Informational Meeting

MINUTES Informational Meeting Wednesday, May 6, 2020 at 4:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Council Members Present: Janet Brekke (Via telecom), Christine M. Erickson, Rick Kiley (Via telecom), Greg Neitzert, Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl, Pat Starr, Theresa Stehly Council Members Absent: None Council Chair Marshall Selberg called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. 2. Committee/Commission Reports A. Metro Management Council: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 (Council Members Erickson and Kiley) Council Member Rick Kiley stated the meeting included approval of an agreement for EMS dispatch services with Patient Care Logistics, a presentation of Financial Statements for the month of March, 2020, and approval of the 2021 budget. 3. City Council Open Discussion Council Member Theresa Stehly recommended animal control provide an update on live trapping and dealing with nuisance animals. Selberg noted that he and Councilors Starr and Erickson served at the Banquet last week. 4. Presentations A. COVID-19 Update by the Administration Presentation: Approximately 10 minutes followed by discussion Jill Franken, Director of Public Health, introduced the topic by explaining that Sandy Frentz, Public Health Manager, and Jeff Eckhoff, Director of Planning and Development Services, would be providing an update on Emergency Operation Center Operations and the SOAR program, respectively. Frentz stated that the EOC is on day 59 of COVID-19 response operations. She reminded the council that in addition to command positions (Unified Command, Public Information, Liaison Officer, Planning, and Finance Center), the Operations Section has six branches supporting the response. First is the Public Safety Branch, led by Division Chief Mark Bukovich. Its partners include: Law Enforcement, SFFR, EMS/PatientCare EMS Solutions, Metro Communications, and Emergency Department staff from Avera and Sanford, and the SDDOH. Twice daily calls with response partners focus on: Coordination and communications; Meeting Community response needs, maintaining responder safety and reviewing and updating treatment protocols based on national standards of care; Inventory management of personal protective equipment (PPE); Monitoring patient movement; and, Monitoring and planning for resource management across the system – to make sure that we have ambulances and responders when the community needs them. The Healthcare Coalition Branch is led through a partnership with the City and local healthcare partners. Partners include: Avera McKennan, Sanford, VA Medical Center, LifeScape, Sioux Falls Surgical Center, City and County Emergency Management, and the SDDOH. Planning and response efforts for this branch include: Conference calls conducted every M-W-F to ensure coordination and communications across the planning partners; Inventory management of PPE (The Healthcare Coalition has provided PPE to healthcare partners, EMS and first responders, long term care providers, shelters and critical infrastructure service providers); and, Support of COVID specimen collection activities. The Continuity of Operations Branch is led by Bill O'Toole, Director of Human Resources, and Alicia Collura, Assistant Director of Public Health. The work of this branch is being conducted by an internal city team that is focusing on the work of continuity of city services while protecting the health and safety of employees. Planning and response efforts of this branch include providing guidelines on workplace mitigation efforts and enhancing communications across departments relative to COVID-19. Vulnerable Populations is led by Vanessa Sweeney and Kari Benz. Partners include: City Housing Manager Chellee Unruh, Dr. Jennifer Tinguely, Falls Community Health, Minnehaha County Human Services, Hospital Case Managers, and SDDOH. Planning and response efforts of this branch include: provision of education and technical assistance on mitigation efforts to support the response of local shelters; working with community partners to provide educational materials for vulnerable populations in multiple languages and in different mediums (written and video); advocating on behalf of the communities they serve to help meet the needs of vulnerable populations; and planning for and operations of an isolation site for vulnerable populations that need to be quarantined while awaiting test results or needing to be isolated following diagnosis of COVID-19. This branch is currently housing 17 guests. At one point last week they were housing and providing services to 40 individuals. Additional services provided by the isolation site include food, laundry, on-site security as well as on-site staff and case management services to help manage the needs of the guests. The services provided by this branch are critical community mitigation effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 in vulnerable populations. Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD) is led by Janet Kittams. Partners include: Faith Temple Church, Feeding South Dakota, Sioux Falls Schools, Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army, Food to You, Sioux Falls Corona Help, Helpline Center, and the City of Sioux Falls. Planning and response efforts of this branch include supporting the community through coordination of volunteer efforts of community partners. This includes Food Distribution group that provides  food to the community (Tuesdays and Thursdays.) The branch is also working with the One Sioux Falls Fund and the Unmet Needs Committee in their efforts to provide a safety net for housing needs. The fund continues to receive about 50 applications daily and the Helpline Center also serves as a call center to support the needs of the community. 21,906 calls have been answered since the beginning of this response in March. Calls include requests for food and housing resources, general and disease related information and mental health resources. Business Operations and Resiliency (SOAR) is led by Jeff Eckhoff and LuAnn Ford. Eckhoff discussed this branch's work via telecom. SOAR is a program that works with business and nonprofit leaders on their compliance with City ordinances, state directives, application of best practices recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as innovative approaches to protect the health and safety of employees, clients and customers. The program receives approximately 40 to 50 new inquiries per week, often with questions about new ordinances. Discussion followed about: actions those in the vulnerable population should take if self quarantine is required; the criteria for COVID-19 testing; the population at the Bishop Dudley House; the cost of testing; how funeral homes are handled; a sunset for the proposed ordinance; enforcement of ordinances; how the USF facility will be used; the Smithfield reopening plan; funding for contracts; reimbursement from the government or other programs; the impact on homelessnes due to evictions; and the One Sioux Falls Fund. B. New Governmental Lease Standards and Southwest Police Report to Work Station by Shawn Pritchett, Director of Finance and Matt Burns, Chief of Police Presentation: Approximately 15 minutes followed by discussion An underlying assumption is that all leases are financings (debt). Accordingly, a lease that may have been from the operating budget before may need to be added to financial statements and debt calculations. The new standard will affect debt covenants and debt limits; it will also affect the capital program and budgeting for lease items. The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued new rules in June 2017, with effective periods beginning after December 15, 2019. It affects lessees and lessors. Under the new standards, the definition of a lease is: “A contract that conveys control of the right to use another entity’s nonfinancial assets for a period of time in an exchange or exchange like transaction.” Examples include leases of buildings, equipment, and machinery as well as contracts that would not be defined as leases but meet the definition above. There are some exclusions: 1) short-term leases (12 months or less); intangible assets such as patents or software licenses; lease of inventory & power purchase agreements; and, concession service arrangements. The City has been working since 2017 to prepare for this standard, has determined appropriate thresholds (consulting with Eide Bailly), and identified which leases were significant for this standard. The City is also assessing the need for leasing going forward and has worked with both our external auditor and SD Department of Legislative Audit. Pritchett went on to explain how we account for the new standard requirements where the City is the lessee and where it is a lessor. He explained how accounting would occur on the government-wide financial statements and governmental fund financial statements. Chief Burns then discussed the Southwest Report-to-Work Station. The department is at capacity for workspace, locker room, and parking at the Law  Enforcement Center (LEC). There are limits to expanding the LEC and a remote report-to-work study completed in 2018 identified the need for a southwest report- to-work and evidence drop-off location. It is estimated that up to 30 officers and supervisors are to be located at the facility from all shift patrols with a dozen marked patrol cars. Leasing versus building was considered; leasing provides a reduced up- front capital investment and operational flexibility. The leased space also provides for increased operational efficiency. The lease was incorporated into the 2020 budget and will be located at 4000 W. 57th St. (formerly leased by Paramedics Plus). The report-to-work station agreement includes: 1) 5.5 year lease for building to be used as Report-to-Work Station, effective July 1, 2020; 2) Monthly payments are $5,069 and due the beginning of every month. First payment required July 1, 2020; 3) The City has an option to purchase this building at the end of the initial term of the lease for $1.5 million; and, 4) Option to extend lease for additional five years (to 12/31/30). As a result of taking occupancy, the City will depreciate the building based on City accounting policies. Leased liability and lease asset are calculated at approximately $1.7M based on the length of the lease and the interest rate (2%). The present value of the lease payments is approximately $325,000 and the present value of the purchase option at term-end is approximately $1.375M. The amounts would be added as part of the City’s debt and fixed assets. The agreement will require a budget supplement of $1.7M in the sales tax fund to account for the $1.7M in capital expenditures. Future lease payments will now be classified as debt payments with an interest and principal component. The asset will be classified as a building on the fixed asset schedule and depreciated over a useful life of 40 years. Upcoming actions include an ordinance to approve the Lease Agreement, a budget supplement of$1.7M in the sales tax fund to account for the $1.7M capital expenditures , and, a resolution adding the Southwest Report-to-Work Station to Capital Program. Discussion followed about the consolidation of leases, lease versus buy options, the number of employees in City Center, list of all leases the City has, signage at the report-to-work location, and additional funds for reconfiguring the space. 5. Public Comment There was none. 6. Adjournment Council Chair Marshall Selberg adjourned the meeting at 5:41 p.m. Thomas M. Greco, City Clerk