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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMarch 1, 2001City Manager’s Report As of March 19, 2001 Recreation Department: Rec Committee: Fee recommendation is set for March 22 meeting. The committee will then shift focus to the programming aspects of the recreation department. Gym Partnership--City/Parent Group No new information on this topic-- Heartland Gymnastics, the parent group, is preparing a proposal to partner with the City and take over the operation of the gymnastics program. Bob and I have met with the president of the organization and shared our thoughts on how this can be a viable option. We expressed the expectation that access be maintained for those who cannot afford the program and that Council would be likely to insist on some level of control or oversight if city funds were used in support of the program. Heartland Gymnastics will meet with Bob and I to go over the draft proposal, followed by a presentation to the Recreation Committee and ultimately Council. Golf Course: Course Upgrades No new information on this topic-- Dan is going to start the process to obtain permits to exchange wetlands at Cedar Golf Course and some areas of Aspen Golf Course. The intent is to upgrade both courses while enhancing the overall environmental aspects of the entire City Golf Course. The primary impact will be increased playability at the Cedar Golf Course, resulting in increased revenues. The advisory Committee is fully supportive of this upgrade. Review of Golf Course and Club House revenues and plan for future—contract revision. I met with the Golf Advisory Committee last week to address two topics—the audit report comments as presented in the media and the effort to review the current operation and alternatives for addressing the profit/loss situation. The assembled group was concerned about the implication that there are improprieties occurring and concerned that the depreciation is distorting the financial picture. I explained that we would continue to include depreciation in our financial statements; that we had no indication of improprieties—but rather had no external controls that allow the City to independently verify the revenue data the contractors submit; that the Council wanted to have a committee evaluate all alternatives and to include non-golfers and others not currently on the Golf Committee to help in the effort. I learned today that the Committee would like two additional members appointed to the Committee to help with the alternative evaluation and Dan Pillard is going to work on identifying candidates. Public Works Paving Plan No new information on this topic-- As part of our capital improvement plan we will have a prioritized list of all paving projects in the City. Included will be paving of all unpaved city streets as well as significant projects such as overlays of existing streets. Bill and Liz have been working on updating the City of McCall Paving plan. Bill needs to field verify some measurements and is waiting for the road edges to melt a little so he can measure road widths. We hope to have this complete by spring. Water Treatment Plant We had a meeting with the key players on the project last Friday. We will have another meeting to address identified value engineering recommendations—I would like to have at least one member of the Council attend our follow up meeting as that meeting will set the stage for a contract proposal. We are targeting the last Council meeting in April for award of a contract and notice to proceed. Concurrently, we are working with Donahue to provide the construction management/engineering for the project. They are working on a proposal that will result in a signed agreement for their services. They are planning on making a three part proposal for the cost—fixed price for the construction management elements, fixed price for start up and O&M, and time and materials with a ceiling for construction engineering. When they have the proposal ready I will ask Mayor Muller and Mr. Eimers to assist in the negotiations of that agreement prior to presenting a proposal to Council as we discussed previously. J-Ditch Our pre-construction meeting with Interwest and JUB went well last week. We are meeting today with the regulatory agencies—I will provide added information at the Council meeting. Sewer Rate Study This is on hold pending the outcome of the J-Ditch Water Rate Study We had one meeting that I have updated Council on, and will have a follow up meeting as soon as we have the decision on the ordinary and necessary judicial confirmation. Sewer District agreement revision No new information on this topic-- I met with the Chair of the PLWSD to discuss the draft revision of our agreement. There are some significant items we must address before we will have an agreement that we can go forward to the Council and District with. We will continue to work this with the intent of having a single document that addresses all the previous agreements and amendments. Airport: Airport Engineer We are conducting telephone interviews this week and will have a recommendation for Council at the first meeting in April. USFS lease at airport No new information on this topic-- The US Forest Service lease at the airport expired long ago and lately the payments are made using a purchase order. This does not provide the City or the USFS with the levels of certainty needed in the areas of cost or responsibility. Minimum standards checklist No new information on this topic-- Working on a checklist and survey. I'm attempting to build a survey and put it on the website. This is new and time consuming. If the snow lets up I hope to complete in February. Community Development Public Transit follow-up with Richard Coonts No new information on this topic-- The Transportation Committee is working on the issues raised in the letter Mr. Coonts presented to Council. The Committee has not yet formulated a recommendation. Bonni Shikrallah has identified some potential funding sources and is available to assist when the project is better defined. Capital Improvement Plan No new information on this topic-- Must be completed prior to June of 2001 for use in the FY02 budgeting process. Vet Memorial No new information on this topic-- Glenn Gore is working on funding and details for the project. We will continue to work with him and update Council as appropriate. Parking Plan No new information on this topic-- As part of our capital improvement plan we will have a parking plan. Personnel: Salary Structure Review No new information on this topic-- No date set for completion—intent is to review our salaries to make certain that we are able to attract and retain quality employees but at a rate that is competitive within Idaho and feasible given our budgetary constraints. Staffing Review No new information on this topic-- No date set for completion—intent is to review the needs of the community and determine if we have the appropriate staffing level to meet the needs. This will be a joint process that includes Council input for desired service levels. Revise Personnel Manual We will review the final draft at our Department Head meeting on 3-20-01 and provide Council with a draft to review this week. Revise city performance evaluation form No new information on this topic-- The current performance evaluation form does not provide adequate opportunity for detailed discussion of performance and the narrative sections focus on negative aspects of performance. The intent is to provide a better tool for evaluating performance. Review raise philosophy with Department Heads Our working group is reviewing our raise philosophy and when complete we will have a recommendation for a change in concept. Establish Grant Writing Incentive Program No new information on this topic-- The intent is to create a situation that allows members of the staff (community?) to receive monetary recognition for efforts to obtain grants that enhance our community and save the City money. I would exclude Department Heads as I view this as a job requirement for them—but am open to suggestions. Police Department Dog Pound Relocation No new information on this topic-- Steve Wolf has been attending the County hosted meetings on the area dog pound concept. Since that time a member of the community has indicated that he maybe interested in a joint effort using a building that he purchased provided there would be help in funding the operation of the facility. Steve will contact him for additional information.   As you recall, the City, and County had formed a Committee to tour other facilities around the state. When Mike Anderson purchased the vet clinic on behalf of his Mother’s foundation, and talk about assisting the City and county with the issues of stray animals, the County thought the problem was resolved and dropped the ball. However, that was not the case. Mr. Anderson has not given the building to anyone but is willing to allow MCPAWS the opportunity to, in essence use the building for their program and contract with the City and County for a shelter facility. We all met on 1/18/01 and are in the process of forming a Board of Directors [to be called MCPAWS] and to look into hiring an Administrator for the facility. That Administrator would work on redesign of the facility and come up with a budget and financial figures for the City and the County to contribute on a percentage basis to use the facility. The next meeting is scheduled for January 29th. I have been asked to be a member of that initial Board.   City Manager/Misc Tree Ordinance Dan is working with Kevin Grove and the Tree Committee to address the questions raised at the last Council meeting. He will not present the Ordinance for a third reading this week to allow for time to address the questions. Follow up on when to start lobby process again Mayor Muller, Mr. Eimers, and I met with the congressional delegation staffers last week. Our application for appropriations has been forwarded. The delegation was not optimistic about our chances to receive the entire amount we requested. Judicial confirmation hearing for water plant Still waiting for a decision Department Head Performance Standards No new information on this topic-- I am reviewing the department head standards. Departmental Training Schedules No new information on this topic-- All Department Heads will complete a training schedule that outlines required and desired training for their department. This schedule will become the foundation for the budgeting of training dollars and will be based on requirements of the department as opposed to simply taking advantage of available opportunities. Senior Center lease No new information on this topic-- We do not have any funds budgeted for the Senior Center but our lease requires the City to perform certain maintenance functions that will require funding. As part of our review of the lease we will prepare an estimate of costs and seek Council approval for expenditures. Debt Load Review No new information on this topic-- Our citizens currently have a significant debt to repay and we must determine if there are ways to alleviate some of this burden through repayment of bonds, creative financing, or changes in services. No date set for completion. Unfinanced Requirements List Council approved the list. We are moving forward to present a request to fund $300,000 in street related projects, to include Mission Street Overlay and the paving of the airport parking lot. We are locking in prices and doing planning on other items on the list to include Mill Park. Committee Appointment/Removal Code Change No new information on this topic-- We are working on a revision of the City Code to include specific provisions for appointment and removal of Advisory Committee members. In addition, I would like to propose a meeting of the Council, Department Heads, and Committee Chairs to address in general terms the effective use of Committees in McCall. Given the value of effective use of Committees, it would benefit all to have a session where we exchange ideas on how to better use this valuable tool. I also think it would be most beneficial to schedule a Committee report to the Council for each Committee on a rotating basis so that at least once per year the Committees can appear before Council to share what they have been doing, receive new guidance from Council, and seek clarification on issues as needed. This would also give the Council the opportunity to personally thank and recognize the Committees for their efforts.