HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007.1211.TCWSM.Minutes TOWN OF FOUNTAIN HILLS
MINUTES OF THE WORK STUDY SESSION
OF THE
FOUNTAIN HILLS TOWN COUNCIL
December 11,2007
CALL TO ORDER
Vice Mayor Dickey called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL:
Present for roll call were the following members of the Fountain Hills Town Council: Councilmember Leger,
Councilmember McMahan, Councilmember Archambault and Vice Mayor Dickey. Interim Town Manager Kate
Zanon, Town Attorney Andrew McGuire, Town Clerk Bev Bender, Public Works Director Tom Ward, Civil
Engineer Larry Woodlan and Ken Huisman, a consultant with Stantec were also present.
Councilmember Kehe joined the meeting at 5:05 p.m. and Mayor Nichols and Councilmember Schlum were
absent.
AGENDA ITEM #2—PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE 2007 PAVEMENT REPORT BY
STANTEC CONSULTING.
Interim Town Manager Kate Zanon addressed the Council and stated that this issue had "been in the works" for
some time and the report would address the condition of some of the Town's streets. The purpose of the
discussion was to determine whether or not the Town wanted to enter into some type of pavement management
kw plan.
Public Works Director Tom Ward addressed the Council and stated that the process began approximately two
years ago when discussion occurred relative to the fact that the Town did not have a pavement analysis of all of
the streets. He said they were just putting down street maintenance products that were covering the streets and it
was determined that some sort of direction, i.e. an analysis, needed to be done to learn more about the Town's
streets. He stated that this evening Ken Huisman, representing Stantec Consulting, would provide an overview
of the report his firm had prepared. Mr. Ward emphasized that this was a "findings report" and staff was not
making any recommendations at this time. He added that it was their hope that the Council would take the
report home with them and review all of the data in an effort to determine which direction they would like the
Town to take in this important area.
Mr. Huisman addressed the Council and said that their objective in this project was to determine the overall
performance of the Town's pavement network in order to provide recommended strategies to improve the
Town's streets. They broke it down into six simple questions:
• What do we have?
• What is it worth?
• What condition was it in?
• What do we need to do?
• When do we need to do it?
• How much money do we need?
Mr. Huisman highlighted a brief PowerPoint presentation (a complete copy available in the office of the Town
Clerk) and discussed pavement network database statistics (asset components, traffic volumes and network lane
mileage {Total pavement network: 394.4 miles.}
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Mr. Ward explained that local streets were considered residential streets; minor collector streets were ones such
as Bolder or Hampstead; major collector were streets like Glenbrook and King Street; minor arterials were
Fountain Hills, Saguaro or Palisades (the three main entrances) and the one major arterial was Shea Boulevard.
Mr. Huisman advised that the information was provided by the Town and the consultants took the inventory data
base and put it into GIS and were able to map out all of the streets. They then collected information on the
streets and the quantity of flexible asphalt pavement in square feet and noted that the replacement cost in 2007
(if they were to replace the Town's pavement network as it stood today) was in excess of $145 million. He
further stated that they looked at the condition that the streets were in and so they conducted visual inspections,
looking at the surface condition of the roadways and all the defects, etc. and this information was put into a
performance index to determine the overall quality of the roads. He added that from 70 to 100 the pavement was
performing adequately; from 40 to 70 the pavement was degraded and below 40 the pavement was considered
unsatisfactory.
Additional discussion ensued relative to the analysis that was performed by the firm in order to prepare their
report; the fact that overall, the Town's roads were rated an overall score of 69 out of 100;the fact that road that
scored below 70 would require rehabilitation or some type of repair; rehabilitation alternatives (base year 2007);
prioritization; upgrading the worst roads first; improving high profile areas with high traffic volumes;
environmental impacts, public concern/liability; minimal acceptable levels of pavement performance and the
importance of maintaining/improving the existing level of service of the entire network and providing sufficient
backlog to drive the rehabilitation program; the fact that the cost of a slurry seal was much less than the cost of
repairing an entire road; scheduling; and pavement performance triggers and how averaging the maintenance
flattened with minor maintenance performed.
Mr. Huisman advised that three separate 10-year budget scenarios were being presented:
1. Scenario 1 —Planned Budget- $1.2 million annually
2. Scenario 2—Do Nothing
3. Scenario 3—Unconstrained"Need Driven"Budget
Ms. Zanon noted that the report contained a spectrum of choices for the Council to consider relative to the
manner in which they would like to proceed.
Mr. Huisman noted that if the Town had an unlimited budget, for 2007 it would take approximately$8.9 million
to bring the roads up to an acceptable level. He outlined a "Need Driven" pavement rehabilitation plan (with a
summary of cost per year). He stated that the Town had the tools to assess/review the current condition of any
pavement section and predict the future conditions for various budget and services levels, which would help
identify funding needs and shortfalls; build strong support for increased funding; and flag potential performance
concerns. He added that the Town also had the ability to set criteria for applying various maintenance and
rehabilitation strategies for each pavement section; calculate costs associated with each
maintenance/rehabilitation strategy; specify various appropriate budget scenarios and prioritize all maintenance
and rehabilitation work on a network-wide basis,based on previously specified budget restraints.
Mr.Ward commented that in pavement management they were taught to take care of their truck routes and main
arterials first.
Mr. Huisman advised that critical issues include:
• Schedule regular condition updates
• Review performance outlook at least every 3-4 years
• Annual update program
• Present status and needs analysis
• Funding levels—Commitment to fund a road rehabilitation program.
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In response to a question from Councilmember Kehe, Mr. Ward advised that this year the Town would spend
approximately $1.2 million for micro-surfacing and slurry seal. Finance Director Julie Ghetti added that the
Town received approximately $1.8 million from the State (HURF). Councilmember Kehe asked if this figure
Nay was constant and Ms. Ghetti replied that it was a gas tax based on gas sales and next year they were anticipating
receiving $1.9 million. She said that there were not typically "wide swings" in the amount received. She
confirmed that those monies could only be used for roads.
Mr. Ward commented that Commissioner Jerry Butler (Strategic Planning Advisory Commission) had helped
staff tremendously with this report and thanked him for his input throughout the entire process and his assistance
in preparing the report. The Vice Mayor and members of the Council thanked Commissioner Butler for his
assistance.
Councilmember Leger noted that there were different funds that the Town received that must be used
exclusively for different purposes. He added that regardless of their needs, it appeared that at a minimum if they
continue to receive those funds (using the$1.2 million per year)that money would be available. He emphasized
that the monies were not local sales taxes, monies they were bringing in locally, they were monies they could
rely on receiving from the State. He said that the State would continue to grow and there would be more cars so
he would be surprised if the figure decreased unless the Legislature changed the policy. He asked what type of
pavement management program or process was currently in place in Fountain Hills.
Mr. Ward responded that the Town moved in a clockwise direction and worked in zones around the Town. In
the past they have covered the entire Town in approximately six years (resurface streets with slurry seal or
micro-surfacing, replace curbs, take care of clay deposits, patchwork prior to resurfacing, etc.). Councilmember
Leger asked whether the bulk of the monies used for those purposes come from HURF funds or whether they
had to "dip into" General Funds. Mr. Ward advised that they had not"tapped" into the General Fund for a lot of
years.
Councilmember Leger pointed out that the Town had a 20-Year Capital Improvement Program in place and said
that within the context of that plan the slurry seal was built in. Mr. Ward confirmed Councilmember Leger's
statement.
Councilmember Leger stated that it would then be fair to say that they had a plan in place to a certain extent and
the Town had revenues coming from the State that helped the Town to implement that plan.
Councilmember Leger further stated that was not to say that improvement could not be made or things could not
be done differently but oftentimes the public got the opinion from discussions that took place that the Town was
in dire straits. He said that there was always a need for more revenues and emphasized the importance of
expediting the plan to do more with the Town's roads,but said at this point there was a plan in place to a certain
extent(a high level plan).
Mr.Ward commented that they never want to get to the point where they were not catching up(where the streets
were deteriorating faster than they were performing maintenance). He added that they could not keep putting
slurry seal and micro-surfacing on forever and that was why next year, in Fiscal Year 08-09, they were looking
at the possibility of completely repaving Saguaro Boulevard for $3 million. The street was 35 years old and
needed more than the micro-surfacing.
Councilmember Leger stated that the presentation had been extremely enlightening and it was advantageous to
be able to review all of the data that had been collected. He agreed that more revenue would be great and a
more aggressive plan would be great as well but he did not want to give the public the impression that there was
currently nothing in place; no dollars to cover some of the costs. He added that if they did repave Saguaro
Boulevard, those monies would come from HURF funds and asked how they would supplement the additional
dollars and if they would have to "dip into"the General Funds or capital reserves.
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Mr. Ward replied that he was probably not the person to make that determination but he believed in past years
they had to utilize General Funds. The work would be a capital improvement so the question was do they go
into the reserve fund or try to create different programs within the Public Works or Streets budget to fund the vs)
work.
Councilmember Leger commented that the point was that there were options and Mr. Ward agreed. He said it
was a question of determining where to make the cuts.
Ms. Zanon stated that the Town's General Fund was for the Town's general operating costs and at the end of the
year monies left in that fund were transferred over to Capital Funds. She added that obviously issues such as
this would be presented to the Council during a Budget Session and it would be up to the Council to make those
determinations. She said that most likely any costs above and beyond the HURF funds would come out of the
General Fund.
She also explained that despite the fact that the cost of gas was high now, the amount that the Town
received from the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund (HURF fund) was not based on fuel prices but
was set at$0.18 per gallon.
Mr. Ward commented that as the Town's population reached a certain amount other cities and towns would
continue to grow as well and there was always the concern that the gas tax would be "pulled away" from the
Town because the population would stabilize.
Councilmember Leger asked Mr.Ward what his thoughts were concerning the results of the study and Mr.Ward
responded that he was not planning on presenting any recommendations this evening; this was strictly a findings
report. He added, however, that he felt very good about the report. He looked at the ratings and the dollar
amounts and they were much lower than he had anticipated. He said this told him that the Town was
performing the right type of maintenance on the streets. He noted that the average life of asphalt was 20 years -11
and so they had done extremely well on so many of the Town's streets that were over 20 years old. He
expressed the opinion that they were going in the right direction and needed to continue to do so. He added that
they might have to"bump it up"a little bit to keep the averages higher.
Councilmember Kehe said that in the General Fund's actual picture the State might be having some financial
problems, which meant that State aid in its various forms could be in jeopardy. In addition, the Town was
limited; they had Scottsdale on one side, the park on another and to Indian reservations on the other side so they
were essentially land locked and growth would be finite. Other municipalities would continue to grow beyond
the Town's capacity and the growth in other communities would result in Fountain Hills receiving a smaller
share of the "pie." He emphasized the importance of keeping this in mind not only in terms of the roads but in
terms of the cost of government in general.
Councilmember Archambault said he did not want to deviate from their discussion this evening too much but
stated that he concurred with Councilmember Kehe's statements and said when they look at the financial picture
for the Town they needed to look at other things as well. He added that it was interesting to note that they
basically had addressed problems and the roads well. They basically had the funding to do this and hopefully
would have the funding to do so in the future but they would be starting to see the warning signs ahead of time
to address those issues. He said that the Hocking Report pointed out quite clearly that the Town was not
funding certain things. They were not setting revenues aside for maintenance of infrastructures in place such as
the Town Hall, the Community Center and said that the Council just voted at their last meeting to spend
$125,000 to keep the maintenance going on the Community Center. He stated that those were the types of
things that concern him as a Councilmember. He commented on the revenue shortfalls that were out there in the
future and said that this Council had never been one that ignored things that come before it; in fact they try to
address them very well. He stated that he just wanted to make it clear to the public that they were addressing the
Town's roads and have been proactive in that area for quite some time. He commented that once they addressed vsit)
one issue another poped up; it was a never ending scenario. He said they would still have a shortfall out there if
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they did not try to take certain steps and added that sometimes the earlier steps were taken; the easier it was to
handle later on.
ikar Councilmember Leger noted that the Council was extremely aware of the fact that the Town was approaching
build out, which would impact revenue sources. He agreed that they must continue to look for new revenue
sources and the Hocking Report as well as the excellent information provided by the Strategic Planning
Advisory Commission would be of great help in this process. He said they had received some excellent
recommendations and reiterated that the Town was not in dire straits today. The process was being managed
and attended to and they were trying to get ahead of the curve by doing an analysis to determine what the real
costs were. He said it was interesting to note that as the Town maxed out on its population, its "slice of the pie"
would decrease while the pie continued to get bigger if you looked at the projections for the State of Arizona.
He added that even if the "slice of the pie" remained stagnant, he did not believe they would see significant
changes in that income unless the Legislature decided to do something different. He stated the opinion that one
outweighed the other.
Mr. Ward thanked the Council for their input this evening and said that staff would be available in the future to
further discuss this matter.
Ms. Zanon reitereated that the presentation this evening was meant to be an informative session and the Council
could provide direction to staff whenever they felt it appropriate to do so. She thanked the members of the
Council for their time and comments.
Councilmember Leger thanked the consultant for his presentation.
Strategic Planning Advisory Commissioner Jerry Butler commented that in his opinion on a scale of 0 to 10,the
meeting and discussion this evening was a 10.
Vice Mayor Dickey thanked everyone for their participation in the meeting.
AGENDA ITEM#3 - ADJOURNMENT
Councilmember McMahan MOVED to adjourn the meeting and Councilmember Archambault SECONDED
the motion, which CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY by thos' .resent. The meeting adjourned at 5:56 p.m.
TOWN OF FOUN ► •• IN HILLS
0111
By 1/1(
h/ 1....,
Wally Ni ols,Mayo
ATTEST AND 16,11(4/
PREPARED BY:
Bevelyn J%:en er,Town Clerk
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Regular Session held
by the Town Council of Fountain Hills on the 11th day of December 2007. I further certify that the meeting was
duly called and that a quorum was present.
DATED this 3rd day of January, 2008.
Bevelyn J. en r,Town Clerk
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