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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-06-16 Minutes, City Commission MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CITY COMMISSION BOZEMAN, MONTANA June 16, 1998 ***************************** . The Commission of the City of Bozeman met in special session in the Conference Room, Bozeman Professional Building, Tuesday, June 16, 1998, at 6:30 p.m. Present were Mayor Stiff, Commissioner Smiley, Commissioner Rudberg, Commissioner Frost, Commissioner Youngman, City Manager Johnson, Assistant City Manager Brey, Administrative Services Director Gamradt and Clerk of the Commission Sullivan. Sianina of Notice of SDecial Meeting Each Commissioner, in turn, signed the Notice of Special Meeting. Work Session - Review of City Manager's Budget Recommendations for FY1998-99 This is the fifth in a series of work sessions on the City Manager's budget . recommendations for Fiscal Year 1998-1999. The Commission continued its review of the individual budget units, as follows. Police. The City Manager reviewed this budget unit, as contained on Pages C-26 through C-29, stating the number of employees remains the same as last year. He characterized the significant increase in the budget as being attributable to the 9-1-1 Center, with the City's General Fund contribution being slightly over $247,000. He stated this budget unit also includes a significant number of personal computers and software, noting this is the lowest tech department in the City at the present time. Chief of Police Mark Tymrak distributed to the Commissioners a sheet showing key statistics for 1996 and 1997 and a listing of the fines and forfeitures through City Court for Fiscal Years 1997 and 1998. He also distributed a sheet showing the number of officers and . demographic information on them. He recognized that the Police Department, City Court and City Attorney's office work closely together to generate the amount of fines and forfeitures collected by the City Court on an annual basis. The Chief of Police stressed that this budget reflects a very slight increase when the monies for the 9-1-1 Center are set aside, and some of that increase is due to circumstances 06-16-98 Special _,..__.._'__~n - 2 - beyond his control, such as the salary raises negotiated by the police officers and departmental allocations. The Chief of Police addressed the list of items not funded, which include a higher level of overtime, a new police officer, a new part-time animal control officer, a new part-time . parking attendant, increased travel and training monies, a paved parking lot at the impound lot, and three new unmarked police cars. He reminded the Commissioners that last year, he requested six additional new unmarked cars and three were funded. He noted that this year, he had requested the three cars previously not funded. Responding to Commissioner Rudberg, Administrative Services Director Gamradt stated that the monies generated from the 50-cent-per-month charge on all telephone lines is deposited in the 9-1-1 Fund and is then transferred to the County. He noted the charge generates approximately $120,000 annually, and the $247,000 in this budget unit reflects the City's General Fund contribution to the program. He noted that these monies will also be transferred to the County to support the 9-1-1 program. Responding to Commissioner Frost, the Chief of Police stated there are a total of six . officers on grant monies at the present time, and one is being fully funded by the City in next year's budget. Responding to Commissioner Frost, Chief of Police Tymrak stated he is requesting one additional police officer 50 he can move one more person into the investigative division, with that person serving as the community policing officer. The Chief of Police recognized that his department has been successful in attracting grant monies over the years. He further recognized, however, that having officers on grant monies which are projected to end in the next two years will make budgeting difficult in future years. He noted that recent articles indicate the national trend is to encourage the continuation of the COPS grant program for at least another year. Responding to additional questions from Commissioner Frost, the Chief of Police stated . that he feels it would be better to hire a part-time animal control officer and a part-time parking attendant than to hire one person to be split between those duties because of scheduling issues. He then prioritized his personnel requests as animal control officer, parking attendant and then police officer. He estimated that 75 percent of the overtime in his department results from police officers attending City Court. He stated that one of the police officers is currently 06-1 6-98 Special - 3 - serving as bailiff for City Court as well as warrants officer, and with that position and close monitoring of police officer schedules, he feels the amount of overtime can be controlled. Responding to Commissioner Rudberg, Chief of Police Tymrak stated that he, City Judge Carlson, City Attorney Luwe and City Manager Johnson have begun regular monthly meetings . in an effort to begin resolving some of the issues and problems that have arisen through cooperative efforts. Responding to Commissioner Frost, the Chief of Police stated that on the current rotation of three-two-two for marked police cars, the fleet of seven patrol cars is adequate. He noted that when the cars are rotated off the line after three years of service, they have 75,000 to 80,000 miles on them and can be moved into other departments where the demand on the vehicles is much lower. He then stated that four of the support vehicles in the Police Department still need replacing. He noted that the mileages on those support vehicles are 117,000, 104,000, 94,000 and 91,000 miles, and some of them have major maintenance issues in conjunction with those high mileages. Responding to Commissioner Youngman, City Manager Johnson noted that last year's . request was for nine new cars, and the three new cars being requested now are the last of those nine. Responding to Commissioner Frost, the Chief of Police stated that major incidents have declined this past year while the number of arrests and warrants served has risen. He credited part of this to the problem area response teams, which provide a high profile and lead to greater compliance. Further responding to Commissioner Frost, the Chief of Police stated that the cost of a probationary officer would be $32,000 to $36,000, a full-time animal control officer would cost $23,900, and a full-time parking attendant would cost $22,100. He indicated that the unmarked cars would cost between $15,000 and $16,000 each. Chief of Police Tymrak characterized travel and training as a critical issue in the Police . Department, particularly since 58 percent of the officers have less than five years of service with the department. He stated that he is an advocate of continuing education, particularly since law enforcement is an ever-changing field. He then forwarded his intent to go into the 21 st century with the most professional organization in the state and possibly in the region. He noted that last year, his budget contained $23,400 for travel and training, and this budget 06-16-98 Special -------..- ---., ---.-- - 4 - contains $24,000 for that purpose. He noted that with the relocation of the Montana Law Enforcement Academy, quality training has become much more expensive for the department. Drug Forfeiture. City Manager Johnson briefly highlighted this budget unit, as contained on Pages 0-40 through 0-43. He stated that $108,900 in grant funding provides support for . this budget unit. He noted that much of this budget's increase is due to $7,200 for lease of two vehicles for the drug task force. Responding to Commissioner Rudberg, Chief of Police Tymrak stated that with the new computer system, tracking of drug cases is much easier. DARE. The City Manager reviewed this budget unit, as found on Pages 0-44 through 0-47. He noted that the slight reduction in this budget results from the fact that the new DARE officer is a lower ranking officer in the department. Chief of Police Tymrak noted that the DARE officer serves in that capacity during the school year, and during the summer he serves as a patrolman on the night shift. Commissioner Rudberg stated she does not support this program, she has concerns about the FY98 accomplishments listed, and she questions the accuracy of the workload . indicators. She noted there are no statistics to show whether there was a problem before the OARE program was implemented and whether the program has slowed the use of drugs in school children. She then suggested that another resource officer, working with youth who are known to have problems, could be more beneficial. 9-1-1. The City Manager reviewed this budget unit, as contained on Pages 0-38 and 0-39, noting that it is combined with the amount budgeted on Page C-27 to generate the City's contribution toward this program. He stated that, between these two budget units, the City's contribution toward the daily operation of the 9-1-1 program is $367,000. He reminded the Commission that last year's budget included an anticipated $450,000 grant for this project that did not materialize and, as a result, identifying alternative sources of funding and cutting some items has occurred. He briefly reviewed the items to be funded in this budget as well as the . items which have been requested but not funded in the City's contribution as proposed. The City Manager stated that different ways to fund this program are currently being evaluated. He noted that several agencies use the 9-1-1 services without paying anything at the present time, and options for contributions to the program or payment for services are being considered. 06-16-98 Special - 5 - Commissioner Frost asked for a copy of the budget for the 9-1-1 program, with a breakdown of revenues as well as expenditures. Responding to Commissioner Frost, Chief of Police Tymrak indicated that air conditioning for the dispatch center is being requested because the computer equipment must be maintained . in a certain temperature range and characterized the comfort of the dispatchers as a side benefit. Mayor Stiff expressed concern about the costs which the City has incurred with the joint 9-1-1 system, suggesting that the City might have taken a different course of action if it had anticipated how much this program would cost. He noted that the City seems to be continually asked to foot additional costs for this program, at a very disproportionate rate, and he feels steps should be taken to develop a fair and equitable funding structure. The Chief of Police recognized that the system being installed is expensive. He noted, however, that the high tech people have indicated the system "may be a Cadillac, but it's not a Rolls Royce". He then stated that the system is good and should serve the residents of this area well for many years. . Commissioner Rudberg stated her interest in pursuing another increase in the telephone line charge for 9-1-1 services in the upcoming legislative session, noting it should be $1.00 per month like it is in many other states. She characterized $12.00 per year as "cheap insurance" provided by a good emergency dispatch system. Downtown Parking. Assistant City Manager Ron Brey gave an overview of this budget unit, as contained on Pages C-64 through C-67. He noted that, except for the ticket writer and printers in this budget, it is essentially the same as last year's, with a slight adjustment for inflation. The Assistant City Manager stated that the Parking Commission carefully considered whether this program should be operated as a part of the General Fund or as a Special Revenue Fund and determined that the revenues are not adequate to sustain the program. He then . indicated that he has monitored complaints about parking over the years in an effort to determine if the appropriate balance is being maintained and, because the character of the downtown area is slowly changing from retail to professional and service providers, complaints about parking are shifting from the failure to turn over the parking spaces quickly to employees and employers complaining about the lack of adequate employee parking. He then indicated 06~ 16-98 Special _.__...___".___n ~ 6 ~ that the Parking Commission will also look at revisions to the manner in which leased parking spaces are leased and enforced. Assistant City Manager Brey noted that the two houses which were recently purchased are to be relocated with a new parking lot containing 24 spaces being constructed at an . estimated cost of $80,000. He expressed concern that, with the costs of acquiring property and developing parking spaces, each new space in the downtown area is costing $8,000 to $10,000. He cautioned that Bozeman is the only major community in Montana that does not have a good source of revenue for developing parking lots. He noted that most communities have tax increment financing district monies and/or parking meter revenues to help support the construction of parking lots, but Bozeman has neither. Responding to comments from Commissioner Frost, the Assistant City Manager recognized that the downtown has a perception disadvantage. He noted that when parking spaces are 75 to 80 percent full, drivers have the perception that the parking is full. He stated that with on-street parking, this may translate to one or two open parking spaces per block, while in a parking lot, it may translate to open spaces around the perimeter. He stressed, . however, that the parking lot will look less full than the street even though the same number of spaces are available. He then indicated that an inventory of parking in the downtown area in conjunction with the transportation plan update could be beneficial in identifying future needs. Mayor Stiff expressed concern that, while people may not park in the on-street handicapped spaces, their vehicles often extend far enough into the spaces that they become unusable to those who need them. He also noted that if a vehicle parks next to a handicapped van in a parking lot, it is not possible to use the side lift because of the way the spaces are currently designed. Mayor Stiff noted that a group of people are expected to forward legislation this upcoming year to authorize those individuals with handicapped parking permits to issue . citations to those who park in the handicapped parking spaces without the required permit. He noted that this approach is being used effectively in other communities throughout the country. City Manager Johnson characterized this activity as a big loser for the City. He suggested the alternatives to continuing the current program are to either eliminate the 06-16-98 Special - 7 - enforcement program altogether or raise the fines to generate the revenues needed to fund the program. He then reminded the Commission that the main objective of the enforcement program is to gain compliance. Parking District. Assistant City Manager Brey briefly reviewed this budget unit, as . contained on Pages 0-54 through 0-57. He reminded the Commission that the residential parking district around the University was designed to be revenue neutral when it was initially created, and staff has been carefully monitoring its financial status. He noted that $35,000 in start-up costs were absorbed by the City, with the anticipation that the district would repay those costs over a seven-year period. He stated that, because of the recent expenditure for acquisition of handheld ticket writers and printers, the district remains in a deficit position, but the revenues are repaying the start-up costs at the rate initially anticipated. Water Plant. Director of Public Service Phi II Forbes briefly reviewed this budget unit, as contained on Pages G-6 through G-9. He noted that the existing building, which is a metal- sided structure will eventually need replacing because of the humidity in the facility. He stated that most water plants are masonry structures, which can better withstand the humidity and . constant moisture. The Director of Public Service stated that the Water Plant staff have set their own standards for water quality which are significantly more stringent than the national standards, and those are reflected in the performance measures. Director of Public Service Forbes indicated that the new corrosion control facilities are currently under construction, and those facilities are designed to keep the lead and cooper levels within the established parameters. The Director of Public Service stated that the filtration plant effectively processes the raw water eleven months of the year. He noted that in the spring, when the turbidity is high, the plant operates at a much lower efficiency because of the additional processes required to treat the water, and its capacity during that time is approximately 7 million gallons per day. . He suggested that with the installation of a 20-million-gallon pond ahead of the plant, some of the sedimentation would settle out before the water goes through the plant. He noted that this would not only address the turbidity issues but would help the City more efficiently use its water rights, particularly from Hyalite Reservoir. 06-16-98 Special -----.... ..- -- - 8 - City Manager Johnson encouraged the Commissioners to look closely at the performance measures. He noted that Water Plant Superintendent Elliott is very serious about "not letting anything bad go through the plant" and into the City's water system and, in fact, continues to look for ways to make the water supply even better. He also noted that this City facility is well . maintained. Director of Public Service Phill Forbes stated that Water Plant Superintendent Dean Elliott quietly works with the American Waterworks Association and the State and provides research facilities. The Director of Public Service noted that the Woodward-Clyde study is being paid through this budget unit, primarily because it addresses the feasibility of constructing another dam in the Sourdough drainage. He noted that $50,000 was rebudgeted for this study; however, he feels that number may be low because the project is not progressing as quickly as originally anticipated. The Director of Public Service characterized providing a redundancy in the water distribution system between the water plant and the reservoirs as the greatest need. He noted . that, if necessary, the abandoned water main could be disinfected and used; however, it leaks more water than it carries. He then noted that a year ago, Gretchen Rupp had an intern gather information on water conservation plans, and she still plans to complete that project and forward the data to him. Commissioner Youngman stated that a representative from Woodward-Clyde informed her that the task force has been stressing the importance of an increased emphasis on water conservation issues. She then indicated an interest in encouraging the consultants to take that into consideration as they proceed with the study. Commissioner Rudberg asked that the Commissioners be provided copies of the minutes from the task force meetings. Assistant City Manager Brey noted that people can point to communities where the . implementation of water conservation measures eliminated the need for increased water storage areas. He recognized that that has truly occurred in certain instances; however, he cautioned that in those instances, the urban growth boundary for that jurisdiction abutted the boundaries of other jurisdictions, and there was not unlimited potential for growth. 06-16-98 Special - 9 - Mayor Stiff expressed concern that when he attended the task force meeting, 80 percent of the discussion was being done by 20 percent of the participants, and some of the members didn't have a chance to provide input even though they were obviously interested in the subject. He then suggested that it would be in everyone's best interests to ensure that the . recommendations forwarded by the task force truly reflect the input of the entire membership. Wastewater Plant. City Manager Johnson briefly reviewed this budget unit, as found on Pages G-14 through G-17. He stated this budget unit has decreased significantly this year, mainly because the amount budgeted for maintenance items has dropped back to a more typical level. He then indicated that one rather political issue is outstanding, and that pertains to the effluent emitted by Darigold and whether it should be subject to the surcharge provided for in the ordinance and the rate resolution. Director of Public Service Forbes stated that the surcharge has been in place since the early 1980s, and the charging of that surcharge has been the subject of staff discussions over the past few years. He noted that several businesses would probably be subject to the surcharge, although he feels the best approach to implementing the surcharge is to prioritize . the users and start at the top of the list, working down the list, rather than trying to implement it all at once. The Director of Public Service stated that the pretreatment program is in place at Darigold, and they have been willing to work with City staff. He noted that Darigold is one of the largest dischargers into the sewer system, and every pH balance problem the plant has encountered recently can be traced back to a release of high strength wastes from this site. He indicated that sensors have been installed on the sewer outflow and when the outflow becomes opaque, the sensors trip a valve that diverts the outflow into a tank, and it then drains slowly out of the tank and into the regular sewer outflow. He stated that Bozeman is the only major municipality in the state with a dairy connected to its wastewater treatment facilities. Commissioner Smiley noted that, no matter where Darigold might move, the same . wastewater treatment issues will exist. The Director of Public Service encouraged the Commissioners to look at the performance standards, noting that the standards are exceeded in nearly every category. He stated that this means the effluent is much better than is required under the discharge permit. 06-1 6-98 Special ---- - --- - 10 - City Manager Johnson stated that Wastewater Plant Superintendent Don Noyes is sincere about doing a good job at the plant and ensuring that the effluent does not harm; and the numbers in the performance measures reflects that commitment. Water Impact Fees. Administrative Services Director Gamradt reviewed this budget unit, . as found on Pages G-26 and G-27. He noted that this budget shows the projects to be funded through impact fees, and the numbers include the portions of the projects which are to be funded through private financing and special improvement districts. He stated that this does not accurately depict the budgetary impacts to the City, and future budgets will include only the City's portion of the costs. Wastewater Impact Fees. The Administrative Services Director briefly reviewed this budge unit, as contained on Pages G-28 and G-29. Director of Public Service Forbes noted that the interceptor sewer between Durston Road and West Oak Street will bypass some of the bottlenecks which exist in that portion of the system. He stated that the City's portion of the project is for oversizing of the line to accommodate additional flows. He noted that when the City participates in the cost of . oversizing lines, it pays only for the difference between the size of line required for a project and the actual size of the line installed. This means the City generally pays 30 to 40 cents for every dollar the City would pay if it undertook the installation of the line on its own. Vehicle Maintenance. City Manager Johnson highlighted this budget unit, as contained on Pages H-6 through H-9. He stated that the privatization of the vehicle maintenance activities has been considered; however, he noted that mechanics were still needed to turn work around quickly. As a result, he noted that this operation continues at the same level as it has been in the past, and they maintain the City's fleet, from small equipment, such as lawn mowers, to large equipment, such as motor graders. He then indicated that the amount of monies budgeted for training in this budget unit may need to be increased, to ensure that the mechanics remain trained on the new technologies and vehicles. . Street Impact Fees. Director of Public Service Forbes stated that this budget unit, as found on Pages D-62 and D-63, shows the projects to be funded through impact fees. Responding to Mayor Stiff, City Manager Johnson stated that the Montana Transportation Commission has indicated a possible interest in constructing "cinder block bunker bathrooms" at the rest area. He noted that they have also indicated the monies for the 06-16-98 Special _n. _n n._ ___._..___. _ ___.. __... ...._..__n______.. .___..__...__. _.___.______ - 11 - rest area must be used on the interstate transportation system, so they could not be used to install traffic signals as requested by the City. Responding to Mayor Stiff, Director of Public Service Forbes stated that improvements to Durston Road, which is virtually in the heart of town, can be undertaken at any time. He . recognized that the computer models indicate West Oak Street will take additional traffic off Durston Road, particularly when it is extended from North 7th Avenue to North Rouse Avenue. Assistant City Manager Brey noted that the additional development in the northwest quadrant of the community will continue to generate more traffic on Durston Road. Fire Impact Fees. Administrative Services Director Gamradt stated that no pages have been included in the budget book because no expenditures are proposed. He then expressed concern that, because of the restrictions on these monies, it may be difficult to expend them without expending a significant amount of other City funds. Assistant City Manager Brey suggested that signal control devices could be construed as increasing capacity by minimizing traffic conflicts and thus shortening response times. City Manager Johnson noted that several budget units remain to be reviewed. He noted . that those will be scheduled for Thursday night, after which the Commission could possibly begin to identify possible issues and revisions. Adjournment - 9:30 C.m. There being no further business to come before the Commission at this time, Mayor Stiff adjourned the meeting. ~~ ~/ ATTEST: ALF M. STIFF;'MaYOr~ 9~YJ!~ ROBIN L. SULLlV AN . Clerk of the Commission 06-16-98 Special