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05/09/1990 BUDGET WORK SESSION May 7, 1990 The City Commission of the City of Clearwater met at Clearwater East Library with the following members present: Rita Garvey Mayor/Commissioner Richard Fitzgerald Vice-Mayor/Commissioner Lee Regulski Commissioner William Nunamaker Commissioner Sue Berfield Commissioner Also present were: Ron H. Rabun City Manager Kathy Rice Assistant City Manager/Administration Michael Wright Assistant City Manager/Community Services Charles Hunsicker Assistant City Manager/Operations Elizabeth Deptula Director of Administrative Services Cynthia E. Goudeau City Clerk The meeting was called to order at 9:02 a.m. and the following items were discussed. The City Manager reported the proposed budget is to be submitted to the City Commission in July. Today we are discussing the service options being proposed. He stated the proposals include 28.25 new employees, some of those being 14 new police officers, 1 (one) code enforcement officer and 2.5 to support projects such as the Courtney Campbell beautification project and maintenance of restrooms on Clearwater Beach. He stated for planning purposes, staff assumed a 7% increase in salaries with part of that being a cost of living increase and part merit. He stated tentative calculations indicate a .7 mill increase will be needed to balance the budget with .3 mills of that increase being to restore the 10% surplus set by City Commission policy. He stated on the revenue side, ad valorem growth is disappointing with a projected 1% increase being reported. He stated there are $1.33 million in new revenue initiatives included in the budget including such things as stormwater utility fees, parks and recreation fee increases, gas transfer, increased library fees and purchasing fees. Police Department - Police Chief Sid Klein The Police Chief indicated his emphasis is in two areas - manpower and future services needs. He stated a lot has been done over the past few years regarding manpower on the beach and in the N. Greenwood area. He reviewed the efforts that have been taken in order for the Police Dept. to stay relatively even with the increase in crime. He stated crime is steadily increasing with narcotics having the greatest impact. This increase impacts available time for officers on the street and impacts response time. He reviewed the ratio of officers to population. He stated there are 220 sworn officers in the operational section of the Police Dept. and 16 sworn positions in administrative support. In response to a question regarding participation in the Countywide Drug Task Force, Chief Klein indicated he wanted to review how the task force accomplishes its mission in the first year before committing additional manpower to it. The City of Clearwater needs to retain a component in the Police Dept. for street level narcotics. In response to a question regarding the Police Aide program, the Chief indicated it has not grown but is working well. It was stated the long range plan for the beach is to streamline and automate the traffic control program to alleviate the need for a great number of police aides and manpower on the beach. He stated enhancements requested for the Police Dept. includes 10 officers for patrol duties, one for a downtown walking beat. In response to a question as to why downtown is different and needs a walking beat, the Chief indicated downtown is attractive to hardcore transients and the Police Dept. is conducting street sweeps to alleviate this problem. He stated one officer is being requested to replace the one assigned to the Countywide Drug Task Force and two positions are being requested for the communications center. A question was raised as to why the two positions in the communications center are part-time. The Chief indicated these are information positions which handle inquiries for officers regarding such things as license checks, vehicle registration checks, etc. He stated the communications center has peak times and using part-time personnel is more economical. He stated the additional officers will be allocated to the east and west districts of the City. In response to a question regarding the cost of the Marine Patrol, Sgt. Egger reported that cost is $118,000 and does not include the boat. Half of that cost is paid by the Marine Dept. and half by the Police Dept. It was indicated the enhancements in the Police Dept. would necessitate a .2 mil increase to the budget. General consensus of the Commission is this is a high priority. Planning and Development Dept. - Jim Polatty, Director Michael Wright, Assistant City Manager, stated Planning and Development is looking at the status quo with minor enhancements. Their request is for one staff assistant to help in the code enforcement activity. Equipment being requested are hand-held computers for construction inspection and one vehicle for code enforcement. In response to a question as to why productivity data shows a decrease in inspections, the Planning and Development Director responded that construction is down and, therefore, there are fewer inspections for new construction. There are inspections for rehabilitations however. He reviewed the cross-training that is occurring for inspectors. Parks and Recreation - Ream Wilson, Director Michael Wright, Assistant City Manager, stated in addition to Parks and Recreation programs, the Parks and Recreation Dept. also maintains a lot of right-of-way and landscaping around City buildings. There is half a million dollars in maintenance in the Parks and Recreation budget. The reduction option of the transfer funding of ditch retention and pond maintenance assumes that the City Commission will approve the stormwater utility fees that will be coming forward to them in the near future. This will reduce the impact on the general fund by $39,450. In response to a question regarding whether or not the nursery stock is self-supporting, Mr. Wilson indicated we do not do a lot of propagating but buy wholesale. The street tree program is still active with citizens being able to purchase trees with placement by the Parks and Recreation Dept. for $40 per tree. The cost is being re-evaluated at this time. In response to a question, Mr. Wilson indicated the new agreement with the National Guard regarding use of the National Guard Armory reduced the amount of maintenance required by the City and, therefore, that is a reduction in cost to the Parks and Recreation Dept. for next year. In response to a question regarding whether or not it would be economical to sub-contract repetitive programs, particularly in landscape maintenance, it was indicated this has been looked at several times and it is more expensive to have an outside contractor do this maintenance. A budgeting technique that would show no budget impact for contract instructors, as fees taken in from those programs offset the cost, was discussed. Discussion ensued regarding a proposal to add a $1 fee for processing recreation cards. Consensus was to charge the fee with a $5 cap per family. A suggestion was made that staff consider making these three year cards instead of two year cards. Concerns were expressed regarding individuals moving out of the City being able to use a resident card if the term were lengthened; and a suggestion was also made that there be a combination library/parks and recreation card. The enhancements proposed in the Parks and Recreation budget were reviewed. Personnel and operating costs for "Penny of Pinellas" projects would require one full time person on the beach to maintain the restrooms, a half a person for the new park in Countryside and one person for maintenance of the proposed Courtney Campbell Causeway beautification program. It was indicated that trimming of palms will be eliminated from the Courtney Campbell program. Regarding the Center Foundation, it is projected that an operating budget of $229,000 will be needed for programs at the center. Of this amount, approximately $88,000 will be transferred from existing budget codes. The remaining portion is projected to pay user fees, utility charges for office space and miscellaneous operating and start-up expenses. User fee estimates are based on the current proposal by the Center Administration to charge 40 cents per hour per person. If this is modified or not approved by the City Commission, this figure will change accordingly. Revenue projection for the Center is somewhat difficult to determine due to numerous new variables, and there is no historical record to pull from; however staff estimates that approximately 20% of the operating budget can be generated by charging user fees to participants. Ream Wilson reviewed the programs that would be at the Center. He stated the only total programs being moved to the Center are those at the Bobby Walker pool. The only thing moving from the Norton Park pool is the competitive swimming that occurs from October to April. All other current activities will remain at the Norton pool. Personnel being transferred from Woodgate and Del Oro parks are the only two remaining outdoor parks with supervision remaining. The superintendent at Woodgate was reassigned in December and there have been no complaints regarding no supervision at that community park. Mr. Wilson indicated he felt attendance at parks would remain the same. He stated the City will be billed monthly for its cost at the Center. In response to a question, it was indicated that our revenue will not cover the cost at the Center. It was indicated all of these are estimates as we will require one or two years of participation at the Center to correctly ascertain revenues and expenses there. It was emphasized the City hopes to offer new programs at the Center. The meeting recessed from 11:30 to 11:35 a.m. Economic Development - Jerry Sternstein, Director Mike Wright indicated the coordination of the Downtown Development Board and the Redevelopment Agency has been accomplished and is working extremely well. In response to questions, it was indicated that the Economic Development budget is currently 100% funded by the CRA. Concerns were expressed that there also needs to be someone on industrial and economic development throughout the City. It was indicated that, in the long range, economic development will be City-wide; however, at this time it is concentrating on the downtown area and is therefore funded by the CRA. Library - Linda Mielke, Director Mike Wright, Assistant City Manager, stated the proposals for the Library's revenue enhancement parallels Parks and Recreation; however, he stated there is a difficulty with the charging of $1 for a library card in that we would lose the definition of a free library and could jeopardize grant funding. Commission consensus was to delete this as a reduction option. It was also the consensus of the Commission to delete the elimination of adult program support and closing the meeting rooms as reductions. Discussion ensued regarding the reduction option of reducing telephone reference service. In response to a question, Ms. Mielke indicated the Library Board feels this is an important service. In response to a question, Ms. Mielke indicated there were six people handling 74,000 calls last year. She also indicated these individuals handle walk-ins and that 52% of the contacts at reference do come through the telephone. Concerns were expressed that if the reference lines were reduced, this would impact senior citizens and shut-ins. A suggestion was made that the number of lines be reduced for a trial period of the next 30-60 days. Further discussion ensued regarding the options for people needing to reference information. It was indicated this could not be staffed with volunteers as a highly trained staff is needed. Commission consensus was to implement a trial period of the reduction of the number of telephone reference lines. A proposal was also presented for charging a fee for the use of the meeting rooms. A suggestion was made that perhaps a maximum fee for the year could be established for regular users. Consensus of the Commission was to allow charging of the fee with no discount for monthly meetings. An enhancement proposed is the continuation of the family Resource Guide, an impact of $6,000 annually. This was a program that was started as a federal grant and is an outreach program designed to answer questions generated by patrons attempting to solve "life problems." Activities will include installing equipment, training staff, initiating new file development, evaluating the new service and securing permanent local funding based on the evaluation. It would also continue a temporary part-time Library I position. Benefits of the program were discussed and it was indicated that there is no proposal to go to a full- time position. A question was raised regarding whether or not the problem with parents dropping children off and using the library as a babysitter was still ongoing. Ms. Mielke indicated this is under control. The meeting recessed from 12:39 1:34 p.m. Commissioner Nunamaker arrived at 1:41 p.m. Public Information - Jennifer Parramore, Public Information Officer The City Manager reported the Public Information Office is concentrating on cable programming with enhanced citizen access. In response to a concern being expressed regarding the amount of programming in this department, Ms. Parramore stated there were a lot of special projects done in helping other departments. She stated the cable program is to premiere in June, and a news digest is to be produced shortly. Mike Wright, Assistant City Manager, stated establishing a public information office is a long-term process with subtle reinforcement of positive things in the City and the role of the Public Information Office is still being defined. It was indicated the Action Center division of Public Information works with the Library to assure there is no duplication. Public Works - Bill Baker, Director In response to a question regarding the reorganization in Public Works and the number of positions deleted, it was indicated of the 41 positions, there are only three or four left to be reassigned. Charles Hunsicker, Assistant City Manager, reported that bids for a fixed base operator at the Airpark were unsuccessful and staff is negotiating with the current FBO for a new contract. If this is still unsuccessful, the City would have to staff the Airpark with three full-time and two part-time people. In response to a question regarding how barricades are allocated in an emergency situation in the budget, it was indicated we just do what is necessary and it is tracked. It was reported there is a personnel increase in the Environmental Management Dept. to make the head of this division a full assistant department director in the Public Works Dept. In response to a question, it was indicated that staff believes by February 1991 we will be into a stormwater management program and that fees to cover the cost will be brought forward to the Commission in the near future. It was indicated the user fee will be based on the burden to the stormwater system and the proposal will be presented in late May or June. In response to a question regarding whether or not the Assistant Director for Environmental Management would be an office or field position, it was indicated the interview did include a question regarding whether or not they were able to do field work. Phil Janocha, of the Water Pollution Control Division, stated they are proud of the construction of the advanced wastewater treatment plants and the Marshall Street Plant has received an award for its operation. In response to a question, it was indicated the Marshall Street Plant will be fully operational by October 1 and the other two plants will be operational by March 1 of next year. It was reported the Reclaimed Water Master Plan was received today and a special public hearing has been scheduled for the Commission for May 30. He stated the advanced wastewater treatment plants do require additional staff and enhancements of a Senior Lab Technician and two positions for sledge processing are being requested. In discussing the Utilities Division, a question was raised regarding what the Commission should do if the decision is to keep the Gas Division. It was stated the RFPs are due in late May and a decision package will be coming to the Commission in late June or early July. It was stated if the decision is made to keep the Gas Division, staff would be asked regarding things that could be done to enhance the revenue generated by this division. The Sanitation Division was discussed and it was indicated an enhancement includes the City taking over pickup of roll-off containers. One equipment operator and two sanitation workers are being requested for the recycling program. It was indicated a workmen's compensation person has been going door to door leaving brochures regarding recycling in an education effort. Discussion ensued regarding the need to educate people regarding the recycling program. Discussion ensued regarding the commercial roll-off service, and it was stated this would be a high income service. It was requested this item be kept in the proposed budget for review. It was stated there were no enhancements or reductions proposed for the public service division. It was stated there is an enhancement out of the stormwater utility fund that would not impact the general fund, and this would include residential street sweeping and ditch improvements and maintenance. Discussion ensued regarding the need for street sweepers and whether or not this should be privatized. A question was raised regarding whether or not the City has talked to the County regarding a stormwater district to address enclaves. It was indicated staff has a meeting with them tomorrow morning. A request was made that an update regarding the status of the improvements to the water distribution system be provided. A question was raised regarding the possibility of putting in piping for the reclaimed water system, and it was indicated the City will be investigating this. In response to a question, it was indicated reclaimed water can be used for firefighting purposes. In discussing the Transportation Division, Keith Crawford indicated all the equipment for the synchronized traffic system is in place and software should be installed in August or September. In response to questions regarding parking revenue from the garages, it was indicated the Garden Ave. garage is losing money and the Park Ave. garage is breaking even. Legal Department - Al Galbraith, City Attorney The City Attorney is proposing no enhancements or reductions. Discussion ensued regarding the need to investigate the possibility of phasing out any additional jobs, and it was indicated if the Commission funded the 28 proposed today, there would still be less positions in next year's budget than were in the 88/89 budget. Commission consensus was to finish reviewing the service options at a work session scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, 1990 from 2 to 5 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 3:59 p.m.