Council Subcommittee

MINUTES OF THE GILBERT COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON AZ CARES ACT, APRIL 25, 2022, AT 4:00 P.M., VIRTUAL MEETING, GILBERT, ARIZONA COUNCIL PRESENT: Aimee Yentes, Yung Koprowski and Scott September COUNCIL ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Town Clerk Chaveli Herrera, Town Attorney Chris Payne, Parks and Recreation Director/Interim Assistant Town Manager Robert Carmona, Department of Economic Development Director Dan Henderson, Office of Management and Budget Director Kelly Pfost, Volunteer and Community Response Manager Melanie Dykstra CALL TO ORDER Chair Yentes called the meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. RECESS OF SPECIAL MEETING AND RECONVENE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION A MOTION was made by Councilmember Koprowski, seconded by Councilmember September to recess the Special Meeting and reconvene in Executive Session pursuant to: A.R.S. § 38-431.03(A)(3), legal advice from the Town Attorney concerning allocation of AZ CARES funds. Motion carried 3-0. ADJOURN EXECUTIVE SESSION AND RECONVENE SPECIAL MEETING A MOTION was made by Councilmember September, seconded by Councilmember Koprowski to adjourn Executive Session and reconvene Special Meeting. Chair Yentes reconvened the meeting at 4:12 p.m. AGENDA ITEMS 1.Review of AZ Cares Allocations. Director Carmona provided a recap of the AZ Cares funds of the amount of $29,173,954 and outlined the initial allocations made to the business community, nonprofits, public safety and direct assistance programs. He provided information on each of the areas and discussed details on how the funding was used to provide assistance in the areas of nonprofit assistance as well as the Parks & Recreation Programming Discount. 2.Review of #GilbertTogether Business Relief Program. Director Henderson provided information on the #GilbertTogether Business Relief Grant. He outlined the total number of applications of 520, the 457 approved applications and the total number of grant funds being awarded in the amount of $9.7 million as well as other details and data of the program through graphs. He then discussed the Business Recovery Loan and discussed the total number of leads being 89, the number of applications received of 27 and of those the number of applications approved of 12. He stated the total amount of loan funds issued was $340,000 and provided additional data regarding the loan program through graphs. He detailed the Business Resiliency Assistance program and specifically discussed the results with Co+Hoots, Local First Arizona and the additional partnership with Maricopa Community Colleges East Valley IT Institute. He concluded his update with survey data from the Gilbert Chamber with the business community. He talked about the top 3 respondent industries, number of employees and the top five concerns over the next six months. He discussed looking at the national and local perspective that learned from the feedback. He stated the most recent analysis shows $2.4 million in funding remains. Chair Yentes asked about any local surveying for either Co+Hoots or Local First Arizona specifically. Director Henderson clarified that the surveying happened at the beginning and during not at the end to capture the success but rather capturing and addressing initial concerns of the business community. Chair Yentes stated she would be interested to see whether these two programs were successful, and Director Henderson stated that all concern were addressed, and he detailed both short and long term needs of the business community. He detailed more interest being for the grant program than that of the loan interest program and talked about where needs are at for businesses currently. Councilmember Koprowski asked if the long-term business recovery program received the funding it needed of if it was still something of interest that is needed to continue to help with recovery. Director Henderson stated that the business mentoring and coaching had been extended and discussed a budget request made to further continue. Councilmember Koprowski asked how much was requested in additional funds to which Director Henderson believed it to be around $350,000. Councilmember September asked about the general consensus in the health of our business communities. Director Henderson stated it was still about labor and the availability of trained labor as well as the supply chain but generally speaking he would characterize the attitudes to be positive. He stated the local issues were the same we were seeing nationally. Chair Yentes asked about other options being on the survey that respondents could have listed regarding their concerns to which Director Henderson confirmed there were other similar options available. 3.Review of AZ Cares Expenditures. Director Pfost outlined the current allocations of Cares funds and stated the remaining amount was around $2.4 million dollars and detailed spent and dedicated funding. She provided two funding recommendations:  - MF2480 Police Dispatch Expansion with an additional funding of $1.311 million - General Government SDF Early Sunset with additional one-time funding of $1 million to $1.5 million to pay off final expenses, the early sunset can occur June 20, 2022. 4.Review, discussion and possible action on funding opportunities. Councilmember Koprowski stated she felt it made sense to allocate to the Police Dispatch center and it relating to public safety. She outlined an additional option other than that of the General Government SDF of allocating funding towards a change order for the Muni I remodel that would be coming before council in the future. She also stated she had heard from residents about potential needs for updates of the Senior Center, adding additional programs and overall support to Arts and Culture within the community. Chair Yentes asked what the predominant benefit would be in paying off the General Government SDF early. Director Pfost stated the business community would have a lower fee on that side and lower building costs if they continue to build. She clarified the focus would be on one-time costs to programming to help for a year with the Cares funds. Councilmember September stated that original focus was on Gilbert businesses and nonprofits and he was supportive of being consistent in that direction. He stated funding the Police Dispatch center makes sense as did the SDF assistance but also asked about potentially allocating to nonprofits. Manager Dykstra provided information on the nonprofits and stated most organizations were able to use their money, however one organization was not at this time. She stated she still feels there is money that is available for future allocations and support to the nonprofits, so she is hopeful to work within the current funding available and carry it forward for continued and future use. Councilmember Koprowski asked for clarification that the funding described by Manager Dykstra was separate than what is being discussed tonight to which Manager Dykstra confirmed. Chair Yentes confirmed there is general consensus on the Police Dispatch Expansion, but she had mixed feelings on the General Government SDF but to the extent that its helpful she understands and has a general support of it. Councilmember Koprowski talked about growth paying for growth and expressed concerns in the direct correlation and benefit to the community because she believes this option would impact new developments so she is unsure how it would flow down to the end user. Councilmember September talked about costs of buying new homes, moves to new office spaces and stated he believed all of those are impacted by SDF fees to which Director Henderson confirmed. Councilmember September asked about potentially not funding it completely and looking into a third option. Councilmember Koprowski asked about feedback on the change order option for Muni I and where funding should come from. Chair Yentes expressed concern whether that option would align with the original intent of the funding. Director Pfost stated it could fit within the intent of Cares funds but outlined other options as well based on the preference of Council. Chair Yentes asked about the overtime contingency request of the Fire Department that would be on the next Council agenda for discussion and approval. Councilmember Koprowski asked if Cares funds was used to assist with Fire overtime instead of General Fund, what would that funding from the General Fund be used for. Director Pfost stated it would be used for future needs. Chair Yentes recommended the option to pull that item from tomorrows meeting and allocating Cares funds to it rather than General Fund. Attorney Payne provided clarification on the process and stated he would work with the Clerk to amend the agenda. Councilmember September asked Manager Dykstra if any additional funding was needed for nonprofits. Manager Dykstra stated there was always a need, but she felt comfortable with where they were at this time. 5.Next steps including timelines and checkpoints. The consensus of the subcommittee was to allocate funding to the Police Dispatch Center, General Government SDF sunset and Fire overtime expense. ADJOURN Chair Yentes adjourned the meeting at 5:04 p.m. ATTEST: ___________________________ ___________________________________ Chair Aimee Yentes Chaveli Herrera, Town Clerk