City Council

Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 20 I 0 Page 1 City of Taylorsville Work Session Minutes Wednesday February 10 2010 Council Chambers 2600 West Taylorsville Blvd Room No 140 Taylorsville Utah 84118 Attendance Mayor Russ Wall Council Members City Staff Chairman Bud Catlin John Inch Morgan City Administrator Vice Chairman Morris Pratt John Brems City Attorney Council Member Dama Barbour Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder Council Member Larry Johnson Jessica Springer Council Coordinator Council Member Jerry Rechtenbach Del Craig Chief of Police Mark McGrath Community Development Director John Taylor City Engineer Scott Harrington Chief ofFinance Jamie Brooks Court Administrator Marsha Thomas Judge Michael Kwan Judge Tessa Kohl Victim Advocate Shell Summers Court Clerk Keith Snarr Economic Development Director Patrick Tomasino Building Official Others John Gidney Gordon Wolf Denis Morrill Rebecca Palmer Michael Wright Christine Herron Karena Jackson Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 2010 Page 2 Chairman Bud Catlin called the Work Session to order at 6 01 p m and welcomed those in attendance City Recorder Cheryl Peacock Cottle conducted a Roll Call wherein all Council Members were present 1 Closed Session Council Member Morris Pratt MOVED to convene a Closed Session to discuss the sale and purchase of real property at 6 02 p m Council Member Jerry Rechtenbach SECONDED the motion Chairman Bud Catlin called for discussion on the motion There being none he called for a roll call vote The vote was as follows Barbour yes Pratt yes Catlin yes Handy yes and Rechtenbach yes All members of the City Council voted and the motion carried by a unanimous vote CLOSED SESSION Those in attendance at this Closed Session were Council Members Barbour Catlin Johnson Pratt and Rechtenbach Also present were Mayor Wall City Administrator John Inch Morgan City Attorney John Brems and City Recorder Cheryl Peacock Cottle Economic Development Director Keith Snarr Denis Morrill Avalon Health Care and Michael Wright with Giza Development Minutes for the Closed Session were taken and are now on file as a Protected Record Council Member Jerry Rechtenbach MOVED to adjourn the Closed Session at 6 53 p m and convene the City Council Work Session Council Member Morris Pratt SECONDED the motion Chairman Bud Catlin called for discussion on the motion There being none he called for a roll call vote The vote was as follows Barbour yes Pratt yes Catlin yes Handy yes and Rechtenbach yes All members of the City Council present voted and the motion carried by a unanimous vote 8 56 09 The regular City Council Meeting was reconvened at 6 56 p m 2 Budget Discussion John Inch Morgan 8 56 37 City Administrator John Inch Morgan invited Court Administrator Jamie Brooks to update the City Council on budget issues related to the Court Mr Morgan stated that following Ms Brooks Judge Kwan would render a presentation on resolving differences between court revenue and expenditures Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 2010 Page 3 2 1 Courts 8 57 30 Court Administrator Jamie Brooks updated the Council on the status of the Court She stated that the numbers included in the Council packet have now changed Ms Brooks provided current figures for Accounts Receivable as follows 820 cases reviewed o 61 in judicial review or being updated by staff o 17 court date pending o 7 to collections o 6 case closed o 1 active bench warrant o I specialty court o I pursuing bond forfeiture 18 59 58 Ms Brooks called for questions from the Council 19 00 06 Council Member Rechtenbach observed that trends are going up so far this year and Ms Brooks reviewed contributing factors for the improved trend including the implementation of interest charges changes to staffing assignments and increased focus on tracking cases She predicted that the trend will continue as cases are pursued 19 0 I 41 Mr Brooks clarified that some cases date back to 1996 although focus is on the recent and more collectible casesShe anticipated that if efforts continue at this pace it will take approximately 14 months to catch up on the backlog of cases covering the last year and a half 9 02 47 Ms Brooks indicated that she will be changing the delegation of assignments for pursuing past collections 19 03 53 Judge Michael Kwandistributed his best guess of what would happen with revenues and expenses under the options of merging the court with another entity or shutting it doll completely 19 05 56 Judge Kwan stated that he believes the options of merging the court or shutting it down do not make sense He estimated that an agreement for a 25 revenue split would still result in a negative balance in the court budget through FY 2012 Judge Kwan referenced a wind down period when the City would basically be paying to run two courts He reviewed additional estimates based on a 33 split and a 50 split The judge noted that Taylorsville has ajustice court for the convenience of its citizens 19 08 30 Council Member Rechtenbach called for the judge to present solutions for solving the existing problems in the court Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 0 2010 Page 4 19 09 22 Judge Kwan stated his belief that too many people are in charge within the court basically leaving no one in charge He said that the Court is divided He suggested putting one person in charge and letting that individual administer Court functions 19 10 47 Judicial functions were discussed and Judge Kwan noted that ifhe were to take on administrative responsibilities within the Court he would still be bound by the law and also by the budget 19 11 27 Discussion was held regarding the roles of the three branches of government and separation of powers It was noted that the legislative branch has control over the budget 19 3 28 Judge Kwan stated that the court s problems are not structural but rather are related to management He noted that it has only been the last two year s in the City s history that the Court has not broken even and covered expenses 19 14 38 Judge Kwan suggested that the person with the most court experience be allowed to run the Taylorsville Court He asked the City Council to take a leap offaith in his ability by allowing him to take over administrative duties for the court 19 17 38 Judge Kwan cited issues with the previous administration but said he has a good working relationship with Mayor Wall He noted the importance of respecting boundaries 19 20 47 Council Chairman Catlin referenced the domestic violence court and the costs involved He called for Judge Kwan s opinion on shutting down the domestic violence and drug courts 19 22 08 Judge Kwan stated his belief that it would be a mistake to discontinue the domestic violence and drug courts He indicated that although the programs are not required by statute best practices results show benefits 19 23 29 Problem solving courts within the State were discussed 19 24 I Judge Kwan described functions ofthe drug court and cited practical reasons for having consolidated courts He listed other cities that currently have domestic violence courts 9 27 27 Judge Kwan clarified that under his proposed plan he would be in charge ofthe Administration of the Court as he was in earlier years 9 28 57 Mayor Wall stated that the court issues are beyond his own capacity to resolve He asked that Judge Kwan present his proposal to the Council Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 2010 Page 5 19 29 39 Judge Kwan indicated that under his proposal he would be the liaison to the City Council and to Administration 19 45 30 Judge Kwan referenced checks and balances that are built into the court system 19 35 20 Judge Kwan reviewed the history ofthe Taylorsville Court and cited several contributing factors to the current situation 9 36 32 Council Member Rechtenbach referenced the need for a mechanism to ensure that the court budget is followed 19 37 30 Judge Kwan cited the importance of open communication 19 39 57 Discussion was held regarding the issue of transporting defendants to court 19 42 34 Mayor Wall reviewed the history surrounding his issuance of an executive order to cease and desist with the transportation of criminals 19 43 42 Additional discussion ensued regarding the Drug Court Program 19 44 52 Estimates were referenced for costs to run the Drug Court as provided by Mr Morgan 9 45 43 Judge Kwan described benefits and efficiencies that are gained by consolidating drug related cases He indicated that suspending the Drug Court will save the City approximately 29 000 annually but noted that many ofthose defendants will then require public counselor jury trials resulting in increased costs to the City 19 47 34 Judge Kwan indicated that the Court currently gets by with about one jury trial per month because ofthe Drug Court program 19 48 47 Judge Kwan gave clarification on defendants who are prevented from coming to court because they are incarcerated 9 48 52 Ms Brooks presented her perspective on resolving issues in the Court She said that she believes the problems can be fixed but recognized the time sensitivity involved Ms Brooks noted that it has taken many years to get to the current status within the court and will take time to resolve She stated that her first point of attack is collections She indicated that the tracking of cases ceased in 2006 She said that the software conversion was another contributing factor 19 52 36 Council Member Johnson called for clarification on the history of the drop in Court revenue Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 20 0 Page 6 19 54 02 Mr Morgan reported on current revenue and expenditures and described the history of court revenue and court staffing 19 55 58 Mr Morgan reviewed the history of Court Administrators in Taylorsville and indicated that there have been four such administrators since 2001 9 58 58 Ms Brooks predicted that the Court situation will continue to improve each month She agreed that monthly reports from the Court are appropriate 19 59 37 Council Member Pratt cited the drop in sales tax revenue and questioned how a smaller court budget might affect the plans being proposed 20 00 27 Ms Brooks acknowledged that she needs sufficient staff hours to implement her plan 20 00 49 Judge Kwan stated the need to complete a policies and procedures manual for court employees He said that the court has hardworking employees but they have not been sufficiently trained He suggested not holding hearings for one week while training is conducted for clerks Judge Kwan noted the need to retain the best employees train them adequately and then hold them accountable 20 03 21 Discussion was held regarding statistics for new case filings court revenues and court expenses 20 08 33 Judge Kwan confirmed that if clerks were better trained and subsequently more efficient less staff would be required 20 09 22 Judge Kwan stated his obligation to the citizenry of the City to spend as much time as necessary to administer the court He cited the necessity to weigh the value of having a court in Taylorsville and his ability to efficiently manage the court Judge Kwan predicted that a court of Taylorsville s size would be difficult to merge with another entity 20 13 46 Council Member Pratt expressed his appreciation to Judge Kwan and also to Ms Brooks 20 14 20 Mayor Wall cited differing opinions on how to save money in the Court He indicated that he does not have an answer as to which plan will be more successful 20 6 17 Discussion was held on the time line required for making ajoint decision about the court Mayor Wall said that he is unsure whether a decision can be reached by March 2 2010 Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 2010 Page 7 20 7 04 Mr Morgan indicated that he has contacted both West Valley City and West Jordan who have expressed interest in discussing a possible merger He said that further negotiations regarding a split must be held before potential costs can be determined He described types of interlocal agreements that other cities have developed Mr Morgan cited many factors that complicate the decision on the court and the development of an agreement with another entity 20 19 34 Council Member Rechtenbach said he is hesitant to rush to judgment and more inclined to put feet to fire and see what can be produced He recommended allowing Ms Brooks six more months to show improvement and then if she is unsuccessful turning the court over to Judge Kwan 20 21 12 Chairman Catlin agreed with Mr Rechtenbach but said he would like an evaluation in five months at the beginning of the fiscal year Mayor Wall agreed with that time frame 20 22 14 Council Member Barbour stated that she honestly doesn t know which option to pursue 20 22 2lCouncil Member Pratt said he strongly agrees that policies and procedures must be implemented He sated that July 20 0 is a reasonable target date for evaluation of the court options 20 23 2 Council Member Johnson said that he agrees with Mr Rechtenbach and does not wish to rush into adecision about the court He also agreed with Judge K wan about the need for better training of court clerks and reducing court staff 20 24 06 Mr Morgan suggested scheduling further discussion regarding the court at next week s meeting It was confirmed that a Closed Session will be held on February 7 20 0 20 24 18 Mayor Wall inquired about the Council s desire to continue pursuing legislative options and the Council gave direction to proceed in that direction It was determined that further discussion will be held next week in order to make a decision about the court 2 2 Community Development 20 26 20 City Administrator John Inch Morgan asked Community Development Director Mark McGrath to make a brief presentation on the budget for the Community Development Department 20 26 58 Mr McGrath reviewed expenditure trends in his department including the Good Landlord Program the Unified Development Code Building Projects and UDOT projects He noted that the Silvercrest project consisting of 80 Single Family units and the Taylorsville Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 2010 Page 8 Park Senior Housing project consisting of 60 units are all being built at the same time He said that this many units have never been constructed at the same time over the course of the City s history 20 43 28 Mr McGrath relayed that the Building Department has been very busy and generated approximately 411 000 in revenue during calendar year 2009 through building permits and plan review fees He referenced several UDOT Projects that require oversight by Engineer John City Taylor and Public Works Inspector Lyle Hansen 20 29 46 Council Member Pratt cited a downturn of 13 in the number of building permits from 2008 to 2009 20 32 02 Mr McGrath reviewed reasons for gauging the workload in the Building Department through revenue that is generated He said that despite the downturn in the economy 2009 and 2008 were above average years in terms ofrevenue 20 32 32 Mr McGrath reviewed proposed expenditure reductions He cited some specific expenses for which the City is contractually obligated 20 33 24 City Administrator John Inch Morgan gave explanation on engineering contracts held by the City in relation to site plan reviews and capital projects 20 35 18 Mr McGrath addressed questions about the Community Development Department being a self funding department and further reviewed revenue and expenses 20 36 04 Mr McGrath reviewed organization in the Community Development Department and cited minimal staffing in Taylorsville which differs vastly from other cities 20 38 24 Mr McGrath reviewed personnel assignments and services provided within the Business License Division 20 39 38 Mr McGrath reviewed functions ofthe Building Division i e I Coordinates Application Process for Building Permits 2 Plan Review 3 Inspection Services 4 Inspection Coordination and 5 Emergency Response 20 41 II Mr McGrath listed personnel and related assignments in the Building Division clarifying that there are 3 Y full time employees in that division He also reviewed the fee and no fee services performed within the Building Division 20 42 29 Mr McGrath reviewed the functions of the Engineering Division consisting of City Engineer John Taylor and Public Works Inspector Lyle Hansen i e I Coordinates Application Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 2010 Page 9 Process for Encroachment road cut Permits 2 Plan Review 3 Inspection Services public works Storm Drain and 4 Oversees Capital Improvement Projects 20 43 26 Mr McGrath reviewed Fee and No Fee Services performed in the Engineering Division 20 45 36 Mr McGrath reviewed functions of the Planning Division i e I Staff Support for Planning Commission Board of Adjustment and City Council 2 Entitlements 3 Zoning and Land Use Approvals 4 CDBG Reports 5 General Plan and Development Ordinance Maintenance 6 and 7 Mapping Regional and Inter agency Coordination 20 46 41 Mr McGrath listed the three employees in the Planning Division 20 47 06 Mr McGrath reviewed fee and no fee services provided in the Planning Division 20 48 38 Council Member Rechtenbach inquired whether it is realistic to expect the Community Development Department to be self sufficient 20 50 03 Mr McGrath reviewed reasons that it is not realistic to expect the department to be self sufficient 20 5 12 Mr Morgan stated that based on his experience most ofthe Community Development Departments in other entities are not self sufficient 20 52 45 Mr McGrath offered his opinion that 80 of recoup is excellent and way above average due to low staffing levels He cited the ISO rating for the City and explained that Taylorsville received very high ratings except in staffing levels He noted that this clearly illustrates the City s philosophy on low staffing 20 56 25 Mr McGrath gave clarification on his primary job being long range planning ordinance development and work on the General Plan He stated that the two planners mainly focus on day to day planning services 20 56 59 Mr McGrath stated that building is not down but is above average He confirmed that there are fewer projects but they are larger scale projects which require more intensive plan review and building inspections 20 58 31 Mr Morgan referenced ideas of redeploying some individuals to help with redevelopment projects He emphasized that staffing is based on the current workload He noted that the workload has not gone down but if it does employees be Mr may reassigned Morgan Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes FebrutUY 10 2010 Page 10 cited the intensity ofthe current workload which is being driven by large projects He referenced the City s statutory requirement to go in and inspect new projects 20 58 19 Chairman Catlin inquired whether the department could get by with one less planner Mr McGrath said that reducing staff by one planner would result in a serious loss in service to the community 21 00 18 Mr McGrath made recommendations to conduct fee studies to evaluate building fees engineering fees and planning fees He recommended a less intensive study than the business license analysis 21 04 52 Ms Barbour questioned whether the studies described might be done in house and Mr McGrath confirmed that they could be performed in house 21 06 00 Mayor Wall stated that the City could reduce by one planner but Administration does not recommend doing so because it would result in fewer services to citizens 21 07 19 Council Member Pratt stated that he disagrees with the assertion that no fee services are provided in the business license division because they are accounted for in Business License Fees 21 08 32 Mr McGrath gave explanation on projections made for recommended expenditure reductions 21 09 52 Council Member Pratt inquired about increases in salaries and benefits 21 I 0 19 Mr Morgan agreed to examine the increase and provide explanation 21 I 0 48 Mayor Wall addressed questions about expenses for abatement He stated that through implementation ofthe Good Landlord Program business licenses may be pulled immediately and daily fines may be implemented through the Administrative Court in order to reduce abatement costs He cited success in other Cities with abatement issues through use of the Good Landlord Program 23 Other Budget Matters 21 13 21 Discussion was held regarding Budget Line 91 for the Arts Council 21 15 12 Council Member Pratt asked Arts Council Member Gordon Wolf to address this issue Taylorsville City Council Work Session Minutes February 10 2010 Page 11 21 15 59 Mr Wolf gave explanation regarding the Arts Council Budget He said that it doesn t make sense based on current budget issues for the City to allocate funds for the Arts Council Mr Wolf said that efforts will be made for the Arts Council to raise its own funds 3 Other Matters 21 17 45 Council Memberlohnson commended Gordon Wolf for his efforts Mr Johnson also cited a need to re examine employee salaries and benefits 4 Adjournment Council Member Morris Pratt MOVED to adjourn the City Council Work Session Council Member Dama Barbour SECONDED the motion Chairman Catlin called for discussion There being none he called for a vote The vote was as follows Barbour yes Pratt yes Catlin yes Handy yes and Rechtenbach yes All City Council members voted in favor and the motion passed unanimously The meeting was adjourned at 9 19 p m Wl1i Ch Yr Minutes approved CC 03 03 10 Minutes Prepared by Cheryl Peacock Cottle City Recorder