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04/30/1996 City CouncilEDMONDS CITY COUNCIL APPROVED MINUTES APRIL 30, 1996 The special Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order by Council President Dave Earling at 6:00 p.m. in the Community Services Building Conference Room, 250 Fifth Avenue North, Edmonds. ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Barbara Fahey, Mayor (6: 10 p.m.) Dave Earling, Council President Tom Petruzzi, Councilmember John Nordquist, Councilmember Roger L. Myers, Councilmember Jim White, Councilmember Gary Haakenson, Councilmember Dick Van Hollebeke, Councilmember STAFF PRESENT Paul Mar, Community Services Director Art Housler, Administrative Services Director Brent Hunter, Personnel Director Stephen Koho, WastewaterTreatment Plant Manager Sandy Chase, City Clerk Stephanie Goings, Recorder 1. REVIEW AND UPDATE ON THE FOLLOWING ISSUES ]DISCUSSED AT THE COUNCIL A) WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT Paul Mar, Community Services Director, addressed this issue and reviewed with the Council the memo from the agenda packet. One of the action items from the 1996 City Council retreat was related to investigation of whether to continue the current in-house process or pursue alternatives for delivering services at the City's Wastewater Treatment Plant. Mr. Mar stated that an in-house study would take place and he would be relying on Stephen Koho, Wastewater Treatment Plan ' t Manager, for help with technical verification to make sure that they are comparing like situations. Councilmember Petruzzi questioned if Mr. Mar 'was planning on contacting all private operators in the Pacific Northwest, not just Washington State. Mr. Mar acknowledged this was the intent and that the investigation would include all cities using an alternative method. Councilmember Van Hollebeke inquired as to the staff s current feelings regarding this issue, especially considering the lengthy timeline involved. Mr. Koho stated staff is experiencing anxiety; however, he has stressed that in most cases when contractors come in they generally keep the current employees. Council President Earling stated that the staff needs to be informed that the Council is investigating this issue because of all the mixed messages it has received regarding wastewater treatment, and that in some cases changing the operation could save taxpayers money. It is the Council's responsibility to try and do that. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 30,1996 Page 1 B) LONG TERM FINANCIAL STABILITY Councilmember Myers stated that he had included in the packet a mission statement as well as a copy of the draft minutes from the April 25 meeting of his committee. He pointed out that a great deal of the long term financial planning ties in with two other current projects; zero based budgeting and the comprehensive employment plan. Councilmember Myers stated that this is really a three part plan and the first step would be to develop a plan for capital expenditures. Work on capital expenditures will begin May 23, after the results of the bond issue is known since that would greatly effect the direction the City would need to take. Art Housler, Administrative Services Director, reviewed the incremental budgeting that had Jove been used in the past, and then presented an outline of Mayor Fahey's concept of going to zero- v5gV based budgeting.,, He described the process of using cost centers. Cost centers are services Dt,�00014 provided in the City. Each cost center would be prioritized. He stressed he is in the process of developing the package for zero -based budgeting. It will likely be another month before he would be able to present a packet with all the information and forms. Councilmember Petruzzi stated that he had seen some of the forms Art had been working on and an outline of the new procedure and he felt that this process, along with the Human Resources Plan, would be a key to the financial longevity of the City.. Council President Earling asked Art Housler to present a package on the ze'ro-based budget as soon as possible. He also stated that this seemed to be a very good way to get a handle on the year-to-year budget, but he had also been hoping for some long range planning or input to maximize revenues. Councilmember Myers stated that the Committee had made a conscious decision to start by focusing on these three parts: zero based budgeting, capital expenditures, and a comprehensive salary plan. And after these items had been dealt with they would start to look at long range planning and preventing the 5 year cycles that the City had been caught in. NINNNKNFAI� -1 �1_1 �_11_ - �1 �4__ - Q1 Councilmember Petruzzi introduced this item and stated that it was time for the City to have a plan as to how to deal with all the pieces of property the City owns and implement a maintenance program, instead of just fixing problems as they become obvious. The City needs to figure out how much money is needed annually to cover maintenance on all current property. 'eff OL6 Councilmember Petruzzi went on to say the Council needed to decide if all of the property was 'Pap 600 needed by the City or should some of the property be sold, thus enabling those funds to cover other items that are needed in the community. Councilmember Petruzzi referred to the question the Mayor had outlined in the memo in the packet regarding buildings currently owned by the City but used for the benefit of the Community without financial gain, and are in fact a financial liability to the City. Councilmember Myers stated that they had postponed making any decisions regarding the Public Safety Buildings untilafter the May 21 ballot. If the bond issue passes, it would be a relief an ' d would move up the'priority of other buildings. Councilmember Myers did state that it was imperative that there be an ongoing maintenance fund. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 30, 1996 Page 2 Councilmember Nordquist expressed his desire to have a profile on each of the buildings. from f&v? to vs 6 the date of acquisition to the current date. He suggested the profile could include an inventory of f f-Of I the building with such information as any additions, and a list of the maintenance that's been done and that needs to be done to the building. Council President Earling asked Councilmember Nordquist to put in writing the various items that should be included in the properties' profile. Councilmember Nordquist also inquired about the old Public Works site. He questioned if this property is needed for tertiary use. He believes this issue needs to be resolved. Councilmember Petruzzi asked about a comment in the memo regarding a $100,000 maintenance ceiling. Mr. Mar responded that figure was staff s perception of available funds after the budgeting process. - It is not a sinking fund or a building maintenance fund that will keep our buildings working for the next 20 or 30 years. Councilmember Petruzzi stated that they must decide what is needed to be done to bring the City's buildings into reasonable repair so that the City is not wasting taxpayers money. It may be necessary to take funds from somewhere else to keep these buildings in good repair. If property is not taken care of then it becomes an asset that is not worth as much as it should be. Councilmember Petruzzi then went on to inquire about the old Public Works site. In particular he inquired as to the value of this property on the open market. Mr. Mar responded . the value is Ot, tolt, approximately $1 Million to $1.3 Million. Mr. Petruzzi stated once the value is known, then the Council can start thinking.about what to do with this property. Regarding the possibility of �Ifo tertiary treatment, Mr. Petruzzi stated he would like to hear from the City Attorney. He stated he would have a difficult time making this property available as a temporary facility for a group or program. Mr. Mar and Councilmember Petruzzi continued to discuss the Public Works site and its value and possible uses for it. Mr. Mar indicated the issue of when the City gets into tertiary treatment is dictated not by the City but rather the EPA. Councilmember Petruzzi then requested that the Council be informed as to what they can do with assets/funds, not what isn't legally allowed but what is allowed. Councilmember White inquired if there was some publication that defines the various funds and the purpose of those funds. Art Housler stated that there were 36 operating funds and he could supply a list of those to Councilmember White. Council President Earling stated that he liked the idea of a profile on the buildings, however the most important item to him would be the market value of the property and what it would take to bring the property up to average of the market. This would help give the Council an idea of what properties are surplus and what properties are needed. Repair versus value will play an important part. He pointed out that Edmonds has the -third lowest taxes in the State of - Washington, but the citizens need to be made aware of the deficiencies within infrastructure and the buildings of Edmonds. Councilmember Van Hollebeke inquired as to when the Council could expect a full analysis with profiles on all the buildings. Mr. Mar stated that he thought this could be accomplished by the end of the year. Council President Earling stated that the Council would need it by September if it was to help the Council with next year's budgeting process. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 30, 1996 Page 3 Mayor Fahey expressed her commitment to see this as another part of zero -based budgeting and that the City needs to know how much needs to be set aside to keep properties in good working order now and into the future. Profiles would need to be updated yearly. A complete packet of information would not only help with the budgeting process but in deciding what to do with the properties, as well as some of the groups that the City has been subsidizing. The Mayor continued to state that she needed input as well as value judgments from the Council to help establish policy to fund or to factor in these components into the budget. Councilmember Myers stated that this concluded the committees report and that they would be meeting again on May 23. D) LONG RANGE SALARY PLANNING Councilmember Haakenson stated that during the retreat, the Council determined the City needed a long range salary plan along with future budget projections regarding salary costs. Tied into that was the necessity to evaluate job positions and job descriptions. The plan of action was that the Salary Review Committee was to meet with the Mayor and Brent Hunter, Personnel Manager, to review the current situation and decide how to proceed with a study and then report back to the Council with a plan for review and discussion. During the first meeting the AIAIAOVAO Rob J�f 49 committee developed a mission statement and set their goals and priorities. Based on the goals and priorities the committee changed their name to Comprehensive Human Resource Committee. The Committee reviewed the recent study done for the Snohomish Health District. Brent Hunter and Art Housler presented the Committee with a proposed work plan and timetable for the project and the Committee invited a consultant to give an overview of what a study like this would entail. The Committee agreed that the information gained from a study would be exactly what is needed, and they will bring forward a recommendation to move ahead in this area. The last study was done in 1969. Since that time the changes in technology alone warrant a new classification study. The Committee is aware that the City runs lean in the personnel area and it is not the intent of the Committee or study to start slashing jobs. The intent is to bring an organization chart, job classifications and the salaries paid up -to -speed with the 90's. The Committee was not asking the Council for any action, and was not prepared to discuss the cost of a study of this nature but would be making another presentation during the up coming month. 11 - Councilmember Nordquist stated that the population of the City in 1968-69 was 23,500 and that the City was experiencing many changes and demands as the City grew. At that time, the Council decided to pursue an organizational and administrative study which was prepared by Harry Prior and Associates. From that study it was decided that a salary survey should be done, which was done in 1972. Councilmember Nordquist stated that he thought something like this was wholesome and gave a good perspective of past staffing as well as inventory of job descriptions, which have changed throughout the years. Councilmember Nordquist continued to discuss the study done for the Health District and that it was very well accepted by the Health District's staff and was reflected in salary changes to the employees and in the recognition of their job in the structure. Brent Hunter, Personnel Manager, supplied the Council with a handout reviewing the past classification studies as well as current information regarding,staff positions and ideas for future pay structures. He stated that the City currently runs on longevity -step increases and listed some of the other types of pay that can be acquired. Mr. Hunter then reviewed the difference between the Union employees and the Non -represented employees and suggested that the Council receive Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 30, 1996 Page 4 a briefing regarding binding arbitration with the Unions from Scott Snyder. Mr. Hunter shared with the Council information he gained at a recent workshop and some of the ideas that other government entities such as Arizona and Mercer Island are using, as well as a lot of the public services going to privately run organizations. He then reviewed current different ideas for classification and evaluation of positions within the City. Mr. Hunter concluded by saying that the Council needs to think/look at the overall organization,the future staffing, and a policy to set up where the City wants to go in the future, and after that has been done we will move into phase two which will be our classification/compensation study. He reviewed the projected timeline and indicated that the Committee and staff hoped to have it completed by the end of the year. Mayor Fahey asked if item E needed to be discussed (City Council Committee Function). All Councilmembers indicated they felt the Council Committees were working well and no further discussion was needed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. BARBARA S. FAHEY-, M14AY R -'I�ANDRA S. CH'Ac4E, CITY CLERK Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes April 30,1996 Page 5 I AGENDA EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL Community Services Building Conference Room 250 5th Avenue North 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. APRIL 30,1996 SPECIAL MEETING CALL TO ORDER - 6:00 P.M. FLAG SALUTE 1. REVIEW AND UPDATE ON THE FOLLOWING'ISSUES DISCUSSED AT THE COUNCIL RETREAT:. (A) WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT (B) LONG TERM FINANCIAL STABILITY (C) CITY PROPERTY UTILIZATION (D) LONG RANGE SALARY PLANNING (E) CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE FUNCTION Parking and meeting rooms are accessible for persons with disabilities. Contact the City Clerk at 771-0245 with 24 hours advance notice for special accommodations. The Council Agenda appears on Chambers Cable Channel 32. This special work meeting will not be televised.