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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFEBRUARY 29,1996 I I I OliO.. ',~) O..2.;J<'I, '16 33:0036, ~,'- 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 I 2/29/96 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, I 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 I 2 2/29/% I I I 8. BUDGET REVIEW" POSS. FL'IANCIAL ALTERNATIVES, OVERTIME BUDGETS O~J.O-<;"<J . , '.1 t f ~ . I ; ~ ,'" ~" ~. ~ 38:0058 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 3 2/29/% 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 4 I I I 2129/96 I I I ATTEST: Alford, 38:0060 Council and the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency, and any Closed Session necessary to discuss personnel. litigation matters and evaluation of properties, ~ a or of the City of Arcadia J 5 2/29/96