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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997.0701.TCSM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL coo JULY 1, 1997 A public meeting of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor Miles at 6:30 P.M., Tuesday, July 1, 1997, in the Fountain Hills Town Hall Council Chambers, located at 16836 E. Palisades Blvd., Building B, Fountain Hills, Arizona. ROLL CALL-The following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council were present: Mayor Jerry Miles,Vice Mayor Bill O'Brien and Councilmembers Don Lawrence, Marianne Wiggishoff, Sid Apps, Al Poma and Penfield Mower. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin and Town Clerk Cassie Hansen. AGENDA ITEM#2-REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FOR THE 97/98 FISCAL YEAR. ALL ASPECTS OF REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES WILL BE DISCUSSED AND CONSIDERED. Additional discussion on items carried-over from the June 30, 1997 budget session were considered before reviewing other budget requests. Health Insurance Town Manager Nordin referred to two memos sent by Julie Ghetti reference to employees health insurance costs. The first memo corrected the figure for health-related costs per employee from $400+ to an actual $248.60 per employee per month. The second memo discussed the increase in premiums. Mr. Nordin said he would obtain at least one additional quote for health insurance and bring alternatives back to the August 7th meeting where adjustments to the budget could be made at that time. Vice Mayor O'Brien compared our corrected costs figure per employee as closer to other municipalities our size. He MOVED to recommend a 10% maximum increase on health-related premiums. Councilman Apps SECONDED the motion which FAILED with a 5-2 vote. Vice Mayor O'Brien and Councilman Apps cast the aye votes. Councilwoman Wiggishoff MOVED to approve the current levels of premiums as a maximum for the next fiscal year. Councilman Mower SECONDED the motion which CARRIED with a 4-3 vote. Councilman Poma, Lawrence and Vice Mayor O'Brien cast the nay votes. Vacation Accrual Vice Mayor O'Brien stated he did not want to see employees accumulating more vacation days than the maximum but rather wanted employees to use their vacation rather than being paid for it. After comparisons, he MOVED changing the maximum number of accrued vacation days to 22 days and anything exceeding that would be paid to the employee at a rate of 80%of the employee's rate. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion. Councilman Mower pointed out that employees should be encouraged to take vacations and should have other employees cross- trained to enable everyone adequate opportunity to take their vacations. Councilman Poma said he thought the employee shouldn't be penalized by only receiving 80% of what the employee had accumulated over the maximum. Julie Ghetti, Town Accountant, said there were ten employees that consistently had reached their maximum. The motion CARRIED with a 6-1 vote. Councilman Poma cast the nay vote. IGA's School District Superintendent of Schools Walt Dunne was not able to attend the meeting but had sent a memo to the Council. Ginny Chin, a School Board member, spoke to the Council about removing the request for the books for the Library ($15,000)and also the salary for the after-hours Librarian($14,000). She stated the shared costs of purchasing vans Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 7/1/97 Page 1 of 7 was needed. Mayor Miles said he thought the request for $15,000 for adult-level books was a need rather than a necessity. Vice Mayor O'Brien MOVED to approve the School District's request and change the allotment for books to $7500. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion. Councilwoman Wiggishoff MOVED to amend the motion to eliminate the revised budget figure of$7500 for books. Councilman Mower SECONDED the amendment which CARRIED with a 4-3 roll call vote. Councilmen Lawrence, Apps and Vice Mayor O'Brien cast the nay votes. A vote on the main motion to approve the School District's request minus the $15,000 adult book appropriation, which had been approved in the amendment, CARRIED unanimously. The total request approved was $43,500. Chamber of Commerce No one was able to attend from the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Nordin said a memo had been received regarding the requests of the Chamber, specifically the amounts requested for the Thanksgiving Day Parade and Holiday Lighting program. It was determined that the Town's contribution covered almost the entire cost of the these events. Mayor Miles suggested the cost of the new Town video ($10,225) be considered under the line item for the Mayor's Council for Economic Development and funds collected from the bed tax could be used to fund the project. Councilman Poma MOVED to approve $6,775 for the Chamber of Commerce. Councilman Mower SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Councilman Lawrence pointed out that information was not provided relative to the extent of costs of the new video and whether the Town was being asked to fund the entire cost. Mayor Miles stated the answer to that question would need to be determined if and when funds were available to fund the project through the Mayor's Council. McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission Roy Kinsey,Chairman of the MMPC, identified the expenses for the Commission which included professional logo identification($5,000);printing of a brochure($5,000);promotion of the October month-long function($2,000);and promotional items such as t-shirts,caps,etc to be sold at the Great Fair and other Town events($2,000). The$5,000 expenditure would be broken down for preparation of applications for additional funding ($1,000) and expenses connected with various land conservation and land trust conferences and seminars ($4,000). Mayor Miles said he thought a brochure would present a conflict of interest in that the brochure would promote preservation which could be construed to promote the pending bond issue. Vice Mayor O'Brien MOVED to approve the amount of$15,000 as presented and to delete the $4,000 for meeting attendance at seminars and conferences. Councilwoman Wiggishoff SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Mr. Nordin requested clarification regarding the Commission's request to attend conferences. The Council agreed that the Commission should present their request for meetings and conferences to the Council for approval prior to registering for those functions. Community Benefit Programs Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve the request of CASS, Meals on Wheels, Boys & Girls Club and Community Theatre as presented and to direct staff to create a new policy for next year using a review process under which these programs and others like them would be evaluated, reviewed and submitted for approval. Vice Mayor O'Brien SECONDED the motion. Mayor Miles said he had serious concerns about all four of the programs. Vice Mayor O'Brien supported the suggestion that an LTAF model be used to evaluate programs. Councilman Mower MOVED to amend the motion to approve each of the four requests individually and to direct staff to create a review process for the next fiscal year. Councilwoman Wiggishoff SECONDED the motion. The amendment CARRIED with a roll call 5-2 vote. Councilman Apps and Lawrence cast the nay votes. Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 7/1/97 Page 2 of 7 Central Arizona Shelter Services Councilman Lawrence said he thought CASS provided worthwhile services for the Town. He MOVED to approve $8,100 as requested. The motion CARRIED unanimously. Lir Meals on Wheels Vice Mayor O'Brien MOVED to approve $1,500 as requested. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Boys & Girls Club Vice Mayor O'Brien suggested the budget request be approved upon contingent review. Councilman Poma MOVED to approve $10,000 for the Boys & Girls Club contingent upon their budget review. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Community Theatre Vice Mayor O'Brien MOVED to approve$20,000 as a sponsorship of the Theatre. Councilman Poma SECONDED the motion. Councilman Lawrence mentioned that shortchanging the amount requested might set the Theatre group up for failure. Mayor Miles said he was concerned about granting the theatre any amount albeit they were given the building to use for the $1.00 lease as well as allotting LTAF funds. Val Stasik stated that the theatre group had operated for ten years on a volunteer basis and a staff was now needed to continue with the increased workload. The motion FAILED with a 6-1 vote. Vice Mayor O'Brien cast the aye vote. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve $26,000 for the Community Theatre per their budget request. Councilman Poma SECONDED the motion. Councilman Mower asked about workshop fees. Ms. Stasik stated that trained theatre professionals were hired to guide the camps and workshops and that fees were charged to help defray the costs. Councilwoman Wiggishoff said she thought the Theatre requests belonged in the Arts Commission. Councilman Apps supported the request for funds as a one-time request to insure the longevity of the theatre. Councilman Lawrence pointed out that staff members or volunteers were not paid for programs performed at the schools, costumes were loaned to outside organizations, and other events that the theatre group participated in. The motion CARRIED with a 4-3 roll call vote. Mayor Miles,Councilwoman Wiggishoff and Councilman Mower cast the nay votes. Alternative Fueled Vehicles Mr. Nordin indicated that alternative fueled vehicle pricing had been difficult to obtain because prices were not available. He stated that there was no projected savings in fuel costs with AFV's. Mr. Harrel stated two of the proposed vehicles were replacement vehicles and the other vehicles would bring the total number of town vehicles to 35. Since the Marshal's Department was not encumbered under the federal mandates for AFV's and rolling equipment from the Street Department, adjustments to the number of AFV's were made. Mr. Harrel stated that 19 vehicles would be subject to the federal mandates and after the purchases requested, 22 vehicles would be in the fleet. Currently there was one alternatively fueled vehicle, a 1991 Chevy pickup in the Engineering Department. Mayor Miles said he supported controls to prevent pollution but since no scientific proof of the advantages of alternative fueled vehicles had been established, he was unwilling to support them at present. Councilman Apps suggested the Town start now to do their part in the pollution-preventing forces in Maricopa County. Mr. Nordin stated there had not been any fines or sanctions to the Town to date but that 50% of our fleet needed to be under AFV's by 1998. Councilman Apps MOVED to approve the bid for alternative fueled vehicles as presented, including a vehicle for the Marshal's Department. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion. Marshal Gendler said that he understood alternative fueled vehicles were not available under the type of package he needed for the Department. He asked to remove the vehicle for the Marshal's Department. Councilman Apps WITHDREW his motion and MOVED to approve all vehicles with the exception of a vehicle for the Marshal's Department. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion which FAILED with a 3-4 vote. Councilmen Poma, Apps and Lawrence voted aye. Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 7/1/97 Page 3 of 7 Councilwoman Wiggishoff MOVED to purchase one alternatively fueled vehicle in the next fiscal year. Councilman Mower SECONDED the motion which CARRIED with a 5-2 roll call vote. Councilman Poma and Vice Mayor O'Brien voted nay. MARSHALS DEPARTMENT Mr. Nordin stated the major increases in the Marshals Dept. budget were related to increased staffing costs which included security personnel for the High School and a traffic safety coordinator. He said two replacement vehicles were incorporated under capital outlay. Marshal Gendler spoke regarding the hiring of an officer for a traffic safety coordinator. Mr. Nordin stated the Sheriff's office could assist the Town with traffic safety matters but that in the interest of local control, the position was inserted under the Marshal's command. Councilman Lawrence suggested that the $300,000 formerly earmarked for the startup costs for a local police department remain in the reserved account and that the statement on Page 15 in the budget pages which indicated that the Council had not approved the formation of a police department for at least three years be eliminated. Mr. Nordin suggested appropriating $100,000 more in the next fiscal year to completely cover the startup costs. Vice Mayor O'Brien suggested that the current reserve amount be specified and identified in the budget. Mr.Nordin stated in last year's budget,the amount of$200,000 was specified in the reserve fund. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to earmark$400,000 of the reserves for startup fees for a local police department if and when necessary. Vice Mayor O'Brien SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Councilwoman Wiggishoff suggested the dog license fees appear as a separate line item. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve the Marshals budget as presented. Councilwoman Wiggishoff SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. STREET DEPARTMENT Mr. Nordin referred to last night's meeting where $60,000 was allocated for informational signs and would be transferred out of the Community Development budget and into the Street Department's budget. No money would be spent for the signs until each one was individually approved by the Council. He informed the Council of a change in the Street Department legal fees and requested the amount of $4,000 be approved. One additional maintenance worker was requested for the next fiscal year. Councilman Poma MOVED to approve the Street Department budget. Vice Mayor O'Brien SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. DEBT SERVICE Mr.Nordin pointed out that the levy for the General Obligation bond issue was projected to be$.23,down from last year's figure of $.32 due to increased assessed property values and carry-forward amounts from prior years. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve the Debt Service budget as presented. Councilwoman Wiggishoff SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. EAGLE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY FACILITIES DISTRICT Mr. Nordin explained that the budget for the Eagle Mountain CFD were bond amounts assessed to the District and were paid by the developer until a sufficient amount of the property was sold. He said administrative costs were recovered and that there was no cost to the residents of the Town. Vice Mayor O'Brien MOVED to approve the Eagle Mountain CFD budget. Councilman Poma SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. PARKS & RECREATION Mr. Nordin stated no increases in staffing were requested. He explained that the budget for recreational programs was set at$105,500 and that$28,000 represented part-time wages which were included in expenditures for programs. After revenues collected for programs, estimated at $129,000, a subsidy of$4,500 was required. Robin Goodman, Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 7/1/97 Lir Page 4of7 Director of Parks&Recreation discussed the uniform expenses for part-time field and program workers. Mr.Nordin pointed out that the fireworks expenses were located under Special Programs. Vice Mayor O'Brien expressed his concern about advertising expenses being underestimated. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve the Parks & Recreation budget as presented. Councilman Poma SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Mr. Nordin stated that the reason he had separated the budgets for Four Peaks Neighborhood Park, Golden Eagle Park and Fountain Park was for accounting purposes. He specifically wanted to itemize expenses for Fountain Park to assure the Council that the expenses of the park would not exceed the pro-rated maintenance contributed by MCO Properties. The timing of the takeover of ownership of the land for Four Peaks Neighborhood Park was a matter that needed to be considered when applying for Heritage grants. He requested a six month period to study the maintenance possibilities concerning contract mowing versus consolidated in-house mowing crews and other concerns. Councilman Lawrence stated he felt that all parks should be under the Parks & Recreation department budget and welcomed the idea of coordinating an in-house mowing plan. Al Lorenz, P&R Commissioner, stated the Commission desired to hold public hearings for input into future park usage for Fountain Park. GOLDEN EAGLE PARK Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve Golden Eagle Park budget as presented. Councilman Poma SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. FOUR PEAKS NEIGHBORHOOD PARK Director of Parks & Recreation Robin Goodman said the participation agreement had been signed and as soon as the title transfer was completed, the Town could take ownership of the land. Councilman Mower MOVED to approve the budget for Four Peaks Neighborhood Park. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. FOUNTAIN PARK Mr. Nordin was directed to study the issue regarding mowing contracts for six months and come back to the Council with his recommendations. Mayor Miles suggested the Sanitary District should participate in the electrical expenses connected with the fountain because the electric pumps disbursed the effluent of the District. Mr. Nordin said he would investigate that suggestion. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve Fountain Park/Public Works as presented. Vice Mayor O'Brien SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. Town Engineer Randy Harrel assured the Council that an extra vehicle for the Public Works Department was needed. COMMUNITY CENTER CONSTRUCTION Mayor Miles asked about the outside professional fees in the Community Center budget. Mr. Nordin stated that $130,000 of the $420,000 architectural fees were for downtown planning fees and that MCO Properties would be participating in the costs. Mr. Nordin said he thought the quote for professional services should be awarded by the Town for downtown planning services and that a development agreement with MCO would be necessary. Mayor Miles said he objected to the organization of downtown planning fees as submitted. Vice Mayor O'Brien MOVED to approve the Community Center Construction budget subject to a development agreement with MCO Properties relative to the division of architectural fees. Councilwoman Wiggishoff SECONDED the motion which CARRIED with a 5-2 vote. Councilman Poma and Mayor Miles cast the nay votes. RESERVES Mr. Nordin recommended $800,000 be set aside in reserves for the Community Center project bringing the total reserves for the project to $1,600,000. Mayor Miles stated he thought the reserves should not be earmarked until such time as determinations regarding open space preservation recommendations and land acquisition issues were Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 7/1/97 Page 5 of 7 resolved. Councilman Mower MOVED to leave the $800,000 in the reserve account as unallocated. Councilman Apps SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. GRANTS Mr. Nordin reviewed the projects under Phase 5 and Phase 6 for Golden Eagle Park. He said he was concerned about providing budget funds for these projects to insure future Heritage grants. Councilman Lawrence said he thought the recreational facilities should be completed in the next fiscal year. He MOVED to approve the Grants section of the budget as presented on Page 155. Councilman Poma SECONDED the motion. Councilman Mower asked for better clarification of the line items in the Grants section. Al Lorenz, Parks & Recreation Commissioner, stated that the Commission had voted unanimously to complete Golden Eagle Park during the fiscal year. The motion CARRIED unanimously. MEDIANS, DAMS & WASHES Town Engineer Randy Harrel stated the four-person Public Works Department was also charged with the maintenance of the medians, washes and dams and that the salaries of those employees had been split between the Public Works budget and Medians, Dams & Washes. Mayor Miles suggested this budget be combined with the Public Works budget. Mr. Harrel reviewed the request for a 3/4 ton four-wheel drive pickup truck for debris pickup in the washes. Councilman Lawrence MOVED to approve the Medians, Dams & Washes budget as presented. Councilman Poma SECONDED the motion. Vice Mayor O'Brien MOVED to amend the motion to delete the line items for purchase of a four-wheel drive vehicle ($30,000) and a computer ($2,400). Councilman Mower SECONDED the amendment which CARRIED with a 5-2 roll call vote. Councilman Lawrence and Poma cast the nay votes. COMMUNITY CENTER Town Clerk Cassie Hansen stated that $16,000 would be required for the next fiscal year for the parking lot improvements that were in the process of being completed. This expenditure had been approved for the fiscal year 1996-97. Councilwoman Wiggishoff MOVED to approve the $16,000 expenditure for capital improvements at the Community Center. Councilman Lawrence SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM #3 - CALL TO THE PUBLIC. (PUBLIC COMMENT IS ENCOURAGED BUT PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THE COUNCIL HAS NO ABILITY TO RESPOND OR DISCUSS MATTERS BROUGHT UP DURING THE CALL TO THE PUBLIC AS SUCH DISCUSSION IS PROHIBITED BY THE ARIZONA OPEN MEETING LAW.) No one came forward to speak from the public. AGENDA ITEM #4 - ADJOURNMENT. Councilwoman Wiggishoff MOVED to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Apps SECONDED the motion which CARRIED unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:53 p.m. Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 7/1/97 Page 6 of 7 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS /i/ By: J Miles, ayor A 1"1'EST: -�[/ )1/424. Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk PREPARED BY: 'Ca(6,,,;_,,a4L. Linda D. Lemmen, Administrative Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Session Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 1st day of July, 1997. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 7th day of August, 1997. d/-4.4.4 4. .46 )1J4AAA-"---) Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Minutes of the Special Session of the Town Council 7/1/97 tiklikre Page 7 of 7