HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 5/19/2015 City of Glendale
5850 West Glendale Avenue
Glendale, AZ 85301
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Meeting Minutes - Final
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
1:30 PM
Workshop
Council Chambers - Room B3
City Council Workshop
Mayor Jerry Weiers
Vice Mayor Ian Hugh
Councilmember Jamie Aldama
Councilmember Samuel Chavira
Councilmember Gary Sherwood
Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff
Councilmember Bart Turner
City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes -Final May 19,2015
CALL TO ORDER
Rollcall
Present 7- Mayor Jerry Weiers, Vice Mayor Ian Hugh, Councilmember Jamie Aldama,
Councilmember Samuel Chavira, Councilmember Gary Sherwood, Councilmember
Lauren Tolmachoff, and Councilmember Bart Turner
Also present were Richard Bowers, Acting City Manager;Jennifer Campbell,Assistant
City Manager; Tom Duensing, Interim Assistant City Manager;Michael Bailey, City
Attorney;and Pamela Hanna, City Clerk.
Mr. Bowers said Council needed to adjourn to go into executive session to cover item 1.
Councilmember Turner made a motion to go into executive session, seconded by
Councilmember Chavira. The motion was approved unanimously.
Council recessed into executive session.
Mayor Weiers called the meeting back to order.
WORKSHOP SESSION
1. 15-322 COUNCIL ITEM OF SPECIAL INTEREST: UPDATE ON THE PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION PROCESS RELATED TO A POSSIBLE
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION ORDINANCE
Staff Contact: Jennifer Campbell, Assistant City Manager
Presenter: Karen Kurtz, Facilitator
Ms. Campbell said staff was given direction to hold public meetings on a possible
anti-discrimination ordinance. She said Karen Kurtz has been hired as a facilitator and
she will provide information on the meetings that should be held. Ms. Campbell provided
background on Ms. Kurtz and her experience working as a facilitator.
Ms. Kurtz began by explaining how many meetings and the proposed agenda for the
public participation process. She said four meetings were recommended, three with the
general public at various locations in Glendale, and one meeting for business owners.
She said anyone is welcome to attend any one of those four sessions. She said the
meetings would be scheduled from 6 to 8 pm in the evening. These meetings would be
publicized in advance through the press, the city's website, social media and the
chamber. She explained the format of these community conversations would include the
same format and questions for each session and participants will work in small table
groups. There will be a facilitator and a note taker at each table. Participants will
self-select their table group and will stay at that table during the meeting. All tables will
answer the same set of questions. There will also be a Spanish language interpreter at
each session.
Ms. Kurtz went over the agenda for each meeting. Beginning at 5:30 pm, participants will
sign in and fill out a demographic survey. At 6:00 pm, the welcome and overview begins
and the discussion will begin about the meeting purpose, what the city has already done
an explanation of the anti-discrimination ordinance, as well as a discussion of the
process and ground rules. Participant discussion begins at 6:20 pm, closing comments
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occur at 7:55 pm and the community conversation adjourns at 8:00 pm.
Ms. Kurtz provided an overview of the questions that would be asked during the
community conversations. The first question:In your opinion, how inclusive and
welcoming is Glendale of its cultural and demographic diversity? This question has a five
minute answer time. The second question: What makes it easy to be a member of your
identified group in Glendale? This question has an eight minute answer time. The third
question: What makes it difficult to be a member of your identified group in Glendale?
This question has a seven minute answer time. The fourth question: Have you ever felt
targeted or treated differently, intentionally or unintentionally because of whatever group
(i.e. race, ethnic group, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status,
or veteran status)you identify with? If yes, briefly describe what happened(i.e. who,
what, where(setting), when, how, and how you handled the situation(i.e. reported(where),
litigation, etc.). From your perspective, how does the way you were treated relate to the
group you identify with(i.e. race, ethnic group, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender
identity, disability status or veteran status)? There is a 45 minute answer time. The fifth
question: As a Glendale resident and/or Glendale business owner, what possible
benefits do you perceive from a possible Glendale anti-discrimination ordinance. There
is a 7.5 minute answer time for this question. The sixth question: As a Glendale
resident and/or Glendale business owner, what possible adverse impacts do you perceive
from a possible anti-discrimination ordinance. There is a 7.5 minute answer time for this
question. The last question: Moving forward, what would be most effective in addressing
issues of unequal treatment or discrimination in Glendale? There is a 10 minute answer
time for this question. The facilitator would provide some examples of how these issues
could be addressed and include any additional suggestions by the participants.
Participants could then vote on their top three choices on the most effective way to
address these issues.
Ms. Kurtz said note takers will write down participants'answers and the answers from all
the meetings will be combined. Common themes will be identified by individual
dialogues and across all dialogues. Data will be consolidated in a written report which will
be presented at a Council Workshop on September 15th. The data is anecdotal and not
a statistically significant representation of the community as a whole. She said no
identifying information will be used in this process.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said she met with Angela and Josh from One Community
and suggested that she thought it would be a good idea to hold a meeting for the
religious leaders with the community and asked if there had been discussion on doing
that.
Ms. Kurtz said she has not been involved in any of those discussions.
Ms. Campbell said this is the first she has heard of this. She said that is something they
can include if Council desires.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said that people concerned about their religious freedom are
going to be one of the big issues and she thinks those individuals should be afforded
some sort of a forum.
Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if these discussions are taking place only in table
groups.
Ms. Kurtz said depending on the number of participants that attend the meetings. She
said she would poll the room at the end of the discussions, asking each table for a
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couple of the answers they came up with. She said they will not get the depth of data
from a regular public discussion.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said this is basically just information gathering and not
necessarily what would be considered a public forum where people stand up and present
their ideas and thoughts to the rest of the body.
Ms. Kurtz said they want to understand the issue from the public's point of view to give
Council that kind of feedback. She said they are not trying to debate it or convince
anyone. They are trying to obtain the perspective of a Glendale resident or business
owner. She said they can talk about the issue from a number of different perspectives
and all of those perspectives will be recorded. She said they are not trying to debate the
issue and that is not the focus of these community meetings.
Mayor Weiers said these are open meetings and anyone can attend and participate. He
said businesses, churches, anyone can participate. He said there will be plenty of media
coverage so everyone knows about the meetings and can attend.
Councilmember Aldama asked if the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, contractor's
association and religious organizations have been asked to have a seat at the table.
Ms. Kurtz said they have not specifically targeted or asked any specific group, but they
can direct the media to any group Council would like. She said this is an open forum for
anyone to attend and that includes religious groups, businesses and the Glendale
Chamber of Commerce are welcome to attend any of the sessions.
Councilmember Aldama said he thought there was going to be an invitation to certain
organizations or businesses. He asked if those specific individuals or organizations
have been invited to attend.
Ms. Campbell said they have reached out to the Chamber of Commerce. She said once
the meeting date is set, they will make sure the word gets out to business organizations,
school organizations and the public and any other groups that might be interested
through media websites.
Councilmember Aldama said it is important and the Chamber of Commerce represents
business in the city as a whole, and there are contractors that represent businesses that
do business with the city, so that is important that everyone has an opportunity to have a
seat at the table.
Councilmember Turner mentioned that the meetings are all scheduled for the evening
and asked if Ms. Kurtz had any experience that day time meetings did not work. He is
concerned about individuals that are unable to attend an evening meeting.
Ms. Kurtz said they assumed that most people would be working during the day, so they
tried to keep the time consistent for everyone and hopefully they could attend one of the
four sessions.
Councilmember Turner said he would be interested in hearing from other
Councilmembers if they think a day time meeting would be useful.
Mayor Weiers agreed with Councilmember Turner, and said holding a meeting on a
Saturday morning would also be a good idea. He said he didn't see a downside to holding
one of the meetings on a Saturday.
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Vice Mayor Hugh said a Saturday day time meeting might be a good option.
Mayor Weiers said there was consensus to hold at least one of the meetings on a
Saturday.
Councilmember Chavira said using a Saturday component would work.
Ms. Kurtz said they would use the exact same format and questions, and just hold the
meeting on a Saturday.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said there are large church populations in the city and there
is a high level of concern for people about religious freedom on this issue. She asked
how other members of the community were going to be invited, and asked other than
media, how were other community members going to know about the meetings or be
invited to the meetings.
Ms. Campbell said they will work with the religious leaders in the community to obtain
lists, perform some direct marketing and send invitations to specific groups.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said she wanted to make sure that people had an opportunity
to know that the meetings were going to be held so they can plan to attend.
Mayor Weiers said he was concerned that the meetings were being held in June when
many people are on vacation.
Ms. Kurtz said that was one of the questions they debated about and it comes down to
the Council timeline.
Mayor Weiers said people want out of the valley during the summer months, and he said
he didn't know if they would get a great representation of people interested in attending
the meetings if a lot of people are on vacation.
Councilmember Turner said this was also a concern but he said most people don't get
the whole month of June off and the meetings are spaced throughout the entire month. It
will give people flexibility to attend a meeting.
Ms. Kurtz said the dates were June 3rd, 4th, 10th and 18th.
Councilmember Turner asked if there had been thought to videotaping the opening and
closing. He said if this proceeds and an ordinance is to be ruled out at some point in the
future, having a video of the process that could be included in an awareness program
would be helpful for the public.
Ms. Kurtz said that was another issue they had talked about. She said they also
discussed creating a video so that everyone would be getting the same information. She
said they felt they can deliver the same information and having the handout would go a
long way to achieving that goal. She said she is hearing that Council would like to have
at least one of the sessions videotaped so it can be included later in whatever product
comes out of the process.
Councilmember Turner said that is exactly what he was thinking.
Councilmember Turner said the term identified group was used during the presentation
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and asked for some examples of an identified group. He also asked if these were
self-described identified group.
Ms. Kurtz said that was correct, and those groups included racial groups, ethnicity,
gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, as well as economic
status.
Councilmember Turner added in religious affiliation.
Ms. Kurtz said this was part of the demographic survey that was mentioned at the
beginning of the presentation, such as sexual orientation, religious affiliation, disability
status, as well as others.
Councilmember Turner said that other groups would be included instead of just"hot
button"groups, so it will address however an individual self identifies and may or may not
have felt that they have been held separate or viewed differently than the population as a
whole..
Ms. Kurtz said that was correct.
Councilmember Turner said at the conclusion of the presentation, there was a chart and
having the public make their top three choices of the issues they most strongly related to
them. He asked if they used a procedure where all three dots could be placed on the
same item or each dot must be placed on a separate item.
Ms. Kurtz said the dots could go on all. She said there were a number of things they
felt might be effective in addressing the issues, so it wasn't going back through all of the
issues. She said a list would be created of ideas that might be effective in addressing
these issues in Glendale. She said if a person felt strongly about one particular idea,
they could put all their votes on one idea.
Councilmember Turner said it is not just a process that identifies most often occurring,
but how strongly they feel this idea might be helpful in a solution. .
Ms. Kurtz said that was correct and is a very simplistic way of explaining the logistics of
what they are doing.
Councilmember Tolmachoff agreed with the Mayor. She said there is only about 15 days
until the first public meeting. She said they are not even sure how they are going to
notify the public about these meetings.
Ms. Campbell said they would and that would be part of the campaign with the media,
social media and ads. She said they wanted to be timely with this topic. She said if
Council would prefer to spread this process out, they are able to do that. They were just
trying to bring this issue back before Council in a timely manner.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said if someone leaves on a two week vacation at the
beginning of June, they will be unable to attend any of the meetings.
Councilmember Sherwood said they may need to spread this out for one more week.
They currently have a 15 day spread from the 3rd to the 18th. He would not be in favor of
adding a fifth meeting, rather supplementing one of those meetings for a Saturday
morning meeting. He said that is probably a good time to have one of the meetings. He
said most people could probably attend one of the meetings if they added one week of
separation. He also wanted to remind everyone this was brought up last December. He
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said this is certainly not the highest priority the city has, but it is still a priority, and the
Economic Development Department will tell us that. He said the June dates will work if
the meetings are spread out another week, and he would like to get those dates locked
in at the venues indicated.
Ms. Kurtz said she was out of town toward the end of June and adding on another week
after that would run into the 4th of July holiday.
Councilmember Sherwood said there was an attempt to bring this back to a workshop in
September and he said he was okay with that. He agrees with the four meetings and
appreciates Council comments about a Saturday meeting date as well. He asked if they
were going to talk about economic development in the presentation, and suggested they
include that in their background information.
Ms. Kurtz said they will include that information in their synopsis and presentation about
what has been done in Glendale.
Councilmember Aldama said he did not hear about where this will be marketed at. He
said asked if staff can market these meetings through Channel 11. He asked if they will
be identifying the meeting participants as Glendale residents and/or Glendale business
owners.
Ms. Kurtz said they will be asked on the sign in sheet to identify if they are a Glendale
resident or Glendale business owner or other interested party. She said different colored
name tags will be assigned to each group. She said the note taker will also try and
distinguish comments, to the extent possible, based on residents, business owners and
interested parties. She said they will make it clear in their opening remarks that the
Council specifically asked what the perspective was of Glendale residents and business
owners. She said they understand there will be participants coming from many different
perspectives and all of those perspectives will be recorded in the report prepared for
Council. No comments will be excluded. This way Council can distinguish how
residents and business owners feel about this issue.
Councilmember Aldama said he did not want to be discriminatory toward any individual,
whether they were residents, business owners or not. He said it was important that each
group has the same questions.
Ms. Kurtz said everyone will have the same questions.
Vice Mayor Hugh said he would like to see copies of each press release and the other
various ways these meetings are publicized.
Mayor Weiers said he is concerned about the dates and said he doesn't think they are
going to get a true representation of all Glendale citizens during that timeframe with all
the graduations and other things going on. He had no objection to what they are doing,
but he wants it done right. He would like to see this publicized immediately and thinks
the meetings should be held in September.
Councilmember Aldama asked if Ms. Kurtz was the one who conducted the survey in
Mesa that was previously mentioned.
Ms. Kurtz said she was the facilitator for that process.
Councilmember Aldama asked what time of year the meetings were held for Mesa.
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Ms. Kurtz said the meetings were held in April, and the report came out in October, and
they had three meetings.
Councilmember Aldama said she had mentioned how successful it was.
Ms. Kurtz said they debated the dates back and forth. She said the tried to read what
Council's preferences would be and how quickly they wanted this process to go. She
said they talked about the downside of people leaving for the summer and tried to get the
meetings scheduled as quickly as they could to avoid missing anyone interested in
attending.
Mayor Weiers said almost everyone in the room has gone to meetings in June or July and
no one showed up. He said that is a concern of his.
Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how much time was needed to compile the report.
Ms. Kurtz said she needed about 6 to 8 weeks.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said she is concerned with the two week time frame and
people need an opportunity to be heard. She said if meetings were moved toward the end
of July, the report could still be completed by September.
Ms. Kurtz said that should not significantly delay the process.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said as long as there is a 6 week window to prepare the
report and the report is due in September, it will not postpone anything to move some of
the meetings into July.
Ms. Kurtz said that was a judgment call on the part of Council.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said school starts around the beginning of August, so people
are back at the end of July.
Mayor Weiers said Council is out all of July. He said people are trying to get out of the
heat. He said August meetings might even be better, because people are coming back
by then.
Councilmember Sherwood asked about the participation in Mesa.
Ms. Kurtz said about 35 participants attended a total of three meetings. She said Mesa
had a different process where a phone survey was done through ASU and that was done
prior to the public meetings.
Councilmember Sherwood asked if she was involved with the process in Tempe.
Ms. Kurtz said no.
Councilmember Sherwood said they all received a letter from a Tempe Councilmember
who said their participation was very low. Councilmember Sherwood said their summer
and the heat is May through October. He said he didn't know they shut down in the
summer;he has never been able to. He said there are no Council meetings for a six
week period, from July to mid-August, but business does not stop in the city or with
Council. He said it sounds like they want to spread the meetings out a little bit. He
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would like to still have the workshop in September to go over the data. He said once
they publish the dates, people can decide what meetings they can attend. He said they
do not want to drag this out over a six week period and they should be held within 2 to 3
weeks. He is ready to push forward for this. He hoped there would be a lot of
participation on this issue.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said she would like to see the June 3rd meeting moved, as
there is very little time to prepare for that meeting. She would also like to see a meeting
added on Saturday, as well. She said that only gives people 2 weeks to learn about the
meeting. She suggested moving both the June 3rd and June 4th meetings back.
Mayor Weiers asked how long it would take to get all the information together if all the
meetings were held in August.
Ms. Kurtz said it would take about 4 to 6 weeks, which includes her preparation time as
well as staff review time.
Ms. Campbell said they can work within the city's internal processes and when Ms. Kurtz
is ready to present, they will work with her.
Mayor Weiers said he keeps hearing 4 weeks. He asked if all the meetings were in
August, could a presentation be made October 1st.
Ms. Kurtz said she can make that work.
Mayor Weiers said he is throwing that out there because of all the holidays coming up
and vacation time. Mayor Weiers said they need to make this a priority and wants to see
a lot of people at the meetings.
Ms. Kurtz asked if there would be 4 meetings or 5 meetings in August.
Mayor Weiers said if they had enough time to get the word out, they could do it in 4
meetings.
Ms. Kurtz asked if that included one Saturday meeting.
Mayor Weiers said that would be sufficient.
Vice Mayor Hugh said August might be the right month, including a Saturday meeting,
and they can have the information by October.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said if June 10th works for the Chamber of Commerce that
would be up to the chamber.
Ms. Campbell said this is a tentative meeting schedule and they can work with the
Chamber of Commerce on another date as well.
Mayor Weiers asked if the Chamber of Commerce would have any objections if the
meetings were held in August. Mayor Weiers asked if there was consensus for all
August meetings, including a Saturday.
Councilmember Turner said he would rather do this in June and July to keep the process
moving. He does like the idea of having a Saturday day time meeting.
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CouncilmemberAldama would like to move the meetings out on June 3rd and 4th and do
a couple of meetings in July. He would have to move this item into the fall.
Councilmember Chavira said he would like to stay on an expedited schedule to get this
done.
Councilmember Sherwood is in favor for keeping the process going, even if the first two
meetings have to be moved. He would like to keep it to four meetings, but likes the
Saturday session.
Mayor Weiers said they do not have a consensus on anything.
Councilmember Turner said they needed consensus on 4 meetings or 5.
Mayor Weiers said there was consensus with 4 meetings, which includes a Saturday
meeting.
Councilmember Sherwood said he was good in June and July.
CouncilmemberAldama said he gave some dates, to avoid the July 4th holiday. He
threw out the 8th, 18th and 22nd of July.
Councilmember Tolmachoff agreed with July, but thought late July would be better. She
asked CouncilmemberAldama what the first day of school was.
CouncilmemberAldama said the first day of school was August 11th.
Councilmember Tolmachoff said by the end of July, even the people who go on vacation
are back.
Ms. Kurtz said they have to look for facilities as well.
Mayor Weiers said there is a consensus of 4 days, including a Saturday, and sometime
in July.
Based on the Councilmembers responses the consensus was for two meetings in June
and two meetings in July.
Mayor Weiers asked what happens if only 10 people show up to a meeting.
Ms. Kurtz said even a small group will go through the process. She will let Council know
how it is going.
2. 15-313 FY 14-15 THIRD QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT
Staff Contact: Tom Duensing, Interim Assistant City Manager
Staff Presenter: Tom Duensing, Interim Assistant City Manager
Staff Presenter: Vicki Rios, Interim Director, Finance and Technology
Mr. Duensing said this presentation is for information only and they are not seeking
feedback with this item. He said they city is on target for both revenues and
expenditures.
Ms. Rios said this is the report of the actual results of the city's financial report through
the 3rd quarter of the year. These results are compared to the current budget which was
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adopted on June 16, 2014. Items are on target if they are near 75 percent of the budget.
Three years of data is being presented. She said even though results are only presented
quarterly, staff reviews and monitors results much more frequently than that. Ms. Rios
pointed out this is the Primary General Fund only and it does not include the sub-funds.
Overall, revenues are at about 76 percent. These figures do include holiday sales and
they also include the major events that occurred in January and February. Revenue
increased in the General Fund by$26 million, taking into consideration$18.3 million is
due to the change in the way they are accounting and budgeting for Public Safety Sales
Taxes. She said transfers in are coming from both Police and Fire Special Revenue
Funds. She said they focus more on sales tax and state shared revenue to get a better
economic picture. State shared revenue and sales tax revenue both increased. She
said expenditures are also up due to the change in method of accounting and budgeting
for enhanced Public Safety service levels. She said expenditures are at 66 percent of
budget.
Ms. Rios said revenues for the HURF fund are at about 78 percent, and may be a
reflection of lower fuel costs. Expenditures are low at 18 percent and operating
expenditures are at 59 percent. Ms. Rios said total revenues in the Transportation Sales
Tax fund are at 49 percent, but that is because there were bond proceeds budgeted.
They do not anticipate doing bonding for those this year, so they are looking mainly at
the Transportation Sales Tax. Revenues are at 88.6 percent of the budget and are$3.9
million higher than last year. Revenue from special events has pushed that number up
and there was also a miscellaneous reimbursement that also pushed those revenues up.
She explained expenditures are only at 24 percent of the annual budget and this is a
reflection of there is$38.3 million in Capital Projects in this budget. Some of that is
spent, but it typically occurs unevenly throughout the year. She said Council will see
much of that carried over into the following year during the budget presentation.
Ms. Rios said in the Police Special Revenue Fund, revenues are at 77 percent of the
budget, which is 12 percent higher than it was last year. She said transfers out are at 75
percent and that is reflection that the expenditures are showing as a transfer to the
General Fund where the enhanced service levels are budgeted. She said they will see a
draw-down of this fund of$1.2 million. For the entire year, that is planned to draw down
almost$2 million. The Fire Special Revenue Fund, revenue is at 76 percent of the
annual budget and is just over$579,000 higher than it was at this time last year. This is
about a 12 percent increase. She said transfers out are at 75 percent. This fund was
also planned to be drawn down by about$550,000 and is right on target.
Ms. Rios said in the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund, water revenue is at 69 percent
and is 4.8 percent lower than it was last year. She said there has been wet weather,
which has caused revenues to be slightly lower. She anticipated that trend continuing
due to the mild spring weather. They will continue to monitor this fund, but it is still on
par with what it was the prior year. This has not caused them any concern. She said
sewer revenue is at 72 percent of the budget and is substantially the same as it was the
prior year. She said they also do not have any concern about this. Expenditures are at 40
percent of the budgeted amount and there is$35 million in budgeted Capital Projects in
this fund, which has occurred unevenly throughout the year. Most of this will be carried
over with projects to be completed over multiple years. The Sanitation Fund is at 75
percent of the budget and is substantially the same revenue that it was at this time last
year. Total expenditures are at 65 percent, which is reflection that the capital has not all
been spent. Ms. Rios explained about 50 percent of the capital has been spent in this
fund through the third quarter. Ms. Rios said total revenues in the Landfill Fund are at 66
percent of the budget. She said this has been affected by lower recycling revenue from
a contract recycler that was not realized as well as some lower tipping fees. The
reduction in the tipping fee revenue is offset by an equal reduction in tipping fee costs.
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Expenditures are at 27 percent and that is a reflection of reduced tipping fee costs
associated with that same reduced tipping fee revenue. She said there is$12 million in
budgeted capital revenue in this fund, which is being spent unevenly and is likely to be
carried over to next year.
Ms. Rios said they are about where they expect to be at this time of the year. All the
major funds are at or exceeding the 75 percent on revenue and expenditures are at or
below 75 percent. She said staff continues to monitor these funds at least monthly.
Mayor Weiers said there was nothing of any concern.
Ms. Rios agreed.
Mayor Weiers said that was good news.
Councilmember Turner said there was$3.9 million increase in sales tax revenue for the
first three quarters as compared to a year ago. He said his take is this is due to
economic growth and that the tax rate has not changed, so that would be economic
activity in general being up and new businesses that are here that were not here a year
ago, as well as the special events at the beginning of the year.
Mr. Duensing said that is exactly correct. He clarified this is the Primary General Fund
and does not include the sales tax activity in and around the stadium and arena. He said
a couple of large retailers came on line and there was the normal expected growth. He
said they did anticipate this level of increase and this is a true reflection of economic
growth, and less so from the major events.
Councilmember Turner said these are both good signs as they are not only having
increased activity, but they have brought in new business. He hoped both trend lines
continue. He said in the Transportation Tax, they mentioned$20 million in bonds that
are currently not anticipated. He asked for an explanation of what has happened there.
Mr. Duensing said when the CIP is developed;they have to identify funding sources for
projects. If they don't identify pay-as-you-go funding source, they have to identify bond
proceeds as a funding source. If the projects don't happen, which is reflected in the
expenditure side, they don't have to go to market for bond issuance. He said they do not
anticipate having to go to market this year to issue bonds.
Councilmember Turner asked if there was a project they were not doing, or a project they
were delaying.
Mr. Duensing said there were projects they were delaying, such as the Northern Avenue
super street project. When this project does not occur, they continue to carry over that
funding and it is not necessary to go to market to issue bonds for a project that is not
going to occur.
Councilmember Turner said in this time frame they are not doing it, but they should
anticipate it will occur in the future.
Mr. Duensing said that was correct.
Councilmember Turner said it makes perfect sense that revenues are down in water due
to the wet weather. He said there were lower tipping fees at the landfill and asked why
the city is not having the tipping volume that they used to, and is that a new trend.
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Ms. Rios said a contract recycler was anticipated and those tipping fees were associated
with that contract recycler. Because that contractor is not operating in that manner,
those associated tipping fees are not coming in. She mentioned there is also a
corresponding reduction in the cost as well. She said the revenues are in line with what
was occurring last year when those additional activities were not taking place. She said
in the budget it was anticipated that a new activity would be occurring and that activity is
not occurring.
Councilmember Turner said he had separated the two, that there was a recycling revenue
loss, but also a tipping fee loss, but they are related to each other.
Councilmember Sherwood said on the bond on the transportation tax, they were going to
bond out a lot of the pavement management activity and then they decided to do that and
increase what they were going to do but over a 5 year period, versus a 3 year period. He
said isn't that the main purpose of not having to go out and bond because they had
enough HURF funds.
Mr. Duensing said the pavement management portion of the Transportation Sales Tax is
small at about$2 million. He said HURF expenditures at 18 percent of budget. The
budget brought forward on May 26th will include a substantial carryover of HURF funds,
and that is the pavement management. There is a significant amount of money for
pavement management if FY15-16. He said Director Jack Friedline will also be doing a
presentation in the near future on the pavement management program and can answer
questions at that time.
Councilmember Sherwood asked if they had any intentions of bonding for that this year
for next year's work.
Mr. Duensing said at this point they anticipate cash financing this as they have a pretty
significant balance in the HURF fund. He said they will cash finance to the extent they
can to save interest costs.
Councilmember Sherwood said a year ago when this was set up, they were anticipating
bonding at either this fiscal year or next fiscal year.
Mr. Duensing said that is correct and from the amount of funding they will carry forward,
they feel like they can cash finance it all in FY16.
3. 15-311 NORTHERN PARKWAY UPDATE
Staff Contact: Jack Friedline, Director, Public Works
Staff Presenter: Debbie Albert, Interim Deputy Public Works Director
Ms.Albert provided an update on the Northern Parkway project, and she provided some
background information on this project. This project was identified in the 2001 Glendale
transportation plan. She said this project was included in the MAG transportation plan,
proposition 400. In 2005, Peoria residents approved a transportation sales tax program
to provide funding for this project. She explained this is a partnership between Glendale,
Peoria, El Mirage, and Maricopa County. Several other partners have had oversight into
this project as well. Northern Parkway is a 12.5 mile limited access arterial project to
connect Loop 303 with Grand Avenue. This project will provide economic development
opportunities for far west Glendale. She said there are quite a few differences with this
project, compared to a regular arterial street. Ultimate concept design for this project
includes three lanes in each direction, grade separations at major intersections and
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limited access mid-mile. She said Northern Parkway is the single largest project in
Arizona that is not under the jurisdiction of ADOT. Glendale led the project through
development of the design concept and environmental clearance. Ms. Albert explained in
2008, several government entities entered into an agreement where MCDOT was going to
be the lead agency for delivery and construction of the project. In 2012, Glendale and
MCDOT entered into an operations and maintenance agreement related to phase 1 of the
project.
Ms.Albert said the ultimate build out cost for this project is$638.6 million, and available
funding from all sources is$338.2 million. She said 70 percent will come from regional
funds and 30 percent will come from local funds. Based on the 2008 governance
agreement, Glendale will pay about 40 percent of the total local funding. She provided a
graph showing a construction timeline, and this project reaches out to 2025, the end of
the MAG regional transportation plan. Some elements not included in the funded portion
are the direct connect ramps between Northern Avenue and Grand Avenue and the
bypass of Loop 101.
Ms.Albert said phase 1 was open to construction in December 2013. The Reems Road
and Litchfield Road grade separations were completed in January 2015 and are open to
traffic. Landscaping has been included in the project and it is in the establishment
phase. The right of way for the parkway has been transferred from MCDOT to Glendale
in April 2015, based on the 2012 IGA that was signed. Ms. Albert provided photographs
showing what the parkway looks like now. She provided photos of the bridges over the
arterial streets, landscaping, and bridge aesthetics.
Ms.Albert went over future activities, which include Phase II, Dysart Road to 111th
Avenue. Design is currently underway with construction anticipated in fall of 2015. This
includes expanded intersections at El Mirage and Dysart, frontage roads between El
Mirage and Dysart, a mainline east of El Mirage, and the Ague Fria Bridge. MCDOT is
working on an audit to make sure that the cash flow and the project delivery schedules
coincide. Adjustments will be made to the plan once that audit is complete. They are
also working on a phase II IGA, which will be brought before Council. This project has
received awards, including a Public Partnership Award at the 2014 MAG Desert Peaks
Award and the 2014 WESTMARC Best of the West Award. She also mentioned an
article in the Arizona Republic which highlights the opportunities this development project
will bring to the city.
Councilmember Sherwood said construction is just starting on Phase II.
Ms.Albert said construction should start later this fall.
Councilmember Sherwood said if you had to relabel phase 2, 3 and 4.
Ms.Albert said that is when the funding is available, and although those are regional
funds, they are technically federal funds and that is when it becomes available through
the Regional Transportation Plan.
Councilmember Sherwood said on the Phase 3 construction it does not look like there is
a lot going on there, but that is to get them over Hwy. 101.
Ms.Albert said there will be some improvements between 99th Avenue and Hwy. 101,
but as the overpasses are constructed, they will fill in the main line.
Councilmember Sherwood said it was a great project and hopefully it will relieve traffic.
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Councilmember Tolmachoff said the traffic signals at 111th and 107th Avenues seemed
close together.
Ms.Albert said there was a lot of negotiation and that was the result of the public
meetings.
4. 15-312 UPDATE ON LOOP 303 AND NORTHERN AVENUE ACCESS
Staff Contact: Jack Friedline, Director, Public Works
Staff Presenter: Debbie Albert, Interim Deputy Public Works Director
Ms.Albert said this is an update on the Loop 303 and Northern Avenue access, relating
from Olive to Northern Avenues. She provided background and said Loop 303
improvements will increase to six lanes, with grade separations at major intersections,
and interim off and on-ramps at Northern Parkway. She said the Loop 303 within the
Glendale planning area is complete and they are working on the landscaping in that area.
Future improvements are planned for the direct connections, but they are not currently
funded. Current configuration limits access to properties around Northern Avenue. Ms.
Albert provided aerial photographs to assist in orienting where this project is taking place.
She said it was important to have the direct connect ramps in this area, but it does
create challenges for access. She explained access issues on and off the Loop 303
freeway at Olive and Northern Avenues. Ms.Albert said landowners contacted the city in
2013 regarding the limited access in that area, and she said a solution has been
identified. She listed the project partners to assist in these improvements. She also
explained new railroad crossings will have to be established as part of this project. She
also provided a diagram of proposed changes to assist with connection issues for
homeowners in the area. She said the estimated cost for these activities is about$15
million. MAG has been working to identify funding sources and to have funding included
in the regional transportation improvement program. ADOT has agreed to complete
design work and administer construction. Glendale will coordinate with BNSF and ACC
for railroad crossings and would be responsible for removing crossing equipment should
it be determined they are a safety issue. An initial meeting was held with BNSF in April
of this year and they are working with them to hold a field meeting. She is seeking
feedback on proposed direction.
Mayor Weiers said he is excited about moving forward with this. He said this is potential
revenue for the city for growth in that area.
Councilmember Aldama said this unites the far west valley with central Glendale, and will
assist in alleviating the traffic. It makes sense to allow traffic on and off of Olive
Avenue.
Councilmember Chavira is impressed with the communication and outreach that has
been done for this project. He is proud of the annexation and the city is preparing for the
future.
Ms.Albert appreciated the comments and introduced Bob Hazlett with MAG who has
assisted in identifying funding for this project.
CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
Acting City Manager Bowers had nothing to report at this time.
CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT
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City Attorney Bailey had nothing to report at this time.
COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
Councilmember Aldama informed Ocotillo residents of his next mobile office hours on
June 1st, 5 pm to 6:30 pm at 6001 W. Missouri Ave. He wanted to know what it would
cost annually to get the frequently called numbers brochure out to residents.
Councilmember Chavira said this is graduation time and is letting everyone know to be
careful about the celebration near the stadium.
Councilmember Sherwood said he would like to request a presentation by the NLC
regarding the Service Line Warranty Program at a City Council Workshop in the near
future.
Vice Mayor Hugh said shoppers and merchants are still upset about the 2 hour parking
issue in downtown Glendale. He said what the city spends and the revenues it receives
at Westgate from last fiscal year and for this fiscal year.
Councilmember Chavira said he forgot to mention his daughter graduating from 8th grade
this year and he was proud of her.
Mayor Weiers added to the parking issues backing in to park in the City Hall garage.
MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION
It was moved by Councilmember Chavira,and seconded by Councilmember
Turner, to move into Executive Session. The motion carried on the following
vote:
Aye: 7- Mayor Weiers, Vice Mayor Hugh, Councilmember Aldama, Councilmember Chavira,
Councilmember Sherwood, Councilmember Tolmachoff, and Councilmember Turner
EXECUTIVE SESSION
The City Council entered into Executive Session at 3:15 p.m.
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