City Council

Minutes of Work Session of Council of Ogden City, Utah, May 21, 2015 Page Minutes of the Work Session of the Ogden City Council held on Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 5:30 p.m., in the Council Work Room located on the third floor of the Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Boulevard, Ogden City, Weber County, Utah. Present: Chair Richard A. Hyer Vice Chair Marcia L. White Council members Bart E. Blair Neil K. Garner Caitlin K. Gochnour Doug Stephens Amy L. Wicks (arrived at 5:34 p.m.) Council Executive Director Bill Cook Council Deputy Director Janene Eller-Smith Council Policy Analyst Glenn Symes Also present: Chief Administrative Officer Mark Johnson Management Services Director David G. Buxton Information Technology Manager Blake Wilkinson Fleet and Facilities Manager Richard Brookins Police Chief Michael Ashment Fire Chief Mike Mathieu Information Technology Operations Supervisor Andy Lefgren Finance Manger Lisa Stout Deputy Finance Manager Camille Cook Paramedic Scott Atkinson Master Police Officer Bret Connors Deputy City Recorder Julia LaSeure The purpose of the Work Session was to receive input from Employee Groups on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Proposed Budget; receive a Council Staff review of the FY2016 Proposed Budget; discuss specific issues in the FY2016 Proposed Budget for the following: Compensation Plan, Fees, Fire Department, Police Department, Management Services Department Revenue, Information Technology Annual Report and Equipment List, and Fleet and Facilities 2015-2016 Annual Report; and discuss Council Business. Employee Groups Input on the FY2016 Proposed Budget Council Executive Director Cook invited representatives of each Employee Group to approach, introduce themselves, and provide their input on the FY2016 Proposed Budget. Fire Department Paramedic Atkinson, Vice President of Ogden Local 1654, stated he is representing the Fire Fighter’s Employee Group. He thanked the Council and City Administration for the pay increase that the members of his group received last year and are slated to receive again this year. The members of the group are very appreciative and excited about the increase as they have waited for some time for the City to develop a compensation plan that would adequately compensate employees. He noted the biggest concern his group has is from a labor and promotion availability standpoint. Three Captain positions are being lost as a result of the restructuring of paramedic services within Weber County. He provided a brief overview of the history and reason for that restructuring. The situation has stagnated potential growth and promotion opportunities for Ogden City fire fighters. He stated the Employee Group is asking that the three Captain positions be funded to maintain the Department structure as it has been for the last 10 years. He expressed his belief that there are funding mechanisms in place to meet this request and with recent legislation at the State level there should be funding available for years to come to fund the three positions. He explained the structure of the Fire Department and reiterated that eliminating these positions will stagnate the Department. He indicated employees will feel they no longer have meaningful advancement opportunities and will begin to seek employment elsewhere. He stated that, per capita, the Fire Department is still the busiest in the State of Utah and current Captains bear much of the responsibility in the Department. The loss of those positions will increase the burden on other employees and it will be difficult for the Department to continue to provide the same high level of service to residents. He concluded by reiterating he and the fire fighters are very grateful for everything City Administration and the Council have done for the Department. Mr. Cook asked what the fiscal impact of maintaining the three Captain positions is. Mr. Atkinson replied that it would cost roughly $40,000 to maintain the three positions. Council member Stephens asked if that same amount would be needed in future years to continue to fund the positions. Mr. Atkinson answered yes, but reiterated there are different funding sources that could potentially satisfy the amount needed. Police Department Master Police Officer Connors stated he is representing the Ogden Police Benefits Association (OPBA). He thanked the City Council and City Administration for their support of the Police Department employees. He mentioned they appreciate the working relationship they enjoy with the City Council and City Administration and noted that relationship has served to better the employees of the Police Department. They are grateful for the efforts that have been made to provide raises for all City employees and it is clear that the City values its employees and the work they provide. The Officers of the Department are thankful for the direction the City is heading. He noted the environment of law enforcement has changed dramatically over the past few years. Law enforcement is facing some very difficult challenges associated with increased scrutiny by special interest groups, national media, social media, and public distrust. In addition to public scrutiny, the small number of qualified applicants coupled with the change in the law enforcement retirement system has resulted in less interest in the law enforcement career. These issues make it difficult to recruit and retain police officers and is creating a free agent market throughout the State of Utah. The free agent market is causing Ogden City police officers to seek out other agencies offering better wages, more attractive pay ranges, and better incentives and benefits. Other agencies are recruiting Ogden City police officers due to their skills, work ethic, and ability to work in a high stress environment. The Department is concerned about being able to continue to provide quality service to the community and have approached the Police Administration in an effort to work together to create a compensation, retention, and incentive plan. The plan would recruit and retain qualified personnel and be competitive with other law enforcement agencies across the Wasatch Front. The goal is to make the Ogden Police Department the most sought after agency in northern Utah. He stated, if certain steps are taken, the Department can continue to provide the highest quality of service. He concluded by reiterating the Department’s appreciation of the efforts of the City Council and City Administration and their wish to continue working together for the betterment of the community. Officer Connors noted that Salt Lake City is currently ‘poaching’ Ogden City police officers and they can offer higher pay than Ogden City will ever be able to offer. Chair Hyer asked about the difference in pay for a Salt Lake City officer compared to an Ogden City officer in the same position. Mr. Connors answered the difference is $10 per hour. He explained an officer with eight years of experience can leave Ogden and work for Salt Lake City for $31 per hour. He stated he understands there is no way to match that pay, but it is necessary to make improvements in order to stop the loss of all senior officers. He estimates the City will lose up to 15 officers in the next year, with three lost so far. Council member Garner asked about the current staffing levels of the Department. Chief Ashment reported the Department is short 15 officers currently and he reiterated there is the potential to lose another 10 to 15 officers in the next Fiscal Year. He noted the biggest problem associated with losing those officers is that the City is essentially losing the money that was spent on training them and will be forced to pay to train their replacement. There was general discussion about the state of affairs in the law enforcement field and Mr. Connors commented that many other Departments in the State are dealing with the same problems. Council member Stephens asked about the fiscal impact of the compensation, retention, and incentive plan being recommended by the OPBA. Mr. Connors replied the City’s Human Resources Division is working to determine the fiscal impact. Chair Hyer stated he is dismayed by the current climate of public opinion regarding law enforcement. He indicated he wished there were something the City could do to reverse the situation. Mr. Connors added that the situation has only been worsened by new State-wide legislation that only serves to further ‘tie the hands’ of law enforcement officers. Council member Stephens asked if there are any deficiencies in the equipment available to the Fire and Police Departments. Mr. Connors responded that all equipment used by the Police Department is currently brand new. Mr. Atkinson explained the Fire Department also has outstanding equipment and he can think of no glaring deficiencies. Council Staff Review of the FY2016 Proposed Budget Mr. Cook used a PowerPoint presentation to provide the Council with staff’s review of the tentative FY2016 budget. He noted the vast majority of information was submitted as requested. There has been a primary focus on merit increases for employee and several friendly amendments have been submitted, as discussed with Department Directors. He reviewed the schedule for continued review and adoption of the final budget, noting that final action could take place on June 16, 2015. There was a decrease of $2,933,425 or 1.6 percent in the FY2016 budget as compared to the FY2015 budget. The total FY2016 budget is $180,377,300. He provided a brief overview of the changes in specific funds, noting the total City change is a decrease of $4,557,000. He stated that Council staff will review the financial models associated with all utility and enterprise funds in the City. He provided an overview of staffing details for the budget:  599 Full-time Positions (proposed)  12 Positions Eliminated  30 Positions Added (Net of +18)  11 Positions Reclassified  0 Positions Benchmarked  4 Title Changes Mr. Cook concluded by reporting that specific topics will be addressed by each Department and there will be an outline of those topics in upcoming work session packets. On May 26, 2015 there will be a review of the Community and Economic Development Department and Redevelopment Agency budgets. On May 28, 2015 the topics of discussion will be the Public Services Department and Capital Improvement Plan. FY2016 Proposed Budget – Compensation Plan Council Deputy Director Eller-Smith reminded the Council of the process that Council staff follows to review the proposed budget and, more specifically, components of the budget such as the compensation plan, fees, and specific Department budgets. She referred to an email from Shawn Choate, the City’s Human Resources Manager, which is included in the Council packet and provides an explanation of how the money allotted for the proposed four percent merit increase would be divided within certain Departments. She also reviewed the proposed ordinance that would adopt the City’s salary scale and noted the ordinance will be placed on the June 2, 2015 agenda for final consideration after a public hearing. She asked Deputy Finance Manager Cook to provide an overview of the proposed wage scale. Ms. Cook reiterated that City Administration is proposing a four percent increase for City employees and each Department Director will discuss how they plan to distribute that increase among their employees. She noted that, in general, employees receive an employee evaluation through the Halogen system and must achieve a certain score to receive a merit increase. Employees must have also been employed on or before January 1, 2015 to be eligible for a pay increase. Any reclassification request would also be considered prior to a merit increase. City Administration is also proposing to increase the top of each pay range by one percent. Relative to benefits, City Administration is proposing to cover the cost of the increase to the Health Savings Account (HSA) savings plan. She briefly reviewed the amount of money contributed to an employee’s HSA depending upon whether the employee has single, two-party, or family coverage. She indicated retirement rates remained constant this year for regular employees and Police employees, though there was a slight increase for Fire employees from 23.3 percent to 23.47 percent. Vice Chair White asked about employees that are currently at the top of their pay range. Ms. Cook explained those employees will receive their merit increase, assuming they are eligible for one, in the form of a one-time bonus. Ms. Eller-Smith referred to the proposed ordinance adopting the pay scale and noted it includes a section for elected officials, which is new this year. The City is changing the way elected officials are compensated and in the interest of transparency, Council staff felt it would be valuable to include salary information for elected officials in the ordinance. Council member Garner stated he noticed there are no plans to cover any benefit increases associated with the traditional health care plan and asked if that is an effort to incentivize employees to move to the HSA plan. Ms. Cook answered yes and noted 68 percent of City employees are currently using the HSA plan; however, the City still covers the majority of the premium for the traditional health care plan. The only thing the City is not covering is the five percent increase associated with that plan. There was brief general discussion regarding the benefits afforded to City employees, with a focus on how the City compares with other cities in the region. Council member Wicks stated she would like for the Council to receive information regarding an employee’s total potential compensation based upon their salary and the value of their health care benefits. She stated she is somewhat concerned by the fact that an employee could take the money contributed to their HSA account with them in the event they left their employment with the City and she feels that should be included in their total compensation amount. Ms. Eller-Smith asked if the City still pays employees who opt not to take the City’s insurance. Ms. Cook answered yes and noted employees receive $112 and $13 per pay period for opting out of medical and dental benefits, respectively. FY2016 Proposed Budget – Fees Council Policy Analyst Symes stated he will provide an overview of Attorney’s fees. The proposed fee amendments are specific to attorney fees assessed when a City attorney assists in the enforcement or collection of citations for civil violations. Up to this point, there has been no established fee when this happens leaving a question as to the appropriate amount to charge for such services. The Administration’s transmittal indicates that the proposed amount of $181 per hour is appropriate to recover expenses for such action and that the amount proposed is the same as surrounding jurisdictions. The proposed ordinance lists the fee as Attorney Fee for Civil Matters and includes some clarification language in the collections section of the Ogden City Code. He referred to the questions included in the Council packet regarding the fee, but noted that he spoke with Chief Deputy Attorney Brown today to get answers since no member of the Legal Division was available to attend tonight’s meeting. He indicated he asked Ms. Brown how often a City Attorney assists in the enforcement of collection of citations for civil violations in order to gain some understanding of how often the proposed fee could be charged. Ms. Brown told him she could not provide a specific number since the number of instances varies from year to year with no solid trend. She did indicate that the number in a given year is minimal. Chief Administrative Officer Johnson indicated that the revenues in the proposed budget are not being adjusted to account for the fee. FY2016 Proposed Budget – Fire Department Fire Chief Mathieu addressed the following questions in the Council packet regarding his Department’s budget. Please provide an update regarding the Fire Management Audit. Identify the items that have been completed during FY2015 and those that are proposed for completion in FY2016, if any. He stated that the Hydrant Maintenance Program is slowing down in terms of cost and effort needed to upgrade the City’s water system. This is due to the fact that the backing of repairs has been completed. He added one accomplishment of FY2015 was the acquisition of the property for Fire Station #3; the project is out to bid, with a bid deadline of June 16, 2015. He commented he is hopeful the Station will be constructed and open by the end of the calendar year. He indicated he anticipates the cost to construct the facility to be very close to the amount allocated for the project, but he may need to request additional funding to furnish the facility. Identify the remaining items from the Fire Management Audit that have not yet been completed. He stated this list includes the remodel of Station #4 and the separation of the Emergency Management position and Training Officer positions. Describe the progress on the fire hydrants repair program. He reported that over 277 hydrants have received significant maintenance upgrades or other attention at a cost of $144,000. Only 43 of those hydrants were addressed in FY2015 at a cost of $28,600, which is a decrease over the previous two years. He is hopeful that the amount of money spent on hydrant maintenance will continue to dwindle, which will prove that the City’s hydrant system is in good working order. Ms. Eller-Smith asked when it will be necessary to start from the beginning again in maintaining or servicing hydrants. Chief Mathieu replied that hydrants only need general lubrication in the first few years of their life, but over time they need to be worked and activated to prevent corrosion and stress on the working parts within the hydrant. The internal workings of the City’s hydrants were ignored for too long and now that they are being tested and operated every year deficiencies are being identified. Council member Stephens asked if there is any part of the City in which responding to a fire is more difficult due to hydrants that are in disrepair. Chief Mathieu responded that has not been the case because of fire hydrants, but there have been reservations associated with the City’s water supply and pressure. With recent improvements to the City’s water supply system, those concerns have been alleviated and the dependability of the City’s water system has increased. The biggest challenge the Fire Department now faces is fighting wildland fires. Please identify any vacant positions and indicate when (or if) they will be filled. He reported there are three vacancies in the Department, though there would have been nine openings if it were not for the changes in the paramedic contract. He stated he is dealing with some of the same situations that the Police Department is dealing with in terms of recruiting and retaining quality employees. He indicated his entire Department is grateful for the strides the City Council and City Administration have taken to develop a compensation plan and provide merit increases to employees. Please explain how you plan to distribute the Merit increase to your employees. He noted that if an employee receives a certain score on their employee evaluation they will receive a 3.5 percent increase. The other .5 percent will be reserved to correct compression issues within the Department and this practice has been included in a formal policy for his Department. He stated he has received positive comments from his employees regarding the implementation of this policy. Please describe the new Medicaid Assessment. He provided a history of Medicaid contributions for medical costs and noted that for the past 15 years the State Legislature has been lobbied for additional Medicaid funds for ambulance reimbursement. Upon approval of the new Medicaid Assessment, the City will pay 30 percent of the cost of an ambulance transport in order to be reimbursed for 70 percent of the actual cost. He stated that in order to benefit from the Assessment, six percent of the City’s ambulance transports must be Medicaid clients. He explained the Assessment will take effect July 1, 2015 and he will have more meaningful data to share with the Council at the end of FY2016. Briefly explain why the Wildland Fire Program will not be going forward. He stated that last year he proposed to contract with the federal government to use paramedic ambulances in outlying wildland fires, but during the final review of the contractual agreement he found that the agreement would allow the federal government to bill the City if they came into the City’s territory to provide services. He stated that upon conducting final research he discovered that the reason the federal government wanted to enter into the agreement was to back-bill the City for the cost of two fires that there are currently in dispute. He indicated he refused to sign the agreement and negotiations and discussion are continuing in order to try to solve the issue, which is actually a State-wide issue. Please update the Council on the Station #3 project, future plans for Station #4 and a new fire training tower. Chief Mathieu explained that when the new Station #3 is completed, the building and property of the current Fire Station #3 will be sold to the highest bidder. He hopes to use that money to construct a new training facility which is a need identified in the long range plan for his Department. Please review your Department’s successes for FY2015. He provided the Council with his first annual report including operational data that he feels is very useful in gaining an understanding of what occurred in his Department over the course of a year. He stated one thing it does not include is employee awards and he plans to include that next year. He noted that the Mayor and Mr. Johnson have asked to review information regarding the distribution of duties upon the loss of three captains and that review is currently underway. He stated he would be happy to answer any questions the Council may have about the data included in his report once they have had the opportunity to review it. Please review recent or on-going challenges for your Department. He indicated the ongoing challenges relate to paramedic contractual changes, which resulted in a loss of six paramedics from his Department. Three of those paramedics were captains and the loss has been painful. He mentioned the Emergency Management position and noted that it is important to prepare and train mid-level management employees by providing them with leadership training through the National Fire Academy. He is seeking funding to pay for a portion of that training which he feels is a good investment in his Department. Ms. Eller-Smith asked Chief Mathieu to discuss the activities he plans to conduct for the fire fighters from Hof, Germany during their visit. Chief Mathieu replied there will be a number of great activities, including a visit to a shooting range, iFly and Flow Rider activities at The Junction, an ATV ride in the mountains above Ogden, a horseback ride on Antelope Island, and a closing BBQ at the Fire Station after the City Council meeting. Council member Stephens asked Chief Mathieu if he feels good about the condition of his equipment. Mr. Mathieu replied his equipment is currently in good condition, but within the next five years it will be necessary to address the replacement of some pieces of equipment. There have been no recent field equipment failures. FY2016 Proposed Budget – Police Department Police Chief Ashment referred to the comments made earlier by Mr. Connors, the OPBA representative. He stated it is important to recognize the fact that the City has faced numerous challenges over the past several years, but City Administration has made employee raises a priority because they understand that the employees are the City’s greatest asset. He addressed the following questions in the Council packet regarding his Department’s budget. Please review your Department’s successes for FY2015. He provided a brief overview of the operational data for the Police Department for the past year. There was a focus on crime reduction and citation issuance. He stated it is a philosophy that traffic enforcement is a very important aspect of his Department. In the past there has been an emphasis on issuing a traffic citation, but it is his feeling that there are some instances in which a traffic stop can be used as a teaching moment. He stated that, to that end, the average number of citations issued by the Department compared to five years ago is lower. It is important to maintain balance and he has offered his officers the opportunity to determine the right thing to do based upon different circumstances. He also referred to the installation of two additional fixed mounted cameras, which aid in curbing traffic violations and criminal activity. Please review recent or on-going challenges for your Department. He stated the biggest challenge continues to be retention and recruitment of good officers. He is currently 15 officers below the maximum staffing level for his Department and he anticipates three additional officers will retire within the next three months. He reiterated Mr. Connors’ comments regarding Salt Lake City ‘poaching’ Ogden City officers. Please describe the proposed addition of one animal services officer and one crime analyst. He explained that over the last two years he has hired 14 part-time people to serve as the animal services officer, none of which have stayed with the Department. The result has been an expenditure of approximately $52,000 to train the part-time employees. Hiring a full-time employee would benefit the Department while not costing much more than has been spent on part-time employees. He then addressed the crime analyst position and noted that he previously had a sworn officer serving in that position in the crime center. There has been no interest among other sworn officers to rotate into that position so he has opted to convert a sworn position to a civilian position to hire a new crime analyst. Please discuss the challenges with keeping the Department fully staffed. Chief Ashment stated that he feels there are three things that make it difficult for the City to recruit officers: public scrutiny, Ogden City police officers are not eligible for social security upon retirement, and many people feel they can earn more money in the private sector. He stated the hiring climate has completely changed. When a vacant position is posted for hiring, it can take six months to fill the position and sometimes there are no successful candidates at the end of that six month period. During that time the City could spend up to $50,000 on testing and evaluation of candidates. It is necessary to work on ideas for making the Department more attractive. One idea currently being considered is reverting back to a 12-step pay system with no overlap between positions to avoid compression. The Council engaged in general discussion with Chief Ashment regarding the costs associated with recruitment. The focus shifted to dividing workload among the Department’s current employees as a result of the Department being understaffed. Chair Hyer asked Chief Ashment if he has any ideas for something the City could do to improve the morale of the Department in the wake of the negative public view or distrust of law enforcement. Chief Ashment commented recognition is refreshing, but the officers would most value a concerted effort by the City Council to make the pay of the Department competitive with other premier departments in the State. Chair Hyer asked if officers are supportive of the implementation of body cameras or if they feel it furthers the distrust of law enforcement officers. Chief Ashment replied that the majority of Officers understand body cameras are part of the future of law enforcement, but they feel that many issues need to be addressed, such as questions regarding when a camera is turned on and retention and sharing of footage from a camera. He noted Panasonic will be coming out with a body camera system that will be compatible with the camera system currently used in Ogden City Police vehicles. He would like to investigate the purchase and use of that new system in order to reduce the efforts of his Department associated with managing multiple camera systems. Mr. Johnson added that discussions of the use of body cameras at the State Legislature level will continue this year and in future years. A focus on adequate funding for body camera systems is greatly needed and City staff will closely track any legislation relative to the issue. Please explain how you plan to distribute the Merit increase to your employees. He noted his implementation strategy closely mirrors the strategy that will be used by the Fire Department, with the exception of holding a portion of the merit funding to address compression. He stated that employees that receive a score of two or higher on their employee evaluation will be eligible to receive the entire four percent merit amount. Please review the request for funding for radio equipment. How many radios will the $95,000 replace? If the funding does not cover replacement of all required radio equipment, please outline future needs and the timeline for replacement of all radio equipment. He stated that the Police Department has 195 portable radios and the cost to replace them is $3,183 per radio, for a total cost of $620,000. Ogden City is different than other law enforcement organizations in the State in that the Department totally relies upon portable radios because there are no radios in the car. He has budgeted $95,000 in the FY2016 budget to replace radios that will likely fail within the year. He also has a long-term goal to identify a funding source to replace all radios. Upon an update of the local communications system in the next five years, additional radio replacements will be necessary. Discussion then centered on Police equipment. Chief Ashment noted that while great strides have been made to improve and upgrade the equipment used by the Department, there are still some vehicles that will need to be replaced in the coming years. Council member Wicks reported she recently saw a video about a police force in Alabama that replaced their police fleet with hybrid vehicles and have realized great benefits. She asked Chief Ashment to keep that in mind when discussing equipment replacement in the future. Chief Ashment indicated he will consider the option. He concluded by stating that he is always willing to host elected officials in his Department to help them gain a better understanding of the Department’s operations, successes, and challenges. Council member Stephens asked Chief Ashment to discuss any changes to the Department’s training program and budget. Chief Ashment stated the biggest change regarding training is in the firearms program. The officers now have access to more realistic firearms training. He added that, similar to the Fire Department, he is encouraging officers to participate in training to assist them in becoming the future leaders of the Department. All officers in a leadership or supervisory position are required to participate in mid-level management training. The meeting recessed at 7:28 p.m. and reconvened at 7:39 p.m. FY2016 Proposed Budget – Management Services Department Management Services Director Buxton, Finance Manager Stout and Deputy Finance Manager Cook addressed the following questions in the Council packet regarding the Management Services Department budget. Please provide an overview of the projected revenues in the proposed FY2016 Budget. Ms. Cook addressed some of the major changes in revenue in the tentative budget, noting there was a decrease of $1.1 million in the ‘charges for service’ line- item related to a change in an accounting treatment of revenues the General Fund had previously recognized that are now being reclassified as expenditure reimbursements. She stated the revenues in the ‘licenses and permits’ line item is increasing by $261,000. The majority of that increase is related to business licensing and building permits. She also mentioned a $731,000 increase in sales and franchise tax revenue in the General Fund which tracks closely with the State-wide five percent increase in sales tax. She stated she feels this is conservative and the City could actually realize a greater increase in revenue. She briefly mentioned additional revenue fluctuations in other funds within the budget, with a focus on revenue sources for the Airport and a decrease in revenue in the Justice Court. Please review the plans for the Justice Court with regard to the continuing reduction in Court fines and forfeiture revenues. Mr. Buxton indicated there are a number of reasons for the decrease in Justice Court revenues. The amount of money the City is required to pass on to the State has increased. Fines and forfeitures have decreased due to fewer citations being issued. In August of 2006 when the Justice Court opened, the Court handled 1,817 traffic citations compared to an average of 556 citations in 2015. He stated that efforts are being made to increase Justice Court revenues, but the biggest boost will likely come from assuming some of the caseload that will be displaced by the closure of the Weber County Justice Court and other Justice Courts in smaller cities. Please review the personnel changes in the Department. Mr. Buxton reviewed the personnel changes in his Department and provided a brief overview. Please explain how the Department intends to distribute the proposed merit increase. He stated that any employee receiving a ranking of two or higher on their performance evaluation will receive the full four percent merit increase. Please explain the Administration’s plans for future maintenance of City facilities. He noted the Facilities Maintenance division is not properly funded and all money appropriated in FY2015 was used to fund the replacement of elevators in the Municipal Building. The FY2016 budget includes $232,000 for Facilities Maintenance and $100,000 of that is earmarked for Police Station facilities upgrade with the balance to be used to address issues identified in the ISES report. Council member Stephens noted the City completed an inventory of the City’s facilities recently and asked for more information regarding how the results of that study will be used. Mr. Buxton replied it will be used to determine a 10-year plan for facilities maintenance or replacement based on certain criteria. As of yet, he has not acted on any recommendations within the ISES report because the funding has not been available to do so. Council member Gochnour mentioned the upcoming capital campaign for the renovation of the Union Station and asked if the City will contribute anything to the operating expenses for the facility. Mr. Buxton responded that it may be necessary for the City to oversee maintenance of the facility because the lack of maintenance has been detrimental and costly to the City. Ms. Eller-Smith noted there is no money budgeted for City participation in the maintenance or operation of the facility. Council member Gochnour stated that last year the City provided some operational assistance to the Union Station Foundation. Mr. Buxton said that is correct, but noted that money was taken from boiler replacement funding to pay utility costs for the facility and that funding has been entirely depleted. Mr. Cook reported that Council staff met with the Union Station Foundation Board today and they have requested a $100,000 contribution from the City. He indicated that request will be discussed during future budget discussions. Please briefly review the following expenditure line items: Building Costs to Facilities Facilities Costs – General City Payroll Contingency UCAN Radio Service Fees Union Station Contract (new) Ms. Stout stated the purpose of non-departmental expense line items is to account for expenses or revenues that do not specifically benefit one Department or another. She noted the General Obligation bond is included in the non-department budget, as are transfers into and out of the General Fund and other internal service funds.  Ms. Cook noted that Building Cost to Facilities is the annual transfer from the General Fund to the Facilities Fund to pay the General Fund’s portions of facilities, which includes maintenance, upkeep, and utilities for buildings. She stated that the Facilities Costs – General City line item has a $150,000 budget used by facilities for nuisance abatements or other services that are unfunded until collected upon. She noted there is a Payroll Contingency account of $100,000 that was created three years ago to fund the vacation buy-back program or an unanticipated retirement in any given Department of the City. A new account for this year is entitled UCAN Radio Service Fees. The City is now required to pay for the UCAN radio network and the budget will cover all expenses. City Administration anticipates the City will be able to begin charging radio rack rental fees for the tower used by UCAN, so the net impact will be approximately $45,250. Another new line item is the Union Station Contract line item which has a budget of $50,000 to aid the Union Station Foundation in developing the Business plan for the entire Union Station site and adjacent properties. Please review the fund balances for all funds, including Fleet, Information Technology (IT) and Risk Management. Ms. Stout provided a document to the City Council that included a summary of fund balance information dating back to the last audited fund balance and up to the fund balance predicted for the proposed FY2016 budget. She stated the only fund with a negative balance is the Miscellaneous Grants and Donations Fund. The auditors have not expressed concerns regarding this negative balance, but additional research is needed to determine whether all revenue has been appropriated correctly. She briefly reviewed additional highlights within the fund balance report. Mr. Cook asked why the Airport fund balance appears to be high. Ms. Stout replied that is a result of capital investments at the Airport. The City receives grant funding from the federal government that is invested into Airport capital investments and is reflected within the Airport’s fund balance. Please review the transfers among funds. Ms. Cook noted the transfer report includes information regarding the funds that money is transferred from and to as well as the amount of each transfer. Please review the Business Depot Ogden (BDO) Lease Revenue distribution. Ms. Cook explained there is approximately $4.2 million accumulated in the fund balance and City Administration is proposing to use $1.2 million for the Quality Neighborhoods program and to transfer $500,000 to the Central Business District (CBD) Mall District for debt service on the mall area. This leaves approximately $2.5 million to distribute for capital projects. She reviewed the section of the report detailing where the BDO lease revenue comes from, after which she noted that each Department, specifically the Public Services Department, will review their funding requests during the time that has been slated to review their budget. She then provided a brief overview of the funding requests as follows:  CD104 TrackLine Business Park Infrastructure $250,000  EN004A Curb, Gutter and Sidewalk Replacement – City-wide $367,020  EN004B Curb, Gutter and Sidewalk Replacement – 50/50 program $40,000  EN006 Street Construction $555,555  FL007 General Facilities Improvements ($100K PSB) $883,750  GC030 City Owned Parking Lot Improvements $151,500  GF032 Irrigation System Replacement at Mt. Ogden (Golf) $202,000  PK071 Gomer Nicholas Trust $1,500  PK124 General Park Improvements – Lester Park $151,500  PY006 Repair Asphalt $30,300  RG068 Ball Park Infield $120,202  RM016 Grandview Restrooms – RAMP & Match $30,000  Union Station – Site Plan Funding $100,000  Facilities – Ongoing $150,000  Sheltering at MWC & Golden Hours $40,000  LAN/Network $40,000  EOC – Phones/Network $5,000  EN039 Vehicular Bridge Upgrades – Study $101,010  FL008 UCA Radio Upgrades – Non‐Lease $1,600,000  IT001 Unified Communication System (Phase II) $210,080  IT009 ERP Replacement $779,383  RG053 Recreation Maintenance $35,353 Council member Garner asked for information regarding the $150,000 funding request for facilities maintenance. Ms. Cook reiterated Mr. Buxton’s earlier comments regarding the underfunding of the Facilities Maintenance Division and noted this funding request is seen by City Administration as a ‘band-aid’ rather than a sufficient funding source to cover repairs. Please review your Department’s successes for FY2015. Mr. Buxton noted many great improvements have been made in the Information Technology, Risk Management, Fleet and Facilities, and Comptroller divisions of his Department. He is proud of his staff and the efforts they make to provide for a well-managed and well-run City. Please review recent or on-going challenges for your Department. He stated the biggest challenge he deals with is maintaining City facilities and it will be necessary to address the shortage of funding for facilities maintenance. He added that the City will soon enter into the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and there will be some difficulties associated with the resistance of personnel to use the new system. It will take approximately three years to implement the system City-wide and the Council will be involved in selecting the components of the system that will be most valuable to the City. He noted an additional challenge is related to the results of an employee survey where employees indicated their biggest concern is the lack of communication. There is a feeling that they need more communication from the top to bottom so that they know what is happening in the City rather than being in a silo within their position. He stated he is making an effort to push more information out to employees and keep them apprised of changes within the City. He indicated that he feels the employees are overall much happier than they have been in the past as a result of the investment the City had made in them over the past two years. Please outline and discuss the “friendly” amendments that have been proposed to date that will be suggested prior to the adoption of the FY2016 Budget. Ms. Cook provided the Council with a copy of the final “friendly” amendments to the tentative FY2016 budget and briefly reviewed the changes, which have also been reviewed by Council staff. She thanked Council staff for their in-depth review of the budget and the meaningful questions they asked regarding various items. FY2016 Proposed Budget – Information Technology Annual Report and Equipment List Information Technology Manager Wilkinson showed a PowerPoint presentation to provide the Council with the Information Technology (IT) Annual Report and Equipment List. He noted the number one goal for FY2015 was to implement the IT assessment recommendations; some of the accomplishments to date include:  Technology Mission Statement  Technology Operating Model  Updated Technology Policies  IT Services Catalog  Fully Functional Steering Committee  Software/Hardware Update Plans  Tech Standards/Operating Protocol  IT Internal Policies  User Liaison Committees  Technology Governance Model  Technology Projects Model  Annual Submission of Projects  Improved Project Evaluation Criteria  User Project Scoring/Prioritization  Tiered Project Approval  Published Project Portfolio  ROI and Long Term Cost Criteria  Annual Staffing/Job Description Review  Service Level/Management Control Agreements  Published Desktop Tiering  Published Infrastructure Tiering  Cost of Services Review  Multi-Year Budget Projection  Budget Shift from Cost to Invest  Minimize IT Chargebacks  Integrate Projects with Budget  In-House Development Review  Resolve Air Card Problems  SharePoint Evaluation/Decision  Enhance Server Virtualization  Multi-Year Infrastructure Scheduling  Wireless Implementation  SAN Assess and Replace  Microsoft Products Assessment  IT Staff Cross Training  Formal Training Assessment/Plan  Crystal Training  Regular System Maintenance Schedule  Phone Infrastructure Upgrade  OPD Management Control Agreement  Software Support Standard  Contract Management Assessment  ERP Assessment  Propose F/T Help Desk Positions  Mr. Wilkinson noted the Assessment yielded 104 tasks and to date 79 have been completed, 10 are in process, and 15 are scheduled for completion. The FY2016 goals include implementation of the remaining IT audit recommendations, streamlining of annual project submissions, promotion of data security awareness and detection, improvement of internal communications, improvement of City hardware infrastructure, and providing meaningful training to IT staff. He briefly reviewed the FY2016 assessment goals, but noted they relate in large part to the implementation of the new ERP system. He reviewed the governance model for IT noting that all technology related activities flow through a system where IT and users work together to develop proposals for technology projects. The proposals then filter through a review process overseen by various committees before a final recommendation is made by the IT Steering Committee to Mr. Johnson and the Mayor for approval. Mr. Wilkinson focused on the ERP replacement project and stated the City’s current Enterprise Resource Planning Software is EDEN. Since 1998 EDEN has not been enhanced and sunset of the program is expected in the next three to five years. Users are frustrated by the lack of enhancements or updates. It could take three to five years to implement a new ERP depending upon direction from the City’s consultant, Baker Tilly and could cost $900,000 to $2.3 million depending on the number of ERP modules chosen. A request for proposal (RFP) will be published with a timeline for proposal submittals from May to June 2015. Baker Tilly will consult with the City regarding business process fixes from May to September 2015 and from October to December 2015. A Committee will be assembled to witness vendor demos, select a vendor, and then contract negotiations will begin. Upon initial implementation there will be a focus on financial, payroll, and human resources data in 2016. Remaining modules (if any) will be implemented from 2017 to 2019. The project will be managed by IT under the direction of the IT Steering Committee and user lead stakeholders. Council member Garner stated the corporation he works for is going through a similar process and it has been very difficult and frustrating to navigate. Mr. Wilkinson agreed the project will be very intensive and his staff will be developing training tools to aid City staff in navigating the process with as little stress and discomfort as possible. He then reviewed the five year software replacement projection for his Department. Council member Wicks asked when the City’s website will be updated. Mr. Cook noted that the website update is rolled into the City’s re-branding project. Council member Wicks stated she feels the website update could be independent of the re- branding project. Mr. Wilkinson noted that there have been some shifts in duties assigned to various Departments and IT is no longer responsible for the marketing and communications aspect of the website. IT is responsible to ensure that the technology aspect of the website is in working condition. Council member Wicks stated that there are portions of the website that are not functional. Mr. Johnson indicated that City Administration would like to use the same company that will be hired to handle the re- branding project to build the website so that the same marketing and communications messages are used throughout all communication tools that the City uses. Discussion regarding the website update continued, with a focus on the schedule for executing a contract for the re-branding project. Mr. Wilkinson noted that the project must be completed by the summer of 2016 in order to address some functionality issues with the website. Council member Wicks clarified that her main concern relating to the website is centered on transparency; residents do not have the ability to search the City’s website for things like Council agendas, packets, and minutes. Mr. Wilkinson continued the review of his PowerPoint presentation, which included information regarding the City’s five year hardware replacement projection. He reviewed a chart identifying the budget for the IT Division over the past five years and indicated that he anticipates his Division will be on budget for FY2015 and FY2016. He stated it is his commitment going forward to stay within budget to avoid some of the situations that arose in the past relative to overspending. He concluded by thanking the City Council for their support of the IT Division. Chair Hyer asked if any funding will be dedicated to the installation of fiber throughout the City. Mr. Wilkinson answered he submitted a request for CIP funding for fiber installation but it was not approved. He stated that whenever possible he pushes for the installation of fiber in conjunction with road projects being completed by the City or by the Utah Department of Transportation. FY2016 Proposed Budget – Fleet and Facilities FY2015-2016 Annual Report Fleet and Facilities Manager Brookins showed a PowerPoint presentation to provide the Council with his FY2015-2016 Annual Report. He stated that he appreciated the endorsement from the Fire and Police Departments earlier this evening when representatives of both Departments indicated they are pleased with upgrades of their equipment. He noted both of these Departments have suffered in the past and he is glad to see they are now happy with the equipment they have been provided to do their jobs. He reported the same is not true for the City’s facilities. He reiterated Mr. Buxton’s earlier comments regarding the underfunding of facilities for several years. He noted the ISES report has identified $1.8 million in critical projects, over $8 million in deferred maintenance, and over $29 million over a 10-year period to keep the City’s facilities operational. He stated, at some point, it will be necessary to develop a master plan oriented at facilities maintenance. He briefly reviewed high priority projects, including the modernization of elevators in the Municipal Building scheduled for June 2015. Funding has been secured and approved in the amount of $353,298. Proposed CIP projects include installation of Municipal Building lighting controls at a cost of $45,000 and the Municipal Building reconditioning and control upgrade at a cost of $37,000. He added one critical need identified in the ISES report is the installation of seismic shutoff valves in various buildings which has a cost of $35,331. He also noted new chairs are needed in the Municipal Building to prevent possible injury and the cost of those chairs could be up to $15,000. Mr. Brookins reviewed an article written by the president of the American Public Works Association, which indicates that lack of funding for facilities maintenance is a common problem in jurisdictions throughout the country. There is typically a greater focus on infrastructure including roads, grounds, and utilities, but upkeep of buildings and facilities is overlooked. He reviewed a chart detailing budgeted Fleet equipment purchases in FY2015, FY2016, and FY2017. Council member Wicks asked why the City is purchasing executive use vehicles. Mr. Brookins indicated the City has a policy that allows certain employees to choose between driving a City vehicle and receiving a vehicle allowance. He noted it is also important to be cognizant of the need to replace one of the Fire Department’s ambulance in the next couple of years. That is included in the FY2017 projections, but if it becomes necessary to replace it in FY2016 he will come to the Council and discuss funding options. Council member Wicks asked what the 4-wheel drive Jeeps are used for. Mr. Brookins answered they are used for parking enforcement and there are two of them in the City’s fleet. There was general discussion regarding the functionality of a Jeep for parking enforcement. Mr. Brookins noted he is always looking for the most fuel efficient piece of equipment that will meet the needs of the Department that will be using it. Council member Wicks stated she understands there is a focus on purchasing equipment to meet a Department’s needs, but oftentimes she sees just one person driving a large City vehicle – a truck for example – with no equipment in the bed of the truck or no trailer being pulled behind it. She stated this creates a perception that the City can do better and consider other fleet options. Mr. Brookins noted Departments are responsible to pay for their fuel costs and it is each Department Head’s responsibility to weigh those costs when developing their budget. He stated it is not his role to tell a Department Head that a vehicle request they make is inappropriate. He stated he will discuss the issue with the Fleet Replacement Task Force, which has representation from each Department. He noted the greatest challenge for Fleet will be securing funding or identifying financing options for larger equipment needing replacement including backhoes, graders, large loaders, vactors, etc. Vice Chair White mentioned that she reviewed a section of the ISES report that was inaccurate and she asked if City Administration is confident that the rest of the report is accurate. Ms. Eller-Smith explained that Vice Chair White is referring to a mistake in the report where the incorrect square footage of the Golden Hours Senior Center was quoted. Mr. Brookins stated there is a tremendous amount of data entry in the report and it could be entirely possible that the data entry consultants made a mistake. He stated the purpose of the report is to forecast problems that could arise in the future and he feels the report is adequate. Council Business Mr. Cook briefly reviewed events included on the City Council’s calendars for the remainder of the month of May. The meeting adjourned at 9:36 p.m. /s/ Julia M. LaSeure JULIA M. LASEURE, MMC DEPUTY CITY RECORDER /s/ Richard A. Hyer RICHARD A. HYER, CHAIR APPROVED: July 28, 2015