HomeMy WebLinkAboutFEBRUARY 29,1996
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CITY COUNCil.. PROCEEDINGS ARE TAPE ~CORDED AND ON mE IN THE OFFlCE OF THE
CITY CLERK
1. ROLL CALL
2.
3.
4.
CLOSED
SESSION
01/0 . <10
O)~O :an
5.
ULRICH
(AFFA Pancake
Breakfast)
6. riL.)
TCI CABLEVISION
SOLICITATION
FOR
SUBSCRIPTIONS
(APPRGVi::D)
MINUTES
CITY COUNCil.. OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA
arid the
ARCADIA REDE:vELOPMENT AGENCY
ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING
FEBRUARY 29,1996
The City Council and the Arcadia Redevelopmenl Agency mel in an adjourned regular
meeting al 5:38 p. m" Thursday, February 29, 1996 in the Conference Room of the
Arcadia City Hall Council Chambers.
PRESENT:
ABSENT:
Council/Agency Members Chang. Kuhn, Ulrich. Young and Lojeski
None
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FROM STAFF REGARDING AGENDA ITEMS
REPORTSI ANNOUNCEMENTSlST A TEMENTS
None
AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
None
AI 5:40 p. m: the City Attorney announced thaI the City Council would ENTER a
CLOSED SESSION, "pursuant to Governmenl Code Section 54956,9(a) 10 confer with
legal counsel regarding the existing Workers' Compensation case of Kim Wood vs.
Arcadia" .
The Closed Session concluded al 6:09 p,m. and the Adjourned Regular Meeting
continued.
MATTERS FROM ELECTED OFFlCIALS: CITY COUNCil..
REPORTSI ANNOUNCEMENTSlST A TEMENTSIFUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
CounciImember Ulrich reminded everyone of the Firefighters' Pancake Breakfast 10 be
held Saturday, Marth 9, 1996 at Fire Station No.2 from 8:30 a, m. 10 12 noon.
Report and recommendation 10 allow solicitation for subscriptions by TCI CabJevisioll,
pursuant 10 Arcadia Municipal Code Section 6425,9, Keith Cooper from TCI
Cablevision stated thaI former General Manager, Juan Herrera was offered an
opportunity 10 go 10 Japan as Vice Presidenl of Operations for Cablevision' 5
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7.
LIVE OAK HALL
(630 Live Oak
(Removal of
Structure &
Possible
Recreational
Use)
(APPROVED)
() 7.2",). ,C)
38:0057
International Company. This was a very fast move and Cablevision was unable to I
notify the City, He then introduced Frank Maldonado. the new General Manager.
formerly the Van Nuys Operations Manager, Mr, Cooper also introduced Ms, Terry
Scott. State of California Franchise Administrator. who will also be working with the
City during the pending franchise renewal, TCI has requested to be permitted to solicit
residents to obtain new subscribers. which is their right to do under the franchise
agreement. A permit has been prepared for Council's consideration. The City
Attorney noted this is similar to the format prepared several years ago; there were no
problems of any kind at that time,
It was MOVED by Mayor Pro tern Kuhn, seconded by Councilmember Chang and
CARRIED on roll call vote as follows to APPROVE TCI Cablevision's request to
solicit subscribers, subject to the terms and conditions of the present agreement.
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
Councilmembers Chang, Kuhn, Ulrich, Young and Lojeski
None
None
Report and recommendation regarding the Live Oak Hall (Mounted Police Building)
AV,630 Live Oak Avenue, The City Manager presented a report concerning the City
owned property on Live Oak Avenue, This is a large piece of property; a water tank
and two structures are presently located on the site. The buildings are deteriorating
rapidly. Until recently, one of the buildings was rented for meetings and various social
events through the Police Department The suuctI1R has been detennined to be unsafe;
it does not meet Americans With Disabilities Act requirements; and it is infested with
termites. It has been determined that restoration of the structUIe would cost
approximately $400,000; tear.oown and rebuilding would cost approximately $500,000,
However, since the City has the Community Center available for meetings, social
events, etc. there is no need for another such center, Also, if it were restored for rental
use, this would put the City into competition with other rental halls in the area. It has
been suggested that the structUIe be tom down, which would allow the property itself to
be put to some use, such as a nursery, a playground, roller hockey field, soccer field,
etc, This could possibly be pwsued by negotiating long-term leases to potential
developers, These alternatives might result in the receipt of some revenue to the City.
Considerable discussion ensued. Councilmember Young said that frequently
recreational activities of one kind or another had to be curtailed because of the lack of
availability or the high cost of land, and she would like to see this property put to use
for something of this na\Ule. Mayor Lojeski would not like to see the property sold. In
the past Councils have sold City property and regretted it later,
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It was MOVED by Councilmember Young, seconded by Councilmember Ulrich and
CARRIED on roll call vote as follows to DIREcr staff to look into a, recreational use
for the 630 Live Oak Avenue property, preferably, roller rinks, roller hockey COWlS,
etc., that will generate income to the City, either through a land leas'.: or admission
phaSE:; and to AU1HORIZE the City Manager to proceed with the removal of the
structure by burning it down or getting a lessee to demolish it; and clean up the
property.
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
Councilmembers Chang, Kuhn, Ulrich, Young and Lojes1d
None
None
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8.
BUDGET REVIEW"
POSS. FL'IANCIAL
ALTERNATIVES,
OVERTIME
BUDGETS
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Discussion and direction rewding the City's budget and possible financial
alternatives. At the time of the mid-year budget review, Council expressed concerns
about the amount of employee ovenime contained in the budget. Considerable
discussion ensued on this subject The depanrnent managers each discussed the
ovenime amounts in their respective budgets, It was discovered that in a number of
instances, "ovenime" actuaIly referred to "part-time" employees, This was particuIarly
true in the Library and the Recreation Department. Council member Ulrich suggested
that there be a separate category for "part-time" employees, Most of the other
departments had fairly minimal ovenime amounts, The three biggest users of ovenime
are Maintenance Services, Police Department and Fire Department.
Mr, Pat Malloy, Maintenance Services Director, stated, in part. that ovenime amounts
were listed in the budget to provide for situations when Maintenance Service
Department employees have to be called in to deal with emergencies of various kinds -
traffic safety iSSllCS, trees down, flooding, earthquake damage, sewer backups. etc,
Since these are emergency situations, it is difficult or impossible to predict how much
ovenime will be required, The figure budgeted is based on historical nonns, and is
adjusted each year. In the discussion, the Administrative ServiceslFinance Director
noted that Citywide. the total budget forovenime is $1,121.500,
Police Chief Ronnie Garner stated, in part. that ovenime in the Police Department
results from a number of situations, ie" attendance at traffic court or trials; completing
repons if arrests are made close to the end of a shift. various emergency situations that
necessitate keeping officers overtime or calling in off-duty officers, etc. Race track
traffic control does not result in ovenime expense. The Santa Anita Race Track pays
for traffic control. Actually, in the last few years, expendilUreS for race track traffic
control has lessened, due to lower attendance at the track. In fact, unused budgeted
funds for this purpose have been returned to the City. Taking into consideration the
fact that one-third of all City employees are in the Police Department, when the
ovenime figures are looked at in relation to the number of employees, and what the
Police Depanrnent is trying to accomplish, Chief Garner feels the Police Department
has been very responsible. In response to a question from Councilmember Chang.
Chief Garner said the ovenime budgeted for this fiscal year is $111,000; to this point in
time, $70,000 has been spent In response to a question from Mayor Pro tern Kuhn,
Police Chief Gamer said the new 3/12 work schedule has not been in effect long enough
to know if it will reduce the ovenime costs. However, this has occum:d in other cities,
The City Manager stated, in part. that the Fire Department has the biggest ovenime
bodge! in the City, and introduced Fire Chief Gardner for a repon on this issue. Chief
Gardner stated, in part. that, in Fire Prevention, the Department has $2.000 ovenime
funds for arson investigations; in Fire Suppression, the Department has $13.000
ovenime funds for training. which provides funds to send employees out of the City for
mandated training classes. The rest of the Fire Department ovenime. $576,150 for this
year, is for a program called constant staffing. The Fire DepaJ1mCnt operates on a
constant staffing concept and maintains a minimum force of 17 Firefighters, I Battalion
Chief, and a minimum of three 9-1-1 Dispatchers on duty at all times. All fire
suppression personnel work on a 56-hour work week. All Dispatchers are presently
working a 4Q-hour duty week.
The Arcadia Fire Department's constant staffing program provides for a medium
priority structUre response with the minimum staffing level (12 firefighters, I battalion
chief) and the'minimum number of fire companies (2 engine companies. I truck. I
rescue unit) as per guidelines of the National Fire Protection Administration (N,F,P,A.)
and the Insurance Services Organization (1.5,0,) while simultaneously allowing I
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9.
ADJOURNMENT
(Mar. 5,1996
7:00 p.m.)
38:0059
engine company and I rescue unit to remain available to respond to a second call for
service received during the same time period The objective of this Depanmenl and the
staffing level is so that it can provide both fire suppression and paramedic re5CIlC service
at the same time That is the service that City Council wanled in the past and thaI is why
there are two rescue units. so that a five minute response time can be maintained 10 any
rescue call, and that is why there are three fire stations strategically located throughout
the City to be able to handle any fire call. If the Depanment gets a high priority
response, it can not keep the engine with three people in reserve to handle a paramedic
call. They have to be sent to the structure fire because it requires more people, That
leaves the department with a two person paramedic unit At that point the Depanment
goes inlo the Mutual Aid Program with a neighboring city, The constant staffing
program was developed to minimize tolal staffing requirements and provide a constant
level of fire protection and paramedic service. This concept results in an annual
savings this year of approximately $170,820 by utilizing existing personnel to fill
vacancies through overtime in lieu of maintaining additional permanent positions,
Assuming all sick leave, vacation and 1.0,0, could be scheduled for optimum utilization
of manpower, a minimum of II additional full time employees would be required to
maintain the same level of service, Eleven full time positions with benefits would cost
approximately $784,220, as compared to the fixed cost of $613,400 for the constant
staffing program, Therefore. constant manning results in an annual savings to the City
of approximately $170.820 or 4,5% of regular salaries. The utilization of overtime
instead of hiring additional personnel is actually a good business practice,
Chief Gardner presented and explained in detail, exhibits, including A) FY 1995-96
Fire Department Staffing; B) Shift Staffing Level for Suppression/Paramedics; C)
Response Guide; D) Fire Depanment Annual Budget; E) Constant Manning Program;
F) Fire Department Budget Comparisons; G) Fire Department Staffing Comparisons;
and H) Household Expenses Comparison. Said exhibits are attached to the February
29,1996 staff report.
Al 7:00 p,m,. Mayor Lojeski left the meeting for a prior commitmenl and Mayor Pro
tem Kuhn presided.
The City Manager staled that staff is still working on their department budgets. A
formal draft budget will be submined to the City Council after the April 9 election,
which is the natwa1 sequence of the budget process. Staff is still trying to refine
revenues and adjust expenditures. Further, the City Manager stared that the City cannot
keep looking for bail-oots or reserves. Some dollan can be reprogrammed into the
budget this year to balance it Potential cuts may still be needed, unless there is new
revenue. Cuts would mean reduction in services eventually, The real problem is long-
term revenue. Councilmember Ulrich suggested that the buzz word today is "down-
sizing" which can be done as much as possible by the department heads,
Councilmember Ulrich suggested a Citizens Committee to consider City expenditures,
department by department and the problems involved in balancing the budget, The
City Manager stated, in pan. that in some instances such a Committee works
satisfactorily; but in others it becomes a complete disaster. It is necessary to appoint
citizens who are genuinely interested in studying the issues over a period of time to find
the most satisfactory solutions. Mayor Pro tem Kultn suggested that Council and staff
need to focus on educating the public and the employees about the budgetary problems,
At 7:20 p, m, the meeting ADJOURNED to Tuesday, March 5,1996 at 7:00 p, m, in the
City Hall Council Chambers for a Regular Meeting to conduct the busine<..s of the City
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2129/96
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ATTEST:
Alford,
38:0060
Council and the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency, and any Closed Session necessary to
discuss personnel. litigation matters and evaluation of properties,
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a or of the City of Arcadia
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2/29/96