City Council Meeting Date: November 21, 2023
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Jake Reilly, Community Development Director
Title
Comprehensive Plan Update.
Body
Action Requested:
The City Council is asked to hear an update on the Comprehensive Plan and the Steering Committee Subcommittee.
Summary Report:
Staff will give an update on the Comprehensive Plan and the subcommittee selected from the last City Council (CC) meeting.
Steering Committee Update:
Thank you to Bill Kuhlmann, Jason Menard, Don Stager and Stiva Thorstensson of the Planning Commission for their work on compiling a list of potential subcommittee members for Mayor Pownell.
Below is the final roster for the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee as approved by City Council at their Nov. 7th meeting:
• Betsey Buckheit (Chair)
• Tracy Davis Heisler (Vice Chair)
• Brian Nowak
• Sean Allen
• Beth Kallestad
• Crystal Mulvihill
• Tyler Westman
• Willian Estrella
• Francisco E Murillo Poncianot
• Juan Trinidad
• Rachel Estrella
• Lahna Tran
• Chao Troung
• Robert Morrison
• Rhonda Pownell
• Davin Sokup
• Aki Gupta, youth representative
• Patricia Owusu, youth representative
The committee members have been contacted by the Planning Consultant team. The plan is to meet at least once before the end of 2023. Part of that work is intended to identify additional opportunities and audiences, connected via their networks, for targeted engagement
Steering committee meetings will be announced to the public and noticed as public meetings. Staff is looking into the possibility of holding steering committee meetings in the Council Chambers in order to televise meetings, similar to City boards and commissions. Staff and the consultant team intend to engage additional boards and commissions directly, during their standing meetings.
Progress Update:
The consultant team from NEOO and Stantec, along with several City staff, hosted a kick-off event at Greenvale Elementary School on October 28, 2023, which was the last scheduled event of the Discovery Phase of the planning process. The Community Profile is complete and ready to share/post, and the StoryMap is also ready to post. The consultant team have also provided the Equity Policy Framework Methodology, the final deliverable of the Discovery Phase. While the original project schedule showed the Discovery Phase ending in September, progress is approximately two months behind.
The Engagement and Communications Plan aligns the engagement activities with particular milestones. The goals for engagement (copied below) were established in conjunction with the Equity Policy Framework methodology:
“The overarching goal of the public engagement efforts for the City of Northfield is to build meaningful relationships in the community while gathering stakeholder and public input, respond to comments and concerns; understand the problems that need to be solved; and keep decision-makers and other stakeholders informed throughout the process.
• Goal 1: Equitably engage a diversity of stakeholders.
• Goal 2: Provide the greatest amount of access to a diversity of stakeholders with a particular focus on the Latinx, disabled, youth, and blue-collar worker populations in Northfield.”
To date, NEOO has conducted the following engagement events:
• Four pop-up events reaching a total of over 250 individuals. Using a map of Northfield, the NEOO team gave participants stickers (in the shapes of gems) to identify the “gems” of Northfield. Participants were also given dollar sign stickers to understand areas of the city where more investment is desired. Participants were also given a postcard with a QR code where they can find more information about the survey. Pop ups were coordinated with the city’s input and are listed below.
1. August 17, 2023: Third Thursdays in Downtown
2. August 30th, 2023: Northfield Dog Swim at the Northfield Pool
3. September 15th, 2023: Carleton Student Fair, the Bald Sport
4. September 16th, 2023: Hispanic Heritage Festival, Central Park
• Four key informant interviews with stakeholders:
1. September 28, 2023: Jennifer Barrientos, Health Communities Initiative
2. October 6, 2023: Jane Bartho, Northfield Chamber of Commerce
3. October 15, 2023: Amy Cernava and Nate Foley, Post
4. October 11, 2023: Pam Fickenscher and Jonathan Davis, St John’s Church
Note: We have tried to reach out to Mar at Neighbors United but have not heard back. Jasmine continues to work on finding a date with Age Friendly Northfield (they prefer to meet in person).
• One kick-off meeting on October 23, 2023. NEOO planned and facilitated the kick off meeting for the Comp Plan on October 28, 2023. A World Cafe style activity provided an opportunity to provide input into different topics covered in the Comp Plan such as Housing, Parks and Recreation, Transportation, Economic Development, and Sustainability. Around 66 people attended the event and shared a community meal.
• One survey opened on August 17th, close date to be determined. To date, 241 individuals have taken the survey. The survey is structured around basic demographic information, as well as components that will be addressed in the Comp Plan (housing, transportation, economic development).
The NEOO team has reached over 300 individuals in person and 241 via the online survey in the Discovery Phase.
However, it has become clear that a revised project schedule may be desired. The schedule was developed with the understanding that the city wishes to keep the end date of the project as December 2024. This requires that some phases will need to overlap, as the early Discovery and Vision phases will be extended. More specifically, the consultant team is recommending:
• An extension of the Discovery phase to accommodate the actual completion of deliverables for that phase (November 2023).
• An extension of the Vision phase through March 2024 to accommodate the additional engagement above.
• The Analysis phase will begin in January and run concurrently with the Vision phase. Analysis will end in April 2024
• The Plan phase has been extended to allow for more time to vet implementation actions for the plan with both the Steering Committee and Planning Commission. This is one of the most important parts of the planning process, to ensure that the Plan provides specific guidance to the city to reach the desired vision.
• The Adoption phase is condensed from 4 to 3 months. Because we will be meeting more regularly with the Steering Committee and sharing draft materials to both the Steering Committee and Planning Commission along the way, we believe that 3 months is adequate for review by the public, Planning Commission and City Council.
Questions for the Council to consider:
• Does the CC endorse the idea of another big public event?
• For targeted events, does the CC have questions, comments or concerns about these?
• Other events beyond the consultants: Meeting-in-a-box and “house parties” by the PC have been mentioned. What are CC members thoughts about these and how can we shape what we will do?
Alternative Options:
N/A
Financial Impacts:
N/A
Tentative Timelines:
ü October 28, 2023: Public Kick-off meeting for the Comprehensive Plan; Greenvale Park School
ü November 7, 2023: Steering Committee appointed by City Council
ü November 11, 2023: Staff requests adjustments to scope and schedule based on an understanding that Planning Commission members are interested in more communication from the consultant team, or staff, about the Plan.
• November 21, 2023: CC receives update and gives feedback