Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-19-2021 BAC MinutesCITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JULY 19, 2021 Chairman Napier called the Citizens Budget Review Advisory Committee meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Pledae of Alleaiance was recited by all. III. Roll Call Present: Mr. Napier Mr. Hoffman Mr. Hall Mr. Hedihy Not Present: Mr. Newhart — Excused Mr. Wilson Mr. McGinn (at -large) (Zoom —late arrival) Mr. Sullivan Ms. Cards Also Present: Paul Carlisle, City Manager Ken Killgore, Administrative Services Director/CFO Cindy Watson, HR Manager Joseph Perez, AV Technical Assistant Janet Graham, Technical Writer (Zoom) IV. ADDroval of Minutes: Meetina of July 12. 2021 Mr. Napier asked if all Committee members had reviewed the Minutes of July 12, 2021. All indicated they had. Mr. Hoffman called for adding (Zoom) after Mr. McGinn's name in the roll call. He also referred to Page 5 where there is typed (inaudible dialog). He reviewed that paragraph and asked that that phrase be deleted. Mr. Napier called for a motion with the changes as above. A motion approving the July 12, 2021 Minutes with the changes noted above was made by Mr. Hoffman, seconded by Ms. Cerda, and approved unanimously via voice vote. Presentation of 3rtl Quarter Budaet ReDort and ADDroval by the Committee Mr. Killgore reviewed the agenda items that will be presented on July 281h to City Council (SEE ATTACHED). Those included are the Resolution No. R-21-12 and a schedule of the budget changes that were approved during the quarter by City Council. There were a couple of large ones during this quarter. One was to fund the Stormwater Master Plan, and the other large one was the replacement of the Yacht Club seawall. He reviewed the actual receipts compared to the budget for this period. Revenues for the General Fund ,A< were p6 78%, and expenses were only 70.3%. So the City is doing fairly well as far as hi nett g its budget targets. He pointed out that a lot of the projects in the Capital Projects CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 2 MINUTES OF JULY 19, 2021 Status Report are 100% completed. There are three major items —the construction of hangar D, the Public Facilities Compound project, and the Stormwater Master Plan. Those three are driving the percentage of completion down, but he expects major expenditures coming for those projects before year end. He reviewed the other reports in the packet, and he then called for questions/comments from the Committee members. Mr. Hoffman: Asked about the lock that was purchased in the amount of $1,225.00. That is the repair for the Hardee Park restroom lock. Mr. Carlisle explained that these are special locks with timers, and the Police Department can unlock them if they need to or in an emergency situation. There has been a lot of vandalism in several of our park restrooms. There is a standard time when they are open and closed. These locks are unlocked during the hours of the park operations, which is sunrise to sunset. Regarding the Yacht Club seawall, he asked if there is any way the City can get the American Rescue funds to apply to this project. Mr. Carlisle stated it has to be from the General Fund. The City cannot use American Rescue funds to replenish General Fund dollars. He is not certain that that project is eligible for those funds. Mr. Killgore said he does not think repairs or replacements are eligible for any of those dollars. Mr. Carlisle stated he will look into it. As to the Fund Summaries, Miscellaneous Revenue is only about 41%, and he asked if there is something missing. Mr. Killgore stated that is kind of a catch-all item. Some of that includes items that he enters into the budget for the sale of fixed assets. It would also include interest income, which has not been good because of the way rates have changed. Mr. Carlisle stated that if the City got a $35,000.00 no -match grant for the airport, that is included in miscellaneous revenues that we did not anticipate, and we have gotten a few of those. Also, he stated there is the low -boy trailer that was just sold for $25,000.00. That does not show up here. There are a few other pieces of equipment that will be going on sale which are not listed here. On the Capital Projects Status report, he asked if we can close the projects from 2018. Mr. Killgore stated all three of those will be closed. Inquired of Mr. Killgore how the City determines how much money will be kept in the checking account vs. the cash that is allocated to the State Board or to the Florida Trust. Mr. Killgore said this is a historical carryover because about 15 years ago the State Board sort of tanked on the City, and they actually froze some of the City's assets with them because of market conditions. Since that time, the City has only increased that account balance by interest income on those funds. He has shied away from putting more money with them. That is one of the reasons why he opened up the account with Florida Trust. Mr. Herlihy: CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 3 MINUTES OF JULY 19, 2021 • Congratulated Mr. Killgore and his staff for the good job they do in balancing the budget. Ms. Cerda • Stated that the third quarter looks great, especially with all the changes that have been necessary going through the year. Mr. Napier: • Reviewed the report and is very pleased with it. Mr. Napier asked if anyone on the Committee had any issue with the approval of that report. Mr. Killgore stated that before getting into the Power Point presentation, Mr. Carlisle may want to address some of the questions that came up at the last meeting. Mr. Napier said he thought that was appropriate. Mr. Carlisle reviewed that one of the first questions that came up in the Minutes related to the drainage at the golf course. He stated that one of the challenges the City had was that the Airport Master Plan Drainage was never finalized and approved by St. John's Water Management District, which he explained. When the City went to get it finalized, there was a structure that was not installed per plan, and they made the City modify it. When it was modified, it made hole 10 completely unplayable when it rains. There is another hole that has a drainage swale that comes across it where it is planned to be worked on as well. It makes the course almost unplayable during the rainy season. The City has submitted a permit modification to St. John's Water Management District to enlarge that retention area to try to accommodate the additional flow and to try to come up with an adjustment to the weir structure by expanding the retention area and reducing the hold time. The equivalent nutrient adjustment should be the same and will allow hole 10 to be playable again. The other one —he said it may be hole 15--is the piping where that whole fairway between the green and the cart path and the canal becomes unplayable because of the water. He understands there has been a lot of money spent on the golf course, and this is a project that was suggested to be done in house. Mr. Carlisle stated the stormwater crew has enough to do, and it needs to be budgeted to have it done. That is why that $20,000.00 was put in that budget. Mr. Carlisle said the question was also asked about the $100,000.00 for sidewalks — whether those are new sidewalks or replacements. He explained that it is a combination of both. Part of that money is for trip hazards, and part of that money is that the City was able to negotiate with the Railroad to put in sidewalks at Barber Street, Main Street, and Schumann Drive across the railroad tracks. There are not currently sidewalks there. The Railroad is only going to take them to the right-of-way. The City has to take them beyond CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 4 MINUTES OF JULY 19, 2021 that. So some of those funds are going to be utilized to make those short connections. He projects that the funds will be sufficient to get new sidewalks on one side of the crossings but not on both sides. The Railroad is putting in all the safety requirements for those sidewalks at no cost to the City. Another question was by Mr. Hall and was regarding the intersection at Barber Street and Pelican Island Place being a hazard. Mr. Carlisle said it is not a hazard. It may be perceived that way, but the accident data is almost zero. Mr. Carlisle addressed a question regarding pothole repair. It will be continuing. Mr. Napier stated the pothole repair comes out of gas tax money, so the millage rate has nothing to do with whether we patch potholes or not. Mr. Carlisle agreed. Mr. Hedihy asked if it is intended to do paving in this budget. Mr. Carlisle said the City is not doing any overlays in this budget. The reasons are several: (1) Material costs have gone through the roof, and he would like to push it out as costs start to come down. (2) Our plan gets reevaluated this third fiscal year. Three years is a lifetime in pavement cycles. He wants to make sure that the City's dollars are being spent in the best manner possible, getting the most done. (3) Last year accelerated paving was done ($900,000.00 on paving and reconstruction). (4) If the stormwater does not get done, all the work that was done on the paving will be for naught, as it will create premature failure. The crews are working six days a week trying to get that stormwater work done. So we need to get the drainage caught up. As to the stormwater positions, one of the things that is being highly stressed in the Integrated Pest Management Plan is mechanical removal of aquatic pests. There is a lot of overtime being spent on it to try to get it done. Costs prohibit us from using contractors. That is why the two additional individuals are being budgeted in the Stormwater Department. Regarding the crime analyst, that position comprises supervising the records clerks. She does the crime analyses, and she runs the front lobby windows. From time to time she is responsible for training and travel. She is also the accreditation manager, which is very important. He explained in depth the necessity for this position. Mr. Napier said he has always considered new personnel a function of the management team in conjunction with the department heads and City Council. He does not think that is the purview of this Committee. Mr. Carlisle agreed. Regarding the events coordinator position, Mr. Carlisle said may people do not realize that events are growing substantially in the City. Part of this person's position is going to be not only as events coordinator; they are going to be part of the airport maintenance. The City has a part-time position out there. This person is going to fill that part as well, and the airport is going to pay for that portion of the salary. CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 5 MINUTES OF JULY 19, 2021 There being no further comments or questions, Mr. Napier, he moved to the next item on the agenda. V. Consideration of Power Point on Committee's Recommendation to Citv Council on the Proposed Millaae for FY 2021-22 and ADproval by the Committee Mr. Herlihy stated that based on the last meeting and discussion, the Committee collectively agreed we were going to do this. We have done it in the past, and then we stopped doing it. His opinion is that the Council needs to hear what this Committee considers and where we are coming from that finally ends up in what our recommendation is on the millage. That is certainly something that is discussed among ourselves, probably tonight, where we are going on the millage. We approved the TRIM millage which we historically have done, and that was the top number as recommended by staff. Whether we recommend rollback or not is something that is still before us and where we want to go. So that question is up in the air as far as the Power Point is concerned. Mr. Carlisle has made some comments that will prompt some changes in the Power Point, most especially one item that has to do with personnel. As long as we are satisfied that Mr. Carlisle has covered that, we can advise Council that we considered it, and Mr. Carlisle explained it all to us. The biggest thing is where we want to go as far as the millage is concerned. Regarding putting this before Council, they need to hear what our thoughts are, what we have discussed, and what we are recommending that City Council does. Mr. Napier stated that City Council members watch these budget meetings, and they know everything we talk about before they even get the Minutes. The majority of them watch this meeting intently. Mr. Herlihy stated there is another point that has been made in the past that not only do we talk to the Council, but we will be telling the public. Historically, an awful lot more people watch a City Council meeting than watch Budget Committee meetings. Mr. Herlihy made a motion to present the Power Point with modifications to the City Council in its meeting of July 28t". What he explained is that this Committee would modify that Power Point and circulate it again to the Committee before it becomes the final product. Mr. Hoffman suggested the Power Point be put on the monitor so that it could be gone through page by page. That was done, and there was discussion of each item on the Power Point There was a lengthy discussion among the Committee members, City Manager, and Mr. Killgore regarding the question of presenting the Power Point. Mr. Napier stated there is a motion on the Floor by Mr. Herlihy to approve the Power Point, and a second was needed. Mr. Hoffman seconded the motion of Mr. Herlihy, following which there was more discussion among the Committee members, Mr. Carlisle, and Mr. Killgore regarding the items on the Power Point. After much discussion, the Committee was asked to vote on whether the Power Point CITIZENS BUDGET REVIEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE PAGE 6 MINUTES OF JULY 19, 2021 should go forward to be presented to City Council. A voice vote was taken, and the result was 4 ayes and 4 nays, resulting in a be. The motion does not pass. Mr. Napier asked if the millage rate still needs to be discussed. The TRIM was already approved at the last meeting. He asked if the Committee has recommended the millage rate to City Council for operating other than what goes on the TRIM. Mr. Killgore suggested the Committee should wait until its August meeting to address that subject. There was consensus among the members that the millage rate should be discussed at the Committee's meeting in August. VIL Public Comments VIII. Next Meetina Date -- Monday. Auaust 16. 2021 for Updates on Maior Chanaes to the Caoital Imorovement Program and Ooeratma Budaet IX. Adiourn There being no further business, Mr. Napier adjourned the meeting at 7:20 p.m. By: i_ Lr .,.Z4.) �'j Date: ,? )L/ 12) + fts/�NENt n pr rt+c- / 9usT iL aoai A jg