HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010.1214.TCWSM.Minutesz:\council packets\2011\r2-17-11\10-12-14wsm.docx Page 1 of 8
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE WORK STUDY OF THE
FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
DECEMBER 14, 2010
AGENDA ITEM #1 – CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
Mayor Schlum called the meeting to order at 6:25 p.m. in the Town Hall Council Chambers.
Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Schlum, Councilmember
Contino, Councilmember Leger, Vice Mayor Brown, Councilmember Hansen, Councilmember Elkie and Councilmember
Dickey. Town Manager Rick Davis, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire, and Recording Secretary Shaunna Williams were
also present.
AGENDA ITEM #2 - DISCUSSION RELATING TO THE TOWN COUNCIL'S PROPOSED GOALS AND
INITIATIVES FOR FISCAL YEAR 2011/12,
Mayor Schlum advised that the members of the Council each received an updated draft of the Council's goals (containing
an additional column).
Town Manager Rick Davis addressed the Council and stated that if the Council has any questions or additions he is
present to address their comments and is seeking their input. He added that staff is also present to respond to any
questions and provide any clarifications needed. He discussed the proposed timeline and noted that staff's intention is to
provide the Council this document for their review and discuss it this evening and again on Thursday and stated that the
sooner they can solidify the initiatives the better for the budget process but they will take as much time as needed to "flush
out” all of the initiatives and ideas that they have going forward. He added that tonight they heard another idea that might
lead to another initiative, i.e. a joint study with the Sanitary District, and although that is not something currently before
the Council, it is certainly something that they can pursue. He requested that the Council provide questions, concerns,
modifications and additions relative to the proposed initiatives that are currently before them.
Mr. Davis stated that to the best of staff's ability, the document currently before the Council is the result of all of the
feedback they have received up to this point. He added that the document is color coded (a complete copy is available in
the office of the Town Clerk) so that everyone can see the Council's initiatives, which may have been shared with staff but
perhaps both Council and staff have developed those strategies/initiatives, and said that the green indicates those items
that came forward the last time they met on November 30th.
Councilmember Dickey advised that she took notes at the staff meeting and everything that she wrote down is contained
in the document.
Mayor Schlum asked if anything under Civility stood out for the Council and noted that some costs have been added to
the initiatives/goals.
Mr. Davis stated that the idea was to put some preliminary information out there and as the Council adopts the proposals
they are not adopting the costs -- they are merely to provide the Council with information relative to what staff believes
the cost of providing or performing those particular services will be.
Mayor Schlum advised that under Civility, one of those is on Page 4 of 19, the Centennial Event and the Circle, which is
relatively new although he believes the Circle has been included in the budget for the last few years ($80,000 to brick it
and a lot higher before to do other things). He said it shows $125,000 from the CIP fund but he doesn't believe that was
on their last proposal, so that is something they should talk about.
Mr. Davis stated that that is a new item and noted that the Centennial Committee, and those on the Council who are on
that Committee, could speak more about this, and they will be coming before the Council to make a presentation about
possibly participating with some other groups in Town to do a project that will be a true Centennial project. He said that
one of the things that came up, and they believed it should be discussed early on, is the paving of the Event Circle. He
noted that two and a half years ago they attended a meeting at the Library with various stakeholders representing groups
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around Town and they talked about paving that Circle. He reported that $90,000 had been budgeted for that and the
reason why they put $125,000 in if they decide to move forward is because they wanted to anticipate any contingencies
and it has been a while since staff priced this project out and they want to make sure they make any modifications for
electrical (conduit, etc.) that might be necessary.
Mayor Schum asked if anyone had questions on this and said he was briefed by Jerry Miles and Sandy Thompson and
believes it is a great idea.
Councilmember Dickey commented that she believes everyone is in favor of moving forward and their discussion
involved having several partners. She stated that she is happy to keep this number in, but it could come in lower based on
what they heard. She added that Mr. Miles had a meeting today with the Library Association and they don't have anything
certain yet, but she thought that the amount was less than that and if they can do it for less that will be good.
Mark Mayer addressed the Council and advised that, when they talk about paving, they are talking about pavers instead of
black top or concrete. He added that the Circle was left in the condition that it is in partially because it is loaded with
utilities and that is why whatever goes in there needs to be of such a nature that at some point if they have to get at the
utilities they can do so.
Vice Mayor Brown asked how many square feet this will be covering and Mayor Schlum said that the information is in
there somewhere -- it was not bid out but they had a pretty good idea of that a couple of years ago. The Vice Mayor noted
that it will probably cost less to do it today and the Mayor agreed.
Councilmember Leger advised that he had an opportunity to attend a recent Art Council meeting where this was the topic
of discussion and they asked him for his input but he deferred to the Centennial Committee. He said he is really interested
in how the Centennial Committee looks at this and noted that when he asked about cost it was the cost of the pavers and it
was his understanding that they were looking to the Town to do the pavers as well as the placards. He added that one of
the most expensive items associated with the project is the pavers and one of the things he asked Mr. Miles was whether
they found it necessary to completely pave that whole area (might be able to avoid running into the utilities). He said that
he suggested running a path and not doing the whole thing in pavers, which would significantly lower the costs. He added
that he gets a little leery of the $125,000 figure when he looks at some of the significant needs that the Town has, but
stated that it is a great project and he will leave it up to the Centennial Committee to manage their way through it but there
are some alternatives that could be looked at to lower the costs. He noted that Mr. Miles said that would be fine and it
doesn't need to be all pavers so there is some flexibility.
Mayor Schlum commented on the benefit of paving the whole area (not ADA compliant) and Councilmember Leger
advised that the sculpture is going to be in the middle so access to that could be accomplished by a path. He said that one
of the members of the Arts Council suggested that if they had the path then they could develop a fundraising initiative and
have people purchase pavers to fill that in.
Mr. Mayer noted that the location of that particular art piece is temporary until such time as they raise enough money to
place it in a permanent location (to be identified). He agreed that there needs to be some flexibility.
Councilmember Dickey said that one of the members quoted a significantly less price for the pavers and added that they
really haven't had a chance to delve into it yet.
Councilmember Leger reiterated that part of the expectation is that the Town possibly would pick up the cost of the
placards and that could wind up being pretty expensive. He stated that he thinks it is a great idea, it is just a matter of cost
and he knows the Arts Council is looking at other partners as well. He also asked if there are any other areas of funding
for that (if they went with the $125,000 price tag, is there any other way of funding that -- i.e., would it morph into
Downtown development funds, excise tax, etc.).
Deputy Town Manager/Finance Director Julie Ghetti advised that she would have to look at the development fee schedule
to see whether that was included in the Capital Projects Fund for development fees --- to see if there is a portion of that
that could be related to growth. She said that as far as the Downtown Fund she would have to look into that as well and it
is certainly worth taking a look at.
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The Mayor moved on to Environmental Sustainability (ES3) and "Consider establishing a commission to promote and
recommend sustainable practices." He said that he would not like to spend a lot of time on actually forming a
commission.
Mr. Davis stated that one of the things that is being proposed is to reconvene the Environmental Working Group or
committee that was functioning when he was hired by the Town. He said that team included some participation from the
School District and some other entities and their purpose was to generate ideas. He advised that he would like to
reconvene that committee and see if they could "put some meat on the bones that have been provided by the energy audit."
Councilmember Leger asked if there was an existing committee in place that could expand their scope and move
Environmental into their scope of work (for example, Parks & Recreation).
Mr. Davis responded that one of the ideas that was pitched earlier in the year was consolidation that would include an
expansion of scope for a community enrichment commission so that would still be a viable option. He added that the
Council has the ability to define the scopes for the various commissions/committees.
Councilmember Dickey stated that the whole idea is to get volunteers and the working group is good -- she is not opposed
to that -- but the people on the working group have a lot of other responsibilities and this raises some concerns. She
indicated her intention to talk to Mr. Davis some more about getting that group together, but the ones on that particular
group are not the ones who are going to have the time to devote to that. She noted that there are people on other
committees with a great deal of expertise and that was what the original discussion centered around.
Mr. Davis stated that from his singular perspective the idea is to utilize commissions that don't have a whole lot to address
and sometimes have difficulty finding projects to do, and expanding their scope to address issues like this would be the
way to go. He added that if they could find a complementary commission that would be a viable option.
Mayor Schlum clarified that they could just say, "Recommend sustainable practices," because reconvening the work
group and other things would be included in that.
Councilmember Dickey said they don't want to establish a commission but they are open to discussing different options
and the Mayor concurred.
Mr. Davis asked if the Council would like staff to devote more time to the idea of utilizing a current commission and then
come back to the Council with a recommendation.
Mayor Schlum commented that it is going to go back to the scope of what those items will be.
Mayor Schlum asked if anything had been added to Civic Responsibility and Mr. Davis replied no.
Councilmember Hansen commented that they talked a lot about expanding the volunteer program and continuing to use
the volunteer coordinator to foster volunteerism. She stated the opinion that this is one area where they might want to
look at maximizing the volunteer coordinator's hours to meet the demands of wanting to use volunteers more. She said if
they are looking to possibly partner with some of their civic groups and use the Community Center on a consistent basis
and assist with maintenance and upkeep of the amenities, they might want to explore the possibility of having (for lack of
a better term) a “certified volunteer program.” She commented on the old Community Center and said that if someone
wanted to use that building they would meet with the Manager, go over all the rules and get a key. She noted that the new
Community Center is a different facility altogether, but said that groups like Kiwanis and the Rotary that are in there
every week, if they had someone who could act as a qualifier (entrusted to have access to the building) that would help in
the maintenance area and minimize staffing problems at the center. She added that there would probably be liability
issues but they could be worked out.
Councilmember Elkie noted that Heather Ware is the Volunteer Coordinator and asked if anyone else worked in that
office and was informed that she is the sole staff person.
Mr. Davis informed the Council that volunteerism has been placed under Human Resources and Risk Management and
asked Human Resources Director Joan McIntosh to speak to this issue.
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Ms. McIntosh addressed the Council and said that Ms. Ware takes care of recruiting the volunteers for internal staff
members and when people call and say they are interested in volunteering for the Town, Ms. Ware interviews them, finds
out what their background is, what they are interested in, how many hours they can devote, etc. and then places them
whenever she can, which is most of the time. She reported that a majority of the volunteers serve on the "Give a Lift
Program" right now and they can always use more of them because the demand is high. She added that Ms. Ware doesn't
do much with the Home Delivered Meals program because Senior Services handles that for the most part, but she assists
sometimes.
Ms. McIntosh advised that they looked at increasing her hours in the Executive Budget Committee and discussed maybe
getting a part-time person to help in her area and maybe some other areas because it is a lot less expensive to do that than
to make someone full time and pay for benefits (they would save about $36,000 if they hired a part-time person). She
further stated that if the Special Transportation Program goes away next fiscal year, which might happen because they
don't have the funds, that takes up half of her time right now and staff was thinking that that will free her up a lot. She
said that she told Ms. Ware that they could probably get a volunteer to help with the "Give a Lift Program" so there are
ways around it without increasing costs and still increasing the service.
Councilmember Elkie asked if those were the only programs Ms. Ware was tied to as far as the Volunteer Coordinator
position and the "Give a Lift Program" and Ms. McIntosh advised that she also sits on the Employee Services Committee
and has helped coordinate the "Take Pride Day" and also coordinated a lot of volunteers who participated in the "Trees &
Trains Program." She added that she conducts quarterly volunteer coffees and handles the annual volunteer reception.
She noted that the different projects that Ms. Ware recruits volunteers for changes all the time.
Councilmember Hansen stated that they are talking about finding new initiatives and new ways to use volunteers and
incorporate them into the overall operation.
Ms. McIntosh reiterated that if the Special Transportation Program goes away that will lessen her current load and allow
her time to become involved in other areas. She added that if it gets to be too much another part-time person would be
helpful.
Mr. Davis called the Council's attention to CR2 (Page 6 of 16) with regard to certified volunteers taking over some of the
tasks of maintaining facilities and said that is a great idea and what was intended in the implementation part of that
column was something along the lines of that. He said he will be a little more specific and add the language suggested by
Councilmember Hansen.
Councilmember Elkie stated that he has heard a lot of positive comments about the work that Ms. Ware has done and an
expanded role would certainly be helpful.
The Mayor said that this is an important role to have filled.
Mayor Schlum moved on to Education, Learning and Culture and Councilmember Hansen referred to CR4, Channel 11,
and stated that maybe it is included in some of the verbiage but she would like to see some things incorporated, like public
service pieces, substance abuse, educational efforts and presentations. She added if there was some way to add some of
the non-profits that would be great as well (allow them to highlight their respective groups and give the community an
idea of what they do). She noted that they have an annual event where all of the non-profits are showcased at the
Community Center.
Mr. Davis commented that that would go along the lines of what they already do at their Volunteer Fair -- highlight some
of the groups that use volunteers.
Councilmember Hansen stated that a little blurb on Channel 11, much like they did for the ADOG presentation, would be
a great thing to do.
Councilmember Elkie said that he and Mr. Davis talked about revamping the criteria for Channel 11 and what can and
cannot go on there. He asked if this is still under review.
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Town Attorney Andrew McGuire addressed the Council and advised that the important thing they always need to consider
is that Channel 11 is a government access channel and has been limited to some extent by the requirements of the license
itself. He noted that Mr. Davis prepared some materials (administrative materials) that they are currently reviewing. He
said that he would review them as soon as possible and provide input to the Council.
Mr. Davis advised that the Policy Committee has finished their work on it (headed up by Shaunna Williams) and staff was
involved in the process for over a year (administrative policies) and it was recently given to Mr. McGuire for his review.
He added that staff wants to do a quick check on that before they bring it to the Council. He said that they want to make
sure that they are legally sound.
Mr. McGuire stated that they don't have to wait until all of it has been reviewed, they can just pull this piece out and Mr.
Davis agreed.
Councilmember Elkie commented that it appears they are waiting for that before they take the next step and everyone is in
agreement that they would like to see better utilization of Channel 11.
Mr. Davis noted that they have done some of that (i.e., the suggestion that they videotape some of the public forums
related to substance abuse) and the last session they taped included discussion by the Mayor, as well as the Prosecutor and
one of the Deputies, and that probably was something that can be shown on Channel 11. He added that as opportunities
present themselves they won't let the fact that the policy has not been put to bed get in their way of reviewing possibilities,
but they do need to be careful and he will consult closely with Mr. McGuire on this.
Councilmember Leger stated that there was a spreadsheet that Mr. Davis provided that was listed under EV1 and it is a
crossover from Channel 11 and it says, "Purchase Channel 11 server for expanded programming," for $15,000, and that
jumped out at him. He added that on the sheet provided today under EV1and there are zero dollars listed. He asked if the
server has been dropped off or is it included in the $24,000?
Ms. Ghetti responded that when they put the numbers together they found it really was an initiative that belonged over in
CR4 and the $24,000 is made up of the $15,000 for the new server, the $7,000 and the $2,000, and that represents the way
Channel 11 programming works right now -- there can only be one schedule so if there are changes to it the whole
schedule changes at the same time. She advised that the new server will allow random programming. She said that the
existing equipment will be used over at the schools so they can do some things with their channel as well. She added that
the IT Coordinator will work with the schools on this.
Councilmember Leger stated that any community group can always get on Channel 11 by being invited to a Council
meeting and making a presentation.
Councilmember Hansen also referred to CR4, Page 9, developing the events calendar and said she believes this is already
being worked on by the Chamber and Tourism agency and stated that it will have three components, Chamber, Tourism
and the Events Calendar. She stressed the importance of communicating with them and not duplicating efforts.
Mr. Davis said that he will follow up on that.
Mayor Schlum went back to Education, Learning and Culture and asked Mr. Davis if anything had been added that was
not previously discussed (apart from the colored text) and Mr. Davis said no.
Councilmember Hansen referred to ELC4 on Page 12, and reference to a partial virtual tour of public art in Town and
promoting awareness of such via social media and e-mail lists, and advised that this is also something that the Chamber is
working on. She added that combining efforts might help everyone and Mr. Davis said that he will follow up on this as
well.
The Mayor went back to Economic Vitality and Councilmember Hansen commented on EV1, doing research on the
Town's brand. She noted that the Chamber and Tourism is also working on this. She reported that they have had
meetings with a local branding company so they might want to have some dialogue on that as well. (Name of the
company is True Perceptions.)
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Mayor Schlum said that this will be the Town's brand and not the Chamber’s and Councilmember Hansen asked how
many brands they wanted to have -- discussion needs to take place. She stressed the importance of unity on this issue.
Mr. Davis advised that staff is proposing to develop a strategy based on research as to what their current brand is. He
noted that it exists -- it is simply determining whether it will get them to where they want to be. He emphasized the
importance of clearly identifying some objectives that they would like to achieve and that significantly changes the
strategy. He said that cooperating with a group that does this type of research might be necessary and agreed that they do
not want duplication of efforts.
Councilmember Dickey asked whether the effort on the part of the Chamber is news to everyone and Mr. Davis replied
that he is not familiar with a branding effort on the part of the Chamber.
Councilmember Dickey said they definitely do not want to get into competition with them and stressed the importance of
examining this very closely.
Mayor Schlum noted that EV1 is specific to economic development and said they are not talking about a whole new brand
(or are they?).
Mr. Davis said that will be determined by what the Council wants to have happen.
The Mayor said it is talking about quality of life and other things but it is under Economic Vitality.
Councilmember Hansen stated that perhaps it would be a good idea to have a joint meeting with the Chamber Board so
they could collectivity sit down and discuss what they are all trying to achieve (make sure they are pulling the train in the
same direction).
Councilmember Dickey noted that for the City of Glendale the brand is "Glendale's Got Game" and that might not
necessarily be something that the Chamber would say, but it does do economic vitality so that is why she doesn't think
they are separated. She added that economic vitality has something to do with branding the Town as a whole so she
doesn't want to see two efforts.
Councilmember Hansen stated that there is overlap in the economic development and tourism areas (between the Town
and the Chamber). She said that it would be helpful to have them involved in some of the dialogue and discuss what they
are involved in before they go off in different directions.
Councilmember Leger noted that where there is overlap with the Chamber, there is a group that exists called the Business
Vitality Advisory Committee (BVAC) and there have been some preliminary discussions and suggested that these items
be agendized at a meeting with them so that they can obtain some clarity as to whether collaboration exists, is there
overlap or do they have different objectives. He added that he believes that could be the forum for having this discussion
because there have been preliminary discussions on a lot of these issues.
Mr. Davis advised that from the conception of this idea it was recognized that without collaboration with the major
stakeholders in the community this would not go anywhere. He said it was staff's intention from the beginning to
collaborate with them and he will make sure that they ask Mr. Tyler if they can place the branding, etc. on an upcoming
BVAC agenda.
Mayor Schlum emphasized the importance of making sure that they are working together with their partners.
Councilmember Hansen said that it would be nice to have it in a venue where more than three Councilmembers can be in
attendance if they so wish and noted that only three can attend the BVAC meetings. She added that as many as possible
should be involved in this important discussion.
The Mayor asked if they are talking about a discussion on the Town's brand and Councilmember Hansen stated no, just
going over this and seeing how many of these different things both groups are working on (some pieces of them). She
stated that they could then put those out on the table and find out what each entity is doing and what could be done
together.
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Mayor Schlum said that both could work together and they are talking about a lot of things including internet, social
media, branding, calendars, etc.
The Mayor went on to Recreational Opportunities and Amenities and asked Mr. Davis if anything had been added.
Mr. Davis advised that some of this is ongoing (Sonoran Conservancy, the Preserve Trails Master Plan) and noted that the
intent is marketing that, as well as making some improvements and marking the trails themselves. He added that this is a
pretty singular issue.
Councilmember Hansen went back to EV4 on Page 15 and said that there are some pretty hefty amounts there and would
like more of a breakdown on that.
Mr. Davis explained that these are two positions that are being proposed in Economic Development and said that Lori
Gary will explain the scope of each person being requested. He pointed out that the funding source for these positions is
the Economic Development Fund and, if the Council approves this, the other will need to be a budget neutral position
(they would have to find savings somewhere else in the budget in order to accommodate that position). He added that
staff is cognizant of the financial situation and is not looking for an expansion of the budget.
Ms. Gary addressed the Council and provided brief background information relative to the two positions being proposed.
She noted that although the numbers have been plugged in EV4, they are actually spread across other areas in this plan
where there are economic development components. She said that the dollar amounts are additional personnel resources
and in order to accomplish some of the things that the Council identified, in terms of doing additional retention programs,
expansion and relocation of companies, some of those would be plugged into things like advertisements, trade shows,
having someone to work with local businesses to do a retention program, etc. She added that she was asked to put
together high level numbers, and additional details are not yet plugged into this (the numbers still need to be refined).
In response to a question from the Mayor, Ms. Gary advised that the additional costs would be for personnel, trade shows,
advertising and other programs that they might put into place for retention for example (doing additional research, etc.).
Mr. Davis advised that as late as yesterday he read an article in the Wall Street Journal that spoke to some of the efforts
that are being made by cities throughout the country that are facing the same situation as the Town. He said they are not
only seeing a lack of businesses coming into their cities/towns, they are also seeing more and more vacant storefronts. He
noted that a lot of effort is being put into business retention and he believes the Council's decision to include this as an
initiative is timely.
Mayor Schlum stated that this will need further discussion but he is glad staff shared this information.
Vice Mayor Brown asked Mr. Davis where he expects to find the money to fund the positions and he replied that the
Budget Committee has not finished their work on this but they would perceive one of them coming out of the Downtown
area (economic development) because a lot of work is going to be done on the revitalization of that area and retention. He
added that the other position, which is basically a management assistant, if possible (and they haven't determined where
that would occur) they would look at existing costs and see where they could reallocate existing resources in order to
cover those costs.
Brief discussion ensued relative to business retention and responsibilities associated with that on the part of businesses
(and not just the Town) and the importance of coordinated efforts. Mr. Davis noted that although retention is primarily a
business issue, it does have a direct effect on the Town and that is why more and more Town's are making resources
available in an effort to "stop the bleeding."
Councilmember Leger commented that from his perspective the big variable is the economy and agrees with the Mayor
that they really need to flush this one out. He added that he is going to need to see some ROI before he will support
additional positions.
Mr. Davis noted that one of the objectives that staff has in mind as they look at the Downtown area is the mix of retail in
that area in order to create a vibrant atmosphere. He said that it just isn't there right now and they want to make things as
attractive as possible to bring businesses into Town -- a variety of businesses.
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Ms. Gary clarified that the positions that are being proposed, which the Budget Committee is still reviewing, are not
strictly for retention -- they are also for recruitment on items that Mr. Davis mentioned (some may be government's role
and some may not be).
Mr. Davis discussed community marketing related issues.
Councilmember Elkie said that as far as the goals set for economic vitality, they also have to make sure that the resources
and manpower are available to accomplish them. He said more discussion will occur on this.
Mayor Schlum commented that the Budget Committee is still working on this and they are just in the beginning of the
year so there will be more discussions and they may not fund all of them.
Mr. Davis agreed and stated that that is why they want to concentrate on the goals themselves and not necessarily all of
the initiatives. He said that they may come up with other ideas.
Councilmember Dickey agreed with Councilmember Elkie's comments.
Mayor Schlum thanked Mr. Davis, Ms. Gary and staff for their input.
The Mayor announced that the Fountain's 30th birthday will take place tomorrow.
AGENDA ITEM #3 – ADJOURNMENT.
Without objection, the Work Study Session adjourned at 7:32 p.m.
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
By __________________________
Jay T. Schlum, Mayor
ATTEST AND
PREPARED BY:
_________________________________
Shaunna Williams, Recording Secretary
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Work Study held by the Town
Council of Fountain Hills in the Town Hall Council Chambers on the 14th day of December, 2010. I further certify that
the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 17th day of February, 2011.
_________________________________
Shaunna Williams, Recording Secretary