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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/2/2024City of Glendale 5850 West Glendale Avenue Glendale, AZ 85301 C0� &7 Glendale A R I Z O N A Meeting Minutes Tuesday, April 2, 2024 9:00 A.M. Special Voting Meeting & Budget Workshop Civic Center City Council Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Ocotillo District Vacant CALL TO ORDER Mayor Weiers called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh 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 MOTION AND CALL TO ENTER INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION A motion was made by Councilmember Joyce Clark, seconded by Vice Mayor Ian Hugh to hold an executive session. AYE: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Passed EXECUTIVE SESSION Council met in executive session at 9:01 a.m. for discussion/consultation with the City Attorney to receive an update, to consider its position, and to provide instruction/direction to the City Attorney regarding the process to fill an open city council seat pursuant to A.R.S. 38-431.03(A)(3). A motion was made by Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff, seconded by Vice Mayor Ian Hugh to adjourn the executive session. AYE: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Passed Mayor Weiers adjourned the executive session at 9:27 a.m. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 2 of 12 ACTION ITEM 1. CONSIDERATION AND ACTION TO DIRECT THE CITY ATTORNEY REGARDING THE PROCESS THE CITY WILL UTILIZE TO FILL THE COUNCIL VACANCY IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LEGAL ADVICE PROVIDED IN EXECUTIVE SESSION Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Bailey said there was a vacancy in the Ocotillo District and the City Charter provided that upon a majority vote, Council shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired term. The Ocotillo District term expired in 2026. The qualifications remained the same as if the appointee had been elected. Mr. Bailey said staff recommended that the City immediately post the vacancy and accept applications from interested individuals. The submission deadline would be April 8th at 5:00 p.m. The application would solicit all appropriate information regarding qualifications for the position. Council would review applications on April 9th and select finalists. Interviews with the finalists would be held on April 12th at 10:00 a.m. A motion was made by Councilmember Joyce Clark, seconded by Vice Mayor Ian Hugh to direct the City Attorney to act in the manner recommended. AYE: Mayor Jerry Weiers Vice Mayor Ian Hugh Councilmember Joyce Clark Councilmember Ray Malnar Councilmember Lauren Tolmachoff Councilmember Bart Turner Passed WORKSHOP SESSION 2. FY2024-25 BUDGET WORKSHOP Presented by: Levi D. Gibson, Director, Budget and Finance Amy Lindsay, Assistant Director, Budget and Finance Jonathan Hill, Budget Administrator, Budget and Finance Ms. Bower read the item by title. Mr. Phelps reviewed the following budget highlights: . Balanced budget . No property tax increase . No significant fee increases. *Conservative revenue forecasting *Creation of Emergency Management Department . Public Safety Increases in accordance with the current Memorandum of Understanding for represented employees City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 3 of 12 . Focus on Employee Recruitment and Retention . Citywide Supplementals for shop and fuel increases and car allowances for DCRP relocation Mr. Phelps addressed the continued impact of inflation and the following points were presented: . Increase in the total operating budget and all funds from FY23-24 is $73.5M or 12% . 46% if the proposed total increase of $33.8M is related to inflation or contractual increases . Examples of the increases . Benefits and Insurance/ risk increased . Landscaping, custodial, raw water, chemicals . Utility increases . Technology systems maintenance Mr. Phelps said Public Safety was a continued priority for Council. He discussed the following focus points for the budget: . Investment in additional safety equipment and materials . Investment in public safety technology . New public safety full time employees: . 13 COPS grant police officers . 2 Police Sergeants . 1 forensic supervisor . 1 grant funded forensic technician . 1 assistant city prosecutor . 1 fire inspector . 1 fire captain . Business Focused/ Speed to Market . Continuation of General Plan rewrite and the cost -of -service study in Development Services (FY 24 supplementals) . Unified Development Code rewrite . Increase cost of contracted inspection services for large construction projects . Parks, Neighborhoods and Libraries . Additon of staff and programming funds for community centers (currently ARPA funded) *Additional Parks Maintenance service workers . Continued funding for front yard landscaping program . Historic Preservation Plaque Program . Innovation and technology . Enhanced focus on cybersecurity *Temporary Staffing for IT project support . IT projects including the following: . Court hearing /recording system . Telestaff integration for Fire . Live 911 for Police . Lindsey Replacement for Housing . Fleet Management information system for Fleet . Contractual increases for software . Addition of 1 system administrator specialist and 1 enterprise application supervisor . Asset Management . Focus on deferred maintenance for parks and facilities . Vehicle and equipment replacement costs in line with cost of inflation City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 4 of 12 Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the Emergency Management Department. She asked if it would be a completely new department with a new director and if it would fall under Deputy City manager Rick St. John. Mr. Phelps said there would be a presentation from that department later in the meeting regarding the organization of the department. The organizational chart would be updated if Council approved the budget. Mr. Hill presented the following information on the FY24-25 Salary Impact from all funds: . MOU Increases about $8,815,529 . Recommended Increases (COLA and Merit) $6,733,247 . Classification and compensation study $4,966,190 .48 New positions $3,715,520 Mr. Hill said the total was $24,230,480. Councilmember Clark asked what revenues were increasing to compensate for the $73 million increase. Mr. Gibson said the forecast would be presented at the April 16th budget meeting. Some of the assumptions included VAI resort. Councilmember Turner asked if Council would be getting a copy of the Memorandums of Understanding (MOU). Deputy City Manager Rick St. John said the agreements would be signed in the next couple of weeks. Councilmember Turner said the MOUs drove a big part of the budget and Council needed to see them for transparency. He asked what the expected cost of living adjustment was in the MOUs. Mr. St. John said it was an 8% increase for firefighters, 16.5% for engineers, 11 % for captains, and 10% for represented police officers. Councilmember Clark asked why meeting expectation was adequate to merit a raise. Mr. Phelps said exceeding expectations was an additional component. Staff could provide further information. Ms. Rios said employees who met expectations would receive a 2.5% merit and those that exceeded expectations would receive 3.5%. Mr. Hill continued the presentation, which included the following points: . Summary of personnel changes . FY24-25 Operating Budget by Fund . FY24-25 General fund operating budget by function Councilmember Clark said there were three supplementals she would like to hear more about. The first was the Communications Department being denied $6,000 for podcasts. It was not very much, and she would like Council to consider it. The second was Parks and Recreation being denied $3,000 for annual maintenance of a retention basin. The last was the use of flock cameras for Police in the amount of $54,000. She asked Council to consider the requests. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 5 of 12 Ms. Rios said the departments would be able to absorb the costs with the other changes being made. The Police Department would be able to procure the cameras due to other changes being made in the department budget. All three items would be funded. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the supplementals were added up, would it equal $16 million. Ms. Rios could provide detailed breakdowns. The $24 million in salaries did not include benefits and that was part of the $16 million. Councilmember Clark asked why there was a decrease in internal premiums? Ms. Lindsay said some fund balance had built up in the technology fund which allowed the internal charge to remain flat and absorb the fund balance. Judge Nicholas Di Piazza presented the budget and supplemental requests for the City Court. Councilmember Clark asked about the increase in the line item for professional services, specifically what services increased. Judge Di Piazza said it was the contract for translation services. The Court had a Spanish language interpreter on staff, but over the years, other language interpreter services were needed. Councilmember Clark asked why the performance measure for warrants issued for 2025 was projected at 4,200, a lower figure than in previous years. Judge Di Piazza said the projection contemplated an expectation that people were going to appear when required more frequently due in part to vertical case management. Mr. Bailey presented the budget and supplementals for the City Attorney's Office. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if being denied the second prosecutor would impact the repeat offender ordinance. Mr. Bailey said it would be premature to request the additional position. He would be able to assign an attorney to handle some of the workload. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there should be a placeholder in the budget for the second prosecutor. Mr. Bailey did not know if the workload would be long term. He could report back to Council in six months. The outside counsel line item in his budget could be used to fill gaps. He was comfortable with one position for now. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the City Attorney's Office could meet its objective without the second prosecutor in the next fiscal year. Mr. Bailey said it could meet its objective. Mr. Phelps said in the past, mid -year FTEs had been added and budget staff would work closely with the City Attorney's Office. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 6 of 12 Amy, Handlong, Strategic Initiatives Executive, presented the budget and supplementals for the Mayor and Council Offices. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked where the cost for services for the annual holiday parade, such as trash or street sweeping, was reflected in the budget. Mr. Phelps said the Economic Development Department could address it in its presentation. He assumed that if there were additional costs it would come out of that budget. Mr. St. John presented the City Manager's Office budget and supplementals. Councilmember Malnar asked about a supplemental for, professional development that was not included in the budget and if that was a cost that would be absorbed. He also asked about the purpose of a supplemental for printing services. Mr. St. John said everything could be accomplished with the proposed department budget. If there was a need for a budget transfer in the fourth quarter, it could be done. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there would be money in the budget for clean and lien and if that program would be used more once Council passed the repeat offender ordinance or would more funding be needed. Mr. St. John said there was a supplemental request for $10,000. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the intern for $65,000 was a full-time employee. She asked if the intern could be utilized citywide and if there was any funding in the budget for interns elsewhere in the City. Mr. St. John said it would be for 2 interns on a part time basis of up to 30 hours a week. Mr. Gibson said there was an intern in the Budget and Finance department using professional services dollars. Councilmember Tolmachoff encouraged other departments to seek interns as it was a win/win for the City and the intern as well. She would like to see the program grow. Mr. Phelps said the City Manager's Office funded an intern last year through the Arizona State University's Public Administration Master's Program. The City would be seeking two students this year and would contact departments to see who could utilize the interns. Councilmember Clark asked why in the City Manager's Office, the internal premiums increased by 6% when other departments decreased. Ms. Lindsay did not know but would get the information. Councilmember Clark said the performance measure for code compliance cases in FY2022 was 55% and the target for 2025 was 70%. She asked, since the code complaints would be limited, should the percentage be higher. Mr. St. John said that the administrative changes to GlendaleOne impacted about 6% to 8% of the City. The department had implemented a program for proactive inspections of residential properties each year but would still need to be responsive to the complaints received from GlendaleOne. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 7 of 12 Nicole Munson, Emergency Manager, presented the budget and supplementals for Emergency Management. Councilmember Clark asked how many employees were covered by the salary line item in the amount of $394,426. Ms. Munson said it covered 4 employees. Councilmember Clark asked if the supplemental request was in addition to the budget of $1,079,106. Ms. Munson said the $551,000 supplemental listed was part of the $1,079,106 budget. Councilmember Malnar asked about community emergency preparedness. Ms. Munson said the department had been focused on City preparedness but expected to increase its public outreach. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the City implemented a reverse 911. Ms. Munson said there was a reverse 911 system in the Police Department. The system Emergency Management had implemented was Everbridge and was used to reach out to residents during a localized incident. Don Bessler, Engineering Director and John Murphey, Engineering Budget & CIP Administrator, presented the budget and supplementals for the Engineering Department. Councilmember Clark said professional services looked like it was a new line item in the amount of $350,000. She asked why it was a new line item and what it was being used for. Mr. Murphey said it was a supplemental request. Councilmember Clark asked what the issue was that vendors could not be paid within 7 days and was it an issue with the City or the vendor. Mr. Bessler said it could be either having the money available, workload issues or a number of other reasons. When the standard was adopted, the average was 18 days, and it was now down to 11 days. Councilmember Clark asked about projects delivered on time. and what would cause that number for FY2024 to be 70%. Mr. Bessler said the general reason was supply chain issues. Councilmember Malnar asked about getting small projects speed to market the way staff did with large projects. Mr. Bessler said staff had a hands-on approach, speaking to smaller customers and treating them as if they were big customers. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the request for the professional cost estimating program was absorbed in the proposed budget. Mr. Bessler said it could be absorbed by adding the cost to the project. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 8 of 12 John Kennedy, Parks and Recreation Department Director, presented the budget and supplementals for the Parks and Recreation Department. Councilmember Turner asked what was being done to improve the quality of turf and get rid of weeds. Mr. Kennedy said staff had been doing irrigation audits throughout the park system and the department had received a supplemental last year for additional irrigation supplies. There was a CIP project that would focus on irrigation replacement. Staff had created a maintenance plan that was scheduled out weekly throughout the entire year to put down pre -emergent for weeds. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what the recreation programmer and recreation coordinator did and who the recreation supervisors supervised. Mr. Kennedy said the recreation programmer created the plans and at times implemented the plans as well. The recreation coordinator would oversee building operations. The recreation supervisor used to be called senior recreation coordinator before a class and comp change in the title. The supervisors oversaw the recreation coordinators and programmers. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the additional pay for lifeguards and if the pools would open on time. Mr. Kennedy said the department would be able to hire enough lifeguards to be able to open the pools on time. Councilmember Clark asked what the total cost of operations was for the civic center and how much revenue it generated to offset the expense. Mr. Kennedy said the revenue was anticipated to be approximately $450,000 for the current fiscal year. Councilmember Malnar asked how the department was doing in relation to the master plan. Mr. Kennedy said that the master plan had a long list of goals and action items that were reviewed on a regular basis. Staff had replaced more than 15 playgrounds and 5 irrigation projects. Progress was being made. Councilmember Malnar asked how the department was addressing the inequity between which parks were getting attention. Mr. Kennedy said that it was a challenge. Staff had a plan that looked at the age of infrastructure, complaints, and usage patterns and used the information to create a plan. Police Chief Chris Briggs and Assistant Chief Colby Brandt presented the budget and supplementals for the Police Department. Councilmember Clark asked if the flock cameras would be covered in the next fiscal year. Chief Briggs said the cost of the flock cameras would be covered by a grant. The existing cameras would be moved from grants to the general fund because the supplemental was not recommended. The department had continued with the grant for 6 cameras and planned on adding 8 through the grant process. It would not be the full 18 but it was getting very close. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 9 of 12 Councilmember Clark asked why the position was being moved from RICO to the general fund. Chief Briggs said the RICO rules changed and the City was no longer allowed to pay the employee through RICO funds. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked how many people were staffing the real time crime center. Chief Briggs said it was a sergeant, two sworn and two civilian employees, and crime specialists. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what a civilian CID investigator was. Chief Briggs said it was a non -sworn investigator and, in most cases, they were retired police officers or detectives who returned in a civilian role. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the denied request for detention cameras and if the department had the flock cameras it needed without the supplemental approval. Chief Briggs said the cameras in the jail were at the end of life. If the cameras could not be replaced in this budget year, it would be done in the next budget year. It would also be able to use other funding to address the needs. The department was not asking for a full 18 flock cameras and would move some of the cameras out of grants to general fund. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the department could address the sniper rifles at $68,000, and the bomb robot for $260,000 within its budget. She asked how many people could operate the drones. Chief Briggs said both could be accommodated within the budget. He was not sure about the number of people who could operate the department's 33 drones. The $10,000 cost could be absorbed in the budget. Fire Chief Ryan Freeburg presented the budget and supplementals for the Fire Department. Councilmember Clark said the budget should reflect what the City was paying for medical versus fire operations. The City was giving free automatic aid and taxpayers were paying for it. She wanted Valley fire chiefs to figure out how to reimburse cities. She asked if CAD was a supplemental item each year. Chief Freeburg said that it was aline item each year. The supplemental was for an overage. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if the 52-hour assignment was achieving the outcome in reducing overtime and providing response to medical calls. Chief Freeburg said 19 employees redeployed back to the 52-hour workforce which resulted in 50,000 hours being infused. The department was slowing down some of the overtime. It would see more of the early hire strategies play out in 6 months to a year. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there were 2 MRUs and what stations the units worked from. Chief Freeburg said there were two low acuities units staffed with 2 employees each. There were two medical response units staffed with 4 employees each on a constant staffing base. Before they redeployed, each unit was up for 40 hours per week. New FTEs were funded in the last budget cycle. No additional MRUs had been added and the department would use City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 10 of 12 what was provided. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked if there was still a need for high acuity in the community or was it a budget constraint. Chief Freeburg said the consultant would bring back the data. He was confident with what was out in the field, and the department could respond to calls. If more was needed, the department would ask for it. When the department looked at the number of incidents it responded to, it could meet the performance measures with the assets Council had provided. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked what the community risk reduction program manager did and if it was a new position. Chief Freeburg said it was a reclassification of a position that was left vacant as of April 2023. The manager was responsible for community education and risk analysis. Councilmember Clark asked for information regarding how many of the 31,000 calls were responded to with a low acuity or high'acuity unit. Feroz Merchhiya, Innovation and Technology Director presented the budget and supplementals for the Innovation and Technology Department. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked where the costs for the 801 computer replacements was in the budget book. Mr. Merchhiya said the replacement would come from the technology maintenance fund. There would not be a significant increase because the computers were on a replacement schedule which was based on equipment age. The idea of moving from desktops to laptops was to create mobility. Some of the replacements were laptops and some were desktops. Jessi Pederson, Economic Development Director presented the budget and supplementals for the Economic Development Department. Councilmember Clark asked what the 62% increase was for tourism division - professional services. Ms. Pederson said it was the $300,000 tourism fund supplemental. Councilmember Malnar asked Council to consider a $10,000 budget to create a sister city program. If the money was not used, it would rollover to the next year. Councilmember Tolmachoff supported the idea. Councilmember Turner also supported the idea and wanted the program to support the existing non-profit sister city program. Councilmember Clark was in support but wanted to require Council approval. Councilmember Malnar said it would be a collaborative effort with the non-profit group. Councilmember Tolmachoff asked about the tourism investment fund and what it included. Ms. Pederson said it was a fund specifically coming from the bed tax. It was a funding element to attract big events by providing incentive opportunities. City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 11 of 12 Mr. Phelps said the fund allowed the City to compete for big events. It was designed to be a return on investment and allowed the City to be more competitive. Councilmember Turner requested detailed data regarding special events such .as what events, attendance, and event costs. He asked if the Christmas parade was part of that fund. He wanted to establish a fund aimed at attracting external events to the City. Ms. Pederson said the Hometown Christmas Parade was not one of the City events. Street sweeping happened twice per week and was adjusted when the event occurred. It operated as a private event in downtown. The only hard cost absorbed had been the Police Department cost. The taco wars event was a great partnership where the City was able to offset the cost because the Live@ the Lot event was already going on. Councilmember Turner how much would be needed to help fund bringing in more events. Ms. Pederson requested time to come back with a number. Ms. Bower presented the budget and supplemental for the City Clerk's Office. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Weiers adjourned the meeting at 2:22 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 2nd day of April, 2024. 1 further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this 9th day of April, 2024. lie . Bower, MMC, City Clerk City Council Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2024 Page 12 of 12