City Council Committee of the Whole

CITY OF DUVALL CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MINUTES BUDGET WORKSHOP October 9, 2014 5:00 p.m. – Duvall Visitor Center – 15619 Main St. NE, Duvall Council present: Dianne Brudnicki, Leroy Collinwood, Scott Thomas, Becky Nixon, Gary Gill, Jason Walker, Amy Ockerlander Staff present: Steve Leniszewski, Carey Hert, Jill Long, Lara Thomas, Kass Holdeman, Jodee Schwinn, Steve Anderson – Municipal Consultant Scheduled Items: Police Department Budget Overview – Carey Hert, Police Chief Chief Hert distributed a handout detailing the proposed police budget for 2015. He highlighted three top Police Department priorities that were identified for 2014, and explained how the department worked to meet those priorities this year. The three top priorities were to establish transparency, become more involved in the community, and work through efficiencies including a reduction in overtime. He also briefly discussed the Family Medical Leave Act and noted that it has been something to work around as the department has had at least two officers out every month since last year. Currently, the department has four officers out on leave. He noted that current city policies are not very clear on addressing medical leave and that adopting a clear policy would help to address that. He provided an example of a policy from another jurisdiction and strongly recommended the Council move forward to adopt the policy in the near future. He asked the City Council how they felt the Police Department did over this past year and if the department met their expectations. Council was very pleased and said they felt the department met, and even exceeded, their expectations. Chief Hert then explained his proposed 2015 Budget and detailed how he planned to reduce expenditures and staff the department. He emphasized that the Police Department is the largest department in the city and they staff and serve the city 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He also explained that with many of the costs that are associated with the Police Department they have no control over costs such as court and jail costs, dispatch, prosecutor services, and public defender services. He also explained how disbanding the K9 unit, and also changing the police officer schedules to 10-hour shifts instead of 12 hour shifts will reduce costs and save the city having to pay RTO pay. 10-hour shifts provides additional health and welfare for the officers. Going into 2015 the department will continue to work with the community and continue partnerships and growth with other agencies. Duvall Cultural Commission – Kass Holdeman, Community Liaison Committee of the Whole – October 9, 2014 Kass Holdeman gave an overview of the Duvall Cultural Commission. She distributed a handout detailing a few of the budget highlights. She explained that at the next City Council meeting on October 23rd she will be presenting the Duvall Cultural Commission Annual Report and at that time she will go into more detail on the Commission and its programs. She reviewed some of the numbers and highlighted a few things that were a little bit different from past years. She reported that the DCC put on 36 events in 2014. She also shared with Council how her time was spent, including working on drafting a Public Art Policy that she will be bringing forward. She reported that the City did get more sponsors this year, as Council had requested. Sponsorship was increased by 29% which reduced the City’s out-of-pocket cash costs. She also worked with the Mayor to secure a sponsor for this year’s Annual Tree Lighting Event. She noted that the City needs to be careful though not to pull and compete with sponsors of other local organizations such as the Chamber, and to continue to be a good neighbor and maintain good relationships with those groups. Kass also said that she is looking into the profitability and logistics of bringing in food trucks to city events and SummerStage and possibly adding a beer garden to the SummerStage Concerts. Council suggested that the Heritage Festival be changed up some and that something different be done at that event from what has been done over the last 7 years such as a barn dance. They felt that modifying some of the events would keep them fresh and interesting, keep people coming back each year, and draw more people to the events. Planning Department – Lara Thomas, Planning Manager Lara Thomas reviewed the proposed Budget for the Planning Department and explained how the department approached their budget for 2015. They separated out the needs from the wants. She reviewed what Planning will be working on in 2015 such as completing the Comprehensive Plan Update, the 2015 Comp. Plan Amendments, completing the Watershed Plan which is all grant funded in the amount of $207,000, and also completing the Master Shoreline Program as part of that. Planning will also begin work on writing a food truck ordinance for next year. She emphasized that current planning is always the priority as it has regulatory deadlines that must be met. Long-range planning will have to pull back. She explained that the Planning Department doesn’t have the capacity to do everything, even if they had all the money budgeted to do them. Mayor Ibershof – General Update Mayor Ibershof asked Council what they would like to do about their cell phones. It was decided that the Council will keep their existing cell phones and see if they work any better by not being routed through the City’s phone system. Mayor Ibershof said he will have the phones rerouted and then he will check back with Council in 60 days to see if they are working any better. Mayor Ibershof also reported that he would like to hold a recognition ceremony in honor of Officer Debock, and in order to organize that he needs a committee of Councilmembers. Councilmembers Brudnicki, Ockerlander, and Nixon volunteered to be on the committee. Mayor Ibershof reminded everyone the next Budget Workshop is scheduled for Thursday, October 16th. He said the budget topic will be I.T., but if Council has any other items they’d like addressed or discussed to let him or Finance Director Jill Long know ahead of time. Written Reports – The following reports were distributed in the COW packets. - Sales Tax Report for September 2014 Committee of the Whole – October 9, 2014 - Regional Disaster Coordination Framework Agreement - Skykomish ILA for Building Department Services – S. Leniszewski - Duvall 143 Long Plan Approval Adjournment The Committee of the Whole adjourned at 6:55 p.m. ATTEST: Jason Walker, Mayor Pro Tem Jodee Schwinn, City Clerk Committee of the Whole – October 9, 2014