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Commissioner O'Connor commented that the City would then be retaining some of its <br />existing property and maybe rebuilding or remodeling obviously through an updated <br />plan. He asked Mr. Dolan if the Commission would then be wasting its vote on this <br />item, just like on some of the others. <br />Mr. Dolan replied that a Commission vote would be adding to some of the momentum. <br />He indicated that it already has a kind of a kick -start because the Task Force will be <br />formed. <br />Chair Allen commented that this is probably not a kick -start one and just reinforces that <br />it is potentially important. <br />Commissioner O'Connor agreed that this is an important thing but it is already being <br />done. He noted that this is at its early stages, and the Task Force would be a first step. <br />He suggested that if nothing is done by the following year, the Commission could then <br />pick it up then. <br />Mr. Dolan stated that the City Manager and Department Heads have City Council <br />Agenda prep meetings every week to talk about upcoming items on the next three <br />Council meetings. He noted that this item is on one of those weeks. <br />Chair Allen indicated that the second item that has also been high on her list for years is <br />re- looking at the City's user fees, not just the development fees but all user fees. She <br />stated that it is her understanding that the City is under water, that the residents are <br />subsidizing a lot of these fees such that the people using them are paying less than <br />what the actual costs are. She noted that this effort is all about re- calibrating what <br />those fees are, and was something that came to the City Council about three years ago, <br />but the Council did not want to make the change then because of the recession. She <br />recalled that Director of Finance Emily Wagner gave the Council the list, and it was <br />clear there were some things that should be done. <br />Chair Allen stated that she believes now is the time to move on this because the City is <br />in a healthy period, and if this is not dealt with now, the City will certainly not tackle it <br />again when it starts getting into a downswing once more. She stated that it is a <br />principle that impacts the community, and she would rather have more money in the <br />City to apply to new projects than subsidize specific users who are not paying their fair <br />share. <br />Commissioner Nagler stated that there was a fee structure or cost Task Force that he <br />was actually a member of as a Human Services Commissioner. He noted that it is an <br />interesting issue because it is true apparently that most, if not all, of the programs that <br />are offered in the City do not pay for themselves, particularly if staff time, infrastructure <br />cost, and things like that are loaded on. He added that it very much is a conversation <br />underway with a formalized group that is aggregated from a number of Commissions <br />and Departments, which will come back to the Council with a recommendation. <br />Commissioner O'Connor noted that the Commission talked about that at the last <br />meeting in connection with beekeeping. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, February 11, 2015 Page 14 of 17 <br />