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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11292000CITY OF PORT TOWNSEND MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF NOVEMBER 29, 2000 The City Council of the City of Port Townsend met in special session this twenty-ninth day of November, 2000, at 6:30 p.m. in the Port Townsend Council Chambers of City Hall, Mayor Geoff Masci presiding. ROLL CALL AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Council members present at roll call were Joe Finnie, Alan Frank, Vern Garrison, Geoff Masci, Syd Lipton and Al' Youse. Bill Wolcott was excused. Staff members present were City Manager, David Timmons, City Clerk Pam Kolacy, City Attorney John Watts, Finance Director Michael Legarsky, Public Works Director Ken Clow, Building & Community Development Director Jeff Randall, Police Chief Kristen Anderson, and Police Sergeant Conner Daily. PUBLIC HEARING 2001 BUDGET ORDINANCE 2754 Mr. Masci opened the public hearing and asked if any council member wished to disclose any interests in regard to the budget hearing. There were no disclosures. Staff Presentation Mr. Timmons presented an overview of the budget and noted the following: 1) the City absorbed a $100,000 loss of motor vehicle excise revenues; 2) the reconciliation of the county's shared services bill is still ongoing; 3) the manager's suggested adjustment in the property tax was negated by passage of Initiative 722; 4) the Public Works work plan is being adjusted to reflect the state mandates regarding fire flow pressures and deficiencies; 5) the street fund levy will be pursued more aggressively; it is hoped some street funding will be forthcoming from the state; 6) the General Fund still has approximately a $78,000 deficit; council committee recommendations; if adopted, will result in approximately a $40,0000 deficit; 7) the reserve percentage has been exceeded and about 3% may be available for a cushion this year; 8) a reserve of $50,000 still remains in the council discretionary fund for unanticipated expenditures; and 9) two parks maintenance positions have not been funded. Mr. Timmons said that one police officer position has been eliminated, a supervisor police car has been eliminated and reduction in public safety overtime of $30,000 has been anticipated. He will work with the chiefs to become more aggressive in this area. City Council Minutes Page 1 November 29, 2000 He said he would like to increase the contingency fund reserve from 2% to 3% in anticipation of seeking capital bonding. He noted that a strong reserve will be critical in our efforts to obtain a good bond. Additionally he noted: 1) the county regional services appropriation has been so far reduced by $138,000; 2) there is no word yet on whether or not the bargaining units are willing to open negotiations in regard to cost of living or increased medical insurance costs; and 3) the General Fund subsidy to the Street Fund has been eliminated. Mr. Masci entered two pieces of correspondence into the record in support of Building & Community Development (BCD) funding (L.D. Reichert and Dixie Llewellyn). Public Testimony Peter Hiatt, Port Townsend Library Foundation: supporting library funding. Rae Tennyson,Vice President of Port Townsend Library Foundation: read a letter into the record from Phyllis Schultz, President of the Foundation. The letter stated that the Port Townsend Library Foundation is not in a position to make up any of the funding for books that have been re-appropriated by the library. The Foundation exists to enhance services, not as a substitute for tax-based funding. Penee D'Amico: supporting BCD fimding. Also supporting police, fire and library. She asked that street repairs be done over time, not all in one year. Nancy Dorgan: supporting library funding. She suggested cutting hearings examiner and council reserve fund. She expressed opposition to a reduced level of service for park maintenance. Barbara Blowers: opposed to merging any services with the county. Joe Pipia: supporting library funding. Bill Perka, Realtor: supports funding for BCD; in favor of consolidation of services between city and county. Jack Molsness: supports no increase in property tax; in favor of cutting water and sewer funds; recommends all technical work be done in house and salaries decreased. Bill Maxwell, Library Board President: addressed request to maintain hours at same level of funding. He stated that the Library Board has determined that under proposed funding, 48 hours per week is the maximum possible for public hours without a sacrifice in quality of service. He also stated that if the Board can raise $10,000 independently, he would urge the council to match those funds. Bill Sperry: in support of BCD, Fire and Police budgets. City Council Minutes Page 2 November 29, 2000 Larry Thomas presented a number of signatures collected by Kate Schumann in support of library funding. Karen Long: in support of library fimding. Don White, Arts Commission Chair: said that the Finance Committee's recommendation on funding for the Arts Commission was based on an error in the Finance Committee budget recommendation. He said the amount in the Y2000 budget was $3,500, not $3,000, and requested that the $3,500 be restored. Pete Raab: commented on the elimination of the Building Official position and said that he is happy with BCD service. He expressed support for the renovation of City Hall and library funding. Public testimony closed at 7:45 p.m. Staff Response Mr. Timmons made a brief response, noting that the city budget process involves balancing priorities throughout the city and that community priorities are taken into consideration. He also noted we must look at past years and note comparisons; many reallocations have been made to budgets that were traditionally under-funded. Budget cuts are being made within a context of reallocation. He also stated that the budget must be considered within a multi-year plan. He added that in offering competitive salaries for department heads, the city gets its money's worth in every respect. Mr. Timmons said that the library proposal was crafted by the library, not by the City Manager. He stated that he has encouraged all city departments to explore new ideas and alternative methods of service delivery. Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) Staff Presentation Mr. Timmons stated that the budget before the council is the original budget submitted by the Committee. Discussions within committees that may affect the LTAC budget include the recommendation of the Finance Committee to reduce funding to Main Street and encourage the use of LTAC funds to defray public safety expenses for festivals. Tim Caldwell spoke, representing the LTAC Committee. He noted that the committee has elected to dip into its reserve for $10,000, leaving a reserve balance of $86,000. He explained the various services provided by LTAC funding, including the marketing director, visitor's center (Chamber of Commerce) and special projects coordinator. He also clarified that $18,000 is contributed to the public restroom maintenance and that $29,000 is spent for bonding costs for McCurdy Pavilion and the Marine Science Center. City Council Minutes Page 3 November 29, 2000 He stated the committee's belief that Main Street is not a tourism organization and money allocated to Main Street should be based on certain deliverables, for example, the Victorian Holiday promotion. Public Comment Bill Medlicott, LTAC member: Believes LTAC has been "sandbagged" by the cut in Main Street funding from the General Fund. He noted that making up that funding would leave only $4,000 for the committee to provide in response to special requests. Council Deliberation The council discussed regulations regarding recipients of LTAC funds and the general effect of tourism on the community, including the revenues as well as the extra costs involving city government for staffing public events and festivals. Mr. Lipton stated that it would be helpful for the LTAC budget to be presented at an earlier time in the budget process so that it could be coordinated with the Finance Committee and other budget meetings. Mr. Masci supported Main Street funding from the General Fund rather than LTAC. He also noted that special event impacts are related to tourism, but it is too late in the budget cycle to try to determine an equitable formula for defraying those costs. Mr. Frank stated that ihere is still time to deal with some key issues; he referred to differences between tourist season and non-tourist season and the impacts this fluctuation has on city government. Mr. Finnie said that LTAC is a state mandated fund intended for lodging and that is the tourist profile that Port Townsend serves. He noted that he can speak as the owner of tourism-related businesses and that a survey of retail store owners would show the clear . dependence on tourist dollars, particularly in the off season to survive, not prosper. Mr. Finnie said that efforts to educate the community and promote understanding of what LTAC does should be increased. He noted that Main Street does promote tourism and those efforts are reflected in their funding from LTAC for specific promotions. He also reminded the council that it is quite likely that fourth quarter sales tax revenues will show Port Townsend outperforming the business forecast. Mr. Finnie said that the act of designating LTAC as the funding source for Main Street activity instead of funding from the General Fund is stepping back from a commitment; in essence, saying that the city will not use its own money to promote one of the three main components of the city's economy, i.e., marine trades, the paper mill, and tourism. The monetary effects of tourism are so consequential to the General Fund that we should be doing more, not less, to support it. City Council Minutes Page 4 November 29, 2000 Mr. Garrison suggested that LTAC begin to form an estimate of the monetary impact of special events during the next budget cycle. He recommended being conservative in extracting funds this cycle, but does not want to wait entirely for the next budget cycle. Motion: Mr. Frank moved to fund Main Street from the General Fund in the amount of $15, O00 for the year 2001, with the recommendation that Main Street seek funding from LTAC or other sources to make up the $10,000 difference from their request. Mr. Garrison seconded The motion carried 4-2 by voice vote, with Messrs. Masci and Finnie opposing. Motion: Mr. Frank moved to accept the LTAC budget as presented Mr. Garrison seconded Council Discussion Mr. Finnie clarified that this simply means we have established a budget of $275,750 for fiscal 2001 for LTAC. Mr. Frank asked about the discretion for moving money around within the LTAC budget once it is adopted. Mr. Timmons said that he has the authority to transfer money within accounts; for contractual services, the council may have to authorize the execution. Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Mr. Masci announced a short break at 8:50 p.m. The meeting was reconvened at 9:00 p.m. PEG Access Coordinating Committee Staff Presentation Mr. Timmons stated that the PEG budget is similar to last year, with an additional funding request of $5,000 for a camera to be dedicated to governmental programming which was not included in the City Manager's preliminary budget. Ms. Kolacy have a brief report on the PEG budget. She stated that the purchase of a new camera would enable the studio to provide a higher level of service in covering council, committee and commission meetings. Mr. Masci suggested funding the $5,000 from the council discretionary fund. He noted that a priority of the council is expanded public information and the PEG studio will play a role in that plan. Mr. Youse expressed support for filming commission and committee meetings and stated that the ability to film meetings would concentrate all city meetings in City Hall. City Council Minutes Page 5 November 29, 2000 Motion: Mr. Frank moved to accept the recommended PEG budget with the addition of up to $5, O00 for a new camera, with those funds to come from the council discretionary fund Mr. Garrison seconded The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Finance Committee Recommendations Mr. Timmons gave a staff presentation, noting the Finance Committee has voted to recommend the city manager's proposed budgets for the City Manager, City Clerk, City Attorney and Finance Department. He said that other recommendations relate to interlocal agreements, fund equity, and council legislative funds. Mr. Masci noted that Peg Thompson of Domestic Violence has submitted statistics showing that the city's utilization of the services provided is 49%, and the county's 51%. Mr. Timmons noted that the recommendations in total would result in a $32,000 reduction to the total budget. Intergovernmental Services Motion: Mr. Frank moved to approve the Finance Committee's recommendation that the Intergovernmental Services Fund (county/city regional services contracO be funded at $400,000 with that amount to include up to $17, O00 for the city's contribution to an independent study of allocation of charges between the county and city. Mr. Finnie seconded Friendly Amendment: Mr. Masci proposed adding language encouraging the funding as a "block grant" rather than specifying line item amounts for specific services. Mr. Frank accepted the amendment. Council Discussion Mr. Lipton supported leaving in the iteration of individual services since some are more straightforward and some will require more in depth analysis. Mr. Timmons noted that will be the goal of the independent study. He encouraged expediting a closure on the 2001 budget from both perspectives, with fine tuning to come in the next two years. Public Comment: None Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Legislative City Council Minutes Page 6 November 29, 2000 Motion: Mr. Frank moved for approval of the legislative budget as recommended by the Finance Committee, with the following appropriations: 1. Economic Development Committee $6,000 (on a reimbursable basis for business recruitment services as defined by contracO 2. Boiler Room: $3,000 3. MainStreet: $15,000 4. Arts Commission: $3,500 (increase of $5OO from committee proposal based on 5. Mr. White's information regarding last year's funding) 6. Domestic Violence: $19,644 7. United Good Neighbors match: $4,000 Mr. Finnie seconded Public comment: None Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. City Manager Motion: Mr. Frank moved to approve the City Manager's budget. Mr. Lipton seconded Public comment: None Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. City Clerk Mr. Frank moved to approve the City Clerk's budget. Mr. Lipton seconded Public Comment: None Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. City Attorney Mr. Frank moved to approve the City Attorney's budget. Mr. Youse seconded Public Comment: None Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Finance Department Mr. Youse recused himself from the vote. Motion: Mr. Frank moved to approve the Finance Department's budget. Mr. Garrison seconded City Council Minutes Page 7 November 29, 2000 Public Comment: None Vote: The vote carried unanimously, 5-0 by voice vote, with Mr. Youse recused Fund Equity Motion: Mr. Frank moved to approve the City Manager's revised recommendation which would eliminate the General Fund transfer to the Street Fund Mr. Garrison seconded Public Comment: None Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Motion: Mr. Frank moved to adopt the following city council budget center goals: 0 Establish a formula for equity in the county/city interlocal services agreement; 2) Encourage more effective use of the Hearing Examiner; 3) Reaffirm that access to the city council reserve fund will be through supplemental budget requests that focus on individual unexpected expenses; and 4) Funding for non-profit organizations be made according to performance based allocations. Mr. Garrison seconded Public Comment: None Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Community Development Committee Recommendations Mr. Timmons summarized the committee's recommendations. He noted that the budget and work plans for departments are being considered in tandem. Part of BCD's work plan will be to evaluate the design review process and how it interfaces with Public Works. Public Comment Bill Maxwell, Library Board: noted that the library can be kept open for 54 hours a week but would require a redefinition of"service." He stated that the library can offer 48 hours per week with programmatic opening for 6 hours per week (adult reading groups, school class tours, etc.) Any other changes will present staff morale problems. Motion: Mr. Frank moved for approval of the committee's recommendation on the proposed Parks and Recreation budget. Mr. Finnie seconded Mr. Finnie recommended that language be included to instruct the City Manager to include seasonal parks maintenance as a high priority if resources can be redirected to the Parks Department. City Council Minutes Page 8 November 29, 2000 Motion: Mr. Frank restated his motion: to adopt the recommended Parks and Recreation budget as proposed by the City Manager, with any emphasis on increasing high season park maintenance with any increased resources that may be redirected Mr. Garrison seconded The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Vote: Mr. Frank moved to approve the Community Development Committee's recommendation to adopt the Building & Community Development budget as presented by the City Manager. Mr. Garrison seconded Public Comment: None Several council members commented that based on public comment received, it appears that cuts in funding for the department have resulted in improved rather than decreased services. Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Library Motion: Mr. Frank moved to approve the Community Development Committee's recommendation that the library continue to operate at this year's level of service without additional increased funding, and to begin efforts to develop a plan for annexation with the county library district. Mr. Youse seconded Council Discussion Mr. Finnie asked about the $10,000 matching fund proposal. Mr. Timmons replied that during his meeting with the library board, he suggested they come forward with a developed program for raising funds for discussion. Mr. Finnie suggested if the program were initiated it would be limited to one budget year, with funds dedicated to books, not labor costs. Vote: The motion carried 4-2 by voice vote, with Messrs Lipton and Youse opposed Public Safety Mr. Timmons presented the recommendations of the Public Safety Committee. He noted the Police budget has been reduced further through the elimination of one officer position and the elimination of one administration vehicle. The School Resource Officer funding will continue through the end of the 2001 school year; funding beyond that will be contingent upon outside revenue sources. Overtime for special events/festivals will be evaluated in conjunction with the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. Public Comment: None City Council Minutes Page 9 November 29, 2000 Motion: Mr. Youse moved for adoption of the Public Safety Committee's recommended budget for the Police Department. Mr. Frank seconded Mr. Frank stated that the department must continue to look for ways to deal with seasonal peaks related to the tourism industry. Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Fire Department Mr. Timmons presented the committee's recommendation to hold on hiring an additional Paramedic/Firefighter until the District #6 contract and medical billing analysis are complete. Fire Chief Ed Edwards urged the council to adopt the budget with the additional position, stating his belief that the department is understaffed with or without responding to District #6 calls. Public Comment: None Motion: Mr. Frank moved to accept the Public Safety Committee's recommendation on expenditures for the Fire Department. Mr. Garrison seconded The contract negotiations with Fire District #6 were discussed. The need for an interim contract was discussed if a conclusion cannot be reached by the end of the year. Vote: The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Public Works Committee Recommendation Motion: Mr. Frank moved for approval of the Public Works Committee's budget recommendation. Mr. Finnie seconded Council Discussion Mr. Garrison asked about the proposal to read meters every other month and suggested reading meters once a year, with his estimation of savings of a full time equivalent employee. Using this as an example, he noted he would not support the committee's recommendation as too many potential efficiencies have not been addressed. Friendly Amendment: Mr. Finnie proposed askdng the City Manager to prioritize an examination of the meter sequence frequency and billing procedures. The amendment was accepted The motion carried 5-1 by voice vote, with Mr. Garrison opposed Capital Facilities Committee Recommendation Mr. Timmons reiterated the Committee's recommendations which were adopted by the City Council on November 6, 2000: City Council Minutes Page 10 November 29, 2000 1) City Hall: enter into agreement with Jefferson County Historical Society and provide $92,000 seed money for City Hall restoration to come from the $200,000 councilmanic bond and to begin design for a city administrative annex building in the capital improvement plan; 2) Police Station: pursue surplusing the property and earmark funds toward a replacement facility; 3) Morgan Hill Reservoir: surplus property with conditions; study impact and reserve part of site for water tank; and 4) Water Barn: surplus property with conditions; study impacts and earmark funds for replacement facility. Mr. Finnie added that twelve additional properties are before the committee and the sense is that eight will be recommended for surplus; this does not include property in the county, including Snow Creek, which may be a source of income from timber sales. He emphasized that the mission of the Capital Facilities Committee is not to look for revenue sources for the city, but to comply with legal regulations regarding city ownership of property. There is still a chance that revenues may be gained in the coming year from property sales. Public Comment: None Mr. Masci announced that he would now take additional public comment on any issue having to do with the 2001 budget. Additional Public Comment Coila Sheard: in support of Main Street; expressed disappointment in the vote to cut funding from the General Fund. Nancy Borino, representing LTAC: provided additional information on tourism benefits to the community and activities funded by LTAC funds. Sustainable tourism. Mr. Masci then closed public testimony. Motion: Mr. Frank moved to postpone adoption of the budget to the December 4 council meeting. Mr, Garrison seconded The motion carried unanimously, 6-0 by voice vote. Mr. Frank then noted that there will still be a deficit in the General Fund. Motion: Mr. Frank moved to direct the City Manager to bring forward a recommendation regarding actions the council can take to achieve a balanced budget. Mr. Garrison seconded The motion carried 4-2 by voice vote, with Messrs. Lipton and Youse opposed City Council Minutes Page 11 November 29, 2000 EXECUTIVE SESSION Mr. Masci announced an executive session regarding potential litigation. The session was expected to last five minutes, with no action anticipated. The council adjourned to executive session at 11:18 p.m. RECONVENE The meeting was reconvened at 11:30 p.m. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:31 p.m. Attest: Pamela Kolacy, CMC City Clerk City Council Minutes Page 12 November 29, 2000