Council Regular/Special Meeting

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT TOWN COUNCIL IN SPECIAL MEETING OF FRIDAY MARCH 02, 2018 AT 7:00 AM, UNIVERSITY BUILDING, 92 WEST VAUGHN AVENUE, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Mayor Jenn Daniels, Vice Mayor Brigette Peterson, Councilmembers Scott Anderson, Eddie Cook, Victor Petersen, Jordan Ray and Jared Taylor COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Manager Patrick Banger, Clerk Lisa Maxwell, Town Attorney Christopher Payne AGENDA ITEM CALL TO ORDER Mayor Jenn Daniels called the meeting to order at 7:13 a.m. ADMINISTRATIVE ITEMS 1 WELCOME - Opening Remarks. Mayor Jenn Daniels welcomed everyone to the Spring Financial Retreat. She noted it was National Employee Appreciation Day. The Financial Retreat began two years ago as a time for Council to get updates and discuss financial issues affecting the Town before they discuss and approve the budget for the next fiscal year. 2 VISION OF GILBERT - presentation, discussion and direction on next steps in Vision Implementation. Town Manager Patrick Banger gave an overview of the topics that will be discussed today. 3 HERITAGE DISTRICT - presentation, discussion and possible direction on Heritage District Return on Investment (ROI) Analysis. Office of Budget and Management Director Kelly Pfost reviewed changes that have taken place in the Heritage District since 2000. There is more activity in the downtown area today. There has also been an increase in Police calls for service in that area. Staff is working to eliminate the most common reasons for a call. There has been an increase in the amount of taxes collected from business in the Heritage District since 2000. The value of land in the Heritage District has increased greatly since 2012. 1 The Town owns about half of the land in the Heritage District. Office of Budget and Management Director Kelly Pfost showed how the Return on Investment (ROI) for the Heritage District was calculated. The Town has invested $37,354,000 in the Heritage District. The value of receipts is $108,026,000. A large portion of this value comes from land owned by the Town. There was discussion about the University Building and why the cost of that building was not included in this analysis. Office of Budget and Management Director Kelly noted things such as the Park and Ride and regular maintenance on water lines, streets, etc. were also not included in the calculations. The calculated ROI I 1:2.89. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson gave an update on what will be coming soon to the Heritage District. His office receives requests from businesses that are interested in moving into the Heritage District. A 40,000 square foot office building will be opening just south of Vaughn Avenue. There are also requests for more retail. His office is working LGE on a retail market. LGE asked the Town to help them with their negotiations with Oregano’s concerning a breezeway between their buildings. The Town is waiting to get more information from LGE. In the meantime, LGE is getting permits and they are ready for construction. Another retail project to west is to set to start in couple of months. There was discussion about whether these businesses would be open later hours while people were waiting to get into restaurants. Economic Development Director Dan Henderson said he has encouraged businesses to look at those potential customers. A Request for Proposal (RFP) has been released in order to get ideas of what developers can put a 9.1 acre site. The Town would like a mixed use project with retail, office, and housing. Construction has started on a 600 space parking garage. There are xis projects under construction now and six more ready to start. Councilmember Victor Petersen said he appreciates addition of the Park Ranger in the ROI calculations. He asked why the additional level of service provided by the Police Department is not included. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said that is scheduled to begin in a later year. Councilmember Victor Petersen said with higher calls in the area there are more people working there and it should be included in the amount in costs. There was discussion about how to look at public safety costs when calculating ROI. Councilmember Victor Petersen then asked what would happen if Town put 2  all of land it owned in Heritage District on market tomorrow. The response was the price of the land would drop because the market would become flooded. Councilmember Victor Petersen said he does not want to look at the value of land when looking at the value of the Heritage District. The amount is only on paper and until it is sold it is not real money. The Town has been successful in the Heritage District for having a long- term vision which created a sense of place. Councilmember Scott Anderson said the restaurants off Gilbert Road are struggling and he asked what the Town could do to help them. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she was not sure they were struggling. Town staff encouraged signs on the north side of buildings to direct customers to those sites. Town staff is regularly talking to businesses and while sales not quite what was expected, the investors are happy. If the restaurants are struggling, they are not telling Town staff. 4 PUBLIC SAFETY RETIREMENT SYSTEM (PSPRS) - presentation, discussion and possible direction on unfunded liability progress and funding options. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost reviewed the contributions made by the Town to the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS). PSPRS made some changes in their assumptions such as reducing assumed earning rate and increasing mortality rate. These changes lead to an increase in the unfunded liability rate owed by the Town, even taking into account the excess contributions paid by the Town. With these new assumptions Gilbert is looking to pay the unfunded liability in the next 5 years. This will cost the Town about $12,000,000 a year. There are still unknown variables with PSPRS so the amount owed by the Town can still change. Councilmember Eddie Cook asked if the Town would be able to make these payments each year. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said it will be close. Town staff will have to continue to monitor the PSPRS assumptions every year. The Town will see good results if the PSPRS investments improve. Mayor Jenn Daniels said the Arizona League of Cities and Towns has an expert on staff, Nick Ponder, who understands these issues. Intergovernmental Relations Director Rene Guillen said this person came for the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) and from Fire Department of New York (FDNY) retirement system. He is looking at other states and doing research into the PSPRS problems. Councilmember Victor Petersen asked about a realistic return rate. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said 6.5% to 7% is typical for a retirement system fund. It is expected PSPRS may be adjusted down 3  again because their projection of 7.4% is high. The fund should perform better this year. Councilmember Jared Taylor said he would like to connect the PSPRS payments to the Public Safety Training facility with half of money going to PSPRS and the other half to pay for the training facility. Councilmember Jordan Ray said he would rather pay off the unfunded liability in the next five years and then get out of this system entirely. Intergovernmental Relations Director Rene Guillen said Nick Ponder can come go over transition options with the Council. Councilmember Victor Petersen said if the Town hires trained police officers as lateral transfers those officers will bring their liability with them. It seems a better approach would be to hire new officers and train them. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said legislation changed so the public body where the person worked at the longest is responsible for the total liability. Lateral employees do come in at a higher rate of pay. Also new employees come in where they are required to pay a higher percentage of their pay to PSPRS. 5 DATA FOR DECISION MAKING - presentation, discussion, and possible direction on Gilbert data trends as presented in Geographic Information System (GIS) format. Information Technology Director Mark Kramer said the Town has opportunities to engage the data collected by the Town. He showed an example of how the Fire Department used data about calls for service to help determine the best locations for new Fire Departments. Another example was using data to determine the best location to keep the three ladder trucks owned by the Town. Deputy Town Manager Laurie Buczek talked about where the future of data is headed. Today most data is human generated. In the future there will be more and more devices producing data. There will be a need to analyze the data and to then take prescriptive actions based upon that analysis. The Town will have to work on building framework for the data and develop an innovation roadmap. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked if the data is prioritized. Deputy Town Manager Laurie Buczek said the goal is to find the data with the highest value that citizens want and evaluate it. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the innovation roadmap will do that. Staff can then evaluate costs and Council can use that information to make decisions on what is best to implement. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked what data is available today to help Council evaluate items when reviewing meeting packets. Information 4  Director Mark Kramer said there is data in the open data portal. Currently it is updated monthly right. The goal is to increase the frequency and data sets available. Councilmember Victor Petersen said he would like to share data with the public on traffic signal timing. He would like to see an app which could calculate the speed a person should drive so they hit green lights. Councilmember Eddie Cook said there is not a system in existence with all the needed data. Public Works Director Jessica Marlow said the traffic center does have a model and it shows what is happening at an intersection. What is missing is the predictive piece. There was discussion about how not all signals are based on timing or adaptive to traffic. Deputy Town Manager Laurie Buczek said infrastructure is needed to do those things. There was discussion about the costs of combining datasets. Town Manager Patrick Banger said staff will need help establishing culture that encourages innovation. Sometimes things fail and will have to be okay. Mayor Jenn Daniels said this will be a large part of the discussion at the fall retreat. 6 RATES AND FEES - presentation, discussion and possible direction on: a) Development Services update on fees for cost recovery; and There was discussion about the various fees charged by Development Services and what was needed to have those fees cover their costs. Permit types discussed were building permit, residential swimming pool permit, standard home review, engineering plan review, design review, design review amendment, pre-application review, and traffic control for large projects. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost asked for direction from Council. Councilmember Victor Petersen said if a fee is mandatory he does not believe it must have cost recovery. Mayor Jenn Daniels noted the fees have not been updated since 2008 and costs have risen since that time. She would like for staff to look at reevaluating their processes to see if there are ways to decrease costs. Councilmember Victor Petersen noted if there is 100% cost recovery there is no motivation to reduce costs. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the department has restructured and this has led to reduced turn-around time. They are also using automation to decrease costs. Mayor Jenn Daniels said design review is an expensive process and she would like to know why. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said there are a lot of people involved in review and it is a longer process. This only applies for projects over five acres. 5 Councilmember Eddie Cook asked if an analysis of how much the Town could save if the costs of maintaining utilities put in by developments were taken by the developer. Councilmember Victor Petersen questioned if a project is reviewed and the submitter brings back corrections is the entire design review again. Development Services Director Kyle Mieras said sometimes it is all reviewed because the changes made may affect something else but generally the entire project is not reviewed again. The software used in the department allows staff to see what changes were made. Mayor Jenn Daniels suggested the Councilmembers make appointments with Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost and Development Services Director Kyle Mieras in next 30 days and Council can come back and discuss fee increases at a later date. b) Utility rate changes for Water, Wastewater, Environmental Services - Commercial and Environmental Services - Residential for financial sustainability. Utility rates have not changed since 2009. The Phoenix Consumer Price Index (CPI) has increased 16.3% in that time. Town staff has worked to keep costs down. The Water fund will soon not have enough money to maintain the fund balance above the set minimum. Also, changes in the current process could improve water quality. These enhancements would allow more capacity to adapt to water quality changes in the long term. The Town would have the cash to pay for these changes fund in FY2023. Councilmember Eddie Cook asked if these changes are a must have or nice to have. Public Works Director Jessica Marlow said it will become a must have. Town staff is making short term fixes to address quality issues now. Councilmember Victor Petersen asked how does staff know the water quality will continue to degrade. Public Works Director Jessica Marlow said this is information coming from the Salt River Project (SRP). Other municipalities already have these processes at their plants. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked about the water the Town purchases from the San Carlos tribe. Public Works Director Jessica Marlow said that water goes to a different plant. That water comes from the Central Arizona Project (CAP) and it is cleaner and more consistent then SRP water. SRP is working on improving reservoir storage. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the Town does not know the quality of the water until we get it. Currently the only option is blending the water with other sources and not a long term option. 6 Mayor Jenn Daniels said residents expect clean water. She receives a lot of questions about the taste of the water. Public Works Director Jessica Marlow said chlorine has to be added to the water. The taste is better if organic particles are removed. The staff recommendation is to increase the water rates by 11.5%. This will keep the fund balance above the required minimum and provide money to fix the water quality problem. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked what staff has done to reduce costs. Public Works Director Jessica Marlow said staff worked with a consultant to streamline the processes. They also looked at contracting out the work versus doing it in-house. They have taken steps to conserve energy, re-bid contracts and used (Cooperative Purchase) COOP contracts. Councilmember Jared Taylor said if those steps have been taken then he is more comfortable asking for a rate increase. Public Works Director Jessica Marlow noted water loss has decreased greatly and this has decreased the amount of water that must be treated. Town Manager Patrick Banger said a report showing what has been done to reduce costs will be completed in the future. Councilmember Victor Petersen said even with a rate increase it appears the fund balance will drop below the set minimum amount in FY2023. There was discussion over whether it was preferable to have smaller, more frequent increases or larger, less frequent increases. Town Manager Patrick Banger said he would rather go with the higher rate and fix the quality issue now. Water charges could be based on the size of the meter. This would not result in a large change for most residents. The current rates are sent in 10,000 gallon increments. The recommended change is to set the lowest block to 8,000 gallons. If a person uses water efficiently they would be charged the lower rate. With an 11.5 % increase Gilbert would move just above what the City of Chandler charges its residents. Non-residential rates would follow the same structure for indoor water use would be set at a flat rate. New users have two meters, a landscape, or outdoor meter, and an indoor meter. There would be a flat rate for landscape use too that would be higher than the rate for indoor water. The hydrant rate, which is water used to fill trucks for dust control, would increase significantly. Currently wastewater rates are variable now. They would move to a flat rate. Since it is not possible to tell the difference between indoor and outdoor water use for businesses, they will have a base water rate with a variable added component. With the combined water and sewer proposed rates some customers will 7 see and increase and some would see a decrease. For residents the combined rate would still be lowest in the area, even with an 11.5% increase in the water rates. Proposed rates for reclaimed water with keep the same base rate with increases in the variable rates. Those would have the biggest effect on large volume users such as Homeowners’ Associations (HOA) and parks. There is an environmental compliance fee for storm water collection and air quality permits that the Town must pay that is not passed on to residents. Staff recommends collecting this fee with the Environmental Services – Residential fees. Councilmember Scott Anderson asked if staff looked at privatizing trash collection. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said that was not part of this analysis. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she is frequently asked why the Town does not have green bins. Public Works Director Jessica Marlow noted that it is difficult to compare the Town’s charges to other municipalities because they all provide different ranges of service. Councilmember Victor Petersen questioned whether this was the appropriate place to collect the environmental compliance fee. Town Manager Patrick Banger said it is an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirement that the Town streets be cleaned. The Town is held accountable for the quality of storm water run-off. Public Works Director Jessica said there are functions required by the EPA that are not performed by the streets department. Environmental Services - Commercial rates are based on the size of the dumpsters and how often they are emptied. Anyone with a second container would be charged a lower rate for that second container. There also a fee for roll-off bins. Staff recommends an 8% increase in the rates for these services. If the notice of intent to raise fees is posted in May the new rates would be effective in November. Councilmember Victor Petersen said if the fees increase then demand should go down. Water Resources Manager Eric Braun said a decrease in use was modeled into rate study so the rates would continue to cover the costs. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said if the Town wants to encourage conservation they would need to charge more. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she would like for staff to look at an economic development policy where businesses bring their water rights with them. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the Water Master Plan will look into what can be achieved with conservation. Water Resources Manager Eric Braun said the proposed structure was developed to meet revenue needs and not drive conservation. Office of Management 8  and Budget Director Kelly Pfost also noted the Town does not want to add too much to the fees charged to schools which are big users. Council would like more information on a 5.5% and 11.5% increase. They need more time to analysis this data because it is a lot of information. They would also like more information about water quality issues such as data showing averages over a year and the times of year when particulate counts are significantly higher. 7 STREET NEEDS AND FUNDING - presentation, discussion and possible action on: a) street repair and replacement need analysis and the funding gap; and IT Director Mark Kramer reported GIS is mapping the streets and the types of streets located in the Town. There are 19,807,458 square yards or 6.4 square miles or streets in the Town. That equals 8.3% of the Town’s total boundary. Staff is looking at the various techniques for maintaining the roads, including overlays, seals, and reconstruction. The cost of maintaining a square yard of street based on the different types of work done can be calculated. There was discussion about what the Town is doing to keep the streets well maintained. Mayor Jenn Daniels said another issue the Town has come across is streets that were annexed into the Town on an as-is basis. Those streets need to be re-engineered to come up to the quality of the other streets in Town. A policy is needed to address those issues. b) planned future street projects and funding options, including Transportation System Development Fee (SDF) and/or dedicated sales tax. Money for street projects comes from the Highway Users Revenue Fund (HURF) and Vehicle License Tax (VLT) funds. Different things are paid using street funds including sidewalks, street lights operation and maintenance, and landscaping and HURF bonds. The HURF bond payments will end in FY2019. Moving forward staff needs to review the fund annually to ensure there is always enough money to maintain the streets. There was discussion about whether or not HURF money may be taken away by the State Legislature to use for other projects. It is also possible other revenue sources could decline. Between FY2020 and FY2025 the Town will need $178,000,000 for new roads or expansion of road projects. The largest project is the Ocotillo Road Bridge. It is also the project that is needed most. Councilmember Victor Petersen said he thought developers could contribute to new projects. 9  Councilmember Eddie Cook thought other jurisdictions may responsible for some areas such as Power Road. Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers replied that there are some projects that are shared with other jurisdictions. In those cases there would be an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) which would spell out the cost-sharing arrangements agreed upon by the jurisdictions. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said the projects on the list will most likely change as new priorities come up. There was discussion about Proposition 500 which would be an extension of the County’s half-cent transit sales tax. The last extension was Proposition 400 which expires in 2026. Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers said a number of the listed projects would qualify where the Town could get some reimbursement under Proposition 400. She said staff is always looking at projects and how best to pay for them. If the projects are pushed past 2020 then the Town will not be able to collect any Proposition 400 money. Deputy Town Manager Leah Hubbard Rhineheimer said there will be competition for the Proposition 500 money and there is no certainty the Town will get any money for these projects. Councilmember Victor Petersen asked if projects receiving developer contributions were excluded from this list. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost stated potential contributions are not included in the last. Councilmember Victor Petersen replied there is probably money for some of these projects that will be paid by developers. There are four options for funding street projects. The first is to use Transportation System Development Fees (SDF). Currently that money is used only for traffic signals. If developers are charged SDF for streets then they cannot be charged again in a development agreement. The second option is to issue General Obligation (GO) or HURF bonds. HURF bonds could be repaid with street funding. The third option is a dedicated sales tax that would be in effect until Town is built out. The last option is to stop building roads. There was discussion about how a Transportation SDF would work. Mayor Jenn Daniels said there are problems on Val Vista Road. If the Town went this route then they would to wait until there is SDF money to pay for road needs that may be in the south of Town. Councilmembers requested more information. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said consultants can calculate the dollar amounts for the different options. Transportation Planning Manager Kristen Myers said she did reevaluate the projects and she will continue to analyze them this year to see if the scope of any the projects has changed. 8 PARK NEEDS AND FUNDING - presentation, discussion and possible direction on: 10  a) funding sources and uses for Gilbert Regional and Rittenhouse including planned use of old and new Park System Development Fees (SDF) and land sale proceeds; and Staff gave an overview of the costs of the two parks and the phases, the sources of funds and the limitations of the different sources. Residents have requested a dog park so one is being added at Rittenhouse Park. At buildout the park would have more than just fields with the addition of ramadas, shade structures, and a maintenance building. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said his staff met with disabled residents and their care givers to discuss ways to make the park accessible. One idea is to use the topography of the park to create different areas. One area will be called the Mountain. Councilmember Jared Taylor asked what parents with children of varying ages could do to satisfy their children in the different sections. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said the park will be color coded to show the different levels of difficulty all each of the sections. Mayor Jenn Daniels noted the Parks and Recreation Department is still meeting with focus groups. She asked how ideas that are still coming in will be incorporated into the park. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan replied less than 30% of design of the parks has been finalized so there is still time to make changes. There was discussion about separating the water areas from the areas where smaller children will play. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said there are barriers, dry zones and limited access to those areas. Mayor Jenn Daniels said people going to Rittenhouse Park would have to cross the parking lot to get to playground. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said staff is looking at area moving the parking. Mayor Jenn Daniels said there is another park where she takes her children and there is a playground next to field. This is very convenient for parents as they can watch their children playing on the field while younger children also have a place nearby where they can play. Councilmember Scott Anderson said there was a recent issue brought up by the airport about limiting bodies of water which would attract birds. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said he talked to people at the airport and since the lakes will not contain fish birds will not be attracted. Mayor Jenn Daniels stated the lakes are needed to irrigate the fields. Vice Mayor Brigette Peterson said whenever anyone is talking to the press or residents in the community it is important to stress park is not complete 11 and there will be changes. Councilmember Jordan Ray asked about corporate sponsorships. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan replied there are no plans for that in phase 1. Once the park has started development it will be easier to look into that. Councilmember Jordan Ray said he would also like to explore naming rights more. Councilmember Eddie Cook said the Parks Foundation will be able to assist. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said staff will get public input on a name for the park. Councilmember Victor Petersen asked about the resulting level of service once these parks are complete. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said the Parks Master Plan calls for an average of 1070 acres and after the parks are complete there will be an average of 990 acres. Parks and Recreation Director Rod Buchanan said the plan is to break ground this fall and open in the fall of 2019. Phase 1b will be ready in February 2020. There was discussion about the different sources of money and the different phases of the two parks. There is a gap between the cost to build out the parks and the amount of money available. There is however enough money to pay for phase 1 and 1b at both parks. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost talked with the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) group and the best place to use SDF money is at Rittenhouse Park. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said State statute does allow for the use of SDF money if the park is under 30 acres and there is a direct benefit to residents. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked if the project could be broken down into smaller 30 acre parcels. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said that was a question for the attorneys to answer. Also, they would need to determine what statute means by “a direct benefit.” b) planned future park projects and funding options. The Gilbert Regional Park and Rittenhouse Park projects are listed in the CIP along the timing the funds are needed to complete the parks. The total needed is $125,000,000. Councilmember Eddie Cook asked about Elliot District Park. Town Manager Patrick Banger said staff is finalizing proposal and that will come to Council when it is complete. Councilmember Eddie Cook said he would like to set aside money at the end of each year for use of future projects. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said if Council did that it would take away from the money currently being sent to pay the unfunded liability debt at PSPRS. It is better for the Town to continue making payments to PSPRS. Councilmember Victor Petersen said he would like to see more pay as we 12  go projects. Councilmember Jared Taylor said he would like to see what is available in the general fund and look at moving timing of the different phases. He said he has heard people who do not want to pay more and will not approve a bond for park funding. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said a bond election will not be needed until the 2022 election. Councilmember Jordan Ray said the Town needs to build more fields sooner rather than later and people would be willing to pay for the parks. 9 PUBLIC SAFETY NEEDS AND FUNDING - presentation, discussion and possible action on: a) Public Safety Training Facility including scope, timing and cost of the facility; and Police Chief Michael Soelberg reviewed the needs of the Police Department the areas where training is lacking. Staff needs for Council to identify funding source. Police Chief Michael Soelberg noted Police Officers are likely to be sued over issues concerning their training. Fire Chief Jim Jobusch went over four different solutions and the pros and cons of each. Solution 1 shows the facility at full buildout. The gap in funding is just over $70,000,000. This would be the least expensive option long term. Space freed up at the Public Safety building on Civic Center could be converted into space for use by officers. This is the option recommended by staff. Solution 2 would eliminate the shooting range. The loss of the shooting range with hampers Police Department training. If it is phased in later the cost would be considerably higher. Councilmember Jordan Ray asked about the shooting range that is currently used, whether there were any private gun ranges, and if there are other public bodies with a gun range the Town can use. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said not having this range would double the amount of time staff spends at the gun. Also, quarterly shoots would be eliminated. The Town currently does not have rifle training in Town, they go to Mesa. The only thing staff would not be able to train for at this location would sniper training and staff would have to go to Mesa or Ben Avery shooting facility for that. Solution 3 would eliminate the community components, the shooting range, and the large classroom. If these components are phased in later the cost would increase significantly. Eliminating these components takes away to the ability of the Town to partner with other groups in the community. Solution 4 would eliminate the community components, the shooting 13  range, and prop areas. This solution would be most expensive long term option. It would also eliminate opportunities for regional training and potential revenue. Councilmember Victor Petersen asked how much classroom space is available now in the Public Safety building so some of the space at the proposed facility could be eliminated. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said there were more opportunities to bring in revenue at the proposed facility. Councilmember Victor Petersen said there is a lot of classroom space not used now so he does not see the need to build more. Deputy Town Manager Leah Hubbard Rhineheimer said the classrooms in the Public Safety building are being used but they are not optimal. Staff has looked at the space needs now and that space that will be needed. Councilmember Jordan Ray said the current classrooms can be turned into offices for officers and they will not be empty classrooms sitting at the Public Safety building. Councilmember Eddie Cook noted people in training can go back and forth between classroom training and practical training when both types of training are in the same location. Deputy Town Manager Leah Hubbard Rhineheimer said the Town has to hire people who already have a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) because the Town does not have anywhere to train people Councilmember Eddie Cook said he can see the classrooms at the Public Safety building being converted to into an advocacy center. Vice Mayor Brigette Peterson said the Police staff is cramped where they are now and the existing gun range is very small. Fire Chief Jim Jobusch said if the Public Safety Training Facility is approved it will still be three years before the facility is open. b) future Public Safety projects and funding options. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost went of the different options for funding the Public Safety Training Facility. Changes in the State statutes do not allow the use of SDF money for this type of facility. Councilmember Victor Petersen asked how much the Town paid for the land it is wanting to sell and what the value is of the land. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the Town is getting an appraisal done of the land and it is estimated to be worth $14,000,000. 10 BALANCE COMPETING FUNDING NEEDS - presentation, discussion and possible direction on long term financial plan update, cash funding options, property tax rate and the November 2018 ballot. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said there are competing needs for the available funds. She reviewed the needs and presented a path for getting the best return for what is needed. Looking at the general cash fund model there is $5,000,000 to $8,000,000 available for CIP projects from the General Fund. This money is needed for other 14 projects in the Town. The Town asked citizens if they would approve an increase in secondary property tax to pay for roads and infrastructure, police and fire training facilities and parks. A majority of residents responded positively. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost went over four steps get the money while minimizing the change to the tax rate. The first step in FY2019 would be to pay an additional $1,700,000 in debt service. This would save taxpayers $250,000 in interest and the tax rate would remain at the current $1.06 rate. The second step in FY2020 would be to issue Public Safety Bonds. This would raise the tax rate to $1.15. The third step in FY2021 would be to pay extra principal on the Public Safety Bonds. This would save taxpayers $775,000 in interest and keep the tax rate at $1.15 and have a tax levy of $32,000,000. The fourth step in FY2022 through FY2024 would be to structure the Streets Bonds to fill the gaps in available funds. It would cost $1,900,000 to keep the tax levy at $32,000,000 per year. The cost to taxpayers would be an additional $30 per year in tax payments. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost reviewed different options with different bond amounts and the effects on the tax rate and the tax levy. The recommendation is to ask voters for a streets bond and a Public Safety bond in November 2018. The streets bonds would not be issued until 2021 and payment would start in 2022. The Public Safety bonds would be issued in 2019 and payment would start in 2020. Councilmember Victor Petersen asked if streets were funded with SDF how that would change the street bond. Also, what effect delaying the Public Safety Training Facility for a year would have on the bond question? Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said the Town needs to get authorization for street bonds this fall so staff will know whether or not it can move forward with the Ocotillo bridge. The Town can ask voters to approve a higher amount they can issue a smaller amount of bonds. Councilmember Jordan Ray said he would rather have better numbers when asking to voters to approve the bond. Mayor Jenn Daniels said to move forward with a street bond and fine tune amount to what is actually needed. The Ocotillo bridge is critical for reducing fire response time. Councilmember Victor Petersen said he prefers solution 4 for the Public Safety Training Facility as he does not want the additional classroom space. Councilmember Eddie Cook said he tried to get access for police and fire at other facilities in the area last summer. He learned there is a time coming soon when the Town will no longer be able to use these other facilities. He believes what is requested by staff is what is best for the Town. Councilmember Jared Taylor said he thought the cost per square foot seemed high. Councilmember Eddie Cook said some of the additional cost is for props. Deputy Town Manager Leah Hubbard Rhineheimer said $400 15 square foot is on the lower end compared to other similar facilities. Town Manager Patrick Bander said the bond needs to be for the full scope of the facility. That would be $70,000,000 with $14,000,000 coming from sale of Town owned land. Councilmember Jordan Ray noted the cost of the facility has increased because at the beginning of the process the police were not fully involved in the planning. Mayor Jenn Daniels said if all the other jurisdictions in the area are all hiring there will be no capacity for training at other locations. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said there will be a minimum of 33 new officers needing training each year. Councilmember Jordan Ray asked if it was necessary to build a 100-year building. He asked if a 50-year building work just as well. He would like to get all the things requested by staff at a lower price. Mayor Jenn Daniels said the Town needs to make an investment in public safety. The question is what amount to put on the ballot in November. Town Manager Patrick Banger said the Town’s AAA bond rating has saved citizens millions of dollars on interest on bonds. Citizens know the Town is fiscally responsible and they are only asking for what is needed. Councilmember Jared Taylor said he does not want to ask voters to authorize any bonds. He said citizens have told him this facility is not needed and there is capacity at other facilities to train Gilbert police and fire employees. Councilmember Scott Anderson said the community has shown its support of a bond. There should be no debate of whether to have a bond election. Councilmember Victor Petersen said the Town has gotten by up until now and he does not know why cannot continue the way we are now. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she is comfortable asking voters to approve a $48,000,000 bond for public safety. If scope of the project changes, that is fine but Council needs to move forward with something. She would like Town staff to figure out how to get everything they need with that amount. The square foot cost has lowered and she would like to see it lowered more. Police Chief Michael Soelberg said he is confident the numbers presented are close to what is needed to construct the facility. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she thinks staff can fit everything into the $62,000,000 allotted for the project. Fire Chief Jim Jobusch noted staff has spent a lot of time already cutting the cost. He does not expect they will be able to cut that much more. There was discussion about the needed tax levy and the tax rate in the upcoming years. Councilmember Eddie Cook said he is comfortable asking for a $70,000,000 bond but he will support a $48,000,000 bond knowing there 16  is land sale where there will be additional money for the project. Mayor Jenn Daniels said the Town can pay off PSPRS unfunded liability and then borrow the money from ourselves in a couple of years. Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost said the problem is the amount left over each year is unknown. Vice Mayor Brigette Peterson said she would be comfortable asking for a $52,000,000 to $55,000,000 bond. She wants the voters to make that decision. She said the Town has been lucky so far in getting staff trained. Council needs to take steps to ensure je Town can continue to train their employees. Councilmember Scott Anderson agrees with an amount in the mid $50,000,000. He thinks the public has said they want they want this facility. Councilmember Jordan Ray said he does not have an exact number. He would like to set a budget and then have staff build the best facility they can with that amount. Mayor Jenn Daniels said she will work with whatever is the consensus of Council. 11 WRAP-UP - Review of the Retreat and Action Items. Mayor Jenn Daniels asked if anyone needed to add something to the parking lot. Town Manager Patrick Banger will be in charge of the parking lot. The East Valley prayer breakfast is this week. Next year Gilbert will host that event. ADJOURN Mayor Jenn Daniels adjourned the meeting at 5:02 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Jenn Daniels, Mayor Lisa Maxwell, CMC, Town Clerk CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the minutes of the special meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Gilbert held on the 2nd day of March, 2018. I further certify that the meeting was duly called and held and that a quorum was present. Dated this ____ day of ____________________. ___________________________________ Lisa Maxwell, CMC, Town Clerk 17