HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/30/2004 Adjourned Meeting .433
ADJOURNED MEETING
NOVEMBER 30, 2004 - 8:00 A.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBERS - CITY HALL
1. RoII Call
Present:
Council: Mayor Paul George, presiding, Council Members Ron Bonlender,
Dave Edler, Neil McClure, Mary Place (absent and excused after 9:50 a.m.),
and Bernard Sims,
Staff: City Manager Zais, Budget and Finance Director Anson, and City
Clerk Roberts
Absent: Susan Whitman (excused)
2. Executive Session regarding pending litigation
PLACE MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO MOVE INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION
FOR APPROXIMATELY 40 MINUTES WITH ADJOURNMENT TO THE BUDGET
REVIEW THEREAFTER. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote; Whitman
absent.
BUDGET REVIEW
The meeting resumed at 8:02 a.m.
3. CITY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
• City Council (Budget Page B -1)
City Manager Zais explained that the setting of salaries for elected officials
is governed by state law. No increase is permissible during a term of office.
Council Member Sims asked the Legal Department to check on how the
County Commissioners receive pay raises. Mayor George commented that
it is time to look into the City Council's compensation as it hasn't been
revised for five years.
• City Manager (Budget Page B -4)
City Manager Zais advised that the Assistant City Manager, Glenn Rice, is
retiring; as a result, the budget reflects a substantial one -time expense for
his cash -out and retirement provisions. The replacement process will begin
in December or January. A reduced salary rate is factored into this budget.
• Legal (Budget Page B -7)
Ray Paolella, Helen Harvey, and Cynthia Martinez, were available for
questions. The Legal staff consists of 14.44 FTEs, which does not reflect
the approved .3% tax increase. That will be an increase of a full time
prosecutor and a legal assistant.
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ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW
NOVEMBER 30, 2004
Mr. Paolella explained that the City is a full- service city with a population of
80,000 and has a wide variety of legal issues generating a huge volume of
legal work. There are eight attorneys, four of which are exclusively in
prosecution work. The other four handle the civil matters. The volume has
risen over the years and it is no longer possible for the four attorneys
handling civil law to cover it all. As a consequence, we must rely on outside
private attorneys and law firms, particularly in specialized areas of the law
such as bond counsel, utility work, and NPDES permitting. These are
highly specialized areas and it is challenging to find the level of expertise in
the local community. In some areas there are none. Mr. Paolella also
noted there is a large increase in the need for land use and zoning litigation
and went on to discuss the lack of available specialists in the area. Also
discussed were the quantity of damage claims each year. •
• Records /City Clerk (Budget Page B -13)
City Clerk Roberts gave an overview. Staffing level has not changed.
Because 2005 is not an election year, Election expenses were dramatically
reduced. Council Member McClure expressed concern about the workload
in the department and asked about potential staff retirements. Although the
City Clerk is putting more information on the web site hoping to lessen some
workload, we are discovering that, in itself, requires a lot of preparation
work.
• Human Resources (Budget Page B -17)
Archie Sutton, Human Resource Manager, commented that their budget is
basically the same as 2004. Due to Council questions, the potential of
eliminating Civil Service was discussed. Mr. Sutton commented that he did
not think that would save a great deal of work as there would still be a
process that must be gone through. Medical insurance and workman's
compensation were discussed. The City is self- insured for medical,
unemployment, and workers' compensation, and has a wellness program.
Mr. Sutton displayed a chart depicting the labor intensive workman's
compensation process of which we average about 90 claims a year.
Recurring industrial accidents in Refuse led to a decision to reform the
division to an automated system. With regard to the medical plan, the City
has been self- insured for over 20 years and has a board of employee
representatives that make a conscious effort to look at cost containment
measures. The health plan has been audited a number of times by the
State of Washington and has received recognition as being the best self -
insured plan in the state. (Council Member Place absent after 9:45 a.m.)
• Purchasing (Budget Page B -38)
Sue Ownby, Purchasing Manager, gave an overview of the bidding process
and also spoke about utilizing state contracts or piggybacking on other's
contracts.
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ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW
NOVEMBER 30, 2004
Glenn Rice, Assistant City Manager, commented that these three small
divisions are really thin and very professional. He implored Council to watch
them carefully as they are taken for granted and yet are critically important.
City Manager Zais also pointed out the collective bargaining negotiations
that take place noting it takes a lot of time and effort to negotiate each
contract.
Council Member Edler commented on how labor costs are the major
expense that the City deals with. As the initiative process is limiting our
ability to acquire funding to operate the City more and more, it seems we are
closer to it starting to affect services and the standard of living. He asked if
the Human Resource Department and the City's management are working
on being a part of the solution. He suggested that we need a think tank to
help address these issues. He expressed concern that, with regard to labor
costs, we'll reach a point where we'll have to say we have $17 an hour jobs
not $24. Mr. Zais discussed contingency planning, trying to work with
legislation, regionalization, and the challenges we struggle with in this realm.
Council Member Edler again emphasized the need to look to the future and
a "think tank" idea with the unions being involved and invested.
Following a short recess, the meeting resumed at 10:45 a.m.
• Wastewater (Budget Page B -41)
Doug Mayo, Wastewater Manager, and Max Linden, Utility Engineer, were
available for questions. Mr. Mayo noted that since the odor litigation settled
last year they are now in a position to address capital needs at the plant.
Wastewater is a 24 -hour a day operation with 66 employees. The 2004
Mandated Wastewater Facility Plan was presented to Council recently and sz
calls for $26.1 million in improvements over the next six years. City
Manager Zais outlined the funding for those improvements. Mr. Mayo gave
a general review of the Rudkin Road pump station and the Pretreatment
Program.
• Water (Budget Page B -76; Policy Issue Page PI -9) and
• Irrigation (Budget Page B -102)
Dave Brown, Water and Irrigation Manager, reminded Council that the
decision on the policy issue for the domestic water rate adjustment was
Scenario A, and would be 12% for 2005. He also gave an overview of
modifications at the Naches River Water Treatment facility and other issues,
such as needed updates to meet permit requirements and mandates. City
Manager Zais discussed upgrade needs and how we are looking at other
revenue sources beyond the rates. Mr. Brown mentioned that they are
losing four long -term employees and have had to budget for cash outs. He
also gave a status report on the irrigation system at the intersection of
Highway 12 and Fruitvale Boulevard and the 308 System replacement
project. Mr. Brown also reviewed the various boards he is on, coordination
efforts with the Department of Transportation on the lower Naches Reach,
as well as 16 Avenue, and the liaison work` on the Black Rock Project.
Ti •
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ADJOURNED MEETING — BUDGET REVIEW
NOVEMBER 30, 2004
• Library (Budget Page 1 -2)
City Manager Zais described the budget reduction process the City had to
go through and how the Library funding was reduced by approximately
$100,000. Monica Weyhe, Director of the Yakima Valley Regional Library
System, distributed their preliminary 2005 budget. She went on to describe
the system and its history. She noted that the City of Yakima's appropriation
equates to about 30% of their funding but about 40% of the libraries are
located in the city. Mrs. Weyhe reviewed the detail of the budget she had
distributed and described how every time the City has an annexation the
Library's revenue is reduced. She compared what the city would be paying
if they paid at the levy rate rather than by appropriations. She suggested
the City of Yakima might choose to annex to the library district. Mr. Zais
explained the reason annexation is unattractive to city of Yakima. (Council
Member Edler absent after 12:00 noon).
Mrs. Weyhe discussed the details of their expenditures and upgrade needs.
She reviewed their contingency reduction plans. She then surprised Council
with an offer to purchase the land under the downtown library building. It
sits on eight lots; two are owned by the library district and six are owned by
the City. She said they are proposing making a one -time payment of
$100,000 for 2005 and paying the difference the following year. This would
buy time to study different funding options. They hope to pass a bond to
redo the whole library, but are concerned about having sufficient ongoing
operating and maintenance costs. She described this as a win /win situation
for the City and the Library.
City Manager Zais explained that he just received this proposal and
suggested it be added as a policy issue in the budget wrap -up scheduled for
December 7 He said the proposal merits consideration but is only a year
to a year and a half solution and we need time to look at other choices. He
clarified for Council that this offer means the City would maintain the current
level of funding for the library. In return, the library would buy the property
and make a cash payment next year getting the money out of their reserves.
This would keep the revenue situation neutral.
4. Adjournment
McCLURE MOVED AND SIMS SECONDED TO ADJOURN TO 8:30 A.M.
DECEMBER 7, 2004 FOR THE BUDGET WRAP UP SESSION. The motion
carried by unanimous roll call vote; Edler, Place, and Whitman absent. The
meeting adjourned at 12:50 p.m.
READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY
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CO NCIL MEMBER DATE
ATTEST:
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CITY CLERK PAUL P. GEORGE, AYOR
Minutes prepared by Linda Watkins. An audio and video tape of this meeting are available in the City Clerk's Office
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