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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/25/2014 Study Session MinutesSTUDY SESSION MINUTES 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, Marana, Arizona 85653 Council Chambers, March 25, 2014, at or after 6:00 PM Ed Honea, Mayor Jon Post, Vice Mayor David Bowen, Council Member Patti Comerford, Council Member Herb Kai, Council Member Carol McGorray, Council Member Roxanne Ziegler, Council Member STUDY SESSION CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL. Mayor Honea called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Town Clerk Bronson called roll. All Council Members were present. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/INVOCATION/MOMENT OF SILENCE. Led by Mayor Honea. APPROVAL OF AGENDA. Motion to approve by Council Member McGorray, second by Council Member Bowen. CALL TO THE PUBLIC. No speaker cards were presented. DISCUSSION/DIRECTION/POSSIBLE ACTION D 1: Presentation: Relating to Public Works; a presentation on the Town of Marana's Capital Improvement Program. Introduced with an overview of the preliminary 2015-2019 capital improvement projects by Gilbert Davidson. Jennifer Christelman presented the preliminary plan under Community Initiative 2.b of the Strategic Plan. She then gave some history of projects currently in construction or being completed this year. She noted that the process this year is slightly different from previous years in that using larger, master planned documents give staff better direction. Staff collected the projects identified in the strategic plan, by Council, public requests and then departmental requests. From there, the projects were taken to the CIP evaluation committee for ranking. The next step was to work with Finance for a 5-year period of budget March 25, 2014 Study Session Minutes projections. Then they looked at how they could save money by combining projects as well as using the internal capacity of staff rather than outsourcing i.e. managers at risk. The first step was the evaluation criteria was looking at each project and determining whether the town was contractually obligation to the project, how it aligned with town goals, departmental priorities, outside funding sources, the effects on operation and maintenance costs, and the effect on town revenues. After the projects were ranked, the committee attempted fit them into the 5-year plan, with the highest ranked projects occurring earlier. Looking at the Projections Summary table, renewable resource and wastewater infrastructure studies are not completed, so were unable to be assigned program dollars. She also noted that projections could change depending on the volatility of the economy. Preliminary Projects were categorized by: engineering, parks, airport and water and wastewater. Avra Valley Road came on to the list late due to the development of the landfill and the need to restore the road. Tangerine Road Phase I and the Ina Road bridge is also on the list for construction while money is being compiled to complete the project. The parks projects include the Heritage Farm Project. The splash pad is currently under design. The Heritage Park Ranch number is based on the DCR estimate, although the scope hasn't been finalized. This is a placeholder number and could change. The overall heritage park which includes conference centers and more park amenities, and the dollar amount assigned is also a placeholder. There are also some improvements included for Ora Mae Harn Park as well as trails and a park on the east side of I-10 along the Tangerine corridor. Next, she discussed airport projects. The money for the airport is leveraged by local dollars. Water and wastewater numbers are strictly a projection based on need. She emphasized that this is not what can actually be funded until studies are completed. Open discussion with Council ensued. Jennifer noted that this program is not reflective of any of the pavement preservation programs. There will be more funding to be allocated to that program in the operating budget, not in the capital budget. Mr. Kmiec clarified one item on water and wastewater. Gilbert Davidson summarized the list of projects, which were either enhancements or retrofits of things that have become outdated. With regard to the police facilities, that can be added in upon Council recommendation. He laid out all the possible revenue options such as a property tax upon voter approval; a secondary property tax for a specific project which would also require voter approval; impact fees such as a public safety impact fees for the purpose of accommodating future growth; dedicated sales tax which the Council has the authority to impose; uncommitted new sales tax; one-time use of RICO dollars seized through law enforcement activities; town-owned property at interchanges where the town could trade out property with someone else's or sell; the Marana Operations Center could potentially be put up for sale; and then the use of reserves. That would probably be a one-time buy-down. Each option is open to several layers of discussion. Next, he talked about possible locations for the police facility. The first option is do nothing which could present March 25, 2014 Study Session Minutes problems as Marana grows; the Marana Municipal Complex could be retrofitted or the entire area could be modified by using the additional vacant pads; and same with the MOC which could be gutted then rebuilt; the Twin Peaks interchange could be traded for other property, or a lease, lease/rent situation. He noted that there is no place in Marana designed as a public safety compound. Chief Rozema briefed Council on the goals which are enhancing and improving police service delivery; providing our community and personnel with a fully functional police facility; increasing work efficiency; continuing to build on our efforts to be an organization of excellence; and to ensure compliance with the state and federal requirements as well as best practices for public safety facilities. Council Member Bowen asked about the priorities established in 2008 —safe, clean and healthy. He stated that public safety is a priority, and he would like to see done what will accomplish that. Vice Mayor Post asked for more options to enable Council to give better direction. He would like to see this proposal fleshed out more, especially regarding cost. Mr. Davidson noted that staff agreed, and noted that tonight's prese�ntation was not intended to provide a lot of detail, but rather to determine if Council wanted staff to pursue moving forward. Further, some of the revenue options entail a lot more research and what the legal mechanisms would be. There has been a lot of feedback over the past month for determining options. Council Member Kai asked about response time in regard to some of the options. Chief Rozema stated that currently we have excellent response times; but we are seeing increases in every category from Priority 1 to Priority 5. Council Member McGorray asked if Chief knew how much money would be available in the RICO account, and he thought approximately $1.1M. Council Member Ziegler is a proponent of a new facility and she would like to see more detail so that they could move forward on the project. Chief Rozema noted that the estimates from one company are about $15M for a 45,000 square foot building. That size of a facility would accommodate the growth over the next 20-25 years. It is better to build what we need from the beginning rather than piecemeal as we go along. Council Member Ziegler asked if this could be put on a future ballot as a secondary tax. Mr. Davidson responded that this is an option, and while there is widespread support for the Marana police department, there is current debate around adding to the regional secondary tax already in place. For $15M, we would create about $1 M in annual debt. Mr. Montague stated that most of our debt is 20-year debt and is structured to meet the town's cash flow perspective. Vice Mayor Post stated that he is not a fan of property tax. He believes that enough sources of funding have been identified to acquire monies to get us pretty far down the road for a$15M facility together with staff resourcefulness, so he thinks it is premature to talk about property taxes. He would like to see staff move forward toward a first-class facility. Council Member Comerford asked if the $15M facility includes the cost to relocate the public works facility. Chief Rozema didn't know about that possibility, but the appraisal on the MOC should be available this week. Council Member Comerford believes it has been clearly demonstrated that something needs to be done. She believes it could be a combination of funds to get us where we need to be. If the MOC is sold, both police and public works will have to be relocated. She would like more information on feasibility. March 25, 2014 Study Session Minutes Mr. Davidson commented that this is the kind of discussion and direction staff has been looking for. There are a number of moving pieces, including the public works piece. On the public works side, the biggest expense will be the shops. One of the long-term strategic opportunities is getting the water and wastewater component in north Marana where most of our customers are located. So that is part of the game plan to get them to north Marana. Council Member Bowen asked about the possibility of a build/leaseback which wasn't mentioned tonight. What is that possibility? Mr. Davidson noted that he only identified the revenue streams which are critical. Council Member Bowen asked about the Ina Road bridge construction and how that will impact the police ability to respond to calls. Mr. Davidson noted that there is the ADOT managed interchange project coming on board soon, and they've looked at including the Ina Road bridge with that which should be kicked off in 2016. Vice Mayor Post asked if it is too late to put in for an impact fee for public safety. Keith Brann responded that it's never too late to create a new six-month process, and in fact, Oro Valley is currently studying a police impact fee. Mr. Davidson stated that staff can continue to work on ways to come up with a creative funding program. Mayor Honea said he is concerned about spending large amounts of money since there are some big ticket items coming due. He would support an impact fee, but would rather modify the two existing facilities we have. He would like to figure out how to accomplish everything. Mr. Davidson said that upon Council direction, this project will be added into the CIP budget for next year and will be reviewed annually. Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.03 (A)(3), Council may ask for discussion or consultation for legal advice with the Town Attorney concerning any matter listed on this agenda. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Notwithstanding the mayor's discretion regarding the items to be placed on the agenda, if three or more Council members request that an item be placed on the agenda, it must be placed on the agenda for the second regular Town Council meeting after the date of the request, pursuant to Marana Town Code Section 2-4-2(B). ADJOURNMENT. Motion to adjourn at 7:09 p.m. by Vice Mayor Post, second by Council Member Bowen. Passed unanimously. CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing are the true and correct minutes of the Marana Town Council meeting held on March 25, 2014. I further certify that a quorum was present. � -i►_ ��� - -'-�.� 1 � - I�C • � • I March 25, 2014 Study Session Minutes