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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - May 26, 2009 SMLODI CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING CARNEGIE FORUM, 305 WEST PINE STREET TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009 A. Roll call The Special City Council meeting of May 26, 2009, was called to order by Mayor Hansen at 7:06 a.m. Present: Council Member Hitchcock, Council Member Johnson, Mayor Pro Tempore Katzakian, Council Member Mounce, and Mayor Hansen Absent: None Also Present: City Manager King, City Attorney Schwabauer, and City Clerk Johl B. Reaular Calendar B-1 Receive and Review the Draft Fiscal Year 2009-10 Financial Plan and Budaet (CM City Manager King provided a brief presentation regarding the draft Fiscal Year 2009-10 Financial Plan and Budget. Specific topics of discussion included fiscal year 2009-10 at a glance, Recession No. 33, unemployment rates, sales tax declines, property tax declines, economic conditions, Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund, fiscal sustainability, general fund and reserve level history and current levels, citywide staffing, bargaining group agreements, all fund revenues versus expenditures, property and sales tax statistics, in -lieu franchise for Electric Utility, vehicle license fees, business license tax, personnel costs, and departmental overviews. Police Chief David Main presented the proposed budget for the Police Department for the 2009- 10 fiscal year specifically discussing the department's anticipated expenditures, staffing, accomplishments, and goals. In response to Mayor Hansen, Chief Main stated currently there is one person assigned to parking enforcement and one to downtown bike patrol. Chief Main confirmed the services may be supplemented with volunteers and reserves. In response to Council Member Mounce, Chief Main stated the individual doing crime prevention is also doing other tasks and the crime analysis position has been vacant for some time. In response to Council Member Mounce, Chief Main stated with respect to position control the department has attempted to spread out the vacancies throughout the department so that one division is not hit particularly hard. Chief Main stated staff is using other resources such as software and the Partners for code enforcement efforts. In response to Council Member Johnson, Chief Main confirmed that the school district does share in the cost for the school resource officer and all indications are that it will continue to do so. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Chief Main stated the increase in the safety equipment line item represents ballistic vest replacements with each vest running from $800 to $2,000. Deputy City Manager Jordan Ayers stated the 7333 line item is assigned to each department based on the actual cost to operate vehicles for that particular department, and general vehicle replacement is in another line item. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Chief Main confirmed the People Assisting the Lodi Shelter contract will be approximately $50,000 and is contained in the Animal Services portion of Continued May 26, 2009 the budget. Chief Main stated there has been some increase in cost related to boarding up businesses and residences due to foreclosures. In response to Council Member Mounce, Chief Main stated the issue of take home vehicles for the Police Department has been closely reviewed and only those needing to respond in emergencies are taking home the vehicles. Mr. King confirmed that staff is taking a closer look at citywide usage of cellular phones as that line item also includes radio usage. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Chief Main stated policy indicates a 30 -minute response time, 4 to 5 vehicles are taken out of town, and 16 vehicles total are taken home for the Police Department. Fire Chief Mike Pretz presented the proposed budget for the Fire Department for the 2009-10 fiscal year specifically discussing the department's anticipated expenditures, staffing, accomplishments, and goals. In response to Council Member Johnson, Chief Pretz stated some Fire Marshal tasks such as inspections have been running behind and there is an ongoing departmental effort to address that. In response to Council Member Johnson, Chief Pretz stated they have met with Woodbridge and Mokelumne and both agencies are facing similar situations as the City due to budget constraints. In response to Mayor Hansen, Chief Pretz stated of the Fire Department calls, about 70% are emergency responses and 30% are responses to structure fires and hazardous materials. Chief Pretz stated that, although there may be some delay in response times, he is not aware of any other issues with AMR. In response to Mayor Hansen, Chief Pretz stated that, although there is still some overtime used, it generally comes in the form of comp time and overall overtime costs have gone down. In response to Mayor Hansen, Chief Pretz stated on average the department receives 20 calls a month for fires that could be related to cars, grass, and structures. In response to Council Member Mounce, Mr. Ayers stated the PL and PD line item is a cost that is assigned to each department and there was a one-year hiatus from the previous year because there was a sufficient amount in reserves for insurance. In response to Council Member Mounce, Chief Pretz stated cellular phone usage for the Fire Department includes pagers and air cards for firefighters used to communicate with engines, dispatch, and stations. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Mr. King stated the Fire Chief is retiring through the additional service credit option and there is an obligation to keep that position or an equivalent position open. Mr. King stated he anticipates there would be an interim chief position leaving a management position open. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Mr. King stated it is anticipated that the fire operations side will remain unchanged, the acting fire chief will be more active on the fire prevention side, and construction permits will be handled by Community Development. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Chief Pretz stated he anticipates for the upcoming year that things with serious consequences will continue to get done and things with inconvenient consequences such as report generation will experience delays. Mr. King stated the proposal is N Continued May 26, 2009 to brown out apparatus and not stations. Public Works Director Wally Sandelin presented the proposed budget for the Public Works Department for the 2009-10 fiscal year specifically discussing the department's anticipated expenditures, staffing, accomplishments, and goals. In response to Mayor Hansen, Mr. Sandelin stated construction on the Lodi Avenue project will likely commence in August or September after CalTrans gives its approval. In response to Mayor Hansen, Mr. Sandelin stated the turn around on graffiti is approximately one day, about $90,000 is budgeted for graffiti removal, and a portion of that amount comes from the Community Development Block Grant program. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Mr. King stated the building across the street is listed in the Public Works budget because Public Works includes all facilities. In response to Mayor Hansen, Mr. Sandelin stated the cost for the White Slough improvements mandated by the State were approximately $40 million and staff will be coming to Council to spend down the remaining Certificates of Participation. Mr. King stated there are ongoing operational costs and staff may be seeking additional positions for compliance purposes at a future time. Mr. Schwabauer stated typically once an agency receives a permit, it is good for a five-year period so long as the agency remains in compliance, although there could be some changes. In response to Mayor Hansen, Mr. Schwabauer stated the permit is currently with the State Board, it will need to go back to the Regional Board, and the City will likely not see the permit for another three to six months. In response to Council Member Johnson, Mr. Schwabauer stated the five-year time period starts from the date of expiration of the permit, which was 2007. In response to Mayor Pro Tempore Katzakian, Mr. Sandelin stated the transmission line repair was rolled into capital funding for last year. In response to Council Member Mounce, Mr. Sandelin and Management Analyst Rebecca Areida confirmed that the personnel transfers were made to water and wastewater and, while estimates are generally based on the previous year numbers, the department is now using a tracking system that will provide greater accuracy. In response to Mayor Hansen, Mr. Sandelin confirmed that the city of Stockton did scale down on its bigger sized buses and Lodi is looking to do the same as its older buses are ready to be replaced. In response to Mayor Hansen, Mr. Sandelin stated that, as a part of the short range transit and marketing plans as previously presented, an increase in fares was projected, which may come from an increase in ridership or rate increases. In response to Mayor Hansen, Mr. Sandelin stated the City received about $600,000 from Proposition 42 last year and staff is aware that may go away. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Mr. Sandelin stated the work for others category involves work that street crews do for other departments, including traffic control at the Grape Bowl and paving work at the new substation. Mr. Sandelin stated that type of work will likely be going down next year to about $233,000. Continued May 26, 2009 In response to Council Member Mounce, Mr. Sandelin stated he is not aware of any street sign replacement schedule as there is no specific lifetime on the signs and they are replaced when it becomes necessary. In response to Council Member Hitchcock, Mr. King stated the maintenance and efforts portion of the Streets Division will likely stay the same. Myrna Wetzel commended the Public Works Department for its ongoing efforts to properly maintain the streets in the City. C. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the City Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:29 a.m. ATTEST: Randi Johl City Clerk E