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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/27/1999 Study Session MinutesII. IlL MINUTES OF COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MARANA TOWN COUNCIL APRIL 27, 1999 PLACE AND DATE Marana Town Hall, April 27, 1999 CALL TO ORDER By Mayor Ham at 5:38 P.M. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Mayor Ham ROLL CALL COUNCIL Ora M. Harn Bobby Sutton, Jr. Ed Honea Herb Kai Sherry Millner Michael Reuwsaat Roxanne Ziegler Jim Blake Mayor Vice Mayor Council Member Council Member Council Member Council Member Council Member Council Member Elect Present Present Present Excused Excused Present Present Present IV. Mo STAFF Michael Hein Dan Hochuli Jocelyn Entz Roy Cuaron Frank Bandy Joel Shapiro Brad DeSpain Dave Atler Town Manager Town Attorney Town Clerk Finance Director Accountant/Budget Analyst Principal Planner Utilities Director Public Works Director/Engineer APPROVAL OF AGENDA A motion was made by Mike Reuwsaat, seconded by Bobby Sutton, to approve the agenda, as written. The motion carried 5/0. ORDER OF BUSINESS A. Discussion of Fiscal 1999-2000 Budget Mike Hein, Town Manager, informed the Council that due to scheduling mix-ups, Jerry Flannery, Development Services Administrator, would not be able to attend the meeting. Mr. Hein MINUTES OF COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MARANA TOWN COUNCIL APRIL 27, 1999 added that Jane Johnson, Human Resources Director, also would not be able to attend the meeting but that her department's budget had not fluctuated. Mr. Hein summarized the past budget meetings which included the Council's agreement on revenue estimates, fixed expenses, and departmental allocations with recommendations for staff appropriations. This information was distributed to the department heads along with a 2% increase in operating expenses. Additionally, personnel numbers were higher because of a small miscalculation in personnel benefits. Mike Hein stated that he was pleased with the department response and comments about the ease of this budget system. Mr. Hein complimented Roy Cuaron, and Frank Bandy, Accountant/Budget Analyst, on their outstanding job performance and for getting the information to the various departments. Mike Hein briefly explained the submitted budget spreadsheets, pointing out that all the major departments had been cut except for Personnel that had a new allocation for an MIS Director. Mayor Ham questioned the salary increases and Mike Hein responded that the increases represented a 2% cost of living allowance (COLA), the maximum merit opportunities for the staff, and any adjustments over the next year. Mr. Hein added that the tentative classification for the MIS Director based on the market analysis was high at $55,000 and coupled with the additional 22% for benefits, etc., would account for the majority of the increase. He further stated that this is the first year that the Finance Department had full staffing. Roy Cuaron stated that, if looking at the projected actual figures of $106,000, his department was not at full staffing until February, 1999. Mr. Cuaron further explained that $63,000 of the projected figure was for the MIS Director. Mayor asked when the MIS Director would join the Town staff. Mike Hein responded that this position would be filled after appropriate Council authorization, advertising, interviewing and selecting the final candidate. Mr. Hein added that he felt this process would be completed within sixty days of July 1, 1999. Council Member Reuwsaat stated that sixty days was an unrealistic expectation considering the professional level required to fill this type of position. MINUTES OF COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MARANA TOWN COUNCIL APRIL 27, 1999 Mike Hein explained that the Human Resources budget had no significant change and that the department had been utilizing part time assistance with their workload. Mr. Hein further stated that there had been good employee retention and major recruitment in the last year for some of the bigger searches conducted by the Town. Mike Hein stated that the Planning Department budget showed a decrease in the personnel figures mainly due to a shift of several positions from Planning to Development Services. Fie added that some of the support services had been split between the Planning and Building departments and that a request for a GIS technical position had been denied with a recommendation to use more internships to fill that position's needs. Mr. Hein commended Joel Shapiro, Principal Planner, for his excellent job performance. Vice Mayor Sutton questioned if the amount shown on the budget was sufficient for the cost of the internships required. Mr. Shapiro stated that he had experienced excellent results when utilizing the interns from the University of Arizona's Department of Geography and Regional Development. Fie planned to fill the Planning Department's requirements with an intern for ten to fifteen hours per week and a GIS intern for the remainder of a forty hour week. Mike Hein explained that Ken Lawrence, Director of Parks and Recreation, would be working on the Parks and Trails plan, Jerry Flannery would be overseeing the Santa Cruz River Corridor Plan, and Joel Shapiro would handle the rezoning issues and the Native Plant and Landscaping Ordinance. Council Member Reuwsaat requested that the Council discuss the Santa Cruz River Corridor Plan process, the Native Plant and Landscaping Ordinance, the Parks and Trails plan and Town Code zoning issues. Council Member Reuwsaat also voiced his concern that the Planning Department would not be able to handle the workload and specifically asked for a meeting with Mike Hein and Joel Shapiro to discuss setting priorities. He also stated that he would like to have a workshop on the significant land use change coding. There was a general discussion that followed involving all of the Council Members and their concern for ensuring that certain projects such as the Santa Cruz River Corridor project and the hard zoning issues are completed this fiscal year. The Mayor and Council offered their support to Mr. Shapiro in helping his department meet this goal. MINUTES OF COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MARANA TOWN COUNCIL APRIL 27, 1999 Mike Hein began discussing the Water Department budget at this time and commended Brad DeSpain, Utilities Director, for his admirable job working within the resources. Mr. Hein stated that, due to Mr. DeSpain's efforts and the Town's growth, Marana was able to provide a high quality water service to the Town's residents. Mayor Ham asked about the progress in providing water service to the Continental Ranch area. Brad DeSpain replied that the process was back on track with the City of Tucson personnel concerning this matter and an appraisal from Tucson should be available the first part of May, 1999. Additionally, Mr. DeSpain stated that an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Tucson had a tentative schedule date of July, 2000. He further stated that this aggressive plan gave the Town eighteen months to purchase wholesale water from the City of Tucson while implementing a Marana Water Department delivery system and that there are several alternatives available to the Town to move the process forward. A general discussion followed concerning the water delivery system including interconnecting systems, wholesale water pricing, engineering expenses, CIP funding, the proposed Tangerine water treatment plant, and the routine maintenance of the system. Brad DeSpain concluded the discussion by stating that the Marana area had maintained a gain of seven tenths of an acre foot per year since 1974 in our water table. Having maintained balanced basins, Mr. DeSpain felt that Marana should not have to be hindered by the numerous rules and restrictions of the ground water laws and in the future, with support from Buckeye, Arizona, Marana may approach the State to work out a compromise. Mike Hein moved into a discussion of the budget for the Building Services Department and stated that the significant changes were in department personnel due to Town growth and staffing demand. The office support assistant position was upgraded to a permit clerk position, and the office support assistant position shared with the planning department and a new plans examiner position had been included in the budget. Mike Hein began a discussion of the budget for Development Services under Jerry Flannery. Mr. Hein stated that included in this budget were the general receptionist, a new office support position that would be shared between the Planning and Building departments, and the VI. MINUTES OF COUNCIL STUDY SESSION MARANA TOWN COUNCIL APRIL 27, 1999 administrative assistant position, and the general inspector position, both transferred from the Planning & Building departments. He further stated that the budget included additional requests for professional services such as engineering studies and outside consultants. Fleet management of Town vehicles was another addition to Development Services budget. At this time, the Study Session was recessed at 6:50 P.M. and Vice Mayor Sutton was excused from the Study Session. Mayor Harn reconvened the Study Session at 7:07 P.M. The discussion moved to the Public Works Department. Dave Atler, Public Works Director/Engineer, gave a brief explanation of the presented budget and an account of some active projects in his department. Council Members Ed Honea and Roxanne Ziegler favored bringing some of the janitorial and maintenance services in- house by bringing more staff on board with the Town to cover such areas as landscape maintenance, graffiti abatement, and office maintenance. A general discussion followed about commercial versus residential zoning, road improvements related to Town growth, and updating the Town Code. Council Member Reuwsaat suggested that over the next year they look at having someone doing a market analysis on providing what are now contractual services done in-house. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS There were no further future agenda items. ~ by Council Member Mike Council Member Ed Flonea, seconded Reuwsaat made a motion, to adjourn. The motion passed 5]0. Time: 8:45 p.M. ERT~ 27, ~ . .-- minutes are the true and correct I hereby certifY that the toregOm~ a Town CounCil Stucly Session held on April 1999. I further ceruty ....