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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 8/16/2016City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 fil'Grljr,{D4tE Meeting Minutes - Final Tuesday, August 16, 2016 1:30 PM Workshop Council Chambers Citv Council Workshop Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor lan Hugh Councilmember Jamle Aldama Councllmember Samuel Chavlra Councilmember Ray Malnar C ou n c i I mem ber Lau ren Tol mac hoft Councilmember Bafi Turner City Council Workshop Iteeting Minutes - Flnal Auguet 16, 2016 CALTTO ORDER WORKSHOPSESSION 1.16-387 Pr$ent 6 - Mayor Jerry Weiers, Councilmember Jamie Aldama, Councilmember Samuel Chavira, Councilmember Ray Malnar, Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff, and Councilmember Bart Turner Absent 1 - Vice MaYor lan Hugh Also present were Kevin Phelps, City Manager; Michael Bailey, City Attomey; and Julie Bower, City Clerk. FISCAL YEAR 2017.18 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY CoMMTTTEE (CDAC) UPDATES AND COMMUNIW DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT FUNDING PRIORITIES Staff Contact and Presented By: Elaine Adamczyk, Interim Direclor, Community Services Staff Presenter: Erik Strunk, Director, Public Facilities. Recreation and Special Events Staff Presenter: Gilbert Lopez, Community Revitalization Administrator, Community Services Staff Presenter: Stephanie Miller, Program Manager, Community Services Guest Presenter: Mr. Matthew Versluis, Chairperson, CDAC Ms. Adamczyk said staff was. seeking guidance on Council's priorities for use of the fiscaf year 2017-18funding. Staff had met with the Community Development Advisory Committee (CDAC) and developed items for Council consideration. She requested Council consideration ol p0ect-based vouchers (PBV), a homeless strategy and funding priorities for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and HOME funds. Ms. Adamczyk explained cDAc participation was oucial to guide funding recommendations. The main priorities of the CDAC were to make sure the Ci$ complied with federal regulations and Council funding priorities' Ms. Adamczyk said Glendale had 1,O54federally-tunded housing choice vouchers (HCV) with an annual subsidy from (housing assistance payments) HAP valued at $7.7 million. HCV vouchers ware used to assist approximately 3,400 persons with long-term rental assistance for safe, decent and sanitary living conditions and provision of affordable housing. The geographic location of affordable housing varied throughout Glendale. Participant rent in the program was based on 30o/o of the famiry's annual adjusted income and the federal HAP subsidy paid the remainder. lf approved, up to 20olo of the HCV rental assistance funds could be used to guarantee revenue to developers and property owners for long-term, monthly rental subsidy paymentis for construction of affordable mut1-family housing, existing affordable multi-family housing and rehabilitation of affordable mul1-family housing. This represented up to $1.Smillion in rental subsidy to incent new Centerline developmenUredevelopment through PBV. Ms. Adamczyk said developers could use PBV as a financial tool to create affordable and Ctty ol Gtand€,t.P.ga I Pdntad on 9nnn0 City Council Work3hop Meetlng Minutes - Final August 16, 2016 mixed-use housing to designate specific apartments for eligible families in the Centerline area. The next steps included the City modifying ils current Section 8 adminislrative plan to include policies for PBV, CDAC review and re@mmendation and Council approval on March 2017. Once approved, it would be foruarded to HUD for linal review and approval by July 2017. Staff would collaborate with Economic Development on the RFP process to notify prospective Centerline developers. Councilmember Malnar asked if the amounl for new development was limited to a specific geographic area of the City. Ms. Adamczyk said it was not. She said the PBV could be used to inc€nt development anywhere in the City. The policy change would allow the City to use it as a future tool to incent affordable and mixed-use housing anywhere in the City. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if this was a one-time option. Ms. Adamczyk said no, the $1.5million was the total available to the PBV. Staff recommended that the vouchers not be concentrated in a project. She explained HUD had a limit on how many vouchers could be used in any given proiecl which allowed the City to have a broader base of affordable housing. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if that reduced the amount of the ongoing HCV by the amount lhal was going to this program. Ms. Adamczyk said it did reduce the HCV, but those vouchers were still in use for families on the waiting list. After 12 months on the waiting list, families could move into the HCV program. Councilmember Tolmachoff clarified it woutd be available under the PBV and not the HCV. She said the City was taking $7.7million and reducing that by $1.smillion, with the other $1.5 million available as a PBV and it would be ongoing. Ms. Adamczyk said that was correct. Councilmember Aldama said the program allowed affordable housing to be in any district in Glendale, not just the Ocotillo district. He asked in what parts of the City public housing and affordable housing were located. Ms. Adamczyk said cunenlly public housing was located south of Glendale Avenue. HUD no longer allowed additional public housing units to be built. She explained PBV would allow assigned units in complexes to receive voucher assistance. This guaranteed renls lor owners to incent affordable housing to come inlo the City. Councilmember Aldama asked where affordable housing was located in Glendale. Ms. Adamczyk said the Section 8 HCV program vouchers had mobility which meant participants in the program could find suitable housing anywhere in lhe CiU as long as the rent amount was reasonable and did not exceed HUD fair market rent. Mayor Weiers asked if the City had a program to assist homeless veterans. Ms. Adamczyk said Glendale did not have the VASH program and was unable to get it. She explained the program was run by the local Veterans Administration (VA) and the VA had not assigned any veterans to the City through the program. The VA determined Ctty ol Gt.ndtlc P.ga 2 Prtntad on 9n1i2016 City Council Workshop tltleeting Minutes - Final August 16, 2016 which communities would get the vouchers. Mayor Weiers said there had been discussion in the past to try and get unused vouchers from Phoenix and Mesa. He wanted to make surB any veterans who needed the assistance received it. Ms. Adamczyk said staff continued to work with Phoenix and the VA on a regular basis to try and get those vouchers into Glendale. Mr. Strunk said the Community Action Agency assisted 1,O33individuals with $785,000 in funds. Communig Revilalization provided funding in the amount of $269,500 to 813 persons and Community Housing assisted and housed 3,800 persons. The City was a member of the regional MAG Continuum on Homelessness, which funded $26 million in regional homeless assistance. Ms. Miller explained in the last 12 months, the City partnered with Morrison Instilute to assess efiorts and identity best practices and potential stakeholders and developed a new quarterly team consisting of Glendale Police Department, City Court, Fire Department and Community Servioes. City staff also met with the Chamber of Commerce and surveyed Centerline business owners and met with faith-based organizations via the Neighborhood Alliance. Interviews were also conducted with the Glendale Elementary School District and Glendale High School Districl. Three public presentations/discussions were held with the CDAC. Mr. Strunk said CDAC reviewed this issue and made recommendations to identify funds for a dedicated homeless liaison and create a unified team with the City and with City partners. Additional recommendations included improved communication and data collection, reevaluating enforcement capabilities and an annual review of efforts with CDAC and Council. He explained the MAG Continuum also had funding for additional homeless programs. Mr. Lopez discussed FY17-18 CDBG prioritization. He said Glendale currently received an annual federal allocation from HUD to fund CDBG, HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Programs. He said this year, the City was allocated $2.9 million in federal funding for these programs and the programs assisted over 114,108 Glendale residents annually. Mr. Lopez said cunent funding priorities included keeping people in their homes, assisting with core needs such as food, utilities and shelter and supporting home delivery of meals and shelter services. Additional priorities included providing emergency home repair, housing rehabilitation programs, demolishing and clearing blighted structures and emphasizing revitalization of Centerline/redevelopment area. He said CDAC proposed a new priority for Council consideration, which was workforce training. Mr. Versluis, a CDAC member, discussed Council priorities for the upcoming year. He explained there was an extensive review process each year to meet Council priorities. He said CDAC members had discussed the need to add job training as a priority. He explained CDAC had worked with staff and the United Way to enhance the grant applicataon proc€ss. He said CDAC welcomed and looked fonrard to Council comments and suggestions. Mr. Lopez said staff was looking for Council direction on current funding priorities. Councitmember Aldama asked for clarification of the priority of keeping people in their CWolc.,ond.,a P.ge 3 Pdntad on 9nnol6 City Council Workshop Moetang Mlnutes - Final August'16, 2016 homes. Mr. Lopez said this priority meant trying to keep people fiom becoming homeless. Councilmember Tumer asked if workforce training had been done in Glendale in the past. Mr. Lopez said it had been many years since this type of program had been in place. Councilmember Tumer said it was an opportunity homelessness to get people trained for new jobs. exploring. to strike He said at the root causes of this concept was worth 15-017 Councilmember Aldama referenced an article about iob training in another city. He asked how staff could implement these programs guickly. Mr. Lopez was familiar with the article and said that the city in the article partnered with a nonprofit lo assist in cleaning up city parks and streets. He said the program paid a competitive wage and was suc@ssful in getting some people off the street He said stafi would look into that and see if funds were available for that type of a program. Councilmember Aldama commented that CDBG grants were available to most residenls in Glendale, but not to the Sonorita community. He asked if the City could ofbet that, possibly through the general fund, so those homeowners would have options. Councilmember Turner agreed with Councilmember Aldama on the points he made. He said connecting homeless with opportunities is very important. He would like to see staff explore the possibility of hiring the homeless to do work in the City parks and neighborhoods. He also expressed his concem that the Sonorita neighborhood was unable to utilize the CDBG funds, and asked for staff to come up with ways to get those residents assistance if they need it. Councilmember Malnar asked about the funding priority to emphasize revitalization of the Centerline/redevelopment area, and wanted to know if the funds could be used in other areas of the City. Mr. Lopez said there was flexibility. He said rehab proiecis were citywide and based on income. Councilmember Turner said Council needed to remember there were other areas in lhe Cig besides the downtown area which experienced poverty and substandard housing. Lopez said that was correct and houses have been rehabbed in every district in the Ms. Adamczyk said if there were no more questions, staff would proceed with implementing the changes. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 33. WATER, SEWERS AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL IN ITS ENTIRETY AND CHAPTER 2. ADMINISTRATION, ARTICLES IAND V Staff Contact and Presenter: Vicki Rios, Director, Budget and Finance Staff Contacl and Presenter: Craig Johnson, P.E., Director, Water Services CW ot Glcnd.ta P.go 1 Pdtt dongnnoli City Council Worbhop Meeting Minutes - Final August 16, 2016 Ms. Rios said staff had performed a comprehensive review of Chapter 33 and Chapter 2, which hadn't been done for many years. Participants in the review included Budget and Finance, Water Services and the City Attomey's Oflice. The purpose of the review was lo comply with changes to slate and federal law and to adopt practices commonly employed by other municipalities, as well as to improve customer service. Ms. Rios explained the proposed revisions included identifying information to be collected on new customer accounts, allowing for proration of customer accounts for partial billing periods, and providing a timeline for final bill disputes. Additional proposed revisions included using generic references to the City inslead of specific job titles and consolidating all rates and fees in one location for user convenience. Ms. Rios said other substantive proposed revisions from the Budget and Finance Department included updating provisions for tuming services on and off so that the Code complied with state law for residential customers, requiring commercial cuslomer balances be paid prior to the restoration of services to that property, and provisions for hardships. Ms. Rios explained options for this provision, which included leaving the provision as it was, doing away with the practice entirely, or enforcing the provision at the discretion of the City Manager or Finance Director, according to established guidelines. She asked Council for feedback. Mayor Weiers asked if a new business was unable to open its doors due to a previous owner's unpaid water bill, at what point did the City make the decision to turn the water off. Ms. Rios said policies and procedures were in place for disconnecting water, generally when the business was two bills overdue. In cases of hardship, the City did not have the discretion to nol lum off the water or tum it back on. Mayor Weiers asked if the City would place a lien on the property if the water bill was not paid. Ms. Rios said the City might place liens on the property bul there were exceptions. The City would not lien the owner for the tenant's water bill. lt would be a policy decision, and some balances might not be collected. Councilmember Malnar said there should be a strict rule of holding the owner accountable for the bill. He also liked the idea of staft having discretion, pursuant to guidelines provided. Councilmember Turner agreed that if a business was sold, any outstanding water fees should be paid by the new owner. He asked if the City obtained a personal guarantee from a business owner. Ms. Rios said typically the City did not obtain a personal guarantee. The City would go after the legal entity that contracted for the services. Mr. Bailey said Ms. Rios was conecl and the Ci$ would go after the legal entity contracting for services. Mayor Weiers said the deposit amounts seemed reasonable but asked if a new deposit amount could be two months of the average bill over the last two years. lt could solve some of those types of problems. Ctty ol GLtrdrl.P.g. t tutntad on gnauc Caty Councal Workshop Meeting Manutes - Fanal August 16, 2016 Ms. Rios said there was a provision in the City Code to increase the deposit if a customer had been disconnected repealedly. Staff could increase the overall deposit for commercial accounts but new customers usually had no history with the City. She said new customers did not think it was fair to base their deposit on the history of a prior customer. Councilmember Totmachoff didn't think it was a good idea to make the landlord responsible if a tenant didn't pay their bills. She liked the idea of giving staff discretion in negotiating the past due bills with landlords and tenants. Ms. Rios said that was what was meant with the third option offered for Council consideration. She said in that situation, guidelines would be provided to staff to make those decisions. Councilmember Malnar liked the idea of staff having discretion but said a landlord was involved because a tenant might not rent if they knew they would be responsible for a large past due bill. Landlords needed to have some responsibility. Ms. Rios said the amounl of past due bills for commercial accounts currently totaled $21,000. Councilmember Aldama said they were talking commercial and he agreed with the other Councilmembers. He asked if the City had a colleclion agency to collect the delinquencies. Ms. Rios said the City did in-house collections and also worked with a third-party collection agency. Councilmember Atdama was uncomfortable with new tenants having to pay delinquent balances from prior tenants. Councilmember Tolmachoff preference was to give staff discretion because if these accounts were turned over to a collection agency, the Ci$ wouldn't get all the money back anyway. Mr. Phelps reminded the Council that Water Services' revenue was about $80 million and the amount being talked about was only $21,000. He said the problem was very small an terms of bad debt. He asked Council to think of the fairness issue for any new customerc being asked to pay delinquent amounts from prior tenants. He said this was an enterprise fund and what couldn't be collected was built into the rate structure. He said giving staff discretion would be beneficial to the City. Ms. Rios said at looked like there was consensus to give staff some discretion. Ms. Rios said staff was also asking for direction on staff discretion for tuming water back on if a hardship exists. She explained if water has been turned off, service was not restored until the full balance had been paid. She said water service would be reslored if there was a safety issue. These situations occuned only occasionally. There was Council consensus. Ms. Rios asked for Council direclion on allowing discretion on adjusting fees and amounts billed. She explained this occurred during a leak or some other unexplained usage. Customers knew they would pay a higher rale for higher water usage, but the Clty ol A/6,nd.le Ptgc 6 Pdntad on ennoli City Council Wortshop Meeting Minuteg - Final August 16, 2016 customer with unexplained usage didn't know they were going to pay the higher rate' Staff cunently did this as a maner of practice, but the Code had not been updated to reflect that. Council concurred. Mr. Johnson said Chapter 33 covered operations and maintenance. One proposed revision included clearly identifying unlawful utility activities such as meter tampering and unaulhorized usage. The next proposed revision would grant the City Manager the authority to implement the drought management plan. He said the provision was not clear who would manage lhe overall plan. The tast proposed revision would clarifu responsibility for sewer blockages and/or damage. The City would take responsibility and repair any sewer issues in the City's right-of-way. Councilmember Aldama asked if there was any cost to the citizens for the truck to come oul in the case of sewer blockages. Mr. Johnson said there was no cost lo the citizens. Councilmember Tolmachoff was under the impression that repairs to sewer lines were the responsibility of the property owner all the way out to the main. Mr. Johnson said the property owners were responsible to the main, which could mean a cost to the property owner. lt was better customer service to use the truck to determine where the blockage was so the property owner didn't have to incur the expense. Councilmember Turner asked if water service was turned ofi to a residence and the owner turned the water back on without the City's permission, would that be considered meter tampering and unauthorized usage. Mr. Johnson said that yes it would and a fee would be charged for unauthorized use. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if other cities granted the City Manager authority to implement lhe drought management plan. Mr. Johnson would check and provide further information to Council. He said if a drought managemenl plan needed to be implemented, the Council would be involved from the beginning. Ms. Rios discussed proposed revisions to Chapter 2 that included definitions and authorizing staff to settle oertain collection accounts. Councilmember Aldama asked if staff would also be able to settle and negotiate for overdue balances. Ms. Rios said that language could be added. Council agreed to the proposed revisions. Ms. Rios said the proposed revisions would be sent out as a draft for Council feedback and then presented at a future voting meeting. Ctty ol Gtanhta Ptgta 7 tulntad on gnnolG City Council Workshop Meeting Minuteg - Final August 16, 2016 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Phelps said nine members of lhe executive team attended training on strategic planning and all received the designation of a Balanoe Scorecard Professional. They will use those skills as the City moves fonrvard with its strategic planning efforts. Mr. Phelps said the City would be utilizing the servioes of a downtown manager who would be responsible for establishing an historic district program. This would include forming a merchant's association, identifing key stakeholder initiatives, establishing a business plan and working with staff on implementation. The manager would be selecled through the RFP process which would begin in Seplember. Mr. Phelps announoed that Conair had broken ground on an expansion of an additional one million square feet at their Glendale campus. This would be the second largest facility in Maricopa County and about 300 new jobs would be created as a result. Mr. Phelps said an RFP was done for design and construclion consultants for the Heroes Park Library. Several departnents were involved in lhe process and three applicants had submitted proposals. The item would come before Council in the next couple of months. Mr. Phelps reported on two recent ftres. Several City departments worked together an both situations and provided very quick responses. CITYATTORNEY'S REPORT Mr. Bailey had no items to report but said an Executive Session had been noticed. COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST Councilmember Aldama asked staff to return with a draft ordinance regarding donation boxes. Councilmember Aldama had noticed many dying trees specifically in the downtown area. He asked slaff to look at a plan to replace lhose trees. He wanted to know the species of trees and if they were getting enough water. Councilmember Aldama asked staff to research alternative funding to assist the Sonorita neighborhood for home improvements and other resour@s provided by CDBG grants. He wanted constituents to ba aware that this community was exempt from using CDBG funds and wanted altematives for those residents. Councilmember Turner was also concemed about the trees in the downtown area. He saad there were several trees that needed attention on 63rd Avenue near Sahuaro Ranch Park. He wanted to make sure the trees were Betting enough water and to look at flood irrigation in some of those areas. MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion wag made by Councilmember Aldama, geconded by Councilmember Chavira, to €nt€r into Executive Segsion. The molion carried by the followlng vote: Aye: 6 - Mayor Weiers, Coundlmember Aldama, Councilmember Chavira, Councilmember Malnar, Councilmember Tolmachoff, and Councilmember Turner Clty olGlondf,la P.9.8 Pttnt d on 9nn0l6 City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes - Final August 16, 2016 Absent 'l - Mce Mayor Hugh EXECUTTVE SESSION ADIOURNMENT The City Council entered into Executive Session at 3:39 p.m. A motion wag made by Councilmember Aldama, seconded by Councilmember Chavira, to adjourn from Executlve Segsion. The motion carried by the following voto: Aye: 7 - Mayor Weiers, Vice Mayor Hugh, Councilmember Aldama, Councilmember Chavira, Councilmember Malnar. Councilmember Tolmachoff, and Councilmember Turner The City Councilworkshop meeting adjourned at 5:34 p.m. A motion wae made by Councilmember Turner, seconded by Councilmember Chavira, to adjourn the City Council meotang. The motion canied by the following vote: Aye: 7 - Mayor Weiers, Vice Mayor Hugh, Councilmember Aldama, Councilmember Chavira, Councilmember Malnar, Councilmember Tolmachoff, and Councilmember Tumer I hereby ceniry that the foregoing minutes are a true and correcl copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Glendale City Council of Glendale, Arizona, held on the 16th day of August, 2016. I further ceniry that the meeting was duly called and held and that a guorum was present. Dared this J fo* or SEftznnpazo'rc. K. Bower, MMC, City Clerk Ctty o, Ctand.te P.ge I Prrttt d on gnnnO