Uh, 207 of them remain open. Um,
[24:21] only 13 of them have been closed. And that's a, a part of the reason why we wanted to
[24:25] come here tonight to provide that, that update on, um, on all those remaining
[24:29] open items.
[24:33] so this heat map shows the 180 requests that had, uh, come
[24:38] in that were still, uh, remaining open, uh, between 2023 and
[24:42] 2025. So you can see they're really scattered across
[24:46] the city, scattered across all districts, and we'll, we'll get into, uh,
[24:50] each of the specifics a bit more.
[24:54] so of those 180 locations, uh, the team had gone out and done
[24:59] evaluations on all those locations. So it is time consuming, it
[25:03] takes a lot of work. Uh, it takes a lot of of staff time to get out there. Uh, but
[25:07] they went through all 180. Uh, they go out and test to
[25:11] see if folks are speeding. They do, um, evaluations with
[25:15] not only vehicle counts, but also radars. And as
[25:19] part of that evaluation, 17 locations were identified
[25:23] as a priority based on the traffic calming priority index. So
[25:28] what makes up that, that tcpi or traffic calming priority index
[25:32] vehicle speeding, uh, over 26% of the vehicles were
[25:36] speeding, uh, at least one crash each year, and over 12,000
[25:41] vehicles per day as as, uh, volume metric. So
[25:45] what you're seeing here on the map are all the different locations or the 17
[25:49] locations identified for some kind of treatment.
[25:55] so we, we received a lot of requests for what
[25:59] does the, how does the process work and what does that look like and
[26:04] how does it work today? And then also what you see layered in here are some of the improvements
[26:08] that we've recently made to help this process along and maybe make
[26:12] it a little bit easier for folks to, to utilize. So first up,
[26:16] you see, you can submit a request. Historically, these requests came in, in, in
[26:20] a number of different ways. They came in via phone call, email, conversations with
[26:24] one individual or not. Uh, they didn't always make it, uh, altogether and, and
[26:29] aggregated in one location. Uh, we've now since stood up a,
[26:33] a long beach.gov/traffic safety website where anybody
[26:37] in the community can go ahead and submit a request for, uh,
[26:41] whatever it is that they may be looking for. And that allows us to track, that allows
[26:45] us to make sure that we get it to the right location so we're able to, uh, make
[26:50] the improvements necessary or provide the response as to why, uh,
[26:54] uh, uh, a a any sort of traffic calming device is not recommended.
[26:59] so, encourage everybody to use that long beach.gov/traffic safety. We
[27:04] are anticipating with rolling all this out, we'll see an increase in the number of requests.
[27:08] and as noted previously, the team has staffed up to be able to, uh, start
[27:13] to tackle these. So the request will, will be reviewed and bundled
[27:17] on a monthly basis. That then allows the team to go out,
[27:21] mobilize out into the field and gather the data. So gathering the
[27:25] data means who's speeding, how many speeders do we have out there? Uh,
[27:29] understanding the crash data and analyzing those metrics. And then looking at
[27:33] the, the traffic volume for each of the segments. So once the
[27:38] request, uh, has, has been submitted, and once the all
[27:42] the information is gathered, the team will be generating a report. And
[27:46] then those reports will then also live on that new website that, that I had mentioned
[27:50] previously. So, if the threshold is met for some sort
[27:54] of measure or countermeasure, then what we would be doing
[27:59] is moving forward with designing whatever that measure would look like, working
[28:03] with the, the neighborhood to let them know that, hey, there's gonna be changes to your right of
[28:07] way. We want you to know about it in advance, deploying the, um,
[28:11] uh, the countermeasure, or basically con constructing it, and then evaluating
[28:16] the effectiveness. Alternatively, if the there is no,
[28:20] uh, recommendation for implementation, the individual that requested it
[28:24] would be notified, and, um, that way we'd be able to proactively
[28:28] close out that item. I know historically, uh, there's been some concerns where,
[28:33] uh, individuals maybe weren't notified timely in that
[28:37] there was no recommendation to move forward.
[28:43] so this is the new webpage that that was mentioned. So new webpage.
[28:47] this is dedicated to the traffic calming program, and the neighborhood traffic
[28:51] management program has a lot of good information on it about when these
[28:56] different measures would be used when they wouldn't be used, and then if somebody's, uh, so
[29:00] inclined, they can go ahead and submit a request.
[29:07] so, diving a bit deeper into the priority locations that were noted,
[29:12] um, you could see here, uh, we've got a, a couple different columns
[29:16] and, uh, rows. So walking through briefly, so you know, what we're looking at,
[29:21] uh, if we're starting with the top row number of locations where people are
[29:25] speeding, uh, the second row reported crashes in a five year period,
[29:29] and then the overall traffic volume for that street segment across
[29:33] the top and across the columns, you can see the priority tcpi versus
[29:37] an average local street, uh, versus a, a very low tcpi.
[29:42] so what this is showing is that on the priority locations, there were six different
[29:47] segments of those 180 that were studied, that had, um,
[29:51] uh, locations where vehicles were speeding compared to
[29:55] 80 of the locations had fewer than five of the vehicles were
[29:59] speeding. The second column here, uh,
[30:03] or or the second row, the reported crashes in five years, the priority tcpi
[30:08] had over 10, uh, 10 crashes in a five year period versus
[30:12] 59 locations had zero. And then the traffic volume eight
[30:17] locations had over 2,800 vehicles traveled per day versus,
[30:21] uh, very low, where they had fewer than 500.
[30:28] so the locations listed out, um, in, in, in the, uh,
[30:32] priority order here are shown on the screen. These are the 17 locations that
[30:36] are recommended for some kind of treatment. Uh, what we're looking at
[30:41] is the segment, the area, the exceptional condition
[30:45] that is, uh, really the reason why this rose to the, to the top
[30:49] and then the recommended safety measure. So we'll get into the specifics of
[30:53] the safety measures on the, on the following slides, but you can see here it includes,
[30:58] uh, recommendations from daylighting, red curbs, uh, reducing the speed
[31:02] limit refuge medians for, for pedestrians, new striping and
[31:06] and so on.
[31:11] so one recommendation includes traffic circles, and I
[31:15] wanted to just be, you know, clear in that a lot of what we're
[31:19] looking at in the slide deck is in, as part of our neighborhood traffic calming program
[31:23] are quick build type projects. The goal, meaning that we can get
[31:27] out here, uh, we can evaluate, analyze, deploy the devices
[31:32] quickly, we can evaluate are they working, and then if they are working,
[31:36] make recommendations as part of a future cip program if, if appropriate.
[31:41] so specific to traffic circles, you see here, this looks a little bit different than some of our other
[31:45] traffic circles that may have some landscaping and rocks and others in there. Uh,
[31:49] this is a, a quick build type option using the, our
[31:54] flexible posts, some signage and, um, other means to, to help calm
[31:58] down traffic.
[32:02] another unique option is are the painted ball boats. So you can see
[32:06] here representation of, uh, creating more space in
[32:10] and around the intersection, which allows for more visibility. Shortens the
[32:15] pedestrian crossings and adds a, a fun component of artwork
[32:19] where we could work with the local community to install art
[32:28] similar to the art ball boats, but on a little bit smaller scale,
[32:32] allowing a little bit more visibility at corners and intersections
[32:41] and upgrading markings and new striping. This is something else that came up. Um,
[32:46] uh, throughout all of the different requests where we can get out there and upgrade some
[32:50] of the markings, upgrade some of the striping that we have out there. So these are our new,
[32:54] uh, quick build options using, using paint and thermoplastics, elastics.
[33:02] we also work closely with our pd colleagues on directed enforcement.
[33:06] so if there's an area where we see a lot of speeding or folks aren't necessarily
[33:10] complying with, uh, stop signs or other signage, we work with our,
[33:14] our pd colleagues to, uh, get out there and do a little bit, a little bit more of a direct
[33:19] enforcement
[33:24] flexible delineators. These are used in a few different ways. Um, mainly we
[33:28] had seen them on the, at the top of the, the recommendations for the ball belts. They're
[33:32] also used to emphasize the center lines. They're also utilized to help
[33:36] establish the pedestrian refuges,
[33:42] which you can see here.
[33:51] so in addition to what we had just talked about, we also went through, oh, excuse
[33:55] me.
[34:05] apparently I'm talking too much. You
[34:09] want to take the, you wanna take a couple?
[34:15] okay. Um, kind of pick up here. So, uh, speed
[34:19] limit reductions. So in addition to physical improvements, public works takes a
[34:23] holistic approach to citywide speed reductions where possible. Uh, so we
[34:27] have three, uh, main areas that we focused on. Uh, one is
[34:32] locations that could be restored to a state standard of 25
[34:36] miles per hour, or the prima fascia, uh, uh,
[34:40] law. Uh, number two is neighborhood locations where reduced limits reflect
[34:44] existing behavior. So using radar and part of our neighborhood traffic
[34:49] calming evaluations, um, we collected data to help inform that. And
[34:53] then three is locations in close proximity to playgrounds.
[34:58] and on the right there you could see a good map that's color coded there for the three different types.
[35:06] so speed limit reductions, um, default speed restored. So
[35:10] locations identified for speed reduction. We had 42 in that first
[35:15] category. Default speed reduction includes commercial and residential districts,
[35:19] and does focus on narrower streets, uh, with speed limits of 30
[35:23] to 35 miles per hour, which can then come down to 25,
[35:28] uh, neighborhood streets. There were 23 there where speeds were measured in the field with
[35:32] a radar survey and where speeds are already low and limits can be
[35:36] set to as low, low as 15 or 20 miles per hour to match existing driver behavior.
[35:41] and then close park proximity, we came up with 12, uh, within 500 feet
[35:45] of a park playground,
[35:52] uh, rectangular rapid flashing beacons. So these are a type of treatment,
[35:56] uh, considered for installation at marked crosswalk areas with elevated
[36:00] speeds or high traffic volumes, or a number of crashes or unmarked
[36:05] crosswalks on the high injury network, or have that feature recent fatal
[36:09] pedestrian crashes.
[36:13] and here we have a map, uh, depicting where we have existing, uh,
[36:17] rectangular rapid flashing beacons throughout the city, as well as we're planning the
[36:22] future ones where there are existing marked crosswalks or future, uh,
[36:26] locations where, uh, we plan flashing beacons as well as, uh, new crosswalks.
[36:35] uh, and this slide here just shows the specific locations, um, which
[36:39] everyone wants to know. And again, the 25 new flashing beacons to be installed
[36:43] with 14 of them to, uh, also receive new crosswalks.
[36:49] and then, uh, update on schedule. So the timeline for these quick builds on neighborhood traffic
[36:54] calming. Uh, we passed december there with the evaluations and designs
[36:58] that we talked about over the past year or two. Uh, we're seeking city council
[37:02] approval, uh, today for speed limit reductions, and
[37:07] then we could begin material procurements, um, and installing elements
[37:11] in early 2026. Uh, and then spring, uh,
[37:15] starting to implement the signage as well as the quick builds. Uh, and then in summer
[37:19] we can, um, if all goes well, evaluate the effectiveness of the
[37:23] features and then, um, you know, continue reviewing additional requests that come
[37:27] in and repeating the process,
[37:32] uh, a little bit on budget. So we have, uh, 1.25 million
[37:36] in current funding available for this program, uh, consisting of local,
[37:41] uh, funds and county funds, uh, measure m and gas tax as well
[37:45] as general fund. Uh, we utilize developer traffic impact fees,
[37:49] and there was a one time fy 25 allocation as well.
[37:57] uh, and this last slide, um, really just kind of brings it full circle and, and
[38:01] highlights, uh, a lot of the other improvements that we do, uh, outside
[38:05] of the neighborhood traffic calming program, uh, as part of our overall capital improvement
[38:09] program. Uh, this is everything from intersection improvement projects,
[38:13] uh, to street, uh, and corridor projects, um, which,
[38:17] you know, many of which are familiar, uh, to the city at this point, such as like market
[38:21] street, artesia, great boulevard, um, but a lot of other intersection safety
[38:26] improvements as well to just really highlight how much work, uh, goes into the city,
[38:30] uh, to address, um, you know, speeding and safety, uh, as well
[38:34] as vision zero. All right.
[38:38] and that concludes the presentation and ready for any questions.
[38:43] thank you so much, uh, to the team and for, um,
[38:49] for the data, the data you're providing, I know, um, many of our offices
[38:53] have support, have, have given you much work to do over the
[38:57] last couple of years, um, and appreciate it coming back in a comprehensive
[39:02] report to talk, excuse me, to talk about not just
[39:06] where the bigger concerns are, but how do we create a network
[39:10] of safety across our city and across our districts as we know that, um,
[39:14] district lines mean nothing on a street that runs the length of the city or across
[39:19] multiple council districts. Um, I have a couple questions
[39:24] regarding, can you talk a little bit about, we'll start with the technology. So I think we've
[39:28] seen deployed some different ways of measuring data. I know
[39:32] in the past when people saw boxes on the side and lines going across their street,
[39:37] they knew something was being measured. But I think we've seen some different devices
[39:41] being used. Could you talk a little bit about the technology that you used, um, to gather your
[39:45] data?
[39:50] happy to answer that. Um, so really our, our directive is
[39:54] to be datadriven and equitable with our approach. So that often means leveraging the newest technology
[39:58] to make sure that we're getting, you know, a good data set to make an informed
[40:03] decision. So, yes, in the past, that was one of the tasks that I enjoyed
[40:07] as an associate hammering some hoses into the pavement so we could
[40:11] get some pneumatic pressure results. Um, but yeah, some of our vendors now
[40:15] are using more sophisticated technology where they do, um, use, um,
[40:19] some video systems, um, that count the number of cars, how fast the cars are going.
[40:23] um, and those are just really important data points for us, especially when we're determining
[40:28] the, the, the conditions on a local street, right? This
[40:32] is a major quality of life program. Um, and if there are
[40:36] substantial numbers of cars on your neighborhood street, if they're going fast, uh,
[40:40] that can be uncomfortable. So, uh, we really dial into those factors
[40:44] to determine if something's appropriate or not, uh, before taking action. Um,
[40:48] so yes, we've been using, we still use the pneumatic tubes, uh, from time to time,
[40:52] but we are, uh, deploying other, other technologies also, uh,
[40:56] to get the data back and make those informed decisions.
[41:01] thank you. Um, director commend, I wanna thank you and your predecessor before you for really taking seriously
[41:06] the staff issue, um, that we think persisted probably for that first half
[41:10] of 2023 or maybe the year of 2023, where we're really looking.
[41:14] um, I think we didn't get answers as quickly because of the staffing issue,
[41:18] so I appreciate your team taking that very seriously, uh, working with civil service and hr over
[41:22] the last couple of years to make strides in that department. Um, in
[41:26] terms of staffing, I think one of the things that we know is anytime a large report
[41:30] like this comes out and the tff comes out and there's maps and lines and
[41:34] specific areas, there's always the, but I reported something and it didn't
[41:38] happen in my neighborhood because we know that there's issues. Um, while these are
[41:43] the 17 prioritized on, uh, slide number seven,
[41:47] um, that were prioritized for the data
[41:51] points that you talked about, lots of folks will say, but there's none
[41:55] here or there's none there. Um, so I again appreciate, uh,
[41:59] the reasons why, and I especially appreciate the system that you've
[42:03] laid out to take requests in a different way from the public. Um, I
[42:07] think it matters when someone hears back that we studied
[42:12] it here was the data. Um, I think our office just got one of those last week. Here are
[42:16] the actual numbers that we saw. And, um, it is not recommended that we
[42:20] take action at this time. And so closing the loop with our residents around this,
[42:24] I think helps with the idea that, that people are listening not just in their council offices, but
[42:28] in the department. Um, on slide number eight, you
[42:32] lay out what the process is, and at the bottom you say lawyer, lower
[42:37] work, lower scoring segments are not prioritized. However, they may be reviewed alongside
[42:41] with new requests in the future. So we know if folks, uh, continue
[42:45] to, uh, report places that
[42:50] they see in excess, how soon do you think in your
[42:54] process that you would consider reevaluating? So if you go out, you're taking time to
[42:58] do data collection, um, and make recommendations, what is a reasonable
[43:02] time that you would go back and look again because you received a substantial
[43:06] number of complaints about that particular area? Again?
[43:11] yeah, so I can kick it off and then turn it over to anybody else that might wanna, uh, weigh in.
[43:15] but, um, yeah, thank you for those comments. We've been working really hard at filling in all of
[43:19] our vacancies as much as we can. So the team, uh, this particular team is over
[43:23] 80%, uh, filled. So really happy about that. Uh, did wanna give
[43:28] a shout out to, to ryan kelly and the, and the staff, uh, over here as well.
[43:32] he's really done a lot of this heavy lifting. He's one of our, our new senior traffic engineers
[43:36] and has really helped put a lot of this stuff together as well. Um, so
[43:40] we, as far as reevaluation, so if, if all goes well,
[43:45] we'd be going through this analysis, we'd be taking the, the
[43:49] locations that meet that tcpi implementing those quick build type projects,
[43:54] and then evaluating which ones of those worked and incorporating it into the five year program,
[43:58] uh, the five year cip program. So, uh, in that sort of
[44:03] cycle, if you will, uh, that as part of that next five year program, or
[44:07] let's say every five years, they may be up for, uh, for, for review
[44:11] if there was another, maybe change to the area. But if there's not a significant
[44:15] change or, uh, if the data is showing that, that whatever we had put in
[44:19] there worked originally, um, or if there hasn't been any change to the areas that
[44:23] weren't recommended, well then there may not necessarily be a reason to go,
[44:27] uh, go forward and do another evaluation. But the goal is to be transparent,
[44:32] and that's why we're also posting these reports up on our, um, on the website
[44:36] so everybody can see it. When was that data collected? When was it evaluated, and what
[44:40] were those conditions at the time that it was evaluated? Anything else to add?
[44:45] yeah, so to the point that was just made, uh, typically
[44:50] we consider traffic data to be valid for up to five years. So, um,
[44:54] if we've gone out and measured your street, um, this year, um, we don't plan
[44:58] on collecting more data unless, you know, something else changes like
[45:02] a new baseball stadium's built somewhere and more people are coming, um, that would
[45:06] lead to further evaluation. But usually the project itself, um, does the evaluation
[45:11] for us. But really, um, the goal with this program is to address
[45:15] the areas of most need. And once those are addressed, their score
[45:19] on our ranking will drop. So there won't be, you know, 25%
[45:24] of the vehicle speeding. There'll be hopefully zero, and then that score goes down,
[45:28] which then moves some of the other ones up. So while we won't be collecting information
[45:32] on all the requested streets every year, we deal, we do still consider them every
[45:36] year if some of the segments are dropping down. So just because we
[45:40] answered today, um, that it's not being evaluated, we are optimistic that
[45:44] what we're proposing here, um, asking for permission to buy more
[45:49] traffic calming devices, um, leaning fully
[45:53] into this program, that we will be able to, um, deploy traffic
[45:57] calming measures on more than just the initial recommendation as this program
[46:02] continues. Thank you. And I think you, um, hit on a good point, which
[46:06] is until the conditions change. So if a new business moves in, if we've got a vacant lot and
[46:10] all of a sudden a business comes in with 300 employees and the traffic patterns change,
[46:14] that would obviously warrant a looking back at it. But as you said, some of those
[46:18] projects inherently provide a traffic study and give recommendations.
[46:22] so there are opportunities as potentially things in a neighborhood change for a
[46:27] reevaluation, um, in the, at the local level.
[46:31] great. Um, I have a couple more, but I will, uh, kick it over to my colleague
[46:35] and see if dr. Sorrow has any questions at this time. Thank you chair kerr.
[46:39] I do have a few question. Um, I, I think I'll
[46:43] start out with that. I didn't see any, um,
[46:48] again, thank you for the presentation. I didn't see any speed bumps as
[46:52] a possible calming measure option. Uh, can you tell me
[46:56] why that's not an option? Even though we get numerous requests
[47:00] for that, we do get numerous requests and
[47:04] paul is way better at answering this question than I am. So I'm not even
[47:08] gonna try . I I've had a lot of practice. Uh, so
[47:13] yes, um, speed humps often are the way that folks express a calming
[47:17] request to us. Uh, normally, uh, it, it does seem like when
[47:21] someone asks us for our help in calming traffic, they don't
[47:25] directly ask for traffic calming. They say, you need to install a stop sign, or
[47:29] you need to install speed humps, speed bumps, speed lumps,
[47:33] traffic cushions, however people are calling them now. Um, and
[47:38] so, uh, oftentimes, you know, it's, it's up to us to better understand well, what's
[47:42] actually happening before we propose, um, a countermeasure to solve the issue.
[47:46] um, and in most cases on our residential streets, um, the
[47:50] issue is that there are a lot of cars on the street and so folks are recognizing them,
[47:55] um, or the cars are loud. Um, but in the data that we've seen,
[47:59] the amount of vehicles that are speeding excessively, uh, are,
[48:03] are somewhat small. Um, I don't wanna say insignificant
[48:07] 'cause it is significant if someone's going that fast on your street. But the thing with speed
[48:12] humps is they are specifically designed with a, a certain profile
[48:16] that keeps you from traveling in great excess of the speed limit. So if
[48:20] folks are going 25 in your neighborhood, they're not really gonna
[48:24] slow down much at all, um, for a speed bump. So we've found that other
[48:28] devices can be a lot more effective in achieving our goals. Things like traffic circles,
[48:32] things like, um, hardening the center line by putting flex posts on top
[48:37] of it, those can be much more effective at bringing speeds down,
[48:41] um, than speed humps can. Um, and also, frankly,
[48:45] although they are our most popular request in practice,
[48:49] they are actually not very popular. We've had, um, a couple instances where
[48:53] we've found factors like there's a significant amount of speeding on a
[48:57] street where speed humps could be the solution. Um, but we've found
[49:02] that the community comes out in opposition of the humps. They're too loud, I don't want
[49:06] it in front of my house, it'll decrease my property values, put it in front of my neighbor's house. And so
[49:10] they become more complicated solutions than a lot of our other devices can be.
[49:14] so, um, I'm not gonna sit here and say we don't do speed humps while we still
[49:18] put in speed humps in special cases, but, uh, they aren't the panacea that
[49:22] some folks assume that they are. Thank you for that explanation.
[49:26] I think that it kind of goes back to where it was really helpful that you laid
[49:31] out all these option on traffic calming, and it's just education,
[49:35] education for those of us who aren't traffic engineers.
[49:39] um, and I wonder if that's what you're providing on your website is, hey, these
[49:43] are all the possible options. It could be, so then they're not just tunnel vision
[49:47] when they're filing a request. I also appreciate the update
[49:52] with the status of these traffic coming
[49:56] location. Um, but I did have a question. This is really my last thing
[50:00] is, uh, around the transition to doing written requests
[50:04] online. Um, one of it is if they don't read
[50:08] and write in english, is that still a verbal process? 'cause uh, my office
[50:13] is multilingual and oftentimes, uh,
[50:17] you know, not only the language, but also just barrier around
[50:21] having to use electronics. So we have residents who still
[50:25] do s sta snail mail to my office for requests
[50:29] and questions. ? Yeah, great question.
[50:34] so overall, our, our website currently today is in english, but we're,
[50:38] our goal is to be able to roll out more of this information. So exactly what you
[50:42] had just mentioned, exactly what our traffic engineer had just noted, that information
[50:46] on speed bumps is on our website today. Okay. And we're gonna continue to,
[50:50] uh, reinforce some of that message and, and also include other languages for
[50:54] some of the most requested items. As far as the request themselves,
[50:58] it does require going in and logging in, but alternatively, if
[51:02] somebody isn't, uh, able to do that or isn't savvy, if they reach out to somebody else,
[51:07] they can certainly get somebody else to add it to it or even get it to us.
[51:11] this is something that we're using to track on our own basis as well. So if we receive
[51:16] an email, we'll go ahead and put it in there to help with our own tracking as well. Okay.
[51:20] I ask that just because sometimes, uh, we do act as a liaison,
[51:24] um, as we usually do with our departments when there are certain barriers that
[51:28] prevent people from doing requests online. So just wanted to make
[51:32] sure that we had a process to communicate ongoingly between our office.
[51:37] um, maybe we end up being the requester on their behalf. Is that okay?
[51:43] yeah, that's perfectly fine. Okay. And then you can ask us for updates at each, uh, monthly briefing
[51:47] . Wonderful. Thank you. That was my last, um, question and
[51:51] comment. Thank you, dr. Sorrow. And on that note, one of the things that we see
[51:55] in a couple different places, I know in district five and around the city are
[51:59] the dynamic feedback signs that remind people you are going 52
[52:03] in a 35. Um, is that something that is part of our
[52:07] standard in terms of, you gave a great explanation about speed humps, um,
[52:11] and we know in different cities and in different, um, municipalities, we see different
[52:17] uses, different kinds of bumps on the road, different kinds of dynamic
[52:21] feedback. I'm wondering if those signs specifically, um, are in the current plan
[52:25] or future plan? So the, the speed
[52:29] feedback signs are really focused around our automated speed enforcement program right now. So we
[52:34] are planning to procure some devices. If everything, uh, goes well this evening
[52:38] at city council and our item gets approved, we'll be procuring speed feedback
[52:42] signs to roll those out at the 18, uh, automated speed enforcement
[52:47] locations. Um, and then in addition to those, we may look at those options in
[52:51] the future, but wanna, yeah,
[52:55] I, I think also recognizing that sometimes, uh,
[52:59] we need to deploy devices that help inform not only the motorists, but also the immediate
[53:03] stakeholders around traffic patterns is really important. Um, so
[53:07] the traffic calming program, while we do a lot of data analysis and we, we
[53:11] document where we're making projects happen, um, also the, the direct
[53:16] personal connection, um, is really important as well. So, uh, I personally have spent
[53:20] time out with one of our, our radar devices, um, with members of the public showing,
[53:24] you know, it looks like this person's going really fast, but the, the speed
[53:29] device I've got here, they're only going 18 miles an hour. And so sometimes, um,
[53:33] getting information out there about how fast folks are actually going is,
[53:37] is really important. So the, those speed feedback signs that you're describing, those
[53:41] are things that are movable, um, and changeable. So that's a really
[53:45] important part of our portfolio to be able to deploy those perhaps in areas that
[53:49] didn't, um, rise to the level of infrastructure change. But still,
[53:54] um, we've got folks who, um, uh, are looking for more information about
[53:58] traffic behaviors. We will deploy them. Uh, the intent is to keep them kind
[54:02] of moving around the city, uh, to places so we can continue to demonstrate that educational
[54:06] component about, um, the factors on the streets in our, in our neighborhoods.
[54:11] thank you. And then one last question. As you mentioned, there's council items tonight, uh, to
[54:15] work on the, the pilot program as well as this neighborhood,
[54:20] uh, safety measures. I'm assuming that the funding that we're looking at tonight
[54:24] is for this current list and the current study, you talked about the capital improvement. So
[54:28] I assume we're gonna work through the list of what has been identified thus far, and as we looked
[54:33] at a future capital improvement plan, that's where other infrastructure things would come
[54:37] into play. Yes, it's, it is slightly
[54:41] more nuanced than that, but, uh, the items before city council
[54:45] this evening will be in addition to this 1.2 outlined here for
[54:49] our neighborhood traffic calming program. Uh, because some of these devices are also
[54:53] used, uh, as part of our cip programs, as part of our other efforts and
[54:57] initiatives out there as well. So, uh, what those items will allow us to do
[55:02] is roll out this program in its entirety as outlined today, uh,
[55:06] spend down that 1.2, that's our goal, to deploy as many devices
[55:10] as we can with the available funding we have. And then, um, that will allow
[55:14] us in the future as part of next year's cip hopefully, we'll, we will
[55:18] get a few more dollars to contribute towards this program. And that'll allow us to con
[55:22] continue, uh, making those improvements as, as, um, the two engineers noted.
[55:27] great. Thank you. I look forward to the conversation tonight with, um, our larger group
[55:31] of colleagues. Um, any other questions, dr. Soro? I do
[55:36] not have any more questions. Great. Um, any public comment on this item?
[55:40] if there are any members of the public that would like to speak on item number two, please come to the podium now.
[55:46] no public comment chair. Okay. Seeing none, if we could take the vote please.
[55:55] motion is carried. Thank you so much. Uh, item
[55:59] three, could we please read item three? Item three, recommendation
[56:04] to receive and file an update on the enhanced infrastructure financing district's
[56:08] program. Thank you. Uh, this item is coming to us, uh,
[56:12] as part of a tff from economic development,
[56:16] and they are here with us tonight, and I see director
[56:20] martinez bringing some members of the team forward, and I will turn it over to them. Excuse
[56:25] me, chair, can we get a motion and a second please? Ah, yes. Thank
[56:29] you. Thank you.
[56:36] it's all yours. Thank you. Chair committee members, uh, bo martinez,
[56:40] director of economic development and opportunity department. Uh, just wanna thank you for this opportunity
[56:45] to present to this, uh, pro, uh, program to you all. Uh, long
[56:49] beach is at a ver a very important inflection point. And when you think about
[56:53] how we are growing, we are a globally connected city with significant infrastructure needs
[56:57] with limited funding resources. At the same time, we
[57:01] have major opportunity areas where smart target investments in transportation,
[57:06] mobility, parks, and open space infrastructure, affordable
[57:10] housing that can, that can unlock economic growth and investment throughout the community,
[57:15] as well as continue to deliver high quality community amenities, placemaking,
[57:19] and improve the overall quality life. The
[57:23] economic infrastructure and financing districts are known as e ids
[57:28] give us a modern, locally controlled tool to meet this moment.
[57:32] so the question is, why should long beach do this?
[57:37] eids help ensure to capture value from new developments in private investments happening
[57:41] throughout the community to fund targeted critical infrastructure and community
[57:46] investment priorities now and going forward for a city like
[57:50] long beach with our port airport, waterfront transit
[57:54] corridors, unique and authentic, diverse neighborhoods and commercial
[57:58] corridors, this tool gives us an opportunity to enhance and leverage partnerships
[58:03] with the county of los angeles and other partners.
[58:08] in addition to that, I also like to recognize, um, mary torres, who's with our real estate
[58:12] development team, who has really been the person that's been leading this charge in partnership
[58:16] with a lot of our city departments from finance, community development, public
[58:20] works, parks, rec, marine, and I'm probably forgetting some, but also the
[58:24] city manager's office. And with that, I would like to introduce, uh, joseph
[58:28] diegos with cosmo, who's gonna walk you through the analysis and summary and
[58:32] then complete and then answer, uh, have a question and answer session. Thank
[58:36] you. Thank you dr. Martinez.
[58:41] and good afternoon, chair kerr, dr. Sorrow. Good, see you again. Joe diego
[58:45] with cosmo. Um, I'm also joined, uh, in the audience by two of my colleagues,
[58:49] fernando and stephanie. Uh, in case of any questions,
[58:53] this is, uh, some more matter as was presented back at the, uh,
[58:58] economic development opportunity committee back on december 16th. So much of this will sound
[59:02] familiar, uh, of course to you, dr. Sorrow. This is a conversation as director
[59:06] martinez says about an infrastructure funding and financing tool. Uh, very importantly,
[59:11] we'll use words like tax increment financing. We'll have to say it and
[59:15] likely repeat it. This is not at all like adding a new tax or increasing anybody's
[59:19] taxes. That's, that's not at all what this is. This is about an apportionment
[59:24] of, of future property tax revenue within a specific boundary without
[59:28] affecting a property owner's bill. This is a tool that the city could implement
[59:32] on its own if it so chooses. We would argue that cities
[59:36] get more bang for their buck, so to speak, if they are able to achieve a partnership with
[59:40] another taxing entity such as the county of los angeles, which we think would be a
[59:44] feasible scenario for long beach. Just
[59:48] to cover, uh, some basics, uh, we'll repeat it again, this is not a new
[59:53] tax, but we often liken this tool to a retirement account.
[59:57] a specific boundary could be designated within the city. And as
[1:00:01] property values within that boundary grow over time from brand new investment or rehabilitation
[1:00:06] of underutilized property, the city is able to set aside some piece
[1:00:10] of its future property tax revenue just within that boundary and apportion
[1:00:15] it to a special fund that would be restricted for infrastructure. And
[1:00:19] again, to get the most out of that dollar. Using that retirement account analogy,
[1:00:23] uh, the city can get the equivalent of a match from the county of los angeles,
[1:00:28] dollar for dollar or percentage for percentage, where the county would also
[1:00:32] allocate the piece of its share of the future property tax dollar for
[1:00:36] infrastructure projects within the city of long beach. And
[1:00:40] there's precedent for that. Just some highlights on the rules, the mechanics for
[1:00:44] the way these work. Uh, a new entity is set up, it's called a public financing
[1:00:48] authority. And, uh, from a governance standpoint, we think an
[1:00:53] important point is that it wouldn't just be the city council or members of the city
[1:00:57] council that govern this district, but if the county were to be a partner and allocate
[1:01:01] a piece of its revenue, the county would also get a seat at the table, so to speak, at this governing
[1:01:05] public financing authority table. And then very importantly, there are at least two members
[1:01:09] of the public that get, that get appointed to this body, this public financing
[1:01:13] authority, uh, to see out the work of this district. That
[1:01:18] work is prescribed in a document, it's called an infrastructure financing plan.
[1:01:22] and that document is required by law to be presented quite transparently
[1:01:26] at a series of public meetings and hearings. All duly noticed via mail,
[1:01:31] newspaper, website. And those meetings are required to be spaced out at least
[1:01:35] 30 days. And the theme, uh, is really
[1:01:39] sort of relentless transparency, nowhere to hide on what the dollars will be
[1:01:43] used for, the amounts, the timeframe, all of that.
[1:01:50] the state law prescribes what the dollars could be used for. We say it's infrastructure
[1:01:54] and affordable housing. Uh, but importantly the definition of infrastructure and
[1:01:58] the law is quite broad, quite flexible, and it starts with the words
[1:02:02] including but not limited to. And then it lists everything on this page
[1:02:06] and more. And, uh, we are just merely providing some
[1:02:11] examples, water, sewer, roads, certainly the types of improvements that were discussed
[1:02:15] in the previous item. Affordable housing, broadband infrastructure,
[1:02:19] uh, all of these again and more
[1:02:24] in cosmo's experience. We're not seeing cities or counties go down this path if there's not a
[1:02:28] positive return on investment. It's defined in our experience a number of ways.
[1:02:33] dollars and cents is just one way where the, the general fund could achieve
[1:02:37] a, a positive return, a positive fiscal impact. So the ideas
[1:02:41] with infrastructure investment, a level of private sector investment can be
[1:02:45] catalyzed faster or perhaps more intensely than it would otherwise without
[1:02:49] that infrastructure and with it bringing in net new revenues to
[1:02:54] the general fund at a faster rate than would occur otherwise. And
[1:02:58] we'd say that's probably still not enough to justify. That's just part
[1:03:02] of it. Beyond that, we're seeing, uh, policy goals like housing production,
[1:03:07] job creation, just solving for deficient infrastructure that needs to get solved
[1:03:11] for somehow as, as reasons folks go after this. And then the number two
[1:03:15] on this table or on this page is probably less obvious.
[1:03:19] it's also that you get more points on grant applications. So at the state level, particularly,
[1:03:23] uh, state housing and community development, uh, more points
[1:03:28] are allotted on the scoring rubrics for grant applications explicitly.
[1:03:32] if cities or counties are implementing these tools, these tools like these enhanced infrastructure
[1:03:36] financing districts. So it's about the revenue stream, but also becoming more attractive
[1:03:41] to yet other public money. As of today, there are about 36
[1:03:45] of these formed across the state. All shapes and sizes, cities going alone,
[1:03:50] counties going alone in unincorporated county jurisdiction. And so far we
[1:03:54] have 10 city county partnerships, which we think are sort of the gold standard.
[1:03:58] there have been seven of these formed so far in this county. Five of those seven
[1:04:03] are city county partnerships. And so we think, uh,
[1:04:07] point I mentioned earlier, we think it would be feasible if the city of long beach does decide to go
[1:04:11] down this path. We think it would be feasible that you do that. You can achieve a
[1:04:15] partnership with the county, if you'd like that.
[1:04:20] okay, so boundaries in long beach. So, uh, there were
[1:04:24] a number of me metrics, uh, objective metrics used in screening. How
[1:04:28] the boundary for one of these financing districts could look in long beach.
[1:04:32] things like general plan, land use, designation, measures of underutilized
[1:04:36] commercial properties, disadvantaged community, census tract designation,
[1:04:41] just demographic data over a variety of of flavors and colors,
[1:04:46] employment density, scag priority, growth areas, opportunity
[1:04:50] zones, cultural centers. Uh, and then a lot of it was looking at what the actual development
[1:04:54] pipeline is. And uh, it's very important, and this is probably
[1:04:58] also a point I will repeat the boundaries for these types of
[1:05:03] district. It actually defines where the value is captured, where the growth
[1:05:07] is coming so that the new property tax revenues can be captured.
[1:05:11] but it does not define where the dollars must be spent.
[1:05:15] I'll say it again. The boundaries are defined where the value can be captured from the
[1:05:20] new investment and development, but not where the dollars of this district can be
[1:05:24] spent. The funding can be spent outside of the financing
[1:05:28] district boundary within the city. So the law is flexible in that way, and that's different
[1:05:32] from the way other financing district tools. And it's important.
[1:05:37] so when you look at the areas that are defined at this stage, uh, the way they look
[1:05:42] in total, it's about 4,900 acres
[1:05:46] just under 10% of the city. In terms of acreage
[1:05:50] within the boundary today, meaning anything that's in one of these colors on this graphic
[1:05:55] today, the existing access property value is just shy of $9 billion. It's about
[1:05:59] 12% of the city in terms of existing access, property value.
[1:06:03] there's always a balancing act being played in our experience with how big do you draw
[1:06:07] these boundaries? And a lot of it is balance between generating
[1:06:11] enough dollars to actually be able to afford meaningful projects of significance
[1:06:16] while not overburdening the general fund. We are often asked, hey, can
[1:06:20] I just put my whole city in one of these things and use all of my future property tax revenue? Yeah,
[1:06:25] le legally that's possible. But when we run the numbers and we look at that sort of return
[1:06:29] on investment analysis, that net fiscal impact analysis for the general fund,
[1:06:33] it is possible to over encumber the general fund with one of these districts by
[1:06:37] going perhaps too large by encumbering too much of the future
[1:06:41] property tax dollar. It's great if you get more out of the county as a potential partner if
[1:06:45] they're matching you, but as a city we'd argue you need to be able to afford what
[1:06:50] you're setting aside. 'cause you also just have to keep your lights on day to day and
[1:06:54] maintain your, your city service levels. So that's the balancing act. We feel like the draft
[1:06:58] boundaries at this stage do achieve that balance. And, uh, and they're not set in stone.
[1:07:04] and I should mention the, uh, appendix slides to this presentation have zoomed in
[1:07:08] graphics for all of these understanding. It's not very easy to see
[1:07:12] all of the detail on this summary graphic. So
[1:07:17] potential investments for eifd funding. So far it's been our team at cosson working with
[1:07:21] staff across departments, trying to illustrate where are the, where are the needs from
[1:07:25] an infrastructure basis, what are the areas that we think may be more appealing
[1:07:29] for the county to be a partner with the city? What are the types of projects that will
[1:07:33] achieve community-wide benefit, perhaps regional impact for some of these.
[1:07:38] and so on the left hand side of the page are just some example categories that could make some sense
[1:07:43] on the right hand side and green are some more specific. So not categories,
[1:07:47] but example specific investments, specific projects.
[1:07:51] if, uh, we total all those that we know in terms of dollars and costs,
[1:07:55] it's over 5 billion in unfunded costs. And we know that this district alone
[1:08:00] is not gonna be able to afford all of these projects. Certainly not alone.
[1:08:04] and that's not the point. I should clarify. Th this is a funding source that's
[1:08:08] meant to play well with other funding source and aggregate things like grant funding or
[1:08:12] dollars from impact fees or dollars from private sector developer advances
[1:08:16] and other funding source. So, uh, that's actually the way these things work the
[1:08:20] best. Um,
[1:08:26] I mean, not spend too much time here, but it's just very important to, for the members of the public,
[1:08:30] sometimes people think of ice pay my property tax in long beach, then the city gets
[1:08:34] all of my property tax. Uh, that's absolutely not the case. The city gets
[1:08:38] much less than half of the property tax paid within the city
[1:08:43] gets about 21% of it. The county gets slightly more, 27% of it,
[1:08:47] and most of the property tax dollars go to school related entities. And,
[1:08:51] uh, those entities could not participate in this type of tool even if they
[1:08:55] wanted to. So the main players in this world of these types of financing districts
[1:08:59] do tend to be cities and ideally the cities and counties partnering together.
[1:09:06] and there is lots of flexibility. And within that specific boundary, how much of the
[1:09:10] city share of property taxes allocated, uh, city controls that
[1:09:14] typically we're not seeing cities allocate more than half of it. 'cause again, there's
[1:09:18] this balancing act being played. How many dollars do I give to this district versus how many
[1:09:22] dollars do I allow to flow unencumbered to my general fund? Again, just to keep the
[1:09:26] lights on day to day? So we've evaluated two scenarios as
[1:09:31] some good placeholders. Obviously this is not a data point that's being decided today,
[1:09:35] but in either scenario, we do think it would be fair to assume that you could achieve the county
[1:09:40] as a partner. And in, in rough terms, what does that mean five years out
[1:09:44] in terms of dollars that would be available between 32 and $66 million
[1:09:49] 10 years out? How many dollars do we think could be available between 85 million, $170 million?
[1:09:55] and again, these are long term districts. So as value continues to grow,
[1:09:59] you could be looking on the order of 278, 500 $50 million on
[1:10:03] a, on a present value basis over the long term. Again, you
[1:10:07] can control that duration as a city, but, uh, the maximum we think
[1:10:11] could be on the order of 50 years.
[1:10:15] uh, the county partnership, I just should mention, is always comes with strings as, as
[1:10:20] do all things in life. They, they've got a policy that governs whether or not they partner with the city.
[1:10:24] uh, it's been, we think, pretty reasonable for cities to achieve this in the county of
[1:10:29] los angeles. And, um, a lot of it is quite objective. They won't give more dollars
[1:10:33] than the city. More to the point where we, like, we know from experience, the
[1:10:37] county likes to see some level of emphasis on affordable housing as an example.
[1:10:41] in addition to that, an emphasis on, on job creation, on blight removal
[1:10:46] as other things. So we think in our analysis thus far, these are quite easy boxes
[1:10:50] to check in long beach for this type of district. But that is a conversation
[1:10:55] that would need to be had directly between the city and the county.
[1:11:00] again, uh, the return on investment is a big reason we're seeing for cities go down this
[1:11:04] path. Our firm's analysis with staff to date has just put some numbers to that
[1:11:09] analysis in terms of housing production, thousands of units, job creation,
[1:11:13] again, in the thousands and the wages associated with those jobs. And then very importantly,
[1:11:17] just that general fund dollars and cents return on investment, what
[1:11:22] we call the net fiscal impact analysis. Uh, we are seeing, you know, in the tens
[1:11:26] of millions of dollars as a net positive for doing this, or else we
[1:11:30] would argue why, why do it if it's not a net positive? And then that last bullet point,
[1:11:34] again, not to be lost in the discussion and yet making yourself more competitive
[1:11:39] for yet other dollars such as state grants.
[1:11:45] now, we'll just keep going. This is just that net fiscal return over time. Very importantly,
[1:11:50] getting more positive, not less positive. So
[1:11:54] wrapping up there is a po a process prescribed by the legislation that governs these
[1:11:58] tools. The themes you'll continue to hear are public
[1:12:03] meetings and hearings with a lot of noticing, newspaper mailing, website
[1:12:07] notices, spacing between meetings, again, at least 30 days apart. Um,
[1:12:11] from where we sit today in january of 2026, we think it would be
[1:12:16] feasible if the city were to decide to move forward to get through, uh, the
[1:12:20] process by the end of this calendar year, by october
[1:12:24] or so. And again, the city would control the timing and the pace of all of that. But
[1:12:28] with all the, the required meetings and their corresponding notices,
[1:12:33] spending time with the county to suss out a potential partnership, we do think it would be
[1:12:37] feasible. Um, so at this point, we're
[1:12:42] just still in this, um, wrapping up this feasibility analysis stage, having a conversation
[1:12:46] like today to hear your feedback, your additional questions, those questions
[1:12:50] and comments from the public. Uh, I believe the next meeting we have scheduled
[1:12:54] is early february for the economic development commission. And then at some point,
[1:12:59] we think some sometime soon, if the city is feeling positive about this, we think it
[1:13:03] would be that good time to have that initial meeting with the county to take their
[1:13:07] temperature on their willingness to be your partner, uh, likely before anything goes to the
[1:13:11] full city council for, for an action. Uh, so thank you for, for
[1:13:15] bearing with us. We'd be very happy to address any questions.
[1:13:21] thank you so much, uh, for the presentation. I know dr. Sarra,
[1:13:25] this is information that you have seen before. Um, so I'll let you kick off,
[1:13:29] uh, with anything you've thought through since the last time you heard it. If you've got any questions or
[1:13:33] comments, um, I, I have mainly comments. Thank you chair kerr.
[1:13:38] I I just wanna say thank you for taking back, um, the
[1:13:42] comments and requests to revise. Um, I was concerned
[1:13:46] if you could finish this presentation in 20 minutes. So I think ,
[1:13:51] I think that you were able to take some and I think, uh, do it
[1:13:55] in a way where it just gets the point across. So I think this is great practice to be able
[1:13:59] to continue more succinctly, but also I think best tell the story of what
[1:14:03] e ids are. Um, also putting in an additional example
[1:14:08] budget page and renaming the quarters
[1:14:12] as well. So thanks for making those revision. Um,
[1:14:17] but I don't have any questions. Just that, uh,
[1:14:21] feedback. Thanks. Thank you. Uh, I appreciate you all coming.
[1:14:25] and the work obviously started in 2019, was the kickoff of the timeline of conversations
[1:14:30] in the city. Um, and we know sometimes things feel like they take a long time,
[1:14:34] uh, but I appreciate the expediency over the last couple of years and what you think is
[1:14:38] a potential roadmap for us within the next calendar year. That's exciting.
[1:14:43] um, I appreciate you being here at the committee. I think one of the things we try to do with the committees
[1:14:47] is offer a space for a pub public presentation.
[1:14:51] um, as you said, there's addendums to that slide deck. I probably have 10 or 12 more
[1:14:55] slides with, uh, zoomed in maps, the budget page, which we will also make
[1:14:59] available and share with folks who are interested. Um, because as you said, transparency.
[1:15:04] um, what, what term did you use with transparency? Rigorous transparency. I used an
[1:15:09] relentless, relentless transparency. So I appreciate, uh, using this committee to be
[1:15:13] part of that transparency moving forward, um,
[1:15:18] and having conversations with, I think for some folks it'll be the first time that they hear it
[1:15:22] when they put the information out, we know it'll come to council, um, and will be
[1:15:27] sunshined very publicly for a, for a while now. So I appreciate all of this information.
[1:15:31] uh, I don't have any more comments. I think if we can check if there's any public comments
[1:15:35] on this item and I appreciate you all coming out as well and being available to us.
[1:15:40] if there are any members of the public that would like to speak on item number three, please come to
[1:15:44] the podium now. No public comment chair. Thank
[1:15:49] you. Um, we'll take the vote in just a minute, but again, uh, thank you for all of the hard work on this.
[1:15:53] thank you for, uh, continuing to engage, uh, all of us here at the city council
[1:15:57] offices and the public moving forward on this exciting opportunity. So
[1:16:01] thank you. Can we take the vote please?
[1:16:08] motion is carried. Thank you so much.
[1:16:13] um, that is our last item. So if
[1:16:18] we, is there any general public comment this evening? If there are any members of the
[1:16:22] public that would like to speak on, uh, something not on the agenda, please come to the
[1:16:26] opponent now. No public comment chair. Thank you.
[1:16:30] uh, then we will be adjourned. Thank you.