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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 07-25-2006 WorkshopCity Council Budget Workshop Meeting IL City Hall Annex 111 Polk Avenue, Cape Canaveral, Florida MONDAY July 25, 2006 5: 00 P.M. MINUTES Call to Order: Council Members Present: Council Member Mayor Pro Tern Council Member Mayor Council Member Absent: Council Member Others Present: City Manager Asst. City Clerk City Treasurer Public Works Director Recreation Director DISCUSSION: Parks and Recreation: Burt Bruns Bob Hoog Buzz Petsos Rocky Randels Leo Nicholas Bennett Boucher Virginia Haas Andrea Bowers Ed Gardulski Nancy Hanson Ms. Bowers distributed addendums to the Parks and Recreation Department's budget. She explained that Cape View Park and Banana River Park Costs have been corrected showing the new expenditures. Mayor Randels thanked Ms. Hanson for the work completed on the parks. Mayor Randels stated that council does not expect profit from parks only to provide a needed service. Ms. Hanson explained that she is anticipating a $30,000 county grant for the Cape View Park. She continued there is a good beginning at Cape View Park and additional items may be requested. She anticipates the ability to spend the additional money. Mr. Bruns inquired as to the status of Banana River Park and when the soccer field would be completed. Ms. Hanson responded that the soccer field grass is being seeded this week and Stottler Stagg is responsible for completing the soccer field, fencing, parking and fishing platform. Ms. Hanson noted that rye grass was installed in the wintertime to increase soil hold. Mr. Petsos City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Budget Workshop Meeting July 25, 2006 Page 2 of 6 questioned the length of time for project completion at over 18 months. Ms. Hanson stated that the playground equipment has been delivered and the grading begins today. The equipment would be installed on the south end of the park. Ms. Hanson responded to council that the fishing platform would not extend into the water. She is also requesting a small parking area to be installed near the playground equipment. Ms. Hanson replied that within the design/build contract 15 parking spaces were included. Mayor Randels noted his disappointment in the park not being built and maintained. Mayor Randels inquired about the county lifeguard contract. Ms. Hanson responded that the second year of the contract included a 50 percent increase and she had distributed a memo City Council addressing the increase. Ms. Hanson replied to Mr. Petsos that according to the county, the city has been underpaying for lifeguard services in past contract years. Mr. Petsos asked Mr. Boucher to meet with the fire department regarding potential lifeguard services. Ms. Hanson reminded that the current contract locks in this rate for one more year that includes one station and one rover patrol. Ms. Hanson responded to Mayor Randels that operating expenses declined due to added free activities pursued by the Recreation Coordinator like flag football, dodge ball, and basketball, which costs only city staff time. Mayor Randels asked if summer events would be canceled. Ms. Hanson replied that after fund review, the city decided not to subsidize for childcare. Ms. Hanson responded that she would look into summer activities and those funds could be reinstated to account 5211 in the amount of $5,000. Mr. Petsos requested additional summer programs and suggested combining the costs with special events for a total of $17,000 to utilize at the department head's discretion. Mr. Boucher interjected that some groups sponsor trips to football, baseball, and basketball games. Mr. Petsos inquired as to line item 4610 increasing. He requested that line items indicating drastic increases contain justifications in order to prevent duplicate questions. Ms. Hanson explained the increase as the painting of the recreation center assembly room and racquetball courts. Ms. Bowers explained potential new finance software she is investigating that would provide an avenue for inserting line item justifications. Ms. Bowers responded to Mayor Pro Tern Hoog that recreation revenues run close to $40,380 that does not include vending machines and retail sales. Ms. Hanson reminded City Council that she has requested the Recreation Coordinator position become a full time position. Legislative, Administration, Legal, Garbage, Business & Cultural Development and Non - Departmental Legislative: Mayor Randels summarized that the Legislative budget has decreased 16 %. City Council accepted this budget as submitted. City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Budget Workshop Meeting July 25, 2006 Page 3 of 6 Administration: Ms. Bowers explained that general insurance has increased 100% and property damage includes a $25,000 increase, which covers only 2 months. Therefore line item 4500 will be affected for all accounts across the board. There was a short intermission at 5:30 p.m. Mr. Robert Lucas from Senator Nelson's office obtained photographs of the City Council Annex for review. Senator Nelson would like to utilize the annex for a town hall meeting. The workshop resumed at 5:35 p.m. Administration: Ms. Bowers continued that capital items have increased due to the future purchase of new finance software. Ms. Bowers explained that she has reviewed software for a number of years and new software is essential in order to lower the increasing use of man - hours. She continued that the current software has many known glitches, which have caused increased work hours in locating the errors. Ms. Bowers responded that she reviewed a new software program called MainStreet and costs allocated will cover installation and training. Mr. Bruns voiced concern regarding the effect any new software would have on the City's excellent audit status. Mr. Petsos requested that the new software install be completed sooner rather than later and set as a priority. Ms. Bowers stated that it might be possible to have the payroll portion of the program up and running by January 1, 2007. City Council approved the administrative budget with no significant changes. Legal Services Mayor Randels summarized total legal services as $132,000, a 17% increase over last year's budget. Council approved the Legal Services budget as submitted. Solid Waste: Ms. Bowers responded to council that line item 4910 was based on what the city paid this year for the public notice in the newspaper. Ms. Bowers explained that the Finance department tracks which businesses have dumpsters and how often they are serviced. When a building comes on line with a certificate of occupancy the department works with Waste Management to set up the dumpsters and coordinates with the City of Cocoa on billing. Ms. Bowers reported that line 4330 listing $1,200 is the amount that the county charges the city at the completion of the year. Mr. Hoog voiced his concerns regarding Waste Management. Mr. Boucher replied to Mr. Hoog that there is a meeting scheduled with Waste Management tomorrow to discuss any reoccurring issues. Mr. Petsos asked Mr. Boucher to explain exactly what will be discussed at the meeting to ensure all points would be addressed. Mr. Petsos continued City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Budget Workshop Meeting July 25, 2006 Page 4 of 6 that this is month three of the new cart program and problems are increasingly worse. Mr. Boucher responded to Mayor Randels that not everyone has received their carts. Business &Cultural Development Board: Mayor Pro Tern Hoog explained that some residents were asked questions they were unable to answer because they were not educated on the issue. He asked for future surveys that the residents be aware and educated on the issues prior to submitting the survey questions. Ms. Hanson questioned if non - residents who own city property can also take the survey. The previous survey only allowed city residents to participate. Ms. Shannon Roberts, Business & Cultural Development Board, explained that the next survey would be a businesses survey and the additional survey will be used to poll residents while the snowbirds are in town. Council accepted the budget as submitted. Non - Department Ms. Bowers noted that these items are non - department items and are not transferable to individual departments. She explained that this year the city is not setting $200,000 aside for street resurfacing and the balance is coming from reserves now. Next year the city will begin setting aside the $200,000 again for street repaving. Ms. Bowers stated that contingency is not set as of yet, and insurance premiums will most likely wipe out significant contingency. She continued that the health insurance bid would also be drawing on more reserves. Special Revenue Funds: Police Education Fund Ms. Bowers explained that the contract account aims at accruing $10,000 per year but the amount is dwindling because it is based on tickets written. Mr. Boucher will review how the city can cover costs associated with this item. Fire Protection Fund: There were no questions regarding this budget. Library Fund Ms. Bowers explained that the ad valorem tax is used to maintain the exterior of the library. Estimated income for the library is $67,000. Mr. Boucher stated that the new library sign will be installed by the end of the fiscal year. Mr. Bruns noted that the Library is at capacity the majority of the time. Mayor Randels passed on to council that Isabel Escapa, Library Director, may request more parking on the east side of the Library. Mayor Randels noted that Library ad valorem taxes might need to be increased to cover the costs of insurance due to the lack of cash forward in this account. City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Budget Workshop Meeting July 25, 2006 Page 5 of 6 Capital Expansion Fund Ms. Bowers summarized an anticipated decrease in revenues by 41%. Ms. Bowers said these funds have taken an interest hit and she had calculated assumptions based on a thriving economy. She continued that should gas prices continue to increase, and continuing future problems in the Middle East, we are likely going to take an additional registry hit. Mayor Randels completed review of this fund noting $86,000 budgeted for two new deputies and $100,000 set aside for city hall campus engineering design. General Fund Revenue Ms. Bowers referred to the updates in the hand out. She explained that the ad valorem taxes for Police and Fire were updated to reflect a 39% increase. The local option gas tax increased to 7% instead of 1% on line 312. Ms. Bowers asked Ms. Hanson whether the $30,000 in grant funds should be budgeted this year or next year. Ms. Bowers chose to add this grant amount as cash forward. She continued that the Fire budget increased $15,000. Review of Ad Valorem Taxes Ad valorem taxes were reviewed: Police 1.5620 mil, Fire 1.0200 mil, Beautification 0.3680 mil and Library 0.0500 mil. Mayor Randels summarized that the city is collecting 39% more revenue. Mayor Randels expressed that the city wants to maintain the present level of service plus the city is ,+ providing additional services that have never been done before. He explained that new residents have moved into the city and brought in revenue of over $1.189 million not including ad valorem revenues equaling over 2 million. Mr. Bruns stated that meeting status quo is all a part of doing business and the city is not always going to be able to put money away for future projects. Mr. Boucher stated that the Fire Chief has budgeted for a new firehouse in the amount of $2.6 million and the new city hall /police facility has not been completed. Mr. Petsos asked about bonding the additional money before rates go down and moving forward with the street paving and new facilities. Mr. Petsos also requested revisiting the request for the two new deputies. Mayor Pro Tem Hoog stated that the Commander has a large pool of deputies to pull from. Mr. Petsos requested an additional workshop regarding the request for two new deputies due to the new information council received today. Mr. Boucher inputted that Council should look at balancing the needs of the people, the departments, and the structure needs for the fire and sheriffs department. Mr. Boucher explained that the City Planner projects a population of 13,500 at city build -out. Mr. Boucher asked if Council wanted to discuss further information from Chief Sargeant regarding the new fire station. Mr. Boucher explained that the city charter would have to be amended in order for the city to help with a new fire station. Mayor Randels asked if the City Attorney could draft an ordinance and ballot question for the next council meeting. Council concurred. Council requested a workshop with Chief Sargeant to discuss options for a new fire facility. City of Cape Canaveral, Florida City Council Budget Workshop Meeting July 25, 2006 Page 6 of 6 City Council concurred that they would maintain the millage rate at 3.0 mil. Five -Year Capital Improvements Mayor Randels asked about the Public Works operations building because he had heard employees do not have a decent place to change clothes. Mr. Gardulski replied that this would include phase II of the engineering project located on page 96. Mr. Gardulski explained that he is still working on the numbers for the out - years. He continued the line item for the operations building for the year 2006/2007 should contain funds in the amount of $65,000 and 2007/2008 should contain funds in the amount of $400,000. Mr. Gardulski stated that Brown and Caldwell would need to know about the changes and expansion for the rate study. Mayor Pro Tern Hoog expressed the unsightliness of lilt station number 5 in Treasure Island. Mr. Gardulski replied that lift station number 5 would be completed this year. Mayor Pro Tern Hoog requested that funds be allocated for updates and future plans. Mr. Gardulski will plan future project funds for upgrades in the out - years. Mr. Petsos asked that departments insert anticipated grant funds in all long term projects to ensure money is set aside. Mr. Boucher mentioned the need for a park in north area of the city and possibly a park at Carver's Cove and "Sunset Park ". Council discussed a lot located at the 300 block of Longpoint Road called "Sunset Park ". "Sunset Park" is a 7 to 9 acre lot donated to the city in the 1970's. Council requested that funds be set aside for parks in the following areas: Park in the north area of the city, funds for the purchase of Carver's Cove, and "Sunset Park" located on Sunset Road. Mayor Randels asked about the sewer line being installed near Purcell's. Mr. Gardulski replied that the developers would have to head straight east toward the canal area. Mayor Randels also inquired about the sewer line for 400 Imperial Boulevard. Mr. Boucher announced the next budget meeting Monday, July 31, 2006 at 5:30 p.m. to set the tentative proposed millage rate. He also announced the moratorium meeting at 5:30 p.m. on July 26, 2006. Mr. Boucher announced a request for a special meeting on July 31, 2006 from Mr. Art Berger. Mr. Boucher passed the request to Council Members for 3 signatures as required by city codo..,.., . , ADJOURNMENT. There being no further business, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 8:00 P.M. Virginhffiaas, Assistant City Clerk IL