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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005 01-25 Pre Meridian City Pre-Councll Meeting January 25. 2005 The Meridian City Pre-Council meeting was called to order at 6:30 P.M. on Tuesday, January 25, 2005 by Mayor Tammy de Weerd. Members Present: Mayor Tammy de Weerd, Keith Bird, Shaun Wardle and Charlie Rountree. Staff Present: Ted Baird, Doug Strong, Bill Musser, Anna Canning, Kenny Bowers, Brad Watson, Stacy Kilchenmann and Will Berg. Item 1. Roll-call Attendance: Rollcall. X Shaun Wardle X Christine Donnell X Charlie Rountree X Keith Bird -A- Mayor Tammy de Weerd Item 2. Adoption of the Agenda: Bird: Mr. President. Wardle: Mr. Bird. Bird: I move we adopt the agenda as published. Rountree: Second. Wardle: It's been moved and seconded. All in favor? Opposed? ALL AYES. MOTION CARRIED. Item 3. COMPASS presentation on the Communities in Motion Plan by Toni Tisdale: Tisdale: I am a principal planner at COMPASS, Mayor and Members of the Council. COMPASS does the regional long-range transportation planning for the Valley in both Ada and Canyon Counties and in the pastwe have had multiple plans for transportation and we have had destination 2030 as the latest plan for Ada County and moving people 2025 is the current plan for Canyon County. When we were looking at doing an update for the long-range transportation plan, we were looking at combining those two for the first time that we have ever looked at both of the plans regionally. About the time that we were looking at this, ITD got a new director and that's David Eckem and Director Eckem was looking at some of the applications that we had applied for reauthorization and the larger item funding sourcas and he said you all are dreaming too small Meridian City Pre-Councll Meeting January 25, 2005 Psge2o!9 because our biggest project at the time was about 18 to 20 million dollars. He said if we work together on this we can go for 150 million dollars and we can actually get it. So, we ended up partnering with ITD - Charlie's eyes went up - we partnered with ITD because they needed a plan for the rural counties that are outside of Ada and Canyon and so we are looking truly regional, so we are including a more detailed portion of Ada and Canyon Counties and also looking at Elmore, Gem, Boise and Payette Counties. Of course the focus will be on Ada and Canyon because we have federal regulations that require us to do more detail within the metropolitan areas. I have handed out a packet of some of the information. This (inaudible) is called Communities in Motion and in November of last year we held some major workshops. In the past, we have always used a growth scenario for determining what types of projects we needed by looking at the trend and what has happened over the last 10 to 20 years and this time wa are looking at things a little big differently and we are looking at several different growth scenarios and kind of test scenarios of what would happen if development was this way or a totally different way compared to trend. So, we held the workshops in November and those were basically a land-use scenario process. We had 500 people in Ada and Canyon and a few of the surrounding areas as well. We had 40 different tables, so we had 40 maps developed and from those maps we had developed six different scenarios. Recently they were combined a little bit farther down into four. Our consultants called these scenarios crash test dummies and so they go through multiple tests and analysis and two of them didn't pass the test so we have actually combined two of them into one and we have taken one off. We will still do all of the documentation on that one, but it has dropped off for further analysis. The next steps on this is in February on the 2nd and 3m we are holding the next series of meetings. Those will be to refine the land use maps that we have developed so far as well as provide more of a transportation base. The last time people were allowed to put transportation projects or dreams onto the map, but it wasn't restrained by anything and this time it's going to be restrained by the finances that we see available in the next 25 years. So, all of you are strongly encouraged to attend those. We have had very, very favorable comments about the process. It's a game, actually, it's a lot of fun and some of the information of why we ended up going the way we did is in your packet. A lot of it was based on commuting patterns, so we have seen that a lot of the people that live in Elmore, Gem, Boise and Payette Counties are coming into Ada and County to work and to play and so that the highway systems throughout the region are inter connected and that's more of the approach that we are taking at this time. There is a card in your packet that we would like to get back from you to find out which workshop that you would like to attend and saying that you will be coming. So, there were two in Canyon County and three workshops in Ada County. I would like to stand for any questions about how we got to the point of Communities in Motion or what we expect to come out of this process. Wardle: Council any questions? Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting January 25,2005 Page30!9 De Weerd: Mr. President. Wardle: Madame Mayor. De Weerd: I was looking at this fax sheet on the amount of population growth and I looked at the third bullet and it noted over the next 25 years of Boise and Eagle - the Boise and Eagle are expected to have fast paced growth rates. I think Meridian hands down has been growing at a rate more rapid than either Boise or Eagle. Is it the Boise, Meridian and Eagle areas or - it doesn't even read right - Tisdale: Where are you looking? De Weerd: The third bullet point on this backstreet. Tisdale: Yes, it should probably include Meridian as well because Meridian is one of the faster growing areas and - De Weerd: But, I guess if Eagle continues to grow trending out how they have been, they will just take over all of Ada County anyway, so - Katie, you did not hear that -- please strike that from the record. Tisdale: The larger of the three page fax sheet there is a forecast on. population growth and we have realized that some of those population forecasts may be a little bit low and these are based on John Church's figures for the county and then broken down into the city levels. We are looking at doing some revisions to those because it has been pointed out by several of the cities throughout the region that they do seem a little bit low. De Weerd: Especially if you look at how we have been growing just this last year. Mr. Chair, I guess I would like to encourage all of you to be involved of the 500, over 500 participants (inaudible--) were there during our fall workshop, eight percent were Meridian residents and we are at a critical point here in Meridian, we have to pay attention to what (inaudible) are planned because they are all around us and all of the traffic travels through uS and so of many of the communities in this Valley, Meridian in particular has a lot at stake and so if you can encourage people that you know to provide input into this - it is an opportunity and to provide their input, it would be very helpful. Tisdale: I did want to add that this process Communities in Motion, at least at this point with the scenario process is working hand and hand with (inaudible) for good growth and I know that's near and dear to your hearts at this time. Our consultants are working with their consultants and we are all working together on this process and what comes out of the scenario process will be used for both studies. So, it's working together and it's building a coordinated effort through this process. Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting January 25, 2005 Page 4 0!9 De Weerd: Again, just to follow up with - what is a little scary with the growth scenarios is they are putting a lot of densities in our cores and actually densities throughout our city without adequate infrastructure, we couldn't even attempt to start doing or changing trends to the higher density in our community in particular without the infrastructure to support it. Tisdale: Right. We are looking out 20 to 25 years too and part of the reason that people were pitting a lot of density when they were planning their land use was for the possibility of transit and there was a lot of interest in transit use during the November workshops. So, it would be an adjustment throughout the Treasure Valley with different types of densities, but it had a lot of mixed-use too. A lot of mixed, regular types of subdivisions and lower densities as well as the high densities. Wardle: Mr. Rountree. Rountree: Mr. President. Toni, I apologize for not knowing what I should know, but - (inaudible) down to detail you might not even want to deal with, but in the scenario planning at least the way it was described to me was in the next workshop is that certainly the work at hand is trying to identify the transportation investment over the next number of years. What kinds of dollars are you anticipating looking at what kinds of increments are those going to be delivered? Are they 5, 10, 15,20 or 30-year projections and what kinds of ballpark figures are we talking about investment wise? Tisdale: I don't have that level of detail with me, but I know that our consultants have looked at every type of funding that is available in the Treasure Valley throughout all the jurisdictions and that is what we are basing our forecast on. It would be a forecast of 25 to 30 years. Rountree: Do you have any idea of what kind of factors you are using to inflate those values over 20 or 30 years? Off the top of your head? Tisdale: I don't. I haven't seen the final reports on what they are using. Rountree: Okay, thanks. I don't know if Matt has seen those or not. Inaudible discussion. De Weerd: Mr. President. Wardle: Madame Mayor. De Weerd: I think that 1.6 billion dollars is a price tag on the Govemor's list. I guess I would also ask if product from this might not only be those projects that Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting January 25, 2005 Page 5 019 would be funded during that time period, but also in identifying transportation corridors, so our land use can start being more in line to - is this going to be a five-lane road? Is it going to be a restricted access type of highway and those kinds of things? Tisdale: That is exactly the goal of this plan is to look at things on a corridor type level and do that sort of planning so that that would be available to you for land use planning along the way. That is a huge goal. De Weerd: Thank you. Donnell: Mr. President. Wardle: Ms. Donnell. Donnell: Toni, I went right to the cost, which is not unusual, but on your fax sheet, the three page sheet on the second page where it talks about what is the cost for the plan - I am not quite sure what it means in addition to the staff time of three to four work years per year. Tisdale: Right. We have several different staff members working on the project. So, three to four people working on it - Donnell: - work years, per year? Tisdale: That is correct. It is like a two-year program. We started it last year and it'll finish by February 2006. Donnell: I am sorry to be so dense, but what you are meaning is that there are three to four staff members working one year, per year? Tisdale: Actually we have about 20 employees and many of them are working on various aspects. Donnell: I think that I would suggest that that be reworded if this is distributed other places, but I will go on with my next question - I mean because I think that is real confusing at least it certainly is to me. (Inaudible discussion) Donnell: And I also am questioning the million dollars that will support technical consulting services. Is that in addition to the staff members that are -? Tisdale: Yes, ma'am it is. COMPASS has put in $500,000 and ITD has also put in $500,000. Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting January 25, 2005 Page6of9 Donnell: Additional from -? Tisdale: No, that's what makes up the million. Donnell: Okay, thank you. Tisdale: And ITD is focused on the rural counties and COMPASS staff isn't going out and doing outreach into those - the ITD staff is doing that portion. Wardle: Council, any other questions? Donnell: I have none. Wardle: Thank you very much Toni and we will spread the word that public involvement is important in this process. Tisdale: Thank you. I hope to see you on February 2nd or 3m. De Weerd: I have already RSVP'd. Item 4. Quarterly Finance Report by Stacy Kilchenmann: Kilchenmann: Good evening. We are going to be discussing the 12-31-04 financial statements, our first quarterly financial statements. I am just going to kind of do a summary over everything. I am not going to go through each individual page. The first thing that I wanted to call your attention to are investments. At the end of December the city had $65 million in cash and investments and it's interesting to note that $3 million or five percent of that balance is in cash and checking. It takes us about three - at a very extreme if we completed a huge project to $5 million a month to operate, so we are kind of reaching our goal of minimizing the balance we have in cash and maximizing the balance we have in investments. Last year, just for comparison, at the end of December we had $54.7 million in our cash and investments and 10 percent of that balance was in cash, so we are moving in the direction that we want to go. One really exciting opportunity we have had is to move funds into the Idaho Bond Account, which late this summer was open to the cities and that it has a high rate and very minimal fees. They just charge us - we split the fee among all the different agencies and cities and it's really low. I mean it's like maybe $3 to $800 a month. We look at a two year commitment to get the highest return on those funds, but that is why we are really starting to focus a lot on cash forecasting and the long term capital improvement funds so we can just squeeze every sent we can out of our investment balance. If you look at the interest rate graph, you can see that rates are slowly inching up. Most of the increase so far has occurred in those reat liquid short-term funds where the interest rate is only around two percent. So, those move faster than of course the longer term interest rates do, but hopefully in the position that the city is in with the high investment, low Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting January 25, 2005 Page7of9 borrowing position we want interest rates to move up. So, that is a good thing. Then if we look on the revenue side, special services if we look at them, P&Z is probably just slightly under right at budget revenue wise. The Building Department of course on the other hand is 60 percent increase over where they were last year. (lnaudible--) huge increase over the budget. So, last year at this time, they had $700,000 in revenue and this year they are already at the end of December at $1.2 million. It's interesting that the revenues have increased 60 percent, but the expenses have only increased 53 percent, so we are staying a little bit ahead of the curve there, which means more money for our capital improvement fund. The enterprise fund, the assessments are way above budget, 60 percent above budget. The utilities sale side, the water, the dollar amount is 12 percent over this same time last year. We had 2,500more accounts at the end of December than we had at the end of December last year. Sewer is up 22 percent over the same time last year with 2,400 more accounts compared to the prior period. So, you can see there is quite a bit of growth there. The general fund going along with all the growth and building and building permit fees and so forth. Park impact fees at this time last year were 255,000. This year we are at 480,000. The rest of the general fund revenue, the property tax, the revenue sharing and the franchise fees are not going to be reflected in these statements because they come in - we just got property tax and they kind of come in between now and the next couple of months. So, the next quarter we will have a better picture of the general fund revenue. On the expense side, the enterprise fund OE and PC are operating (inaudible) personnel costs are below budget. Capital is still just - we spent just a fraction of the budget. General fund, everybody is (inaudible) below budget, but one of the reasons. is everyone, enterprise, general fund are experiencing salary savings due to new positions that were budgeted that haven't been filled yet. The next thing that I want to talk about is the budget amendment. We have a few items that we have added. That's on page 18. First item we have some drug seizure receipts for $12,531 so we will need to amend revenue and then amend the expense side so they spend that. Then we have a group of accounts where basically what we are doing is we are taking the contract of legal expense thafs in contract professional services and moving them into a budget for HR and for the attorney's office. So we are just taking that money out of operating and moving it into capital outlay in personnel. So, that's what the item number 5 is. Item number six, as you remember at the last summer you appropriated - well, we did a budget amendment to appropriate some money for Parks to repair the doors at Tully Park and they just did that - paid for that last month and they didn't have the money in a carry forward so the money got absorbed back into the appropriated balance. So, we need to go back in and re-appropriate that again. Are there any questions on those amendment items? I just wanted to give you kind of a quick summary on the Finance Department. On the accounting side, we are busy. I can talk about the auditor, I cannot talk about the auditor. We'll talk about that next week. We are looking at a lot more payables of course as the city grows, more contracts, more agreements, we are kind of - our long range planning is - plus we have the budget coming up - that's coming right up in the revenue Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting January 25,2005 Page8of9 projection. So we are working right now - some of our big projects we are working on right now is we are working on a 20-year capital improvement plan, which is a big job. We are looking long term, payroll is increasing, and we are looking at contracting out payroll and automating time cards. We eventually would like to integrate the department purchase order system, so they are not all operating on one system and it's all one system. For IT staff we hired - we doubled our staff. We hired our second person. His name is Mark Messenger and he is very good. We got lucky with him. The big project that we are looking at right now is the RFP that has gone out for the Wide Area Network so that will enable a lot of the departments have big wish lists and able to do once we can file share with the Wide Area Network. Utility billing, obviously as I went over, the accounts are increasing rapidly. Besides just the number of accounts, we have the title company request for payoff. Those are just astronomical. Those come in off that fax machine all day long and the third party directive are another real labor intensive, a lot of transactions. So, the current project that with Ted's help we are just completing is the lockbox contract with a company called BDS, that's in Caldwell. We finally are ready for the final signatures and to bring that contract in front of you. Hopefully, next week after we find out whom our new liaison is and check with that person. Then we can start the testing phase. So, the other item we do have pretty much the final audit and we will talk about the management disclosure analysis next week, which is very good. I think it will be good news for the city. Our net asset position has increased and it just looks good. Are there any questions? Oh, one more thing. I put a new policy - it's a draft of our grant policy - we are not going to discuss it, but rather than email it to you, I just gave it to you tonight and we will get that on the agenda. Okay, now are there any questions? Wardle: Mr. Bird. Bird: Yes, Stacy, very, very good report. I spent time over it today at home and as usual very, very good report. I am looking forward to the final audit for the taxpayer. Let me explain that for you guys that didn't know. Stacy and I had a little chat this morning over the audit. Back in 1998 when I came on board here, we hadn't had an audit in the City of Meridian since 1991 that had been approved. So, with our Council President who at that time was Mr. Rountree, we set a time limit of being January 2d" for our audits to come out every year - it's only prudent to do that for taxpayer's dollars and somebody in our auditing - not our people, but our auditor that we hire got the date screwed up this year and that's the reason it wasn't (inaudible) by the January 20th date, so it wasn't anything to do with our staff. Our staff does a great job and we appreciate the work that they do turn out. There is five of them in there and they run a very large business and have to watch out for all of us and make sure that we all do it right and I appreciate the work that Stacy and you guys do and I understand - the audit, we did set that for a reason. De Weerd: Mr. President. Meridian City Pre-Council Meeting January 25,2005 Page 9 019 Wardle: Madame Mayor. De Weerd: I guess the 20th is set in stone - and as we continue to grow and GATS BY requirements become a lot more time intensive for the audit team, we might want to at least consider moving that to an end date of the end of January. I don't know - I am sure there was great wisdom behind choosing the 20th, but maybe the end of January might buy a little bit more time to make sure that all the " 's" are dotted and "t's' crossed. Bird: Madame Mayor, I think the 20th come up - if I remember right, Mr. Rountree, I think it was the auditors that gave us this - so they are the one. Not our people. Rountree: Madame Mayor, if I might, that just explains the importance of historians. De Weerd: Well, if you can't answer a question why then there probably wasn't a darn good reason to begin with. Wardle: I think that will be a great discussion for next week in the audit report to talk about. Council, is there anything else from Stacy? Thank you very much Stacy. Very well compiled work and we appreciate it. That brings us to the end of our agenda. So, I would entertain a motion to adjourn. Bird: So moved. Donnell: Second. Wardle: All in favor? ALL AYES. MOTION CARRIED. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:58 P.M. (TAPE ON FILE OF THESE PROCEEDINGS) APPROVED: