Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-08-1993 Adopted CC MinutesREGULAR MEETING - February 8, 1993 A regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Dublin was held on Monday, February 8, 1993, in the Council Chambers of the Dublin Civic Center. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m., by Mayor Snyder. * * * ROLL CALL PRESENT: ABSENT: Councilmembers Burton, Houston, Howard, Moffatt and Mayor Snyder. None. * * * PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE (610-20) Mayor Snyder led the Council, Staff and those present in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. * * * INTRODUCTION OF NEW EMPLOYEE (700-10) Police Chief Rose introduced Alameda County Deputy Sheriff John Freeman, who is new to the Dublin Police Services. John has been with the department 12 years and has worked in 3 major divisions. He has 4 years of college, is married and has 3 children. Deputy Freeman stated it is the highlight of his career to be able to work in Dublin. * * * CONSENT CALENDAR On motion of Cm. Moffatt, seconded by Cm. Burton, and by unanimous vote, the Council took the following actions: Approved Minutes of Adjourned Regular Meeting of January 21, 1993 and Regular Meeting of January 25, 1993; Adopted RESOLUTION NO. 23 - 93. ACCEPTING IMPROVEMENTS IN TRACT 5616 (BRIGHTON MEADOWS 600-60) Approved the completion and submittal of the RTC Notice of Interest form to permit the placement of the City of Dublin on the RTC's notification list (430-80); Authorized an additional appropriation of $23,78'1 to the Arroyo Vista Playground Equipment project with regard to the CDBG FY 1992-93 program (480-20); CM - VOL 12 - 54 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 Approved Warrant Register in the amount of $177,891.83 (300-40). Cm. Houston asked that the Police Services Report be pulled from the Consent Calendar for discussion. He noticed that some of the crimes were up and asked Chief Rose to address this. Chief Rose advised that Part I crimes are up 12%. The report just showed a comparison with 1991-92. In 1988-89 they were up 17% and then the next year they went down. He couldn't say they are up for~ any specific reasons. The numbers are so small that any change makes a big difference. The specific crimes are across the board. Cm. Houston stated he noticed that citations were down and questioned if this was because the officers time are devoted to other more serious things. Chief Rose pointed out that calls for service were up 12%. This involves a lot of time and would mean that something else has to give. Arrests also went up. Cm. Burton congratulated the Police force for only having 1 industrial leave. They also drove many miles without an accident and this is good. On motion of Cm. Houston, seconded by Cm. Burton, and by unanimous vote, the coUncil received the 1992 Police Services calendar year report (580-60). PUBLIC HEARING NO PARKING ZONE CHANGE ON DUBLIN BOULEVARD NEAR BIG-O TIRES (570-20) Mayor Snyder opened the public hearing. Public Works Director Thompson advised that the City's Traffic Code currently contains a 'No Parking Except Saturday' zone on Dublin Boulevard just east of Village Parkway near the Big-O Tire Store property and in front of DSRSD's new office building property. This area lies within the bounds of the Dublin Boulevard widening project and once this project is constructed, vehicles will not be able to park in this area. Staff has observed that Saturday parking is rarely used except by patrons of a pay telephone, which is located on private property near the property line between Big-O and DSRSD. Eliminating the on-street Saturday parking should not have much, if any, effect on phone use. Cm. Moffatt questioned if people will be able to use the DSRSD parking lot to use the telephone that is there. Mr. Thompson stated as a mitigating factor, Staff is arranging with Pacific Bell for installation of a new pay phone near the west end of the Dublin Sports Grounds parking lot. He suspected that people using the existing telephone already park in one of the two lots. · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 No members of the public gave testimony relative to this issue. Mayor Snyder closed the public hearing. On motion of Cm. Burton, seconded by Cm. Moffatt, and by unanimous vote, the Council adopted RESOLUTION NO. 24 - 93 REPEALING "NO PARKING EXCEPT SATURDAY" ZONE AND ESTABLISHING "NO PARKING AT ANY TIME" ZONE ON DUBLIN BOULEVARD EASTERLY OF VILLAGE PARKWAY HERITAGE CENTER ACQUISITION (670-20 & 600-30) Recreation Director Lowart presented the Staff Report. In accordance with a high priority goal established by the City Council, Staff had pursued the development of purchase agreements with Dublin Cemetery, Inc., and the Amador Livermore Valley Historical Society to acquire the cemetery and old St. Raymond's Church. Ms. Lowart advised that in order to determine the presence of hazardous and/or toxic materials, it is necessary to have an environmental site assessment performed by a Registered Civil Engineer. Staff prepared an RFP and 4 firms responded. After reviewing the proposals, Staff determined that BSK & Associates was best qualified to perform the work. The fee for the preliminary site assessment is $4,200. In the event that soil and/or groundwater samples are warranted, the work will be computed on a time and material basis. If the cost for these additional services exceeds 25% of the original contract amount, City Council approval will be required. Because the acquisition of the Dublin Cemetery and the Old St. Raymond's Church is being funded by a grant through the Regional Wildlife, Open Space, Shoreline and Parks Bond - Local Grant Program administered by the East Bay RegiOnal Park District, the City must submit Preliminary Title Reports, Appraisals and Purchase Agreements to EBRPD for approval prior to the opening of escrow. Ms. Lowart advised that the Dublin Historical Preservation Association has signed a statement donating the Schoolhouse to the City of Dublin. They have, however, expressed a desire to enter into a lease with the City so that they can continue to operate the museum and utilize the building for storage and activities. Because the renovation of the Schoolhouse is being funded through the EBRPD grant, however, it may not be possible to enter into a lease at this time. If the Council wishes to consider a lease, Staff will need to pursue the matter further with EBRPD. Ms. Lowart stated it was hoped that escrow would close by March 30th. CM - VOL 12 - 56 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 Cm. Burton questioned if the Council gave direction to proceed if there was anything other than the soil testing and getting approval from EBRPD that would hold things up, if they don't include the lease. Ms. Lowart stated the only other thing they may be looking for would be an appraisal of the property for the cemetery since we are only purchasing it for $1. We will be requesting that they waive the appraisal for that piece of property. Cm. Moffatt questioned if whether or not the DHPA is a non-profit corporation would enter into this discussion. He believes this is a voluntary organization that we would like to have continue to support the activities at the museum. Ms. Lowart stated the donation is contingent upon entering into some discussions regarding a lease at a later date. The actions are pretty cut and dry. The next step would be the renovation and we would not be able to move forward on renovation of the schoolhouse until we get approval from the EBRPD. Cm. Burton felt we should not project the lease into the picture at this time. Ms. Lowart suggested that the Council go forward with approval of Exhibits 1, 2 and 3 and then go back to the DHPA and see if they will still donate it without a lease at this time. Cm. Burton stated the way he read it, they are saying it is not contingent at this time on having a lease. It is not a condition of the gift. City Attorney Silver stated one of the attachments indicates that the DHPA will donate the schoolhouse and the City Council needs to accept it. It appears that they are still in favor of donating it but would like to discuss the lease with the City. City Manager Ambrose stated it should be made clear to the DHPA that there is not a certainty that the City will lease it back to them. Cm. Burton stated they just want to have something to do with the operation of it. Mr. Ambrose felt the question is do they feel strongly enough about this. Cm. Burton felt that the City should purchase it all and then talk about how to run it. Ms. Lowart suggested that Staff notify the DHPA of the action and then if they come back and say they want to discuss it before it goes forward, Staff would come back to the Council for direction. Cm. Moffatt stated he felt their direction seems clear from reading the minutes. CM - VOL 12 - 57 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 Cm. Burton clarified that the City is accepting the buildings with no strings attached. Steve Lockhart commented that the City Council is going in the right direction. Mayor Snyder felt it should be pointed out that this will cost the City money on an ongoing basis in the future. On motion of Cm. Moffatt, seconded by Cm. Houston, and by unanimous vote, the Council approved the agreements and authorized the Mayor to execute same. STATE BUDGET IMPACT ON CITY'S 1993-94 BUDGET (330-20) City Manager Ambrose advised that a report had been prepared as a result of Governor Wilson's anticipated and proposed State Budget for Fiscal Year 1993-94. The City of Dublin may be faced with a budget shortfall in FY 1993-94 in excess of $1 million. To prepare for the possibility of this shortfall, Mr. Ambrose stated the City has three fundamental alternatives or combination of alternatives which it can pursue. These include: 1) Reduce Operating Costs/Services; 2) Increase Revenues; 3) Utilize General Fund Reserves. Mr. Ambrose stated that given the state of the National, State and local economy and the fact that the cities are last in the governmental pecking order, the City should anticipate that its ability to finance municipal services will continually be eroded unless it takes a proactive posture in determining which services it will provide, resists further State intrusion into local government issues/finances, and develops revenue sources which are tamperproof. Mr. Ambrose summarized that Staff was requesting policy input from the City Council in order to prepare the 1993-94 Preliminary Budget. In the event that service reductions are implemented, this will provide employees with longer lead time to seek other employment. A "Budget Decision Making Worksheet" was provided to each member of the City Council. Mayor Snyder pointed out that a Goals & Objectives meeting is scheduled for February 17th, but it may be necessary to hold this meeting sometime in March instead. At this time, the Council is trying to determine what will be best for the community. He personally felt that what comes down from the State will be even worse than what is projected at this time. Cm. Burton commented that all the fun is being taken out of being a Councilmember. He was concerned about the morale of Staff. He was hoping that the Governor's Budget would go the other direction and instead of them taking more ~money from us they would take less. · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · I · · · · · · CM - VOL 12 - 58 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 Mr. Ambrose stated since 1978, property tax money has not been our money. The authority for deciding who gets what was turned over to the State. Property tax revenues is not paying for anywhere near the services which the City provides. The special ½¢ sales tax is supposed to end this year. If cities are successful in keeping this in place, this would soften the blow. It would not eliminate it, but it would be softened. This would put us only about $400,000 in the hole. Cm. Burton asked if we were working on this. Mr. Ambrose advised that the League of California Cities is certainly proceeding with this. Cm. Burton discussed the possibility of breaking up the reserve funds to each account. He asked if it could be put into a specialized fund and then drawn out. Mr. Ambrose responded that it depends on the fund. We could call our entire reserve an insurance fund. Cm. Burton stated he was Concerned about whether it would get locked away. He was more inclined to cut costs and reduce services and opposed to trying to do something tricky. From the standpoint of the public, if they don't feel it, it will be hard to convince them. Cm. Houston stated with regard to specialized funds, he felt the way we are doing it is the best way. He asked if there were some prudent funds such as insurance or workers' compensation that other cities have and we don't that we should budget for. Mr. Ambrose stated Staff could look at this. Because we have such a small number of City employees, we have first dollar workers' compensation insurance. Some cities self-insure. We are partially self-insured for DRFA. Cm. Burton stated if it were necessary to reduce costs/services, this would mean 4 or 5 people from the General Government area. He would prefer to leave public safety open as he did not know the contract requirements and when they expire. Mr. Ambrose stated the Council could make adjustments either up or down. We tell them the contract we want. Cm. Burton stated $98,000 could be cut from Transportation, $556,000 from Culture & Leisure Services (library and parks) and $175,000 from Community Development. He favored a modified across the board cut. Cm. Burton made a motion, which was seconded by Cm. Houston to take the total amount from Cost/Service Reductions. Cm. Burton then agreed rather than the total amount it could be a majority of the reductions. In discussing revenues, Cm. Burton felt the City does a lot of things that people don't know the value of. We should start charging for CM - VOL 12 - 59 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 services and programs so they have the option of either paying to participate, or not having them. The Council discussed looking at increasing some revenues. A Fire Service fee should be reviewed. This would be an assessment. Cm. Moffatt questioned if this would have to go t© a vote. Mr. Ambrose stated different options were presented to the Council in November. The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection.District and Contra Costa County are in the process of going through a public review of such a fee. This would be an across the board assessment. Also, this community has been paying more for ambulance service. Reference was made to a contract that was entered into by DSRSD for ambulance service prior to the DRFA JPA being formed by Dublin and San Ramon. The agreement basically penalizes Dublin residents. Cm. Burton questioned why it had gone on for this long. Mr. Ambrose stated it is a multi-jurisdictional issue. prime contractor. Presently we have 2 ambulance units. available to respond to fires. We are not the They are also Ms. Silver stated an assessment can be levied for fire suppression services. If there is a protest of 5% then it has to go to an election. The City can levy an assessment in accordance with provisions in the Government Code. Either the City Council or the DRFA Board can enact this. Cm. Moffatt asked if it would require a 2/3 vote, or just a majority. Ms. Silver stated she would have to check on this, but she thought it would be a majority. Cm. Houston clarified that if 5% of the people don't complain then we can enact it. He strongly opposed this. He was not in favor of any amount of assessments without going to a vote of the people. Cm. Burton Stated he agreed in principle. Ail Councilmembers agreed that Staff should be looking at ways to increase revenue. Cm. Moffatt felt that qualified use of reserves would be appropriate in a restricted way. Use it to better the cash flow of the city's revenues. Cm. Houston stated he had prepared an argument for using reserves to pay the debt on the Civic Center. We owe $1.7 million and income on reserves is currently about $800,000, or a little less. In his business, this would be considered a negative cashflow. We can't pay off the bond without penalty until 1999. We should budget reserves and put them away in a 6 year instrument to pay off the debt in 1999. Downroad, the cashflow for the City will see a dramatic increase. He CM - VOL 12 - 60 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 felt this was worthy of some strong consideration. Future City Councils would then not have this problem. Cm. Burton stated he agreed. Mr. Ambrose stated he also agreed, but there are some things Cm. Houston is not aware of. This is more of a long term item. Cm. Houston stated he felt the $15 million investment amount is an inflated figure. Mr. Ambrose stated what he was hearing was, "do not use reserves to address any part of this years' shortfall". Cm. Moffatt stated he Would not be opposed to using a portion of it, say 25%, if we get into a bind. Cm. Houston felt if we have to use some reserves for infrastructure or road repair, this would be a wise use. We can't~ let the roads go. We can't be penny wise and pound poor. Cm. Moffatt stated if Dublin stays static, we have to use these figures. However, he felt we are developing a little and the numbers are going to get bigger. Cm. Burton stated if we pay off the debt, we.will only have about $3.5 million to play with. Mayor Snyder pointed out that we are only looking for next years' budget and we have gas tax funds for street maintenance. Mr. Ambrose stated gas tax dollars do not cover the total cost of maintaining our streets. Four members of the Council said no to short term use of reserves. With regard to revenue, Cm. Moffatt stated he would not be opposed to using office space in the Civic Center on a rental basis. We could put this on to future income. He envisioned some type of a rebate in the rent for tenant improvements. They would pay up front and then it could be amortized. Cm. Houston clarified that if they put in the improvements then we would reduce the rent. With regard to an assessment district for library services, he felt this would have to be by a vote of the people. This would be $165,000. Mayor Snyder stated the extra hours of library service was a gift to the people by the City. Cm. Houston stated if we cut it, we should give people a choice. Mayor Snyder stated this is one of the hard decisions that the City Council is here for. The library situation is not a tax. · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · CM - VOL lZ - 61 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 Cm. Burton stated with parks, we shoUld make it known that we don't have the money to keep them the way they are. People should be given a chance to say if they want to pay to keep them. Mr. Ambrose stated there may be other alternatives for the Council to look at, such as a Citywide assessment district. Cm. Houston stated he had no problem with having people pay for services, but he did have a problem with adding taxes. Cm. Burton stated 4 easily identifiable services that could be put to the people would be parks, library, police and fire services. Either services will be cut or an assessment would be required for it to stay at the same level. He questioned if the State could get to assessment district funding. Mr. Ambrose stated he did not think so. Cm. Moffatt stated he felt we should try to get the revenue up as much as we can. He was interested in reviewing all the things on the list. Some are short and some are long term. Costs versus revenues of the recreation classes were discussed. Cm. Burton stated what it boils down to is that we have to find $1 million. Cm. Houston stated he felt the list prepared in November was a good place to start, keeping in mind that no item is too small. A majority of the Council agreed to use a modified across the board cut with some level of enhanced revenue. Cm. Burton made a motion, which was seconded by Cm. Houston to take the full amount from Cost/Service Reductions, not modified across the board cuts. Cm. Houston later withdrew his second to this motion. Mayor Snyder felt we should go 50/50, because the community needs to understand that services need to be paid for. On motion of Cm. Houston, seconded by Cm. Moffatt, and by majority vote, the Council agreed to a 50/50 split between Cost/Service Reductions and Increase Revenues in order to see what possibilities exist. Cm. Burton voted against this motion. Staff was directed to look at all the revenue category areas on the worksheet, which included: Fees for Service; Policy Changes; Assessments; Use of City Assets; Taxes; Collection Service; and New Enterprise Activity. The Council did a page-by-page review of Exhibit E and identified the following potential cuts: 1010-City Council cut $7,500 (Dublin Pride Week-S2,500, Dublin Substance Abuse Program-S4,500, & St. Patrick's Day Event-S500); CM - VOL 12 - 62 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 1020-City Manager/Clerk cut $3,550 (City Newsletter); 2020-School Crossing Guards cut $35,346 (this should be the school's responsibility); 2030-Animal Control cut $26,230 (eliminate pro-active service); 2060-Fire Service cut $2,055 (fire employee recognition); 3020-Street Maintenance cut $35,697 (10% reduction across the board); 3040-Street Tree Maintenance cut $14,650 (tree brush cutting/privately owned trees in City right-of-way) and cut $2,190 (10% of remaining 3 items); 3050-Street Landscape Maintenance cut $3,700 (San Ramon Road Banner - if people want to place banners there, they will have to pay the entire cost) and cut $7,943 (10% from leaf clean-up, paver stone maintenance, landscape turf maintenance, bedding maintenance/weeding, and traffic control for events); 3060-Paratransit Service cut $1,500; 8012-Heritage Center cut $20,855 (1/2 of the amount as we will be counting on use of volunteers); 8020-Park Maintenance cut $35,600 (park fountain maintenance - although there may be costs to mothball the pumps), and cut $4,312 (10% of remaining park maintenance services); 8030-Community Cable Television cut $40,000 (from CTV contribution); 8040-Recreation Administration (negotiate with School District to recover costs for school facility scheduling); 8090-Leisure Enrichment (look at increasing City's percentage on classes); 8100-Aquatics (look at increasing revenue on specialty aquatics programs); cut $5,025 (pool rentals); 9030-Engineering cut $16,000 (50% of traffic studies requested by City Council/citizens) . The Council then reviewed the Exhibit D list. Cm. Houston felt we should keep police and fire budgets because the primary function of government is to keep the people safe. We should maintain the leVel of service in public safety and look at all other departments for the necessary quarter million dollars to cut. He felt that culture and leisure services are secondary to some of the other services we need to provide. Library and aquatics services represent over $300,000. · · · · [] · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · CM - VOL 12 - 63 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993 Cm. Burton suggested that the Council let the City Manager see what he can do within the parameters given. OTHER BUSINESS Goals & Objectives (100-80) The City Council rescheduled the Goals & Objectives Study Session meeting to Tuesday, March 23, 1993, 7:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers. CTV Channel 30 Event (1050-50) Darla Stevens with CTV 30 advised that the City Council is invited to attend a live call-in show being produced on Tuesday, March 2, 1993 at their studio in Pleasanton at 4750 First Street (@ Bernal Avenue). The city Council indicated they would participate and MaYor Snyder stated the City Clerk should prepare a notice adVising the public of this meeting. CLOSED SESSION At 11:20 p.m., the Council recessed to a closed executive session to discuss Potential Litigation (640-30), in accordance with Government Code section 54956.9(c). * * * ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 11:35 p.m. May6r ~ ATTEST: -~ ~ ~ ' ~ity Clerk · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · CM - VOL' 12 - 64 Regular Meeting February 8, 1993