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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2014.06.13 Special MinutesMINUTES McCall City Council Special Meeting Legion Hall - McCall City Hall (Lower Level) June 13, 2014 Agenda Call to Order Work Session Adjournment CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Aymon called the regular meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 10:05 a.m. Mayor Aymon, Councilor Giles, Councilor Scott, Councilor Swanson, and Councilor Witte were present. City staff members present were Gene Drabinski, City Manager; Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director; Linda Stokes, Treasurer, Traci Malvich, Human Resources Director, and Laura Wilson, Deputy City Clerk. BUDGET WORK SESSION Purpose & Agenda: Gene Drabinski, City Manager, reviewed the agenda. Linda Stokes, Treasurer, presented the Fiscal Year 15 budget. The options included the 3% property tax increase, the foregone amount, the 3% property tax increase and the foregone, and no increase. She clarified that no projects were assigned to the foregone amount. There was a brief discussion about the rise in health care premiums. Mrs. Stoked reviewed each department's budget and changes from the last time Council met to discuss the budget. Mr. Drabinski requested Council's direction on the Payette Lakes Sewer District's MOU and the consolidation with the City of McCall. He stated the consolidation would require a State of Idaho Statute change. He noted that if the State of Idaho legislature approved the change, McCall would need an attorney to negotiate a long term MOU with the sewer district. He stated the cost could be $35,000. Council discussed the cost should come from the sewer fund. Bill Nichols, City Attorney, suggested it be from the sewer fund. Councilor Giles stated the City should absorb the increase in health care premiums. Mr. Drabinski clarified his budget changes. Mr. Drabinski reviewed the Capital Improvement Plan with Council. There was discussion on the airport property taxes and Airport Land Acquisition. Council discussed various capital McCall City Council Special Meeting Page 1 of 4 June 13, 2014 improvements and clarification on the scoring. Staff clarified the scoring and the higher the number meant a higher importance. Mr. Drabinski presented his CIP recommendations and noted the foregone would be added to the budget with his recommendations. Mr. Drabinski assisted Council on how to score and prioritize capital improvement projects. Council discussed the practice of the police officers being assigned a vehicle to take home. They discussed the options of take home patrol vehicles and pool vehicles. Justin Williams, Police Chief, via speaker phone, explained the cost difference and savings of assigning a take home patrol vehicle rather than using pool patrol vehicles. He explained the benefits of the take home vehicles. Council filled out scoring sheets on the police vehicles. Public Comment: John Barth, 704 First Street, commented on the LOT draft recommendations. He stated concern that Manchester Ice and Event Centre had not received priority funding in recent years. He questioned what the priority and objective criteria was. Dave Hasgard, 707 Mission, agreed with Mr. Barth. He stated the rink was vital to the community. Chris Vetter, 110 Sunny Way, commented on the women's hockey team and their tournament hosted 2 teams from California. Brain Paul, 206 Titus Lane, stated that the amount of revenue the rink brought to the town was substantial and said the rink exposed the community to other areas. Ballard Smith, city resident, stated he was perplexed for years why city did not support the rink. He said the City was blessed to have the Sabala's and urged the Council to not assume the rink was in great financial shape. Bi11 McCandless, Lakeridge Drive, stated Manchester Ice & Event Centre offered a recreational venue and was an opportunity to meet other people. He stated his concern if their rates went up it would hurt the town. He highly endorsed Mr. Barth's initiative to be moved up on the LOT recommendation list. Bennet Childs, 3865 Warren Wagon Road, stated to keep the rink funded for the kids. Steve Callen, 817 Reedy Lane, stated he enjoyed the venue and the events bring up to three hundred people per event. He commented he would like to see the rink moved up on the LOT recommendation list. MCPAWS FY15 Request Robert Berman, MCPAWS Director, presented the animal shelter's Fiscal Year 15 budget request of $45,000. Mr. Berman explained the number of animals the shelter received and the no kill' policy of the shelter. He also briefed Council on the amount of financial assistance from outside agencies as well as the approximate number of animals from outside McCall city limits. Councilor Witte asked for clarification on the budget request even though the number of surrendered animals decreased. Mr. Berman stated that the expenses have increased and the numbers of animals from McCall have increased even though the total numbers of animals decreased. McCall City Council Special Meeting Page 2 of 4 June 13, 2014 There was a brief discussion on donations and the MCPAWS Thrift Store. Mr. Berman explained the thrift store was purchased with money already earmarked by the donors. Mr. Berman stated the long term goal of the animal shelter would be to build a boarding facility. Treasure Valley Transit Fy15 Request Judy Watkins presented Treasure Valley Transit's FY15 request for $128,100. She explained the purposes of the requested amount. There was a brief discussion on what other jurisdictions supported the transit. Mrs. Watkins stated Valley County, Cascade School District, and Donnelly LOT help support the transit. Mrs. Watkins also explained how the transit used Medicaid dollars. Councilor Witte asked for an update on the route change to include Spring Mountain Boulevard. Mrs. Watkins stated they were still looking at it. She noted a month of public comment would be required before a route change could take place. Council discussed the routes and possible seasonal route changes to include the school students. Councilor Witte requested a detailed breakdown of the budget the trends of ridership. LOT Recommendations Helen Eimers, LOT Chair, presented the draft LOT recommendations. Council requested clarification on the LOT Commission's recommendation criteria and Manchester Ice and Event Centre. Mrs. Eimers stated the LOT Commission reviewed last year's requests and approached the requests on a case by case basis and a mix of the City's requests. She stated the LOT Commission was not comfortable funding the ice rink because it was a business. Bob Thackeray, LOT Vice Chair, noted all recommendation decisions were met with consensus. Mrs. Eimers explained the LOT Commission funded items that were the greatest use of the funds and a mixture of who benefitted from the funds, those who paid it, and the locals who have to pay for the visitors. City Council Deliberation: Council discussed feedback from the department heads and the cost of the programs and projects. Dennis Coyle, Parks and Recreation Director, stated the department heads were beginning to collect that information. Mr. Drabinski and Mrs. Stokes requested direction from Council regarding the 3% increase in property tax and the foregone amount. Councilor Giles stated he was comfortable with the 3% increase but to retain the flexibility to use the foregone amount. Mayor Aymon suggested keeping the 3% and the foregone options within the budget. Councilor Witte agreed to keep the 3% and foregone as options but she doesn't foresee using the foregone amount. Councilor Swanson also agreed to keep the foregone as an option. He suggested contemplating the potential 1% ballot initiative for the budget adoption. He stated Council could consider not taking the property tax and wait until the sales tax increase initiative to address capital projects. He stated if the 1% does not pass, the Council could take the 3% and the whole foregone amount for the next budget season. McCall City Council Special Meeting Page 3 of 4 June 13, 2014 Council discussed the next budget work session would be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on July 18 for the tentative budget adoption. Mrs. Stokes noted Wednesday, September 3 would be the last day to adopt the budget. Without further business, Mayor Aymon adjourned the meeting at 3:20 p.m. Jckie J. Aymon, Mayor McCall City Council Special Meeting Page 4 of 4 June 13, 2014