City Council

CITY OF POCATELLO, IDAHO CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION DECEMBER 13, 2018 AGENDA ITEM NO. 1:Mayor Brian Blad called the City Council Work Session to order ROLL CALL at 9:00 a.m. Council members present were Heidi Adamson, Roger Bray, Rick Cheatum, Jim Johnston and Linda Leeuwrik. Council member Beena Mannan was excused. AGENDA ITEM NO. 2: Joyce Stroschein, Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer, presented PROPOSED DECEMBER proposed Fiscal Year 2019 Budget amendments to the City /JANUARY BUDGET Council. AMENDMENTS Ms. Stroschein reviewed 21 proposed amendments affecting 10 funds. She announced a Public Hearing to receive public comment will be held on January 3, 2019. General Fund Amendments totaling $13,236.00 are: a) Mayor’s Office - Snacks with the Mayor Event $120.00, Mayor’s Walking Challenge Health Grant $1,000.00; b) Police Department - Court adjudicated refund on medical waste supplies $2,676.00; and c) Animal Service Department - Dental equipment surgery suite $9,440.00. Other Fund Amendments totaling $3,550,295.00 are: a) Street Fund - New facility renovation $36,048.00 (in-house work), Brine Plant $75,000.00, New Facility Renovation additional amount needed $265,000.00 (contracted work); b) Airport Fund - Idaho Power Rebate for lighting upgrade $13,057.00; c) Transit Rural Fund - 2 cutaway buses and 1 accessible van $300,000.00; d) Transit Urban Fund - 5 low-floor busses and 1 accessible van $635,000.00; e) Science and Environment Fund - Design and construction of improvement to Pocatello Creek Road $26,105.00, Design and Construction Cusick Creek $10,000.00; f) Sanitation Fund - New facility renovations $651,048.00, Wash bay for new facility $60,025.00; g) Water Pollution Control (WPC) Fund - Replace primary pipeline at the WPC Plant $238,789.00; h) Fleet Internal Service Fund - Final expense for Fleet Software $79,938.00, Supplies for vehicle maintenance $37,500.00, Labor for vehicle maintenance $37,500.00; and i) Capital Improvement Fund - Transit Bus match transfer $147,483.00, Street new facility $350,000.00 and Assigned and Unassigned Capital Contingency $587,802.00. Ms. Stroschein mentioned an ordinance to adopt the proposed amendments will be prepared for Council’s consideration. The ordinance will be placed on the January 3, 2019 meeting agenda. AGENDA ITEM NO. 3: Matthew Lewis, Senior Planner, presented proposed federally PROPOSED CHANGES mandated changes to the City’s Wireless Communication TO WIRELESS Facilities Ordinance. COMMUNICATION FACILITIES Mr. Lewis gave a brief background regarding Chapter 15.42 Wireless Communications Towers and facilities. On September 26, 2018 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved a new rule – the Streamlining Deployment of Next Generation Wireless Infrastructure Declaratory Ruling and Third Report Order – on 5G wireless network deployment that curtails local authority. There are five areas that are affected. The most applicable to Pocatello are: a) Limiting fees local governments may assess on telecommunications companies for placement, construction or co- location of new wireless service facilities; and b) Constrains local government to 60 days to evaluate CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 2 DECEMBER 13, 2018 applications from wireless companies to attach 5G Small Cells to existing structures and 90 days to review applications for equipment on entirely new structures. Staff proposes to make amendments to City Code 15.42 to bring the City into compliance with the federal changes. An ordinance to amend the City Code will come to the Council in February 2019 for consideration. In response to questions from Council Mr. Lewis reviewed small tower facility and costs. The demand for towers locally and continued use by consumers was discussed. The current fees will be revised and researched by staff General discussion regarding towers located within Pocatello city limits followed. AGENDA ITEM NO. 4: John Banks, Parks and Recreation Director, reviewed a proposed PROPOSED FACILITIES policy document regarding a Facilities Use and Recreation USE AND RECREATION Program within the Department. Mr. Banks is seeking Council’s PROGRAMS POLICY input and direction regarding the proposed policy. John Banks gave an overview of changes to the Facilities Use Policy for Parks and Recreation. He explained the department’s goal is to streamline the policy so alleviate the need for continuous Legal Department review and coming to Council for a decision. Mr. Banks noted all of the documents have been reviewed by the City’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. The original draft of the proposed policy was given to Legal Department staff for review. It was noted that any conflicts in interpretation of the policy will always fall under the City Code preference. The proposed edits were discussed and clear guidelines for patrons who want to use the facilities for profit were reviewed. The proposed policy will come before the Council for approval at a later date. Mr. Banks shared that some of the challenges staff encounters when trying to enforce City policies has prompted the revisions. He explained if the park facility use is reserved by a for-profit organization, the appropriate for-profit rate will be used. Mr. Banks feels this is a valid change because the City’s taxpayers should not supplement events that are for-profit. In response to questions from Council, Mr. Banks explained the fee for photography and video recording is for commercial use and not for families at celebrations, etc. The proposed change is to provide equity for such use. Jared Johnson, City Attorney, explained this applies to commercial video and photography only. He noted this proposed policy will address various circumstances such as utilizing a portion of a facility that the public cannot access while in use by a photographer. In response to questions from Council, Mr. Banks explained costs to provide commercial services in a city park that is maintained by tax payers is included in the fee. Staff intends for this fee to bring equity for private vs. public facilities. He noted that additional staff is not monitoring these activities so it may be difficult to enforce. However, there will be a reasonable mechanism to handle such requests when received. Mr. Banks estimates they have five or so requests per year. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 3 DECEMBER 13, 2018 A majority of the Council supported the Facilities Use and Recreation Programs Policy concept and directed staff to prepare the policy for Council consideration. A final decision will be voted upon at a later date. AGENDA ITEM NO. 5: Heather Buchanan, Human Resources Director, presented PROPOSED CHANGES proposed corrections to the City’s Demotion Pay policy to TO EMPLOYEE address equity within City departments. HANDBOOK-VOLUNTARY DEMOTION POLICY Ms. Buchanan explained staff has found a loop hole in the City’s Employee Handbook they would like to close. CURRENT POLICY – The current policy regarding Demotion Pay states the following: An involuntary or voluntary demotion will result in a pay grade and step adjustment. The employee will be slotted to the appropriate pay grade for the position to the step closest to their current pay, without a pay increase. The current policy regarding Introductory Periods states the following: Employees who receive a demotion (voluntary or involuntary) shall serve an introductory period of one (1) year. During the introductory period, the demoted employee is not eligible for a transfer, lateral shift, promotion, or pay increase. PROPOSED POLICY – The proposed policy regarding Demotion states the following: An involuntary or voluntary demotion will result in a pay grade and step adjustment. The employee will be slotted to the appropriate pay grade for the position in a step 3. The proposed policy regarding Introductory Periods states the following: Employees who receive a demotion (voluntary or involuntary) shall serve an introductory period of one (1) year. During the introductory period, the demoted employee is not eligible for a transfer, lateral shift, promotion, voluntary demotion, or pay increase. Ms. Buchanan explained there are current situations within the City that an employee is earning more than other employees within their department holding a positon with more responsibilities. This is the result of the current demotion process. As a result, staff would like to fix this policy because of wage inequity within the department. In response to questions from Council, Ms. Buchanan confirmed that this inequity does happen on occasion. As a result, she was approached by a Department Head to fix the policy issue because of problems between the equity of employees within the department. A motion was made by Mr. Cheatum, seconded by Ms. Adamson, to instruct staff to modify the Demotions and Introductory Periods in the City’s Employee Handbook as proposed. Those voting in favor were Cheatum, Adamson, Bray, Johnston and Leeuwrik. The motion passed. There being no further business, Mayor Blad adjourned the meeting at 9:41 a.m. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 4 DECEMBER 13, 2018 APPROVED: BRIAN C. BLAD, MAYOR ATTEST AND PREPARED BY: RUTH E. WHITWORTH, CC, CITY CLERK