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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2016_tcwsmin0328 Council Work Session March 28, 2016 Council Chambers, 25 West Market Street, 7:30 p.m. Mayor David Butler presiding. Council Members Present: Kelly Burk, Thomas Dunn, II, Suzanne Fox, R. Bruce Gemmill, Katie Sheldon Hammler, Marty Martinez and Mayor Butler. Council Members Absent: Council Member Martinez arrived at 8:10 p.m. Staff Present: Town Manager Kaj Dentler, Deputy Town Manager Keith Markel, Town Attorney Barbara Notar, Assistant Town Manager Scott Parker, Director of Planning and Zoning Susan Berry Hill, Director of Finance and Administrative Services Clark Case, Director of Plan Review Bill Ackman, Director of Economic Development Marantha Edwards, Director of Parks and Recreation Rich Williams, Director of Capital Projects and Public Works Renee Lafollette, Director of Utilities Amy Wyks, Chief of Police Vanessa Grigsby, Library Manager Alexandra Gressitt, Airport Manager Scott Coffman, Information Technology Manager Annie Carlson, Human Resources Manager Mark Hauer, Deputy Director of Public Works Charles Mumaw, Deputy Director of Capital Projects Tom Brandon, Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Kate Trask, Deputy Director of Finance and Administrative Services Lisa Haley, Senior Management Analyst Jason Cournoyer, Senior Management Analyst Cole Fazenbaker, Recreation Superintendent Katey Jackson and Clerk of Council Lee Ann Green AGENDA ITEMS 1. Items for Discussion a. Environmental Advisory Commission Energy Savings Spencer Morgenthau, Vice Chair of the Environmental Advisory Commission, outlined their plan for reducing energy consumption at town facilities. He recommended that the town meter and report on the six heaviest consuming facilities. He stated it would cost approximately $50,000 as a one- time investment to get the equipment placed on the existing meters to create the report. He stated that there would be a yearly on-going cost. He noted that typically there is a 5-10 percent reduction just by adding the tracking equipment because it creates accountability. Council Comments/Questions: • Gemmill: Questioned whether this would be mandatory. Morgenthau: Stated that it would only be six town owned facilities. • Burk: Stated this could create some savings for the town. • Fox: Questioned the initial outlay of funds and how fast the town would realize savings. Morgenthau: Stated it could be as much as $50,000 and in his experience, there is a 5-10 percent savings from having accountability. He stated this translates into a 5-6 month payback on the initial investment. He stated the monthly service cost for the reporting is between $10,000-15,000 depending on the level of reporting. — _--- 1Page Council Work Session March 28, 2016 • Butler: Clarified that this is only related to town facilities, not individual homes. He noted that there is an opportunity for significant savings. b. Budget Work Session i. Clarification/Follow up questions of budget responses provided to date. Council Comments/Questions: • Hammler: Questioned what amount of reductions will be required to get to $0.18 tax rate. Dentler: Stated it is approximately $670,000 per penny on the tax rate so to get to $0.18, approximately $482,000 needs to be reduced. • Hammler: Questioned the metrics for how pay for performance is decided. Dentler: Stated the pay for performance program allows employees to earn 2, 3, or 4 percent based on performance. He stated the town budgets for an average of 3%. Further, he noted there is a scoring system that is used to determine the level. He stated since there are less employees than a few years ago, each employee is pushed to perform better and a pay for performance program is important to attract and retain quality employees. • Hammler: Questioned what dollar value a 1.3% increase would be for all employees. Cournoyer: Stated it would be $273,000. • Hammler: Questioned whether any of the agencies that qualified for the emergency medical transport reimbursement actually received any funds. Fire Company representative: Stated the amount is very low for the fire companies. • Fox: Asked about the six days of trash collection downtown. Williams: Stated that is maintenance of the downtown area—picking up the recycling cans that are located next to the trash cans rather than the recycling generated by the businesses. • Fox: Questioned how the 1000 housing units that are coming online will affect the budget. Cournoyer: Stated that some of these units will be part of homeowner's associations and not create as much pressure for services. • Fox: Questioned what the town gets as part of the $25,000 membership in the gang task force. Cournoyer: Stated that the amount is offset by a federal grant and rotates around the different municipalities. Grigsby: Noted that the only expenditure on the town's part is the salary for one employee. 2 Page Council Work Session March 28, 2016 • Dunn: Questioned whether the town has looked into owning its own copiers rather than leasing. Case: Stated he was not with the town when the lease contract was started. He stated they would get more information. • Dunn: Questioned the change in the tablet connection fee for the Economic Development department. Edwards: Stated that the tablet was shared by two employees. Further information will be provided. • Dunn: Questioned why the recurring fee for the sesquicentennial. Edwards: Stated it is the recurring fee for the Civil War sign. • Burk: Questioned the salaries for Capital Projects if they are included in the project costs. Cournoyer: Stated that in the FY2016 budget, the salaries are allocated in the general fund and transferred to the capital fund. • Fox: Questioned whether the $250,000 donation by the Rescue Squad would be available if the skate park is moved to another location. Williams: Stated it would still apply. • Fox: Questioned whether soil remediation would be necessary if the skate park remains in its current location. Lafollette: Stated the soil in the current skate park location needs more remediation than the soil under the gravel lot. • Fox: Questioned whether the number of enhancements included in the splash park at Mervin Jackson park will cause budget overruns. Williams: Stated the proposed enhancements are within the current budget. He noted that the pergola might not be able to be included in the original budget and could be added later. • Fox: Questioned the key card system for the Mason Enterprise Center. She also questioned how staff can gain access to VDOT equipment. • Martinez: Stated this is the second year budget and questions are okay, but should be done in July, not in March and April. • Hammier: Questioned how the town is absorbing the loss of VDOT revenue sharing funds. Dentler: Stated the town will not be doing as much paving this year, but next year if new funds are not available, it will have to go into the budget. • Dunn: Questioned expenditures in the Town Attorney's budget. He expressed concern that if money wasn't spent during the current fiscal year, it should not be budgeted for next year. He questioned whether the law books and subscriptions can be shared with the county. He questioned the increase in cyber security coverage insurance. 3 ' Page Council Work Session March 28, 2016 Case: Stated that the Cyber Security Coverage is through a secondary carrier. He noted that the audit recommended review and possible increase of this coverage. • Gemmill: Questioned the membership for Northern Virginia Justice Academy. Cournoyer: Stated this is the Town's membership in the Justice Academy so that police cadets can attend. Grigsby: It is required of localities with more than 85 sworn officers. • Gemmill: Requested a status report for the skateboard park. Williams: Stated that the gravel lot site came back with poor soils that would require $100,000 of remediation and expenditure of the additional funds will require a decision by Council. • Burk: Stated that her understanding was that the Rescue Squad was contributing money so that they could have the current skate park lot. Lafollette: Noted that moving off the current site, which would accommodate the Rescue Squad's needs, would require additional engineering and site work. The "donation" from the Rescue Squad would be used to cover part of the additional costs. • Hammler: Questioned under what scenario would the Rescue Squad not require a donation. Lafollette: Stated if the skate park remains in its current location, the Rescue Squad would not need to donate money to cover additional engineering/design work. However, due to poor soils, remediation would need to be done. The soil remediation work would be the town's responsibility and the rescue squad would not be able to expand their current facility. ii. Decision Points a. Governmental Funds—Proposed Budget Council Comments/Questions: • Fox: Stated she is interested in the Environmental Advisory's initiative and would be interested in getting more information about it. She stated she likes the possibility of significant savings. She stated she does not want to see additional money going towards the skate park and would not support additional money for soil remediation at the current site or the gravel lot. • Hammler: Stated she is not ready to itemize things at this point. She noted that although the recommendation is to wait to purchase 4IPage Council Work Session March 28, 2016 the police body/car cameras until the new chief takes over, having them in the budget means they will be purchased. Dentler: Stated that the technology for the body/car cameras are intertwined, so it is important that they be bundled together. • Butler: Stated that if there are significant reductions in the budget, he would move to delay action on the tax rate and the budget from April 11 and 12, respectively, to April 25 and 26 to give the public time to respond. • Martinez: Stated he has no changes but additions and deletions should be made earlier in the process. • Gemmill: Stated he is not ready or willing to itemize at this point. Council expressed a consensus to delay action two additional weeks on both the tax rate and the budget. Staff clarified that under State Code, the Council has until June 30 to set the tax rate; however, the later that tax rate adoption occurs, it squeezes staff's ability to issue tax bills on time so that residents can receive their bills in a timely manner. b. Capital Improvement Program Council Comments/Questions: • Fox: Stated her position that she does not want to spend additional money on the skate park. She stated she is okay with moving it to Ida Lee. • Burk: Stated that the public spoke against moving the skate park to Ida Lee because its present location serves an underserved portion of the community. Further, staff does not want it at Ida Lee since it was never intended to house all the active recreational uses in town. • Hammier: Stated her goal is to determine if there is a proposal that the Rescue Squad would consider that would release the Rescue Squad from the commitment of$250,000 and the town from its annual contribution to the Rescue Squad. Rescue Squad representative: Stated that they would be willing to talk through how this could play out. • Dunn: Stated that the value of the land needs to be taken into consideration as well. He questioned the cost of the splash park at Mervin Jackson Park. Williams: For just the water feature, a kit is purchased and installed for approximately $150,000-175,000, but additional funds would be needed for earthwork, utility movement, and safety design. - - -------- - - 5 Page Council Work Session March 28, 2016 • Dunn: Noted that the design for the water feature is excessive. He stated if the amount spent on the water feature is reduced, the left over funds can be used for the Morven Park sidewalk. • Hammler: Questioned what other municipalities are proposing for pay increases. Dentler: Stated that Loudoun County government is proposing 3% and the public schools have a package of increases. • Burk: Expressed safety concerns with placement of a crosswalk at Battlefield and the bypass. Lafollette: Stated that within the current timing, pedestrian movements could be added without impacting traffic. 2. Additions to Future Council Meetings Council Member Gemmill requested a preliminary report by May 23 on services that could be outsourced. He stated if the Council approves moving forward at that time, he would ask for a more detailed report covering cost savings of identified services by September 26. He stated he has discussed this with the town manager. Council Member Dunn requested adding services that the Council recommends as well. There was consensus to add this to the May 23 agenda. Council Member Gemmill also requested restructuring of the Boards and Commissions so that all them are sub-committees of the Planning Commission and the Board of Architectural Review. Council Member Dunn suggested that the work session discussion be broadened to looking at the commission structure. There was consensus to add this to a work session. Mayor Butler requested a work session as soon as possible on changing the rules of order to allow closed sessions during work sessions. There was consensus to add this to a future meeting. Further, Mayor Butler requested adding the appointment of a Technology and Communication Commission member at Tuesday's meeting. There was consensus to add this to Tuesday's agenda. --- ---- - 6IPage Council Work Session March 28, 2016 On a motion by Council Member Martinez, seconded by Vice Mayor Burk, the meeting = was adjourned at 9.47 p.m. , ,1 .JA&A Clerk of Co c 2016 tcwsmin0 8 7IPage