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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/4/2023City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 CP% IIS7 Glendale A R I Z O N A Meeting Minutes Tuesday, April 4, 2023 9:00 A.M. Budget Workshop Meeting Council Chambers City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Jamie Aidama Councilmember Ian Hugh Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiers called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Jamie Aldama Councilmember Ian Hugh Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Also Present: Kevin Phelps, City Manager Michael Bailey, City Attorney Julie K. Bower, City Clerk WORKSHOP SESSION 1. FY2023-24 BUDGET WORKSHOP Presented by: Levi D. Gibson, Director, Budget and Finance Amy Lindsay, Budget Administrator, Budget and Finance Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Gibson presented the following budget highlights: . FY23-24 Summary of Personnel Changes . FY23-24 Operating Budget — Total Operating Budget and General Fund Operating Budget *Supplemental Requests— Recommended and Not Recommended *Operating Budget by Organization . Departmental Budgets Mr. Phelps provided an overview of how the budget was put together, including the impact of economic conditions. Nearly half of the budget increase was driven by inflation. Council's main budget priorities of public safety; business development; organizational structure; parks and neighborhoods; libraries; innovation and technology; and asset management were taken into account. Councilmember Turner asked if the Civic Center would move over to Economic Development. Mr. Phelps said the Civic Center would stay where it was currently. Councilmember Tolmachoff recalled smart irrigation was supposed to manage the irrigation system better. Mr. Phelps said as irrigation was replaced, smart technology would be used. The proposed two irrigation technicians would manage the replacement of the underground irrigation. Vice Mayor Clark asked about the increase in the total operating budget of $38.5 million. She asked how much of the $38.5 million was ongoing versus one-time revenues and expenses. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 2 of 18 Ms. Rios said a more detailed presentation would be given on April 18, 2023. Councilmember Aldama asked for the number of new contracts to justify the new contract monitor position. Mr. Phelps would provide the information as a follow up. Ms. Lindsay presented the following: . FY24 Proposed Full-time Employee (FTE) Additions . FY23-24 Operating Budget by Fund . FY23-24 Operating Budget by Function Vice Mayor Clark requested an estimated total value increase to the budget with the addition of 43 positions to the General Fund. Ms. Lindsay did not have the information but would provide the information as a follow up. Vice Mayor Clark asked what the total number of employees would be, including the proposed increase. Ms. Lindsay said the total was 2,015.25, with the additional 64.5 FTE. Vice Mayor Clark asked for clarification on the discrepancy between the $42 million versus $38 million totals. Ms. Rios said the difference was the arena management fee. Desaree Herrera, Contract Administrator, presented the budget for the City Attorney's Office. There were no supplemental requests. Vice Mayor Clark asked for clarification on optimized processes and services for the City Attorney's Office. Mr. Bailey said it was a forward -thinking statement in that there were opportunities for change and growth. He highlighted the impact on the Prosecutor's Office and Court from a software change in the Police Department. Vice Mayor Clark asked how Code violations fit into the Prosecutor's Office's performance measures. Mr. Bailey said the majority of Code Enforcement was civil, not criminal. Vice Mayor Clark said Council would want to know how many Code cases were prosecuted and how many were adjudicated. Mr. Bailey said the information could be provided at Council's request. Vice Mayor Clark said statistics for other types of lawsuits were not included in the measurements but were important to know. Mr. Bailey said the information was reported to Council as it became available, but staff could prepare a final report. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 3 of 18 Vice Mayor Clark asked for a complete picture of the activities conducted in the City Attorney's Office. Mr. Bailey added the information was generally provided during his annual review due to confidential information. Ms. Rios said the optimized processes were the objectives of the Tier 1 Balanced Scorecard. Staff was asked to tie the measures to a strategic objective of the Balanced Scorecard. Vice Mayor Clark would be requesting additional information from departments on how the objective was met. Mr. Bailey said the City Attorney's Office was an internal service function that met the needs of its clients. The most important focus was to be responsive and attentive to the client's needs and to help resolve and navigate legal issues. Vice Mayor Clark did not see how attending meetings and hearings as an initiative, would achieve the goal of optimizing processes and services. Councilmember Aldama asked where Outside Legal Fees were located in the department budget. Mr. Bailey said it was paid from Professional Services and $210,000 was the budgeted amount. Councilmember Aldama asked if $61,951 was the actual amount in FY22. Mr. Bailey said that was correct. The department forecasted its needs with the low estimate of $210,000. Vice Mayor Clark asked for an explanation of the car allowance in all departments and whether it was just for the upcoming fiscal year or next year as well. Ms. Rios said the car allowance was related to the Downtown Campus Reinvestment Project. A car allowance was being requested for directors and a few others who use their own cars to travel between various locations. It would be temporary for the duration of the project and totaled $60,000 per year for the next 2.5 years. It was in the budget as one-time and a supplemental would be needed for it to be included next year. Judge DiPiazza presented the budget and supplemental requests for the City Court. Mayor Weiers asked, on average, how many languages were spoken in the Court each year. Judge DiPiazza estimated there were ten languages seen frequently as well as a variety of others. Mayor Weiers asked if the interpreters worked for both the Prosecutors Office and the Public Defenders. Judge DiPiazza said that was correct. Mayor Weiers complimented Judge DiPiazza on his work with the Veteran's Court. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 4 of 18 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the language translation service was only used for spoken language or for American Sign Language as well. Judge DiPiazza said the Court had an agreement with a sign interpreter and also a contract for people who did not know how to sign. Vice Mayor Clark asked about warrants issued. Judge DiPiazza said the warrants were issued by the Court, primarily for failure to appear or failure to pay a fine. Vice Mayor Clark asked if the drop in the number of warrants issued meant better compliance. Judge DiPiazza said it was one reason. Vice Mayor Clark said regarding the compliance assistance program, she asked why, in FY21, fines paid were over $1 million and the FY23 estimate was $250,000. Judge DiPiazza said state programs were used efficiently to maximize collection. However, collections were down and most likely down statewide. People did not go to jail for not being able to pay. Amy Handlong, Executive Assistant to the City Manager, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Mayor and Council Offices. Councilmember Tolmachoff noted the $5,000 as Supplies in the line -item budget, instead of the Community Activity description. Ms. Handlong said the report was simplified but the funds would be within the Community Activity line item. Ms. Rios said the reports were summarized and rolled into categories. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the funds would help support community events out of the Mayor's Office or citywide. Mayor Weiers said it was for citywide events. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if Mayor Weiers was willing to partner with other Councilmembers to share the cost of a shred event. Mayor Weiers said he would. Councilmember Tolmachoff said there was a request to donate to the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council (MYAC). She asked if the supplemental request would be used to donate to MYAC. Mayor Weiers said it would not. The donations would be used for the MYAC members to have a party at the end of the year. The normal fundraising revenue from the Chocolate Affaire was not available this year to fund MYAC's party. Councilmember Aldama asked if the Mayor's Office would be a resource for events other Councilmembers were hosting or was it only for the Mayor's Office use. Mayor Weiers said each Councilmember had the opportunity to utilize funds if funds were City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 5 of 18 available. Councilmember Aldama asked why the funds could not be left in Special Events, rather than having to go through the Mayor's Office. Mayor Weiers said his first and foremost priority was running the office and providing needed supplies and services. If resources were available close to the end of the fiscal year, he had no problem with helping. Councilmember Aldama said it would be the Mayor's decision as to whom the office would help. Mayor Weiers would not deny anyone if the funds were available. Councilmember Aldama said if the $5,000 went into the Mayor's budget, then he had the discretion on how to use the funds. Mayor Weiers said that was correct. Mr. Rick St. John presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Code Compliance Division of the City Manager's Office. Vice Mayor Clark said it was not clear whether the eliminated administrative support specialist and management assistant positions belonged to Code or the City Manager's Office. Mr. St. John said it was the administrative side of the City Manager's Office. Vice Mayor Clark asked if the added executive management assistant and a supervisor for administrative support belonged to Code or the City Manager's Office. Mr. St. John said the supervisor position was for Code and the executive management assistant was for the City Manager's Office. Ms. Rios said the supervisor would be a new position. However, the executive management assistant had been a reclassification. Vice Mayor Clark asked how many people the supervisor would supervise. Mr. St. John said the new supervisor would supervise up to six people. Vice Mayor Clark asked how many employees had been trained on the Balanced Score to date. Khala Stanfield, Director of Organizational Performance, said forty had been trained and nine were currently in training. The employees oversaw the data portion in their departments and there were at least two in each department trained. She said nineteen staff were actively working on a balanced scorecard. Vice Mayor Clark asked if at some point all twenty-eight departments would be touched. Ms. Stanfield did not have the exact count but would follow up if more departments were identified. Vice Mayor Clark asked if there were 8,000 total code compliance cases opened in 2021. Mr. St. John said that was correct. A case could be counted as new in one fiscal year, but then City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 6 of 18 could cross into the next fiscal year and be considered resolved. Councilmember Turner asked if notice was served to the responsible party in -person or through the mail. Mr. St. John said contact was attempted in -person. However, a notice would be left at the door if public contact could not be made. Councilmember Tolmachoff expected a larger increase in cases due to an increase in staffing. Mr. St. John said there was a reduction in staff due to a recent vacancy and medical reasons, but he expected to be fully staffed soon. Councilmember Malnar recommended increasing the grid number from eleven to twelve, which would require an additional code compliance officer. It would reduce the space of each grid, and allow the goal of touching each home quarterly more feasible to achieve. Vice Mayor Clark supported Councilmember Malnar's recommendation. Councilmember Hugh agreed. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the role of the intern. Mr. St. John said the intern was a Fellow, who would also be working with other departments. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the intern was paid. Mr. St. John said that was correct. Councilmember Tolmachoff supported Councilmember Malnar's recommendation. Councilmember Turner said the answer might not be more personnel, but better strategies and better communication with residents. Councilmember Aldama asked how the new position Councilmember Malnar suggested would help the issue of inequitable reporting in multiple districts that resulted in blight. Mr. St. John said the more time an inspector could maintain a presence in an area, the better blight issues could be addressed. The addition of another inspector would shrink the grids, particularly the grids with the highest rates of violations. Councilmember Aldama asked if there was a rover who was not assigned to a particular grid. Mr. St. John said there was a part-time inspector that was not assigned to a specific area. Councilmember Aldama supported the additional FTE, if it was a rover. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if Code was down two inspectors. Mr. St. John said one individual had returned from medical leave, but Code had one vacancy. Councilmember Tolmachoff said the results of hiring two new inspectors last fiscal year had not been realized. She asked what was needed in order to make the type of progress the Council wanted to see. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 7 of 18 Mr. St. John said two new supervisors had joined the team who shared his vision on the procedures to enforce violations with an enforcement timeline. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the expected results could be achieved. Mr. St. John would meet the expectations to his best ability. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if funds could be better utilized for front yard landscaping grants, instead of a new officer. Mr. St. John said prior to the recession, there were twelve grids with four senior inspectors compared to the current eleven grids and five senior inspectors. Programs were being implemented to attain Council's goals in regard to compliance. If the team moved to twelve grids, it would help to meet expectations sooner. Councilmember Malnar was in favor of moving towards a twelve -grid system. The additional inspector should be a grid inspector rather than a roving position. Vice Mayor Clark supported Councilmember Malnar's request. Councilmember Turner preferred to stay the course to see the results of the cultural changes in the department. Mayor Weiers confirmed consensus for an additional FTE. Councilmember Aldama said an additional FTE was not requested as a supplemental. Mr. St. John said that was correct. Councilmember Aldama asked why an FTE was not requested during the discussion regarding his Council Item of Special Interest. Mr. St. John said the process for requesting supplementals had ended before the discussion took place. Councilmember Aldama said the City had a responsibility to be proactive and hoped the goal could be reached with the additional inspector. Councilmember Malnar provided a report from the Animal Defense League, which was the recipient of the $20,000 budgeted last year. He indicated costs had increased and the budget request was for $25,000 this year. Vice Mayor Clark supported Councilmember Malnar's request. Mayor Weiers confirmed the consensus on the request. Don Bessler, Director of Engineering, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Engineering Department. John Murphy, Engineering Administrator of Business Operations, provided information on current market conditions and spending. Councilmember Aldama asked how many inspectors conducted warranty inspections. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 8 of 18 Mr. Bessler said there were thirteen staff members dedicated to the function. Councilmember Aldama asked how many projects there were for the fiscal year that would close out by June 30, 2023. Mr. Bessler said there were 663 warranty inspections in the first half of the year and 10,000 inspections in all, and staff closed out about 1,500 permits a year. Councilmember Aldama asked for an explanation of job order contracting (JOC) and if other methods were used. Mr. Murphy said, depending on the project, JOCs were mainly used for expedience. A heavy design project would use a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR). A low -design project would be more of a low bid situation. Councilmember Aldama commended the work done by the department. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about $1.2 million in the budget that appeared to be a carryover. Ms. Lindsay said it was a chargeback in the salary line item, which was charged out of the Engineering budget and into Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) for salaries of individuals completing the work. Ms. Rios said the salaries had to be budgeted first and then were charged back to the capital projects. Vice Mayor Clark asked why the internal services were at 25% of budget versus 7%-8% for other departments. Mr. Murphy said the right-of-way inspectors were under a different risk category. They would have different amounts set aside for risk management. Ms. Rios said, in general, it depended on the number of people, the number of devices people had, and whether staff was in higher risk categories. Vice Mayor Clark requested a follow up with detailed information on the internal services amounts. John Kennedy, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Parks and Recreation Department. Councilmember Aldama asked if the custodial services contract increase was due to the cost of service or an increase in the amount of service. Mr. Kennedy said it was a combination of the two. Councilmember Aldama asked with the addition of a new arborist FTE, would contract arborists still be needed. Mr. Kennedy said the increase in FTEs had more to do with service and irrigation workers, not arborists. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 9 of 18 Councilmember Aldama asked if Mr. Phelps' reference to arborists earlier in the meeting was the same item. Mr. Phelps said that was correct. It was an increase to the existing arborist contract. Councilmember Aldama asked if the weekend field lining services included lining services for fields at Sahuaro Ranch and whether it generated revenue. Mr. Kennedy said that was correct. Councilmember Aldama said if there was a fee to use the fields, it should cover the lining costs and not have to come out of the General Fund. Ms. Rios said funds spent, even covered by revenue, had to be budgeted. Councilmember Aldama requested a breakout of the revenues from the fees on the adult leagues. Ms. Rios would provide the information. Vice Mayor Clark asked why the City was not more creative on offering programming in other parts of the City. Nearly 90% of the programs were offered at the Foothills Recreation and Aquatics Center (FRAC). Councilmember Turner asked for information regarding a $3,000 line item for Glendale@Play, which was an unapproved supplemental. Mr. Kennedy said it was a request to increase marketing, however, there was an internal plan in place to utilize unpaid social media instead. Councilmember Turner asked if the condition of the turf in parks was being addressed within the budget. Jim Burke, Public Facilities, Recreation and Special Events Department Director, said there was irrigation repair and replacement in the CIP for several parks for more efficient watering. Due to the age of the system, it needed to be done for all the parks, but it would be a long-term project. Councilmember Turner asked if improving the sprinkler system would address the grass and weed issue. Mr. Burke said improving the irrigation system would help to some extent. The contract monitor would hold the landscape contractor to the performance requirements which should also help the issue. Councilmember Turner asked if the budget for the Rose Garden at Sahuaro Ranch Park was to replace roses as needed. Mr. Kennedy said it was to replace roses as needed, which would address the area on an ongoing basis. Councilmember Turner said there should be a person with a history background on staff who understood the City's historic sites. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 10 of 18 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked whether the $1.6 million increase in parks maintenance from the budget baseline was due to the additional full-time service workers. She asked if any of the City parks were at the level where they were mowed and trimmed every three weeks. Mr. Kennedy said the mowing schedule was correct. He said of the $1.6 million increase, $600,000 was salary increases, new FTEs and the increase in contract costs, and water rate increases. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the parks maintenance contract increase of $330,000 would address park upkeep more frequently. Mr. Kennedy said the increase was due to a contract increase from service providers. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the irrigation FTEs would be making minor irrigation repairs and making assessments to existing irrigation. Mr. Kennedy said the main focus would be to make repairs and, through training, assess and identify problem areas to be proactive instead of reactive. Police Chief Chris Briggs presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Police Department. Vice Mayor Clark asked if the City had to pay to send someone to jail. Chief Briggs said that was correct. Mayor Weiers asked if the Craig Tiger Act contract was in reference to the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS). Ms. Lindsay said it was related to Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resources for public safety personnel. James Brown, Human Resources Director, said it was not related to PSPRS disability cases. He said there was an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) contract which was increased due to the number of cases related to PTSD. He said the Craig Tiger Act also required funding. Mayor Weiers said if the Craig Tiger Act was successful, then cases would not have to be dealt with via PSPRS. Mr. Brown said that was correct. Councilmember Turner asked if there was cost recovery from shopping centers for the shopping cart contract. Mr. St. John said there was no direct cost recovery from individual retail establishments. Under the new ordinance, retailers were required to either have a contract with a cart retrieval service or install anti -theft devices on the carts. Councilmember Turner asked if unlabeled carts were kept by the service. Mr. St. John said there was a revenue offset in which the contractor could scrap or resell a cart. Councilmember Turner suggested using Glendale Works and taking the unmarked carts to the scrap yard to minimize costs. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 11 of 18 Vice Mayor Clark noted the increase in crime statistics and low statistic of crimes cleared. She asked how basic crimes and crime prevention would be addressed. Chief Briggs said the Crime Reduction Project in District 32, including Bonsall Park had seen a decrease in crimes within five months during the project. The department was doing its job. Vice Mayor Clark applauded the results in District 32 but said there was not enough manpower to spread throughout the City. She expressed support of the Police Department. Mr. Phelps said the budget was designed to put more people on active patrol to make a difference to the manpower available for enforcement. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how the maintenance funding for the drone equipment supplemental that was not recommended was related to the Ground Based Aircraft Detection System that was brought forward for funding. Chief Briggs said the requested $50,000 was for maintenance of the drones. The Department could cover the maintenance costs for the next fiscal year, and it would not affect the Ground Based Aircraft Detection System. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked for information on the standby pay increase. Ms. Rios said a placeholder was included for the standby pay increase, but it would not be implemented. Human Resources would study the amount and the amount could increase or decrease. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the option of extending drop beyond five years would help to spread out retirements. Chief Briggs said some individuals had opted to utilize the two-year extension. Councilmember Malnar asked if the increase in housing and booking took the homeless population who committed crimes into consideration for the Maricopa County jail maintenance. Chief Briggs said that was correct as it was the MROP per diem cost. Councilmember Turner asked about the movement to National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and away from Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR). Chief Briggs said the move to NIBRS from UCR was due to a federal mandate. He would be providing both UCR and NBIRS figures for a year or two. Councilmember Turner asked for the Chief's target for response times. Chief Briggs said the target was to arrive within 5 minutes 90% of the time. With increased staffing and patrol, the average was at 5 minutes for Priority 1, but Priority 2 was more difficult. Councilmember Turner asked if the target was 90% for both Priority 1 and Priority 2. Chief Briggs said that was correct. Councilmember Turner complimented the Chief on the District 32 project and noted Council's support of the department. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 12 of 18 Mayor Weiers noted the use of civilians for tasks which freed up officers to do other jobs. He complimented the Police Department as well. Fire Chief Ryan Freeburg presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Fire Department. Councilmember Aldama asked if firefighters would receive specific training regarding the ballistic vests. Chief Freeburg said that was correct. Councilmember Aldama asked if specific compensation for the firefighters who wore vests would ever be considered. Chief Freeburg said it could be addressed in negotiations with the labor group. Mayor Weiers asked if each firefighter would have a ballistic vest. Chief Freeburg would explore purchasing options for personal protective equipment; however, it would be achieved conservatively, as increased training was needed. Mayor Weiers asked if different turnouts would be needed due to the space needed to accommodate ballistic vests. Chief Freeburg said the industry was determining best practices for the issue. Councilmember Turner said previously, the Police Department would perform extractions of victims to safe zones for the Fire Department to assist the victims. He asked if there were national studies to support going in a different direction. Chief Freeburg said there was a National Fire Protection Association guideline which spoke directly to the rescue task force. Councilmember Turner requested more information before the budget was finalized. Mayor Weiers asked if the Medical Response Unit (MRU) and Low Acuities would be available seven days a week with the addition of four new FTEs. Chief Freeburg said it would increase the number of days all MRU's and Low Acuity vehicles were available but not to seven days. Mayor Weiers asked if adding six FTEs would allow for the vehicles to be available seven days. He requested consensus to add six FTEs instead of the requested four FTEs. Chief Freeburg said the staff would be utilized. Councilmember Tolmachoff requested data on how and where to deploy the additional units to better serve the public. Mr. St. John said Chief Freeburg had suggested different ways to view the data. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if two more staff members would be beneficial and requested supporting data. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 13 of 18 Chief Freeburg said he needed 536,000 hours to run the operation. He said any gap in hours was currently filled with overtime. Vice Mayor Clark asked what it would take to staff the MRU and Basic Life Support (BLS) units seven days a week and to return to Council with the information. She stressed the priority should be to address medical calls. Chief Freeburg said with the redeployment of eighteen staff into a 52-hour operation, the overtime budget, the requested budget supplementals and the addition of six employees, he would get the units up to seven days a week, ten hours a day. Councilmember Aldama asked how many ballistic vests could be purchased for $127,000. Chief Freeburg estimated 100 units. Councilmember Aldama recommended doubling the request for the ballistic vests and requested Council support. Vice Mayor Clark supported the strategy of assigning the vests per truck. She asked how many people were assigned per truck. Chief Freeburg said there were four people on hazards and MRUs and Low Acuity had two. Vice Mayor Clark asked if each truck would be assigned five vests. Chief Freeburg said that was the initial plan. Vice Mayor Clark asked if everyone riding a truck would have access to a vest. Chief Freeburg said that was correct. Vice Mayor Clark supported assigning five vests to each truck and eventually obtain individual vests for all that would need one. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if high acuity units would get vests as well. Chief Freeburg said anyone on duty would be equipped with the appropriate PPE. Chief Briggs said the mission was to provide service and treatment as fast as possible and the PPE would assist with that mission. Councilmember Aldama said the appropriate amount of PPE should be available and needed to be fitted properly for the safety of the firefighters. Councilmember Turner said, with Chief Briggs' support, he was willing to move forward. He agreed with Councilmember Aldama's comments on fit and availability. Mr. St. John said there were differences in fit and protection between Level 4 and Level 3 PPE. The firefighters would only be wearing them in extreme situations. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about a ballistic helmet and whether it would be used if a firefighter was going into a warm zone. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 14 of 18 Mr. St. John said that was correct. Councilmember Turner asked if every firefighter or paramedic was expected to go into a warm zone as opposed to choosing a track of extra service. Chief Freeburg said the men and women of the Fire Department had chosen to provide the service and would do so to ensure the community was safe. He wanted to make sure they had the right training and equipment to provide that service. Councilmember Turner was concerned that it was a policy change through the budget. Councilmember Malnar agreed with the direction taken regarding PPE vests for firefighters. Mayor Weiers asked if other Valley cities had firefighters wearing vests. Chief Freeburg said the majority of the automatic aid partners wore vests. Mayor Weiers recalled two incidents in the last year with active shooters. Chief Briggs said there was one active shooter at Westgate. There were also other targeted mass casualty incidents. Mayor Weiers asked if the responding firefighters were guaranteed protection if there were five vests on every unit. Chief Freeburg said that was correct. Mayor Weiers requested consensus for two additional staff for the MRU, for a total of six. Vice Mayor Clark asked if the request was for the four MRU FTEs as presented, plus two additional FTEs. Chief Freeburg said that was correct. Mayor Weiers confirmed consensus for the additional FTEs to staff the MRU. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked for the cost to outfit every firefighter with a vest. Mr. St. John said the cost for a fitted vest per individual was approximately $1,200. For the 245 firefighters in the field, it would be approximately $294,000. Councilmember Tolmachoff recommended individual vests. Vice Mayor Clark wanted to move forward with Chief Freeburg's recommendation. Next year, Council could review if it was appropriate to provide vests for all firefighters. Councilmember Tolmachoff said it was a worthy, one-time cost. She asked if helmets had to be fitted as well. Chief Freeburg said that was correct. The $1,200 cost was for the vest and helmet. He preferred the firefighters had the equipment and went through the curricula as part of the rescue task force training before being deployed. Mayor Weiers asked about the life expectancy of a vest. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 15 of 18 Chief Freeburg said a vest lasted 5-7 seven years, based on daily wear. A replacement cycle could begin in the next five to seven years if that was the direction Council desired. Councilmember Aldama wanted to outfit each firefighter and take the lead in protection, regardless of what other Valley cities were doing. Mayor Weiers confirmed consensus to outfit firefighters with vests and helmets. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked for additional information on the seven FTEs that were not recommended. Ms. Rios said the request did not move forward because there was a way to double -fill a position without budgeting for the additional people. Vice Mayor Clark asked for the definition of `other call types.' Chief Freeburg said other call types included service calls, lift assists, welfare checks, water checks, and smoke checks. Vice Mayor Clark addressed the imbalance of calls assisting other cities, which needed to be redressed through automatic aid. Feroz Merchhiya, Chief Information Officer (CIO), presented the budget and supplemental requests for Innovation and Technology. Councilmember Malnar complimented Mr. Merchhiya on being a catalyst and supported the supplemental requests. Councilmember Tolmachoff congratulated Mr. Merchhiya and his staff on the CIO 100 Innovation Award. Councilmember Aldama complimented Mr. Merchhiya and congratulated him on the award as well. Vice Mayor Clark congratulated Mr. Merchhiya and Ms. Rios on the Tax Central program. She asked if he had plans for GlendaleOne. Mr. Merchhiya said foundational work was already being done on GlendaleOne. Vice Mayor Clark thanked Mr. Merchhiya for being creative, innovative, and developing in-house programs to fit Glendale's needs and perhaps for licensing to other cities as well. Councilmember Turner said Mr. Merchhiya set the performance standards high. The standards were achieved or exceeded. Mayor Weiers expressed his appreciation for Mr. Merchhiya and his team. Jessi Pederson, Economic Development Assistant Director, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Economic Development Department. Vice Mayor Clark asked how social media impressions were measured. Ms. Pederson said analytic software was used, so the numbers were exact. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 16 of 18 Vice Mayor Clark asked what staff did to promote public art and programming in the City. She asked how many City -funded special events attracted only 30,000 people. Ms. Pederson said a reason Economic Development and Special Events was combined was to enhance the ability to increase the strategy. The events included Touch A Truck, Live@Murphy Park, and the Folk and Heritage Festival. The Arts Master Plan had begun and would take a year to complete. It would be brought to Council for adoption. Councilmember Tolmachoff did not see an objective of trying to fill vacant buildings in the community. Ms. Pederson said staff in all functions were focusing on filling the vacant buildings. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the holiday lights supplemental that was not approved and if there was any plan for holiday lighting. Ms. Pederson said there would be downtown holiday programming. It was determined there was adequate funding to provide the required services and the supplementals were not necessary. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about special event space during the downtown campus reconstruction. Ms. Pederson said staff had been evaluating different options during the reconstruction and would bring proposals to Council. Councilmember Malnar was excited to see Economic Development take over new functions and complimented staff on the economic growth in the City, while following Council's policy. Councilmember Turner asked for data on attendees of the Live@Murphy Park events. Ms. Pederson said more accurate methods of headcounts would be explored. Julie Bower, City Clerk presented the budget and supplemental requests for the City Clerk's Office. Vice Mayor Clark thanked Ms. Bower for the efficient work of her department. Councilmember Turner said there had been Council consensus to develop a plan to replace the $2 million that was removed from the Public Arts program. He asked if it would be presented on Thursday, April 6th. Ms. Rios said it would be presented at the budget wrap-up on April 18th ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 4:21 p.m. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 17 of 18 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 4th day of April, 2023. 1 further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 3rd day of May, 2023. lie K. Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes - April 4, 2023 Page 18 of 18