NOTE:

IN ACCORDANCE WITH PROVISIONS OF THE ARIZONA REVISED STATUTES AND THE FLAGSTAFF CITY CHARTER THE SUMMARIZED MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ARE NOT VERBATIM TRANSCRIPTS.  ONLY THE ACTIONS TAKEN AND DISCUSSION APPEARING WITH QUOTATION MARKS ARE VERBATIM.  AUDIO RECORDINGS OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ARE ON FILE IN THE CITY CLERK’S OFFICE.

SUMMARIZED MINUTES

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING

September 26, 2005

4:00 p.m.

A Meeting of the Flagstaff City Council was held on September 26, 2005 convening at 4:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 211 West Aspen Avenue, Flagstaff, Arizona.

1.      CALL TO ORDER

The Meeting was called to order by Mayor Donaldson.

2.      ROLL CALL

On roll call, the following were present:

Mayor Donaldson

Vice-Mayor White

Councilmember Babbott

Councilmember Cooper

Councilmember Haughey

Councilmember Kelty - Excused

Councilmember Silva

Also present were:

Acting City Manager, Jim Wine

Acting City Attorney, Harry Lane

3.

Consideration of Right-of-Entry and Purchase and Sale Agreement:  Koch Field Property adjacent to Cromer School.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Approve the agreement with Flagstaff Unified School District No. 1 for a right-of-entry fee of $400 per month subject to purchase at a price to be determined by appraisal.

Denny Birkland, Real Estate Manager, recommended that the item be tabled.

Councilmember Silva moved to table, seconded by Vice-Mayor White.  The motion passed on unanimous vote.

4.

Consideration of Resolution No. 2005-108:  A resolution approving an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Flagstaff and the Arizona Board of Regents concerning construction of a conference center facility and related improvements.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Read Resolution No. 2005-108 by title only.

Adopt Resolution No. 2005-108.

Jeri Dustir, Deputy City Manager, introduced President John Haeger of Northern Arizona University.

Dr. Haeger described the arduous process to date in preparing the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) and the obligatory timelines imposed by the Arizona Board of Regents.  Dr. Haeger detailed the overall benefits of a conference center for the University as well as the City.

Ms. Dustir discussed the details of the intergovernmental agreement, including the City’s contribution, the Request For Proposal Selection Committee, the formation of an Advisory Committee, project features, the effective date and term, and the termination clause.

Dr. Haeger touched upon the following issues:

·      

The NAU Foundation is considering partnering with the University on this project in a manner to be determined.

·      

When the professional conference operator is hired, they will have the opportunity to become an employee of Northern Arizona University with all its benefits.

·      

The University will set performance criteria for the operator, oversee the hiring, set the length of the contract, and measure performance.

During Council discussion, the following items or concerns were identified:

·      

Dark Skies standards need to be considered.

·      

The City should allow a great deal of flexibility to the University regarding this project.

·      

The hotel should be at a higher level of rating than the one proposed so that it is not in direct competition with the many hotels in the same price range.

·      

The Convention and Visitor’s Bureau will actively market the hotel and conference center, thereby ensuring sales tax and BBB tax benefits to the City.

·      

The University’s version of the IGA and the City’s version still have substantial differences in the termination clause language.

·      

Overflow from large conference groups will benefit the local hoteliers.

·      

Traffic issues impacting Milton and Butler will be reviewed and addressed by City staff.

·      

The Council would like to further discuss options concerning an independent operator verses a University employee.

Council directed staff to:

·      

Schedule a Council Executive Session for Wednesday, September 28, 2005, 12:00 p.m., followed by a Special Council Meeting at 2:00 p.m.

·      

Add language to the IGA addressing Dark Skies standards.

·      

Address sustainability issues in the IGA.

·      

Add language to the IGA to indicate there is no sunset for tax and fee collection.

·      

Re-write the termination clause to satisfy the needs of both the City and the University.

The following speakers stated their support for the intergovernmental agreement and the conference center project:

Joe Galli, Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce

Robin Prema, Inn Keepers Association

Mark Ross, Flagstaff Hospitality Association

The above speakers expressed the following concerns:

·      

The proposed hotel could be in direct competition with local hoteliers as it is not the 4 or 5 star facility that was originally planned

·      

The budget hotel being proposed is not suitable for the image the community wants to project.

Councilmember Babbott moved to table the item until the Special Council Meeting of September 28, 2005 at 2:00 p.m.  The motion was seconded by Councilmember Haughey and passed on unanimous vote.

5.      ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council, the Special Meeting was adjourned at 5:33 p.m.

MAYOR

ATTEST:

CITY CLERK

CERTIFICATION

STATE OF ARIZONA,

Coconino County.

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ss.

I, MARGIE BROWN, do hereby certify that I am the City Clerk of the City of Flagstaff, County of Coconino, State of Arizona, and that the above Minutes are a true and correct summary of the Special Meeting of the Council of the City of Flagstaff held on September 26, 2005.  I further certify that the Special Meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present.

DATED this 19th day of October, 2005.

CITY CLERK