Community Engagement Commission

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMMISSION MEETING AGENDA WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2024 – 6:00 P.M. 22710 E. COUNTRY VISTA DRIVE The purpose of the Community Engagement Commission is to serve in an advisory capacity to the mayor and City Council. The Commission’s role is to gather ideas, input, and feedback from community members, and to advise and guide city leadership. • Sign up to provide public comment at the meeting via calling in. • Submit written public comment prior to 4:00 p.m. on the date of the meeting. 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ROLL CALL 3. APPROVALS a. Agenda b. Minutes of March 20, 2024 4. CITY HALL UPDATES (David Goehner) a. See handout 5. DISCUSSIONS & BUSINESS a. Proposed revision to Ordinance 277, Section 2.B.3. (See City Hall Updates) b. 2024 work plan (Robin) c. Takeaways from March 5 workshop with City Council d. Farmers Market prep for May 18: Magnetic dry erase board & related resources e. Transparency town hall meeting proposal (Bill and Summer) f. Date for workshop with Lisa Key on Comprehensive Plan g. Discussion on Spokane River Centennial Trail & Liberty Lake Regional Park h. Select member to provide CEC update for April 23 City Council meeting i. Other upcoming opportunities? 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS 7. NEXT MEETING: May 15, 2024, at 6 p.m. a. Requested items for agenda? 8. ADJOURNMENT  JOIN ZOOM MEETING To view the meeting live via Zoom, join the Zoom web meeting at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81440267233?pwd=SkxldUZobnhvbEcyZ1U4YndLcnRJZz09 Meeting ID: 814 4026 7233 PUBLIC COMMENT If you wish to provide oral public comments during the Community Engagement Commission meeting, you may do so in-person at City Hall or virtually via zoom. You may speak in-person at City Hall, or if you wish to speak via zoom, please join the zoom meeting using the meeting information above. Public comments will be invited during the appropriate section of the agenda, at which time you can send a request to speak to our meeting host using the chat function within the zoom meeting. WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENTS If you wish to provide written public comments for the Community Engagement Commission meeting, please email your comments to tgarcia@libertylakewa.gov by 4:00 p.m. the day of the commission meeting and include all the following information with your comments: 1. The meeting date 2. Your first and last name 3. If you are a Liberty Lake resident 4. The agenda item(s) you are speaking about If providing written comments, the comments received will be acknowledged during the public meeting, but not read. All written comments received by 4:00 p.m. will be provided to commission members in advance of the meeting.  CITY OF LIBERTY LAKE Community Engagement Commission Minutes March 20, 2024 – 6:00 p.m. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting of the Community Engagement Commission was called to order on March 20, 2024, at 6 p.m. ROLL CALL: Position 1: Robin Bekkedahl Present Position 7: Vacant Position 2: Bill Norman Present Position 8: Aaron Asmus Online Position 3: Vacant Position 9: Mark Saba Present Position 4: Summer Darrow Present Communications specialist David Goehner Present Position 5: Cynthia Gamboni Excused City administrator Mark McAvoy Present Position 6: Arlene Fisher Maurer Absent APPROVALS: Commissioner Norman moved to excuse Commissioner Gamboni, which was seconded by Commissioner Darrow. The motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Norman moved to place item 4 on the agenda (Public Comments) to immediately precede item 8 on the agenda (Next Meeting), which was seconded by Commissioner Darrow, and carried unanimously. Commissioner Norman moved to accept the minutes from the meeting of Feb. 21, 2024, which was seconded by Commissioner Darrow. The motion carried unanimously. PRESENTATIONS: Planning, Building & Engineering director Lisa Key gave an introductory presentation about the city’s upcoming Comprehensive Plan work, which will be adopted in June 2026, and the community engagement component that would be involved. Discussion occurred about the commission possibly scheduling a brainstorming workshop during May that would be focused on public engagement for the Comprehensive Plan. Mark McAvoy introduced a proposal from the City Council to have the commission assist on ideas for a potential public town hall event that would be designed to gain public input about the council’s transparency guidelines that are being developed. McAvoy said council members had suggested a June 1 target date to receive recommendations back on this from the commission. Commission members suggested possibly including a “meet the commission members” event as part of this. Commissioners Norman and Darrow were appointed to be the subcommittee to research ideas for the town hall event and to meet with city staff prior to the next CEC meeting. McAvoy introduced another request from City Council members about obtaining CEC recommendations for community conversation events between city residents and members of the City Council. McAvoy said the Council was hoping to have recommendations prior to May 1 on what this concept could look like. Comments from Commission members included compiling a list of groups and clubs that the CEC could engage with on this, and establishing guidelines to prevent Council members from using the gatherings as political campaign opportunities. McAvoy also provided updates on the city’s 2024 Community Satisfaction Survey, and solicited comments from the commissioners regarding the survey’s next steps. He reported that the survey’s current expenditures have been $3,926, with a response rate of about 25% from the combined first and second rounds of outreach from those in the survey pool. It was the recommendation of the commissioners to not go through the expense of a further round out outreach for the 2024 survey. CITY HALL UPDATES: There were no comments made on the handout providing this month’s City Hall updates. DISCUSSIONS & BUSINESS: A – Geographic membership of commissioner positions: Commission Saba moved and Commissioner Norman seconded to endorse to the City Council the previously discussed revisions to the commission’s geographic-based membership requirements as outlined in Section 2.B.3. of Ordinance No. 277. The motion passed 5-0. B – Farmers Market display board discussion: Commissioner Bekkedahl tabled this until the April 17 meeting. C – 2024 work plan: Commissioner Bekkedahl tabled this until the April 17 meeting. D – Takeaways from the March 5 City Council workshop: Commissioner Bekkedahl tabled this until the April 17 meeting. E – Upcoming City Council workshop: No new items were brought up. PUBLIC COMMENTS: There were no public comments. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m. The next meeting will be held on April 17, 2024.  City Hall Updates for Community Engagement Commission 4-15-2024 1. Updates on proposed change to CEC membership revision in Ordinance 277: • Ordinance went through a first read at the City Council mee�ng of April 9 and will go through a second read on April 23. • Ideas that were brought up by City Council members, with their request for input from the Community Engagement Commission prior to April 23: o Include language saying one of the at-large members “may” be someone from outside the city limits? Sugges�on was that this person would be someone who resides within the 99019 ZIP code (area directly south of city’s borders, including en�rely of the lake area). o Should such a person be a vo�ng member or a non-vo�ng adjunct member? o If this was a non-vo�ng member, should an allowance be made for this person to vote at a mee�ng if one of the other members isn’t present? o If there was a non-vo�ng member among the maximum of 9 members, this would create the poten�al for the full group having 8 vo�ng members, crea�ng the possibility of �es in a vote. o Should the proposed 5 at-large posi�ons all remain as vo�ng posi�ons that are limited to city residents, with the addi�on of a 10th posi�on that would be an adjunct or non-vo�ng spot for a non-resident of the city? o The City Planning Commission does allow (and currently has) a non-vo�ng member from outside the city limits. • Posi�on number realloca�ons will be dealt with by the City Council at a later �me. 2. City Academy • Spring 2024 session starts this Thursday at 6 p.m. at Trailhead Golf clubhouse. S�ll a few more open spots for registra�ons. En�re schedule of topics is posted on the city’s website, and – in most cases – people may drop in to atend specific topics. 3. July Ac�vi�es: • At a mee�ng on April 10 among the organizers of area July 3 & 4 events (July 3 Boat Parade, the July 3 kickoff of Summer Movies In The Parks, the July 4 Liberty Lake Community Parade, the July 4 Pavillion Park concert, the city’s 4th of July fireworks, and the lake 4th of July fireworks) to choose a unified promo�onal name for those events, the name chosen was: “Liberty Lake Fest: A July 4th Community Celebra�on.” 4. Community Sa�sfac�on Survey: • The 2024 survey remains open. No further updates right now. 5. Spokane River Centennial Trail construc�on: (Not a city project.) • State Parks and Recrea�on Commission closed the 14 easternmost miles of the trail on Monday, April 15, for the process of pu�ng new asphalt on the trail for the first �me in 30-plus years and to provide upgrades to signage and other features. All trailheads (including Harvard in Liberty  Lake city limits) will be blocked and chained off, and private property owners will be blocking the “unofficial” entrances. En�re project area is expected to be closed to the public during the project period and will be reopened around Labor Day. Staggering of access to the 14-mile project isn’t being done due to public safety and the nature of the project; the trail’s �ght work area and access limita�ons for turnarounds will require spoters to guide large vehicles through extensive lengths of the trail in order to perform their work ac�vi�es. (City’s Facebook post on this from April 10 has reached 41,000+ views as of April 15.) 6. Liberty Lake Regional Park renova�ons: (Not a city project.) • And to the south: Spokane County will begin upgrades to Liberty Lake Regional Park that will involve reconstruc�on of Lakeside Road and widening of Zephyr, new paving for the parking lot, a new dock with fishing area and kayak launch, replacement of restroom, and 2 new shade structures. Road construc�on will likely start in September. Project will be funded through state grants and county real estate taxes. Recrea�on area is 58 years old. 7. Smarty Symbols board: • Parks and Arts Commission funds were used to install a board containing illustra�ons and words at Orchard Park in late March to assist those with communica�on difficul�es or to learn language skills. KHQ TV did a news segment on the piece last Thursday, which can be watched at the city’s Facebook site. 8. City Podcast: • “The Cat Who Came To The City Council Mee�ng” was released at the end of March. 1st year anniversary show involving an interview with Mayor Kaminskas is being released this week. • Upcoming: “The Unfunded Projects List” (recorded, and pos�ng at the end of April), “City Employees Who Are Star Wars Fans” (for first week of May), “Random Ques�ons with the Mayor” (unused material from this week’s podcast, to be posted at a later �me), Friends of the Library Book Sale and Soiree (probably for early June). Might repost last year’s “Hometown Heroes Banners” one for Memorial Day, with new/updated introduc�on. --David Goehner Thursday, March 28, 2024 TOWN HALL - TRANSPARENCY 1. FORMAT A. Reception/Town Hall style i. Rotary room at Trailhead Golf Clubhouse ii. 1½ to 2 hours with the first 30 to 45 minutes being a reception setting. 1. Meet your mayor/city council/city hall staff. 2. Suggested hosts a. Mayor b. City Council c. Selected city staff: Mark McAvoy, Lisa Key, David Goehner, perhaps Chief Damon Simmons. d. Representatives from selected boards & commissions: e.g., Community Engagement, Planning, Parks & Arts 3. Two stations with computers and larger screens with a person to demonstrate: a. How to navigate the city’s website; how to sign up for notifications. b. How to attend and participate remotely in a city council meeting and how to listen to archived meetings. c. City Academy d. What would you like to discuss at a future Town Hall? 4. We should have a series of posters around the room that identify all our boards and commissions with a list of current members plus an indication of whether there are current open seats and when the next openings are anticipated. 5. It would be nice (but not necessary) if we could offer some light hors d’oeuvres. For example, crudités, cheese & crackers, etc. We could also have bottles of water or some soft drink concoction (frappé?) B. The target discussion around transparency in government would be led and monitored by Mark McAvoy in his role as city manager.  1. There should be some brief (10 minutes max?) explanation of where we are: a. All public meetings include a virtual attendance option. Here we could refer to the display that was available during the reception. b. All public meetings are recorded and available (currently) on YouTube. c. Agendas for all public meetings will be available on the city website 72 hours prior to the convening of the meeting. d. In the recording of the March 5 council meeting, five initiatives were referenced. But we’re not sure what item #4 actually is. e. Policy changes or proposals, where in the city council or an affiliated board or commission will be made available in written form and included in the agenda packets. 2. The group discussion would then follow with questions and, hopefully, suggestions from attending citizens. 3. Public Comment: How do we manage this in an age of “Zoom-bombing?” 2. PARTICIPATION & ENGAGEMENT A. A blast email to all residents (households) B. Pass-along cards available to i. Members of clubs (e.g., Rotary, Kiwanis) ii. Groups established for the planning and execution of community event (e.g. Fireworks, Winterglow iii. Other commissions and boards iv. School reception areas v. Utilities—particularly sewer and water where citizens are likely to go C. City web page D. City social media accounts E. We should also survey city employees and members of boards and commissions to enlist their help in identifying social media accounts for HOA’s and neighborhoods so that we (through people who are participants in those accounts) can post the notice/invitation to this event. 3. MESSAGING 2 A. This should be part of a broader strategy to get our citizens accustomed to receiving friendly messages. B. Here is an opportunity to see “Transparency in Action”. i. What are the issues and opportunities? ii. You can participate in shaping transparency in our community. iii. Here are some things to look forward to: we would list some of the things that came out of the CEC meeting with the city council—e.g., Pop-up meetings with the mayor and city council around the community etc. iv. Come and see what we are doing and what you can do to help shape and refine transparency in city government…and much more. 3  COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMMISSION WORK PLAN 2024 Activity Due Date Who Workshop with CC October CEC and CC Framework final draft January or February Aaron Strategic Plan Outreach March CEC Work Plan and Budget June CEC Special Session Develop the binder for FM Bill and Summer Develop display themes for Robin and Mark S. FM Comp Plan Public Outreach Workshop with Lisa Town Square Public Outreach Video Workshop on transparency CEC guidelines