Loading...
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 MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 1 of 6 May 27, 2022 Regular Meeting 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 MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 2 of 6 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. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL May 27, 2022 Regular Meeting Page 3 of 6 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. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 4 of 6 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. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 5 of 6 May 27, 2022 Regular Meeting 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. ATTEST: BessieJo 00111111.11141. • t SEAL s xo ` Ro ert S. Giles, Mayor * 0.0 .* LL , �� 1•`` Clerk "l'Igun %oo- MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 6 of 6 May 27, 2022 Regular Meeting