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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991.0319.TCWSM.Minutes • TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE WORK/STUDY SESSION OF THE FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 1991 A public work/study session of the Fountain Hills Town Council was convened and called to order by Mayor John Cutillo at approximately 6:30 p.m. , Tuesday. March 19, 1991 in the conference room of the Fountain Hills Town Hall Offices located at 16836 E. Palisades, Building C, Fountain Hills, Arizona. Present for the work/study session were Mayor John Cutillo, Vice Mayor Frank Clark and Councilmembers Mike Minarsich, Wally Hudson, Bill O 'Brien and Peg Tibbetts. Absent was Councilman Charlie Fox. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Town Attorney Bill Farrell and Town Clerk Cassie Hansen. AGENDA ITEM #2 - MONTHLY REPORT BY MAGISTRATE SHOOB Magistrate Shoob reported that they had received a check for the approved grant in the amount of $7,546 for the new court computer. He also reported that the court 's caseload was dwindling quickly. The Magistrate said in December there were 331 files- in the court, in January 186, but only 18 so far in March. He said the radar gun being down accounted for some of the decrease but that enforcement on the streets had been little over the last month and a half. Mr. Nordin said there may be some politics involved and that there was some controversy involved with a statement that he was alleged to have made. He said the incident had been investigated and that he had been exonerated. The matter 411, of patrol cars giving tickets on the highway between Fountain Hills and Rio Verde was discussed and Mr. Nordin said there was speculation that "he was being paid back for his indiscretion" in reporting this matter to the higher ups in the Sheriff Department. The Town Manager went on to say that Captain Hendershott was doing well as far as trying to do the things that were appropriate and proper and that he felt the Captain should be given a chance. The Magistrate then went over the figures on his report for February (attached) . He said that they were making a dent in the account receivables but that they were putting money on the books faster than they were collecting it. He said they have added another step in the collection process for civil traffic where they can 't put out warrants. He puts out orders to show cause which is a civil remedy to get people in and show why they haven 't paid their traffic fines. He further stated that if they are served this way and fail to appear, it then becomes a criminal offense and they can then put out a warrant. AGENDA ITEM #3 - TOWN MANAGERS REPORT A.a. Update on ADOT's Status on the Beeline Highw y Mr. Nordin told the Council that he had been trying to keep on top of the Beeline situation even prior to the accident last Thursday. He said that last Wednesday when he was at the MAG meeting, he asked Harry Reed if he would give us an update on what the status of the Beeline Highway was. He further said that he had been told that the construction date had been pushed back to the '94 - '95 time frame. The Town Manager said he was trying to make arrangements to have Harry Reed come Town Council Minutes 3/19/91 Page 1 of 4 out and address the Council on this issue, hopefully at the April 4th meeting. Mike Scharnow pointed out that there would be a public hearing in April where ADOT would finalize the next five year plan. The Council continued discussing this issue, emphasizing the importance and severity of the problem as well as their frustration at the delays, and came to the concensus that a letter should be written to the Governor. Vice Mayor Clark asked if it would be appropriate to ask the MAG Regional Council to put this question on their agenda and Mr. Nordin said he would talk to Dennis Smith about doing just that. A.b. Report on Town Manager's MAG Meeting and Day at the Legislature Mr. Nordin reported on library districts which really didn 't affect Fountain Hills since we do not have a city library, but that he didn 't feel the Legislature should get involved at the local level in this area. He also said that he had spoken to Rep. Schweikert and Senator Phillips. B.a. Designating Council Attendees for Friday's GPEC Meeting Mayor Cutillo said there had been a couple meetings in an attempt to organize the Fountain Hills-Economic Development Committee attended by Terry Saverson, Chuck Clark, Paul, Jim Heasley, Hank Wodinski and himself. He said that per a letter from GPEC, they (GPEC) would like to see the committee made up of three people from the Town, preferably the Town Manager and Mayor for two. They would also like to see three members from the Chamber and two members at large from the community. Councilman Hudson said he would like to see an attempt made to get qualified members from the private sector on the committee as well as set goals of what the committee should do. Councilman Minarsich recommended that people *mg) who attended the A.E.I.D. seminar should be on the committee because they did extensive work in terms of survey and establishing, through the business community, what the goals were. He further said that there was a lot of material there that hasn 't been tapped into yet and that he would like to be involved in this endeavor. The Council discussed at length who should comprise the committee, some feeling the Mayor should he specifically named while others feeling it should be the Town Manager and two Councilmembers. Bruce Hansen suggested that since the Chamber was funding the GPEC membership, that the at large people should at least be a joint decision between the Council and the Chamber. B.b. Authorizing Staff to Hire a Full Time Town Engineer Mr. Nordin said he would like the Counc.il 's permission to begin recruitment for a full time Town Engineer and that this was the first step in implementing the street paving program. He said that he has spoken to some experts in the field who have told him that the Town could save money by having it 's own engineer when embarking upon a large project such as the street paving project. Mr. Nordin said the concept he has in mind is one in which the engineer would become the principle in charge of the project. He said he was recommending a pay range of $52,000 to $65,000 in order to attract a very qualified individual that will serve in the capacity that he would be required to serve in. The Town Manager said the existing part time engineer would be phased out when the new engineer came on board. Mr. Nordin said that he would expect the engineer to spend part Town Council Minutes 3/19/91 Page 2 of 4 of his time doing other things in addition to the street paving project. He further commented that he would intend to talk to the applicants, informing them that their role may diminish following the completion of the street paving project and that they may become part time status. In an answer to Councilman Hudson 's question, the Town Manager said this engineer would probably be a civil engineer as opposed to a structural engineer and would not really be qualified to review commercial building projects. Councilman Hudson then said he felt the idea of a temporary engineer would be a good one because ultimately we would need a full range engineer, capable of performing a wide spectrum of tasks . B.c. Filling the Vacancy on the Planning and Zoning Commission After discussing the various options of how to handle the vacancy, the concensus was to contact the previous applicants to determine interest, get short lists from the Council from the previous applicant list and to advertise in next week 's paper for new applicants. These applications and the result of the short list would be reported back to the Council two weeks from tonight for possible action two weeks from Thursday. B.d. Gifts and- Tokens Received by Council and Staff Councilman Hudson said there had to be some decision on how to handle this matter and stated that he thought it should be an individual decision. He further said that he intended to report on his annual statement every gift that has been offered to him, regardless of value. He said you only have to report it if it is a gift over $500 but that he intends to report every gift, mentioning who it was from and whether or not he accepted. Councilman Hudson further stated that any gift received in excess of $25.00 has to be reported to the I.R.S. and that should be kept in mind. The Council concensus was that this could be handled on an individual basis but that staff imput was welcome. AGENDA ITEM #5 — RESOLUTION 1991-10, ESTABLISHING THE AETNA DEFERRED COMPENSATION RETIREMENT PLAN FOR TOWN EMPLOYEES; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY. Mr. Nordin asked to jump to this agenda item before discussing agenda item #4. He said he was recommending a 457 plan instead of a 451 because of the 457 's ability to act and look like a more traditional retirement plan with a vesting schedule and with additional control that both the employee and employer can exert upon the plan such as choosing the investment vehicles, etc. He said that administrative costs could be kept down with the 457. Mr. Nordin said he was proposing a minimum of a 2a contribution by the employee matched two to one with a 4% contribution by the employer. The employee can put up an additional i o, the Town then contributing the maximum of 6Z. The employee can contribute more up to the plan 's maximum of $7,500 a year or 33.33a of the employee 's gross income, whichever is the lesser. He recommended that the Town 's portion be invested in the fixed fund but the employee would have the option of investing their portion in varying funds. The Town Manager incorporated discussion on agenda item #4 by describing the fiexibilty of the plan he was proposing for himself as far as transferring the plan. He said ICMA, in recognizing the need to provide continuity in retirement Town Council Minutes 3/19/91 Page 3 of 4 plans for city managers, established a program whereby managers could carry their retirement plan with them from place to place. The plan for the employees would 44) not have this flexibility but that it was a detriment that he could not get around. Vesting schedules were discussed and the Council leaned towards a 0-0-20-60-100 schedule after five years of employment. Some members felt this schedule would be an incentive for employees to remain in their jobs. The time clock for vestiture would start at the end of the six month probation period following the date the employee had started. The start date would be April 1st. AGENDA ITEM #4 - RESOLUTION 1991-09, ESTABLISHING THE ICMA RETIREMENT CORPORATION PROTOTYPE MONEY PURCHASE RETIREMENT PLAN AND TRUST FOR THE TOWN MANAGER Mr. Nordin requested that the Council give him the same percentages as they decided for the other employees. He was requesting that the Town establish for him a 401 because it is what he had before and that he be 100o vested immediately. AGENDA ITEM #6- - ADJOURNMENT The Council adjourned at approximately 9:08 p.m. TOWN of0110UNT4 HILLS , By: /, i� Joh �T 1��.- Cutillo, Mayor ATTEST: 0, `!J • I.-+ J Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the work/study session held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 19th day of March, 1991. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this day of April, 1991 . Cassie B. Hansen, Town Clerk Town Council Minutes 3/19/91 Page 4 of 4