City Council

CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY COUNCIL ROOM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2004 7:00 P.M. PRESENT: Commissioner Thomas Curley, DPS Michael Lenz, Mayor Commissioner Matthew McCabe, Finance Commissioner Thomas McTygue, DPW Commissioner Stephen Towne, Accounts STAFF PRESENT: Erin Dreyer, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Alicia Wardell, Deputy Mayor Lynn Bochner, Finance PUBLIC HEARING 2005 Capital and Comprehensive Budgets Commissioner Matthew McCabe said the next public hearing was scheduled for November 1 at 6:00 p.m. and he would set a date for a third public hearing. Department of Public Safety Commissioner Matthew McCabe asked if the $5,500 budgeted for the copier was a purchase. Commissioner Thomas Curley said it was a lease agreement. Commissioner Matthew McCabe asked about a revenue line that was reduced by $49,000 and where was the corresponding reduction in expenses. Deputy Commissioner Erin Dreyer explained that this particular line was used for insurance recovery. She explained that if there was an amount placed in that line item, the number would then need to be reached before any funds could be accessed to make repairs vehicles. Therefore, if $50,000 was budgeted, they would not be able to access the funds until the revenues exceeded $50,000. Commissioner Thomas Curley said there are utility lines that need to be maintained and he also lobbied for funding for the architectural design for the east side facility. Accounts Commissioner Matthew McCabe asked Commissioner Stephen Towne if the copier he was proposing at $10,000 could be purchased for $8,000. Commissioner Stephen Towne said he would check. Recreation Commissioner Matthew McCabe clarified that only $12,000 was estimated as revenue for 2005 for the youth parking program at Wright and Jackson Streets. Linda Terricola said yes. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said this was an area that needed further discussion. Department of Public Works Repairs and Maintenance: Commissioner Matthew McCabe said DPW requested $16,000 for the Music Hall floor, $25,000 court cleaning and $40,000 not described for a total of $81,000 under repairs & maintenance. He asked if the revenue had been included for the court cleaning. Commissioner Thomas McTygue said that the $25,000 revenue is used to cover the cost of hiring a cleaner for the court room. He said if DPW does not receive those funds, a cleaner will not be hired by the City. He said he could live with the loss of the $16,000 for the Music Hall, although the work needed to be done at some point. The City needs to maintain City Hall Page 1 of 3 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Minutes Wednesday, October 27, 2004 and at a minimum, $10,000 is needed. SAD: Commissioner Thomas McTygue said the SAD pays the City for sidewalk repair, snow removal, holiday decoration and flowers. He said again, if that revenue does not come to DPW, the work wold not be done. Parking Deck: Commissioner Thomas McTygue said there needs to be major resurfacing (sealing) of the Putnam Street parking deck and they estimated the cost to be between $40,000 and $60,000. He said about a quarter of the deck will be done this year with funds that he has remaining. He said perhaps funds generated from renting parking spaces could be placed into a maintenance fund for the parking decks. They will need resurfacing every five to six years. 30 Passenger bus: Commissioner Thomas McTygue said he was also proposing to purchase a 30 passenger bus at a cost of between $7,000 and $14,000 to be used to ferry City Hall employees and other downtown business employees from the Niagara Mohawk site on Excelsior Avenue to the downtown businesses. He said that parking would become difficult with the construction of the new parking deck and this could be a solution. The Excelsior Avenue lot will generate about 200 parking spaces. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said he would consider that suggestion. West side project shortfall: Commissioner Matthew McCabe asked about the west side project and the anticipated $800,000 shortfall. Commissioner Thomas McTygue said the City Engineer should be here to address that issue. Bill McTygue, Director, Utilities, said it is possible to phase the project for completion in 2006. He said there are enough funds to continue through 2005 and then the last phase could be completed in 2006. He said the obligation of the contract would also be met. Commissioner Stephen Towne asked if there was any recourse through the company that did the rock investigation. Bill McTygue said that was possible. He said the bid is based on unit pricing though. Bill McTygue also noted that there was a continuing problem of maintaining existing services in the area which is also driving some price changes. Bill McTygue said he would have Paul Male come to a meeting to discuss this matter. Mayor UHA: Commissioner Matthew McCabe asked about the additional $3,000 that UHA was requesting. Mayor Michael Lenz said the UHA was expecting a donation from Pali Communications in the amount of between $60,000 and $90,000 to be used for marketing. He said he would talk to UHA to see why they were requesting an additional $3,000. Media Center Project: Mayor Michael Lenz said he had met with the representatives of the Media Center Project and they estimate that $30,000 would get them organized, hire a field organizer and develop and RFP. Parking Deck: Mayor Michael Lenz announced that the County has committed, under their budget, for the next four years to fund the proposed parking deck (Hub) in the amount of $300,000 per year for a total of $1.2 million. He said that combined with the $600,000 from the sale of the parcel and the parking solutions fund, the City has approximately $2.1 million. He said Senator Bruno may also be able to find some money for the project. It was likely that the parking deck could be built with no impact to the City taxpayers. He said due to this unexpected funding from the County it would free up some of the City’s capital funds. It was his preference to use those funds for the Recreation facility. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said this was good news. He said the funding from the County could be used in a variety of ways, i.e., buy down the debt service, put it directly towards that project, etc. Mayor Michael Lenz said the money from the County needs to be used for the parking deck. Mayor Michael Lenz said the City has options for the funding. He said the $1.2 million from the County are matching funds. He said the City has about 95 percent of the money it needs to construct the deck and the details now need to be worked out on the funding. He again said he would like to see the recreation facility project funded. He said the draft RFP is ready for circulation and nearby facilities would be visited. Page 2 of 3 City of Saratoga Springs City Council Meeting Minutes Wednesday, October 27, 2004 Commissioner Thomas McTygue suggested that this matter be sent back to the Capital Review Committee for their review. Mayor Michael Lenz said he had no objection to bringing this back to the capital committee, however, the primary concern now was how to structure the payment for the deck. He said the County’s commitment was very specific in that it is to be used for the parking deck. He said from an accounting standpoint there needs to be some discussion. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said the City could bond the debt. Mayor Michael Lenz said that perhaps a short term loan should be considered. Other East Side Facility: Commissioner Thomas Curley said he would like to lobby for the east side facility. He said he would like to see funding included for the architectural work. He said that they are very near identifying a site and he would like the architectural work done so that construction could begin in 2006. Budget Breakdown: Commissioner Stephen Towne asked if the budget could be broken down to included the difference between fixed costs and variable costs by department. He said the Council needs to justify to the community items such as contractual increases. 2006 will be a difficult budget cycle and thought needs to be given to the variable increases for that year. The budget should not be a one year cycle. He asked for information on the estimated surplus for this year. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said he would look into the suggestions. He agreed that the budget was more than just a one year cycle. Commissioner Stephen Towne said it was good news that the County was willing to fund a portion of the parking deck. The City now needs to look carefully at leveraging those funds. Commissioner Thomas Curley said he would submit an additional request for $22,000 for contractual obligations for the Juvenile Aid and SIU Investigators. Commissioner Thomas McTygue asked that the Council address revenues at the next meeting. He asked for a report on the sales tax. Commissioner Matthew McCabe said he would address sales tax at the second meeting in November. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Michael Lenz adjourned the meeting at 8:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Moran Clerk Page 3 of 3