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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Meeting - Council - Minutes - 10/28/2014 i SENT WI.II1'°"'" Kent City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 The workshop meeting was called to order at 5:31 p.m. by Council President Ralph. Councilmembers present: Ralph, Berrios, Boyce, Fincher, and Thomas. Council President Ralph noted that Councilmember Ranniger was unable to attend the meeting and Councilmember Berrios was listening in via speakerphone. Department Budget Presentations — Council President Ralph communicated the departments who would be presenting and introduced Chief Administrative Officer Derek Matheson who reviewed the budget and upcoming workshop schedule. He reviewed the 2015-2016 Preliminary Budget Questions/Requests document and encouraged the Council to contact him regarding any questions that need to be added to the list. Administration - Chief Administrative Officer Derek Matheson communicated what the budget schedule was and reviewed the Council 2015-2016 Preliminary Budget Questions/Requests. He discussed the City Council and Administration budget. He communicated that the only change is to increase the FTE for the Council Assistant from 0.525 FTE to 0.75 FTE due to the Affordable Care Act and it is fully offset with a decrease in the supplies budget. The FTE count for the Administration Department is 10.0, he said, and there are no proposed changes to that for this budget. He noted that the budget for the Administration Department is $2.3 million. He communicated that the Mayor has asked for a $25,000 appropriation for Neighborhood Council projects and communication matching grants in 2016. Additionally, unfunded needs include a proposed $35,000 neighborhood grant in 2015 and an additional $10,000 in 2016. He noted that the Mayor's salary is about $31,000 less than peer cities. Matheson added that unfunded needs include funds for a periodic citizen opinion survey and any elections costs for future ballot measures. He responded to a Council inquiry about an $120,000 increase in the Administration budget from 2014 to 2015 and said a small amount was a cost of living adjustment for employees but the bulk of the increase is a reallocation of cable/media expenses which are reallocated to departments based on prior year usage. Additionally, it was based on a considerable increase in the Puget Sound Air Agency dues. Matheson communicated that he would need to get back to the Council concerning an expenditure on page 67. I Councilmember Thomas inquired about the Mayor's salary and Matheson communicated that it isn't aligned with peer cities. Matheson responded to Councilmember Boyce and noted that the Mayor discussed the Neighborhood Program with him and she did want to allocate funds in 2015 because it would mean cutting other services. Councilmember Boyce advocated for dividing the increase of $25,000 in 2016 into both 2015 and 2016. There were discussions about moving the remaining funds in the Council budget and adding it to the Neighborhood Program. j Kent City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 Councilmember Higgins felt certain that $5,000 could be used from the Council surplus budget and applied to the Neighborhood Grant Program. Information Technoloav - Mike Carrington, Information Technology Director discussed the upgrade of the CommVault system and added that the Shoretel Telephone System upgrade is also complete. Councilmember Higgins applauded Margaret Bishop in the IT Department for her work on the system. He noted that a representative from ShoreTel told him about the job that Margaret has done and that she has saved the City money. Council President Ralph also applauded the efforts of Bishop. Carrington continued and discussed Phase 1 of the B&O design and implementation. He noted that the base operating budget is $7.4 million in 2015 and $7.6 million in 2016. He highlighted the four operating divisions, what their base operating services are, and what the total FTEs are. Carrington highlighted the new appropriations which were $2,500 for subscription services for design clip art and photo library stock used by multimedia. He added that there are two appropriations of $50,000 and $209,000 for consulting services to assess the viability of an FM radio station and funds to hire a Multimedia Coordinator for the station which is funded through scholarships. Council President Ralph and Carrington discussed what the funding is for and what the sponsorships would be used for. Carrington concluded that there are several unanswered questions and that is what the consultant funding would address. She expressed concerns with taking sponsors from other areas that need sponsorship. Carrington responded to Councilmember Boyce and stated that this radio station would be used as another mechanism to get information out to our citizens. Mainly, a way to communicate public safety and City information. Carrington continued and noted that he is looking at adding two long-term positions at a cost of $250,000 and having $25,851 for training in 2015. Unfunded short-term needs include having a $125,000 transfer from B&O to be used for an IT Project Manager/Business Analyst, he said. Councilmember Higgins highlighted that that B&O position is one of the four positions that were proposed by the Finance Director already. Carrington communicated that an additional short-term unfunded need is to use $250,000 of the technical fees that are collected annually and add two staff to tackle the software replacement project initially, but to work on future enhancements such as having technology available for field B&O tax inspectors. Councilmember Higgins verified with Matheson that any FTEs added need to be approved by the Council. Furthermore, Carrington communicated that this isn't in the Mayor's proposal and would be covered by existing revenues. He noted that this is 2 Kent City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 being allocated to address the technical issues the City has been having. Carrington further explained that the funds have been sitting in a bucket for future software improvements. Council President Ralph verified that the internal utility tax funds would become available by the end of 2016 and they will include any extra funding in the B&O fund. j Councilmember Boyce confirmed with Carrington that from 2008 through 2012 the City was financially unable to upgrade computers. Now, they have been upgraded and the City is in a much better place. However, the KIVA software system is a very volatile system and due to suggestions by the City staff, KIVA has been moved to a virtual platform. That move has allowed us to begin to plan the replacement of the system. He added that having the personnel with the proper skill sets is critical in the future when it comes to supporting the software needs of the City. Economic and Community Development - Ben Wolters, Economic and Community Development Director discussed department accomplishments to include the adoption of the Economic Development Plan, the Riverbend Comprehensive Plan/rezone/zoning amendments, and the updating of the Downtown Design Guidelines. He highlighted the launch of the Amazon project and a redevelopment of the Lake Meridian Shopping Center. He announced that this has been the biggest permitting year in 30 plus years and the department's budget is $5.7 million in 2015 and $5.9 million in 2016. He stated that they are proposing a 3 percent permit and review increase and a 23 percent fire prevention increase. He reviewed the department's base operating services, permitting, long-range planning, economic development, and code enforcement, and said there aren't any appropriations in 2015 and $212,000 in 2016. He explained that the 2016 appropriations are to add an Administrative Secretary I at .6 FTE, convert an Office Tech III from .33 FTE to 1.0, add a Planner at 1.0 FTE, purchase the 2015-2016 International Building Code books, and pay for training for the inspectors. He noted that unfunded needs include funds to handle public records requests, increase the amount of customer service in the Permit Center, reduce delay in timely review of permits and inspections during heavy workload periods, upgrade permit tracking software, code enforcement, and implementation of the Economic Development & Downtown Strategy. Wolters communicated that there aren't any appropriations scheduled for 2015. However, he communicated that he may come back to the Council mid-year for funding if this year is comparable to last year. Wolters responded to Councilmember Boyce that the addition of administrative staff means that the code enforcement officers spend less time in the office handling paperwork. Councilmember Boyce asked how code enforcement cases get handled and Wolters responded that offenders get an admonishment letter which can then go all the way to Superior Court and an arrest warrant being issued. Council President Ralph discussed being proactive in code enforcement and Wolters replied that the department does prioritize cases that have a public safety element to them. 3 i Kent City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 Councilmember Fincher inquired about the .6 FTE for the Administrative Secretary I and Wolters responded that there are 5.5 FTEs currently and there used to be 9 FTEs. j He noted that there have been processes updated and software improvements, but the public records request process continues to be a bear. He also expressed the KIVA system and issues obtaining records from the system. Wolters replied to Councilmember Fincher and stated that the monetary difference between .6 and .75 FTE for the Administrative Secretary I position is about $10,000 $20,000. i Councilmember Higgins verified that the department is between 70 - 75 percent cost � recovery and with these positions it would grow to 80 percent. He stated that the cost recovery percentage this year is about 90 percent and the department will be about $1.5 million overbudget for the year. Wolters continued and displayed a graph concerning the fee increases of other local jurisdictions. Wolters added that he supported Carrington's proposal to add positions to augment information technology services. Parks, Recreation, and Community Services - Jeff Watling, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Director highlighted the department accomplishments as being the Wilson Playfield turf replacement, the cost recovery methodology study, the completion of the Kent Valley Loop Trail Master Plan, and the creation of the Parks & Recreation Commission. He highlighted that his base operating budget was $24.8 million in 2015 and $25.4 million in 2016. He broke down each of the department funds and funding sources. He highlighted the department base operating services as planning and development, park operations, facilities, Riverbend Golf, recreation, housing and human services, and the administration division which oversees the animal services contract with King County and the Public Defender contract. Watling communicated the new appropriations for the department are $250,000 for the public defender contract in 2015 and 2016. He warned that the contract will probably cost more than the $250,000 appropriation because it will only cover the indigent defense contract. He noted that the other two services, conflict counsel and secondary conflict counsel, will add more to the appropriation. Councilmember Thomas suggested adding funds to the public defender contract if it is needed. He also verified with Watling that there are FTE increases which need to go to Council, but the funds to pay for the positions will come from another source. Watling explained that the three 0.75 FTE positions need to be benefited due to the Affordable Care Act. He noted that the funding for those positions would be needed in 2016 at a cost of $89,811. There are two additional positions needed, he commented, one at 1.0 FTE for a Capital Projects Coordinator and 0.475 FTE for an Administrative Secretary. Both would be funded through other savings, but brought to Council for approval. He discussed the Golf Fund and having a new well dug in 2015 at a cost of $400,000. Councilmember Thomas confirmed that the well was dug in 1989 and that there was a pump that was installed five years ago. Watling added that there is water there, but 4 Kent City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 water experts have communicated that the City needs to drill deeper or drill another well. I Watling communicated that the expenditure of $400,000 will save the City $150,000 per year. However, this adds debt to the Golf Fund, he said. Council President Ralph confirmed that the debt in the Golf Fund is $2.8 million. She discussed the risk of having that loan out there with no fixed repayment source. She said she would hate to add to the debt because it could cause problems down the road. Watling added that the General Fund can't handle this now, so the only other way to do this is to apply the cost to the Golf Fund. He said each year the City is paying $100,000 to $150,000 for water each year which ultimately does come out of the Golf Fund. Watling explained to Councilmember Thomas that the unfunded need for the youth soccer field is included in the Facilities Capital Reinvestment (long term) item. He stated that the cost is $30 million to keep the facilities up to par and the City is funding that need at only 14 percent every year. He noted that other communities are funding their parks infrastructure at a higher rate. Watling continued and discussed creating a Capital Reserve Fund for synthetic turf. He noted that 50 percent of the fees collected go to the General Fund. Furthermore, he highlighted that there are City facilities that need reinvestment such as the police headquarters, City maintenance shops, Senior Center, and the City Hall building. Councilmember Fincher inquired if the list of parks assets that needed to be closed is a part of the unfunded needs and Watling communicated that they aren't. Watling also confirmed that the Parks maintenance department handles street trees. Watling verified with Councilmember Boyce that there is a list of assets that need to be closed due to a lack of funding that is similar to the list that was discussed by the Council two years ago. Watling explained that assets erode and over the years they need to be reviewed. He noted that that is one of the issues the new Parks and Recreation Commission will provide recommendations for. Councilmember Higgins confirmed that the King County parks levy had a small amount of funding for municipal distribution and Watling confirmed that the City will receive the first amount in 2014 and it is a part of the budget as a revenue source. He stated he will look into what has been done with those funds and inform the Council. He said the allocation from the King County parks levy is about $200,000 per year. However, each of the projects on the City's list is a lot more than $200,000. Public Works - Tim LaPorte, Public Works Director discussed the Public Works Department accomplishments. He noted that capital improvements that have been done are the Briscoe Levee, SE 256th street widening, and Kentview sanitary sewer interceptor. He added that the B&O improvements and the water main replacements done in the City are also significant accomplishments. He noted that the base 5 i Kent City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 I operating services include public works operations and engineering. LaPorte and his staff discussed new appropriations being $1.9 million in 2015 and $1.7 million in 2016. Councilmember Boyce asked what the breakdown would be for bringing equipment to dealerships for maintenance and noted that the cost to have internal fleet services is less than that. I Council President Ralph added that the equipment is aged and keeping the work in- house gets the work done faster and the communication with staff is done quicker. Councilmember Higgins confirmed that the new fleet position would be funded with the fleet funds from the overhead charges. Ron Green, Fleet Services Superintendent discussed the sanitary sewer system cleaning and what the new sewer vactor truck, chase truck, and the two operators are for. He communicated that it would cost the City more to contract out the work the department does with the City's sanitary sewer system. Councilmember Thomas verified with Green that the City hasn't added additional staff in the sewer department for more than 15 years. Scott Schroeder, Street Operations Field Supervisor and Kristen Lykken, Financial Analyst discussed vegetation management and maintenance throughout the City. Schroeder replied to Councilmember Thomas and noted that there has been a 50 percent increase in the amount of work done in the City concerning tree overhang. Lykken communicated that in order to maintain the current service levels as a result of the Affordable Care Act the department will need to augment its staff by 16 seasonal 0.5 FTE employees, six Maintenance Worker I's, and six Maintenance Worker II's. She also presented the alternative option for $1 million in 2015 and 2016 for 45 seasonal temporary 0.5 FfE employees. LaPorte added that it takes a significant effort to train temporary seasonal employees and it ties up the field supervisors. Councilmember Boyce verified that the hourly salary for seasonal employees in the department ranges from $14 - $17. Council President Ralph confirmed that Schroeder's team does the fence repairs throughout the City rights-of-way. LaPorte also added that the City has to comply with the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) requirements and that there are over 750 sites, to include dams, swells, swales, and holding ponds in the City. LaPorte communicated the department's unfunded needs, which include a signal technician and a van which would be about $200,000. He noted that the concrete crew allocation which was funded out of the B&O fund ends in 2015 and costs $500,000. He discussed a dump trailer for $8,000 and man lift vehicle that are 6 i Kent City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 28, 2014 unfunded. He noted that a $120,000 mini sweeper is also unfunded. There is also a need for a solid waste maintenance worker with vehicle, a zipper costing $120,000, guardrail and sign replacement for $47,000, new guardrails and signs, pre-wetting system for snow and ice for $23,000, salt brine mixer for snow and ice for $90,000, and streetlight/traffic signal repair and replacement at a cost of $135,000 which can also come from the B&O fund with Council approval. LaPorte replied to Councilmember Thomas concerning fire hydrants and stated that he will be meeting with the Public Works Committee to review what will be done going forward. The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. f � Ronald F..Aloore, J�1MC City Clerk I I i 7