Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON AZ CARES ACT, SEPTEMBER 17 2020, AT 3:00 P.M., VIRTUAL MEETING, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Chair Aimee Yentes, Vice Mayor Yung Koprowski and Councilmember 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, Police Communications Manager Kim Weber, and Project Supervisor Jack Gierak. CALL TO ORDER Chair Yentes called the meeting to order at 3:06 pm AGENDA ITEMS 1. Approval of the minutes of the meeting of September 10, 2020 A MOTION was made by Councilmember September, seconded by Vice Mayor Koprowski, to approve the minutes of the meeting of September 10, 2020. Motion carried 3-0. 2. Review of outstanding items from previous meeting. There was no discussion. 3. Overview of Subcommittees proposed allocation of AZ Cares funds. Chair Yentes discussed the current allocation of funds by showing a graph. She stated that the $2,000,000 had already been formally approved by Council. She provided information on the remaining funds and stated that any questions of funds could be addressed at the end of the meeting once presentations had been heard. 4. Review, discussion and possible action of Public Safety priorities and needs. Assistant Fire Chief Duggan provided information on the current dispatch systems and the complexity of responsibilities of the dispatch team. He stated that many of the systems increased in complexity and volume. He provided information on the growth and demands of the dispatch center and showed comparative information from 1985 to 2020, stating that the Town was still operating off a one radio channel. He discussed the increase in radio traffic and offered data for other cities and towns operating off two channels as well as annual averages in calls. A brief video was shared to show the complexities of having only one radio channel. He discussed the areas of concern and the multiple lines of service. He stated that the current space was beyond capacity and the current consoles needed to be reconfigured. He stated the square footage was unsuitable for renovation and discussed the need to update. Police Communications Manager Weber provided information on the communications center and data analytics. She discussed the text to 911 options and additional opportunities. She provided information on new models and the benefits on not having interruptions to the system. She discussed her team and the concern of cyber-attacks as an issue with remote work. She talked about the unified strengths in her team and the lessons learned through the pandemic. Assistant Chief Duggan provided additional information on the challenges and limitations and the urgency to bring the project forward in FY21 rather than FY23. He talked about the opportunities in funding through Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) dollars and the availability of the Highland Justice Court space. Chair Yentes asked for clarification that the ask for CARES funding was roughly $8,000,000. There was discussion on what the funding would be used for. Deputy Town Manager Hubbard-Rhineheimer clarified that the subcommittee could choose to focus on a different allocation number if they so choose. She provided information on the full space needs assessment. Manager Weber discussed emerging technology and stated that the ask for the funding was for the full expansion of the space and stated that the emerging technology was integrated in other areas. Project Supervisor Gierak discussed the budget process and the method in coming to that amount. He talked about the target and goal of staff in balancing the budget. He provided information on the numbers based on the professional services and additional construction costs as a response to Chair Yentes’ question about built in salary costs. Chair Yentes discussed staff time and asked about why those costs were attributed to a project. Office of Management and Budget Director Pfost stated that the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) group was treated as an internal fund and stated that paying a portion of salary for time spent was done in order to capture the full cost of a project. Chair Yentes stated she wanted to ensure we were not doubling our accounting. Vice Mayor Koprowski discussed the different needs of this project to include the emerging technology, the build out and the need for two channels and asked about what end result would be for this project. Manager Weber discussed the full expansion of the facility and provided examples on the emerging technology and of how space would be utilized differently. Councilmember September asked Deputy Town Manager Hubbard-Rhineheimer when the Justice Court was scheduled to vacate the space. Deputy Town Manager Hubbard- Rhineheimer stated that they were scheduled to vacate July of 2021. Councilmember September discussed the benefit of funding now so that they could begin the project and procure equipment. He asked if there was a possibility that the Court does not relocate. Town Manager Banger discussed the decision being well on its way and stated that he would reach out to obtain something in writing to indicate that they were still on schedule to vacate in order to provide something more concrete to rely on. Councilmember September stated he would feel more comfortable with that and discussed this same item being discussed at the Spring Retreat. He asked how long this has been a need for the town. Communications Manager Weber provided more information on the needs of the department. Chair Yentes asked additional clarifying questions on the percentage of staff salaries and its effect on the total annual resources for the project. Director Pfost provided information on the internal process. Chair Yentes asked for a break down of those costs so it could be better understood. Director Pfost said she could pull the information from their CIP books. Deputy Town Manager Hubbard-Rhineheimer stated that Council had staff’s commitment to see information through briefings on the project. Vice Mayor Koprowski stated that based on the information provided and the needs of the community she would support funding $8,048,000 and leaving the $700,000 in the CIP allocation. She stated that if this was to move forward, there would need to be a detailed schedule in order to obtain Council support. Councilmember September spoke in agreement with Vice Mayor Koprowski and discussed the importance of the need of this project to the community. He stated the need could become more critical if it was put off. Chair Yentes stated she was also in agreement with the recommendation. She stated this was a public safety project and the connection was good. She stated that she felt they had enough information to move the recommendation forward and stated that they would still need to flush out the details of the agreement. She asked Town Manager Banger when the Fall Retreat would be to which he responded that they were still working out those details. She discussed possibly working out the details at the Council retreat before taking to the Council for final approval. 5. Review, discussion and possible action of Parks and Recreation program assistance to residents. Parks and Recreation Director Carmona provided additional information on the programs. He discussed the closure timeline and the impacts of the closure. He discussed openings of June 1st with limited offerings and the impacts to revenues. He provided information on the possible discount code to residents and discussed the capabilities utilizing ActiveNet. He stated that it could be used by all residents and all classes and programs could be included and there was discussion on the process. Councilmember September stated that he liked that it was a broader approach that covered more amenities. He asked if it would only be inclusive to Town services or if other options were available. Director Carmona outlined the capabilities of the accounting program and there was additional discussion on more programs and providing in other areas of town. Vice Mayor Koprowski spoke in support of the idea and stated that the suggestion of a discount code had more merit and flexibility and added that the details could be addressed later. Chair Yentes asked about the possibility of adding rentals back and discussed the added benefit to residents. She stated that she wanted to ensure that what was being offered by the Town would not cannibalize other local businesses and talked about being more encompassing as to not hurt other businesses in the process. Director Carmona discussed the department’s efforts in the services they provided, being mindful of competing interests and targeting the areas with the most need. Chair Yentes stated she was comfortable with a $500,000 recommendation and there was additional discussion on what made the most sense. Director Carmona provided information on the different directions they could go through with their accounting system AcitveNet. He stated coding could be manipulated to make them appropriate to what was recommended and approved. Vice Mayor Koprowski asked if Director Carmona envisioned this being a first-come, first-serve opportunity or an opportunity for residents to utilize this opportunity within a certain time period. There was discussion on the current needs and intake based on class availability and season. Vice Mayor Koprowski also recommended listening to the other presentations and then assessing what was left for the park’s programs. 6. Review, discussion and possible action of the Emergency and Minor Home Repair Program Community Response Supervisor Dykstra provided information on the total nonprofit funding. She discussed the original ask of the subcommittee in allocating $100,000 but provided information on new opportunities to repurpose monies from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). Chair Yentes stated that the Subcommittee now had the information needed to move forward with a recommendation. Vice Mayor Koprowski asked for further clarification from Ms. Dykstra and there was discussion on new opportunities to shift existing funding. 7. Next steps including timelines and checkpoints. Vice Mayor Koprowski provided information on the remaining funding available and asked Community Response Supervisor Dykstra about the greater need for the non- profit assistance. Ms. Dykstra discussed the process and provided information on the current 35 application from 28 organizations and stated that 14 of those organizations were not previously funded. She talked about the flexibility in funding and opportunities with the money allocated. She stated that she would get a memo to Council and then notify recipients of the allocation based on the feedback received. She stated that there were less than 10 applicants asking for more than $100,000. There was discussion on a Special Meeting. There was discussion on awaiting the full allocation of the non-profit assistance funding to make the determination on what was left over and how to allocate it. Chair Yentes stated that perhaps the $400,000 was what made the most sense since it was rooted in the data. There was discussion on waiting until the non-profit funding allocation was complete to have a better number in mind for remaining funds. Vice Mayor Koprowski asked for clarification that $700,000 would be allocated to non-profit in addition to the $2,000,000. Councilmember September stated that he felt the non-profit takes priority over parks programs and these were direct impacts. Chair Yentes discussed the needs of the parks and recreation programs as avenues for those impacted and the services being utilized because of the effects of COVID-19. There was additional discussion. Vice Mayor Koprowski stated that she believed the parks programs would benefit all residents and the ask was a small amount in terms of the non-profit allocation. There was discussion on the non-profit requests and those applicants who may not be qualified or did not have enough merit. Councilmember September asked Supervisor Dykstra about some of the applicants, and there was discussion on qualifications and possible long-term requests and the possibility of pushing funding until January in certain circumstances based on needs. There was discussion on long term objectives of the organizations. Councilmember September asked for clarification that the recommendation was to hold off on additional funding until there was a new round of needs, to which Supervisor Dykstra stated that would be an option and she would have a better idea on the needs after the allocation process was complete. There was discussion on additional allocations and benefits. Vice Mayor Koprowski recommended that recommendations were heard the following week and they could do back to back subcommittee meetings if needed before making a formal recommendation to Council at the Special Meeting. Town Manager Banger provided an update, stating he was able to contact someone about the Justice Court and stated they were on schedule to vacate on time. Councilmember September asked about the distribution on the Together Gilbert businesses program and asked to see an update. Director Carmona stated they would have more information on the non-profits at the next meeting and there could be a recommendation to notice those items. The next meeting will be on September24, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. ADJOURN A MOTION was made by Vice Mayor Koprowski, seconded by Councilmember September, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 3-0. Chair Yentes adjourned the meeting at 4:32 pm ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Chair Aimee Yentes Chaveli Herrera, MMC, Deputy Town Clerk