Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 9/19/2017 City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 111116_ Meeting Minutes Tuesday, September 19, 2017 1:30 P.M: Workshop Meeting Council Chambers • City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor lan Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiers called the meeting to order at 1:31 p.m. Mayor Weiers recognized the students and teachers visiting from Glendale Landmark School, in the Ocotillo District. Councilmember Aldama welcomed the students and school faculty. ROLL CALL - Present: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Also Present: Kevin Phelps, City Manager; Tom Duensing,Assistant City Manager; Michael Bailey, City Attorney; Julie K. Bower, City Clerk WORKSHOP SESSION 1. GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND FUNDED CAPITAL PROGRAM Presented by: Tom Duensing,'Assistant City Manager Presented by: Vicki Rios, Budget and Finance Director Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Duensing said staff anticipated four presentations dedicated to the issue in order to develop a Council-approved Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)funded by general obligation (GO) bonds. He said the goal was to have Council develop a list of G.O. bond-funded eligible projects for inclusion in the 10-year CIP. The steps for that were: 1. Determine the available G.O. bonding by fiscal year 2. Develop listing of eligible projects 3. Prioritize projects to be financed by available G.O. bonds 4. Include in the 10-year CIP adoption Ms. Rios said the City had a CIP because capital infrastructure was the physical foundation for providing City services. Facilities, infrastructure and other capital assets were important legacies that met the current and long-term needs of the citizens. The CIP served as a roadmap for annual budget adoption and ensured responsible financial planning and the long-term financial health of the City. Ms. Rios said a CIP was a 10-year plan for capital infrastructure and other capital assets. Each planned CIP project outlined the estimated project costs, funding sources and future operating costs. She said capital assets included in the CIP were projects greater than $50,000 and had a useful life•of 5 or more years. Mr. Duensing said it was important to note that the City needed to be able to afford to construct, operate and maintain the capital asset. Ms. Rios said the funding sources for the CIP included the following: City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 2 of 17 • •G.O. bonds repaid with secondary property taxes • Development Impact Fees •Enterprise Fund revenues •Special Revenue Fund revenues •Grant Funds •General Fund Ms. Rios said the total current 10-year CIP was approximately$652 million. Mr. Duensing said the CIP policy called for the projects in years 1 through 5, to have identified funding sources. Years 6 through 10, might or might not have identified funding sources. He said there were identified funding sources for years 6 through 10. Ms. Rios said G.O. funding would be freed up in FY22/23. Previous bonds would be paid off at that point and Council could decide what to do with that capacity. She said the current CIP funded program through FY20-21, was primarily for streets program and the Regional Wireless Consortium. Capacity would be freed up in FY22/23 and bonds could be issued to reimburse expenditures 18 months prior to issuance. Therefore, project expenditures could begin in FY21/22. Mr. Duensing said based on an extensive analysis, staff calculated that$70 million in G.O. bonds could be issued in FY22/23 while keeping the secondary property tax levy flat. In FY23/24, $50 million could be issued, $30 million in FY24/25 and $25 million in FY25/26, still keeping the tax levy flat. Other assumptions were accelerated infrastructure spending and staffs ability to manage that level of a capital program. Councilmember Clark asked why there were alternating years when no bonds were issued. Mr. Duensing said it was an affordability issue. The approximately$27 million could be spread out over several years. The issuances were timed to the CIP projects. There were costs associated with issuing bonds. Mr. Duensing said if the total of$175 million was issued, principal and interest payments would be flat. The revenues equaled the total principal and interest debt service amounts. Councilmember Clark asked how big-ticket items would be dealt with, such as a new courthouse. Mr. Duensing said, once the capacity was available, it would be a Council priority call. Mr. Duensing said there were limitations with G.O. bonds. Projects funded by the bonds required voter approval. Currently, the total authorized but not issued amount was$335.5 million. The total outstanding debt could not exceed a certain percentage of property value. The current capacity was$259 million. The fund balance in the debt service fund could not exceed 10% of planned principal and interest payments. The fund balance could not exceed approximately$2 million. Mr. Duensing reviewed list of projects that were approved for G.O. bond funding but were unissued. Mayor Weiers said one of the projects went back to 1981. At what point would Council say that the project was too old to fund. Mr. Duensing said it was at Council's discretion. Council could pull it off the list, based on the ballot question. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 3 of 17 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the G.O. bond funds could be used to pay back the Enterprise Fund for the NHL expenditure? Mr. Duensing said the City transferred money from three enterprise funds into the general fund for payments related to the NHL. One of the things the City could do, instead of paying the money back from the general fund, it could bond an amount of projects for infrastructure related to the enterprise funds, that would not have to be paid out of the enterprise fund. It would, in essence, pay back the enterprise funds. Councilmember Clark asked if there was a limitation on the amount of authorization the City could go to the voters for. Mr. Duensing said there was not but the City could only increase the primary property tax by 2% per year. The secondary property tax levy did not have the same limitation. Voters authorized the levying of the secondary property tax. Councilmember Clark asked, if the City wanted to increase the amount to parks and recreation, could it go to the voters and say there was no need for the $6.2 million for the operations center and ask to allocate it to parks and recreation. Or, could.the City say it no longer wanted authorization for the$6.2 million. She asked if that had ever been done. Mr. Duensing was not sure and would need to consult the City Attorney and bond counsel. Mr. Duensing said staff needed direction from Council on whether or not the assumption that the property tax levy should remain the same, was correct. Councilmember Clark supported maintaining the property tax levy at its current level. Mr. Duensing clarified that it was an assumption and not a commitment because the out-year projects could change. Mayor Weiers said it also affected the City's bond rating. Mr. Duensing said it did affect the bond rating. Agencies looked at whether the governing body was making responsible financial decisions. Councilmember Turner said it made sense to make the assumption this early in the planning process. Councilmember Aldama said it didn't make sense to assume that until the projects were prioritized. Mr. Phelps said until the City had an idea of what it had to work with, it didn't make sense to set priorities. Councilmember Clark said that within that assumption, Council had to keep in mind the level of capacity. Mr. Duensing said that was another variable. Staff had a good idea of what was in the CIP and expected a robust discussion on priorities. The wording of the ballot questions provided some discretion regarding capacity. Councilmember Clark asked how new projects identified by Council were accommodated. Mr. Duensing said it was Council's CIP. Staff would let Council know where the needs were. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 4 of 17 Councilmember Clark said it would be helpful to have the list. Mr. Duensing said that would be brought forward most likely at the third workshop. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how staff determined what the authorizations were for. Ms. Rios said it was a legal question based on the ballot language. Mr. Duensing said the idea was to use the authorization from the more specific ballot language first. The ballot wording would be provided to Council. There was a Council consensus. Mr. Duensing said there were various tools that could be used to assist Council with setting priorities. Mayor Weiers said cost and how long it had been on the list should also be taken into consideration. Councilmember Clark said the criteria in the example was very cut and dried. She asked how would it accommodate constituent requests. Mr. Duensing said Council would develop the criteria for prioritizing the projects. Councilmember Aldama said the previous budget process was a "slugfest" regarding getting priority for district capital projects. In order to avoid that, the prioritization would work well but there was no process to convey what was important to constituents. Mr. Phelps said there was opportunity to engage with the public and staff was developing the strategies and tools to do that. Councilmember Aldama said, because there was no process, he and the rest of Council would have to bring district requests to the dais for a free-for-all. Mr. Phelps said it was the collective body that would make the decision. He suggested starting with the priorities and focusing on the core values to set priorities. Councilmember Turner said there had been discussion about surveying residents. He asked if any progress was being made. Mr. Phelps would prepare a memo regarding the topic. Councilmember Turner wasn't ready to be locked into a 5-year or 10-year plan without hearing from constituents. Councilmember Aldama asked what the approach would be for the survey. He was concerned that if it was entirely electronic, a large demographic would miss out on the survey. Mr. Duensing said the next workshop would be a robust discussion on the prioritization criteria. The third and fourth workshops would focus on developing a list of projects ranked by priority and follow-up and continuation of prioritized project development. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked the timeline for the workshops. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 5 of 17 • Mr. Duensing said it would be at least another month before staff would be ready for the next workshop. Mr. Phelps would prepare a memo regarding the topic. Councilmember Turner wasn't ready to be locked into a 5-year or 10-year plan without hearing from constituents. Councilmember Aldama asked what the approach would be for the survey. He was concerned that if it was entirely electronic, a large demographic would miss out on the survey. Mr. Duensing said the next workshop would be a robust discussion on the prioritization criteria. The third and fourth workshops would focus on developing a list of projects ranked by priority and follow-up and continuation of prioritized project development. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked the timeline for the workshops. Mr. Duensing said it would be at least another month before staff would be ready for the next workshop. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked for a sense of urgency regarding the constituent survey. Council wanted to hear from as many as possible. Councilmember Clark agreed the survey element was very important. She wanted raw, unfiltered data from citizens about what needs they felt were most important. Mr. Phelps said a survey was just one tool for citizen engagement. Prioritization was the first issue and engagement could include focus groups and public meetings instead of a survey. Engagement with citizens was an ongoing cultural shift. Mayor Weiers said the one form the City had of contacting each household and business, was the water bills. It could be used to get a basis for the needs and the prioritization. Mr. Phelps said the City had to be careful about how it asked the questions. It had to be strategic to get useable data. It was possible an outside consultant would be necessary. Staff would come back with recommendations. Councilmember Turner said it wasn't only the questions but was also about the methodology of the survey. An effort had to be made to get a good cross-section of the community. Mr. Phelps said the feedback from the last budget process was that a lot of information and decisions were compressed into a short amount of time. It was made clear that the CIP should be finalized prior to the budget process. • 2. FISCAL YEAR 2018-19 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT GRANT FUNDING PRIORITIES Presented By: Stephanie Small, Director, Community Services Department Charyn Eirich-Palmisano, Administrator, Community Revitalization Division Ms. Bower read the item by title. Ms. Small said staff was seeking guidance on the funding priorities for the FY 2018-19 Community Development Block Grant and other programs. The City received annual allocations of federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to address critical community needs which included the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 6 of 17 HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) program and the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program. Ms. Small said funding currently totaled over$2.9 million and was used for community development activities that provided quality housing and expanded economic opportunities, primarily for low-to-moderate income citizens or low-to-moderate income areas within the community. City Council established the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) to consider all grant applications and formulate funding recommendations. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said the funds were used to accomplish community development activities that provided quality housing and expanded economic opportunities, primarily for low-to-moderate income citizens or low-to-moderate income areas within the community. Ms. Small said, at its summer retreat, the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) reviewed the priorities for FY 2017-18 and recommended no changes or new priorities to the Council funding priorities. The priorities were: • 1. Keeping people in their homes 2. Assisting with core needs such as food, utilities and shelter 3. Supporting home delivery of meals and shelter services for homeless 4. Providing emergency home repairs 5. Providing housing rehabilitation programs 6. Demolition and clearance of blighted structures 7. Emphasizing revitalization of Centerline and redevelopment area 8. Workforce development and job training opportunities Ms. Small wanted feedback from Council regarding the priorities and whether any changes should be made. She said the grant application schedule had already started and closed in October. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said some of the community trends included a 37% increase in homelessness; a 6% increase in rents; and a 9% increase in median home prices. The minimum wage increased to$10.00 per hour but the cost of living had increased by 3%. Mayor Weiers asked what the actual number was for the homeless population. Ms. Eirich-Palminsano said the count was 57 homeless individuals but based on observation in the parks and streets, it was probably over 100. Mayor Weiers said the City couldn't just guess and had to use the official count. He understood that it had been raining during this year's count. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said that was correct. There was an extreme effort to get the word out about the count this year but many of the homeless did not want to be counted. Councilmember Tolmachoff said an increase from 43 to 57, was a 25% increase not 37%. She wanted to know how 37% was calculated. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano would have to get back to Council on that answer. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if it was a correct assumption that the same people chose not to participate each year. Ms. Small said that was a possibility but it was hard to know for sure why people chose not to be counted. It was a moving target each year. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 7 of 17 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there were strategies to deal with organizations, such as a church, that were drawing homeless people to the area. Ms. Small said staff worked with organizations who wanted to assist the homeless and tried to partner with the organizations. Mayor Weiers asked if names were collected during the annual count. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said names were requested but not required. Mayor Weiers asked if it was determined if the person participated in the previous year's count. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano wasn't certain if that specific question was asked but said it could be included. Councilmember Turner asked if there was a consistent multiplier that was used for those not counted. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said there was not a multiplying factor. Councilmember Turner wasn't informed of the shortfalls from the last grant cycle. He requested that Council be provided with information regarding what was granted in the previous grant cycle and the current cycle so Council could address shortfalls. Ms. Smalls said the information would be provided. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said the recommendations made by CDAC would be provided to Council in January. Councilmember Clark identified her priorities as women and children and seniors. She wasn't advocating for a particular program. Councilmember Aldama asked what Phoenix and Peoria were doing with CDBG funds. Ms. Small said she would have to research that. Councilmember Aldama said he wanted the City to work on a more regional basis. If Phoenix and Peoria were not doing anything, that could explain why there were so many homeless located in Glendale. He wanted to know what the City was doing regionally. Ms. Small said a regional approach was being looked at so that people had multiple points of access for needed services. Councilmember Aldama wanted to add a priority of"veterans' resources and services." Councilmember Clark said the 85301 zip code was recognized as being one of the most economically disadvantaged areas in the county and possibly the state. She was concerned that when the City encouraged services or organizations to locate in that zip code, it became a magnet to attract that same demographic to locate in that area. She asked that staff consider dispersal of services into other areas. Councilmember Malnar said the priorities were right on the mark. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if housing rehabilitation included ADA accommodations. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 8 of 17 Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said it was included. Councilmember Turner said priority number 3, Supporting home delivery of meals and shelter services for homeless, seemed to be two very distinct and not overlapping priorities. He asked how that was put together. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said they were separate categories. She said it was a combination of operation and prevention. Ms. Small said Council could break them out. Councilmember Turner said it made more sense to separate the two programs out. Councilmember Tolmachoff agreed with Councilmember Turner. It might provide more focus on the home delivery of meals. It was a lifeline for some members of the community. Councilmember Aldama was in support of separating the two. Ms. Small said that staff would make a ninth priority by separating the two items in priority number 3. Councilmember Aldama asked how his suggestion regarding services for veterans would be accommodated. Ms. Small said, although it wasn't in the matrix, staff was aware that veterans and the disabled were a priority. Ms. Eirich-Palmisano said it fell under priorities number 4 and 5. Ms. Small said when customers identified themselves as vets, the customer was directed to specific services. Mayor Weiers said veterans were citizens and all citizens were important. He confirmed that staff • had access to groups and organizations that could provide services specifically to veterans. Ms. Small said that was correct. Mayor Weiers reminded everyone of the Stand Up for Veterans event that was being held on Saturday, September 23rd. Councilmember Malnar said if priority number 3 was going to split out, he recommended keeping "supporting home delivery of meals"as number 3 and making "shelter services for the homeless," number 4, instead of making it number 9. 3. CIOSI: IMPROVEMENTS TO CITY CODES AND THE CODE COMPLIANCE ENFORCEMENT PROCESS Presented By: Sam McAllen, Director, Development Services Tim Boling, Code Compliance Official Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. McAllen said the item was identified by Councilmember Malnar and staff had worked with him to develop the scope for the item. The Scope Statement proposed a one to two-year long process that would review, evaluate and improve City codes and how code compliance was enforced and achieved in Glendale. The process would include: City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 9 of 17 •A line-by-line review of current City codes (Chapter 25- Nuisances and Chapter 29.1 Residential Rental)which are primarily enforced by the Code Compliance Division •A review of enforcement tools available to enforce city codes •A review of processes and procedures used by the Code Compliance Division, City Attorney's Office and Municipal Court to address City code violations •Educational and input opportunities for City Council Office staff and residents •The identification of City code and state law changes and needed enforcement tools to improve and support code compliance throughout the community. Mr. McAllen said if Council supported moving forward with the item, staff was asking Council to provide policy guidance and direction. He said any proposed changes to the City Code would come back to Council for input and approval. Improvements were anticipated to take place incrementally during the life of the code review process. Councilmember Aldama clarified that it would include the definition of abandoned vehicles, dead vegetation and overgrown vegetation. Mr. McAllen said that would be the intent. Councilmember Aldama was in support of the item. Councilmember Malnar said Council received numerous calls indicating that City neighborhoods didn't look as good as they should. One of the questions was, did staff had the proper tools to deal with situations. He was asking Council to consider it and have discussion on the process. It was not a short term project. He wanted Council to discuss the process and how to move forward. Councilmember Malnar suggested prioritizing the items that should be brought back to Council. Councilmember Aldama said sometimes it was a matter of interpretation. He asked if the City Attorney would be involved in the process Mr. McAllen said the City Attorney's Office would be involved. Councilmember Clark had been frustrated by the performance of Code Enforcement. She approved of Councilmember Malnar's scope but felt it went further than whether or not the department had the proper tools. It was a matter of performance. Response times were not timely. Accountability and consistency were also issues. Councilmember Clark had heard that Code Enforcement would accept only 5 complaints per person. She no longer knew if Code Enforcement was proactive or reactive. It required oversight by the City Manager to work on performance levels and reporting back to Council. Councilmember Tolmachoff shared some of Councilmember Clark's concerns especially regarding consistency. Code compliance had to be maintained because it affected property values. The Council expectation had to be that staff delivered quality, consistent service to residents. Councilmember Aldama agreed with some of Councilmember Clark's comments but said he and his office had turned in hundreds and hundreds of code complaints and the complaints had been addressed. He didn't want rights-of-way to be overlooked. Councilmember Malnar said there were quite a few additional items to be addressed. He believed feedback from Council had to be integrated into the process. Mr. McAllen said it sounded like there was Council direction to: City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 10 of 17 • Include policies and procedure review •Accountability •Resident and Council input •Community outreach •City Manager oversight The plan was to have the first incremental review for Council in December. Councilmember Malnar said, given the complexity of the Code, that Mr. McAllen bring something back each month for discussion. It would allow for Council input. He would like a timeline so that the project didn't stretch out too long. Councilmember Clark was interested in seeing Code Enforcement begin reporting to Council again regarding complaints and their disposition. She wanted to see how the department was organized. Councilmember Aldama supported the reporting suggested by Councilmember Clark. He asked if Mr. McAllen would gather data on frequent violation types and bring those back first. Mr. McAllen said the plan was to bring the high-profile items back first such as palm trees, different abatement costs, viewing violations and expired tags on vehicles. Councilmember Aldama wanted parking considered first. Mr. McAllen said parking was a zoning issue. Councilmember Tolmachoff suggested starting with a list of items that were outdated. Mayor Weiers said residents with illegal businesses operating out of their homes was a big issue. Councilmember Clark clarified that parking was a zoning issue such as parking in the front yard. Mr. McAllen said it was in two different sections of the code and not in Chapters 25 and 29. Councilmember Clark suggested that those items should be included in the discussion. Councilmember Malnar agreed the discussion could be expanded but wanted to be careful of what was included. Mr. McAllen said parking could be included. 4. RATE STUDY UPDATE PUBLIC OUTREACH RESULTS AND RATE RECOMMENDATIONS Presented By: Vicki Rios, Director, Budget and Finance Michelle Woytenko, Deputy Director, Public Works Kern Logan, Deputy Director, Water Services Ms. Bower read the item by title. Ms. Rios said the objectives of a water/sewer and residential solid waste rate study was to make sure the overall rates were just and reasonable, provided revenue stability and met financial targets. She said on the water and sewer side, there was an opportunity with the rates, to encourage conservation and allocate costs between monthly and volume service charges. Customers outside the City limits would be charged at 130% of the rate schedule. Ms. Rios said staff and the Citizens Utilities Advisory Commission (CUAC) had presented two City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 11 of 17 options that would get the City to the appropriate place. Option 1 was a smoother rate increase over time and the increases with Option 2 were front-loaded. She said on the solid waste side there were also two options. The first option proposed a monthly increase of$2.75 for two years and the second option provided for a larger increase in the first year. Ms. Rios said an average customer, for water and sewer, would experience a monthly increase of $7.75 for Option 1 and $10.96 with Option 2, in year one and an increase of$8.15 and $4.67, respectively in year two. Ms. Logan said the public outreach included efforts such as information on the City's website, customer's utility bills, social media, the newspaper, Channel 11 and posting on all public facilities. People understood the need and that the services were an excellent value. Ms. Logan said there were four public meetings attended by 81 people, primarily single-family/ residential customers. Staff received excellent feedback from the participants. The meetings were highly interactive. Ms. Logan said a survey was conducted, at the meetings, on the City's website and by mail. Of the 109 participants, 81% rated water/sewer services as excellent or above average. Reliability was rated as excellent or above average by 83% of the respondents and 68% rated the overall value as excellent or above average. She said the feedback received was that people preferred Option 1 with smaller, morefrequentincreases over time. Ms. Woytenko said, regarding residential solid waste, the outreach indicated that 78% of the respondents rated the effectiveness of trash and recycling collection as excellent or above average and 77% rated monthly curbside collection of bulk trash as excellent or above average. She said many people didn't realize all of the services offered, such as hazardous household waste. Residents also noted that street sweeping didn't occur often enough. The feedback on the two options was that residents preferred Option 1, a smaller, steadier increase. Ms. Rios said since June, the water and sewer financial plan had been updated to include an additional $5 million for a land sale to TopGolf; an extended timeline for$9 million in capital improvement projects; reduced borrowing by$11 million; smoothed out rate revenue increases over the years; and financial targets maintained in a 5-year period. Ms. Rios said staff went back to the CUAC with a third option. The option was a smoothed out option with the same rate increases, lower than Option 1 or Option 2, over a period of time. The last rate increase was in 2010 and during that time, the cost of living had increased 13%. With Option 3, financial targets could be met by the fifth year. Ms. Rios said the impact to the average customers for Option 3, was a total increase of$6.41 per month in year one and $6.58 in year two. The impact on a low water use customer(4,000 gallons/month or less)was a monthly increase of$4.92 in year one and $4.99 in year two. The impact on an averagecommercial customer was a monthly increase of$6.83 in year one and $7.45 in year two. She said the average sprinkler customer would see a monthly increase of $12.63 in year one and $15.63 in year two. Ms. Rios said when comparing the City to its neighboring cities,with all three options and all services, the City's rates would be comparable to its neighbors. She noted that not all cities offered the same services, such as bulk trash, soft was not a completely equal comparison. Ms. Rios said the CUAC was recommending that Option 3 be adopted for water and sewer. The Commission recommended that the increase be transitioned over a 5-year period and that it be adopted for two years and then reviewed after year two. For residential solid waste, CUAC recommended Option 1 and that it be adopted for two years, with a review after year two. She City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 12 of 17 said Council could adopt both plans for longer than two years. Ms. Rios said staff was requesting direction on the options. A meeting was scheduled for October 24th for a formal vote on proposed rate schedules and an effective date. If approved, the rates would become effective with the first billing cycle of January 2018. Mayor Weiers asked when the last rate increases occurred. Ms. Rios said the last increase for Water Services was July 2010 and solid waste was 2008. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what had been done with the 38 water projects on the list regarding what were critical needs and what projects could be postponed. Craig Johnson, Water Services Director, said the plant packages with the highest priorities would be taken first and then the remaining projects would be completed after that. Nothing had been taken off the list but some were pushed out into later years. Projects had also been evaluated to reduce costs. Councilmember Clark asked why it had to be a 5-year rate increase. Ms. Rios said when a rate study was undertaken, a 10-year CIP plan was developed. The rate consultants developed a 10-year model to match the CIP. The first five years of the plan were brought back to Council because of the uncertainties after five years. Councilmember Clark said it really was arbitrary. She said over the five years, water and sewer was asking for a 30% increase and for sanitation it was a 50% increase. Councilmember Clark was not comfortable with what was being proposed. She wanted a larger time span with smaller increases and also supported a tiered rate structure. Ms. Rios said the tiered structure was maintained within the rates. Staff looked at the cost of providing the service. The rate tables indicated "increase after cost of service adjustment"which took into account the amount of water used. Councilmember Clark asked how many of the 62,000 customers consumed 4,000 gallons or less. Ms. Rios said 25% of the residential customers used 4,000 gallons or less, 25% used between 4,000 and 7,100 gallons and 25% used between 7,100 and 13,000 gallons. Councilmember Clark said 75%were above the 4,000-gallon usage mark. She asked what the average increase was for those customers. Ms. Rios said for water and sewer only, the increase was 5.42% and with solid waste, the total increase was 7.1%. Mr. Phelps said between the average customer and the low use customer, there was a difference of 15% in the rates. Councilmember Turner asked if there was a schedule for street sweeping. Ms. Woytenko said residential streets were swept every 3 months and arterial streets were swept . every 5 weeks. Councilmember Turner said homeowners' association(HOA) might be hit hard by the rate increases. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 13 of 17 Ms. Rios said staff did receive input from one HOA and it was favorable. The HOA wanted the increases spread over a longer period of time. Councilmember Turner asked if residences with a septic system received a discount. Ms. Rios said those residences weren't charged for sewer services. Councilmember Aldama was concerned about the aesthetics of the City's park. He asked if the City could afford the increase or would it reduce watering in the parks. Ms. Rios said staff had met with Parks and Recreation about the proposed increases. The department was working on water efficiencies. There would be a budget impact. If the increase was not able to be absorbed, Council would see a request in the next budget cycle. Mr. Johnson said Water Services had been performing water audits for the Parks and Recreation department. Parks and Recreation had money budgeted for electronic monitoring of its irrigation systems which would greatly increase efficiency. Mr. Phelps said Parks and Recreation would be able to absorb the costs without reducing the level of watering. Councilmember Malnar asked about the programs available for those on fixed-incomes. Ms. Rios said any customer who was having trouble paying their water bill, was encouraged to call the City. The City would work with those customers. There were also City programs and outside agencies available to assist low-income residents. Councilmember Malnar would like the City to look into something for fixed and low-income - residents. He also wanted to address high use residents with large properties. In some cases, , those users paid three times what other customers paid per 10,000 gallons. Mr. Johnson said those users, over 30,000 gallons/month, were using more water and the system had to support their over use. There was a process where the resident could get relief on the water that did not go into the sewer. The tiered-structure was set up to promote the conservation of water. He said any relief given to the high use customers for their consumption of water would have to be made up by the other users. Mr. Phelps said there was an infrastructure cost which existed regardless of use. The other cost was for the delivery of water and that was divided per unit. The CUAC looked at equity of rates. Councilmember Malnar recognized there was a need for anincrease but supported spreading it out over a longer period of time. Councilmember Clark agreed with Councilmember Malnar. She preferred to see a longer period of time with a smaller rate increase, such as 10 years and 3%. For sanitation, a 10-year period at 5% per year. Ms. Rios said there was a 10-year model for the increases. Staff had brought forward the first five years with the recommendation to adopt the first two years. She said there were anticipated increases in the second five years. However, if Council gave direction to do something different, staff would model what would have to happen to accomplish Council's direction. Councilmember Tolmachoff said there had been rate increases beginning in 2007 through 2011 that totaled 63%. Was the City behind in projects. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 14 of 17 Mr. Johnson said the rates were increased because of the expansion of the West Area Water Reclamation Facility and the construction of Oasis Water Treatment Plant. There was also plans for a groundwater treatment plant but that had been delayed. He wanted Council to feel confident that Water Services was maintaining its facilities and planning for the future. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the City's cost for water had increased and had it been absorbed. Mr. Johnson said costs had been increasing but the costs had been absorbed. Mr. Phelps said looking at a percentage increase was only partial data and was the wrong metric to be using. Council needed to look at what the City provided as a service and what it was charging the residents. The increase as proposed, allowed residents, for$1.21 per day, to have clean, safe water, flush their toilets for$1.08 per day, and pick up their garbage for 62 cents per day for a total of$2.91 per day. The City provided reliable, efficient and quality services. To break it down to a percentage increase was selling the City short. Even after the increase, the City was still in the middle of what its peer cities were charging to provide the same services plus bulk trash removal and street sweeping. Mr. Phelps said Council had asked staff to identify the needs and develop a long-range plan. The projects were necessary to provide dependable, high quality services in a responsible way. It was a reasonable and competitive rate. However, if Council wanted to do something different, staff would find a way to do it. Councilmember Tolmachoff said the cost of water had increased and would continue to increase. The City had no control over that. The cost of electricity continued to increase also. Mayor Weier said utility costs would continue to go up. Although he didn't like it, the rate increases were realistic. Not being able to provide the services would be a huge problem. It was a hard decision but he could support it. Councilmember Malnar asked Mr. Johnson his opinion of Option 3. Mr. Johnson said it was a good option. It smoothed over the rate increase but still got the projects completed. Vice Mayor Hugh said everything was increasing and it had to be done to take care of the citizens' needs. He supported the increase. Councilmember Turner said it was also a public health issue. Having a dependable water and sewer system was crucial to public health. It also included groundwater recharging which was critical. Redundancy and maintenance were also critical and it was an investment in the City's future. He supported Option 3 and thanked the CUAC for its work. Councilmember Aldama said Council did value the City's Water Services. It was a difficult decision for him because his was an aging district. He had a responsibility to make sure the City could deliver reliable services. Councilmember Aldama supported Option 3. Councilmember Tolmachoff said it was a difficult decision and it wasn't pleasant to increase rates. Council had a responsibility to deliver clean safe water and remove waste and trash. She also supported Option 3. Councilmember Clark did not support any of the options because the amount of the increase had never changed even though Council had expressed concerns. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 15 of 17 Mayor Weiers said there was a consensus for Option 3. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Phelps had no report. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT Mr. Bailey had no report but noted an executive session was scheduled. COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST There were no Council Items of Special Interest. MOTION AND CALL TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made by Councilmember Ray Malnar, seconded by Councilmember Bart Turner to hold an executive session. AYE: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark • Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Passed EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made by Vice Mayor Ian Hugh, seconded by Councilmember Joyce Clark to adjourn the executive session.. AYE: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar • Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Passed The meeting reconvened at 6:39 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 6:41 p.m. City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 16 of 17 I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Glendale City Council of Glendale, Arizona, held on the 19th day of September, 2017. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 24th day of October, 2017. J re K. Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes-September 19,2017 Page 17 of 17