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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010.1028.TCOM.Minutesz:\council packets\2010\r12-2-10\101028tcgoalretreatm.rtf Page 1 of 4 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL’S FY2011-2012 ANNUAL GOAL SETTING RETREAT OCTOBER 28, 2010 On October 28, 2010, the Town of Fountain Hills Town Council, Town Manager and staff met as part of the annual budget planning process for FY2011/12. The workshop took place at the Fountain Hills Community Center located at 13001 N. La Montana Drive, Fountain Hills, Arizona, beginning at 8:00 A.M. The workshop was posted as a public meeting, although no decisions were made and no formal votes were taken. Retreat participants included Mayor Jay T. Schlum and Councilmembers Henry Leger, Ginny Dickey, Tait D. Elkie, Vice Mayor Dennis Brown, Dennis Contino, and Cassie Hansen. Town Manager Rick Davis, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire, and several senior staff members were present. The retreat was facilitated by Strategic Planning Advisory Commission Chair Audra Koester Thomas. Councilmembers, the Town Manager, and senior staff members followed the agenda as outlined with staff responding to questions and participating in the discussions as requested. AGENDA ITEM #1 – Priority Setting for FY2011-2012 Ms. Thomas provided an overview of the process stating that this was the first year that the Council had used the Strategic Plan to prepare their goals. She discussed what her role (as facilitator), the Council’s role (providing directives), and staff’s role (implementation of those directives) was in this process noting that the outcome was to leave the meeting with identified and prioritized goals so that staff could prepare the budget appropriately with the limited budget available. She explained that the discussion during this meeting would be held at the policy level and that the first task was to sort the strategic directives under each of the values listed on the Quick Guide to the Strategic Plan 2010 as to whether the directive was a (H)igh priority, a priority to be (M)aintained or a (L)ower priority. Ms. Thomas lead the Council through their discussion of each value (Civility; Environmental Stewardship; Civic Responsibility; Education, Learning and Culture, Economic Vitality; Recreational Opportunities and Amenities; Maintain and Improve Community Infrastructure; and Public Safety, Health and Welfare) and reviewed each directive (copy of the Quick Guide to Strategic Plan 2010 attached, which denotes the Council’s focus for FY2011/2012). Ms. Thomas also explained the concept of using “the parking lot” as a way of holding ideas so that the Council could maintain their focus at the policy level. The Council took a break at 10:20 a.m. and resumed their discussion at 10:38 a.m. Ms. Thomas continued with Step 2 of process and commented on the fact that all of the items listed were valued and that the vision would take decades to complete. However, today she requested that the Council focus on prioritizing the directives for FY2011/12 and to remove the staff from making the decisions for the Council. Ms. Thomas proceeded to review each of the directives (as indicated by the Council as a High priority) with the Council responding and providing ideas that were to be compiled in a report prepared by Ms. Thomas sometime after the retreat to staff and formally presented to the Council at a future meeting. It was suggested that there needed to be an opportunity to meet with staff to discuss their ideas and feedback. Mayor Schlum thanked Ms. Thomas for facilitating the morning session and commented on the fact that the Town would see less in revenues, the opinion that he felt the paradigm was shifting and that it was ok to ask community organizations to step up their assistance; however, open dialogue was necessary. Discussion ensued with regard as to where they went from here (process); the fact that staff would now flush out the action plan, which would include what resources would be needed, and provide the costs, as well as staff’s feedback and ideas. Ms. Thomas indicated that a survey would be sent out noting that information received would be used for future z:\council packets\2010\r12-2-10\101028tcgoalretreatm.rtf Page 2 of 4 retreats and reiterated that a summary report of this meeting would be sent out upon completion. Mayor Schlum called for the lunch break at 12:30 p.m. and reconvened at 1:05 p.m. AGENDA ITEM #2 – Storm System The Town’s Storm Water/Environmental Planner Raymond Rees addressed the Council relative to this agenda item and reviewed information contained in the PowerPoint presentation (copy on file in the Clerk’s office). He provided storm drain and washes statistics, discussed and displayed photos of the Town’s dams, flooding and erosion challenges, street sweeping, and wash maintenance. Discussion ensued with Mr. Rees responding to questions from the Council relative to Federal mandates that the Town was required to comply with; a history of the program; the possibility of implementing Storm Water Fees and how that could take the burden off the General Fund; what other communities’ Storm Water Utility rates were; how the fee could be calculated (by lot size); the numerous educational opportunities available if there was interest in pursuing; the cost to the Town for storm water maintenance: street sweeping ($206K), wash maintenance ($102K), Public Education and inspections ($47K), and Regulatory Inspections ($5K) totaling $360K and the fact that $1.25 per month would only raise $133,500 annually; the fact that other communities were revisiting their fees; leaf blowers and when they were allowed to be used; the option of doing less street sweeping next year or outsourcing it as a way to decrease costs; the fact that wash maintenance was a difficult expense to cut do to the fire danger; additional questions relating to how to implement a Storm Water Utility fee; Mr. McGuire’s response that additional legal research was needed to determine if it required a vote of the people, or if the Council could implement; the fact that a mechanism would need to be in place to collect the fee and that the Fountain Hills Sanitary District might be able to assist; Councilmember Contino’s comment that commercial should be done at the same time as residential (one package); Councilmember Dickey’s comment that this would be a way to generate a fee that would be paid by all that would be directly related to something. Mr. Davis stated that staff would bring back a report that included the commercial element, the legalities of how to implement such a fee, and a collection mechanism noting that the Sanitary District was open to working with the Town on this. He expressed that revenue options were needed. The Council recessed at 2:00 p.m. and resumed the meeting at 2:12 p.m. AGENDA ITEM #3 – Financial Update and Forecast; Financial Sustainability; Capital Improvement Plan Financial Update and Forecast; Financial Sustainability: Deputy Town Manager/Finance Director Julie Ghetti addressed the Council providing a brief update of the Town’s financial picture as of the 1st Quarter of the year (copy of the PowerPoint on file in the Clerk’s office). Ms. Ghetti reviewed the balances to date relating to revenues and expenditures within all the funds (General, HURF, Downtown/Excise, Grants, Debt Service, Development Fees, and the Capital Projects). She commented that the sales tax revenues had shown a moderate increases with the exception of the construction sales tax revenue, which had shown a 24% decline. She discussed the General Fund expenditures and pointed to a slide that estimated revenue vs. expenditures through 2025. She stated that the estimates did not take into account that the Town may be required to assume library operations, that State Shared Revenues might be decreased by the Legislature, or if any large retailer went out of business. Ms. Ghetti commented on the fact that LTAF funding would not be coming back. Discussion ensued relating to what the budget impact would be to the Town if required to assume Library operations (approximately $500K), the fact that the Legislative bill had not yet come forward, the affect this would have on smaller cities and towns, strategies and the need to get in on the ground floor discussions to effect a compromise; and the suggestion by Vice Mayor Brown that the Mower Amendment (hillside ordinance) z:\council packets\2010\r12-2-10\101028tcgoalretreatm.rtf Page 3 of 4 was hindering construction in Town, Councilmember Contino’s statement that the ordinances were felt to be too strict, Mr. Davis’ comment that as identified the Council might need to be open to new concepts relating to building due to the Town’s topography; Councilmember Dickey’s concern regarding the easing of ordinances due to the Ellman development agreement and Mr. McGuire’s response that he could provide answers in executive session. Mr. Davis summarized that it would continue to be monitored. Capital Improvement Plan: Community Development Director Paul Mood addressed the Council relative to the Town’s Annual Pavement Management Program utilizing a PowerPoint presentation (copy on file in the Clerk’s office). Mr. Mood explained the differences between Standard Pavement Management program vs. a proposed 35-year Pavement Management Cycle; the anticipated costs involved for the pavement maintenance work that needed to be done in the Town’s seven zones, how the cost of the proposed Saguaro Boulevard improvements and additional work would be included; funding options for the annual pavement maintenance program (with and without the use of bonding); the various bonding options and associated tax rate impact on residential property on home with the Assessor’s full cash value of $350K and $500K. Discussion ensued relating to if there was an ability to salvage any of the existing curbing; the cost of the additional work on Saguaro Boulevard ($4.3M); estimated costs to fix drainage issues; a proposed traffic flow analysis at a cost of approximately $20K; the need for connectivity from Saguaro Boulevard to Fountain Park and parking options; the possibility of a reconsideration of Saguaro Boulevard as a truck route; the utilization of round-a-bouts; the option of asking voters for one $29M bond issue with the bonds sold at specific points as a way of keeping the tax rate consistent; whether CIP funds could be used for road maintenance; bonding strategies and options; the fact that due to the current economics there was better pricing for this type of road work; the suggestion of using $1M from the Downtown Excise fund towards the cost of a round-a-bout on Saguaro Boulevard to which staff responded that that would lower the cost of the bond to individual property owners by $10 per year; the question of if in 2014 when the $.01 State sales tax was to sunset could the Town set-up a dedicated fund for payment of the pavement management fund; the fact that most cities and towns used bonds to pay for roads and the importance to convey the larger picture to the public so that the people can get behind this bond; the concern that the Ellman project would tear up Saguaro for the sewer connections after the pavement work had been completed and staff’s response that they would alert all the various utilities and meet to coordinate their working in the area; confirmation that sales tax revenue could not be used for the repayment of bonds as there was a risk that a future Town Council could undo the dedicated fund; the fact that the bond structure presented provided the opportunity for the costs to remain level for the residents; the benefits to the residents of the $29M bonding option; the importance of taking a concept to the people so they understood the idea (comprehensive road maintenance plan); the need to emphasize this would maintain the Town’s property values; the possibility that HOAs with private roads might push back; the overall consensus that roads needed to be maintained; and the suggestion that ballot question should be for $30M as it provided an equal payment plan. Mr. Davis summarized the discussion and stated that they would move forward with an engineering study, provide opportunities for public and community education, and form the necessary procedures for a November 2011 Bond Election to take place in the amount of $30M. AGENDA ITEM #4 – Urban Trails Mr. Davis addressed the Council relative to this item and discussed the concept of an Urban Trails Plan (Map on file in the Clerk’s office), which included the marketing and purpose of such a trail system. He spoke of the benefits of these types of trails noting that it promoted community health. He discussed citizen concerns as being increased neighborhood traffic, the bringing of various elements into neighborhoods and the need for sensitivity in bringing forward a proposal. Discussion ensued with regard as to how the naming of the various segments would occur, the questions as to what was needed to make this happen and a request to bring forward what the anticipated associated costs would be. z:\council packets\2010\r12-2-10\101028tcgoalretreatm.rtf Page 4 of 4 The meeting adjourned at 4:00 P.M. TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By __________________________ Jay T. Schlum, Mayor ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: _________________________ Bevelyn J. Bender, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Town Council’ FY2011/2012 Annual Goal Setting Retreat held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the Fountain Hills Community Center located at 13001 N. La Montana Drive, Fountain Hills, Arizona, on the 12th day of October 2010. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 2nd day of December 2010. _____________________________ Bevelyn J. Bender, Town Clerk