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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-26-1997 Minutes MINUTES MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN BERNARDINO RECESSED ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING JUNE 26, 1997 COUNCIL CHAMBERS This is the time and place set for reconvening the adjourned regular meeting of the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San Bernardino from the adjourned regular meeting held at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 25, 1997, in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 300 North "D" Street, San Bernardino, California. RECONVENE MEETING The adjourned regular meeting of the Mayor and Common Council of the City of San Bernardino reconvened at 5:32 p.m., Thursday, June 26, 1997, in the Council Chambers of City Hall. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by City Clerk Rachel Clark with the following being present: Mayor Minor; Council Members Negrete, Arias, Oberhelman, Devlin, Anderson, Miller; City Attorney Penman, City Clerk Rachel Clark, Acting City Administrator Wilson. Absent: Council Member Curlin. BUDGET DELIBERATIONS - FISCAL YEAR 1997/98 - DISCUSS & TAKE POSSIBLE ACTION (1) Reyes E. Rios, Chair of the Focus 92411 Board, submitted a letter dated June 26, 1997, expressing unqualified support for the entire San Bernardino City Library system. E. Guy Burdick, Fire Marshall, submitted a memorandum dated June 26, 1997, regarding Fire Prevention positions and fees. Mayor Minor announced that Timothy Steinhaus, Development Agency (EDA) Administrator, would be presentation on City projects which have been funded by what the City can expect from the EDA in the future. Economic making a the EDA and Administrator Steinhaus distributed a list of more than 60 City projects funded by the Agency over a five-year period. He pointed out that these projects were not funded by redevelopment monies or Community Development Block Grant funds. He also distributed a list of Economic Development Agency City obligations estimated for fiscal year 1996-97, as of June 25, 1997: and noted that if you put together all the projects, programs, and employee salaries that the EDA has paid for the City just this past year it totals a little over $8 million, with $1 million going for City salaries. - 1 6/26/97 Mr. Steinhaus noted that there would be $5,127,700 which would be available in the EDA budget for use by the City for fiscal year 1997/98. Discussion ensued regarding the possible sale of the EDA-owned Public Enterprise Building on the west side and what would happen to the Dorothy Inghram Library, as there is currently a prospective buyer who is interested in purchasing the building. Mr. Steinhaus informed the Council that the Public Enterprise Building costs the EDA approximately $152,000 to operate; however, they collect rent of only $65,000, equating to a shortfall of close to $90,000. He also pointed out that if the building does sell, the City would certainly have to pay rent to the new owner. Council Member Anderson suggested that now might be the time for the City to look into the free-standing library building, which has been tentatively planned for five years from now. Council Member Miller also pointed out that relative to the EDA paying the salaries of various City personnel, that the EDA is essentially paying for work performed for the Agency by said employees. Council Member Oberhelman stated that the important thing to remember is that the Council is the "Agency", and any decisions which have been made have been made by this "body." He stated that Mr. Steinhaus' presentation was a reminder that the Economic Development Agency is a legal instrument that allows the Council to generate money, essentially through incurring debt: and the Council has used this to meet some of their traditional municipal obligations. He added, however, that there are limitations, and that is what Mr. Steinhaus was trying to present. The Council proceeded to review the budget reductions which have already been made by various departments and which have been included in the preliminarv budqet. CITY ADM!N!STRATOR'S OFF!CE Acting City Administrator Wilson stated that the Assistant City Administrator position is currently vacant and will remain vacant for a potential cost savings of $108,700 which equates to approximately a 10 percent reduction for this department. 2 6/26/97 CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE City Attorney Penman reviewed his departmental budget reductions. He explained that ten years ago there were over 200 lawsuits against the City, many of which were nuisance lawsuits. As a result of a reduction in lawsuits and not filling two positions which are currently vacant, he was able to cut his budget by 10 percent. One (1) Sr. Deputy City Attorney - Currently vacant and will remain vacant. $100,500 One (1) Legal Secretary I - Currently vacant and will remain vacant. 36,900 Reduce litigation expenses - 15,900 Reduce outside attorney expenses - 40,700 TOTAL $194,000 CATV The Mayor noted that the Council had already taken action on this item by moving CATV to the Economic Development Agency for a total net savings of $339,300. MAYOR'S OFFICE Mayor Minor explained that Ray Salvador, Assistant to the Mayor, was spending 50-65 percent of his time at the stadium, which is currently owned by the Economic Development Agency (EDA). Therefore, the EDA will reimburse the City for 50 percent of the salary and benefits for this position, for a savings of $34,000. COUNCIL MEMBER CURLIN ARRIVED At 6:31 p.m. Council Member Curlin arrived at the Council meeting and took his place at the council table. MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SERVICES (MIS) Janis Ingels, Director of Management Information Services, enumerated the following proposals for achieving her department's 5 percent budget reduction, for a net savings of $102,600. Downgrade one Intermediate Programmer to a Programmer; Reduce funds for computer equipment by $4,000; No contingency funds budgeted for the upgrade project: Reductions in operating accounts. 3 6/26/97 Ms. Ingels noted that nine of the maintenance contracts would increase in cost next year: however, two County contracts would actually decrease. She also explained the formula she used to arrive at the departmental internal service allocations and answered questions regarding same. Council Member Oberhelman noted that there seemed to be a dramatic increase in the internal service charges: that approximately $300,000 of debt service had been allocated to all departments. He stated that this budget presumed that the City was going to spend the entire $3.7 million of bond money for the system upgrade. He added that since the debt service had been booked into the budget and the bond money had not been booked in, there was a $300,000 distortion of the budget. Responding to Council Member Oberhelman, Acting City Administrator wilson stated that Ms. Ingels had developed a reasonable formula for allocation of costs; and Barbara Pachon, Director of Finance, pointed out that the bond money is held by the trustee. PUBLIC SERVICES - FLEET DIVISION James Howell, Director of Public Services, explained in detail the reductions being made in the Public Services Fleet Division, which included reductions in fleet maintenance, parts support, and administrative staff, equating to a potential savings of $201,200. He also explained that the reason his budget had gone up last year was due to the start-up of the vehicle replacement program. Council Member Oberhelman stated he was having difficulty balancing the budget figures Mr. Howell had presented and inquired as to what budget figure Mr. Howell had started with prior to taking any deductions. At this time, Mayor Minor decided to take public comments in order to allow time for the Director of Finance to research Mr. Howell's beginning budget figures. (Note: Subsequently, Acting City Administrator informed the Council that Director of Finance Pachon would to the next budget session with a written report regarding Services budget figures.) wilson return Public Chris Shovey, 465 West 49th Street, San Bernardino, CA, stated that she has worked for the City for 30 years as a librarian and would be taking the Golden Handshake ahd retiring in August. She urged the Council to fund the California Room at the Feldheym Library, stating that it is used by many researchers, with staff answering from 300-400 questions each month. She added that it is 4 6/26/97 the repository of the former Norton Air Force Base papers and houses a collection of Kaiser Steel photos as well as a complete run of their publications. Charlotte Vaughn, 25637 Date Street, San Bernardino, CA, stated that she was a docent at the Callfornia Room and would like to see it kept open, particularly in view of its extensive use for genealogy research. Juanita Scott, 1734 West Virginia, San Bernardino, CA, urged the Council not to close the Inghram Library, that it is one library that pays its own way. She stated that she considers access to a library a great resource and many children use this library. RECESS MEETING At 6:58 p.m. Mayor Minor declared a ten-minute recess. RECONVENE MEETING At 7: 13 p. m. Mayor Minor reconvened the adj ourned regular meeting of the Mayor and Common Council in the Council Chambers of Ci ty Hall. r ROLL CALL Roll call was taken by City Clerk Rachel Clark with the following being present: Mayor Minor; Council Members Negrete, Curlin, Arias, Oberhelman, Devlin, Anderson, Miller; City Attorney Penman, City Clerk Rachel Clark, Acting City Administrator Wilson. Absent: None. BUDGET DELIBERATIONS - FISCAL YEAR 1997/98 - DISCUSS & TAKE POSSIBLE ACTION (1) RISK MANAGEMENT Ed Raya, Director of Risk Management, presented an overview of his proposed budget reduction measures including elimination of a part-time Liability Claims Specialist and reduction of various expenses for $144,600: and reduction of miscellaneous operating expenses for $132,900; for a total savings of $277,500. He noted that said budget reductions included reduced use of outside investigators, which would necessitate staff conducting the majority of investigations in-house, ha~dling the small litigated cases, and appearing at the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board hearings. City Attorney Penman pointed out that under the Charter, the City Attorney's office is responsible for defending all claims against the City: however, his office had permitted Risk Management to handle the Workers' Compensation claims because they hired the approved firm of Mark, Bolson, Kuntz and Serembe for these cases. 5 6/26/97 He added that it proposal had been decision process. was very disconcerting made without bringing to find that such a his office into the Mayor Minor complimented Mr. Raya on running a very professional operation and stated that the monies designated for outside attorney fees would be reinstated into Risk Management's budget. FIRE DEPARTMENT Since Fire Chief Pitzer had a severe case of laryngitis, it was the consensus of the Mayor and Council that he could make his presentation at the budget meeting scheduled for June 30. NORCAL PRESENTATION - BUDGET BENEFITS OF A WASTE DISPOSAL AGREEMENT WITH THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO Council Member Oberhelman stated that said presentation had to do with the long-term waste flow agreement (Tipping Fee Agreement) offered by the County of San Bernardino to all the cities in the area for use of its landfill system. He added that said agreement potentially represents an opportunity for the City to realize more than a $600,000 savings, and he had requested a presentation on how this long-term agreement would work. Martin Czerniak, P.E., vice President and Technical Director of NORCAL, speaking on behalf of the County, stated that the City of San Bernardino has been using the County landfill for many years and is recognized by the County as its biggest customer. He stated that a portion of what the City has been paying for use of the landfill goes into savings for capital development and outlined what the County is doing to develop its landfill assets for its customers. Mr. Czerniak explained that due t.o changes in the law, the County has a great deal of liability to ~ope with and they need the waste flow revenue from the cities to plan long-term on how to meet these responsibilities. Therefore, they are offering long-term contracts for use of their landfill system, and cities will receive a discount for participating in the agreement process. He continued to explain that there are two versions of the agreement being developed--a Participation and Services Agreement (PSA) , developed by the County, and a Waste Delivery Agreement (WDA) being developed by the cities. He noted that the terms of the agreement have not been settled, but the range of the agreement term would be from 10-25 years. 6 6/26/97 Discussion ensued regarding how this might affect our current budget situation, the amount of anticipated savings and how said savings would be calculated, and whether it would be possible for a city to withdraw from the agreement if they so desired. Mayor Minor stated that when the agreement was first drafted (twelve to eighteen months ago) he had made a decision that the City could not go with the agreement as presented at that time. He reminded the Council that the City has a very lucrative waste stream which is their leverage, and it would be unwise to move too quickly with the first agency that comes along with an offer. The Mayor informed the Council that he had authorized Mr. Wilson to encumber $2,000 as the City's share of a study to determine what direction the cities within the County should follow in this matter. He advised the Council that he did not want to commit to anything until the results of said study were available-- that essentially they had hired a negotiator to speak on the cities behalf. The Mayor acknowledged that Mr. Czerniak had made a very good offer; however, there might be something better and the cities need to be so informed. It was anticipated that the study would be completed in approximately 30 days. Harold Duffy, 5028 Wyche Court, San Bernardino, CA, stated that the County has discussed the possibility of having waste stream agreements since 1990, and cautioned the City to be very careful and to look at all the issues as they take this matter under consideration. PRESENTATION OF FINAL REPORT FROM THE BUDGET AD HOC COMMITTEE (Continued from June 25, 1997) (2) There was no discussion or action on this matter. ADJOURNMENT At 7:55 p.m. the meeting was adjourned to 5:30 June 30, 1997, in the Council Chambers of City Hall, Street, San Bernardino, California. (3) p.m., Monday, 300 North "D" By RACHEL CLARK City Clerk ~H~ Deputy City Clerk No. of Items: 3 No. of Hours: 2.5 7 6/26/97