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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/6/2021City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 -10� dow C&7 Glendale A R I Z O N A Meeting Minutes Tuesday, April 6, 2021 9:00 A.M. Budget Workshop Meeting Civic Center City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiers called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.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 Julie K. Bower, City Clerk Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Jack Friedline, Assistant City Manager WORKSHOP SESSION FY2021-22 BUDGET WORKSHOP Presented by: Lisette Camacho, Director, Budget and Finance Amy Lindsay, Budget Administrator, Budget and Finance Ms. Bower read the item by title. Ms. Camacho said the following departments would provide presentations: • City Court • Engineering • Budget & Finance • Non -Departmental • Transportation • City Manager's Office • Code Compliance • Field Operations • City Clerk • Human Resources • Innovation and Technology • Community Services Mr. Phelps reviewed the following areas: Sustainability; Public Safety; Project Delivery; Economic Development; Neighborhoods and Strategic Planning. He also shared budget highlights. Presiding Judge Nicholas DiPiazza presented the City Court's operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. There were no supplemental requests for the City Court. Councilmember Clark requested an explanation on the performance measures for City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 2 of 13 warrants issued, warrants quashed, and estimated cost avoidance between the FY2021 Estimate and the FY2022 Projected. Judge DiPiazza said the numbers were affected by COVID. The Court experienced a much higher number of failures to appear, and many were COVID-related. The expectation for the upcoming year was that warrants would be reduced, and appearances would improve. The Court was using innovative solutions to improve court appearances by texting customers with reminders of upcoming appearance dates. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked for clarification regarding the special courts mentioned in the presentation. Judge DiPiazza said the Mental Health Court would continue with a change. It would accept input from the Prosecutors Office as to who would be admitted. There were people in the Mental Health Court who did not belong there and should be in other venues such as a Veteran's Court. The court was moving from a treatment model to a judicial monitoring model. Mayor Weiers asked for an explanation of how a Veteran's Court would work. Judge DiPiazza reviewed model options and said a full presentation would be made at a workshop. Don Bessler, Chief Capital Improvement Officer, presented the Engineering Department's operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. The department's FY2022 supplemental requests included: • General Fund New FTE — Principal Engineer (Architect) $138,641 • New FTE — Director of Engineering Services $190,180 • Temporary Contract Analyst $54,000 • Contract Temporary Position — CIP Project Manager $117,243 • Temp Contract Positions - Inspectors (2) $145,600 • Engineering Associate Program $39,500 Mayor Weiers said, regarding the Temporary Contract Analyst position, a full-time position would be beneficial. Mr. Bessler said the department wanted to ease into it to prove the workload was there and to work with the Finance Department to see if there was an overlap. If things went as expected, a full-time position would be requested next year. Councilmember Aldama asked why the Contract Temporary Position - CIP Project Manager was only a part-time position. He asked the number of project mangers on staff and why it was only a part-time position being requested. Mr. Bessler said the department had four project managers and the request was for a full-time position. Councilmember Aldama said the Engineering Associate Program was a great idea. He asked the City Manager if the program should be organization -wide and not just for the Engineering Department. Mr. Phelps said staff would continue to look at other opportunities especially in the City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 3 of 13 technical areas. It was a challenge for governmental organizations to continue to develop people internally for better leadership roles. Councilmember Tolmachoff said the 7 -day invoice processing made the City very competitive and asked if Glendale was the only City doing it. Mr. Bessler the City was the only one measuring it and taking it seriously. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what the City was doing to assure its projects were completed on time. Mr. Bessler said that project charter was the pivotal moment to sit down with other departments to identify supply demand, pre -order and pay attention to detail. Mr. Phelps said each department played its role to help deliver a project on time. Each department laid out a plan with continual discussion. It was integrated and designed to deliver on time. Lisette Camacho, Budget and Finance Director, presented the Budget and Finance Department's operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. The department's FY2022 supplemental requests included: • General Fund New FTE — Principal Engineer (Architect) $138,641 • New FTE — Director of Engineering Services $190,180 • Temporary Contract Analyst $54,000 • Contract Temporary Position — CIP Project Manager $117,243 • Temp Contract Positions - Inspectors (2) $145,600 • Engineering Associate Program $39,500 Councilmember Aldama recognized and acknowledged Ms. Camacho and her team for the excellent work. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked Ms. Camacho if there was adequate staffing for the collection of delinquent accounts. Ms. Camacho said there were various collection and debt offset programs such as site visits, garnishment of tax returns, and a lien process. Staff was reviewing the volume of delinquent accounts. At the present time, there was adequate staff. Councilmember Clark asked if there was an employee dedicated to rental property collections. Ms. Camacho said all collection staff was trained to process various types of collections. Councilmember Clark asked to schedule a meeting regarding internal service charges. She wanted to know what comprised internal service charges and how the charges were calculated. Ms. Camacho briefly described that internal service charges. Ms. Camacho presented the Non -Departmental Department's operating budget. The department's FY2022 supplemental requests included: • General Fund AZSTA Sales Tax Rebate $495,594 City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 4 of 13 • Unemployment Insurance Increase $100,000 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked where the transfer to the Enterprise Fund was noted. Ms. Camacho said the transfer to the Enterprise Fund was recorded as a transfer out of the General Fund into the Enterprise Fund and recorded in the department. Councilmember Tolmachoff requested the amount being transferred as well as the balance and interest rate. Ms. Lindsey provided the information. Councilmember Clark wanted to know where the Sales Tax Rebate was listed in prior years. Ms. Camacho said it had always been in the Non -Departmental budget. Trevor Ebersol, Transportation Department Director, presented the Transportation Department's operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. The department's FY2022 supplemental requests included: • Highway User Revenue Fund • New FTE and Truck - Barricade Program $112,351 • Pole Painting Program $60,000 • Utility Cut Program $90,000 • Illegal Dumping Mitigation Team (Equipment) $180,000 • Transportation Sales Tax • Regional ADA $360,000 • New FTE - Airport Service Worker $57,108 Councilmember Clark said the Flashing Yellow Arrow Installation Program indicated intersections at 45 locations. She asked if 45 was the total number located in the City or just the updated number. Mr. Ebersole said 45 signalized intersection locations had been programmed. Grant funding was projected for additional intersections to be programmed and the target was 48 by the end of FY22. He said there would be a total of 202 intersections by the end of 2022. Councilmember Clark asked if the City intended to have all 202 intersections programed with flashing yellow arrows. Mr. Ebersol said it was not the intent. Staff wanted to focus on major intersections. The flashing yellow arrows had been very successful and were widely used nationwide. It was feasible for all intersections to have flashing yellow arrows. Mayor Weiers asked if the yellow arrows were not at double left turn lanes. Mr. Ebersole said that had changed and there were dual left turn lanes that were successfully running the yellow arrows. Councilmember Clark asked how long it would take to replace all the street signs at the current rate listed. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 5 of 13 Mr. Ebersole said it applied specifically to illuminated street name signs. The focus was on major intersections. Councilmember Malnar asked if there had been an increase or decrease in ridership for both the City's and Valley Metro's transportation systems because of COVID. Mr. Ebersole said there had been a 50% reduction in the City's fixed routes, GUS, and Dial -a -Ride programs. Ridership was now on the rise for all programs. Councilmember Malnar asked if the City had plans for expansion of any transportation services and when it was expected to return to normal. Mr. Ebersole said there had been a steady increase and staff was always seeking improvement. In the 10 -year CIP program services would be brought back that were reduced years ago. Staff was exploring what transit would look like in the next 10 years with autonomous vehicles, connected vehicles, and smaller transit supplies. Councilmember Aldama thanked staff for the rights-of-way enhancements. He asked if the department had enough fulltime positions to operate the new equipment being requested. Mr. Ebersole said two fulltime employees would operate the equipment being requested. The department was working with Field Operations on the supplemental request. Councilmember Turner said anything that could be done to promote telecommuting would reduce the cost of wear and tear on City streets by 10 to 20 %. Amy Handlong, Executive Assistant and Richard St. John, Deputy City Manager, presented the City Manager's Office operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. There were no supplemental requests. Councilmember Aldama asked if there were enough fulltime inspector positions and if more positions would be requested. Mr. St. John was working with Organizational Performance to look at the responsibilities of inspectors and senior inspectors to determine caseload, responses, and administrative time. Once the review was completed, he would have a better idea of the number of positions required. Councilmember Aldama asked how much weekend work was being done. Mr. St. John said it had been postponed due to COVID, but staff was looking to restart with a seven-day coverage schedule. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if funds should be allocated in case additional positions were needed. Mr. St. John would need two full quarters to determine if additional positions would be needed. Mr. Phelps said there were contingency funds available if needed. Councilmember Clark was in full support of enhancing code enforcement. She asked City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 6 of 13 what the difference in duties were between a senior inspector and an inspector. Mr. St. John said a senior inspector required a higher degree of knowledge. Councilmember Turner said the pre -notification letter process was beneficial. He suggested the use of volunteers for signage and yard sales. Councilmember Aldama asked if there was a way to increase the ability to submit code cases online. Mr. St. John said it was something staff was planning to enhance. Michelle Woytenko, Field Operations Director, presented the Field Operation Department's operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. The department's FY2022 supplemental requests included: General Fund • New FTE — CIP Project Manager $120,283 • New FTE — Trades Worker, HVAC $92,960 • New FTE — Trades Worker, Plumber $92,960 • Citywide Key Control Program $70,000 • Position Reclass Supervisor to Administrator $9,453 • Ongoing Vehicle O&M for CIP Project Managers $5,000 Vehicle Replacement Fund • Vehicle — Trades Worker, Plumber $50,267 • Vehicle —Trades Worker, HVAC $39,376 • Vehicle — CIP Project Manager $29,036 • Vehicle — CIP Project Manager $29,036 GRPSTC • Building Maintenance Services (Ongoing) $50,000 • Video access control for gates (One -Time) $25,000 Landfill • Attorney Services $350,000 • Increase in Funding — 3rd Party Temp Workers $85,000 • Increase in Overtime Budget $39,843 • Increase Budget for Credit Card Fees $38,500 • Contract Labor Funding $32,000 • Contractual Services — Custodial $19,100 Solid Waste • Landfill Charges — Curb Service $85,000 • Truck Washing Services for Solid Waste Fleet $51,000 • Shop Charges — Solid Waste $320,000 • New FTE - Equipment Operator — Street Sweeper $110,504 • New FTE - Equipment Operator — Curb Service $531,117 • Illegal Dumping Mitigation Team $63,108 Fleet Services • VRF Totaled Vehicle Replacement $250,000 City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 7 of 13 • Professional Contractual $50,000 • Software Maintenance $16,000 • GPS $30,240 • New Tires $45,000 • Tire Capping $27,000 • Fleet/Parts Store Operations -Vehicle Supplies $15,000 Councilmember Clark requested further explanation on the CIP Project Manager being requested by Field Ops and the one being requested by the Engineering Department. Ms. Woytenko said it was the same position and would have the same responsibilities. The positions would work together collaboratively to build the capacity between the two departments to ensure project delivery. Councilmember Aldama was supportive of the positions. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the positions would prevent the cost of missing a step. Ms. Woytenko said that was correct. It would ensure steps were not missed and delivery of top-quality projects. Mayor Weiers said the increase in landfill was probably a result of people being stuck at home and doing home projects. He asked if activity had decreased now that people were going back to work and school. Ms. Woytenko said there was still an increase in landfill and bulk trash and a decrease in curb service. Mayor Weiers asked if the flat fee was still the same. Ms. Woytenko said the flat fee was still the same. Staff would be coming to Council later this fiscal year to discuss the fee. Councilmember Aldama was supportive of the street sweeper position. Councilmember Tolmachoff said a monopole had been moved to the back of Fire Station 156 without resident notification. The design guidelines stated that trees with tall canopies should be planted to screen the view. She asked that funds be allocated for screening. Julie Bower, City Clerk, presented the City Clerk's Office operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. There were no supplemental requests for FY2022. Mayor Weiers complimented Ms. Bower on the good work done by the Clerk's Office. James Brown, Human Resources and Risk Management Director, presented the Human Resources Department's operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. The department's FY2022 supplemental requests included: General Fund City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 8 of 13 • Tuition Reimbursement Program $150,000 • Citywide Incentive Program $100,000 • Legal Fees for PSPRS Board $24,000 • Training & Development $20,000 Risk Management Trust Fund • Risk Management Trust Fund $1,962,500 • Employers Council Membership $15,000 Worker's Compensation Trust Fund • Worker's Compensation Trust Fund $1,600,000 Benefits Trust Fund • Benefits Trust Fund Increases $334,895 • EAP/Traumatic Event Counseling Services $80,828 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked the amount of cost increase to employees for benefits. Mr. Brown said there was an overall 5% increase. The EPO plan was 6%, PPO was 4%, and the high deductible plan was 2%. Councilmember Clark said that COVID-related activities must have taken a lot of time and asked what fell by the wayside that the department planned on resuming in the upcoming fiscal year. Mr. Brown said training and development for employees. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how the incentive program worked and would it allow for a 4% increase to an employee. Mr. Brown said the incentive program would recognize employees who went above and beyond the expected duties. It would be a one-time bonus. Mr. Phelps said there were also incentives that allowed employees to earn a slight decrease to the employee share of premiums. A market study would be conducted in the next budget year Councilmember Clark asked if the turnover rate included retirees. Mr. Brown said it included all reasons for non -represented employees. Councilmember Clark asked what kind of training and development would be possible with the $20,000 funding. Mr. Brown said the amount would be added to existing funding. The City would be developing its own curriculums that utilized employees. Councilmember Malnar supported the incentive program. Councilmember Turner asked if the proposed cost of living adjustment (COLA) was 1 % and the merit pay was 1.5%, the maximum increase under normal circumstances was 2.5%. He was concerned that the City might not be able to stay competitive. He City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 9 of 13 recommended using a 1.3% COLA. Mayor Weiers asked where in the City stood as far as pay compared to other cities. Mr. Brown said that in the last comp and class study, depending on the position, the City was in the middle of the pay ranges. Councilmember Tolmachoff had concerns that the City's COLA increase was lower than the Social Security Administration's 1.3%. The City should at least keep up. Vice -Mayor Hugh asked what benefits were provided to employees, how many sick days an employee could accumulate annually and the maximum amount of vacation time. Mr. Brown said it was a big list that included medical, dental, vision, life and a 12% match for ASRS. Employees could accrue 400 hours of vacation leave and there was no cap on sick leave accrual. Mayor Weiers said percentages needed to be compared evenly. If the City was in the middle of competing cities, there were overall benefits of being a City employee. Councilmember Aldama supported the incentive program. The City was a great employer with great benefits. Councilmember Tolmachoff said the increase should be achievable for all. Councilmember Turner wanted comparative rates that were offered to represented and non -represented employees. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the Council would be willing to request an estimate for a 4% increase. Mr. Phelps said there could be further discussion at the next meeting Feroz Merchhiya, Chief Information Office, presented the Innovation and Technology Department's operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. The department's FY2022 supplemental requests included: Technology Fund • Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) $20,000 • Software Maintenance $189,000 • Conversion of Desktops to Laptops $70,600 • Cloud Services $25,000 •Subscription to Gartner Advisory Services $65,700 • New FTE — Senior Systems Analyst $173,298 • New FTE — Enterprise GIS Administrator $188,426 • New FTE — IT Project Manager $156,317 • IT Temporary Staffing $55,000 FY21-22 IT Projects $739,500 • Technology Enabled Conference Rooms $10,000 • Case Management for ER & FMLA $62,500 • Employee Notification System $94,000 City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 10 of 13 • Data Lake Project $300,000 • Mobile Device Management $20,000 • NEOGOV (Perform, Learn) $128,000 • Resilience and Disaster Recovery Assessment $50,000 • Cyber Security Review Assessment $75,000 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if Gartner was an annual subscription and if it made software recommendations. Mr. Merchhiya said the answer to both questions was yes. Councilmember Clark asked for examples of the projects. She did not want to know what the industry standard was but what the City needed. Mr. Merchhiya provided information for upcoming high, medium, and low complexity projects such as: • Case management system for FMLA and employee relations was a medium complexity • Employee notification system was a high complex project with a large deployment • Data Lake involving all City systems and technology was high • Mobile device management was high • NEOGOV was existing and the introduction of performance and learning modules was medium. • Security camera system had a high and large complexity Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if another department had a GIS Administrator and if so, would the other positions work collaboratively with his. Mr. Merchhiya said it was a new role and he was building a core GIS technical team. There would be GIS resources in each department which would follow the same format on how technology was leveled. It would devise the overall strategy on how the investment in GIS was utilized across the entire organization. Councilmember Clark said the City had a current notification system and asked if the proposed project would be an update or upgrade. Mr. Merchhiya said the current system was limited in capacity to one channel. The new system would have a multi -channel capability and the reach and access would be much broader. Ms. Rios clarified the current system was email based. The new system would be multi -channel so when one channel was down another would be available. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the Data Lake would be integrated with what the City already had. Mr. Merchhiya said it was a repository and would allow data to be brought in from other sources. Councilmember Clark asked how technology -enabled conference rooms were considered a critical need that needed to be met through a supplemental. Ms. Rios said all the projects were vetted through an IT Steering Committee. It was a City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 11 of 13 pilot program that an outside vendor would install and maintain. It was considered a critical need. Councilmember Clark asked if mobile device management was a critical need. Ms. Rios said that all the requests came through the committee and were deemed critical needs. Councilmember Clark respectfully disagreed. Councilmember Malnar said the IT presentation was very good. He understood what was required in IT and appreciated the expertise Mr. Merchhiya provided. He supported all the recommendations. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the Cyber Security Review Assessment was an annual subscription. Mr. Merchhiya said it was not a subscription but an assessment that needed to be performed annually. Vigilance and awareness of the environment was key to detect and create solutions and defenses. Councilmember Tolmachoff was in support. Jean Moreno, Community Services Director, presented the Community Services Department's operating budget, goals, objectives, performance measures, and accomplishments. The department's FY2022 supplemental requests included: General Fund • Community Action Program Alignment $30,000 CDBG Request • Community Revitalization CDBG-CV3 Grant $2,044,841 • Community Revitalization CDBG-CV1 Grant $1,165,874 • FY21-22 IT Project — Grant/Case Management System $290,000 CAP Grant • US Treasury Emergency Rental Assistance Grant ERAP $7,678,834 • Utility/Rent Assistance Voucher Funds $1,697,525 • Utility/Rent Assistance Voucher Funds CARES $584,960 • Administrative Funding $166,983 • New FTE - Program Coordinator $86,059 • New FTE - Program Coordinator $86,059 • New FTE - Intake Position $47,277 Emergency Shelter Grant • Community Revitalization ESG-CV2 Grant $2,997,188 • Community Revitalization ESG-CV1 Grant $749,455 Councilmember Clark said that federal grants allowed for administrative cost to be paid out of the grant. She asked what the cap or percentage was. Ms. Moreno said it varied and depended on where the funding was coming from but was roughly 20%. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 12 of 13 Councilmember Clark asked if the new staffing model would bring it over the 20%. Ms. Moreno said the staffing model was built pre-COVID and the purpose was to ensure the department could sustain the programs and staff. Councilmember Clark asked about the request to move the funding source away from the federally -funded grants and into the General fund. Ms. Moreno clarified that the staffing model allowed the department to fully leverage the administrative funding to add staff. By moving the non -direct service positions to the General Fund, it allowed the use of administrative funds to fully pay for the direct service positions to continue to expand the programs to provide case management. Councilmember Clark said if it could not be done within the federal funding allocations without shifting it over to the General Fund, she was not in support. Ms. Rios said the impact to the General Fund would be minimal. Mayor Weiers asked if the other three libraries were going to move to the same model as the Heroes library and would there be savings. Ms. Moreno said the savings would be in benefits. Councilmember Turner acknowledged the good work Ms. Moreno was doing. Councilmember Aldama asked about the library hours. Ms. Moreno said staff was working on changing the library hours and would provide information in the future. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 3:19 p.m. I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Glendale City Council of Glendale, Arizona, held on the 6th day of April, 2021. 1 further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 29th day of April, 2021. J lig 4<. Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2021 Page 13 of 13