City Council

APPROVED 05/05/2014 SPECIAL BUDGET WORKSHOP MINUTES APRIL 28, 2014 THE SPECIAL BUDGET WORKSHOP OF THE RICHMOND CITY COUNCIL WAS CALLED TO ORDER AT 6:30 P.M., ON MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2014, BY MAYOR RIX. ROLL CALL Present: Goodar, Greene, LaFore, Misteravich, Rix, Schultz, Yaroch Absent: None Others: City Manager Moore, City Clerk Stagl, City Treasurer Olsen Visitors: Building Inspector Hayduk, Fire Chief Cooke, EMS Director White, Police Chief Teske AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION None received. ADOPTION OF AGENDA Motion by Greene, seconded by Goodar, to adopt the Agenda as presented. All yeas Motion passes ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION 1. Review of the Manager’s Proposed FY2014-15 City Budget Review of the FY2014-15 Budget began with: 101-372 Building Department – Discussion on the age of the computers for the Building Department. It was noted that when City Hall moves to the Police Building, those computers that are outdated will be replaced. COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. 206-ALL Fire Department – Fire Chief Cooke informed Council that in 5-7 years the Department will need to consider replacing the tanker and in 1-2 years the rescue will SCM: 04/28/2014 Page 1 of 4  APPROVED 05/05/2014 need to be replaced – these 2 vehicles see a lot of usage. Councilors commented that the Department needed to consider all possible grant sources available. Discussion on the Department responding to medical runs within the City. Chief Cooke stated that this was a benefit to the City residents whose taxes paid for the Fire Department – sometimes the Fire Department arrives on a scene before the EMS. Some discussion on the monies that would be saved if the Department did not respond to medical runs. It was noted by the Fire Chief that responding to medicals kept the skills, of the firefighters medically trained, fresh. Discussion on whether the Fire Department was kept informed of the fire hydrants that were not in service. Fire Chief Cooke informed Council that he did receive emails from the DPS Director regarding hydrants that were out of service. Rix requested a report that identified those hydrants that were out of service. COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. 101-426 Emergency Preparedness – COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. 101-610 EMS – EMS Director White informed Council that the cost of EMS services has gone down. He informed Council that, due to the amount of miles put on the vehicles; they replace 1 vehicle per year. Discussion on having the Richmond Police Dispatchers dispatch EMS calls, instead of the Sheriff’s department. Director White stated that this was best decision he ever made – this has worked very well – very happy with the success of this change. Police Chief Teske agreed – he thinks the run times for EMS have actually gone down by having the Richmond Police Dispatchers dispatch the EMS calls. Currently the City is not charging EMS, but we are monitoring the workload and costs. COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. 101-611 Community Transit – Discussion on the proposed millage increase that would be voted on at the August primary. Director White informed Council that if the millage was not passed, SMART would no longer operate – he did not feel this would be the case – SMART millages historically have overwhelmingly been passed by the voters. COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. Council recessed at 7:38 p.m. SCM: 04/28/2014 Page 2 of 4  APPROVED 05/05/2014 Council reconvened at 7:48 p.m. 101-266 Police Post Building and Grounds – COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. 101-301 Police Department – Discussion on the drug forfeiture funds – questions on how much we have and what these funds can be used for. Chief Teske informed Council that we currently have about $3,000.00 in drug forfeiture and these funds can be used for anything police related. Yaroch stated that these funds should be used up instead of being allowed to sit in an account unused. Chief Teske informed the Council that he uses these funds for emergency items that may come up throughout the year. Yaroch requested a report that would show how much we have received in drug forfeiture and how these funds were used. He encouraged the Police Department to use the drug forfeiture monies instead of using general fund monies. Discussion on the 3 police vehicles that were proposed by the Police Chief, but removed from the budget. Chief Teske stated that he would like to replace the 3-2008 vehicles – they are 7 years old and have over 100,000 miles on them – we have been spending a lot of money on these vehicles to keep them operational – they are beginning to become safety hazards. Extensive discussion on leasing the vehicles vs. purchasing the vehicles. Some Councilors were not in favor of leasing due to the finance charges that the City would have to pay. The funds for the purchase could be taken from the fund balance, but how comfortable was Council with drawing down the fund balance – Council also needs to consider that we will be beginning a large, expensive, project when City Hall moves to the Police Building. Council requested additional information on options to purchase the vehicles. This information should be available for Council for the May 12th budget workshop. Discussion on increasing the insurance payment in lieu of the City’s Health insurance. If we increase the incentive for employees to consider dropping the City’s health care coverage, if their spouse also has insurance through their own employer, the City may be able to save significant money. COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. 101-315 Traffic Safety – COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. SCM: 04/28/2014 Page 3 of 4  APPROVED 05/05/2014 101-325 Communications – Yaroch stated that he would like to see any balance of PSAP monies used when City Hall moves over to the Police Building. COUNCIL WAS IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE BUDGET AS PRESENTED. COUNCIL COMMENTS ADJOURNMENT Motion by Schultz, seconded by Misteravich, to adjourn the Special Budget Workshop at 9:04 p.m. All yeas Motion passes Respectfully submitted: Karen M. Stagl City Clerk SCM: 04/28/2014 Page 4 of 4