Finance Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Finance Committee Information: 360.753.8244 Wednesday, August 9, 2017 5:00 PM Room 207 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Cooper called the meeting to order at 5:10 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Committee member Jessica Bateman joined the meeting during item 5.B. Present: 3 - Chair Jim Cooper, Committee member Jessica Bateman and Committee member Jeannine Roe OTHERS PRESENT Assistant City Manager Jay Burney Administrative Services Director Mary Verner Acting Administrative Services Director Dean Walz Administrative Services Deputy Director Debbie Sullivan Public Works Director Rich Hoey 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Item 5.E was moved before Item 5.A. The agenda was approved as amended. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4.A 17-0840 Approval of July 12, 2017 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes The minutes were approved. 5. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 5.A 17-0818 Water Project Financing Promissory Note The City has three projects in progress that are financed with Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) loans. The State didn’t pass the 2017-2019 capital budget bill which contains the required state match for the pass through of federal funds. A notification letter of suspension of the program has been received. Mr. Walz and Mr. Hoey have been looking for interim financing to sustain the projects, City of Olympia Page 1 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes August 9, 2017 maintain cost controls, and limit disruption. Mr. Walz presented four options with a recommendation to prepare a promissory note that would be purchased by the City internal investment pool. This would sustain funding for the three projects through completion. If the State finalizes the capital budget, they may make it retroactive back to July 1, 2017. If this occurs, the City can determine the financial feasibility of completing a retroactive draw to pay the promissory note. Mr. Burney stated it has been communicated to Legislators the importance of passing the capital budget bill retroactive to July 1, 2017. Committee member Roe moved, seconded by Chair Cooper, to direct staff to prepare a promissory note to be presented to the City Council on the Consent agenda. The motion carried by the following vote: Aye: 2 - Chair Cooper and Committee member Roe Excused: 1 - Committee member Bateman 5.B 17-0815 Recommendation to Fund Fire Equipment Replacement In June, 2017 Assistant Fire Chief Michael Buchanan presented information regarding the need to develop a funding plan for fire equipment replacement. Mr. Walz presented an option to budget $900,000 per year for debt funding the fire equipment replacement schedule. This would be the least costly option available. The Committee recommended staff include the Fire Equipment Replacement Plan when preparing the 2018 budget. The recommendation was completed. 5.C 17-0771 Maintenance Center Feasibility Study Public Works and Priest Point Park maintenance operations are located in aging facilities and the City has outgrown the space. Mr. Hoey stated that creating a single location for all of Public Works and Priest Point Park maintenance would require at least 18 acres. The search for 18 acres of useable land within the City limits was unsuccessful. Focus has been redirected to three sites currently owned by the City: Maintenance Center, Justice Center, and Carpenter Road. The Olympia Police Department is actively looking to partner with the City of Lacey and Tumwater to relocate the firing range which would free Carpenter Road for development. Two financing options were presented: 20- and 30-year debt. Waste ReSources has no debt and isn’t currently rated for debt. Mr. Walz said the 30-year debt option would appear risky and would increase the total cost too much to be beneficial. City of Olympia Page 2 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes August 9, 2017 Mr. Hoey presented an incremental rate increase plan over five years to reduce the immediate impact to household budgets while creating a debt reserve for a future Maintenance Center on Carpenter Road. The tentative timeline for constructing the Maintenance Center on Carpenter is 2022. The Committee agreed to move forward with 30 percent design for Carpenter Road improvements, include the rate increase as part of the Utility Advisory Committee (UAC) and City Council rate reviews. The Committee also supported using existing funds to complete the environmental and constructability study for the Maintenance Center. The discussion was completed. 5.D 17-0819 Disclosure Requirements for Banking Services Request for Proposal (RFP) Mr. Walz suggested opening the RFP to every bank in Olympia which meets the requirements for a municipality bank. Included in the RFP process would be questions about the Dakota Access Pipeline. This would provide greater involvement of the local banks. Committee member Bateman mentioned the City Council needs to identify social issues they value. The Dakota Access Pipeline is just one social issue. Finding a bank that lends itself to the same values as the City Council will require clarification. This might be a topic for the Council Retreat in January. The discussion was completed. 5.E 17-0817 Finance Committee Resource Library Digital Engagement Manager Melynda Schmitt demonstrated and presented the new resource library. The site is located on the City’s intranet -- “Departments”, “Administrative Services” and “Finance Committee Resources”. It provides easy access to past presentations and information for reference. Committee members said they were happy to have this resource available and asked if the site can be linked to Legistar for external access. The Finance Committee is serving as the beta test for this type of resource before expanding to other Committees. Currently the information can only be accessed through the City’s Intranet. The discussion was completed. 5.F 17-0816 Offsite Finance Committee Meeting Options Administrative Services Director Mary Verner recalled the Committee’s interest in having a meeting off site and suggested a theme, location and month to have the off site meeting would need to be identified. Mr. Burney indicated an interactive piece would be needed to draw the community and a City of Olympia Page 3 Finance Committee Meeting Minutes August 9, 2017 second meeting might be needed to handle regular business items that don’t tie in with the theme. Themes suggested included: - Changing Community Needs and the City Budget - Budget 101 - Socially Responsible Investing The Committee asked staff to present ideas for an October meeting off site with possible locations. A second meeting will need to be established in October for regular business items. The discussion was completed. 6. REPORTS AND UPDATES - None 7. ADJOURNMENT Chair Cooper adjourned the meeting at 6:55 p.m. City of Olympia Page 4