HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008.1003.TCOM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
STRATEGIC PLANNING SESSION
October 3,2008
Mayor Schlum called the meeting to order at 5:34 p.m.
AGENDA ITEM#1 —WELCOME
The following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council were present: Mayor Jay Schlum, Councilmember
Dennis Contino, Vice Mayor Henry Leger, Councilmember Keith McMahan, Councilmember Cassie Hansen,
Councilmember Mike Archambault and Councilmember Ginny Dickey.
The following staff members were present: Town Manager Rick Davis, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire,Judge Ted
Armbruster, Assistant to the Town Manager Kate Zanon, Accounting Supervisor Mary Martin, Assistant Fire Chief
Randy Roberts, Finance Director Julie Ghetti, Human Resource/Risk Manager Joan McIntosh, Planning & Zoning
Director Richard Turner Parks & Recreation Director Mark Mayer, Community Center Director Samantha Coffman,
Public Works Director Tom Ward, Public Information Officer Katie Decker, Town Clerk Bev Bender, Executive
Assistant to the Mayor and Town Council Shaunna Williams.
Mayor Schlum welcomed everyone and stated that the purpose of this session was for the sharing and collaboration
of ideas. Town Manager Davis spoke about the process that would be followed. He stated that this was a planning
session for the Town Council and the opportunity for free flowing of ideas. He asked that everyone be respectful and
to have fun with the experience.
AGENDA ITEM#2—FY2009-10 PROPOSED BUDGET SCHEDULE.
Finance Director Julie Ghetti spoke briefly about the proposed budget schedule noting that the dates may change.
She reviewed that the scheduled included additional opportunities for public input from citizens.
AGENDA ITEM #3 — ECONOMIC UPDATE: A) FY2008 YEAR-END FINANCIAL REPORT, B) FY2009
REVENUE PROJECTION,AND C) FUTURE ECONOMIC OUTLOOK.
Ms. Ghetti presented an economic update for year-end FY2008 and highlighted that $1M savings in the General
Fund was available for transfer to the Capital Projects Fund. She mentioned that the State income tax was 25%
higher than the prior year, local sales tax was 7% less, and the Town's building permit revenue was 27% less with the
overall General Fund revenues 1% less. She reviewed the various revenue source projections stating that they were
based on trends and that staff continued to be conservative with future projections.
Ms. Ghetti responded to a question by Mayor Schlum stating that the residential permits were based on new
construction and did not include remodeling. Ms. Ghetti stated that the Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF) was
declining and that it would likely be less next year.
Ms. Ghetti reviewed the economy in general, pointing out that construction continued to be weak, with new single
family building permits having ground to a halt; the state income tax was expected to be less next fiscal year, the
state budget deficit might affect cities' and towns' state shared revenues, and that the development of the Ellman
property would probably be extended beyond 2010. She also commented on the fact that multiple foreclosures could
result in a shortfall of property tax collection, and that foreclosed homes meant more abandoned properties with
Town liens for pool abatement. Councilmember Archambault questioned how the Town would recover a lien on a
foreclosed property. Ms. Ghetti responded that the lien would be paid when the property was sold as the home sale
could not close until paid. Town Attorney McGuire clarified that the Town's lien would take 2nd place to general
taxes. Ms. Ghetti commented on the fact that HURF revenues and vehicle license taxes were also expected to be less
than projected with investment earnings less than in previous years(i.e. interest).
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Ms. Ghetti reviewed the fund balances as of June 30, 2008: General Fund - $6.6M, Streets - $0.4M, Development
Fees - $2.3M, Downtown Development - $1.0M, Debt Service - $1.6M, and Capital Projects - $10.8M. Ms. Ghetti
confirmed for Vice Mayor Leger that the Capital Projects Fund ($10.8M) included the $1M savings mentioned early
Le that was available for transfer from the General Fund.
Ms. Ghetti summarized by stating that the economic slowdown gave an opportunity to re-engineer ourselves for more
efficiency and better service. She stated that expenditures would continue to be monitored to ensure that there were
sufficient current year revenues before approving the purchase of goods or services.
AGENDA ITEM#4—NEW INITIATIVES.
Town Manager Davis stated that the Town could not spend more than it had and expressed that the Town needed to
constantly be innovative in its service to citizens in order to keep services the same. He presented the concept of
Total Quality Management (TQM) and defined it as a problem solving technique that empowered people who work
the closest to a problem to come up with the solution. Mr. Davis stated the word"empowers" was the key and noted
that due to the current economic climate, there needed to be a shift in the organization's paradigm. He acknowledged
that it would be viewed skeptically by those who did not want to give up control. He stated that employees were
capable of developing great ideas and now was the time to ask how situations could be made better.
Mr. Davis spoke about principles vs. values and explained the various points of the TQM process: empowerment,
opportunity for recognition, team formation, idea generation, plan formation and presentation, feedback and
empowerment, idea implementation and monitoring, and evaluation and reporting. He stated it was time to stop
doing "S.T.U.P.I.D." (S. — silly; T. - time consuming; U. - useless, P. - problematic, I. - ineffective, and D. - darn
expensive) things. Mr. Davis stated the opinion that problems were an opportunity to improve. Mayor Schlum
commented that this was a way to make sure that everyone was on the same page and he felt that this was valuable to
keep in mind.
Mr. Davis summarized that he would: i) work with Finance to develop evaluate methodology/standards; ii) work
with Human Resources to design a monitor and reward system; iii) introduce the TQM process to the employees; iv)
work with the public information officer to develop methodology for celebrating innovation, and v) provide an
annual report on innovation to the Council.
Mr. Davis called for a break at 2:00 p.m. and the meeting reconvened at 2:12 p.m.
AGENDA ITEM #5 — WHO ARE WE SERVING AND HOW ARE WE DOING A) CONCEPT OF A
CITIZEN SURVEY AND B) COUNCIL FEEDBACK AND BRAINSTORMING SESSION (DOTS).
Mr. Davis briefly introduced the idea of a citizen survey to the Council, asked that the Council review the draft
provided at this meeting, and provide comments to him before the Council's January retreat. He indicated it was his
intent to execute the survey later in the winter if Council approved.
Mr. Davis distributed colored dots (red, yellow, and green)to the Council and explained the guidelines for placement
of said dots on the various categories of function priorities listed on sheets displayed. He asked that a maximum of
three dots per Councilmember be placed on any one item. Red — meant, "pay attention" to this item during the
budget cycle, important. Yellow — meant, "important", but not for next year. Green — meant, "good here", nothing
eminent. He stated the purpose was to get feedback from the Council on those areas that received red dots. He
commented on the fact that Town staff would duplicate this process at their retreat.
Mr. Davis responded to Mayor Schlum's question as to how to insure citizens' input on priorities by stating that the
Council had been provided with a copy of the strategic plan document for reference to assistance with placement of
their dots. Mr. Davis stated that he would bring forward a summary of the priorities as indicated in this exercise to
Laythe Council at their October 14`t' meeting. He said that the Council's discussion would focus on quantifying their
prioritization rationale. Councilmember Hansen noted that each Councilmember's reasons may be different and Mr.
Davis stated that he hoped the discussion would bring that information forward.
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Mr. Davis called for a break at 2:55 p.m. and the meeting reconvened at 3:12 p.m.
AGENDA ITEM #6 — SUSTAINABILITY OF FOUNTAIN HILLS — UPDATE ON ENVIRONMENTAL
POLICIES.
Planner Gene Slechta provided an update on the Town's environmental policies, beginning with a review of the
milestones, which had resulted in the Council's adoption of Resolution 2008-18 on May 15, 2008, "Establishing
Environmental Policies for the Town to Protect and Improve the Health and Safety of the Community". He reviewed
that the Environmental Committee initially had forty initiatives that they were able to reduce to the "top ten", which
were 1) curb recycling/trash hauling, 2) reclaimed water usage partnership, 3) fluorescent bulbs, 4) recycling Town
facilities and parks, 5) household hazardous waste event, 6) partner with School District/Town on recreation sites, 7)
Create riparian area in Ashbrook Wash, 8) Leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) in Town
facilities, and 9) Solar Incentives, and 10) LEED certified operations of Town facilities. He stated that the #7 had
been removed from the list and that#8 and#9 were tied as related to their importance.
Mr. Slechta also reviewed other ideas such as the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement, plastic bag
ban/recycling, develop a metrics/scorecard, alternative fuel station pumps, drug disposal, Town hosted recycle bins,
"Get Help" - ICLEI/volunteers and cool cities. He spoke about other happening such as paper shredding, the 2006
Building and Energy Codes, 4-10s, the U.S. Congress energy bill, the rinse smart program, environmental education
in schools, PM 10,the Botanical Gardens, the electronics recycling events, and the"Running Out of Air"program.
Mr. Slechta summarized where the Town could go from here as follows: a GHG inventory, develop a strategy on
volunteers, review and revisit our list, and to determine the budget impacts of actions.
Human Resource Administrator Joan McIntosh provided additional information on the topic of modified business
hours. She stated four reasons for considering modified business hours: 1) it would enhance customer service, 2)
create a positive environmental impact, 3) provide cost savings for the Town, and 4) assist with employee
recruitment/retention and overall job satisfaction.
Ms. McIntosh explained the proposed plan called for the lengthening of business hours Monday through Thursday(7
a.m. to 6 p.m.) with Town Hall closed on Fridays, which would create Customer Convenience Hours that allowed
residents and other customers to conduct business at Town Hall before or after their standard business day. She
noted this would be of particular benefit to builders and contractors as well as to those residents who commute out of
Town to work. She discussed that this would create a positive impact on the environment in the areas of energy
conservation and would reduce pollution. Ms. McIntosh referred to the Strategic Plan pointing out that this initiative
would support the Council's goal of enhancing stewardship of the natural environment, would support the goal of
Maricopa County's Trip Reduction Program, and would work towards the Council's goal of making environmental
costs, risks and impacts an integral part of its planning and decision making processes as stated in the Town's
environmental policy. She reviewed potential costs savings for the Town stating staff had estimated a 14.5% savings
on utility bills and Town fleet fuel consumption. Ms. McIntosh reviewed how this change in business hours would
benefit the Town in employee recruitment, assist with employee retention, and enhance employee job satisfaction.
Mr. Davis asked Councilmember Dickey if the State was considering implementing 4-10s. Councilmember Dickey
responded that the State was not, as it had been determined to be too much of a hardship. Councilmember
Archambault asked if this affected emergency services to which Ms. McIntosh responded no, as they were required
to be open the same hours (24/7). Councilmember Archambault questioned if staff was supportive of this change and
Ms. McIntosh replied that the majority were in favor of this change.
Ms. McIntosh spoke of additional benefits that included the creation of additional parking for those events held on
Fridays and an anticipated reduction in staff sick leave due to medical appointments on work days. She expressed
that it was important to implement this on a trial basis in order to solicit public feedback through various methods
(i.e. walk-in, mail-in, and web surveys) in order to track those services used during the extended business hours, and
cm,. to monitor any complaints with prompt follow-up. She explained that the proposed customer convenience hours
would integrate well with the E-government initiative set to begin in November as it would provide citizens with
24/7 access to Town Hall. The frequently asked questions and Customer Request Management System would be
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available to citizens on-line and even though Town Hall was closed on Fridays, citizens would have access to Town
government. Ms. McIntosh pointed out that the Community Center/Senior Services, Maricopa County Sheriff's
Office and Fountain Hills Rural Metro would remain open on Fridays through the use of modified work schedules.
Ms. McIntosh commented on potential challenges. She stated that for those residents and customers who wanted to
do Town business on Fridays, they would have access to drop boxes, e-government services on-line, help lines, and
on-call personnel. However, in those instances when Town business must take place on a Friday, Department
Directors would have the ability to schedule employees or make appointments as necessary. She acknowledged that
it might take time for the public to get used to the change in hours of operation and proposed that the first floor
entrances to Town hall remain open on Fridays with volunteers present at the Information Desk for the first two
Fridays to answer any questions about Town Hall hours and to distribute literature about Customer Convenience
hours. She address that employees might have child care issues and that some employees might experience fatigue
with the extended hours. However, she proposed that flexibility would be given to each department to address the
employees' child care needs. With regard to possible fatigue, she pointed out that those cities working with
schedules similar to those proposed had reported an increase in employee productivity once employees had adjusted
to the schedule.
Ms. McIntosh stated that advance notification to the public would be critical and a well planned and extensive public
outreach program would take a minimum of 30 days to implement. She discussed the proposed outreach components
that would be used and said she would be happy to answer any questions.
Discussion ensued with regard to maintaining citizens' level of service remain the same; the fact that the number of
citizens who frequented Town Hall and the number of phone calls were lower on Fridays, the fact that the Street
Department would remain "on call" to respond in an emergency if needed, the fact that 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. was a
long day; the option of having a skeleton staff on Friday with Mondays off instead; the fact that code enforcement
officers would continue offering their 7 day service; and the fact that building safety inspectors did not conduct
emergency inspections. Mr. McGuire commented that Avondale found with the longer work schedule that their
inspectors were able to perform dual inspections on the same day when needed. Mr. Ward noted that construction
Nor work could start as early as 5:30 a.m. under the current Town ordinance.
Further discussion was held regarding how employee vacation days were earned; if the affect on PM-10, PM 2.5, and
carbon dioxide had been calculated; how long the trial period might be and when it could start in order to provide
enough time for evaluation prior to the new fiscal year budget process; concerns that public input should be provided
for on the front side of the discussion prior to actually implementing such a measure instead of on the back side(after
implementing); and what steps needed to be taken to provide for public input to ensure feedback from the public
before the Council made their decision.
Mr. McGuire reviewed how Avondale had proceeded stating that a work-study session had been held and then the
item was brought back to a Council meeting with all steps for implementation. Vice Mayor Leger reiterated concerns
that the public needed the opportunity on the front side of the discussion and requested that step be made part of the
process. Mr. Davis advised against doing so and stating that at this time the public's input would be based on an
imaginary experience. He suggested that a trial period would provide the public with an opportunity to see if it
worked and then the Council would have public input based on a realistic opinion. Vice Mayor Leger agreed there
was always concern when change was proposed and that might provide for a knee jerk reaction; however, he wanted
to ask the question. He proposed having public input at a Council meeting followed by a work-study that was
designed to develop and bring back the product to a Council meeting for further discussion.
In response to Councilmember Dickey and Vice Mayor Leger relating to whether implementation would be
something the Council voted on or if it would be handled administratively, Mr. McGuire responded implementation
would require a vote of the Council. Councilmember Hansen suggested that Ms. McIntosh be given the opportunity
to review the same presentation just shared with the Council at a public meeting. Ms. McIntosh stated that could be
done stating that she could stress the benefits to the public of the additional two hours in the shortened work week.
Councilmember Contino questioned if the school district had given any thought to a four day week and also pointed
out that implementing now would not provide an accurate reading on any summer utilities savings. Mr. Davis
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responded that the trial period could be extended unless public complaints were received. Councilmember Dickey
agreed with Mr. Davis stating that the pilot program was to see what the public's reaction was. Mr. Ward stated the
opinion that the Town's peak population period, when winter residents returned, was a better time for a trial period.
LP,
Mayor Schlum stated E-Fountain must be in place for response to citizens prior to implementation and indicated that
the same level of service must be provided; however, if it made the Town more competitive and added benefit to
employees, he was in favor of moving on to the next step. Vice Mayor Leger said change was about learning and he
felt this was a fantastic idea although he questioned the process to obtain public input. He expressed that the cost
benefit (savings) had to be more and requested that staff do additional research and explore other savings that would
be of benefit to the Town. Councilmember Dickey asked if commuting employees' fuel costs had been calculated for
savings. Mr. Davis said that could be looked into. Ms. Decker confirmed that E-Fountain was on track to be up and
running in six weeks.
Mr. Davis proposed that staff bring Ms. McIntosh's presentation forward at the October 16, 2008, Council meeting
with the added proposal of a public communication component that would be included by Ms. Decker.
Mr. Davis announced the Wii tournament would be held in the Community Center Yavapai meeting room for those
interested in participating.
AGENDA ITEM#7—WII TOURNAMENT(ATTENDANCE OPTIONAL).
The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
By
T. Schlum,Mayor
ATTEST AND
PREPARED BY:
Bevelyn J en r,Town Clerk
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Fountain Hills Town
Council Strategic Planning Session held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills in the Fountain Hills Community
Center(Ballroom#1) on the 3rd day of October, 2008. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a
quorum was present.
DATED this 6th day of November 2008.
Bevelyn J. nd ,Town Clerk
Lire
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