No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-07-09 - City Commission Budget Workshop Meeting MinutesCITY OF TAMARAC BUDGET WORKSHOP MEETING WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2003 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Schreiber called the Budget Workshop Meeting of the City Commission to order on Wednesday, July 9, 2003, at 9:00 a.m. in Room 105 of Tamarac City Hall, 7525 NW 88t" Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. PRESENT: Mayor Joe Schreiber, Vice Mayor Karen L. Roberts, Commissioner Edward C. Portner, Commissioner Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco, and Commissioner Marc L. Sultanof. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Jeffrey L. Miller, City Attorney Mitchell S. Kraft, Assistant City Manager Michael C. Cernech, and City Clerk Marion Swenson. Mayor Schreiber led the pledge of allegiance. Utilities Director Gagnon gave a presentation on the Utilities Department's budget and thanked Finance Director Newman for her assistance, as well as his utilities operations, engineering and budget team. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned page 3-34, physical environment and Finance Director Newman said it is a State category under which water and wastewater falls. Water Plant Superintendent Harvey reviewed program modifications. There was discussion of the $100,000 proposed for vulnerability study implementation. Mayor Schreiber asked if there is reimbursement money available from homeland security and Water Plant Superintendent Harvey said nothing is available for a city of Tamarac's size. Commissioner Portner asked about the criteria and Water Plant Superintendent Harvey said a small city is less then 3,300 and a large 100,000 and up. Commissioner Portner asked, since this is an unfunded mandate, if a City did not have the money to implement it would there be ramifications, and Water Plant Superintendent Harvey replied the EPA and/or FBI would get involved based on the event. There was discussion regarding whether to fund or not fund the $100,000 and after the intent of the program modification was clarified, there was a unanimous expression of interest to leave this item in the budget. Vice Mayor Roberts asked for an explanation of broad banding, page 13-8. Utilities Director Gagnon explained this it to attract and retain certified water plant operators. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco asked how many people are involved and whether this will come up each time an employee becomes certified. Water Plant Superintendent Harvey said three employees are affected at this time, and Finance Director Newman explained this is a change in classification that will affect anybody who meets the criteria. Human Resources Director Swanson explained this is a specialized area and it is difficult to recruit for these positions. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco questioned the recruitment process and Water Plant Superintendent Harvey explained some alternatives. Human Resources Director Swanson asked to have this implemented immediately, rather than wait until October 1 St. There was a unanimous expression of interest to implement immediately. July 9, 2003 City Commission Budget Workshop 1 Laboratory Manager Oney discussed the Ion Chromatograph and Mayor Schreiber asked how it works. Laboratory Manager Oney explained and said testing is done quarterly. Commissioner Portner asked if it is still under warranty and Laboratory Manager Oney said it is not. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco asked about the life span and Laboratory Manager Oney said 7-10 years. Operations Manager London spoke about existing item replacement. Commissioner Portner asked about replacement of pipes on the east side and Engineering Coordinator Wainwright said there are two projects on the east side; Phase III of the large project begun several years ago and Tamarac Lakes North and Boulevards design is underway with construction slated for FY04. Commissioner Sultanof asked if the septic tank project on the east side has been completed and the progress of lining the pipes. Utilities Director Gagnon said the septic tank project has been completed and Operations Manager London said he will meet with some gentlemen regarding Southgate Boulevard to discuss construction to reline the iron pipes, which will help with Westwood 24 and the water main for the proposed park. Mayor Schreiber asked if the 2 million gallon storage tank and pump station project would fall under the $10 million bond issuance. City Manager Miller added that this would be the time to discuss how the Commission would like to fund these projects. Vice Mayor Roberts asked if the City gets grant money how it would affect the bonds and Finance Director Newman said the bonds would be worded broadly enough so monies could be used for other drainage or utility projects. Mayor Schreiber asked to see renderings of the stormwater pump design. Commissioner Partner questioned the advantage/disadvantage of a 10 year or 20 year loan. Finance Director Newman explained when looking at how long to finance an item, for public purposes a match is made between the term of the borrowing and the life of the asset. Mayor Schreiber asked for an expression of interest to move forward with revenue bond financing over 20 years and Mayor Schreiber, Vice Mayor Roberts and Commissioners Flansbaum- Talabisco and Sultanof were in favor. Commissioner Portner was not in favor of moving forward with the 20 year revenue bond financing. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco asked how prepared the City is for anticipated summer storm flooding. Assistant City Manager Cernech said Woodlands drains into the C-13 canal and is not included in the stormwater program, nor is the east side. However, certain repaving repairs have alleviated flooding in some areas. City Manager Miller said culverts around the Country Club have been repaired. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned page 13-21, item 34-17, privatization of utility billing, and Finance Director Newman explained this is a finance department budget issue, and it is to free personnel to deal more with customer service and spend less time on paperwork. What is being outsourced is the printing and mailing of the bills. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco added this is the cost of doing business. Vice Mayor Roberts asked if the City would still be able to put information on the water bills and Finance Director Newman said that would not change. July 9, 2003 City Commission Budget Workshop 2 Mayor Schreiber called for a recess at 10:35 a.m. and reconvened the Budget Workshop at 10:50 a.m. with all present as before. Vice Mayor Roberts asked if the proposed increase in utility rates includes the 3% CPI and Finance Director Newman said it did. Building Official Jones gave an overview of the Building Department budget and spoke of the Code Enforcement Division's move from Community Development to the Building Department. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned the number of personnel in Code Enforcement and questioned page 4-4, contractual services. Building Official Jones said 7 code enforcement staff are going to the Building Department, and one office specialist will stay with Community Development. Additionally, the contractual service is for lot clearing and nuisance abatements. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned page 4-6, the increase in phones and wireless pagers. Finance Director Newman explained a change in the way the City is doing business and the addition of cell phones for code officers. Mayor Schreiber questioned the consultant services, page 4-6 item 34-02. Building Official Jones said this is the Interlocal Agreement with Broward County for Code Officer coverage. Commissioner Portner asked about page 4-6, item 44-05, leased building decrease and Building Official Jones said the Building Department will vacate the Pine Island facility when the new building is completed. Commissioner Portner questioned page 4-2 regarding the benchmarks and Building Official Jones said the performance measure is a new item this year. BSO Chief Dugger gave an overview of the BSO budget and said due to the fact that the Sheriff's Department has not completed it's calculations as of yet, this budget is based on a 5% COLA increase, however, in past years the increase has come in at less that 5%. Vice Mayor Roberts asked about the receptionist position and BSO Chief Dugger said it did not work out. Commissioner Portner asked about the complement of officers and number of vehicles and BSO Chief Dugger said 92 total staff and about 85- 87 vehicles, which includes motorcycles. Vice Mayor Roberts asked about education assistance and BSO Chief Dugger said funds have been used in the last few months for specialized training. Commissioner Portner asked about the advantages of using BSO over a private police force and BSO Chief Dugger spoke about costs to reinstitute the system, recruitment, transfer of assets (inventory), resources that the Sheriff has that a private department may not have, policies, and indemnification. BSO Chief Dugger said it would take about 5 years to recoup the costs of starting up a police department. Mayor Schreiber said the advantage would be control of the budget and spoke about double payment of taxes for police services. Mayor Schreiber said he would like to see better traffic enforcement and BSO Chief Dugger spoke of a new type of mechanism that is attached to a traffic signal to monitor speeders, however, this mechanism is being resisted by County engineers. Commissioner Sultanof asked for clarification of legal problems associated with the cameras in use in some jurisdictions, and BSO Chief Dugger said there have been challenges regarding who is driving the vehicle. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned page 3-4, fines and forfeitures, and BSO Chief Dugger said he believes this is connected to code enforcement. July 9, 2003 City Commission Budget Workshop 3 Management and Budget Officer Sammartino explained the part-time position upgraded to a full-time position. City Clerk Swenson gave a presentation on the requested new position and the City Clerk's budget. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned the two line items for elections (49-18 and 57-10) and City Clerk Swenson said at last year's budget workshop, it was decided to eliminate one of the line items. Vice Mayor Roberts confirmed that the City had not been billed for the March election and asked if the $30,000 is not sufficient how it would be handled. City Manager Miller said we would dispute the bill or come back to the Commission. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco questioned page 8-21 Item 34-01, and City Clerk Swenson explained the use of temporary employees. Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said this year's budget is based on staffing, maintenance, and request for equipment in order to maintain the current program level. Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Warner reviewed page 11-4, reorganization and reclassification. Mayor Schreiber asked what the new positions would do that they are not doing now and Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said they would be more supervisory. Mayor Schreiber questioned page 11-20 equipment and radios and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said this is the normal cost of a radio used in the City. Parks Superintendent Moll reviewed program modifications. Commissioner Portner asked when Caporella Park would be completed and Parks Superintendent Moll said the end of November. Commissioner Partner questioned whether the gym floor was covered by insurance (page 11-16). There was discussion regarding the water damage as well as the age of the floor, and Commissioner Portner asked that insurance coverage be investigated. Mayor Schreiber questioned if the outside programs using the gym were asked to contribute to the cost of replacement of the floor and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said that was done. Commissioner Portner questioned the cross trainers, page 11-17, and said he felt the treadmills are still in demand. Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said a space would be found for the treadmills. Commissioner Portner expressed concern over lack of personnel in the gym and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said they have been short staffed on several occasions. Commissioner Portner asked if it would be beneficial to have a true trainer in the fitness room and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said this is a higher level of service than the City wants to provide. The facility is an unsupervised facility, and liability enters into the picture. There was discussion regarding liability and City Attorney Kraft said a higher level of service gives a higher expectation and liability goes up. If the sign says people are here at their own risk, there is a different liability. Vice Mayor Roberts asked about page 11-2, registered participation in programs and Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Warner spoke about addition of a number of diverse classes. Vice Mayor Roberts asked about the unfunded paint machine and Parks Superintendent Moll said it is to line the ball fields. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned the unfunded Social Services Case Manager. There was discussion regarding funding of this position and City Manager Miller said this becomes an endless financial pit for the City if we become too involved; the maximum level of service provided should be information and referral. Mayor Schreiber agreed and said the July 9, 2003 City Commission Budget Workshop 4 1 County and State should get involved. Vice Mayor Roberts was in favor of extending the part time social worker for another year. Commissioner Sultanof asked about involvement with the Area Agency on Aging, and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles explained they are a referral service, and the waiting list is extremely long. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco suggested an intern to help Information and Referral Specialist Cure, and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said she would look into it. Mayor Schreiber suggested Parks and Recreation Director Margoles come back to the commission with suggestions. Mayor Schreiber questioned page 11-20, item 57-07, summer camp, and Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said the City is looking into using Millennium Middle School as an additional site because of increased enrollment. Commissioner Flansbaum-Talabisco suggested increasing the fitness center membership charge, and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said she intended to come before the Commission with suggestions for additional fees. Commissioner Sultanof asked how many children are enrolled in summer camp and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said 350, and the City tries to accommodate all applicants. Commissioner Sultanof asked about the charge per child and comparable rates in Sunrise. Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation Warner said residents fees are $404 per child, (compared to $300 in Sunrise), non-residents $537; however, Sunrise will be doubling their fees next year. Commissioner Sultanof confirmed the fitness room is not open to non-residents and said the Parks and Recreation Board did not want to raise the membership fee. Vice Mayor Roberts questioned page 11-20, item 64-01 and Parks and Recreation Director Margoles said this was capital outlay requests. There being no further business to come before the City Commission, Mayor Schreiber adjourned the Budget Workshop meeting at 12:45 p.m. Marion Swenson, CMC City Clerk July 9, 2003 City Commission Budget Workshop 5