Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON AZ CARES ACT, SEPTEMBER 24 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 Resource Supervisor Melanie Dykstra, Assistant Fire Chief Rob Duggan CALL TO ORDER Chair Yentes called the meeting to order at 3:02 p.m. RECESS OF SPECIAL MEETING AND RECONVENE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION A MOTON was made by Councilmember September, seconded by Chair Yentes, to recess to Executive Session pursuant to A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3), legal advice from the Town Attorney concerning allocation of AZ CARES funds. ADJOURN EXECUTIVE SESSION AND RECONVENE SPECIAL MEETING Chair Yentes reconvened the Special meeting at 3:25 p.m. AGENDA ITEMS 1. Approval of the minutes of the meeting of September 17, 2020 A MOTION was made by Councilmember September, seconded by Chair Yentes, to approve the minutes of the meeting of September 17, 2020. Motion carried 3-0. 2. Review of outstanding items from previous meeting. There was no discussion. 3. Review, discussion and possible action of non-profit assistance program. Community Resource Supervisor Dykstra provided information on the funding and recommendations. She stated that 28 organizations were being recommended with 22 being fully funded. She provided additional details on the funding for each organization. She requested that $2,000 be allocated to the Town in support of advertising to the residents the resources available through the non-profit organizations. She stated that additional organizations have reached out about applying but the deadline had passed and stated that if additional funding became available there was a need. Chair Yentes asked if the moving of funds equaled a wash in funding and discussed the possibility of extending the deadline for leftover funding for those organizations interested. Supervisor Dykstra discussed the extension of the deadline and said another process can be looked at if that’s the direction of Council, she stated that although not every organization was fully funded the majority of needs have been met. Chair Yentes asked about the organizations and their own individual means and methods for outreach. Supervisor Dykstra discussed additional ways to capture more information and stated that some people may not know that the resources and opportunities were available, and it was a way to meet those needs. Councilmember September stated that he liked that idea and agreed that many residents may be unaware of the availability of these resources. Chair Yentes discussed potentially partnering with hospitals and recommended that a chart be created to further capture how priorities and needs were funded. Vice Mayor Koprowski thanked Supervisor Dykstra for all her hard work and asked if additional funding became available if she would recommend re-opening the process. Supervisor Dykstra stated yes but elaborated that it would be in the best interest to wait a few months to see some of the on-going impacts. 4. Update on business assistance program. Director Henderson provided a status update on the three components of the business assistance program. He outlined the process and discussed the contract with Arizona Community Foundation (ACF) and the limitations of the vendor. He stated that they would not be able to coordinate the financials and disbursements of the of the funds and specified that staff were looking at different partners for that component. He talked about the benefits in approving the other components at this time to allow time to develop the platform, coordinate outreach and marketing and allow businesses to be prepared to submit documents. He stated that essentially everything except for disbursements would be able to be completed at this time. Chair Yentes asked about the start date of the contract and Director Henderson stated it would be effective at the approval of Council. He stated that approval of the contract would allow staff to set up everything within a reasonable time frame. Chair Yentes asked if staff was confident that upon approval we would have procured a vendor to assist with the disbursements. Director Henderson stated he was cautiously optimistic and discussed the simultaneous work that would happen upon approval. Vice Mayor Koprowski asked if there was a reason as to why Town staff could not distribute these funds directly. There was discussion on concerns with the works load and Director Henderson stated he would work with the Town Manager and legal for a better answer. Councilmember September asked if our position to procure a vendor was weakened having the front end loaded, he discussed the benefit in moving concurrently and asked about what the next steps if we got stuck in the process. Director Henderson elaborated on the process of procuring a vendor and the potential risks. He discussed neighboring communities going through the same process and stated that he felt strongly that a partner was out there that could provide the service. Town Manager Banger discussed the unique situation and program stated that the Town would find a solution. He stated that although the preference was to find a vendor, staff would make the appropriate changes if necessary. Chair Yentes stated that she hoped more information would be available when presented to Council and elaborated on the importance to share the information with the business community. Director Henderson spoke in agreement and stated he would prepare to answer those questions. Director Henderson provided information on the second phase and said he was working on getting all the terms and conditions of the contract in order for the October 13th Council Meeting for the business loan component. He provided information on the third phase and the scope of services. He stated that staff was prepared to move forward with a contract with Maricopa Community College District (MCCD) at the September 29th Special Meeting and elaborated that this would be one of many technical assistance providers. Chair Yentes asked how much the contract award was for with MCCD and asked about the nature of the program. Director Henderson stated the contract was not to exceed $150,000 and stated that the program was uniquely different and provided details on the formal job training component. He elaborated on the programs intent to provide specific job training and changing skill sets of individuals. Chair Yentes spoke in support of reaching out multiple partners in the process. Lastly, she asked for clarification that two items will be brought forward for approval on September 29th and the other on October 13th. She also spoke about the importance of getting the word out on the program and process. Director Henderson stated he was working with Digital Government on outreach. 5. Review, discussion and possible action of Parks and Recreation assistance to residents. Chair Yentes stated that at the last meeting staff presented the figure of $400,000 as lost value and asked what the recommendation of the Council was to fund. Vice Mayor Koprowski stated that it was hard to decide based on the small amount of remaining funds and the amount of needs but felt that they have met many of the needs in their recommendations. She stated that she would suggest funding the $400,000 to the Parks and Recreation department. Chair Yentes spoke in agreement of the funding recommendation and stated that Council could then decide how to move forward with any remaining funds. Councilmember September stated he was also comfortable with the recommendation to Parks and Recreation and asked bout the money that would be paid back from the loans and felt that it should be part of the discussion. Director Henderson provided information on the terms he discussed with banking institutions and talked about doing their best to buy down interest rates. He stated there have been discussions on how to use those monies once re-paid but explained that he would talk to the banks and staff and get a better answer and ideas. Chair Yentes recommended they hold off on allocating the remaining funds and get the first steps and recommendations approved and then reassess the needs. Director Henderson provided more information on the funds and discussed understanding what the program would like look when its complete. There was additional discussion and Director Henderson stated he would have additional conversations with staff and vendors and come back with additional ideas. Vice Mayor Koprowski discussed the possibility of adding the discussion of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) as a future discussion item. There was discussion on remaining funds and brining the conversation of the EOC to a possible Council Retreat. Chair Yentes asked Director Carmona if he had all the information and direction needed to move forward with the recommendations discussed for approval, which he stated he did. 6. Next steps including timelines and checkpoints. Director Carmona stated that Assistant Chief Duggan would be happy to provide more information on the Emergency Operations Center. Chair Yentes discussed having discussions on those two items at the Council Retreat and the opportunity to have the full Council hear those discussions. There was additional discussion on when Assistant Chief Duggan would have more information. Vice Mayor Koprowski stated that she recommended leaving the remaining $30,000 in the non-profit pot and reallocate with the same intent. Chair Yentes stated that she felt that would be appropriate and talked about the next checkpoints. She talked about the next steps in outreach and Intergovernmental Affairs Director Bohr stated he had the contact information ready for Congressman Biggs office and there was discussion and clarification on the outreach efforts. ADJOURN Chair Yentes adjourned the meeting at 4:25 pm ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Chair Aimee Yentes Chaveli Herrera, MMC, Deputy Town Clerk