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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/6/2023City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 C05%k &7 Glendale A R I Z O N A Meeting Minutes Thursday, April 6, 2023 9:00 A.M. Budget Workshop Meeting Council Chambers City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Joyce Clark Councilmember Jamie Aldama 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. Ms. Lindsay presented the following information as follow-up from the April 4, 2023 workshop: . General Fund Positions added — 46, total ongoing budget amount $4,072,495 . Change in operating budget of $38.5 million was not all due to the arena fee as mentioned on April 4, 2023. . Parks and Recreation sports field rental revenue and contract monitor position duties . Engineering — R-rollup 25% of budget Vice Mayor Clark asked if there were adequate increases in ongoing revenues to cover the budget increases. Ms. Rios said there were. Once the ongoing expenses were added, the Budget Department ensured there were ongoing revenues. Vice Mayor Clark said there was an increase of approximately $70 million and asked how much was due to sales tax. Ms. Rios said the presentation on April 18, 2023 would address that question. Councilmember Aldama said the City paid for a contract monitor on the vendor's side but was also requesting an in-house monitor. Ms. Rios said the contract monitor would monitor the contract from the City's standpoint. Councilmember Aldama asked if there were park supervisors that verified the landscaping contracts were being fulfilled as per the contract. He asked if the City was receiving what was City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 2 of 11 expected from the landscape contractors as far as performance reports and if they were sufficient. Jim Burke, Public Facilities, Recreation and Special Events Department Director, said the contractors' project managers provided internal reports. The request was to separate the administrative function so field staff could do verification in the field and not be at a desk checking on administrative, insurance, and renewals. It would lead to more efficiencies. Councilmember Aldama asked if the contract monitor was specific to Parks. Mr. Burke said that was correct. Councilmember Aldama asked if another contract monitor, outside of Parks, was being requested in the budget. Ms. Rios said that was correct. There were other contract monitors in other departments. Vice Mayor Clark asked if the Engineering charge backs came from the General Fund departments or if it was a mixture of Enterprise and General Fund. Ms. Lindsay said the charge backs were charged to funds other than the General Fund. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked where in the budget the memberships costs were for West -Mark, GPAC, the League, Valley Metro, and the Glendale Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Lindsay said the memberships were in the Non -Departmental Budget, which would be covered later in the agenda. Ms. Lindsay presented the Summary of Personnel Changes, which was updated to included the additional positions added during the April 4th Budget Workshop Brent Stoddard, Deputy City Manager, presented the organizational changes in Public Affairs and Communications. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the organizational chart for Public Affairs, Communication, and Government Affairs. She asked for the number of staff under each director. Mr. Stoddard provided staffing information. Councilmember Tolmachoff requested a new org chart. Mr. Stoddard said the Communication Department and Government Relations Department would have separate budgets and budget presentations next year. Ryan Lee, Intergovernmental Programs Manager, presented the Public Affairs Department's accomplishments and supplemental requests. Councilmember Turner had only heard positive comments about the Government Relations staff. Councilmember Malnar appreciated the support from the department when he had needed it for his commitments on various committees. It was responsive and very helpful. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 3 of 11 Mr. Stoddard provided information on the performance measures and objectives for Communications. Councilmember Turner asked if there was an analytic regarding negative feedback. Mr. Stoddard said there was an analytic for negative engagement. Councilmember Turner was interested in the negative analytic for tracking purposes. He asked why there was a large increase in the views of social media posts in past years, while an increase of only 5,000 was projected for FY24. Mr. Stoddard said it was due to the City hosting major events in the past years, such as the Super Bowl. Sue Breding, Assistant Director, Communications, presented the Communications Department's accomplishments and supplemental requests. Councilmember Aldama complimented Ms. Breding on her service to the City. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about plans for engaging with residents on social media and for content that followers would share more with others. Mr. Stoddard said engagement was happening and there was more interaction on Instagram than Facebook. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there was a staff member focused solely on digital media. Mr. Stoddard said that was correct. Councilmember Tolmachoff said there was a need for more social media engagement with residents on day-to-day happenings in the City. Councilmember Turner asked if the three or four editing bays located on the second floor of the Media Center were being used. Mr. Stoddard said the bays were used full-time. Jean Moreno, Community Services Director, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Community Services Department. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the front yard landscaping assistance would work in conjunction with Code Compliance and if the notice would include information regarding available resources. Ms. Moreno said her department would work closely with Code Compliance. There could possibly be a neighborhood clean-up day. The focus would be on serving as many people as possible with the dollars available. Vice Mayor Clark said the premise for the front yard landscaping program was excellent, but she was not sure it was legal. She appreciated the use of a volunteer coordinator at the library. It equated to thirteen FTEs, which was a tremendous payback for the position. Vice Mayor Clark was not sure Library Services belonged with Community Services or the Arts. It belonged where someone could give it more attention than it was currently receiving. It was City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 4 of 11 not a reflection on the wonderful job Ms. Moreno was doing in Community Services, just that it should be in an area where it was a better fit. Councilmember Aldama supported the front yard landscape pilot program and said it should be a permanent program as soon as possible. Staff should reach out to the City's current landscaping companies to see if they would volunteer hours as well. Councilmember Malnar offered support for the increase in library hours and the front yard landscape pilot program. Beautification was allowed under current laws regarding gifts. Councilmember Tolmachoff was not necessarily speaking about the grant funds when referencing a partnership with Code Compliance. The notice from Code Compliance could direct a resident to contact City staff for information on possible resources or volunteer groups for assistance. Mr. Gibson presented the budget and supplemental requests for Budget and Finance and Non -Departmental. Vice Mayor Clark commented on the performance measure of paying vendor invoices and asked how many vendors the department was dealing with monthly or annually and why the target was not as high as the Engineering Department. Mr. Gibson said typically the thirty -day payment window was included in the contracts. Vice Mayor Clark said ten percent of the vendors were still waiting over thirty days to be paid. She asked why the target was not 100%. Mr. Gibson said many times a payment after thirty days was due to trying to resolve an issue with an invoice. The goal was to make sure there was an accurate payment. Vice Mayor Clark asked if ten percent of vendor invoices were in dispute. Mr. Gibson would not describe it as `in dispute' rather there were issues that took longer to resolve than the thirty days. Mayor Weiers asked if the thirty days began when the invoice was received or when the work was finished or the product delivered. Mr. Gibson said it was the date of the invoice. Councilmember Aldama asked if there was significant amount of sole source procurement and if they were high dollar amounts. Mr. Gibson would follow up with the exact number of sole sources. It would be more of a lower dollar amount and for specialized items, such as for the Police Department. Councilmember Aldama said staff should indicate the procurement as sole source if it required Council approval. Councilmember Tolmachoff inquired about GPAC and the Glendale Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Gibson said GPAC was paid by the Department of Economic Development and the Chamber was paid through Non -Departmental. He said not all memberships were listed on the slide shown. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 5 of 11 Councilmember Tolmachoff said a higher level of membership might come with more benefits. Mr. Stoddard said that was correct and explained the benefits of membership levels. Councilmember Malnar said the City paid $13,000 to Westmarc last year with additional tables purchased. The level in the budget would provide the additional tables. There had not been an increase in fees since 2014. Councilmember Turner said the increase of approximately $7,000 would increase the City's visibility and also help support an organization that was important for the West Valley. He supported an increase to the $20,000 level. He asked if the Chamber of Commerce membership was included in the budget. Mr. Gibson said the Chamber membership was actually included in the Economic Development Department budget, not in the Non -Departmental. Councilmember Turner asked if it was in the budget for renewal next year. Jessi Pederson, Assistant Economic Development Director, said $20,000 was built into the base budget. There were basic membership levels available at a different amount. Councilmember Turner supported the Chamber of Commerce at the $20,000 level. The membership was important to the City, to the Chamber, and to the business community at large. Vice Mayor Clark recommended withdrawing membership from the Chamber at the current time. Its goals, mission, and objectives were no longer aligned with the City. Councilmember Aldama supported the increase for Westmarc if it continued the strong relationship and had tangibles. He supported the membership renewal with the Chamber. There were deliverables with the Chamber that were aligned with the City. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked for all of the memberships in the budget to be included in the presentation. She supported the Chamber membership level as recommended in the budget. Ms. Pederson said the $20,000 membership level was a customized membership, which included the President's Circle level and additional benefits. It would be a new contract. Councilmember Malnar asked about the other available levels. Ms. Pederson said it would require a discussion with the Chamber. The City was in a unique category. Councilmember Malnar requested a discussion on other membership levels. He expected the current issues to be addressed in the new contract. The negative rhetoric from certain parties could not continue. Councilmember Hugh supported the new amount for Westmarc. The membership with the Chamber should be continued. Vice Mayor Clark agreed with Councilmember Malnar's statement regarding a lot of negativity with the Chamber. She asked when the contract was coming up for renewal. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 6 of 11 Ms. Pederson said the new contract would be brought to Council before the beginning of the next fiscal year. Vice Mayor Clark needed to see the deliverables in the contract and would make a decision at that time whether or not it was beneficial to remain in the Chamber. She agreed the contract should have an assurance that the negativity would stop. Mayor Weiers would support membership if it could be proven the City and the Chamber could work together for the benefit of the citizens. He would also need assurance that the rhetoric would stop. It was not beneficial to the City or the Chamber. Councilmember Tolmachoff said all parties should take responsibility to move forward. Council was not in agreement regarding the custom arrangement; however, the City should still be part of the Chamber. She asked for a follow-up item for information on other membership levels. Councilmember Aldama said the issues should be addressed and the City should have at least a basic relationship with the Chamber. Vice Mayor Clark would be willing to support the Chamber if the issues could be resolved between the Chamber and the City, with a fresh start and the knowledge that past behaviors would stop. Khala Stanfield, Organizational Performance Director, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Organizational Performance Department. Councilmember Aldama asked for the name of the survey Ms. Stanfield said the department conducted the Employee Engagement Survey and were working on the resident survey. Councilmember Aldama said Council should receive the results of any surveys conducted with appointed officials that reported directly to Council. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the results of the Community Survey and if it would be brought to an upcoming workshop. Ms. Stanfield said the final report to Council would take place at the May 9th workshop Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the information regarding the employee survey would be shared with Council. Employee satisfaction was important. Ms. Rios said some information was on the Organizational Performance dashboard and it was a public record so there was no issue with sharing the information with Council. Staff was going to the departments to look at action plans for improvement. Councilmember Malnar asked if there were incentive bonuses for an exceptional performance by employees. Mr. Phelps said the Success Factors Awards Program was implemented and included a one-time financial incentive. Mike Kingery, Internal Audit Program Manger, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Audit Department. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 7 of 11 Jim Brown, Director of Human Resources and Risk Management, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Human Resources and Risk Management Department. Councilmember Tolmachoff supported the focus on a shorter recruitment timeframe. She asked if the City offered tuition reimbursement. Mr. Brown said the City did offer tuition reimbursement. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the cause of the increase in benefits cost. Mr. Brown said it was basically due to claims experience and actuarial results on the medical trust. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if this was additional self -insured cost. Mr. Brown said that was correct. Vice Mayor Clark said a more essential function of Human Resources was to meet the employee needs and if they were met, employees were happier and more productive and more likely to stay with the organization. She asked staff to focus on replicating the employee diversity ratios of FY20-21, as they reflected the diversity ratios in the City. Councilmember Aldama asked if department directors prepared and provided search plans to Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown said Human Resources worked with the hiring supervisors and directors in the departments. The responsibility was shared between the department and Human Resources. Councilmember Malnar said Workers Compensation was being partially compensated by the state. Mr. Brown said, for presumptive cancer cases, the approved cases were submitted to the state and the City was able to receive reimbursement. Michelle Woytenko, Field Operations Director, presented the budget and supplemental requests for Field Operations. Councilmember Tolmachoff said several countries recently announced reduced fuel production and asked if the information was used when considering the reduction of the fuel surcharge. Ms. Woytenko said staff watched fuel daily and was still comfortable with its proposed reduction. Staff would come back to Council if something changed. Ms. Rios said the process of adopting the reduction would have to occur at a voting meeting so if something changed, staff would update Council at that time. Mayor Weiers confirmed Council consensus to reduce the fuel surcharge from $1.54 to $0.90. Councilmember Aldama asked if there was a chart field for preventative maintenance. Ms. Rios said there was not a chart field labeled preventative maintenance. It could be captured by the asset management system. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 8 of 11 Councilmember Aldama said there should be a way to capture it in the chart field. Shahid Abbas, Transportation Director, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Transportation Department. Councilmember Aldama asked for clarification on the flashing yellow arrows. Mr. Abbas said there was a more cost-effective way of installing flashing yellow arrows by in-house staff. Councilmember Malnar asked for clarification of the school zone construction. Mr. Abbas explained what was included in the school zone project. Councilmember Malnar asked for clarification of the right-of-way plan at 75th and Union Hills regarding turf. Mr. Abbas said there was confusion due to a reporter indicating artificial turf would be used. The grass would be replaced with drought tolerant landscaping. Councilmember Tolmachoff understood there would be artificial turf at the cone of the median. There was originally grass used in the Arrowhead neighborhoods, and artificial turf would be used to maintain the concept of green for the residents as it was the original look of the community. Mr. Abbas said the concept of the artificial turf was only for the narrow edges of the medians. Artificial turf generated a lot of heat and plants could not be installed within a certain distance because the plants would not survive. Councilmember Tolmachoff said a previous slide presentation indicated the ends of the median would be artificial turf and the rest of the median would have drought tolerant landscape. Jamsheed Mehta, Assistant City Manager, said discussion could be held on how far the artificial turf would extend. Staff was prepared to meet with residents of the impacted neighborhoods. Vice Mayor Clark inquired about the scalloped streets program. Mr. Abbas said there was $8 million for the scalloped streets, which would cover 2.5 miles. Vice Mayor Clark requested a list of priority locations. She asked how many years the Pavement Management Program (PMP) had occurred to date. Mr. Abbas said the first streets evaluation was completed in 2019. By the end of the year, every street in the City would have been touched with some type of treatment. A new streets evaluation with state-of-the-art technology would be completed within the next couple of months. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what was done with landscape debris from the chippers. Mr. Abbas said it was used for mulching and also given free to citizens. Vice Mayor Clark requested an update on the PMP t at a workshop after the new data was received. It was a priority of Council. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 9 of 11 Councilmember Aldama asked if a median on 71St Avenue between Ocotillo and Bethany Home Road would be included in the budget. The median had only decomposed granite and no landscaping. Mr. Abbas confirmed the location was included in the right-of-way landscape plan for FY23-24. Randy Huggins, Development Services Director, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Development Services Department. Councilmember Malnar asked if improvements were being made to speed -to -market for small projects. Mr. Huggins said changes were being made to improve the process. Vice Mayor Clark wanted staff to focus on helping small businesses through the process. The timeframe was another area that needed attention. It was a minimum of three weeks to get through plan review. Mr. Huggins said the different systems used did not communicate with each other and requests were submitted by email, not online. There was a request for proposals currently out for software to be implemented in the next year or so. The IT Department was leading the project. Ron Serio, Water Services Director, presented the budget and supplemental requests for the Water Services Department. Councilmember Aldama asked if all of the 21 vacancies in the department would be filled within the next fiscal year. Mr. Serio said the goal would be to fill ten to fifteen of the vacancies. Councilmember Aldama asked why vacancy savings could not be used instead of overtime. Ms. Rios said vacancy savings were used on a regular basis to cover for overtime where available. Councilmember Aldama said the department had plenty of vacancies to cover the overtime and he was not sure if the full supplemental request for overtime was necessary. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the staffing challenges were due to hiring or retention issues. Mr. Serio said it was a combination of issues. There was a shortage of water professionals and people changed jobs for better pay or to be closer to where they lived. His department had the opportunity to match a job offer within limits. Councilmember Tolmachoff said increasing the salary ranges by five percent should help as well. Mayor Weiers asked about any recruiting policy with colleges. Mr. Serio said WestMEC had developed a water treatment program at its Buckeye campus. The City's Treatment Supervisors visited the campus to talk to the students. A part-time temporary hire was recently made through the program. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 10 of 11 ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 3:10 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, 2023. 1 further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 1st day of May, 2023. u ' . Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes - April 6, 2023 Page 11 of 11