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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 6/5/2001 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, HELD TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 2001, AT 5:30 P.M. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Scruggs, with Vice Mayor Eggleston and the following Councilmembers present: Clark, Frate, Goulet, Lieberman, and Martinez. Also present were Martin Vanacour, City Manager; Ed Beasley, Assistant City Manager; Rick Flaaen, City Attorney; and Pamela Oliveira, City Clerk. A statement was filed by the City Clerk that the one resolution to be considered at the meeting was available for public examination and the title posted at City Hall more than 72 hours in advance of the meeting. PUBLIC HEARING - RESOLUTION 1. REVIEW AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2001-2002 BUDGET, PUBLIC HEARING AND ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION Dr. Martin Vanacour, City Manager, introduced this item. After three special Budget Workshops held in April of 2001, the City Council completed its review of the proposed Fiscal Year 2001-2002 budget. The Workshops provided the Council with the opportunity to closely analyze and evaluate all aspects of the budget. The public hearing tonight on the proposed budget was required prior to Council adoption of the preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2001-2002. Council approval of this preliminary budget will set the maximum level of expenditures for next year. Adjustments and re-allocation of expenditures can be made after adoption of the preliminary budget, but the total amount of expenditures cannot be increased. This balanced budget reflects the careful planning and teamwork of employees throughout the organization. Some of the most exciting projects in Glendale's history are currently underway, including the new Coyotes arena, redevelopment of Manistee Town Center, the City Center Master Plan for downtown Glendale, the West Glendale Area Plan, the General Plan Update, and a Comprehensive Transportation Plan, to name just a few. A long "to do" list was included in this year's budget. Nevertheless, staff is confident that the City's sound financial policies will ensure the City's continued stability, even considering the unpredictability of the State of Arizona and national economies. Glendale's economy continues to grow at a steady pace. While the City is not experiencing the explosive development witnessed throughout the 1990s, as evidenced by slightly slowing revenues, the City's growth rate remains solid, as does the local economy. Dr. Vanacour said he was confident that, with the financial policies the City has in place, Glendale will continue to thrive throughout the coming years. The City's strong financial management expertise is also evidenced by its continued outstanding bond ratings. Standard and Poor's Corporation and Moody's Investor Service rate the City's general obligation bonds as "AA" and "AA2" respectively. These excellent ratings confirm the confidence that the City of Glendale will remain in top financial condition as it embarks on a new fiscal year. Feeling confident in Glendale's long-term financial well being, the Fiscal Year 2001-02 budget process was kicked off by establishing the goals of the Mayor and City Council for the upcoming year. Once a consensus was reached, staff began the process of accomplishing the following Fiscal Year 2001-02 goals: Ms. Pilar Aguilar, Budget and Rate Manager, presented the proposed Fiscal Year 2001-2002 budget. • Economic Opportunities Fund Continue the $1,000,000 "Opportunities Account" to enable the City to take advantage of unanticipated opportunities to foster new economic development activities throughout the City. • Property Acquisition Appropriate $330,000 for land acquisition for various uses. • Transit Reserve Fund Allocate an additional $300,000 to the Transit Reserve Fund started in Fiscal Year 2000-01, bringing the fund's total to $450,000. • Northwest Valley Traffic Study Earmark $50,000 for a traffic analysis study in the burgeoning northwest area of the City of Glendale and surrounding areas. • Geographic Information Systems Designate $56,000 for ongoing Geographic Information Systems (GIS) staffing and $54,000 for one-time contractual staffing and equipment needs. 2 • Paint, Plant, Pave & Sign Program Enhancements Increase funding to the Paint, Plant, Pave & Sign (PPP&S) Program by $50,000. • Right-of-Way Beautification Appropriate an additional $200,000 for right-of-way beautification throughout the City of Glendale and $50,000 for ongoing right-of-way maintenance needs. • Right-of-Way Beautification in Specific Locations Designate $1,048,000, plus $13,600 in ongoing maintenance costs, for the following six additional right-of-way projects: • 75th Avenue, Bethany Home Road to Maryland Avenue • 67th Avenue, Sweetwater Avenue to Thunderbird Road • Butler Avenue, 47th to 51st Avenues • 47th Avenue, Northern Avenue to Butler Drive • Union Hills Drive, 59th to 67th Avenues • 57th Drive, Median south of Utopia Road • Habitat for Humanity Set aside $100,000 for the potential purchase of Habitat for Humanity lots. • Adult Center Service Improvements Commit $222,392 for service improvements at the soon-to-be-relocated Glendale Adult Center. • Police Department Staffing Needs Designate $1,312,264 for additional Police Department staffing and equipment needs. • Random Gunfire Locator System (ShotSpotter Appropriate $277,500 for the purchase of a random gunfire locator system to cover two square miles of the City and $49,500 in ongoing maintenance costs for the system. 3 Once funds were set aside to meet the Council's goals, staff was advised to proceed with preparing their departmental budgets. They were informed that the Leadership Team would only consider requests wherein a critical need was demonstrated. Further, staff was requested to assist the Leadership Team by: • Submitting supplemental budget requests only for those items that their base budgets would not support and that were urgently needed. It was suggested that staff consider reallocating existing base budget funds to cover new expenses, when appropriate. • Scrutinizing every request before submittal to the Leadership Team. It was requested that employees explore innovative and creative alternatives to requesting additional funding, including researching the best practices of comparable organizations. • Justifying every request with facts and figures. Budget additions were not considered unless staff provided sufficient back-up information warranting them. • Prioritizing all supplementals. Each department was required to assign a priority number to each submitted supplemental, i.e. if they requested ten supplementals, they were prioritized and numbered one through ten. Staff followed this direction by limiting requests to essential needs and prioritizing them effectively. This enabled the Leadership Team to make the necessary decisions and present a balanced budget to the Mayor and City Council. Continuing the trend started last year, staff members remain focused on service improvements through utilizing new technologies. This year's budget includes the following technology improvements that will benefit all City departments: • In order to stay on the cutting edge of new technology, the Information Systems Department received approval to hire an additional Database Administrator. This employee will provide support for PeopleSoft and Oracle databases and web applications. • Information Systems also received funding to hire a consultant to assist in the implementation of the PeopleSoft Workflow Module, which will greatly enhance the City's payment processing and expenditure tracking systems. This addition will move the City further ahead towards "paperless" processes. 4 • In order for the City to create applications on the web for citizen use, the Information Systems Department will purchase Oracle licenses and an additional server. Potential utilization of this product includes viewing utility bills and processing utility bill payments, viewing sales tax information, and applying for and paying sales tax fees online. • The Fire Department will purchase pre-planning software designed to allow Fire Department personnel to review building details so that, in the event of an emergency, they would be familiar with the layout of the involved building, thus avoiding any potential hazards inside. Firefighters will also use this program for tactical training operations. In addition to the above-mentioned technology improvements, some other terrific enhancements to the Fiscal Year 2001-02 budget include: • The newly formed Community Partnerships Department will launch two new community-based pilot programs: Homeowners' Association (HOA) Training and a Community Mediation Pilot Program. The HOA training curriculum would offer HOA board members and interested residents the opportunity to learn the necessary skills to successfully manage HOAs. Ninety percent of respondents to a recent survey of Glendale HOA board members expressed interest in attending this type of training course. The Community Mediation Pilot Program would train and certify community members to serve as mediators for community/neighborhood disputes that arise. Many cities throughout the United States use community mediation as an effective service to resolve conflict in a structured, supervised, and voluntary environment. • To keep up with the increased workload resulting from the hiring of additional police officers, the City Court will hire two additional court information clerks. Funds have also been allocated for additional interpreting and public defender services in the City Court. • The Economic Development Department received funding to hire an Economic Development Research Assistant who will be charged with creating maps, demographic reports, and other related materials to provide to prospective businesses considering a location in Glendale. • The Marketing Department has been charged with preparing and marketing a new speed reduction public information and education campaign. A portion of the campaign will specifically target young drivers. • Funds were approved to go towards the construction of a mausoleum and related uses in the City's cemetery, located at the southwest corner of 63rd and Northern Avenues. 5 The City has a lot going on and each and every City department works as efficiently as possible. To enable the City to accurately measure that performance, Dr. Lou Weschler, a consultant specializing in performance measurement, was brought in to assist each department in identifying its performance indicators and how to better measure them. The results of their initial collaboration can be seen in the Operating Budget portion of this document. This Fiscal Year 2001-02 budget includes some of the most thrilling projects in the last 16 years. Dr. Vanacour stated that he was gratified to be a part of this exciting time and proud to lead a team of such committed and talented people at all levels of the organization. The recommendation was to conduct a public hearing, waive reading beyond the title, and adopt a resolution accepting the preliminary budget for Fiscal Year 2001-2002. Resolution No. 3472 New Series was read by number and title only, it being A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GLENDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA, ADOPTING THE ESTIMATES OF THE AMOUNTS REQUIRED FOR THE PUBLIC EXPENSE FOR THE CITY OF GLENDALE FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2001-2002; ADOPTING A TENTATIVE BUDGET; SETTING FORTH THE REVENUE, THE AMOUNT TO BE RAISED BY DIRECT PROPERTY TAXATION FOR THE VARIOUS PURPOSES; AND GIVING NOTICE OF THE TIME FOR HEARING TAXPAYERS FOR FIXING THE TAX LEVIES. It was moved by Clark, and seconded by Frate, to pass, adopt, and approve Resolution No. 3472 New Series. The motion carried unanimously. REQUEST FOR FUTURE WORKSHOP AND EXECUTIVE SESSION It was moved by Eggleston, and seconded by Frate, to hold an Executive Session at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 12, 2001, at the Glendale Municipal Airport, located at 6801 North Glen Harbor Boulevard, Suite 201, pursuant to A.R.S. 38-431.01; and to hold a Regular City Council Workshop at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12, 2001 in Room B-3 of the City Council Chambers, to be followed by an executive session pursuant to A.R.S. 38-431.01. The motion carried unanimously. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS There were no comments from the Council. 6 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m. Pamela O vi eira - City Clerk 7