Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON AZ CARES ACT, AUGUST 27 2020, AT 3:00 P.M., VIRTUAL MEETING, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Chair Aimee Yentes and Councilmembers Yung Koprowski and Scott September COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Town Manager Patrick Banger, Deputy Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, Town Attorney Chris Payne, Parks and Recreation Director Robert Carmona, Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs Director Rob Bohr, Department of Economic Development Director Dan Henderson, Community Response Supervisor Melanie Dykstra, Assistant Fire Chief Rob Duggan CALL TO ORDER Chair Yentes called the meeting to order at 3:04 pm AGENDA ITEMS 1. Approval of the minutes of the meeting of August 21, 2020 A MOTION was made by Councilmember September, seconded by Councilmember Koprowski, to approve the minutes of the meeting of August 21, 2020. Motion carried 3-0. 2. Review of outstanding items from previous meeting. There was no discussion. 3. Review, discussion and possible action of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and assistance for non-profit organizations. Community Response Supervisor Dykstra provided and update on a proposed timelines as a result of Council direction. She discussed focus areas, recommendations, the opening and review of applications, and the expected timelines for contract approvals. She provided additional information on the process. Councilmember September thanked Community Response Supervisor Dykstra for her update and asked for clarification on the possibility of a Special Meeting for Council approval. Chair Yentes confirmed that the direction would be for a Special Meeting and the anticipated date would be the end of September or early October. She stated that it should be as soon as possible, depending on what that would look like logistically. Community Response Supervisor Dykstra discussed the potential volume of applications received and stated she would work with the Clerks Office to schedule a Special Meeting. 4. Review, discussion and possible action of the public process and community engagement. Parks and Recreation Director Carmona provided information on the community engagement efforts. 5. Update from Town team reviewing Economic Reimbursements due to COVID -19 Accounting Manager Wright provided an update on the funding and expense reimbursement for the Town. She provided information on FEMA Public Assistance, Community Development Block Grant COVID-19, Local Area Transportation Assistance Cares, AZ Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental funding (ACESF), Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding (CESF), CARES Act Relief Fund. She shared information on expenses incurred by the Town. Chair Yentes asked about turn-around time to which Accounting Manager Wright provided clarification on the timelines associated with various grants. She outlined the accomplishments achieved by Team 4 and discussed the various items the Team was currently working on. 6. Review, discussion and possible action of assistance for business. Economic Director Henderson provided information on the survey that was submitted last week. He stated the survey was re-opened and shared through various town channels as a means to amplify and ensure responses were being received. He offered comparisons on the responses received in round 1 and round 2 and discussed recovery and resiliency in business concerns and COVID impacts. He provided information on a program approach to offer assistance to businesses and provided information on Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the program. He stated the tiered 3-phase approach would address the needs and wants of the business community. Councilmember Koprowski asked about potential exclusion and risk of abuse of the program. Economic Development Director Henderson discussed the areas that were most impacted by visitor declines and mandatory state closures. He stated that he was not in a position to address the exclusion and stated that the program outlined provided recommendations to address short term and immediate needs. Chair Yentes discussed the grants and the implementation of the process. Economic Development Director Henderson discussed the wants and needs of businesses and offered additional information on the importance of partnerships and compliance. He provided information on Phase 2 and added additional clarification on the financial support outlined in Phase 3. He reiterated that it was a 3-tiered program approach to address short, mid and long-term business needs. Councilmember September asked if any other jurisdictions had a similar approach. Economic Development Director Henderson elaborated on the previous presentation offered by Intergovernmental Affairs Director Bohr on what each level of government was doing but stated that he had not seen a tiered approach that addressed every level of need. He discussed the different buckets of needs, support and concerns. Councilmember September asked how much money Phase 2 would require. Economic Development Director Henderson elaborated on the need to move forward like a pilot program while utilizing feedback and responding to the different needs of businesses. Chair Yentes stated she was comfortable running with Phase 1 but walking through Phase 2 and Phase 3 and discussed the importance of a preliminary allocation of funds. Councilmember Koprowski spoke in agreement with focusing on Phase 1 and discussed the similarity with the Maricopa County grant process. She spoke in favor of the approach focusing on those with the greatest need but stated that she did not feel there needed to be a limit to the number of employees. She discussed the long-term support of Phase 2. Chair Yentes discussed the importance of accountability and not packing assumptions into the process. She asked for a deeper dive into how Maricopa County was conducting their award system. Councilmember September discussed the numbers with the business recovery program and stated that he believed the dollar value could be determined between Phase 1 and Phase 3 but did not feel it could be as easily identified in Phase 2. He discussed issues in quantifying the information. He asked for further discussion on the Phase 1-dollar value and asked what other groups would be funded. Chair Yentes stated some of the findings should be broad based in nature and discussed continued needs and the importance of funding priorities accordingly and allocated back directly. Councilmember September stated he wanted to make sure the value they choose is the right number. Chair Yentes discussed looking at another amount and the possibility of putting a limit and if they came out under budget they can re-visit the allocation. She stated she felt comfortable between a 7 to 10 million dollar range. Councilmember September stated he felt comfortable assigning value to Phase 1 with the understanding that the value was not written in stone and can be re-visited. Councilmember Koprowski discussed the possibility of applications exceeding the value and the need to have a second phase of releasing funds if needed. Councilmember September asked for clarification on how that money would be assigned. Chair Yentes stated that funds should be allocated back to residents and should be returned back to the taxpayer. Councilmember Koprowski asked for clarification on general obligation bonds and whether a tax increase would be required. Economic Development Director Henderson provided information on programs being first come first served but discussed other categories and impacts to other businesses. Councilmember September asked about the need to accommodate other groups that weren’t included in Phase 1. Mr. Henderson discussed the use of sub-categories and allocation of additional grant funds. Chair Yentes asked for a general consensus and direction to staff. Councilmember Koprowski requested the removal of the restriction on the number of employees in Phase 1 and asked for the opportunity to include other codes that support other businesses in need. She proposed a total allocation of 9 million and discussed the benefit and impact to businesses. Councilmember September asked for clarification on the removal of the restriction on the number of employee’s. Councilmember Koprowski discussed the importance of small businesses and parameters already in place. Chair Yentes stated that she was comfortable with the recommendations. Councilmember Koprowski asked Economic Development Director to prepare guardrails or criteria that surrounds the applications. Mr. Henderson discussed the different needs of each business and offered an explanation as to why guard rails were not in place already but stated that guard rails can be built in and the concept can be scaled. Councilmember Koprowski discussed the importance of accountability and reporting how funding was helping the businesses. She wanted to make sure the funding was helping those in need. Councilmember September spoke in agreement but also stated that it was hard to determine all the ways a business will need t use their money and stated guard rails would be helpful to ensure accountability and reporting. 7. Review, discussion and possible action of assistance for residents. Community Response Supervisor Dykstra provided background information on the residential side and offered information on what partners have been doing. Management and Budget Director Pfost provided information on the requested items. She discussed financial policies and outlined the use of revenue. She provided information on tax or fee reductions and discussed options on utility rates, business license fees, sales tax and food tax. She discussed the option of a credit for health- related purposes and stated that it would take roughly 9 million to give a $100 benefit for all those impacted. Chair Yentes discussed the use of one-time monies for continuing purposes and stated it was a question of broader policy. She discussed the food tax and talked about taking sustainable measures. Councilmember Koprowski discussed the utility rates with recycling and the future increase in costs and asked when it would be implemented. Management and Budget Director Pfost stated that it depended on the timing and elaborated on the higher rate change if we waited. She discussed the impact into the next fiscal year and stated there would be a 2.5 million dollar gap. Councilmember Koprowski stated that she would support postponing or delaying additional fees and she would entertain more information on removing food tax for home consumption and discussed the price tag on the health care option. She outlined the need to balance needs. Councilmember September discussed the option of eliminating food tax and questioned whether that would benefit families right now. He stated that he would rather spend money on immediate needs than broad based decisions. Chair Yentes offered additional discussion on food tax eliminations and it being a sustainable investment. 8. Next steps including timelines and checkpoints. Councilmember September stated that he would like to see what was already funded and what was not. He stated that he would also like to see the priorities of what was not funded and circle back on phase 3 of the business plan. He discussed hearing more about the public safety needs. Chair Yentes stated she was hesitant to bring the needs of some departments forward while not bringing others. She elaborated that she would like to have that conversation with Council in the context of a Council Retreat. Councilmember September stated he felt some of the money would go towards public safety to which Chair Yentes offered clarification. Councilmember Koprowski stated that she would like to keep conversations about public safety on the table but stated that with limited money there are only two options. She stated that they need to continue with discussions on phase 2 and 3 of the businesses and proposed that more information on pubic safety can be heard in a couple meetings from today. She stated that she preferred to flush out the needs or businesses and resident options first. The next meeting will be on September 3, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. ADJOURN Chair Yentes adjourned the meeting at 5:02 pm  ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Chair Aimee Yentes Chaveli Herrera, MMC, Deputy Town Clerk