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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-05-2018 BAC MinutesCITY OF SEBASTIAN CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 5, 2018 1. Chairman Napier called the Citizens Budget Review Advisory Board meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. Pledoe of Allegiance was recited by all. 3. Roll Call Present: Mr. Larry Napier Mr. Ed Herlihy Mr. Bruce Hoffman Mr. Harry Hall Ms. Nancy Veidt Ms. Andrea Ring Absent: Mr. Michael Frank -- Excused Also Present: Mr. Kenneth Killgore, Administrative Services Director Ms. Janet Graham, Technical Writer 4. ADProval of Minutes: A. Minutes of January 29, 2018. Mr. Hoffman questioned a statement on Page 3, third paragraph, last sentence: "One project that came in at the end of the year and wasn't extended..." Mr. Killgore stated that is not correct; it is still on the project list and should be on the record that it "was" extended. Mr. Napier called for any other additions or corrections. There being none, a motion to accept the Minutes as amended was voted on and approved unanimously by voice vote. 5. Review of First Quarterlv Reoort for Fiscal Year 2018-2019 Mr. Killgore stated that he is comfortable with the numbers as set forth. He stated there CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD PAGE 2 Meeting Minutes of March 5, 2018 were 23 projects added for 2018. Of the projects that were carried over, there are three of those with high -dollar amounts: the Oyster Point drainage, the Barber Street football field restrooms and the septic -to -sewer monies that have been set aside for a grant program. There is still some money from old projects, but it is mostly in those three items. The expenses incurred for Hurricane Matthew and some for Hurricane Irma are shown at the bottom of the project list. All the paperwork regarding Hurricane Matthew has been submitted to FEMA and to the State. He has information from February 21 stating our paperwork had been approved and had been sent to Finance, and he expects that in a reasonable period of time the City will receive payment from FEMA, which will come through the State system. Regarding the reserves, our emergency reserves are about $3.5 million, and he is hoping to receive the money regarding the last two hurricanes before the next hurricane season so that we will be going into the next hurricane season with the full $5 million reserve. Regarding the Renewal and Replacement Account, he estimates that the reserves are approximately $166,000.00 remaining from the $275,000.00 at the beginning of the year. Regarding investments, there has been no change in strategy. The balance of the reports are from the departments. He then asked for questions from the Committee. Regarding operating expenses for the quarter, Mr. Hall asked about the MIS Department running at 58% and why they are so far over budget. Mr. Killgore explained that the Director of the MIS Department resigned during the first quarter, and the payouts attendant with that resignation caused a big increase in what was spent for that quarter. There are also a number of maintenance service contracts that are renewed annually, and the majority of those were paid in the first quarter. He added that there is a need for additional personnel for storm water maintenance, so decision was made to take some personnel, mostly from the Roads and Streets division and put them in Storm Water. Thus, there is a higher personnel cost in the Storm Water division basically being offset by a lower cost in the Roads and Streets division. Mr. Hoffman queried regarding Special Revenue Funds. In the summary it says: 'We are collecting $65,000.00 less at this time..." Then it lists Total Fund Revenue as being up $8,000.00 for local option gas tax, sales taxes being up $33,000.00, and the storm water utility fund is up about $14,000.00 to $15,000.00. Maybe it was meant to say that we are collecting $65,000.00 more than at this time last year. Mr. Killgore said he would go back and research that and possibly make a correction before the packet goes to CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD PAGE 3 Meeting Minutes of March 5, 2018 City Council. Mr. Killgore stated that Mr. Hoffman had also asked about, on the first page in the heading section of the graphic presentations where the comment is made that "The golf course revenues were affected...," the word should have been "reserves" instead of "revenues." He stated he will make the change before submitting it to City Council. Mr. Hoffman made a motion that the Committee accept the report with the changes discussed above, motion was seconded by Mr. Herlihy and passed unanimously by voice vote. 6. Discussion by Members: A. Regarding City Council 2018-2019 Budget Objectives I. Additional Street Paving Work II. Additional Storm water Spending a. Major Neighborhood Projects b. Added Staffing B. In Regard to Other Thoughts and Ideas for Upcoming Budget Year. Mr. Herlihy stated that there was not actually a vote by City Council at their last meeting on what Mr. Dodd had written, but the subject that was addressed most at that meeting was the roads situation. Mr. Killgore stated yes, roads and drainage. Mr. Killgore stated additional staffing and ongoing maintenance were discussed as well as additional capital expenditures. Mr. Herlihy stated one concern of his is Barber Street east of Schumann Drive that is in need of attention. He would like to see staff bring this up to the City Manager. Another project he would like to see brought up is the appearance of Route 512 through the City. He mentioned adding some streets to be improved in the new budget. He questioned if these streets should be worked on now because it is going to cost more to have the work done in the future. Mr. Napier was of the opinion that since 512 is a county road, that is a matter for the County. Mr. Hoffman opined that he thinks the County is done with the 512 project, that the County's next two projects are Route 510 and bringing 66t' Street up to Barber. Mr. Napier stated the Committee CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD PAGE 4 Meeting Minutes of March 5, 2018 could bring it to City Council's attention. Mr. Herlihy said that along Route 512 by the middle school and on out to 195 there is some fairly nice landscaping, but there is nothing along 512 in the City. Ms. Veidt stated that she thinks the City got grants some years ago to do the landscaping in the some of the medians on 512, and she is of the opinion that there was a formal agreement that says the County is not responsible, that the City is responsible for this work. She also stated that, if the City makes the improvements, the City will have to provide personnel to do the maintenance, and is this something the City wants to do at this point. She thinks the focus should be on repairing and repaving the roads that are presently in need of work. Mr. Herlihy stated a grant is something to think about long-range. Mr. Napier thought the Committee should try to get the agreement Ms. Veidt mentioned to see whose responsibility it is. Ms. Ring stated she would prefer if the grass was taken care of without any plantings. Mr. Napier stated the idea is something that we can look at as the Capital Improvement Program is worked on. He stated his preference would be to take care of the drainage and repaving of the roads before the landscaping is considered. Ms. Veidt agreed that we need to prioritize the roads and adding staff in Storm Water, but she is concerned about how much equipment will also have to be added. Mr. Hoffman questioned if there is a priority list for storm water drainage projects. Mr. Killgore stated that right now these discussions are conceptual and until we get budget packets for what staff is recommending, that is when the prioritizing would be done. Ms. Veidt stated she would like to have some maintenance of the quarter -round that has been put in. There is no maintenance being done on the quarter -round, and there was a lot of money spent on it, and now it is not doing its job for lack of maintenance. Mr. Herlihy would like to have a meeting scheduled sometime in April or May with Mr. Griffin and Mr. Baker to discuss these things. Mr. Killgore stated the departments are still in the process of putting together their recommendations, and it's still a few weeks until the City Manager would be involved in discussing with the departments what their priorities are. Ms. Ring stated she would like to see another baffle box installed, and she questioned whether the baffle boxes that are present are being maintained. Mr. Hoffman stated that he personally saw a truck along Indian River Drive doing the maintenance. Mr. Herlihy stated he has been told they do it every three months. Ms. Ring would like to see another baffle box put in where the oyster mats were supposed to be put in. Mr. Herlihy stated that baffle boxes cost much more than the oyster mats. He also stated that the baffle box project was completed sometime ago. Ms. Ring stated that the drainage problem should be addressed before the paving is done. CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD PAGE 5 Meeting Minutes of March 5, 2018 Mr. Hall stated he agrees with the roads and drainage being priorities. He also addressed the intersection of Power Line Road and Route 510 and the possibility of some kind of traffic signal being installed there, as it is a very busy and dangerous intersection. Mr. Napier stated he doesn't think that intersection is in the City. Another of Mr. Hall's concerns is the intersection of Concha and Joy Haven at Barber, and he would like to see some signage there. He also asked if there are resource officers in the schools in the City. Mr. Napier asked if that isn't a School Board function instead of a City function. Mr. Hall stated he is not certain what kind of agreement Sebastian has with the School Board, and he is not sure if the bill that addresses this has passed yet. He also queried, if the bill is passed, will that require resource officers at charter schools. Mr. Killgore stated he doesn't think the City gets any funding for the resource officer from the School District. Mr. Hall suggested staff provide the Committee with a priority list of projects before the budget is finalized. Mr. Napier stated the list of priorities would be in the proposed budget. Mr. Napier stated if some of the projects could be switched around to stagger the projects, the money in the Capital Projects Fund would be adequate to do that. He also wanted to discuss Guidance 2. If property values rise and we use the same rate that we have this year, that would be a tax increase. If we use roll -back to get the same amount, it would not be a tax increase. Mr. Herlihy suggested the Budget Committee have conversations with City Council regarding this, and Mr. Killgore stated City Council gets a copy of the Minutes of the Budget Advisory Committee minutes, so they are aware of what is discussed here. Mr. Killgore discussed the referendum coming up in November, which is another $25,000.00 homestead exemption which will have to be taken into consideration if it passes. Mr. Napier expressed that, if the City has the new construction that they are expecting, the increase in taxes would be enough to offset the loss from the increase in the homestead exemption. 7. Announce Next Meetino Date: (Monday. June 4. 2018). 8. Reoorts from Staff: Mr. Killgore mentioned the MIS director leaving, and Audio/Visual has been consolidated with MIS, and the manager is a long-term employee that staff has a lot of CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD Meeting Minutes of March 5, 2018 PAGE 6 confidence in. Staff is looking for Storm Water to come up with a plan, and with regard to the Golf Course, how to address the deficit long-term. Mr. Napier stated he is optimistic the revenue from the golf course is going to increase. 9. Adiourn: There being no further business, Chairman Napier adjourned the meeting at 7:04 p.m. By S�.:;�e 1% ��.n Date J9