HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 5/9/1989MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP SESSION OF THECITYCOUNCILOFTHECITYOFGLENDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA HELD TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1989 AT 3:05 P.M. Mayor Renner called the Workshop Session of the GlendaleCityCounciltoorderintheWorkshopRoom, B-3, in theGlendaleCouncilChambers. Council members present were: Bellah, Falbo, Huffman, Hugh, McAllister, and Tolby. MembersAbsent: None. Also present were Martin Vanacour, City Manager; GordonL. Pedrow, Assistant City Manager; Peer Van Haren, CityAttorneyandLindaGinn, Deputy City Clerk. WORKSHOP SESSION1. 1989/90 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
City Manager Vanacour stated that at the April 25th
study session, the council directed staff to publish the
Manager's recommendation for the Proposed Statement of the
Community Development Objectives and Projected Use of Funds,
but to do some additional research and bring back alternative
recommendations to provide additional funding for the
Westside Food Bank project and the Glendale Family
Development Center request.
Staff has been working with the Westside Food Bank to
determine the feasibility of utilizing the old fire station
on 55th Avenue, north of Colter.
Since the workshop session on this year's program, some
of the Council have met with members of the Downtown
Development Corporation concerning the Planning Funds for the
Gaslight District.
Paul Ludwick, Neighborhood Resources Director, further
detailed the alternatives by stating that alternative C
proposes to fully fund the projects for the Westside Food
Bank, the Glendale Family Development Center and the Downtown
triangle. This will be accomplished by re -allocating $75,000
from the Revitalization program. If this is the alternative
selected by Council, the resources for meeting Housing
Assistance Plan goals will be diminished and staff would
recommend that during the year a priority be given to the
Rehabilitation program if funds become available for
reprogramming.
Alternative D assumes that the vacant fire station will
be leased to the Westside Food Bank and allocates $40,000 for
tenant improvements. This alternative fully funds the
20-
Glendale Family Development Center acquisition, the Downtowntrianglerequestandtherevitalizationprogramandadds16,350 to contingencies. Mr. Bill Ennis, Westside Food Bank, gave a brief summaryoftheiroperationandstatedhefelttheywouldbeabletousethevacantfirestationtogoodadvantage. Vice Mayor Tolby suggested funding the Westside FoodBank $80,000 for building improvements and a cold storage boxandrearrangingsomeoftheotherfundstofollowalternativeD. This item will be placed on the next Council agenda forformalconsideration. 2. PROPOSED 1989-90 BUDGET
City Manager Vanacour gave an overview of the Budget and
stated the total operating budget is $77 million, a decrease
of 1.4% from the level in 1988-89. It assumes no changes in
city tax rates, and no new taxes. Budgets in some critical
service areas have been increased, partly through growth in
the revenue base and partly by diverting resources that have
been gained through staff reductions and decreases in
non -personnel costs. Based on Council priorities and
direction, some service levels have been adjusted; i.e.
residential loose trash collections will be done monthly;
street sweeping schedules will be stretched slightly; lower
priority fire inspections are being deferred; priorities for
theft investigations are made based on the amount of the
loss; and park turf mowing schedules have been lengthened.
The budget schedule calls for a public hearing and
Council adoption of the preliminary budget on June 6, 1989,
followed by final adoption on June 20.
Ken Martin, Deputy City Manager, Management Resources,
further detailed the budget saying staff levels, which
translate into the budget's largest category of ongoing
costs, have been reduced though attrition to the 1982-83
employees per -capita level. By continuing a lean staffing
level, the City Council will have more choices in future
years in responding to growth: positions and services can be
added (for example, to support the new public safety
headquarters); more new facilities and maintenance projects
can be provided through the operating budget rather than
through bonds; or fund reserves can be built up to offset
future revenue drops.
Mr. Martin presented the following figures for the
proposed operating budget:
21-
All Dollars in Thousands) GENERAL AND SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 1988_-89 1989-90 % CHANGEGeneralFund42,067 41,712 0.8% Streets 6,724 6,029 10.3% Transit 1,274 1,439 13.0% Airport 653 659 0.8% Community Housing Services 5,027 5,061 0.7% Community Development Block Grant 1,176 1,665 41.6% Other Federal Grants 173 160 7.5% Other State and Local Grants 503 476 5.5% ENTERPRISE FUNDSWaterandSewer 12,167 10,975 9.8% Sanitation 4,587 4,827 5.2% Landfill 1,982 2,031 2.5%
REVOLVING AND INTERNAL SERVICE FUNDS
Risk Management Trust Fund 600 600 0.0%
Vehicle Replacement Fund 192 90 53.1%
Recreation Classes 320 545 70.3%
Library Book Sales 635 732 15.2%
TOTAL, OPERATING BUDGET 78,080 77,000 1.4%
Councilman Bellah registered some concerns regarding the
relationship of the percentage of the General Fund that goes
for employees salaries and benefits. He feels that perhaps
too large a percentage is being allotted for salaries and
benefits as opposed to allowing for more services and
equipment replacement. Discussion ensued and the general
feeling was that the measurement of the total compensation
package as a percentage of the General Fund might not be an
accurate picture of the real dollar increase given the
employees and when calculated out the increase is certainly
in line with what is being done in the private as well as the
public sector. It was also expressed that staff's overall
budget recommendations were within the goals that Council had
given staff earlier.
Mr. Martin gave a brief presentation of all the
requested supplementals within the various groups of the
City.
Gordon Pedrow, Assistant City Manager, gave a brief
summary of the supplemental requests from Administrative
Services group and said that one of the issues they would
have to address later would be an increase in major medical
costs. He reported they would do this when they received the
22-
information from the medical carriers and fully anticipatedanincreaseintherates. Mayor Renner suggested that thisparticularissuebebroughtbeforetheCouncilBudgetcommitteeforsomemorediscussionandexplorationofsomepossiblealternativestotheissue. Mr. Pedrow briefed Council on the Public Safety groupandsaidthatbothPoliceandFirehadbeenoperating "leanandmean" and would continue to provide a high level ofservicewithoutanydenigrationofwhatthecitizen's havecometoexpect. He said that two Communication SpecialistpositionsinthePoliceandacoupleoffireinspectionpeopleinthefiredepartmenthadbeeneliminatedbuttheydidn't feel this would affect service measureably. Councilman Bellah asked Chief Rose if not funding thetwoCommunicationSpecialistpositionswouldcauseaproblemwithofficersafetyorcontributetoofficer "burnout".
Chief Rose responded negatively saying the critical positions
within the department were kept staffed and they did not see
any problem with officer safety with the loss of these two
positions.
Mayor Renner said he noticed that Chief Rose had divided
his budget into parts, figuring the Foothills location
separately from the west and central locations and asked if
that had proved satisfactory and if it might not be an idea
for the fire department also. Chief Rose responded
positively saying it had proved to be a good way to track
police costs for services. Chief Rose responded positvely to
a question regarding the continuation of computerated
dispatch saying they were about two years away from full
utilization.
Chief Levenda responded to a question regarding
budgeting station by station by stating they are currently
doing that and find it easier to track their costs
accurately. Vice Mayor Tolby asked Chief Levenda if they had
many calls at Station 51 and if their service levels had gone
down because of budget restraints. Chief Levenda responded
that historically the older part of a city received the
majority of calls but they were still maintaining their level
of service at Station 51. Chief Levenda felt they would have
to address staffing levels when the budget improved.
Tim Ernster, Deputy City Manager, Community Services,
gave a brief summary of the budget from the Community
Services by saying that they, like the rest of the City, had
been faced with a request to cut their budget by 10%. Mr.
Ernster said his department heads had employed some
innovative ideas to overcome the 10% cut such as
W restructuring in areas to make programs self supporting and
taking advantage of volunteer help to perform clerical duties
23-
within offices. Mr. Ernster further detailed some of thesupplementalrequestsfromhisgroup. Vice Mayor Tolby registered his concerns with sellingbondsformorelibrarybooks. He stated he felt that librarybooksareexpendableandhehatestosellbondsforsomethingthatisexpendable. Mr. Martin responded that because of theCity's debt structuring the City has the capability, throughthesecondarypropertytax, of selling two year bonds. Thesefundscouldthenbeusedforlibrarybooksandthedebtwouldberetiredintwoyearsinsteadofatentofifteenyearperiod. Mayor Renner, on behalf of the Council, thanked all thevolunteersthatarehelpingtomaintaintheservicelevelsinthevariousdepartmentswithintheCity. Jerry Swanson, Deputy City Manager, Community
Development, presented a summary of the Community Development
budget. He stated that in January they had done some
restructuring and reorganizing and had reduced the
departments within the group from four to three. He then
gave a brief overview of the various projects that this group
is currently working on and detailed the economic development
in progress, particularly the Chamber of Commerce economic
development contract. He said the main points of the
contract are promotion of Glendale, business recruitment and
business retention.
Mr. Ken Reedy, Deputy City Manager, Public Works, gave a
summary of the public works budget and stated there is a
total of $31,297,592 in their budget, covering a total of
approximately 412 employees. He highlighted some of the
pavement management projects such as chip sealing and slurry
sealing. He further said they are focusing on the arterial
streets or streets that carry most of the volume in order to
reduce budget costs. Mr. Reedy highlighted other ways public
works has attemped to reduce costs without reducing
productivity in sanitation, water and sewer.
This item will be placed on a future Council agenda for
preliminary adoption.
3. INTERGOVERNMENTAL REPORT
Marion Porch, Intergovernmental Liaison, was present and
briefed Council on current legislative issues.
This is for information only.
COUNCIL COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS
None.
24-
ADJOURNMENTThere being6:30 p.m. no further items, the meeting adjourned ati'-r 4;t'ruDeputyCityClerk
25-