City Council

November 26, 2018 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Budget Workshop City Center Broadway 11:00 AM 11:00 AM CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL SALUTE TO FLAG PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD / 15 MINUTES CONSENT AGENDA 1. Nothing at this time. MAYOR’S DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. FINANCE DEPARTMENT 1. 2019 Budget Workshop: Capital Budget and Any Other Outstanding Items PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT 1. Nothing at this time. SUPERVISORS 1. Nothing at this time. ADJOURN City Council Meeting 11/26/18 November 26, 2018 CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS City Council Budget Workshop City Center Broadway 11:00 AM PRESENT: Meg Kelly, Mayor Michele Madigan, Commissioner of Finance John Franck, Commissioner of Accounts Anthony Scirocco, Commissioner of DPW Peter Martin, Commissioner of DPS STAFF PRESENT: Lisa Shields, Deputy Mayor Mike Sharp, Deputy Commissioner, Finance Maire Masterson, Deputy Commissioner, Accounts Joe O’Neill, Deputy Commissioner, DPW John Daley, Deputy Commissioner, DPS Vincent DeLeonardis EXCUSED: Matthew Veitch, Supervisor Tara Gaston, Supervisor 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. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Kelly called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. FINANCE DEPARTMENT Commissioner Madigan said this was the fourth budget workshop. She said the focus of today’s discussion was the capital budget. The Comprehensive Budget was presented on October 2, however, the capital budget was not brought forward for a vote because the City Hall renovation is the priority this year. The October 2 Comprehensive budget totaled $8.2 million, excluding the capital budget. On October 22, the capital budget was reviewed including a detailed review of the City Hall renovation work. Today, Mike Veitch, DPW Business Manager and John Hall, Clark Patterson Lee were here to review the refined plans. Commissioner Scirocco said the topic of today’s discussion is the renovation work for City Hall. He said today’s presentation has been refined from prior discussions. The proposed renovation work will improve access and efficiencies for citizens and employees as well as restoring the historic charm of the building. Working space will be increased, there will be a new HVAC system and the entire building will be more Page 2 of 5 City Council Meeting 11/26/18 energy efficient. It also will resolve the legal mandate to provide court space for the NYS Court system. He reminded everyone that this is a preliminary plan and it is quite fluid – there will be changes; however, at this time, this proposal provides for and meets the needs of each department in a cost effective manner. He said initially, this project could have been between $15 and $20 million, however, it has been pared down to under $10 million. Mike Veitch presented the conceptual plan that had been developed as a result of the four prior meetings with all of the stake holders. There are two phases to the project. The first phase is asbestos abatement and removal at an estimated cost of between $250,000 and $300,000. The RFP has been advertised and the due date is December 11. He said they expected to award the RFP at the December 18 City Council meeting. Previously bonded capital money and some insurance funds will be used to cover this expense. The second phase, which has a somewhat optimistic timeline, is for the renovation work. Once there is a general consensus on the floor plan, the bid documents will be released. He said they hoped to bid the project and have construction in the early spring with completion in the fall. Mike Veitch reviewed the proposed floor plans and estimated costs. He said the estimated renovation work is at $8,116,000 with a 15 percent contingency of $1,217,400 and architect/engineer fees at $65,338 for a total estimated cost of $9,986,738. Some of the funding will come from the insurance and the remainder from the capital budget. The project will include new HVAC, new lighting, insulation, floor plan and office improvements, lightening protection and a new elevator. Ground Floor: Mike Veitch said the entire ground floor will be occupied by the Department of Public Safety. Code Enforcement will be relocated to the existing Civil Service Office. There will be a new hallway, along the exterior wall on the Lake Avenue side that will lead to the new (second) elevator. This meets all ADA compliance regulations. Police Administration will be relocated from the second floor to the ground floor. There will be a conference room in this area. Dispatch and parking ticket offices will be located in this area. The total estimated amount of renovation for this space is at $925,000. First Floor: Mike Veitch said the first floor will have a new entry way, updated lighting, new flooring and improved access to the new elevator. In order to install the new elevator, one of the existing staircases will be removed. There will be a new “communications” area at the entrance to welcome residents and to provide direction to the various offices. The Accounts Department and the City Council room will remain where they are, with some planned technological improvements. The Mayor’s Office will be reoriented which gives a safer entrance area. There will be a vestibule and two points of egress. There will be a conference room for the Mayor’s Department as well. Part of the new entryway in the Mayor’s Office becomes a new conference room for any City use. The Engineering/DPW office in the rear will have a break room for all employees. DPW administrative staff will move into this area. The fire place in the rear office will be restored and there will be a new secure entryway. The Finance Department will be renovated separately and will be coordinated where possible to save money. That renovation work will be done at the same time as the remainder of City Hall work. The estimated cost for the work on the first floor is at $1,766,000. Second Floor: Mike Veitch said the second floor rear will all of the Court system. He said in 2014 there was a ruling that all judges have their own court rooms. Since the City has two judges, we have been under a mandate to have the second court room. With this renovation work, we will now be able to meet that mandate. The judges and the court system have reviewed these proposed plan. The key to making this all work is the second elevator in place of one set of stairs. It gives the courts the security access point that they need. Also, on the second floor will be Human Resource, City Attorney and DPS administrative staff. There will also be preservation of the fire place on this floor. The estimated cost of this floor is at $1,630,000. Third floor: Mike Veitch said the improvements to the third floor will include sound quality in the Music Hall. There will also be a lobby in this area to assist with security, a new concession area which will make the area more marketable, a new audio/visual booth and an update to the bathrooms. There will be additional office space for Civil Service, the two County Supervisors and some storage area. In the old library area, will be the Building and Planning Departments. The estimated cost of the third floor is at $1,855,000. Page 3 of 5 City Council Meeting 11/26/18 John Hall reminded everyone that the new HVAC system will provide cooling and heating throughout the all of the areas that are not currently served with a fresh air system. There will also be lightening protection and new IT drops. He too pointed out that the second elevator is a significant piece of this puzzle that makes the project work. This elevator allows for the public to come into the building, get their bearings and to be directed to their location. The old elevator will be used to transport staff and prisoners. The work on the ground floor is important and with the new corridor along the south side of the building which gives the public access that was needed. The courts on the second floor will now be able to function adequately and will have larger hearing rooms than requested. Commissioner Martin asked about the eastern wall of City Hall and the structural improvements that are necessary due to the bowing of the wall. John Hall said that cost is about $200,000 and has not been included in these numbers. Commissioner Madigan said there are funds set aside in other projects that will take care of this. Commissioner Martin said the second elevator was greatly needed but asked if any additional structural studies were necessary to support this system. John Hall said the second elevator will be entirely self-supported and encased. The machinery necessary to operate the elevator will be located within the elevator footprint on the roof. John Hall said there is some compromise in the integrity of the south wall that will be repaired in this project. He said at some point in prior renovations a structural brace was removed. Commissioner Martin asked how realistic was the timeline for completion in the fall of 2019. John Hall said it was optimistic, but they were hoping that all of the interior work would be completed in the fourth quarter next year. Commissioner Scirocco said the first part of the project was the asbestos removal. The RFP is out and that removal work will be expedited. John Hall said unfortunately when Quick Response was removing materials, they removed carpeting and flooring and uncovered asbestos. He said removal of the asbestos was a good project though. Commissioner Madigan thanked DPW and John Hall for all of their work on these numbers. She too reminded everyone that this is a fluid project and it will continually be refined. She said on Wednesday, final documents would be brought to the Council for a vote on the City’s 2019 Comprehensive budget. She said she will recommend that the capital fund be increased from $3.4 million to $5.3 million, which will bring the capital budget from $5.7 million to $7.5 million. She said these are significant numbers. She thanked DPW for refining the estimated costs though. She said included in this project are much needed updates to the mechanical, electrical and plumbing issues in the building. This will all result in future savings and a greener, more efficient building. She said we should see some offsets in utility savings. If there are incentives and/or rebates through National Grid or other sources, those will be applied for. She said as additional funding streams are identified, she will update the City Council. Commissioner Martin asked if the funding for the complete streets program was still included in the capital budget. Commissioner Madigan said she did not have those numbers in front of her, however, at this time, there was no additional funding for completed streets in the proposed 2019 capital budget. She said, though, that there was funding in prior capital budgets that has not yet been tapped into. She said until those funds are tapped into, she would not include additional funding in upcoming capital budgets. She said the only change to the capital budget was the inclusion of the City Hall renovations. Also included in the capital budget was the fire truck, ambulance, Loughberry Lake dam, Ballston Avenue work, utility truck, tree chipper and three recreation related projects. She said this year the priority is City Hall. Commissioner Madigan opened up the discussion to the public for their comments. Commissioner Madigan said she did include in the proposed budget a communications person. She said there is a continued struggle to get information out to residents. She said we need to find better ways to communicate with the public. She said the lightening strike at City Hall and the relocation of City Hall workers and then displacement of the recreation programs is a good example of why we need to get information out to the public in a faster more efficient manner. She said residents have been surveyed and the number one complaint is communications. She said we cannot expect people to get their information from TV and the local newspapers any more. We need to make better use of our web site and social media. Therefore, she included in the budget a communications position with expertise in social Page 4 of 5 City Council Meeting 11/26/18 media and web content management. This individual will report to the City Council and she would ensure that the City’s policy ensure that it serves the entire City Council. She said she has met with IT and HR and among all of them, they can craft a position that meets the City’s needs. She said the salary on the position would be between $60,000 and $70,000. Also included in the budget was $45,000 for an open space consultant. She also included $3,000 for training for the SRO program. She reminded everyone that the City Council offered support the school district for the SRO program. While she did not yet know whether the school district would take the City up on its offer, but she believed it was prudent to include the funds for training. The SRO program has a revenue offset of $56,000. There was also a decrease in health benefits of $75,000. She said there could also be significant saving in the City’s health care plans in the very near future. Mayor Kelly said it was a good idea to include funding for a communications person. She said it was sorely needed. She said there is so much work that goes on inside City Hall that needs to be communicated out to the public. Much of our work goes unnoticed. This position will benefit City Hall and the residents greatly. She agreed that we need to prepare for the SRO program. The addition of the $30,000 for the designated engineers was also a great help. Commissioner Madigan said the City Council has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. She said we are down to the wire with the budget and her department is still working on refining the numbers. She said she would bring the final budget with her to the meeting. There will be no surprises. She said if Council members took any issues with her bringing the proposed budget to the meeting then another meeting would need to be scheduled. Commissioner Martin asked if $13,000 for the traffic position had been included. Commissioner Madigan said she was still working on the numbers. She said she would do a complete overview on Wednesday evening. Commissioner Franck clarified that the comprehensive budget with the changes that we have discussed will be brought forward on Wednesday. Commissioner Madigan said yes. She said if there are concerns, they can be addressed before Wednesday. There will be no surprises though. There is some health care benefit information that will be shared. She is not ready and won’t be ready to upload the budget before the meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Mayor Kelly adjourned the meeting at 11:47 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Moran Clerk Approved: 12/18/18 Vote: 5 - 0 Page 5 of 5