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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCMinutes_2005_08_02 43 � � Brookings City Council August 2, 2005 The Brookings City Council held a planning meeting on Tuesday,August 2,2005 at 5:30 p.m.,at City Hall with the following members present: Mapor Scott Munsterman, Council Members Tom Bezdichek,Michael Reitz,Tim Reed,Julie Whaley, Ginger Thomson,and Michael Baxtley. City Manager Alan Lanning, City Attorney Steve Britzman, and City Clerk Shari Thornes wexe also present. Discussion regarding City Council members serving as ex-off'icio members on Cit�Boards. On July 26, 2005, Council Member Bardey requested a re-examination of the Council's practice of appoi.nting city council members to serve on city boards (i.e. Brookings Urility Board,Brookings Hospital Boaxd,and the Swiftel Center Board). With the number of questions the Council has on financial aspects of all these businesses,he thought it more appropriate that the City Manager or designee attend those meetings. The Council unanimously approved the following motion: "A motion was made by Bartley, seconded by Bezdichek, to dixect the Ciry Attorney to draft an ordinance changing ordinances to remove appointment of ex-officio members by the City Council and appoint the City Manager ox his designee." Steve Britzman, City Attorney,.provided draft ordinances pertaining to the Utility Board and Hospital Boaxd to the Council foY review. It was noted that changing the Event Center Boaxd ex- officio would only requixe a motion. Munsterman was in favor of keeping the current practice of City Council members serving as ex- officio members. Baxdey zesponded that the City has a City Manager who is qualified in budgetary concerns. It takes the politics out of those meetings to have the City Manager present. The ma.in goal is to put the best pexson thete to xepresent the City Council and our council/manager form of government. Bezdichek said the reason for ex-officios axe to keep the City Council informed. It is essential that the City Manager is there for budget issues. He felt the City Manager would do a good job as being ex-officio. Bardey said it is best that we have one individual that can oversee any concems. If there is a recommendation fxom the Hospital ox Utilities for bonding or spending authorities,he'd rather have the City Manager's recommendation based on l�is knowledge of all three issues. Under the old form of government, City Commissioners became"advocates" for those boaxds. The City Manager attending the meetings takes the advocacy out and it is moxe professionally managed. Thomson agreed that having the City Manager there in a professional capacity would help ensure that nothing falls through or is missed in the discussions. Bezdichek said he felt City Council members did a professional job attending meetings as elected officials. In the new format the Ciry Manager could opt to ask a city council member to attend any particular meeting if it were deemed beneficial. Munsterman asked if the City Manager were familiar with the Utility budget. Lanning said many of the Utility Board discussions aren't financial. He believes that he would gain a much better undezstanding of what they do by serving as ex-officio. Munsterman noted that the City Manager is not currently prohibited from attending those meerings. He is concerned about throwing out a good thing with the City Council now having improved interaction with these boards and the fle�bility to attend their meetings. Reitz asked if the City Manager could attend executive sessions if he wexen't an ex-officio. No. Thomson said under this proposal the City ManageY is charged with the responsibility of attending the meeting and a city council member is invited to attend to learn about the process. Reitz agreed saying he would like the City Manager to be the ex-officio and the City Council members are welcome to show up. � 432 Bardey said right now anyone can attend at anytime, except in executive sessions. The reason he wants the City Manager to attend is for budgetary concerns. The City needs to know all Utility and Hospital plans and actions. As the City of Brookings moves toward a strong City Manager form of government,we want to make suxe that City Manager is the official designee and attends the executive session. We don't want to leave it to chance that he would be excluded. An ordinance would guarantee that. It takes the politics and advocacy out of it,which was some of the intent of the home rule charter. Munstexman asked if the City Charter states the City Manager should be ex-officio. Bartley said no; however, the intent of City Charter was to create a strong Ciry Manager form that would control the budget,limiting council advocacy for different departments of the city. Whaley said the City doesn't have control over the Utilities on budgetary issues. Bardey noted that BMU doesn't have bonding authority. When they request more funds, the City Council is the authorizing agency- same for the hospital. The City and City Council are direcdy involved with funding requests fxom both organizations. The City Council needs and wants the City Managex's professional opuuon on those Yequests. Munstexman said the City Council could direct the City Manager to attend the meetings right now without an ordinance. He asked fox examples of council members advocating for a particular board. Axe there any examples where they stepped over the line? He noted that the City Council addressed this concern that is why ex-officio memberships were rotated. Bartley could cite no exatnples,but the current format could allow for that to happen. Bezdichek said there is more strength in being appointed verses volunteering to attend a meeting. Munstexman asked Whaley what she benefited in serving as an ex-officio. Whaley said serving as the ex-officio to the Hospital Board gave her a better understanding and involvement of how the hospital is run,key issues and its needs. In that capacity she got the information first hand. Council members get the knowledge fitst-hand making it easier to respond to citizen inquiries. Bezdichek said he saw enormous benefit by getting the agendas,reviewing the budget prior to meeting, calling and asking questions. It gave him a strong feeling of the financial issues they were dealing with. Reitz said the City Manager is our chief advisor and it makes sense fox him to be the main ex-officio member. Council members can attend if they want to;however, there needs to be an ordinance that stipulates that the City Manager is the ex-officio. Munsterman said the ex-officio members are a very unportant role. It is important that the City Manager understands both boa,rds;both axe very complicated structures and independent businesses. He has watched the boards and City Council come closer together building a better pxofessional relationship. This is due to the participation of the City Council building those xelationships. He would support the City Manager attending the meetings,but still maintain the Council Members interaction. Reitz asked aga.in if the City Manager would be guaranteed attendance and participation in the executive sessions. No,he would not be an offic,ial membex of the boaxd. Ex-officios have all member privileges except voting. Gary Aguiar, SDSU Political Science Professor, said there should be institutional tension between boards because we are the owners of those enterprises. The City ManageY form of government is designed to take away that type of advocacy by City Council. Inevitably,even with rotation,council members become sympathetic to a particular board rather than looking at it from the big picture. There is the danger of some getting information and not all getting same information, He cited that Mayor Herriott was very opposed to subcommittees. City staff should provide the same information to all the council members at the same time. Munsterman said the previous tension he xeferenced between boards was more than the authority relationship;it was the genexal ability to have a conversation. Mike McClemans, former Council member, said citizens e�ect their council members to know what is going on. � � 433 Munsterman asked Aguia.r if a closed government consisted of staff only because no elected citizen representation attends. Aguiax said he doesn't see staff attending as closed government. Those meetings are open to the public coveYed by the media. He would advocate foY both boards meeting jointly to have discussions. As for Council membexs being able to respond to questions from the public, some citizens are ignorant about how this form of government works. Doris Roden, former City Council member, said she sees the City Manager as the chief administrative officer and is our official communication between entities. It is foolish and a waste of time for City Council members to attend those meetings. She advocates that all Council Members receive all the information at same time and is opposed to working in pods. Those boards should meet with the City Council annually to provide informarion. ACTION: A motion was made by Bardey, seconded by Thomson,to place the ordinance as written on the August 9�' agenda fox first xeading. All present voted yes;except Munstexman and Whaley voted no,motion caxried. Arterial Street Policv. The Council passed a policy through Resolution No. 01-03 for participation on construction of arterial and collector streets. The poliry states that"no owner of property abutting an arterial street will be assessed for stxeet improvements if the property owner donates all necessary right-of-way and easements". The policy also states that the City will pay all street construction costs including water and sewer when they are determined by the City to be necessary for the construction of the street. This policy has resulted in the Assessment Fund paying for water and sewer on 34th Avenue in 2004,which cost was appro�mately$270,000. The Assessment Fund also paid for the paving for 20th Street South in 2003,which cost was $268,400. The issue here is that the city assessment fund has been utilized to cover these costs because we have no other source of funding. The assessment fund is quickly depleting due to this policy because there is no recovery mechanism for these payments. The assessment fund needs to have a balance so the cost of street and alley projects can be done upfront,and be able to recover the costs afteY the project is assessed. The assessment fund is projected to go to zero if there are more arterial projects with utilities. Lanning said in the 2006 budget prepaxation,it was noted that the fund balance for arterial streets may be an issue. The unxeserved funds are at a negative balance,which is violation of the Governance and Ends Policy. The issue is the limited ability to provide funding for this line item based upon the policy. � The question is if the City should be paying for arterial and collector streets utility costs. Better coordination between city genexal and the utilities is needed. Jackie Lanning,City Engineer, explained how street projects are done and fianded. A developer builds and pays for a street and the city reimburses for extra width and thickness. Every developer pays for streets up to 31 feet across. The City uses the overlay money from the Street Depaxtnient for anything over 31 feet. If that fund is exceeded, the city depletes the assessment fund. Another option is the City could pass a Resolution of Necessity requiruig owner paxticipation through assessment and the city would pay the extra width and thickness upfront receiving 6% foz engineering administtation and 10%interest on the unpaid balance. This would help replenish assessment fund. These funds can be utilized fox alley, street and sidewalk projects. If the city wants to build an arterial street it can utilize urban funds. In the case of the 34�'Avenue project,it wasn't eligible for uxban funds and the city had to pay. Lanning said since the resolution passed in 2003,there have been two majox street projects: 20�' Stteet South—curb and gutter, storm sewer,gravel,and pavement at a cost of$268,000 and 34�' Avenue at a cost of$270,000. . Bartley asked if that fund was built up over several years and depleted with 2 projects. Lanning said yes,it had a$800,000 balance at one point. Engineering tries to reserve funds to cover the big projects. Cash flow is an issue. There axe upcoming laxge projects that must be planned for. 434 Munsterman asked why the urban fund didn't cover the entire project. Lanning said the uxban fund would not cover utility costs. She noted that there was a draft resolution in 2003 that addressed utilities,but it was left out of the final version. Munsterman said he looked at this resolution from an economic development perspective to get projects moving and he likes the policy. He would opt to keep it,but not fund it if don't have the money. 'I'he current policy outlines key aspects of control and how things could be caxried out. He questioned why te'scind policy.� Alan Lanning said the policy should identify the utility depaxtment covering their part of the expenses. Urban funds can't be used for utilities. He has a situation where the city has $250,000 in the fund,but is unable to use it for any other purpose because policy designates he must maintain $250,000 balance. They need to add$40,000 to meet the target reserve and add more to be able to use the fund. The fund is worthless at this point in time. He recommended removing the reserve xequirement. He also said the ciry should stop doing utility projects with ciry general money. Bezdichek agreed that the policy needs to change. The City is doing and paying for water/sewer projects,but are not generating income. Lanning said the options are to replenish the funds or change the reserve requirements,or both. The objective is to fiY the fund because we can't use it as the policy states. Utilities are mandated in the policy and someone else should construct those. Due to the city's speed of growth,it might be necessary to do that but to voluntarily to take on those costs is not our mandate. Munsterman recommended a discussion with BMU to partner to cover water and sewer. Munsterman asked ways to fund it. Lanning said he needs to develop recommendations after consultation with staff. The City Manager was directed to bring back a report on recommendations in two weeks. 2006 Budget. Lanning highlighted major changes to the draft budget. The budget is scheduled fox adoption in September. Review 2°d Penny Policies. Ala,n Lanning proposed for simplicity and ease of understanding,to combine 25%and 75%into one second penny sales tax account to get an easier picture of everything the City is obligated to. This would provide an ease in reporting. It would also provide a bettex planning tool into the future giving a more accurate picture of fund balance to be able to forecast projects. Review 2"d Penny Pro.jects. The Council xeviewed proposed and current second penny projects. It was noted that the Downtown Streetscape in currendy listed in 2006 and SDSU Wellness Pzoject in 2007. On the Streetscape project, city staff will meet with BMU representatives on August 10�'to review the study completed by Civil Design Inc. He will return with a synopsis of the report and recommendation to Council. Executive Session. A motion was made by Baxdey, seconded by Thomson, to enter executive session at 8:11 p.m. to consult with legal counsel with the City Council,City Attorney, City Clexk, City Managex present. All present voted yes;motion carried. A motion was made by Reed, seconded by Whaley,to leave executive session at 9:00 p.m. Motion carried. Adjourn. A motion was made by Reed,seconded bp Whaley,to adjourn. .All present voted yes; motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Ciry of Brookings: co sterman,Mayor o-a� • '"�o••.'�o ;o� �o.'�. c+� 199 .Z ' ' �� o ' s ���� . ornes,Brookings C ty Clerk