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Q2 2022 Work Plan Updates
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Summary and Background Information:
This presentation to Council is to provide an update on Staff’s progress on the 2022 work plan during Q2. Staff has made significant progress across all five of Council’s goals this quarter and will be presenting just high-level updates; Council is welcome to review the attached report and ask specific questions during this time. Staff prepares an annual work plan to track and manage projects and priorities for the year which ensures that all work accomplished each year by staff furthers the goals set by Council. 2022 represents the second year the City has used a streamlined three-tier work plan: Goals, set by Council; Objectives, set by both Council and Directors; and Strategies, set and tracked by staff.
Staff has continued to diligently advance and realize Council’s vision for the community in the first quarter of 2022. The Envisio report and slides accompanying this communication will provide additional detail on the progress during this quarter. Overall, the 2022 work plan was 71.93% on-track or complete, with 25.44% some/major disruption and 2.63% cancelled. (Note: Many disruptions experienced by staff were the result of supply chain delays, ordering backlogs, or staffing issues.)
Below are summaries of each Council goal as tracked in the Work Plan. The order of the goals does not reflect a relative priority by staff or Council, meaning that Goal 1 is not more of a priority than Goal 2, and so on. The tier below ‘Goals’ is ‘Objectives’, which reflect more specific outcomes Council wants under this Goal; for example, the Goal may be center on Economic Development, and the Objectives under that goal would identify outcomes focused on catalyzing development and improving the development review process.
Goal 1 - Promote a balanced, thriving, and inclusive city economy that cultivates, attracts, and retains business
Council’s first goal is to promote a balanced, thriving, and inclusive city economy. Based on this goal, Council focused staff direction on economic development, particularly in key development and redevelopment areas.
There are thirteen objectives within this goal:
- Develop and implement events and programs to build community fabric and common understanding of C3 history
- Preserve and protect Commerce City's historic resources
- Attract new businesses to Commerce City
- Retain and grow businesses in Commerce City
- Create an entrepreneurial ecosystem
- Reduce spending leakage
- Catalyze development in identified key areas
- Improve efficiency and effectiveness of development review process
- Develop educational infrastructure
- Adopt policies that provide available and affordable housing
- Enhance relationship with Chamber & Adalante
- Enhance economic development with input from Council's ED Subcommittee to evaluate different approaches and/or structures
- Support minority owned businesses
Economic development efforts stayed strong in Q2 2022. Commerce City saw 112 net new companies, though there was a slight dip of net negative 73 workers year-to-year. Compared to Q2 2021, the Weekly Wage is up 12.6%. Discussions with real estate brokers, developers and landowners during Q2 were held, with highlights for the following projects: Performance Food Group incentive agreement signed; discussion progressed two preliminary hotel incentive packages for lodging tax rebates; and the ownership group for a commercial building in Derby was given approval of an up to $100,000 TIF.
Community Development staff has and is continuing to work diligently to improve the efficiency of the development review process. During Q2 2022, staff completed fifteen (15) zoning verification letters and five (5) marijuana zoning verification letters within the service window. Community Development staff presented four (4) updates to the Land Development code to City Council and the Planning Commission to continue the update process.
Goal 2 - Protect Resident Health, Safety, and Education by Promoting Public Safety, Environmental Health, and Sustainability
Council’s second goal is to protect resident health, safety, and education by promoting public safety, environmental health, and sustainability. This goal focuses on external concerns and involves Parks, Recreation, and Golf, Code Enforcement, and the Police Department.
There are eight objectives within this goal:
- Provide Critical Green Spaces that Connect People to the Outdoors and are Beneficial to our Environment.
- Provide programs and services that support health and wellness essential to improve individual and community-level health
- Create Aesthetically Pleasing Neighborhoods
- Enhance Personal Safety
- Enhance Community Safety by Strengthening Police Department
- Utilize strong development, building, and enforcement codes with higher energy efficiency standards to create a high quality built and natural environment
- Adopt policies and coordinate with partner organizations to improve air and water quality thereby improving environmental health and justice.
- Enhance environment and protections for wildlife.
Parks, Recreation, and Golf Staff continued building on the Healthy Places projects with the Quebec pedestrian underpass expected to be complete in early 2023. Staff has also prioritized ensuring all public-facing flyers, marketing materials, and other collateral are translated to Spanish. Staff is also coordinating an Open Housing with Cultivando in Fall 2022.
Code Enforcement continues work on creating aesthetically pleasing neighborhoods with compliance significantly above the 66% goal. Staff has also been conducting monthly neighborhood inspections with post cards being mailed to residents ahead of time to allow them to be prepared. Code Enforcement launched their Working Hard in the Yard program to encourage residents to take care of their property. Staff has also continued work on updating the Comprehensive Plan with updates to Character Areas to Planning Commission and City Council in Q3 2022.
Four Park Rangers wrapped up their training and on-boarding in Q2 2022. Park Rangers have already made an impact on residents, including administering first aid, assisting City staff with cleanup of abandoned property, and educating individuals about leash laws and distributing dog leashes. Auto theft rates continue to rise across Colorado, with Commerce City seeing a quarter-over-quarter increase of 11.2%; the Police Department continues to explore innovative options to tackle this on-going problem. While staffing remains a concern for the Police Department, police staff arrested two (2) repeat offenders in a case primarily led by CCPD detectives. Police staff have also worked with the City Manager’s Office to explore a new facility in the Northern Range to help improve response times and police presence in the area.
Goal 3 - Sustain an efficient and effective city government that attracts, trains, and retains high performing employees capable of realizing Council's vision
Council’s third goal is to sustain an efficient and effective city government that attracts, trains, and retains high-performing employees with a specific focus on finance, human resources, and IT management.
There are ten objectives within this goal:
- Secure a Sustainable Financial Future
- Be an Employer of Choice
- Recruit Diverse Candidate Pool
- Provide a Health and Safe Workforce
- Act in a Transparent and Accountable Manner
- Leverage Technology Systems to Increase the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Organization
- Provide Responsive Action to Council-Identified Priorities
- Encourage Staff Professional Development Aimed Toward Innovation and Efficiency
- Work Towards Professional Development to Enhance the Minority and Female Candidate Pool
- Enhance Metro District Oversight
Finance staff completed the audit process and presented the findings to City Council in Q2 2022. Staff is well underway with the 2023 budget process; after collecting budget requests from Department Directors, finance staff held the first internal budget retreat before bringing forward the 2023 budget to City Council in August 2022. This year’s budget process will follow the base budgeting process, allowing for a more thorough analysis of how the City allocates funds. The audit revenue from this period in Q2 2022 has accounted for 86.01% of the annual benchmark. Moreover, there were 79 tax compliance engagements, representing 2.26% of all active licenses.
Human Resources continues their process for updating their hiring and recruiting processes. HR Staff is preparing for the fall session of High School Interns and will include students from both Adams 14 and 27J schools. Additional recruiting efforts include more external posting on college boards, diversity boards, and through Latino and Black Professionals networks. HR also assisted with the start of the new DEI Employee Team, which features representation from all departments and will provide recommendations and guidance to City leadership about DEI issues for employees.
IT staff continues operating at 99.97% technology availability with 1,082 IT tickets closed in Q2 2022. IT is currently experiencing a significant staffing shortage, leading to some delays in IT Projects. Despite this issue, IT has completed the e-Ticketing and Body Worn Camera expansions as well as nearing completion on the end-user hardware replacement process.
Goal 4 - Develop and maintain public infrastructure, facilities, and transportation to improve community appearance and encourage continued development
Council’s fourth goal is to develop and maintain public infrastructure, facilities, and transportation to improve community appearance and encourage continued development. This centers on public works with specific focus on infrastructure development and regional partnerships.
There are five objectives within this goal:
- Enhance and Improve Physical Infrastructure
- Engineer a safe built environment
- Build infrastructure to accommodate for future growth.
- Build alternative, multimodal, next generation transportation network solutions.
- Collaborate with Regional Partners on Improving Infrastructure
Public works staff continues work on high-priority projects and has completed the new bridges on Brighton Road and Peoria Street; the Potomac Street bridge has made significant progress with an expected completion in late Q3 2022. Staff is still working to finalize a land swap deal to obtain necessary land to complete Rosemary Street widening, with the deal expected to be finalized end of Q3 2022. Public Works staff received a significant boost with the start of a new Fleet and Facilities Manager as well as the approval of a new Facilities Project Manager in 2022 reappropriations. Collaboration with CDOT progresses on the 120th and Chambers project, the 112th and Havana, the 72nd and Locust, and the Core City Signal Heads/High Visibility Backplates projects has progressed with design beginning on all projects required.
Staff continues their collaboration with other partners as well, including the Quarterly CDOT Meetings, AdCo Transportation Meetings, ADCOG Transportation Forum and Technical Group, DRCOG and North Area Transportation Alliance, South Adams County Water and Sanitation District and Mile High Flood District Coordination Meetings, and the Xcel Energy and United Power Coordination Meetings.
Goal 5 - Promote inclusion and equity to create a unified City that reflects its diverse residents, encourages community involvement and trust, and fosters civic pride
Council’s fifth goal is to promote inclusion and equity to create a unified City that reflects its diversity and encourages community involvement and civic pride. This is a broad goal that covers parks, recreation, and golf, community development, municipal court, and the City Clerk’s Office.
There are four objectives under this goal:
- Provide Programs and Services that Support Equitable Access for All People
- Increase Civic Pride and Trust to Create an Inclusive Community
- Improve Equitable and Diverse Citizen Participation
- Address Homelessness Issues with Regional Partners
Parks, Recreation, and Golf staff continues expansion of summer recreation programs, including youth outdoor education activities, fitness & wellness classes; adult learning and exercise events, and continued implementation of the SOAR (Special Opportunities in Adaptive Recreation) program. PRG is 50% complete with their ADA transition plan while also rolling the Parks ADA Audit into the “Meeting the Challenge” Audit.
The Community Navigator program remains successful, making 164 outreach contacts, matching 3 to housing opportunities, and assisted with successfully completing 16 SNAP benefits applications. The Community Navigator - Families and Seniors position was posted in Q1 2022 and recruitment is on-going. Staff’s work on the homelessness project through American Rescue Plan funds has progressed by engaging with a broker to identify locations; staff expects an update to Council and executive session in early Q3 2022. ARPA funding needs to be fully expending or attributed by 2024 or 2026, respectively.