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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 1/11/2022City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 C0� &7 Glendale A R I Z O N A Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 11, 2022 12:30 P.M. Workshop Meeting Council Chambers 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 12:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Absent: Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Bart Turner Also Present: Kevin Phelps, City Manager Michael Bailey, City Attorney Julie K. Bower, City Clerk Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Jamsheed Mehta, Acting Assistant City Manager Councilmember Turner arrived at 12:33 p.m. and Councilmember Malnar arrived at 12:50 p.m. after the roll was called. WORKSHOP SESSION Mayor Weiers said the agenda items would be taken out of order and would be heard in following order: 2, 3, 1, 4 and 5. 1. FIVE-YEAR FORECAST OF THE MAJOR FUNDS Presented by: Lisette Camacho, Director, Budget and Finance Amy Lindsay, Budget Administrator, Budget and Finance Levi Gibson, Assistant Director, Budget and Finance Ms. Bower read the item by title. Ms. Lindsay said the information being presented included: . FY22-23 Budget Overview . Property Tax Levy . Five -Year Financial Forecasts . General Fund *Special Revenue Funds . Enterprise Funds . City Sales Tax Mayor Weiers acknowledged the years shown on the budget calendar displayed 10 years rather than 5 years. Ms. Lindsay said that was correct, the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) was a 10 -year plan. Ms. Lindsay requested Council consensus for the Primary Property Tax Levy to remain flat for FY22-23. City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 2 of 12 Mayor Weiers confirmed consensus. Ms. Lindsay requested Council consensus for the Secondary Property Tax Levy to remain flat for FY22-23. Councilmember Malnar asked as property values increased, would that equate to a tax increase. Ms. Lindsay explained as property values increased, because of the flat levy, the tax actually decreased. Ms. Camacho explained revenues generated by the primary and secondary tax remained about the same, but the tax rate went down. Mayor Weiers confirmed consensus to keep the Secondary Property Tax Levy flat. Councilmember Clark asked if it was safe to assume that state -shared sales tax and income tax would decrease in future years. Ms. Camacho said conservative growth was assumed for state -shared sales tax. State -shared income tax was forecasted to decrease in revenues collected due to the pandemic. Councilmember Turner asked if the $3 million for the Super Bowl was in addition to the $1 million set aside in the current fiscal year and if there were revenue projections for the Super Bowl. Ms. Camacho said $1 million was set aside but as the funds were drawn, it would equal $3 million. A conservative approach was being taken regarding revenue. The projected revenues for mega events were equal to expenditures so the net impact was zero. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the $48 million for pavement management was sufficient for the next five years. Ms. Lindsay said the pavement management program was funded by Highway User Revenue Funds (HURF) and Transportation Sales Tax. The $22 million within HURF was in addition to the $48 million within the Transportation Sales Tax, which would exceed the Council -approved plan. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if surplus Public Safety Sales Tax went into the General Fund. Ms. Camacho said it went into the General Fund but was used to fund police and fire expenditures. Councilmember Clark requested additional information on the financial policies within the enterprise funds. She asked if the fund balance in FY25-26 tied into changing the philosophy for the fund balances. Ms. Camacho said the metrics would not change. It was still 50% of operating expenses and the recommendation was to begin using fund balance which aligned with the other funds. Councilmember Clark asked how the ending fund balance changed using the two different formulas. City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 3 of 12 Ms. Camacho provided information on how the ending fund balance and working capital was calculated. Councilmember Clark asked for clarification on the recommendation. Ms. Camacho said the recommendation was to use the fund balance model, which was displayed on slide 31 of the presentation. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked for clarification on the water and sewer contingency. Mr. Gibson said the difference in the amount of contingency was in hopes that inflation would decrease within the next two fiscal years. Ms. Camacho requested Council consensus to move forward with changing the financial targets from working capital to fund balance. Mayor Weiers confirmed consensus to move forward. Councilmember Tolmachoff said it was important to discuss removing the food tax over time because it might not be allowed in the future. Councilmember Malnar agreed with an incremental decrease of the food tax. A portion of it was a voter -approved amount and he supported discussing it further. Councilmember Turner was more inclined to reduce the retail sales tax rather than the food tax. Mayor Weiers reminded Council that property taxes had not been raised for the past several years, which essentially kept the sales tax low. He was willing to discuss it at a future workshop. Councilmember Clark favored holding a future discussion and recalled requesting a sunset on the retail sales tax. Councilmember Turner referenced slide 37 and asked if the retail sales tax rate of items less than $5,000 was lowered to 2.8%, would it impact future tax revenue by $2,986,864 each year. Ms. Camacho said that was correct. Mr. Phelps said if the sales tax was reduced by .10%, the five-year forecast would be adjusted and would impact the overall budget. Staffs recommendation was to begin an aggressive period of park, facility and road improvements in addition to future discussion on the sales tax rate. Councilmember Clark said with a conservative forecast of growth projected year-to-year, reducing the sales tax could be offset by the anticipated growth rate and might not equal a loss of $18 million. Councilmember Tolmachoff favored leaving the discussion open as part of the budget process. 2. AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA) Presented by: Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Lisette Camacho, Director, Budget and Finance Levi Gibson, Assistant Director, Budget and Finance City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 4 of 12 Ms. Bower read the item by title. Councilmember Aldama requested the addition of a monetary stipend for front-line public safety employees to the discussion of the ARPA funds. Mr. Phelps said the City was in active negotiations with public safety personnel and he did not recommend negotiating a labor contract during the meeting. He suggested setting aside a specific amount of the ARPA funds to be allocated at a later time. Ms. Camacho provided an overview of the ARPA presentation which included: . ARPA Background . ARPA Strategy . Council consensus from Sept. 28 workshop . Updated cost estimates . Next Steps Councilmember Clark asked what the ineligible uses were for ARPA funds. Ms. Camacho said the funds could not be used for making up lost revenues from a direct or indirect tax cut, payments into a pension fund to reduce unfunded liability, funding debt service, legal settlements or judgments or for deposit into rainy day funds or financial reserves. Councilmember Clark asked what payroll costs for staff responding to COVID-19 meant. Ms. Camacho said it was payroll costs for public safety employees responding to calls related to COVID-19. Mayor Weiers asked if it included overtime costs for employees covering shifts due to sickness. Ms. Camacho said it was for the direct responses to COVID. Councilmember Clark asked if the funds could be considered a bonus, since it was for work responding to COVID-related calls. Ms. Camacho said it was for salaries or overtime worked. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the health and safety capital investments in public facilities funds applied to COVID-related issues or items linked to presumptive cancer cases. Ms. Camacho said it did not apply to presumptive cancer cases and the the investment was toward public facility configurations to address a future pandemic. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if better ventilation in bays and fire stations was an eligible expense for ARPA funds. Ms. Camacho said heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) improvements, such as high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtering, could qualify. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what the $4.2 million for Camelback Ranch was related to. Ms. Camacho said it would be used for budgeted Camelback Ranch capital improvements for fiscal years (FY) 2022, 2023 and 2024, equaling $1.7 million each year. City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 5 of 12 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the funds were in addition to the allocated funds or in place of the allocated funds. Ms. Camacho said it would free up the General Fund allocation to fund one-time capital projects. Councilmember Turner asked if the improvements at Camelback Ranch had to be COVID-related. Mr. Phelps said facilities used by the general public had flexibility in the applicability of the funds. Councilmember Turner asked if funds were available to address the negative economic impact due to spring training being cancelled and if the funds could also be used for the arena. Ms. Camacho said both would be allowed. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there was a hire date to determine eligibility for the premium pay to all employees. Mr. Phelps said staff wanted to be sure the Council was in favor of using the funds for premium pay. Eligibility requirements and implementation had not been discussed. Councilmember Tolmachoff supported a higher amount of premium pay for public safety employees. Councilmember Aldama favored the strategy for premium pay and restated his support of an additional monetary amount for front line public safety employees. Councilmember Clark asked if the $1.3 million for payroll costs for staff responding to COVID-19 addressed the additional premium pay for public safety employees. Ms. Camacho explained the $1.3 million supplemented budgeted salaries and overtime. Councilmember Tolmachoff was in favor of discussing additional premium pay for public safety employees. Councilmember Clark asked if the ARPA funds could be used to move some projects forward. Mr. Phelps said based on Council direction, staff prioritized the downtown campus and would present a plan on how to utilize leftover ARPA funds of approximately $21.2 million for the project. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there was consensus to discuss using ARPA funds to pay back $13 million to the Water Services fund for the loan used for the National Hockey League (NHL). Councilmember Turner was interested in continuing the discussion regarding paying back the Water Services fund. Mayor Weiers said there was not consensus to continue the discussion. Councilmember Aldama provided justification for the additional premium pay for public safety. City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 6 of 12 Mr. Phelps said the City was negotiating a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with public safety employees and Council would be briefed with recommendations. The amount negotiated for premium pay would be included. Councilmember Aldama asked if the discussion among the Council could continue separate from MOU negotiations. Mr. Bailey said it was not appropriate to continue the public safety discussion. 3. DOWNTOWN CAMPUS REINVESTMENT PROJECT Presented by: Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Lisette Camacho, Director, Budget and Finance Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Phelps said the presentation focused on the financing model that would be used to finance the Downtown Campus Project. If Council consensus was provided, the next step would be design contracts for Council approval and design discussions could begin. Ms. Camacho provided information on the following: . Components . City Hall Project Funding *Continuity of Operations . Building Funding Councilmember Malnar asked how the project would impact future taxes. Ms. Camacho said the City had capacity to issue general obligation (G.O.) bonds within the existing voter authorization and the tax levy would not be raised. Mr. Phelps said the facility could be addressed without issuing new debt. Councilmember Tolmachoff requested the information be included in the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) so that all projects awaiting funding could be reviewed. Mr. Phelps said no project presented in last year's CIP would be pushed out further, rather many projects would be accelerated. Councilmember Aldama supported the Downtown Campus Project and supported staff for its efforts to modernize City Hall. Councilmember Tolmachoff supported the project but wanted information on the project to be included in the CIP figures. Ms. Rios said funds were already allocated through the CIP to some areas of the downtown campus and the amounts were moved forward to complete the project sooner than originally planned in the CIP. Councilmember Tolmachoff did not recall $9 million for City Hall in the CIP. Ms. Camacho said the $9 million was accelerated forward. City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 7 of 12 Councilmember Tolmachoff wanted to see what projects or funds were being moved to accelerate the Downtown Campus Project. Councilmember Clark was comfortable moving forward because Council had authority over the CIP. Mr. Phelps said Council consensus was needed to authorize staff to move forward with a request for proposals (RFP) and get other parts of the process in motion. He recommended setting a budget framework range to begin hiring consultants and holding CIP discussions. Council had full authority over the project. Councilmember Turner wanted to know how the project's financial proposal impacted the "yellow sheet". He did not support using the proposed financial plan due to the amount of General Fund money used to accelerate the project, especially not knowing where else General Funds could be used. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if project figures could be easily identified within the "yellow sheet". Ms. Rios said it could and said there were no CIP projects being reduced or eliminated, only shifts in timing and funding sources. Mr. Phelps said the proposed funding created an additional $21.2 million, which came from new resources over and above what was already within the CIP. Councilmember Aldama supported the proposal as it was presented. Councilmember Malnar supported moving forward. He understood the discussion was preliminary to moving the project forward and agreed the figures should be within the CIP. Vice Mayor Hugh expressed his support to move the project forward quickly. Councilmember Tolmachoff was unsure where the $22 million of G.O. bond funds was allocated and would like the information. Councilmember Clark supported the project and funding proposals presented. Mayor Weiers supported staffs recommendations and looked forward to future discussions. He said there was consensus to move forward. 4. COUNCIL ITEM OF SPECIAL INTEREST AMENDING CITY CODE TO ADD THE BANNING OF FEEDING PIGEONS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY Presented by: Rick St. John, Deputy City Manager Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. St. John said the item, banning the feeding of pigeons on private property, was requested by Councilmember Malnar. He requested Council consensus to amend City Code 25-24 Q) to include the banning of feeding pigeons on private property. Mayor Weiers asked how it would be determined if a pigeon was a pet or a racing pigeon. City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 8 of 12 Mr. St. John recommended the inclusion of language that would exclude pigeons kept as pets or a hobby, as a violation. Mayor Weiers confirmed a violation required three witnesses. Mr. St. John said that was correct. Councilmember Malnar asked if the amendment would exclude individuals who fed all types of birds, including pigeons. Mr. St. John recommended language that allowed the feeding of birds but not the intentional feeding of pigeons. Councilmember Malnar said Council had received comments from a constituent regarding the problems associated with the feeding of birds on private property. He asked if stronger language was necessary regarding the feeding of other birds, to deter an unhealthy situation. Mr. St. John said the issue could be addressed by the City Code if it related to health and safety. Enforcement would be difficult and proving a violation in court could be difficult. Mayor Weiers read aloud the constituent comment received regarding bird droppings. He requested the review of similar ordinances from neighboring cities before a decision was made. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the constituent's concern could be addressed by adding language to the nuisance code. Mr. St. John said language specific to prohibiting activities which brought wildlife onto private property could be added to the nuisance code. Councilmember Aldama asked if the language was a tool that would be used regularly for enforcement. Mr. St. John said few complaints had been received. He said other cities with similar language found it difficult to enforce. Councilmember Malnar agreed with Councilmember Tolmachoffs suggestion to address the issue as a nuisance. Councilmember Clark said the proposed language was unrealistic for enforcement. Councilmember Turner favored moving forward with the purposed language. Mayor Weiers said there was not a consensus to move forward with the purposed language but said there was consensus to return the item to a future workshop for further discussion. 5. COUNCIL DISCUSSION REGARDING SELECTION OF A VICE MAYOR Presented by: Brent Stoddard, Deputy City Manager City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 9 of 12 Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Stoddard said the City Charter required Council to appoint from its membership, one person to serve a one—year term as Vice Mayor at the first workshop meeting in January of each year. The item was on the agenda for tonight's voting meeting. Vice Mayor Hugh intended to nominate Councilmember Aldama at the voting meeting. Mayor Weiers thanked Vice Mayor Hugh for his service as Vice Mayor. Councilmember Clark intended to nominate Councilmember Tolmachoff at the voting meeting. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Phelps said on January 4, 2022, 44% of Solid Waste drivers were out due to illness and a collaboration of departments worked to collect City refuse without interruption to customers. Mr. Phelps said it was uncertain whether spring training would begin on February 26, 2022, due to the lockout by Major League Baseball (MLB). He felt it was important for the MLB to be more involved with the Cactus League and address the negative impact to local businesses because of the lockout. He anticipated some or all of the spring training season would be canceled. CITY ATTORNEY'S REPORT No report COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST Councilmember Tolmachoff requested to review the City of Scottsdale's ordinance regarding short term rentals and possibly creating a similar ordinance. Councilmember Turner requested that staff conduct a feasibility study on the purposed improvements to the amphitheater. The information should include a business plan to outline the various types of events that could take place. 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 exeuctive 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 City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 10 of 12 EXECUTIVE SESSION Council met in executive session at 3:18 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/consultation of personnel matters regarding Glendale's Municipal Court pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 38-431.03 (A)(1)(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 pending or contemplated litigation, or in settlement discussions conducted in order to avoid or resolve litigation re: Johnson Family Partnership pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03 (A)(3)(4) . Discussion/consultation regarding appointment of vice mayor position pursuant to A.R.S. §§38-431.03 (A)(1)(3) . Discussion and consultation with the City Attorney and City Manager to receive an update, consider its position and provide instruction and direction to the City Attorney and City Manager regarding Glendale's position in connection with agreements associated with the Arena and the Hockey Team pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3)(4)(7) A motion was made by Councilmember Ray Malnar, seconded by Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff 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 5:15 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 5:15 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 11th day of January, 2022. 1 further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 19th day of January, 2022. City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 11 of 12 40ft"K. Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes - January 11, 2022 Page 12 of 12