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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations - 06/21/1998 OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES July 21, 1998 COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Judy Woods, Rico Yingling substituting for Tim Clark, Tom Brotherton sitting in for Sandy Amodt until 3:40PM STAFF PRESENT: May Miller, Marty Mulholland, Brent McFall, Bob Hutchinson, John Hodgson, Dena Laurent, Joe Lorenz, Galen Hirschi, Roger Lubovich, Cheryl Viseth MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: Barbara Ivanov The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Judy Woods. Approval of 7/15/98 Combined Check—Detail Vouchers Committee Member, Tom Brotherton, moved to approve the vouchers of 7/15/98. The motion carried with a vote of 3-0. LID 347-348 Bond Contract Finance Director, May Miller, reviewed the 347 and 348 LIDS which were combined to save costs. She introduced Joel Ing of Dain Rauscher who gave a review of the scheduled sale by The City of Kent to Dam Rauscher of the LID unrated for Thurs., the 30`h. Ing said the sign-purchase agreement will be signed on Mon., Aug. 3`d, and the expected interest rate is 5 `/z % or under. Committee member, Rico Yingling, moved that the Operations Committee recommend to the Council the adoption of the bond ordinance for CLID 347 and 348 in the amount of$942,617 and to authorize the Mayor to sign the bond purchase contract with Dain Rauscher. The motion carried with a vote of 3-0. Technology Plan update and Upcoming PC Bid Marry Mulholland, Director of Information Services, gave an update on how the current Technology Plan is proceeding. Marty first clarified the differences in the speeds of computers, starting with the 286, then the 386, the 486, the Pentium, and now the Pentium 11 Marty relayed that recruiting is going well in the administrative area. In the Business Systems Group, a proposal has been drafted for a Parks and Recreation system The current system is not Year 2000 compliant and definitely needs replacement. Extensive research is being done on the Financial Payroll System. The Information Services Department is researching the market, going to demonstrations, seminars, and talking to other agencies. The roll out has been completed in the PC support training area in all departments except for Police. The program has been really well received with participation by all the departments and approximately $91,000 has been spent. This involved the update of over 350 computers to new operating systems and better office tools. City comprehensive projects are done with the exception of Police whose machines will not be upgraded until they get on the new network. In the multi-media group, the remodeling work is complete in the Chambers East with new systems facilities and the camera system moved. New technology has been moved for positioning the cable program, and the old Amiga technology was changed to new PC based technology with a new full WAN network and e-mail system. The telephone system will be a major purchase of$750,000. The Year 2000 payroll system will be coded to be Year 2000 compliant. Although all systems will not be up and running by the year 2000 and a number of devices in the City are not compliant, the City is still on target! Marty stated that she was hoping to have quotes prepared by Aug. 4d`for the new PC purchases. This is the first sealed quote purchase that's been done. Information Services is looking at two different parts of the HP Line, the Kayak is the bottom of their workstation PC line, the Vectra line is the top of the PC line. Ordinance Establishinc a Diversity Advisory Board Brent McFall gave recommendations for establishing a Diversity Advisory Board that would look at city policies and give advice on how to change procedures. The board would be composed of 7 members appointed by the mayor and approved by the council. Board members would serve for a three-year term. A standard ordinance is required to create the board. Committee member, Rico Yingling, moved that the Operations Committee recommend to the Council adoption of an ordinance creating a Diversity Advisory Board. Committee member, Sandy Amodt, seconded the motion. The motion carried 3-0. Position Authorization & Budcet Chance-Combination Building Inspector Bob Hutchinson, Development Services Division, Building Official, shared that he anticipated projected revenue increases to be approximately 1/3 million dollars over the budget amount for 1998. This increase is the bare minimum needed to handle the workload. Mr. Hutchinson stated that the City is asking for this new position because there are now more permits with more complexity, more final review workloads, and more building inspector workloads. Sandy Amodt asked if Mr. Hutchinson knew how much the City had spent on overtime to date He responded that through the end of June, $26,000 had been spent in this division in overtime out of a budget of$30,000—about 85%. Brent McFall stated that this year there has been a number of complaint calls that are not about regulations but about time. The review time now has been pushed back to almost double what it was just a year or two ago. The customer is being unduly delayed by sheer volume. Committee Member, Rico Yingling, made the motion that the 1998 budget be amended to add one Combination Building Inspector at a cost of$50,400 to include salary, benefits, vehicle, computer, and miscellaneous equipment; and to increase the overtime budget for 1998 by $20,000 for a total budget impact of$70,000. The motion carried by a vote of 3-0. Adoption of 1997 Editions of Uniform Building Code Bob Hutchinson presented the 1997 Uniform Building and State Code Sandy Amodt made the motion to recommend approval of the proposed ordinance adopting the 1997 editions of the Uniform Building, Mechanical and Abatement of Dangerous Buildings Codes, and adopt the most recent editions of the Washington Energy Code and Washington Ventilation and Indoor Quality Code, and further adopt a resolution establishing fee schedules for the Uniform Codes. The motion was seconded and passed by a vote of 3-0. Hotel/Motel Tax-Ordinance Brent McFall presented that a Lodging Advisory Committee would need to be created to advise the Council on the adoption of the Hotel/Motel Tax and the use of funds. The tax could be utilized to fund land acquisition, design, construction, and operation of a Performing Arts Center. The committee would need to be composed of five members: one elected official who would serve as the chair of the committee, two representatives of hotels or motels, and two representatives from organizations involved in activities that can be funded from the tax. A proposal to adopt the tax must be submitted to the committee at least 45 days before adoption by the Council. Barbara Ivanov,president of the Kent Chamber of Commerce, shared that she had phoned 5 hotels to get their opinions. Their consensus was that the current rate is already high, and they questioned whether people would stay overnight for a new Performing Arts Center. Rico Yingling asked if Ms. Ivanov would be willing to recommend two people for the board. Judy Woods asked Ms. Ivanov to prepare questions for the board. Sandy Amodt asked about an analysis of the impact of occupancy tax in the cities that have implemented the tax versus the cities which have not, and if there is a determination on what% of funds would go to the performing arts center. Mr. McFall stated that there are many competing interests and the committee would be charged with advising, but it would be up to the City Council to determine use of funds as long as it is consistent with the law. Rico Yingling moved that the Operations Committee recommend adoption of an ordinance creating the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, and that staff prepare a proposal for a 1% Hotel/Motel tax for submission to the committee. The motion was seconded and passed by a vote of 2-1. Sandy Amodt dissented Ms. Amodt said she needs more research on the current 11.4% tax that the City already has Judy Woods suggested that the Regional Governance & Finance Recommendation go to the whole council at that evening's meeting, July 21, 1998. Budget Adjustment—Ordinance May Miller presented the Budget Adjustment-Ordinance for adjustments through June 30, 1998. This ordinance consolidates individual budget items into one adjusting ordinance. Sandy Amodt moved to approve the budget adjustment ordinance for adjustments made from January 1, 1998 through June 30, 1998 totaling $35,703,185. The motion carried. 3-0. City Attorney, Roger Lubovich, pointed out that the Uniform Code motion excluded the housing and plumbing code, which the ordinance makes clear are included. They are part of the 1997 uniform code. These items should be submitted to the full Council. Item 5 , Draft Downtown Marketing Plan, and Item 8, `/4% Real Estate Excise Tax-Ordinance were forwarded to the August 4,1998 Operations Committee Meeting. The meeting was adjourned.