City Council

November 29, 2011 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting Agenda 6:20 PM – P.H. – Amend 2011 Capital Budget for parking Deck at 6 Woodlawn Avenue 6:30 PM – P.H. – Budget Workshop for 2012 Budget 6:45 PM – P.H. – 2012 Comprehensive Budget 6:30 PM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES PRESENTATION(S) EXECUTIVE SESSION: CONSENT AGENDA 1. None MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Discussion and Vote: Amend the 2012 Capital Budget for Parking Deck at 6 Woodlawn Avenue ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. None FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. Discussion and Vote: Amend the 2011 Capital Budget for Parking Deck at 6 Woodlawn Avenue 2. Discussion and Vote: 2011 Bond Resolution 3. Discussion and Vote: Adopt 2012 Budget PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. None PUBLIC SAFETY 1. None SUPERVISORS City Council Meeting 11/29/11 1. None ADJOURN Page 2 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/29/11 November 29, 2011 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Meeting City Council Room PRESENT: Scott Johnson, Mayor Ken Ivins, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Richard Wirth, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Shauna Sutton, Deputy Mayor (arrived at 6:38 p.m.) Gerald Lundgren, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Sharon Kellner-Chille, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Tim Cogan, Deputy Commissioner, DPW Joe Scala, City Attorney ABSENT: Frank Dudla, Deputy Commissioner, DPS RECORDING OF PROCEEDING The proceedings of this meeting were taped for the benefit of the secretary. Because the minutes are not a verbatim record of the proceedings, the minutes are not a word-for-word transcript. PUBLIC HEARING Amend 2011 Capital Budget for Parking Deck at 6 Woodlawn Avenue Mayor Johnson opened the public hearing at 6:21 p.m. Mayor Johnson advised this amendment is to include the Woodlawn Avenue parking deck at 6 Woodlawn in the 2011 capital budget. Bids for this project are due December 5th and he doesn’t want to have anything interfere with the tight time line for construction. There is no additional cost to the City for moving the project into the 2011 capital budget. The parking deck will be 2 levels, with spaces up to 327 cars, and foundations that would accommodate a 3rd level to be built in the future. The 3rd level will allow for maximum capacity of up to 500 cars. The estimated maximum cost is $4,782,000 for the 2 levels of which $3,082,000 will be bonded. This includes the Special Assessment District bond that has to run through the City; they pay us through the debt service. The amount of indebtedness from the Special Assessment Page 3 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/29/11 District will be $500,000 of the $3,082,000. The City’s net bonded amount would be roughly $2,582,000. Mayor Johnson stated he is withdrawing the discussion and vote of this item from the agenda. Pat Kane of 19 Marion Place stated this is a winner of an idea. The rush this is being put under has other implications not being addressed. Putting a parking lot between 2 Bonacio projects is a mistake for those businesses in that area. September would be an adequate time to start this project and would not hamper downtown businesses. We are approaching 100,000 square feet of vacant store front with 2 pieces of property being auctioned this week and 2 restaurants closed. The project still needs to be looked at by the ZBA, DRC, and Planning Board. It is cheaper to rent space in Colonie Center than on Broadway. We should move forward by in a wise manner. Why are we not treating this structure like the charter reform? Why is there not a fiscal note? There is noting on line about this structure other the RFP. The mayor is quoting figures but no one knows where he is getting those numbers. The public needs to know about those figures. Chris Mathiesen of 28 Friar Tuck Way stated he is not opposed to the parking structure but it is not his top priority. He would rather have seen mixed use; something that would broaden our tax base. He also suggested it be delayed and start the construction mid September that way there will be less of an impact businesses downtown and the tourist season. Projections of what the deck will provide for the City are a little exaggerated. Todd Shimkus of 139 Jefferson Street and president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce stated this parking deck has been talked about for 30 years and delayed long enough. All have partnered with the City. The Chamber pays the most attention of anyone regarding the best time to do projects like this and how to maximize the economic impact. From an economic expert perspective, moving now is important. Construction experts stated in September that we need to get started soon if we are going to get this done for the next racing season. Eileen Finneran of Round Table Road stated parking has always been an issue. She feels this project is a little rushed and the newly elected commissioners are not at the table to see what is going on. The RFP should be looked at before bonding the project. Mayor Johnson clarified he is going to withdraw from his agenda the discussion and vote under item #1 and therefore Commissioner Ivins would also withdraw items #1 and #2 from his agenda. Commissioner Ivins stated that is correct. Also, as clarification, just because the City Council passes a bond resolution, the actual bonding doesn’t take place until a later step down the line. Commissioner Franck advised the bid opening for the parking deck has been extended until December 5, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. in the City Council Room. Mayor Johnson concluded the public hearing at 6:39 p.m. and kept it open until the next City Council meeting. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Johnson called the meeting to order at 6:39 p.m. PUBLIC COMENT Mayor Johnson said the public comment period is limited to a total of 15 minutes and individuals are limited to two minutes each according to the rules approved in February of 2004 by the City Council. Mayor Johnson opened the public comment period at 6:40 p.m. Page 4 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/29/11 Pat Kane of 19 Marion Place stated information that is supposed to be open to public comment is not accessible for prior review. He asked what the web site used for. The Recreation Commission is not open; there are no minutes on the web, and no webcast of their meetings. They should have their meetings in a public venue. Al Callucci of 9 Lexington Road stated he agrees with Mr. Schimkus regarding the sense of urgency. The cost is competitive now and might save the City money. There will be major demands for parking with the bookings we have. Dereck Legall of 3 Deer Leap Place stated he is here as chair of the Recreation Commission. The Recreation Commission meets the last Tuesday of every month and the public is welcome to attend. The dates of the meeting dates are published on the website and the minutes are also on the website. Mayor Johnson closed the public comment period at 6:44 p.m. BUDGET WORSHOP Commissioner Ivins provided a handout of amendments. He stated the amendments have been on the website since last week and the Council has also had this information since then. If this passes as proposed here, property tax will be reduced by .81%. Through September 2011, sales tax is up over $300,000 from last year. Getting the parking deck done by June would be helpful to sales tax as June, July, August, and September are the biggest sales tax months. Mortgage tax actually finishes before the calendar year; it finishes in September. On the revenue side, building permits are up and the Casino rental is up from the 1st part of the year as we were closed in January. On the expense side, the health insurance companies provided an estimate cost when the comprehensive budget was originally put together. The rate came in about $200,000 less that the estimate and what was put in the comprehensive budget. Because of the reduction in the health insurance rates and the increase in some revenues, they shifted some things around; the Finance Department budget was reduced with the adjustment in the health insurance rates, the Mayor’s Department was just about a wash; Public Works got some additional money; Public Safety had a reduction in health insurance; and the Accounts Department had a reduction in health insurance and put back the original $50,000 taken out from their budget; the Department of Recreation has had no change in the programs. The tax rate is going down which is important as it looks like the County will be increasing their rates. He did not make any changes to the police overtime as they have gotten a good handle on comp time and overtime. Commissioner Franck asked how much money is in the fund set up from the VLT money. Commissioner Ivins advised there is $1 million in the tax stabilization fund. The comprehensive budget does include having the VLT money in there. Commissioner Scirocco stated he wanted to clarify the engineering technician position he proposed in September is a grade 11 step 1 effective January 1, 2012. Also, the senior engineering technician position is a grade 14 step 10 effective January 1, 2012. Mayor Johnson commended Commissioner Ivins for bringing the tax increase down even further from the original projection. PUBLIC HEARING 2012 Comprehensive Budget Mayor Johnson opened the public hearing at 6:54 p.m. Page 5 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/29/11 Eileen Finneran of Round Table Road asked for an explanation of the $100,000 that was in the legal line in DPW and where it went. Why was it budgeted initially? Mayor Johnson stated that money was originally put in there as it was for the remainder of the DEC consent order. It was decided that it didn’t belong in the budget because it is a special circumstance that should come out of the unreserved/unappropriated fund. Eileen Finneran asked if all the DEC fines were now paid. Mayor Johnson advised all the fines will be paid with the next budget cycle. Pat Kane of 19 Marion Place stated he didn’t see the revenue derived from the contract with National Grid for Weibel Avenue. He asked if it is a 5 year contract. Mayor Johnson advised that contract is currently under negotiations and will be brought back for approval by the end of the year. The rent is scheduled to go up. Pat Kane also asked where the money for the law library is deposited. Commissioner Ivins stated he believed it was built in to another line item; he would have to find it for him. Pat Kane asked if there was any thought to re-negotiated that contract since it is a big space for $2,700. Could that space be used for something more appropriate? Mayor Johnson stated that since we are a part of the 4th district, we are required by law to provide a certain service. Al Callucci of 9 Lexington Road stated he tracks the 12 leading restaurants and their prices have gone up 12 – 14% in the past 90 days. Therefore we will see sales tax from that and he doesn’t see sales tax on gasoline disappearing. Mayor Johnson closed the public hearing at 7:00 p.m. CONSENT AGENDA None MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Amend the 2012 Capital Budget for Parking Deck at 6 Woodlawn Avenue Mayor Johnson withdrew this item from his agenda for this evening. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT None FINANCE DEPARTMENT Discussion and Vote: Amend the 2011 Capital Budget for Parking Deck at 6 Woodlawn Avenue This item has been withdrawn from the agenda for this evening. Discussion and Vote: 2011 Bond Resolution Page 6 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/29/11 This item has been withdrawn from the agenda for this evening. Discussion and Vote: Adopt 2012 Budget (11-316) Commissioner Ivins moved and Mayor Johnson seconded to adopt the 2012 budget using the comprehensive budget as a base with the amendments as proposed to the Council. Commissioner Franck asked what the reserve amount was at the end of 2010. Commissioner Ivins stated it was $4.2 million. Commissioner Franck agrees the legal money should not be in the DPW budget. He verified that $100,000 will come out of the $4.2 million. Commissioner Ivins stated that was correct. Commissioner Franck also stated he probably would have gone a little more conservative with the sales tax. He doesn’t think we will lose VLT money, but if we went with the worst case scenario and we did lose it and the worst case scenario with sales tax being a $500,000 off; he still feels there is an efficient amount in the reserves. He feels we could cut some more and has concern with Commissioner Wirth’s budget that nothing was put back in. Commissioner Scirocco confirmed this is not the comprehensive budget but the amended budget. Commissioner Ivins stated this is the comprehensive budget with the amendments presented. Roll Call: Commissioner Franck – Aye Commissioner Ivins – Aye Commissioner Scirocco – Aye Commissioner Wirth – Aye Mayor Johnson – Aye Commissioner Ivins announced with the passing of the 2012 comprehensive budget, there will not be a meeting tomorrow. PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT None PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT None SUPERVISORS None ADJOURNMENT Mayor Johnson moved and Commissioner Ivins seconded to adjourn the meeting. Ayes – All There being no further business, Mayor Johnson adjourned the meeting at 7:03 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Page 7 of 6 City Council Meeting 11/29/11 Lisa Ribis Clerk Approved: 12/20/11 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 8 of 6