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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/13/2021City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85309 C0% &7 Glendale A R I Z O N A Meeting Minutes Tuesday, April 13, 2021 12:30 P.M. Workshop Meeting Civic Center City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Counciimember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachofif Councilmember Bart Turner CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiers called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. 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 Michael Bailey, City Attorney Jim Gruber, Deputy City Attorney Sheryl Rabin, Deputy City Clerk Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Jack Friedline, Assistant City Manager WORKSHOP SESSION 1. ESTABLISHMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A VETERANS COURT IN THE CITY OF GLENDALE Presented by: Nicholas C. DiPiazza, Presiding Judge, Glendale City Court Ms. Rabin read the item by title. Presiding Judge Nick DiPiazza said the Council Item of Special Interest explored requirements for the implementation of a Veterans Court in Glendale. With Council consensus, a Veterans Court could be implemented in October 2021 and grant funds were being pursued. There was a possibility of opening up similar courts in other West Valley cities. He would be able to work within budget in the upcoming fiscal year by managing the size of the program. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about case management. Judge DiPiazza said much of the monitoring would be done by service agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which would conduct testing and report results to case managers. A judge would review test results and see the individuals as often as necessary to keep them on track. If the individual failed to meet their responsibilities, they would face consequences. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the VA liaison would handle case management and file a report with the judge on progress or lack of progress. Judge DiPiazza said the VA was a liaison between the court and the available programs and individual resources for each veteran. Whoever provided the resources, would provide the feedback to the court. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the reports would be paper or electronic. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2021 Page 2 of 8 Judge DiPiazza said much of the process was done by paper, however it was possible to send reports electronically. Councilmember Clark expressed her support and looked forward to the court's opening in October. Vice Mayor Hugh said a Veterans Court for the West Valley was long overdue. Councilmember Aldama expressed his support. Mayor Weiers described the struggles of many veterans and said if the issues were resolved early, the veteran homeless problem could be decreased. He was very excited to move forward. Mayor Weiers said there was Council consensus to move forward. 2. PRESENTATION OF THE DRAFT PARKS AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN Presented by: Jim Burke, Director, Public Facilities, Recreation & Special Events Keri Konold, Green Play, LLC Ms. Rabin read the item by title. Mr. Burke provided background information on the reports for the 10 -Year Master Plan. He said the detailed master plans would come before Council for approval with detailed plans and budgets in the upcoming years. He reviewed the findings of the Disparity Report which looked at age, income, and race and how it affected access to public recreation, parks, and facilities in Glendale. Staff was seeking consensus and direction to move forward for future adoption at a voting meeting. Ms. Konold gave a detailed presentation on the draft Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which included information on: • Project Purpose, Process, Public Engagement • Community Survey— Key Findings and Responses • Benchmarking Compared to Other Valley Cities • Park Assessment Summary • Mapping of Neighborhood Access to Quality Components at a Park Site • Disparity Report — Differences in Access, Current Use Disparities, Resulting Recommendations • Master Plan Goals and Recommendations • Park Improvement Concepts • Next Steps Councilmember Turner commented on staffing and the full-time employee (FTE) comparison to other cities. He requested confirmation on the accuracy of the figures. Councilmember Tolmachoff commented on the staffing salary statistics and asked if some of the higher costs could be attributed to outsourcing. She asked if the FTE statistic of 1.91 for Glendale included vacant positions. Ms. Konold explained the 1.91 statistic was low due to the contracted services the City utilized. She said the trade-off was there was not the same capital outlay for in-house equipment. She City Council Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2021 Page 3 of 8 clarified the statistic was based on FY2019 information. Mr. Burke believed the number would have been based on budgeted staff but would confirm and follow up with Council. He would also follow up on the salary statistics as well. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there was a way to know if the use of outsourcing versus employees was more effective and efficient. Mr. Burke said employees allowed more control and direction but had a different expense ratio. Staff did not monitor or track outsourced performance. The costs for outsourcing were typically lower initially but increased over time, making the benefit short term. Staff would continue to evaluate the issue going forward. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the results of the intelligent irrigation systems and noted the contract was extended and expired November 2021. Some areas of the City used effluent water, which kept costs down. She did not see it mentioned in the plan. Increased maintenance should be part of the plan. Mr. Burke said there was a recommendation which included reviewing the maintenance standards. Current maintenance levels were in line with budget across the board, however in the past, levels were based more on specific location needs. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if basic maintenance meant a park was touched every two weeks and if that was the current level of service. Mr. Burke said parks were mowed once a week during the season and trash was picked up by a contractor twice a week. Staff touched the properties once or twice a week depending on the size of the park. There was not dedicated staff for every park and staff was unable to touch every property every day in order to maintain a high standard. Councilmember Tolmachoff said a discussion was needed regarding the revenue recovery philosophy. She agreed that the park concepts in the draft plan be identified as a concept only. Councilmember Malnar agreed the numbers regarding FTE's needed to be changed to accurately reflect the outsourced services. He asked if the cost for mowing an acre of grass was much less than another city that utilized employees for the same service. The three community centers would allow for more data to be utilized in the master plan. Councilmember Clark agreed with Councilmember Malnar's remarks regarding staffing numbers. The Disparity Report was critical to bringing in low socio-economic groups, who deserved the same access and benefits of the recreation programs. It was time to complete the facilities at Heroes Park to give people in central and western Glendale an opportunity to enjoy the same recreational opportunities. She asked if it was possible to set up a dedicated fund for specific parks. Councilmember Aldama reviewed the analysis from the Disparity Report regarding access to programming at Foothill Recreation and Aquatics Center (FRAC) and the recommendation to consider a sliding scale for membership and program fees at FRAC for residents living below the poverty level. He stressed the need for access for everyone in the City. The report was a roadmap and he looked forward to the outcome from the report. Mayor Weiers said the report provided a clearer view of what needed to be accomplished. Councilmember Tolmachoff voiced support for completing Heroes Park. There needed to be a City Council Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2021 Page 4 of 8 discussion on revenue recovery, especially if the City was to build multiple facilities. Council must look forward to delivering the best indoor and outdoor experience to every resident of Glendale. Ms. Rios said staff recognized the report showed there was a lot of work to do and approximately $500,000 in new funding was requested for parks in the City Manager's budget. The request included FTEs and contract monitoring for some of the vendor contracts. Mayor Weiers said if Council did not fund parks, it was difficult for Mr. Burke to maintain a desired standard. Councilmember Clark said the Master Plan and Disparity Report contained valuable information. 3. PAVEMENT RESTORATION FEE AND PAVEMENT CUT RESTRICTIONS INTRODUCTION Presented by: Trevor Ebersole, Director, Transportation Don Bessler, Chief Capital Improvement Officer Ms. Rabin read the item by title. Mr. Ebersole presented a proposal to Council for a pavement cut ordinance. He requested consensus from Council for authorization to seek input on the draft ordinance from utility companies and stakeholders and then return to Council for adoption. Mr. Bessler provided information on the purpose of the proposed ordinance. Mayor Weiers asked if the restrictions included horizontal drilling if the pavement was not cut. Mr. Ebersole said it was included and displayed a photo regarding challenges with horizontal drilling and excessive cutting. Mayor Weiers asked what if the horizontal drilling did not cut across the road. Mr. Ebersole said it would be allowed if there was no potholing. Councilmember Aldama supported the proposed ordinance. He asked if any other cities had a fee for companies that did not follow the requirement. Mr. Bessler said the fee was a standard feature and was on a sliding scale to de -incentivize a company from coming back for a non -emergency cut within a five-year window. Staff would return to Council with a slate of fees that were representative of the Valley. Councilmember Turner requested that the re -construction standard requirements were consistent with the quality of the street being cut. He asked about notification to the utilities so that the cut would be the utility company's responsibility. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if a notification requirement to residents would be included. Mr. Ebersole said notifications would be a component of the ordinance. Contractors were required to submit traffic control and workload plans to a barricade management team. Mayor Weiers said there was Council consensus to proceed. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2021 Page 5 of 8 4. COUNCIL ITEM OF SPECIAL INTEREST - GLENDALEONE Presented by: Jean Moreno, Director, Commuity Services Amy Handlong, Executive Assistant to the City Manager Ms. Rabin read the item by title. Ms. Moreno said the item was a Council Item of Special Interest for an informational update on the overall performance of GlendaleOne. She presented background information on the new service request system and a history of the old RFS system. Ms. Handlong explained key features of the system, enhancements based on feedback, staff operations, service level expectations, and performance statistics. Over the past year, there had been 19,321 requests and 19,177 requests closed. She presented various request statistics, performance metrics, and proposed future enhancements. Councilmember Tolmachoff had conducted a survey via her district newsletter regarding the new system and the feedback received was positive. She asked about the 'on hold' setting and whether staff received reminders regarding items 'on hold'. Ms. Moreno said when an item was placed 'on hold' the system required entry of a date when the item would be checked again. Departments were responsible for monitoring 'on hold' requests. The system was designed to provide automated prompts so requests were not lost. Councilmember Tolmachoff commented on the increased consistency level with the new system. She asked if there was a different turnaround time on graffiti if it was profane. Ms. Moreno said all of the automated escalations were based on the pre-set service levels. She did not recall a different service level regarding profane graffiti but would follow up with the specific department. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there could be an indicator on a request to denote graffiti was profane and in an area where children might see it. Councilmember Malnar was pleased to see how quickly the program moved forward and was installed. He was impressed with the mobile app and suggested more promotion of it. Councilmember Turner asked about the 'employee entry' items. Ms. Moreno said an employee could enter the request on behalf of the requestor. Councilmember Clark asked if a resident who called in a code complaint and was not satisfied with the resolution was offered a way to respond. Ms. Moreno said it was not a system feature. Staff has discussed a method to gather or survey response satisfaction. The feature was not offered by the vendor, but staff would continue to monitor if the feature became available in the future. Councilmember Clark said feedback was a critical element missing from the program. The way to obtain performance data was to obtain a response from the complainant. Mr. Phelps said the program was ahead of the benchmarks set regarding self -input by the public. One-third of the input was done by the public within the first twelve months. Staff would City Council Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2021 Page 6 of 8 continue to roll out the system and appreciated that Councilmembers took the time to explain the system to citizens. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Phelps said there had been many changes in the City over the past several years. Staff wanted to tell the story of the transformation and presented a promotional branding video. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT No report COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST Councilmember Aldama requested the Economic Development Department begin meeting with Chamber President Robert Heidt to update the current deliverables in the downtown manager contract to include strategic marketing and promoting. Mayor Weiers complimented staff on the promotional video. MOTION AND CALL TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made by Councilmember Bart Turner, seconded by Vice Mayor Ian Hugh 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 Council met in executive session at 3:30 p.m. for: • Discussion regarding appointments and matters relating to various boards, commissions and other bodies pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3)(4) • Discussion and or consultation, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction regarding the evaluation process and performance reviews of the City Attorney and City Clerk pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(1)(4) • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney to receive legal advice, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Manager and City Attorney regarding presumptive cancer pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03 (A)(3) • Discussion/consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with APN# 143-44-025A pursuant to A.R.S. §§ City Council Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2021 Page 7 of 8 38-431.03 (A)(3)(4)(7) A motion was made by Councilmember Ray Malnar, seconded by Vice Mayor Ian Hugh 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 Mayor Weiers adjourned the executive session at 4:27 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 4:27 p.m. 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 13th day of April, 2021. 1 further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 23rd day of April, 2021. 0e K. Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2021 Page 8 of 8