Finance Committee

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Finance Committee Michael Schnetzer, Chair Karen J. Angelou Brian D. Larick Jamie Leeseberg Nancy R. McGregor Brian Metzbower Stephen A. Renner Kimberly Banning, Clerk of Council Monday, December 3, 2018 Council Committee Room *Immediately Following the Council Meeting CALL TO ORDER Chair Schnetzer called the meeting to order at 7:59 p.m. PENDING LEGISLATION ORD-0099-2018 TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS FOR CURRENT EXPENSES AND OTHER EXPENDITURES OF THE CITY OF GAHANNA, OHIO DURING THE FISCAL YEAR 2019. Schnetzer stated Administration has the floor. Franey stated that the next section of the presentation questions is Parks Barr shared the answers to the following questions: • Is there any room to increase fees and what would be the tipping point where fees are so excessive it is reducing attendance? § On November 12, 2018 Council asked about increasing fees, per City Code fees are approved by Parks Board, On November 13, 2018 staff recommended new fees to Parks Board, Parks Board made a recommendation to increase and changing pass types for the aquatic, increasing senior center memberships rates, changing the early bird incentive for pools, increasing the cost of a round of golf, increasing shelter/facility rentals, increasing all camp fees, and removing the early bird incentive for summer camp. In 2019 just in pool memberships there should be approximately a net gain of $48,400 if we hit the same numbers as 2018 • Provide a detailed analysis on pools. Staff researched the City of Gahanna Page 1 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 3, 2018 surrounding communities for the average cost and compared our cost. • What would be the net savings if they were closed? The net savings would be approximately $187,000 if the pools were closed. Net saving expenditures - revenue • Any other recommendations to reduce cost, such as, shortening of the scheduled days open? § Opening one hour later at both pools would save approximately $13k in staffing, if we closed Hunters Ridge Pool (HRP) one day a week it would save approximately $3,600, Gahanna Swimming Pool (GSP) closes the last weekend before school goes back in session, we keep HRP open on limited hours after school, and weekends through Monday Labor Day, if we also closed HRP at the same time as GSP we would save approximately an additional $4,700. If we opened HRP only on weekends the saving would be approximately $3,400. • An analysis of the senior center and any ability to reduce cost? The Senior Centers main source of revenue is membership sales, it is very difficult to get an accurate comparison to other communities due to being more expansive, what they get for their dollar is a lot different than our seniors get for their dollar. Net operating impact savings - $86K, the senior centers main source of revenue is the membership fees, it is hard to have an accurate analysis to other senior center communities, and our center is more funded. Parks Board increased the membership fee by $10 net impact for 2019 instead of $86K might be $83K, • What would be the net cost savings if closed? § The net operating savings of closing the Senior Center would be approximately $87,000, Larick asked what makes up the revenue besides the membership, Barr requested Pat Monaghan, Senior Services Supervisor speak to that question, Angelou shared some statistics the Center has approximately 550 members, 62% are residents, and there were between 15 - 16,000 visits to the center in 2018. The seniors did receive a second place State Award - with the Project Interact program with the High School and the seniors, Monaghan stated that the main revenue source is memberships, pay to participate in the programs, rentals of the center, fundraising, to try and offset the expenses, revenue for 2017 was approximately $52,700, and the increase in membership fees would be approximately $5,000 City of Gahanna Page 2 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 3, 2018 additional. Staffing breakdown is one full time and two part time staff. • What is the FMV of the City’s park land? Barr stated that the City as a whole is evaluating all the properties owned by the city. If there was any sale of any city owned land it would be a onetime revenue. Metzbower stated that even though it is a onetime revenue it is a savings of maintenance. Schnetzer requested what is the estimated time for the information to be presented? Mayor Kneeland stated the staff is working with the City attorney and has compiled a listing of all the city owned land, there are some legalities in selling some of the properties and a lot of pieces go into reviewing the list of properties. It is actively being worked on, additional staff is needed for the process. Schnetzer requested is it reasonable to say the list is not going to be completed by the end of 2018 Mayor Kneeland said he would like to have it information by early to mid-year in 2019. • What is the plan for Creekside? • What will be repaired and replaced and when? • At what point does delaying major repairs create an emergency or unsafe/unusable conditions? Barr stated that the current plan at Creekside is to continue operations as is, the Creekside Plaza which is the entire paver area and steps needs addressed within three years, drainage subbase is not functioning properly is the root cause delaying this project will cause water damage to an unknown extent, it is very difficult to predict when this condition would create an unsafe or unusable condition, Engineers estimate for this project alone is $1.3 - $1.5 million, previous repairs at Creekside include handrails, new steps from the parking garage, pedestrian bridge over the Mill Race, and the new boardwalk at the south end. Just a note about the new boardwalk at the south end, we received an engineer’s estimate of $33,000 just to engineer a new boardwalk, the construction estimates were $75,000, which made the project over $100,000. Facilities Foreman Marty White worked with Rob Priestas and his engineering division determined that the footers and vertical structure City of Gahanna Page 3 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 3, 2018 were still good. The old boardwalk was removed and a new one built, Parks staff built the boardwalk for the cost of labor and materials. Larick what is the general work of the decking project of the drainage and the brick. Barr all the brick needs taken out, the sand which is the subbase needs removed that is what helps with drainage, it is the wrong type of sand, it holds the rain water which causes freeze and thaw during the wintertime rather than letting it go through, and there is a drain pan that we know is not functioning properly, we would like to reuse as much brick as we could. Schnetzer asked if this project is not done and the pavers continue to shift out of place and it becomes a liability. What’s the alternative if we continue to ignore the issues? Barr we will continue to spend more money to repair areas where there are trip hazards, or the repairs are so much that we are throwing good money after bad and it would have to be closed. Schnetzer requested does that look like, construction barriers Barr Construction fencing 6ft tall to deter people from entering a hazard area, appropriate signage, would need assistance from PD. Schnetzer stated the reason for the comment is that in the past I commented that Infrastructure failure is not an option, this is not a personal value statement it is a fact. When infrastructure begins to fail, not only a blight, it’s a safety hazard and people need to be restricted from entering the area. We have to figure this out some point in time. Barr stated that it isn’t just the brick paver area that we see, underneath where the joints come together in the parking garage we know it is leaking into it, we will not know all the damage done until we take it up. Karen - can it be done in phases? Barr - yes, if we were to continue with the project we would need to work with the business and residents in the Creekside District and phase in with minimal impact on the business and the community. City of Gahanna Page 4 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 3, 2018 Karen - the skills of our workforce in the city, can the work be done by city employees, Barr - city employees do not have the skill set, equipment or knowledge to do this work, we would need an outside contractor Question Parks & Recreation: · Playgrounds, adjust the number for repair but no replacement? Barr repairing and not replacing playgrounds, the $50,000 in the budget book will not replace a playground, it would take multiple years to save up to cover the cost • When conditions require replacement the equipment will just be removed. Barr stated that if there is not funding to replace a playground we would take it out completely if it has reached it life span. We have a replacement program for the playgrounds, we have two playgrounds at it life expectancy - Woodside Green and Headley Park, we will not let any of the playgrounds get older than 20 years, the risk of injury is greater Schnetzer if we are not letting the playgrounds to get past 20 years of age and there is not funding will the playground come out. So without a funding solution Headley and Woodside Green playgrounds will be removed with in one to two year? Barr stated yes the playgrounds will be removed. Beside the cost of the playground equipment there is also the cost of the safety surface there requirements for the ASTM standards and also through certifications for safety inspector. The playground equipment is $180,000, additional money is needed for the safety surface. Schnetzer stated this brings back a good point to Issue 29, I have heard it said when you look at an income tax as the percentage of income goes up in aggregate so does revenue, a playground that cost $20 - $25,000 even with today’s inflation adjusted is now $180,000. This is a perfect example of cost inflation that is over and above the 2 ½% - 3% that we would expect per year simply because the standards are so high because the liability is higher if someone gets hurt. Roof/parks building • What is the expected life of a parks building/shelter roof? • What is the actual cost to repair/replace at the end of lifecycle? • Provide a listing of each structure and when replacement is City of Gahanna Page 5 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 3, 2018 estimated to be needed? • If funding cannot be identified what would be the plan? • Just repair until replacement would be required and then close the facility? Barr shared that with a building you can’t just let a roof go, it will rain in cause continual damage and cost more in the end. This is infrastructure that needs to be maintained. If we don’t continue to replace the roofs when scheduled the cost will continue to rise, it is hard to capture the future cost of roofs. Larick stated the questions was to a comprehensive look at building maintenance and not just the roofs, is there a summary of all that information. I am essentially looking for a depreciation schedule. Barr we do not have a summary of building maintenance not at this time, we could have the info in about a week. • Is there a way to reduce the General Fund subsidy for recreation programs by $50K at least? • Could participation rates be increased by a certain percentage to reduce the subsidy? Barr mentioned previously that Parks Board recommended new fees and removed the early bird registration discount. We know that 87% of our summer camp registration took place during early bird. The increase in fees and removing the early bird discounts should have an increase of above and beyond the $50,000. Schnetzer wanted to confirm the fees discussed thus far have been approved by the Board or does Council need to approve? Barr stated that per code the fees only have to be approved by Parks & Recreation board and have already been approved and does not need Council action. These are projections based on the new fees. Schnetzer requested the will of council on the path forward Larick felt more time is needed Schnetzer appreciated the presentation, requested a one page of what has been approved already and how it impacts the budget proposal from administration, net of those additional changes. Schnetzer stated the recommendations from the community members City of Gahanna Page 6 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes December 3, 2018 and believes they need to be explored and have a follow up on those. Some of the recommendations do not affect the general fund. Karen there are options if we can’t meet the timeline for the budget you can do a one month for January, it has been done in the past. The Finance Committee will meet on December 6th, 2018 at 6pm to continue the discussion. 2018-0073 2019 Budget Discussion Documents 2018-0153 Updated Capital Needs Assessment (for years 2019-2023) ADJOURNMENT at 8:55 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 7