HomeMy Public PortalAbout2022.05.27 Special Meeting MinutesMINUTES
McCall City Council
Special Meeting
McCall City Hall -- Legion Hall
VIA TEAMS Virtual
May 27, 2022
Call to Order and Roll Call
Pledge of Allegiance
Work Session
Public Comment
Work Session
Adjournment
CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
1
Mayor Giles called the Special meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 9:02p.m.
Mayor Giles, Council Member Maciaszek, Council Member Nelson, and Council Member
Thrower were all present. Council Member Nielsen arrived at before 945
City staff members present were Anette Spickard, City Manager; BessieJo Wagner, City Clerk;
Sarah Porter, Deputy Clerk; Erin Greaves, Communications Manager; Linda Stokes, City
Treasurer; Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director; Brian Parker, City Planner;
Meg Lojek, Library Director; Nathan Stewart, Public Works Director; Vlatko Jovanov, Network
Administrator; Meredith Todd, Assistant City Planner.
PUBLIC WORKS WORK SESSION
1
AB 22-143 McCall Streets Department — DRAFT 5 Year CIP —Work Session Discussion
Public Works Director Nathan Stewart presented to Council. The Streets Department and City
Engineering staff have developed a draft 5 -year CIP that will address roadway reconstruction
projects in accordance with the City's "Complete Streets" policy. Staff is continuously updating
cost estimate information for both CIP projects and related maintenance projects that form the
Maintenance Improvement Plan (MIP). The goal of this work session is to provide Council with
Staff's approach to prioritizing CIP projects and also for staff to gain input and guidance from the
Council on revisions to the CIP and the MIP. Revisions will be incorporated throughout the FY23
budgeting process. Additionally, Director Stewart gave an update for ongoing projects.
Mayor Giles asked Director Stewart about the CRABS project on Spring Mountain Blvd. Director
Stewart commented that the weather was favorable during the project and the project was
successful with minor issues regarding cars waiting for long periods of time.
Council Member Nelson asked Director Stewart about the compatibility of sidewalks when the
main pedestrian traffic is a mix of walking and biking. Director Stewart noted the City has not
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designed sidewalks to accommodate bikes but there could be some exceptions for larger sidewalks.
Typically, municipalities do not combine bikes and pedestrians on sidewalks that are less than 8
to 10 feet wide.
Council Member Nielsen asked Director Stewart about Clements Street and the cost sharing
agreement with the developer. Director Stewart noted the city has only been maintaining Clements
Street from Reedy and Aspen Alley as the rest of Clements is not improved. The Developers in
the area of Clements Street and Spruce Street have approached the city to improve the right of
ways. The Clements Street cost sharing agreement has been approved and the Spruce Street cost
sharing agreement is in the design phase.
Additionally, Council Member Nielsen noted hearing from the community about other roads in
the city that are unimproved and asked Director Stewart how members of the community can
approach the city regarding cost sharing agreements. Director Stewart noted that it is not in the
city's financial interest to pave gravel roads, but the city has been able to maintain the gravel roads
cost effectively. To improve the gravel roads other projects would have to be cut. Council Member
Nielsen expressed frustration over new developments bringing in vacation rentals and feels the
city is pandering to developers to improve an area that may be filled with vacation rentals while
there are residents in existing developments who have voiced the need for improved roads for
decades. Director Stewart noted there will be no initial city investment toward Spruce Street
improvements but there will be maintenance costs in the future. Council Member Nielsen asked
Director Stewart if the city is ok adding another city street to maintain even though the past
reasoning for not improving gravel roads has been maintenance. Director Stewart affirmatively
replied, noting previous conversations regarding the improvement of gravel roads have been
focused on private roads which does not align with city code.
Council Member Nelson commented on Council Member Nielsen making a good point noting a
lack of community understanding of how cost sharing agreements effect the city financially from
initial investment to maintenance. City Manager Anette Spickard noted the existing Local
Improvement District (LID) process in place for existing developments to get a quote for cost
sharing if the property owners are inclined to do so. Mayor Giles noted the LID option not gaining
traction and expressed wanting a future topic brought to City Council regarding other options.
Director Stewart discussed the pavement inventory study that will be completed later in the year.
Director Stewart noted higher than expected Local Option Tax (LOT) funding that would give the
Council the ability to award a bid alternate to complete the Thompson Ave — Park Street project.
The bid alternate was not awarded at a previous Council meeting. Mayor Giles asked for
clarification. Director Stewart noted that staff does not feel that spending the additional money to
complete the project will have an impact on other projects as previously thought. City Treasurer
Linda Stokes mentioned the increase of LOT funding is projected and not yet earned.
Council Member Nielsen asked about adding sidewalks in downtown. Director Stewart noted that
the highway is a state right of way and not a city right of way and recognizes the community need
for sidewalks. There will not be any streets LOT funding spent on Third Street because it is not a
city road. Staff has focused on improving and adding sidewalks to city right of ways with the LOT
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May 27, 2022 Regular Meeting
funding. If Council decides to, staff can be directed to find funding options to install sidewalks on
the state right of way.
Council Member Nielsen additionally expressed frustration with spending money in the downtown
core when roads such as Mather and Roland are falling apart. The downtown core is pedestrian
friendly without a way for pedestrians to safely get into the downtown core. Mayor Giles asked if
federal funding coming from the state could be used to improve the state right of way. Director
Stewart noted the Deinhard lane improvements that the city is working with the Idaho
Transportation Department on and Natural Grocers moving into town will be constructing
sidewalks in front of that building. Additional discussion addressed drainage issues that need to be
addressed before improvements are made. Council Member Maciaszek noted the difficulty of
completing projects when multiple entities are involved, it becomes a complex issue. Additional
discussion between Council and staff addressed the different complications of completing a project
such as improving Third Street.
Council Member Nielsen noted frustration regarding the downtown phase 3A and 3B on First
Street. Council Member Maciaszek mentioned previous planning and agreement on completing
phase 3A and 3B. He stated that completed a Downtown Master Plan and phase 3A and 3B is part
of that plan. Council Member Maciaszek emphasized that it took years of planning to get to this
point. He felt that if the Council decided to remove phase 3A and 3B from the capital improvement
plan would not be fair to the community that participated in the development of the adopted
Downtown Master Plan. Council Member Nielsen maintained that it still was not fair for the people
that live on unimproved streets or streets that need repair.
Council Member Nelson commented on the efficiency of one contractor working on multiple
projects to control costs and amount of construction during a time. Council discussed staff bringing
back the bid alternate for the Thompson Ave — Park Street project to a future meeting. Additional
discussion addressed development density in relation of road maintenance. Director Stewart noted
low density developments do not pay for themselves based on the tax models. A lot of rural
communities do not have well maintain infrastructure due to lack of funding from low density.
City Manager Anette Spickard noted state tax law changes in relation to new construction, cities
no longer get the get the full value of new construction, we only get a portion of that onto the tax
roll. Additional discussion addressing how the new tax law changes affect the new development
and the maintenance of Spruce Street.
Mayor Giles thanked Director Stewart for providing all the information to Council. Manager
Spickard summarized direction to staff to bring back the bid alternate for the Thompson Ave —
Park Street project, hold a future discussion on the LID process and continue to work with the
Sewer District and ITD to improve Third Street.
PUBLIC COMMENT
1
Mayor Giles called for public comment at 10:21a.m.
Hearing no comments, Mayor Giles closed the comment period at 10:22a.m.
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Council took a 5 -minute break
BUDGET WORK SESSION
1
FY23 Budget Development Introduction
City Treasurer Linda Stokes addressed Council reviewing the agenda. City Manager Anette
Spickard reviewed the work staff has done so far to prepare for budget development.
Budget Request Presentations
Treasure Valley Transit
Terri Lindberg presented the FY23 funding request from Treasure Valley Transit (TVT).
Highlights of the presentation included: Opening of the Transit Center and new software on the
buses to count passengers on and off the bus for better reporting compared to the current manual
process. Funded through grant opportunity. TVT is working with City Parks and Recreation to
share offices while the parks shop is being built. TVT asked for additional funding from the city
noting over 26000 passenger rides during the past year and ridership continues to increase as do
gas prices, wages, and maintenance.
Mayor Giles asked about electric busses available for communities from a federal level. Ms.
Lindberg noted a lack of infrastructure and the expense of implementing infrastructure to
accommodate electric vehicles. A small electric buss for 12 passengers is roughly $100,000 more
expensive. Additionally, Ms. Lindberg reviewed other challenges TVT, and other transportation
companies face with transitioning to a greener solution for transportation. Council Member Nelson
asked for clarification on the increased funding request amount. Ms. Lindberg noted the increase
is $22,000 and TVT is working toward other funding such as grants as well. Manager Spickard
asked how the Blue Bird Express has done. Ms. Lindberg went over the number of riders noting
expected increase in ridership as Covid-19 reduces. Council Member Nielsen commented on the
importance of green energy and planning for new infrastructure. Council Member Thrower
expressed interest in seeing additional busses as ridership goes up. Mayor Giles additionally
commented on how TVT was able to acquire and hold staff during the height of the pandemic.
McPaws Regional Animal Shelter
Amber Kostoff presented the FY23 funding request from McPaws Regional Animal Shelter.
Highlights of the presentation included: sixty precent of homes in Valley County have pets, a
review of basic and vital public services in relation to animal health and safety, and a review of
the previous year statistics.
Council Member Thrower noted appreciation for the work of McPaws within the community and
asked if they received calls about wild animal or non -typical domesticated animals. Ms. Kostoff
mentioned that they have received calls related to bunnies, but McPaws does not receive many
other type of animal calls. Council Member Nelson noted less owner occupancy may be related to
the lack of kitten turnover at McPaws. Mayor Giles thanked Ms. Kostoff for the presentation.
Basics of City Budgeting
City Treasurer Linda Stokes addressed Council reviewing roles and responsibilities, budget
classification structure and budget best practices.
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May 27, 2022 Regular Meeting
City Budgeting Process — The Law
City Treasurer Linda Stokes reviewed the state laws around city budgeting.
• Fiscal Year — Idaho Code 50-1001
• Budget Hearing to County Clerk — Idaho Code 63-802A
• Annual Budget — Public Hearing Notice & Hearing — Idaho Code 50-1002
• Property Tax Levy Certification — Idaho Code 50-1007, 63-803, 63-804
• Annual Appropriations — Idaho Code 50-1003
• Accumulation of Fund Balances — Idaho Code 50-1005A
• Expenditures not to Exceed Appropriations — Idaho Code 50-1006
Overview of Major Revenue Sources
City Treasurer Linda Stokes reviewed the major revenue sources for the city.
• Property Taxes
o Growth and Annexation due from County Assessor July 25 — estimated $155,731
o Three percent Maximum Allowable Increase - $207,784
o Forgone Amount - $522,363
o One percent allowable for 0 & M
o Three percent allowable for Capital — one-time use — Forgone balance is decreased
after taken
o Homeowner's Exemption — increase to $125,000
• Planning and Building Permit Fees
Community and Economic Development Director Michelle Groenevelt gave a brief
overview of expected planning and building fees.
• Local Option Tax — Streets — Estimated $3,100,000
• Water service revenue — Rate Study in progress — included in draft $3,000,000
Overview of Draft FY23 Operations & Maintenance Budget
• Draft reflects maintaining current levels of service across all funds
• Outside funding request
• Does not include Capital at this time — will receive CIP during July 1 meeting
• Personnel
o Market — 3% Market / 3% Merit
o PD (sworn officers) Market — 3% Market and a one Step Increase
o Benefit Rate Increase — Health 11%, Delta Dental 3%, Willamette 5%.
Council Discussion and Direction
Council Member Nelson asked if foregone must be specified to a specific project. Treasurer Stokes
explained that if the city takes 3% of the total tax budget for a capital project the project must be
specified. If the city takes 1% of the total tax budget it can only be used for O&M. Manager
Spickard additionally explained the foregone in further detail as well as the need to decide what
the maximum budget needs are. Once a budget is submitted it cannot be increased, only reduced.
Mayor Giles commented on past council decisions in relation to the foregone amount. Council
Member Nielsen, Mayor Giles and Council Member Nelson all expressed interest in staff
preparing a comparison of different scenarios of taking the foregone amount. Mayor Giles
discussed the up and coming Youth Council and the possible need for some financial support to
attend conferences in FY23.
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FY23 Budget Development Next Steps
• Council Work Session on July 1
• Council Work Session on July 29 Tentative Budget
• Council Work Session on August 4 Continue if needed Tentative Budget
• FY23 Budget Public Hearing on August 25
• FY23 Foregone Public Hearing on August 25
• FY23 Budget Adoption on August 25
ADJOURNMENT
1
Without further business, Mayor Giles adjourned the meeting at 12:32 p.m.
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