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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991-06-09 MinutesMINUTES OF A RETREAT MEETING OF THE CITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS A Retreat Meeting of the Fayetteville City Board of Directors was held on Wednesday, January 9, 1991 at 9:15 a.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. PRESENT: Mayor Fred S. Vorsanger and Directors Bob Blackston, Dan Coody, Michael Green, Julie Nash, and Shell Spivey, City Manager Scott Linebaugh, City Attorney Jerry Rose, and City Clerk Sherry Thomas. ABSENT: CALL TO ORDER Director Ann Henry The meeting was called to order by the Mayor, with six directors present. He pointed out that no official action can be taken at the retreat meeting. Larry Wood from the Regional Planning Commission presented the Board with a letter containing the activities of the Commission. The highlights of letter included: ELDERLY AND HANDICAPPED TAXI PROGRAM He stated that the Commission takes all of the cost and trip information from the taxi company, computerizes it, and then provides the staff and Board members with an annual report showing the effectiveness of the program. A-95 REVIEW PROCESS This is the process mandated by the President of the United States, and administered by the Office of Management and Budget. It is not a mandatory thing that has to be done, but if the state chooses to do the A-95 Process, then the Governor appoints a local agency to do the review. The Regional Planning Commission is the appointed local agency. The Commission reviews all applications for federal funds made by agencies within the jurisdiction of the Regional Planning Commission. Not all applications are required to be reviewed, such as the Community Development Block Grant Application. CENSUS The Regional Planning Commission participates with, the Census Bureau in what is called the "Neighborhood Census Package." This package provides detailed information about an area and was started, in 1980. They also participate, in cooperation with the Highway Department, with the study of traffic patterns for the urbanized 47 areas. Y • 24 Z5 January 9, 1991 Wood further explained that everything that is on the "front line" now was started by the Regional Planning Commission. Such as solid waste, Northwest Arkansas Solid Waste Authority, Resource Recovery Authority, etc. If there is a problem recognized by several units of government, the Commission will offer those cities options. The Commission helps them form an Authority and after that they only provide technical assistance. The Commission did the original study in 1969 on the Regional Airport. That issue was not successful then and has not come up since then until the Northwest Council was formed. The Commission plays a technical support role in this area. He discussed the fact that the ability for the Commission to do meaningful regional studies has been severely restricted due to no financial assistance. Wood stated that the $27,000 fee for being a member of the Regional Planning Commission would include work the Commission might perform for the City. He reported to the Board that the total budget for 1990 was $230,000, which is disproportionate to the normal budget, in that it includes the 9-1-1 work. The budget for the Commission normally runs approximately $170,000. The Commission employs seven staff members at this time, with the Commissioners being a voluntary position. Wood stated in response to a question by Shell Spivey that the other cities in our area were afraid of incineration and were not convinced that is what the area needed and, therefore, dropped out of the Commission. They knew they would have to participate in capital costs, and they were not willing to commit to that. There were only three that were willing to make that commitment. Blackston inquired about the availability of reports made by the Commission. He stated that there seemed to be a total lack of information for the Board to review while in the process of making the decision to further include the Regional Planning Commission in their Budget. Wood responded by saying that the reports were available from the office of the Regional Planning Commission. Green commented that he visualized the Planning Commission's role in the future of Northwest Arkansas, as mainly a technical advisor because the Commission does not have the money to hire in consultants or offer any services beyond what Staff is capable of doing at this point. Wood said the Commission would act as a catalyst for regional conversation and regional decisions if they need to be made. The problem that has been experienced is that the cities like to talk jointly about issues, but they don't like to solve the issues jointly, and that makes it very difficult. Wood commented on the fact that Fayetteville's planning department has had an influence on actual services that the Regional Planning Commission is providing the City, in terms of contact. 1 • • L .January 9, 1991 Spivey asked how the Planning Commission's funding was generated." Wood explained that $120,000 of the Commission's budget is membership fees and the rest is transportation monies. Transportation is the only area that they get funds from with the exception of the state providing $30,000 per year to each of the metropolitan planning organizations across the state. Wood stated that the incinerator problem has had an affect on interest in jointly talking about things. When the Regional Solid Waste Authority was split off into the Resource Recovery Authority, that had an impact on the willingness of various political leaders to talk with the Commission. Vorsanger asked how the City would handle the A-95 Review if they were not a part of the group. He asked if all federal and state applications for financing would go through the Commission's office for review. Wood responded by saying that most likely they would have to continue to review those things, even if the City did not belong to the Commission. The Regional Planning Commission has to recommend those applications before they are approved. The Regional Planning Commission is 25 years old this year and has played a positive role in transportation alone. Before the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission was formed, the Highway Commission in Little Rock would have to be approached with any concerns. The smaller cities reap the biggest benefit from the Commission. There are some issues that still remain that are going to have to be discussed on a regional basis, such as Solid Waste, Water Quality, etc. Vorsanger explained that a motion was passed January 4, 1991, to not fund the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission. At this meeting, the Board is being asked if they would like to reconsider this motion. Linebaugh stated the consensus of the Staff is basically that everyone is in agreement with the summary that Mr. Woods gave about the fact that there are a lot of regional issues to be dealt with in the future. He explained that the problem the Board is:seeing is that they are not using the Regional Planning Commission to deal with these issues. He stated that the City is capable of dealing with most of these issues. Mr. Wood stated that he has obtained a degree in Urban and Regional Planning and Bob Harlan has an Administrative degree in Architecture. These are the only degreed employees of the Commission. Coody, seconded by Nash, made a motion to re -consider the Planning Commission funding for the 1991 Budget. • • 26 • January 9, 1991 Blackston stated that due to the fact that Director Henry was not present, he requested that the vote on this issued be delayed until her arrival. POLICE DEPARTMENT Linebaugh stated that it was the consensus of the Staff that there is a need for more police officers. He stated that the only way this could be done is if the Board is willing to cut other programs. The Drug Enforcement Grant is now a regional program with many other cities involved with Fayetteville acting as the lead city. He stated that the position of the Financial Analyst is being added. This will allow someone to do the day-to-day requirements for the grants. The capital expenditures have only increased an insignificant amount over last year for additional radios and vehicles purchased. The Drug Program is funded 75% through a federal grant. Vorsanger stated that he didn't know that the City paid for a school crossing guard. Linebaugh stated that the City pays for half of the crossing guards that are used to do the city streets where every school is located. Director Nash stated that she felt there was a need for more fire and police department personnel. She suggested dedicating more revenue, possibly from the Hot Check Program, to fund additional personnel for these departments. Police Chief Richard Watson stated that the Municipal League Defense Fund is a policy of insurance to insure the City against Civil Right actions. Staff is recommending that the policy be dropped. If you draw on the fund the contribution that they ask for next year will be incredibly high. The City has been in the fund for three to four years with an average contribution of $25,000 per year. Rose stated that he felt the same insurance could be obtained at a cheaper rate somewhere else, and without the limitations that the Municipal League Defense Fund has. Watson explained that the travel and training budget this year is $40,000 less than last year. Basically, the reason for the drop is that there were less funds available. That is one area that was targeted for reductions. He stated that if the Board decides to make further cuts in travel and training, then funding for state meetings will be cut and the City will lose the knowledge of how the other cities are handling items and how we can better handle situations that we have. These meetings have been very beneficial to these departments in the past. The amounts budgeted to different areas in regard to travel and training are as follows: • January 9, 1991,.4; 1) Police training - $19,420 2) Fire training - $ 7,240 3) Communications (Central dispatch) $ 7,600 4) Supervisory training - $22,000 5) Accounting training - $ 4,000 6) City Attorney's office - $ 3,000 In regard to the supervisory training, it was stated that the supervisors have had three training courses in the last 10 years. It is not nearly enough. The supervisors actually need more training. In answer to Nash's question,a lot of the training is done in-house. Nash stated she would like to see 15 new police officers and firefighters. She stated that these are basic services the City provides its citizens, and this would have a definite positive impact on economic development. Director Green stated that he definitely saw a need for additional fire and police personnel, but with the current economic status of the nation, he felt it was not a good idea to include this in the 1991 Budget at this time. However, as the year goes on, and things start to stabilize this could be an area for re -consideration. Spivey stated he would like to see parity in salaries with fire departments in the area as well as with other departments in the City. There are other departments in the City that are shorthanded as well. He stated that Fayetteville is not in a potentially life- threatening situation due to low staffing of either the police or fire departments. In addition, Fayetteville is not subject to a high crime rate. He stated he would be in favor of looking at crime rate statistics and using them to help determine the additional police and fire personnel that are actually needed. Green stated he agreed with taking a gradual approach to increasing both fire and police department personnel. Spivey stated the Board needs to rely on Mickey Jackson and Richard. Watson to let them know when the staffing situation becomes critical. Nash asked that staff prepare options on the amount of money available and the needs for additional personnel. Linebaugh listed three revenue categories that are being proposed for increases: (1) the county sales tax by $100,000 (2) the franchise tax by $17,000 (3) the permits and fees Zti Ly January 9, 1991 Judy Cohea explained that the original projections were made based on the county sales tax for the 1990 estimate. However, the actual receipts have been greater, so the projected 1991 revenue needs to be increased by $100,000. The same thing applies to SWEPCO. The franchise fee collected from SWEPCO in 1990 was greater than estimated; therefore, the 2% growth factor will be added and the 1991 revenue estimate needs to be increased. These are increases in the projection for 1991 meaning there will be more revenue available than earlier estimated. If the commercial residential franchise fees were increased by 1%, this would net the City approximately $315,000. If the property tax levy was increased up to 5 mills, this would increase the revenue by $720,000. Neither of these would take a vote of the people, it would only need the vote of the Board. If a one-half cent sales tax were to be dedicated to operations, this would net $2.5 million in annual revenue. This would require a vote of the people. If the current excess sales tax from capital projects were to be re -dedicated, that would net approximately $2 million. Again, if revenues were to be raised, the areas that would be recommended for increase would be the county sales tax or franchise tax. If it is the consensus of the Board that revenues cannot be increased, then a list of possible cut-backs have been provided the Board. Two of the possibilities are: (1) The lake maintenance program in the Parks and Recreation Department - If this were eliminated, the savings would be approximately $57,000. However, the City would lose roughly $27,000 worth of revenue, so that the net savings would be $30,000. (2) Basic services such as the animal shelter, parks and recreation, increase of personnel of police and fire, etc. will have to be cut back to save money. Vorsanger pointed out that if as much as 5% could be excised from the budget across the board, that would take care of the deficit. He stated that something such as this would have to be done in order to balance the budget. He felt that a tax increase could not be asked for until the Board had done everything they could, to reduce the budget themselves. He stated that the need to hire additional people in the fire and police departments was needed, but they should be hired only as revenues for the City increase. Linebaugh stated that the City had already cut these programs the past two years. He explained that by cutting things such as travel and training and publication dues, the City would only recognize a 1 ,January 9, 19914 v small amount of revenue, but not $500,000 without making operations very ineffective. He again pointed out that in a couple of years, the City will really be in a crunch. Revenues are going to have to be increased in order to maintain the funding level of the current programs and services the City offers. He stated the budget is a "bare bones" budget and has been cut back as far as possible. Blackston stated that there certainly were no easy solutions to decreasing the deficit. We are trying to balance the budget on one hand, but at the same time we are asking for additional personnel for police and fire departments. This cannot be accomplished all at the same time. It's like "pouring water on a grease fire." The consensus of the Board was that essentially, there is no other way to balance the budget other than to increase revenue in some way, although the Board was generally not in favor of a tax increase. Vorsanger asked the staff when they could get back to the Board with answers and recommendations raised in this session. Linebaugh stated that answers could be obtained and reported to the Board next week. He stated it would take a little longer to work on the additional fire and police personnel issue. VISITOR CENTER PROPOSAL Director Coody stated the importance to him of the development of four acres of land on the corner of Wedington and Garland for a visitor center. The center would differ from that of the Chamber of Commerce in that•a nature park would exist there, and the center would be in a main artery of town. He stated that it would be nice for the area to be landscaped such as the Fayetteville Square. Coody suggested that maybe some seed money could be used for this project on a pay-as-you-go basis. Mike Faupel representing the Northwest Arkansas Transfer of Public Alliance spoke to the Board regarding the proposed visitor center. He presented the Board with a handout on the subject.,, He stated that the visitor center would exist on a main artery of Fayetteville. He stated that he had talked to several people who have expressed interest in the development of a visitor center at this site. The trees that occupy this area have been there since the Civil War, and the feelings of the community are thatthe preservation of these trees would be an asset to the area. He further stated that he felt it would be appropriate for the City to own the property, but a joint ownership with the Chamber of Commerce could be solicited also. So far one fund raiser has been held, which raised approximately $3,000.. sU • • J 1 January 9; 1991 Vorsanger inquired how much -the City invested in Gully Park. Connie Edaonston, Parks and Recreation Department, reported that the 24 acre Gully Park amounted to a cost of $108,000. Steve Ward reported that the Chamber would be interested in taking a look further into the developments of a Visitor Center being constructed on this historic site. He stated there were several criteria that need to be considered including accessibility and traffic count and flow before a location could be decided upon. There was discussion about the time frame involved on the decision that would have to be made in regard to the development of this land. Mrs. Parsons (the landowner) has requested the City buy the land, and a payment plan could be worked out at a later date. Leverett School submitted a letter regarding their support of a visitor center located here due to the fact that three children have been hit by cars in the past. They feel a center of this kind would be more beneficial in regard to traffic flow than for a business which would only create more traffic for them to contend with. Richard Shewmaker addressed the Board saying that the director of Arkansas Parks and Tourism would be in the City soon, and they would work up advertising and promotion plans based upon survey work. There was discussion concerning the fact that the Board should use extreme caution and discretion in entering into a project of this magnitude. Linebaugh stated Staff would like to draw up a proposal on the nature park and get this information back to the Board. Green stated he would like to see something like this done if it could be done without taking funds away from other important projects. He does not feel the Board is at the point to ask Staff to prepare funding recommendations until other entities such as the Chamber of Commerce are consulted about the proposed visitor center. Coody stated it was a matter of priorities. He would like to see this visitor center built. Spivey stated he saw no problems with looking into the possibility of the visitor center, but he felt the price which is in excess of $60,000 per acre is too much. In addition, the $3,000 that has been raised by the fundraiser does not indicate a hugh groundswell of support by the citizens for this venture. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 12:07 p.m.