City Council Agendas & Minutes

City of Hampton, VA 22 Lincoln Street Meeting Minutes Hampton, VA 23669 www.hampton.gov City Council Randall A. Gilliland Joseph H. Spencer, II Ross A. Kearney, II George E. Wallace Angela Lee Leary Paige V. Washington, Jr. Molly Joseph Ward, Mayor Staff: Mary Bunting, City Manager Cynthia Hudson, City Attorney Katherine K. Glass, Clerk of Council Brenda J. Vaccarelli, Deputy Clerk Wednesday, March 10, 2010 1:03 PM Council Chambers, 8th Floor, City Hall CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Molly Joseph Ward presided Present: Ross A. Kearney, II, Angela Lee Leary, Joseph H. Spencer, II, George E. Wallace, Paige V. Washington, Jr. Absent: Randall A. Gilliland Mayor Ward explained that Councilman Gilliland has been delayed in traffic Agenda 1. 10-0111 Budget Process Update Ms. Mary Bunting, City Manager, stated as the Council members know, they are continuing the ongoing dialogue about the budget process and this Council and staff have committed to doing a variety of things to get broad based input from the citizenry and the employees regarding the budget situation, that not only the City faces, but all localities throughout the State. She said staff has been doing a variety of forms of polling and today staff will introduce some of their efforts to engage folks in organizational settings as well as informal settings. The City Manager noted that the Peninsula Town Center will be opening on Thursday, March 11, 2010, and staff will be receiving public comment at the opening. She said there will be a variety of ways for people to input on the budget and today staff will summarize the information received. The City Manager said each member of Council has been given a book and information will be sent to Council in their Friday packet to be added over time. She explained that a summary of the polling information is included in the book. She said Tab 6 is Organizational Chats and she participated in one at the Buckroe Civic Association meeting on Tuesday, March 9, 2010. The City Manager said staff has set up a system where staff can record what people are saying at the site. She explained that the information was printed out so the people could concur that the notes reflect what they said. She further explained that each Friday, Council will receive information that reflects the results of each group staff has visited. City of Hampton, VA Page 1 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilman Kearney asked if the information listed were unanimous decisions by the entire group or by individuals. In response, the City Manager said they are individual comments. She thanked Councilman Kearney for the clarification. She said if people made repetitive comments it would be listed more than once and that would be reflected in the information. She said they are not trying to capture people nodding their heads in agreement because that is hard to do in a large room. She said they are trying to capture the flavor of the meeting and that is what it is intended to do. The City Manager said all of this effort is not to do any kind of voting but to give the public as many opportunities as possible to feel like they have an opportunity to be heard so she and staff can take that into account in the City Manager’s Recommended Budget. She said she is providing Council with the same data so that as Council reflects upon the City Manager’s Recommended Budget, it can see how staff put it together. She said she believes everyone knows that they are very careful in all of their settings to explain that the City has many factors to balance including legal requirements, fiduciary responsibilities, for individuals who can’t speak for themselves, for instance children. She said young children can’t speak for themselves in these kinds of sessions and she will balance all those things just as Council will balance all those things and she believes the general public understands that. The City Manager said she wanted to provide Council a mechanism for keeping that kind of data readily at hand and judge the budget provided to Council on April 15, 2010, against the data. She said she will point out in the City Manager’s message to Council, as well as the public comments, how the public flavor gets represented in the budget, but also where she could not honor it because of constraints. She said this is just a tool to help Council better understand what the public is saying in the various environments. The City Manager noted that staff will be doing a variety of things from the surveying and polling results, staff surveying around compensation choices which was started this week and will be finished on Friday, March 12, 2010. She said there will be informal chats at places like the Peninsula Town Center or large community events. She noted that a calendar of events is included under Tab 2. The City Manager said staff will be at some of the shows at the arena as well as the Hampton Roads Convention Center (HRCC) and all the information will be summarized and Council will be told which tab to place the information under. She said they are going all out to ensure people have a chance to be heard and the book is a way to keep the information organized. The City Manager said Ms. Chris Snead, Director of Budget and Management Analylsis, will begin in reviewing the results of Council’s poll on February 10, 2010. She said Council specifically requested that staff get with employees to determine their thoughts about the budget choices to include the results of the retirement incentive survey that was conducted which will be addressed during the evening Council meeting under Agenda Item #17, authorizing that program. The City Manager said Mr. John Eagle, Assistant City Manager, will review the summary of the citizen polling results. She said that although the full detail is included in the book under Tab 3, staff will provide a high level summary for the general public as well. The City Manager said staff has a lot of information to share with Council and she hopes it will be informative. She said staff welcomes any feedback from Council at the conclusion of the presentations. Councilman Washington said he was pleased to have a tool that provides all the information needed in order for Council to make determinations based on that information. He said he has received questions from his community as to the meeting that was held and the results that were generated because of the meeting. City of Hampton, VA Page 2 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes The City Manager said all the information staff is providing Council today will be placed on the Internet so folks can access it. She said staff also made the commitment, at several suggestions from citizens, to put the information in libraries and community centers and those kinds of venues. The City Manager said it is their custom to provide the information to Council first, but after today, the survey results will be on line for citizens to see. Ms. Snead said she will provide three short presentations to Council. The first is the results of Council’s polling regarding the budget principles that were addressed at the February 10, 2010, Council meeting. She said staff briefed Council on several possible budget principles that could be used to balance the budget and staff distributed a survey to Council. Ms. Snead noted that Council has the actual tally of the survey as well as the various comments that were made by Council. Employee Compensation/Benefit Ms. Snead said Council overwhelmingly agreed to staff polling the employees regarding the Retirement Incentive Program and she will brief Council on those results later in the presentation. Ms. Snead said Council agreed to institute some level of salary reduction as a balancing strategy, if necessary. She said Council agreed and she believes there were some various approaches as to how Council agreed but believed it was a good option if needed. Ms. Snead said on the rest of the options, Council had varying and preferred approaches regarding health insurance, furloughs and the like. Other Budgeting Principles Ms. Snead said Council overwhelmingly favored consolidating services within the City and with outside entities and Council strongly favored raising service related fees that could be implemented in this budget session. She said the City Manager has put together a group of employees who are looking at that to come up with the various fees that could be increased in this budget. Ms. Snead said Council agreed that freezing vacant positions was something they could live with as well as reducing non-core supported services. Councilman Kearney said this was discussed in general so much and the proof is going to be in the pudding. He asked if the freezing would hinder the City Manager in performing her job. In response, the City Manager said the City has an exception process for critical skilled jobs. She explained that the City recently authorized the hiring of some police officer positions that were vacant because they were needed for manning purposes. She said the way they would approach a freeze is having the ability to accept, if necessary and for critical purposes, but otherwise keep the positions frozen and she recommends that. Ms. Snead continued her presentation noting that use of fund balance for one-time expenditures was acceptable by the majority of Council. However, reducing hours of operation for certain facilities such as libraries and community centers, wasn’t overwhelmingly favored even though she believes it would be acceptable if they had to do that. City of Hampton, VA Page 3 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Ms. Snead stated in addition to the survey, staff posed several questions to Council for input regarding what strategies should be used to balance the budget and that information is included in the Council book. Workforce Feedback Ms. Snead stated at the February 10, 2010, Council meeting, staff was asked to poll the workforce on the compensation and benefit changes. She noted that three employee meetings were held on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, and two will be held on March 11, 2010, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. She said staff has allotted for 100 employees at each meeting because they have 100 polling devices. Ms. Snead noted that if needed, staff will schedule additional meetings. She said on-line surveys will be available as well. Ms. Snead said employees are asked to use the honor system and only vote once and they are reminded that this is not a referendum or a binding vote. Ms. Snead said staff has to look at the entire budget perspective and look at the entire organization. Councilman Kearney asked what the reaction of the employees has been. In response, Ms. Snead said she has not attended the meetings. The City Manager said she attended and the reaction was split. There were some that favored furloughs and others favored the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) contribution. Councilman Kearney said he was referring to the opportunity for the employees to voice their opinion. In response, the City Manager said the employees have been very appreciative. She said they have received a lot of e-mails indicating that they did not like that the City had to look at these kinds of things but they appreciate the opportunity to weigh in about them. She said the actual responses have been mixed in that there has not been an overwhelming trend yet. Councilman Kearney said the City Manager took a big step in letting the employees have a voice in this because he has not heard of this being done in other governmental agencies. In response, the City Manager said she believes it is very fair to say they have been very positive about the opportunity. She said staff has been clear to express that this was an idea of Council as well as staff. Councilman Washington said he has been receiving some unsolicited concerns about the terms being used such as furloughs, laying off, or passing on of insurance costs, because that is the nature of the beast at this point because everything is on the table. He said he has tried to convey that to those individuals who have come to him that it is too early in the game to lock in and to be considering things of that nature. Councilman Wallace complemented the City Manager for the process she is using because there have been various means and methodologies in trying to solicit employee input and this is carrying the process to a new level in employee involvement. Areas Covered and Explained Ms. Snead said the City Manager’s express goal is to minimize as much impact to the employees as possible, but this is a very difficult budget year and they will try their very best at doing that. She said employees were asked their different opinions regarding City of Hampton, VA Page 4 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes furloughs, salary reductions, sharing in the employee contribution of VRS, health insurance premiums and co-pays. Employee Polling Ms. Snead stated as a warm up, employees were asked their age, business team, gender and education level so staff could ensure they were comfortable with the polling process. She said each option was explained and employees were asked their tolerance level for the areas whether they were acceptable, somewhat acceptable, somewhat unacceptable, unacceptable or had no opinion. Role of Reductions Ms. Snead stated the employees were also asked about their preference and if their reason was that they wanted to protect all jobs or did they understand and were they okay with the fact that they would still take salary reductions and benefit reductions even if jobs were eliminated. Other Questions Ms. Snead said they were also asked what level of salary reductions they were willing to accept, and their tolerance level for 0% to 5% reductions. Retirement Incentive Survey Results Ms. Snead said at the February 10, 2010, Council meeting, Council allowed staff to survey those employees that met the criteria staff established for an early retirement incentive. She explained that staff will brief Council on the survey results and Council is requested to approve the Retirement Incentive Program if Council agrees, and to appropriate the funding from designated fund balance. She explained the Retirement Incentive Program involves a one-time salary incentive to employees who opt to retire between March 1, 2010, and August 1, 2010. She further explained there is some flexibility depending on how soon the notices can be sent out and it may go to September 1, 2010. Ms. Snead said this includes employees who are eligible for full retirement that have VRS eligible requirements for full retirement. She said it also includes employees who can retire at a reduced retirement benefit that may not have the full number of years required but they have to have a specific age requirement of at least 50. Ms. Snead said it includes employees who are eligible for unreduced retirement benefits. She explained that those are employees who are at least 65 years of age but may have only 5, 7 or 10 years. She said they may have 20 years, but they don’t have the full 30 years, but because of their age, they can retire with an unreduced benefit factor. Ms. Snead said the employee paperwork has to be returned to Finance by April 19, 2010, in order to qualify. She said 288 surveys were mailed out and 125 went to employees who are eligible for full retirement, 134 employees were within the 20 to 29 years and eligible for reduced retirement, and 29 employees were eligible for the unreduced benefit, at least 65 years of age with 5 years of service. Ms. Snead said the survey was sent out mainly on the years of service but staff learned that there are 48 employees who had at least 25 years of services that did not meet the age requirement which left a net number of respondents of 240 people. She noted that of the 240 employees surveyed a total of 59 employees responded they would take advantage of the early retirement incentive, 23 employees from the full retirement category, 22 from City of Hampton, VA Page 5 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes the reduced category and 14 from the unreduced benefit category. Ms. Snead said the total savings to the budget includes only FICA so the number would increase once they fill in behind the position and take the savings. Vice Mayor Spencer asked if there would be other discussion with the 240 employees that are eligible other than the survey. He said he wants to ensure that everyone understands the seriousness of what the City is facing. He said he understands that this was just a survey but he would like to know if there is going to be a meeting with the 240 people, or one-on-one meetings. Ms. Mary Bunting, City Manager, said they have conducted a survey and in addition to the survey, Finance prepared for each individual who was eligible for full and reduced benefit an estimate of what the incentive would be, what their retirement pay would be, both from VRS and HERS, if they were HERS eligible. She said those employees who were eligible for full unreduced benefit have already received a statement from Finance explaining what their benefit eligibility is and they had that information when they were making the decisions. Vice Mayor Spencer asked if the employees made the decision at the same time they were presented with the information. He asked if they had time to talk with their spouse. In response, the City Manager said the employees received it in time to complete the survey results but they didn’t have more than a day or two to do that. She said staff made it clear that the survey was just a survey and it was not binding either in the affirmative or the negative and that the employees would have more time to make the final determination. She explained that if Council approves the incentive during the evening Council meeting, staff will provide the paperwork to all employees, whether they said yes or no and appointments will be set up to go over the paperwork and they will have the opportunity for a one-on-one interview. She further explained in the 45 days they would have to make a final decision, they will have time to explore it further with their spouses or family members. The City Manager said the numbers that Ms. Snead shared with Council today are significantly different than what staff is asking Council to appropriate because they want to allow for the fact that maybe some employees who said no initially will change their minds. She said they cannot do anything overt to encourage people to do it because it has to be freely of their own volition and staff cannot say if they don’t take this option their job might be gone. The employees have to make their own determination. The City Manager said staff will do all they can in a facilitated way so the employees will have the information they need to make an unencumbered decision as to whether this is right for them or not. She said staff is not trying to draw any implications about specific jobs or what will happen or what won’t happen with jobs because the two are totally unrelated. She said staff is making decisions on the budget based upon service need as has been discussed. She said the savings assume that they will fill behind all of those positions at the entry level salary of the salary range. She said it may be that savings go up if certain jobs can be eliminated in the budget process although that determination is completely separate and apart from this process. She noted that in this process the savings is assuming that everyone of those jobs will be filled at the starting salary range for that job. The City Manager said the employees will have more time and she believes that by April 19, 2010, more employees will say yes because they will have had more time to see their numbers, talk with Finance and talk with their family as opposed to doing a quick turn around survey. She said an employee that said yes could change their mind and someone who said no could change their mind and retire. City of Hampton, VA Page 6 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilman Wallace asked if the chart provided to Council reflected the 59 employees who said they would accept the incentive. He asked if it would be beneficial for the City in terms of Council making judgments subsequently, if the savings that are reflected in the chart would also be shown simultaneously with the savings that are estimated from furloughs and reductions in the various other options in terms of FICA and contributions to the retirement program. He said if those could be placed side by side it would be helpful. In response, Ms. Snead said when staff presents the budget to Council staff will ensure that all of those savings are aligned as part of the employee compensation benefit reduction. Councilman Wallace said that would allow Council to make judgments based on all the information in front of them at the same time. Ms. Snead said the number could go up as more employees have time to ponder their numbers and check with their families. She said the exact numbers will not be realized until they have a confirmed list of retirees because some of the 181 employees who said no were undecided and they indicated the reason was because they needed more information and time to talk with a financial advisor or family member. Ms. Snead said they have already had some employees who have changed their minds after receiving their numbers from Finance. The City Manager said she wants to ensure that the public understands the cost is one time funds but the savings are recurring. She said year after year the City would be permanently reducing its payroll. Ms. Snead said staff would like Council to approve the resolution to offer the retirement incentive package and appropriate the funds from designated fund balance. Mayor Ward thanked Ms. Snead for the presentation. The City Manager said Mr. Eagle will present the information from the citizen polling events. She said there were five polling events during budget week and they were very well attended. She noted that a separate event was held for youth in the community. Note: Councilman Gilliland entered the meeting at 1:33 p.m. Mr. Eagle made the following presentation to Council: Overview • Staff conducted five public forums • A sixth was conducted for teens only • Over 270 people attended with 235 polling responses received (10 times the number from last year) • Over 200 online survey responses received thus far • No paper surveys • These will augment less formal sessions currently being scheduled City of Hampton, VA Page 7 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Audience Polling Technology • Anonymous polling • Immediate real-time feedback • Ability to cross-tabulate • Merge capability • Helped to create a “buzz” in the community and have greater participation • Not every service is listed for practical reasons, however those asked about in initial forums were added in subsequent forums Councilman Wallace asked if the various tabulations included ethnicity. In response, Mr. Eagle responded yes. Mr. Eagle continued his presentation with the following information: Using the Data • Only one component of our analysis • Helps us to understand the community’s values and what areas of the City services they feel are most important • This information does not circumvent our obligation to ensure services are provided to those not represented (i.e., abused children) • Helps us to analyze the impact of certain reductions and if there are certain demographics that are impacted we should be aware of • Just one of our alignment tools; also guided by our internal analyses; community and business plans Councilman Washington asked if the information under Tab 3 was all of the aggregate of the meetings that were held. In response, Mr. Eagle said one was an aggregate of the first five sessions, the teen forum was by itself and then they combined them. He said the teen forum was a separate demographic to see how they compared against the rest of the groups. Demographic Representation • Diversity of respondents across demographic categories of gender, age, income, race, education and geographic areas Overcharching Themes • Each category of services is listed according to their ranking within the category by need/want • The percentages are indicated in parenthesis • The service receiving the highest importance is asterisked if it is not the top ranked by need • Keep in mind there are many ways to interpret the data – this is one “view” City of Hampton, VA Page 8 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Arts, Culture and Recreation • Public Libraries (87/11) • Community and neighborhood Centers (62/34) • Youth Sports (61/35) • Community Outreach on Diversity (29/56) • Arts Commission and American Theatre (25/72) • Hampton History Museum (22/71) Councilman Kearney asked about the figures for the Public Libraries. In response, Mr. Eagle explained that the figure indicates percentage and not the number of people responding. He said 11% said the Libraries were something they wanted and 87% said it was something they felt was needed. Councilman Kearney asked if that was a 98% approval rating. In response, Mr. Eagle said he doesn’t believe so. He said they asked if the services were seen as a want or a need and in some cases it doesn’t add up to 100 because some answers were not given. He said in some ways it mirrors the City’s satisfaction rating. He said everyone knows the libraries, Fire and EMS always receive the very highest marks in the survey. Economic Vitality • Retain and Expand Existing Businesses (73/20) • Attract New Businesses (69/28) • Attract Tourism and Conventions (62/35) • Remove Blighted Properties (58/35) • Master Plan Implementation (44/46) • Encourage Minority Business Development (40/52) Councilman Kearney stated regarding the 58% for removal of blighted properties, he would be interested in knowing how that question was answered depending on which part of the City the person lives in. He said if someone lives in a newer neighborhood, Howe Farms or Michael’s Woods, it would be less important than if the person lives in an older neighborhood. He asked if there was a way to track that information. In response, Mr. Eagle said staff is able to track that information. Infrastructure • Maintain Streets Roads and Bridges (93/6) • Maintain City Street Lights (85/14) • Upkeep Public facilities (85/14) • Maintain Traffic Signals (82/14) • Improve Drainage for Heavy Rains (81/17)* • Insect and Mosquito Control (66/52) • Maintain parks and Playgrounds (63/36) • Maintain Athletic Fields (54/43) • Enhance Landscaping (18/77) City of Hampton, VA Page 9 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilman Wallace asked about the asterisk beside Improved Drainage for Heavy Rains. In response, Mr. Eagle said they were asked whether it was viewed as a need or a want and the relative importance of the item. He said they were also asked whether or not they would like to see the item reduced or maintained. Mr. Eagles explained part of the analysis was comparing how those questions tracked against one another and if they saw areas where they believed it was a need but also say it was important. He said staff was trying to determine if there were some consistencies in the values in the community and all of them tracked. He explained that in the public forums improving drainage was the highest importance. Councilman Wallace said the need was high but the want was not correspondingly high. In response, Mr. Eagle said the need was not as high as the importance. Mr. Eagle continued his presentation with the following information: Housing and Neighborhoods • Building Inspections (86/12) • Enforcing Zoning Ordinances (63/28) • Building and land use Plan Review (54/37) • Strategic Community Planning (46/48) • Foster Civic Engagement Opportunities (45/50) • Services to Support Neighborhoods (42/54) • Improving the Image of Neighborhoods (32/65) Public Safety • Emergency Medical and Fire Response (98/2) • E911 Dispatch (95/4) • Crime Investigation (94/5) • Uniform Patrol (90/8) • Disaster Preparedness and Management (88/11) • Financial Support for Volunteer Firefighters (74/24) • Animal Control Services (55/42) Schools • Public Schools for Grades K-12 (90/9) • School Crossing Guards (68/30) • Maintain School Grounds (61/38) Quality Government • Internal Government Support (78/18) • Outside Agency Funding (52/43) • 311 Customer Call Center (50/47) • Communicating with the Public and media (48/47) • Cable Broadcast Programming (27/69) City of Hampton, VA Page 10 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Mr. Eagle said he was surprised that the respondents said it was a need but they recognize that the City does have to have internal support, but they also said they would like to see a reduction in administrative overhead. Councilman Wallace said people that use the 311 Call Center overwhelmingly say how important it is and what a great service it is, but his is stymied by what the results reflect. The City Manager said that really perplexed her as well. She said she has talked with some folks about this and one of the things she doesn’t believe people realize is how the 311 Call Center was created. She said they didn’t add a whole new level of government, but positions were reallocated from departments to create the 311 Call Center. She said she believes there is an inherent assumption that if the 311 Call Center went away there are still people in the department to answer the calls, but staff knows that is not the case. The City Manager said she believes people were saying they like it very much but they thought it could go away and people could answer the phones in the departments. She said this is a good example of where we need to delve into more because the people don’t understand how it is structured. Mayor Ward said she believes more people need to know that the 311 Call Center is available and what a great resource it is and if they voted against it, they probably never have used it. Councilman Wallace said he is constantly taken back when asking people if they have used the 311 Call Center and he is told they didn’t know the service existed. He added that the City Manager knows about this because she was a team leader when the 311 Call Center was created. Councilwoman Leary said the 311 Call Center is probably one of the most important elements the City had when 500 families were taken in from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana. She said the 311 Call Center was vital to the City in order for those individuals to be able to pick up any phone in Hampton, dial 311. She said the 311 advocates had a crib sheet in front of them of everything the City was able to offer the evacuees and where they could go to get it. She said she believes Mr. Eagle has gone to New York City and they have implemented the 311 system. She said she believes it is vital to the City and she believes they could do more to promote its use. Councilwoman Leary asked if the outside agency funding included or excluded table sponsorships. In response, Mr. Eagle said he doesn’t believe that was mentioned. He said they covered a wide range of other things that are covered under that to include things of that nature. Councilwoman Leary said it wasn’t specifically mentioned but it was included in what you were presenting. Youth and Families • Health Department Programs (82/17) • Social Service Programs (77/21) • Healthy Start (61/35) • Teen Center (46/52) City of Hampton, VA Page 11 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes • Coalition for Youth Services (45/52) • Parenting Programs (43/53) Potential Revenue Options • Cigarette tax (66) • User Fees for Service (Golf Course, Recreation Programs (53) • Amusement/Admissions Tax (40) • Personal property (includes Boat and RV) (37) • Real Estate Tax Rate (to offset decrease in assessments) (26) • Restaurant/Meals tax (25) • No increase in user fees (21) • Unsure (3) Vice Mayor Spencer asked if it was 66% or 66 respondents to the cigarette tax. In response, Mr. Eagle said it is 66%. The City Manager said there were different opinions about what revenue choice someone might look at because only 21% said they wouldn’t increase anything, taxes or user fees. She said there seems to be some sentiment that certain things might be acceptable. Vice Mayor Spencer said the Personal property including boats and RV’s is interesting with only 37%. Councilman Kearney referenced the slide regarding Quality Government. He said he is a great supporter of cable programs and he believes it is in its infancy right now. He said the percentage is an example of how it is not being used the way it should be used. He said during the day, instead of showing something that came out of Richmond, it should be showing how to get involved with Bay Days or the 311 Call Center or how to volunteer to be a member of a variety of clubs or organizations. He said it should be used as a mechanism to explain to the community what the City has available. He said if it was used more effectively that number would increase dramatically. Vice Mayor Spencer asked if people were questioned if they have cable when asked that question or did they avoid answering the question. In response, Mr. Eagle said he would have to go back and look. The City Manager said they were going through 180 some questions with folks in 90 minutes. Vice Mayor Spencer said he was not being picky and he understands this was the first time but he believes people have made helpful suggestions and they were not being critical about the process. He said he believes it is a wonderful concept and idea but there is always some tweaking to be done and one is to ask if they even have cable. Mayor Ward said that could float a lot of the questions just as Councilman Wallace’s point about the 311 Call Center. She said if people use the Healthy Families babysitting classes, or have been to a public library or attended an event at the Hampton Arts City of Hampton, VA Page 12 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Commission they will feel completely different about it than if they have not used the service. She said she believes that same logic could be extended to all the questions. The City Manager said they will look at those suggestions for the next round and she believes they are all good suggestions. She said if they were to go into specifics for each of these it wouldn’t have been a 90 minute session. She said if folks are willing to engage at that level for that amount of time, adding the question that Councilman Wallace suggested about using a service would make a lot of sense. Councilman Washington said to some extent there was no real dialogue between those who were trying to communicate versus what the staff was actually looking for. He said he hopes the next round will afford the participants the opportunity to provide that dialogue so they can fine tune some of the percentages to get a better feel relative to the numbers that are reflected in the report. The City Manager said that is why they are having the informal chats in order to take the data to groups. She said it was very clear in some of the groups where the older populations consistently valued youth activities and were rated extremely high. Next Steps • Full report will be available online • Online survey will remain open until Monday, March 15, 2010 Councilwoman Leary said before she started the citizen engagement meetings, the City Manager assigned staff to attend the meetings and they were a terrific help in capturing all the questions. She said of the 11 meetings that were held, notes from 6 of the meetings have been typed and the questions have been logged. She said if the City Manager would like those outside of the whole package, there are 5 more meeting to go and she can have them to incorporate in the things she has before March 15, 2010. The City Manager said she will be glad to receive any input from any group or individual from any group or individual and as she indicated to Councilwoman Leary previously, she assumed that once she had the information compiled, it would be shared with all members of Council. Councilwoman Leary said the information regarding where the meeting was held, and when as well as the content of the discussion. Councilman Wallace asked for clarification regarding the data collected at Councilwoman Leary’s civic engagement meetings and incorporating the information with the data of the staff meetings. In response, Councilwoman Leary said she believes the information should be given to the City Manager to do with as she sees fit. Councilman Wallace said he would like to suggest to the City Manager that the information from the different sessions be merged. He said because it was done under two different kinds of contexts and two different sets of circumstances. He said the orientation process was different because he attended two of Councilwoman Leary’s sessions and consequently if they want to make that available to the community from her individual sessions that is fine, but he doesn’t believe it should be incorporated or City of Hampton, VA Page 13 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes included and possibly skewing the data that has been taken in the process that the City has used. The City Manager said it would really be impossible to merge it into the data staff has. She said she imagines taking it under advisement and sharing it with all of Council for their perusal. Councilwoman Leary said she didn’t believe it could be merged because she only asked 5 questions. She said she would provide the City Manager with the forms that were filled out. She said she didn’t believe it could be merged into this information, it should be included for the use of the City Manager and her staff and to be available for any citizens that what to see it. Councilman Wallace said Councilwoman Leary’s comment was a good clarification. The City Manager said they will be talking about the budget again on March 24, 2010, and again in April and May as they enter into the budget session more actively. She said they stand ready to receive any thoughts from Council whether it is individually or collectively now, as well as off line. She said if they have suggestions from people they interact with or come in contact with, feel free to contact staff so they can factor that into the analysis. 2. 10-0104 Briefing on Hampton's Response to the Request for Information Regarding Google's Community Fiber Optic Project. Ms. Mary Bunting, City Manager, said as most people know by now, Google has adopted a process to provide hi-speed fiber connections for the Internet to a variety of communities. She said there is a friendly competition going on across the country to interest Google in various cities for these pilot efforts and Hampton definitely wants to try and attract Google. She said they are limited in what they can do as a Dillon Rule State, but they believe there are a lot of things in Hampton that should interest Google and they want to conduct an extensive community outreach campaign to get the community excited and engaged in that effort. She said Mr. John Eagle, Assistant City Manager, is the lead person for the efforts and will summarize what the City is doing. Mayor Ward said she talked with Mr. Eagle briefly before the meeting regarding the Dillon Rule issue. She said she believes they should not let the Dillon Rule bind the City and the State and the legislative representatives should be approached to discuss how to become Google friendly and how they work with the State Department of Economic Development to be accessible so that somebody in Virginia gets it, even if it isn’t Hampton, or maybe they can get it as a region. Mayor Ward said they don’t intend to let that damper their spirits. The City Manager said they get more creative. She said Hampton is a city of many firsts and they hope to extend this to being one of the first to get Google as well. Councilman Washington asked if there was any significance as to how the survey is going to play as far as the budget is concerned. In response, the City Manager said it is very instrumental to her as she is making some decisions. City of Hampton, VA Page 14 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Mr. John Eagle, Assistant City Manager, said this is a very exciting project and a result for request for information that Google issued on February 10, 2010 which is called Google Fiber for Communities. He said they are saying it is an experiment and their goal is to make Internet access better and faster at an ultra high speed that is 100 times faster than typical speeds that are currently available. Mr. Eagle said if someone was to download a DVD HD movie from Netflix it would probably take several hours if not an entire day to download, whereas with these kinds of speeds it could be done in a few minutes. Mr. Eagle said they have indicated it will be competitively priced and they will use an open network model which he believes is interesting. He explained an open network model means that you wouldn’t necessarily be buying the services from Google and this could be good for Cox Communications and Verizon because they could be the one that provides the actual service through the Google infrastructure. He said Google will offer the competitively priced service to at least 50,000 residents and to as many as 500,000 and it could be more than one community. Mr. Eagle noted the deadline is March 26, 2010, for responding to the online Request for Information (RFI) and response forms are available for local governments as well as individual residents and community groups. Mr. Eagle said the City is planning a special event at the Hampton Roads Convention Center (HRCC) on March 16, 2010, at 1 p.m. He stated the purpose of the event is to gauge the interest and a variety of folks have been invited through E-News and through various mechanisms through social media reaching out to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Langley Air Force Base (LAFB), to the City’s hi-tech industry, and Hampton University (HU) to join the City in conversations so they can combine the absolute best response. Mr. Eagle said three things stand out in Google’s RFI. The first is there a market in the community. Mr. Eagle said they hope to get people to attend the Facebook site to indicate there is interest. He said Google asks those questions in the application because they want to know what has been done to determine what kind of community support there is for this kind of speed. The second thing is how fast they can deploy in the community. What is the terrain like, the regulatory environment and what will it take to get permits and right of way agreements. Mr. Eagle said Google asks whether the local governing body would appoint a single point of contact in their application. Mr. Eagle said the third thing is what this kind of speed would be used for. He said he believes Google is looking for experimentation and innovation and thinking outside the box. He said some of the things Google is looking for are 3-D medical imaging, downloading an HD film and collaborating in a classroom or a research environment. Mr. Eagle said he believes that is where things become interesting for Hampton because the City has that kind of market. He said they know that Google already has a relationship with folks at NASA. He said Hampton has hi-tech industry associated with LAFB and the aerospace industry, the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) and the amount of research they do and the data that generates the need for hi-speed Internet. Mr. Eagle noted in the medical environment, the Hampton University (HU) Proton Beam Facility, Sentara and the entire medical complex that exists in Hampton Roads Center Complex, and the Department of Defense industry and especially the Modeling and Simulation industry which everyone knows the simulation environment creates an enormous amount of data that needs to be transmitted back and forward between various locations. Mr. Eagle said they believe this is the kind of market and environment that Google might be interested in. He said the other component is conducting public outreach to get more interest which is something Google has talked quite a bit about. He said it is worth noting that Google is an eclectic company and Hampton has used that City of Hampton, VA Page 15 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes phrase to describe the City from time to time and it is noteworthy that Google has been known for disrupting markets and they have this sort of intense creativity and innovation and they are often noted as being first at a lot of things. He said Hampton also has this tradition of firsts and along those lines staff thought they would put together a campaign to make the public aware as well as to provide a package to Google that capitalizes on that. He said the slogan is First to Fast and they have a URL and a FaceBook site. He said the City also has a First to Fast domain name that will take you to these various sites. He said it is brand new and if it doesn’t work the first time, please try it again in a few hours because the Internet is not fast enough yet. Councilman Washington said he has been getting several calls about this because of the article in the newspaper about the City changing its name to Google. In response, Mr. Eagle said everyone across the country is excited about this potential opportunity because Google is such a neat company and the opportunity to get involved with them is very inspiring. He said there was a city in the Midwest who said they would change the name of their City to Google for one month. Mr. Eagle said Hampton will appeal to Google’s bottom line and their sense of creativity. He said some of these things are interesting and maybe even entertaining. Councilman Kearney said they learned a lot in the City’s fight to secure the CYBER Command at LAFB and he thought the large number of hi-technical people in the workforce compared to the United States was a significant figure that can be used. He said the number that came out of the State Economic Development Department indicated that Hampton has more modeling and simulation in the City of Hampton than any other community in the Commonwealth of Virginia, including Northern Virginia. He asked if those statistics would be used. In response, Mr. Eagle said they would use those statistics. Mr. Eagle said Google has places in the on line application where they ask you to have maps and links to videos if available. He said this is a full court press and they are working with Metro, a company that has worked with the City in the past and has offered to partner with the City. He said they are going to demonstrate that Hampton has a market and a tradition of innovation and creativity to help them to do whatever they can. Councilman Kearney stated a couple of years ago there was a discussion regarding the possibility of the citizens communicating with the Council members during a Council meeting. He asked if they had the hi-speed could that become a possibility. In response, the City Manager said that is a possibility. Councilman Kearney said he wasn’t sure if he wanted to do it. He said he wouldn’t be there and that it would be a part of the next generation. The City Manager said fiber opens up all kinds of possibilities. Mr. Eagle encouraged everyone to find First to Fast on FaceBook, to take the Google survey, and to register any comments and attend the March 16, 2010, event at the HRCC. He said the event will only be about 2 hours and more in depth information will be available to explain exactly what the application is so they can get as much input and momentum with the community as possible. Mr. Eagle said the City’s application will focus on the fact that the City has a great market and it is a great marriage for Google and Hampton has the dedication and innovation Google is looking for. City of Hampton, VA Page 16 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Councilwoman Leary said she received the following e-mail at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. “The reason I am such a big supporter for Google coming in this area is the option of having hi-speed for technical people and educational facilities. While most people who just surf the web and get e-mail would not need this hi-speed and higher cost access, they could continue using Verizon or Cox services they use now. However, when you run big computational data heavy programs and they have to transfer it to your home computer, the time it consumes is huge. At (one of the City’s largest employers) they are testing a work from home one day every pay period in some branches. With these quiet Fridays people work from home but still have to log into the systems here to run tests and simulations. This would be a major benefit for them. This also applies for school. When I was trying to finish up my thesis at William and Mary, my home computer kept timing out as the data was taking so long to be received from the school. What should have taken me a couple of hours to generate graphs, took me 24 hours. The other benefit is that it will be another reason why technical companies would consider Hampton. I am glad to see the City attempting to get this service. I have seen people complain on blogs, but I don’t think they realize they are not required to use Google, it is just an option. Also, most who were saying it was a waste of time are really not doing the types of computer work where they would pay more for this service anyway.” Councilwoman Leary said she believes this was a very good e-mail to share and she believes in what the City is trying to do with this and she hopes the City is successful. Mayor Ward thanked Mr. Eagle for the presentation. New Business Hampton Medal Councilman Wallace said there are some individuals in the community that he believes should be considered for the Hampton Medal and he would like staff to research this and provide the information to Council to discuss at a future meeting. New Courthouse/Garage Councilman Wallace noted that Councilman Gilliland requested some information relative to the garage associated with the new Courthouse. He said there may have been some assumptions that were made about savings relative to not constructing the garage now and what happens if the garage is constructed now, in terms of cost. He asked if those computations have been made. Councilman Wallace said he would also like Council to discuss this at a future meeting to come to a conclusion. He said he realizes that they have already done the bond issue and that may pose some additional problems, but he believes they should make a conscious effort and have a conscious discussion about that situation because he believes they may have made a decision that is not necessarily based on the most prudent expenditure of citizen tax dollars. Mayor Ward said the City Manager is prepared to put the issue about the garage on the March 24, 2010, Council meeting. She said the issue regarding the award is on the Closed session agenda for this afternoon. City of Hampton, VA Page 17 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Fort Monroe Mayor Ward asked about an update on the Fort Monroe legislation. Councilman Wallace asked if there was something on the evening agenda. The City Manager said staff is prepared to provide the information under New Business. Councilman Wallace said he wanted to have a staff representative or the City Manager to discuss the legislation that is being considered or possibly passed in the General Assembly relative to the new structure of the government for Fort Monroe. He said the City of Hampton is only a small part of the governance of Fort Monroe and he is not sure if the community is aware of this. He said with the change in administration they are going to get a whole new series of new actors in the process although they will be representing the same State departments. He said he thought at the time Council is making this consideration they could also discuss what the composition of the new board will be under the new legislation that is proposed and some of the actors they can anticipate taking part in the process. Councilman Wallace said he and Vice Mayor Spencer are Council representatives on the current Fort Monroe FADA and with the new legislation they will have two new representatives who will have direct voting power and can possibly influence the decisions in a greater way than under the current arrangement. Mayor Ward said she believes Ms. Cynthia E. Hudson, City Attorney, is going to brief Council. She said the legislation passed in the House and the Senate but until the Governor signs it, it doesn’t become law. The City Attorney said the status of the Fort Monroe Authority Act which is what Councilman Wallace referred to has passed both the House and the Senate in identical form and awaits attention by the Governor in order to be final and effective at the usual time for State legislation which would be July 1, 2010. She said it wasn’t an emergency legislation so it wouldn’t go into effect any earlier than that, that she is aware of. She said with respect to Councilman Wallace’s specific request, which is to discuss the structure of the board of the new authority as is proposed under Senate Bill 315. She said the House Bill is identical which is sponsored by Delegate Tom Gear, and Senator Mamie Locke sponsored the Senate Bill. She stated 15.2.7202 of the Bill establishes a Board of Trustees of the Fort Monroe Authority which expressly is stated to succeed to the interests and to the authority and the powers and the duties and the contracts and everything else, of what is presently the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority (FMFADA). She said that entity would cease to exist and all power of the City of Hampton to affect the composition, policies and direction of the FMFADA would go away because it would cease to exist and the act that allowed the City to create that Authority and to otherwise affect its future is repealed expressly by this Bill. She said with respect to the Board of the Trustees and having been involved in the discussions with the Attorney General’s Office, out of which this bill grew, there was a very deliberate decision to make it a Board of Trustees to impose upon the appointed members the extreme gravity of their roles and responsibilities with respect to the management of this property and the implementation of its plan for reuse of Fort Monroe. She said the Fort Monroe Authority is what the entity would be called and it would be a political subdivision and public body corporate in its own right, pretty much as any political subdivision such as the City of Hampton is. She said it is governed by an eleven member of Board of City of Hampton, VA Page 18 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Trustees, the composition of which includes the Secretary of Natural Resources, the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, directly from the Governor’s cabinet as well as a member of the Senate of the State and a member of the House of Delegates of the State that represents the District in which Fort Monroe lies, and two members to be appointed by the Hampton City Council. The City Attorney said with respect to the FMFADA, Hampton had appointment power for a number of members but none of them could be elected officials of the City of Hampton. She said they do not have that limitation in this Bill so the City Council members might be appointed by the Council to serve and vote as voting members on the Board. She noted there are five non-legislative citizen members to be appointed by the Governor and specifically they are to be chosen with regard to the possession of certain expertise in areas that are necessary to implement the reuse plan. The City Attorney said they must be appointed with a view toward expertise in historic preservation, tourism, environmental matters, real estate matters, finance matters and education. She said it is very specific to state that at least one of those shall be a citizen representative from the Hampton Roads region in connection with the Governor’s authority to appoint citizens. She stated in addition, there is an Ex Officio non-voting appointee by the Governor who is not a cabinet member but is the Governor’s Assistant for Commonwealth Preparedness. She said that person may serve as an Ex Officio non-voting member of the Board. She said if you hear it is a twelve member body they are including the Ex Officio position but there are only eleven voting members. Mayor Ward asked if that directly affects the petition Council received because they are asking Council to change the law. In response, the City Attorney said she believes it absolutely does and she knows that was the intent of the FMFADA and its legal counsel in drafting this bill was to negate any continuing affect of the City of Hampton’s ordinance that created the original body, the FMFADA. Councilman Washington asked if Council is going to receive a report. In response, the City Attorney said she would be glad to provide Council a memo that restates the composition and a copy of the Bill. Mayor Ward said a copy of the Bill is pretty straightforward. The City Attorney said Mayor Ward was referred to the petition effort. Mayor Ward said the petition asked Council to change the ordinance and this takes the City’s ability to enact the ordinance away. The City Attorney said it takes the City’s power away to affect the policies and the structure of this entity that has succeeded to the entity the City created. Councilman Washington asked if the City would still have two representatives on the Board. In response, Mayor Ward said that was correct and they can be elected officials and they will have votes. She said currently Vice Mayor Spencer and Councilman Wallace have not been able to vote. FEMA Councilwoman Leary said she understands that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has taken a position that they will not be renting any space in facilities City of Hampton, VA Page 19 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes or building anything less than a 10 foot flood zone. She said she would like to know if that applies to Fort Monroe or Langley Air Force Base (LAFB). She said she knows it applies to the Harbor Center because she believes they are three inches shy. She said she would like to know more about that as soon as possible. Councilwoman Leary said she was approached by a group of citizens about the historical markers and she is going to put the information in an e-mail. She requested that a staff member be assigned to assist her. Closed Meeting 3. 10-0091 Closed session as provided in Virginia Code Section 22.1-3711A.1, .3 and .7 APPROVED Ayes: 6 - Ross A. Kearney, II, Angela Lee Leary, Joseph H. Spencer, II, George E. Wallace, Paige V. Washington, Jr., Molly Joseph Ward Nays: 0 APPROVED Motion made by: Councilmember Ross A. Kearney, II Seconded by: Councilmember Paige V. Washington, Jr. Aye: 6 - Ross A. Kearney, II, Angela Lee Leary, Joseph H. Spencer, II, George E. Wallace, Paige V. Washington, Jr., Molly Joseph Ward Nay: 0 . 10-0098 to discuss the acquisition and/or disposition of real property for a public purpose in the North Hampton and Downtown areas of the city where discussion in open session would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the city. NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0099 to consult with legal counsel and staff briefing pertaining to actual litigation where such consultation in open session would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the city. NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0107 to consult with legal counsel employed by the City regarding specific legal matters pertaining to dredging and requiring the provision of legal advice NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0112 to discuss candidates for city awards NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0086 to consider appointments to the Hampton-Newport News Community Services Board City of Hampton, VA Page 20 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0089 to consider appointments to the Industrial Development Authority NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0106 to consider appointments to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0108 to consider appointments to the Debt Set-Off Review Panel NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0109 to consider appointments to the Finance Committee NO ACTION REQUIRED . 10-0110 to consider appointments to the Fort Monroe Federal Area Development Authority NO ACTION REQUIRED Certification 4. 10-0090 Resolution Certifying Closed Session WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, has convened a closed session on this date pursuant to an affirmative recorded vote made in accordance with the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act; and WHEREAS, Section 2.2-3712D of the Code of Virginia requires a certification by the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, that such closed meeting was conducted in conformity with Virginia Law; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, hereby certifies that, to the best of each member’s knowledge, (i) only public business matters lawfully exempted from open meeting requirements by Virginia law were discussed in the closed session to which this certification resolution applies, and (ii) only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the city council of the city of Hampton, Virginia. APPROVED Motion made by: Councilmember Ross A. Kearney, II Seconded by: Councilmember Joseph H. Spencer, II Ayes: 6 - Ross A. Kearney, II, Angela Lee Leary, Joseph H. Spencer, II, George E. Wallace, Paige V. Washington, Jr., Molly Joseph Ward Nays: 0 City of Hampton, VA Page 21 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010 City Council Meeting Minutes Adjournment ________________________ Molly Joseph Ward Mayor __________________________ Katherine K. Glass, CMC Clerk of Council Date approved by Council__________________________ City of Hampton, VA Page 22 of 22 Printed on 4/22/2010