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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001.0627.TCSBM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL BUDGET MEETING FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL June 27,2001 Mayor Morgan called the special session of the Town Council to order at 6:30 p.m. Following the pledge to the flag and the invocation by Councilwoman Hutcheson, roll call was taken. ROLL CALL - Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Mayor Sharon Morgan and Councilmembers, Sharon Hutcheson, John McNeill, and John Kavanagh, and Susan Ralphe. Vice Mayor Wyman and Councilmember Fraverd were absent. Also present were Town Manager Paul Nordin, Director of Administration/Town Clerk Cassie B. Hansen,and Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Bryan Hughes. AGENDA ITEM#1. REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION OF THE PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS FOR THE 2001-2002 FISCAL YEAR. ALL ASPECTS OF REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES WILL BE DISCUSSED AND CONSIDERED. AS PART OF THE BUDGET CONSIDERATION, THE BENEFITS COMMITTEE WILL PRESENT CHANGES TO THE TOWN'S BENEFIT PACKAGE INCLUDING DEFINITION OF RETIREMENT, PAY OUT OF SICK LEAVE, PERSONAL DAYS,AND ADDITIONS TO DEFINITION OF IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS. Mayor Morgan excused herself from the dais because of an implied conflict of interest and turned the gavel over to Councilwoman Hutcheson. Councilwoman Hutcheson explained that last night the Council had skipped the Chamber of Commerce line item. Director Cassie Hansen presented the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LINE ITEM. Director Hansen stated that the Council had approved the Administration Budget except for this line item. She noted that this portion of the Special Programs section had decreased from last year. The request basically covered the annual holiday events that the Chamber traditionally sponsored as well as the reprinting of the Fountain Hills brochures and opportunity packets. Councilman Kavanagh MOVED to approve the CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUDGET in the amount of $18,500 and Councilman McNeill SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously on a vote of 4-O. Mayor Morgan returned to the dais and proceeded with the meeting agenda. Director Hansen called upon Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Bryan Hughes to present the PARK AND RECREATION BUDGET. Assistant Director Hughes pointed out that under salaries and benefits there was an increase shown to accommodate a full year salary of the new Director as well as allowing $27,000 for part-time salary wages to facilitate increased programming needs and the monitoring of the parks. He noted that under Contract Services-engineering fees, a$10,000 fee had been budgeted for the Heritage Grant and other grant support. Another significant increase was special programs under contract services with approximately $20,000 designated for the 4th of July celebration. Assistant Director Hughes said that everything else was pretty standard and he recommended approval. Councilwoman Hutcheson MOVED to approve the PARKS AND RECREATION BUDGET in the amount of $746,940 and Councilman McNeill SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously. Assistant Director Hughes presented the DESERT VISTA PARK BUDGET. Assistant Director Hughes noted that shade structures would be installed this week. He noted that water fountains had been installed so additional water usage would be seen. He pointed out that under Repairs and Maintenance the budget for mower and landscaping had increased to cover the winter over seeding and overall maintenance to help keep that park greener than it had been over the last year. Staff recommended approval. Councilman Kavanagh asked if electric pumps operated the irrigation pumps. Assistant Director Hughes said yes. Councilman Kavanagh MOVED to approve the DESERT VISTA PARK BUDGET in the amount of$76,500 and Councilwoman Ralphe SECONDED the motion,which CARRIED unanimously. Assistant Director Hughes presented the FOUNTAIN PARK BUDGET. Assistant Director Hughes noted that this budget reflected a number of changes. He pointed to the $110,000 request under the Contract Services — engineering/design fees, which would develop construction documents for Phase II improvements to Fountain Park. Under Repairs and Maintenance, $8,000 extra had been budgeted for the electrical repairs of the pumps at the Fountain. Assistant Director Hughes discussed that under Advertising in all of the parks, additional funds had been allocated because staff planned to revise the parks rules, which would require new signage to be posted. The Electricity line item had increase significantly by $100,000 because the park would be open year round and pumps would be running the entire year. Printing also increased because of the printing of the construction documents. Under Capital Outlay —Improvements a transfer to the grant fund for Phase II Improvements to Fountain Park was represented. Councilwoman Ralphe MOVED to approve the FOUNTAIN PARK BUDGET in the amount of$1,465,690 and Councilman McNeill SECONDED the motion,which CARRIED unanimously. Assistant Director Hughes presented the FOUR PEAKS PARK BUDGET. He stated that under Supplies & Services—for line item Water-Sewer there had been an increase. He explained that there would be approximately a $21,000 increase to water the 15-acre park with the increase in property that the Council had recently approved. Under Capital Expenditures—Park Equipment there was a$55,000 amount, which was also part of the agreement in the land transfer to build the playground immediately for the School District. He requested an increase of$28,000, which was not reflected in this budget, to be used for additional engineering/design fees for the skate park facility. Assistant Director Hughes confirmed that staff and the Parks and Recreation Commission felt this was a top priority for that park and staff recommended approval. Councilman Kavanagh MOVED to approve the FOUR PEAKS BUDGET in the new amount of$228,350 and Councilwoman Hutcheson SECONDED the motion. Councilman McNeill said that was a good idea to put in money for the design work and asked what the capital cost would be. Assistant Director Hughes estimated the cost to be $225,000 for the skate park portion of the over all $1.8 million improvements that they hoped to complete in that park. He hoped that if there were any significant savings seen in Fountain Park, any excess could be rolled over to this skate park or wait and see how the development fees come in. Councilman Kavanagh commented that he hoped there was Council support that if the Town did not use a large part of the $1.75 million. If the development fees came in as anticipated the Town might be able to go beyond the skate park construction in Four Peaks Park and actually move into some of the other amenities. It was possible that funds might be available. Mayor Morgan agreed there was Council support but noted only if and when the funds were there. Councilman McNeill said he would support looking to the development fees as a source of funding to add as much as possible to Four Peaks Park. He understood that it was a high priority to get that park underway. He suggested that maybe there might be some grant funding available as well. The motion CARRIED unanimously. Assistant Director Hughes presented the GOLDEN EAGLE PARK BUDGET stating that it showed an increase. He stated that under Repairs and Maintenance—Building Repairs/Maintenance there was an increase to take care of Low Town Council Minutes Special Budget Session 6/27/01 Page 2 of 5 the wear and tear maintenance of that park since it opened. Mowing/Landscaping increased which accommodates the general care of the park landscaping. He reiterated the need to increase the Advertising amount under Supplies and Services. Under Capital Outlay, the $60,000 amount included $42,000 for an upgrade to the irrigation pump located across the street in Sunridge Canyon, which was needed to sufficiently water the fields. Councilwoman Hutcheson MOVED to approve the GOLDEN EAGLE PARK BUDGET in the amount of $358,230 and Councilman McNeill SECONDED the motion. Councilman Kavanagh asked if the digital radios would be compatible with the Marshals' radios. Assistant Director Hughes replied no. He explained that their radios were also cell phones and they could be used to call dispatch if needed. Councilman Kavanagh asked if there would be a significant cost to buy Marshal compatible radios. Mr. Putterman, Information Technology Administrator, explained that the Engineering Department brought forward the proposal that the Town switch to Nextel, which had a combined radio/cell phone unit that operated on the cell phone frequencies. However, it could be keyed up to have a direct connect function that worked like a radio. He explained that with the County changing the radio plan that Fountain Hills participated in, the radio structure and costs would be changing. He confirmed that in the near future and over the next couple of years, the Town would be looking at replacing all of the radios at a cost of $5,000 each. When looking at the amount of usage by the Engineering, Building Safety, and Parks and Recreation Departments, it was determined that these units were really more practical. In terms of public safety, all phones have an auto dial feature that would dial 911 or 837-8800 so they had immediate communications. It was decided that this action was not placing anyone at risk by not having direct radio communication. He noted that the Marshals' frequencies were restricted frequencies and the Town could not have other traffic on those channels anyway. It released the Marshals from full time monitoring but staff had not lost any communication functions. Councilman Kavanagh asked if there was a large event, could the unused radios could then be utilized by the Marshals. Mr. Putterman responded that all of the radios would be managed through the Marshals Department. He explained that the Town had to keep a certain number of radios available and programmed on a variety of channels so that should there be a citywide emergency there would be enough radios and channels to cover all of the agencies. Special events radios would be kept separate for that use. Lor The motion CARRIED unanimously. Director Hansen called upon Accounting Supervisor Julie Ghetti to present DEBT SERVICE and the balance of the budget chapters. Ms. Ghetti reviewed that the revenue was broken down into two sections: Property Tax Revenue and Other Debt Retirement Issues. She pointed out that on the expenditure side the general obligation bonds had been broken out by the issue. She commented that staff had included the Mountain Preserves G.O., which was an estimate. The Special Districts included the other debt retirement issues and again the Mountain Preserve MPC payment had been included. She expressed that the total revenues for the general obligation bonds were less than the payments because there was a large carry forward of $188,600 and that would make up the difference. If all revenues came in as staff anticipated,there would be a carry forward of$49,000 into next year. Councilwoman Hutcheson MOVED to approve the DEBT SERVICE BUDGET in the amount of$2,826,750 and Councilwoman Ralphe SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously. Accounting Supervisor Julie Ghetti reviewed the GRANT FUND SUMMARY. Councilman Kavanagh MOVED to approve the GRANT FUND SUMMARY in the amount of $1,961,256 and Councilwoman Hutcheson SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously. Accounting Supervisor Julie Ghetti presented the EAGLE MOUNTAIN CFD BUDGET. Councilwoman Ralphe MOVED to approve the EAGLE MOUNTAIN CFD BUDGET in the amount of $361,651 and Councilman McNeill SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously. Town Council Minutes Special Budget Session 6/27/01 Page 3 of 5 Accounting Supervisor Julie Ghetti reviewed the COTTONWOOD CFD BUDGET. She stated that this amount was for those property owners in the Cottonwood District where the Street Department maintained their sidewalks and their common areas. Councilwoman Hutcheson MOVED to approve the COTTONWOOD CFD BUDGET in the amount of$3,200 and Councilman Kavanagh SECONDED the motion. Councilman Kavanagh asked at what point would the expenditure for this district become so small that it would cost the Town more money mechanically to collect and disburse the fees. Ms. Ghetti said there was such a point. Since the County collects the property taxes and there wasn't anything that the Town had to do other than maintain that small area and they could probably do it as a part of their routine maintenance. The motion CARRIED unanimously. Accounting Supervisor Julie Ghetti continued with the MCDOWELL MOUNTAIN PRESERVATION ACQUISITION BUDGET. Councilwoman Hutcheson MOVED to approve the MCDOWELL MOUNTAIN PRESERVATION BUDGET in the amount of $13,700,000 and Councilwoman Ralphe SECONDED the motion. The motion CARRIED on a vote of 4— 1 with Councilman Kavanagh casting the nay vote. Accounting Supervisor Julie Ghetti acknowledged that the Municipal Property Corporation tab had been provided for informational purposes. She described this as the financing vehicle to take in the revenue bonds and to make the expenditures for the property. Mr. Nordin reiterated that staff would like to budget the$1.627,135 for DEVELOPMENT FEES as a contingency. Councilwoman Hutcheson MOVED to approve the DEVELOPMENT FEES AS CONTINGENCY in the amount of$1,627,135 and Councilwoman Ralphe SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously. AGENDA ITEM#2. CALL TO THE PUBLIC Parks and Recreation Commissioner Al Lorenz, 16440 Skyridge He thanked the Council for their support of the Parks and Recreation budget. He asked that the Council consider establishing a$40,000 expenditure sometime during the coming budget year to study the viability of what should be included in an aquatic or water complex for the Town's residents. AGENDA ITEM#3. ADJOURNMENT. Councilwoman Hutcheson MOVED to adjourn and Councilman McNeill SECONDED the motion, which CARRIED unanimously. Mayor Morgan adjourned the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Town Council Minutes Special Budget Session 6/27/01 Page 4 of 5 TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS By. Sharon Morgan,Mayor ATTEST: (1k(_u/-J �Lu.�n.J'►� Cassie B. Hansen, Director of Administration/Town Clerk PREPARED BY: :� ^^L. rL� '.;�L4, '.; Bev Bender,Executive Assistant CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Special Meeting held by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 27th day of June 2001. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and that a quorum was present. DATED this 2nd day of August 2001. (17.,(44.t42N46 Lir Cassie B. Hansen, Director of Administration/Town Clerk Town Council Minutes Special Budget Session 6/27/01 Page 5 of 5