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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 2011-03-03 - Special Meeting 29 City Council, Special Meeting Council Chambers 777 Cypress Avenue Redding, California March 3, 2011 3:00 p.m. The meeting was called to order by Mayor McArthur with the following Council Members present: Bosetti, Dickerson, Jones, and Sullivan. I Also present were City Manager Starman, City Attorney Duvernay, Assistant City Manager Tippin, Public Works Director Crane, Development Services Director Hamilton, City Clerk Mize, and Executive Assistant Grimm. Priority Proiect Setting Workshop and possible determination of City Priorities [B-130-070/^A-050-060] City Manager Starman summarized the following goals of the Priority Setting Workshop: 1) Purpose ofthe workshop; 2) Review the City's Vision Statement and Mission Statement; 3) Review the City's current financial position; 4) Review current projects and priorities; 5) Introduce potential themes for the upcoming two-year budget period; 6) Determine City Council's project priorities for the next biennial budget period; and 7) Discuss additional projects/priorities from the City Council and the community. Purpose of the Workshop [B-130-070/ A-050-060] City Manager Starman acknowledged that the tone and focus of the workshop would be different than a regular Council meeting and outlined the topics to be addressed, as detailed on the agenda, incorporated herein by reference. Mr. Starman recalled that priority setting workshops are held every other year as the Council and staff prepare for the biennial budget process. He stated that the main purpose of the workshop was to discuss projects and priorities for fiscal years 2011-12 and 2012-13, and to receive direction from Council relative to budget development. I Vision Statement and Mission Statement [B-130-070/ A-050-060] City Manager Starman affirmed the City's Mission and Vision Statements, to provide context for the meeting discussion, and invited Council's assessment and suggestions. Mayor McArthur noted that Council was satisfied with the current Statements. I Current Financial Position [B-130-070/ A -050-060] City Manager Starman observed that a mid-year budget review was performed and reported to Council on February 15, 2011, and that adjustments were made to ensure the General Fund reserve remains at or above five percent, per Council's mandate. He pointed out that Council was already very familiar with the City's current financial position and cited rising health care premiums and CalPERS rates, state budget impacts, and three years of continuous stafflbudget reductions in the face of declining revenues as challenges staffis struggling with as departments prepare budget recommendations. Mr. Starman opined that the current economy is fairly stagnant and, although he did not expect any further dramatic reductions in revenues, he noted significant upward pressures from the aforementioned areas and anticipated a difficult budget process. Mr. Starman addressed potential impacts if Governor Brown's proposals relative to a $26 billion state deficit go through, specifically those seeking to eliminate booking fee funding, COPS grants, library funding, and disbanding redevelopment agencies across the state, for an approximate aggregate total of $660,000, which would have to be absorbed by the City's budget. He restated that due to the financial outlook, new projects will not be introduced. Current Proiects and Priorities [B-130-070/^ A-050-060] City Manager Starman advised that city staff is extremely busy, in spite of recessionary impacts, and has an ambitious capital project program totaling $60 million in 2011 for items listed on Attachment B, incorporated herein by reference. Updates were given on the Oasis Road Interchange project, a new police facility, the Redding Municipal Airport Expansion project, and the Stillwater Business Park. 03/03/2011 30 . Oasis Road Interchange Project [B-130-070/^G-030-110] Public Works Director Crane provided a PowerPoint presentation, incorporated herein by reference, that detailed progress made on Phase 1 ofthis project, which included obtaining American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, coordination of a Developer/ Caltrans/Citypartnership, construction of a southbound loop on-ramp and signals, relocation ofthe southbound off-ramp, and installation of soil-nail retaining walls. Mr. Crane stated that the ramp was 75 percent complete and anticipated completion by early Mayor June, weather dependent. He also outlined the "next steps" of the project, which include ongoing traffic monitoring and analysis in early August 2011, determination of remaining capacity within the interchange, and defining the scope of the next interchange along with funding sources. Mr. Crane remarked that actual traffic counts are expected to be much lower than 2005 projections. I Police Facility [B-130-070/^ A-050-270] City Manager Starman relayed that Redding Redevelopment Agency (RRA) Board is scheduled to meet to consider a letter of intent with Castco relative to a police facility project. Mr. Starman recollected that a new police facility is a very high Council priority that has been subjected to an extensive consideration process over many years that included potential site selection, construction of a new facility, retrofitting an existing building, an RFP process, and review by a citizen's committee. He stated that progress had stalled due to a lack of available funding, exacerbated by a poor economy. Mr. Starman reported that Costco maintains continued interest in a new store in Redding, is working in earnest to move forward with plans they have had for several years, and has obtained a letter of intent with Levenson Development relative to a site in the Oasis Road Interchange area. He advised that the RRA had sufficient funds and could acquire the old Costco building on Chum Creek Road prior to June 30,2011. Mr. Starman acknowledged that retrofit funding sources would remain a unresolved challenge. Redding Municipal Airport Expansion [B-130-070/^A-090-100] Support Services Director Kersten provided a PowerPoint presentation, incorporated herein by reference, depicting changes to the ticket counter and screening/passenger/baggage areas on the first floor and office/conference/storage space and a partial restaurant remodel on the second floor of the Redding Municipal Airport. Mr. Kersten noted that 90 percent of funding for the $6 million/8,000 square foot addition and remodeling project will be provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He relayed plans to begin advertising in April or May 2011, with the intent to award a contract in summer 2011, and anticipated that construction may take up to 24 months. I Mr. Kersten and Airports Manager Dinger responded to questions from Council Members relative to design, traffic flow, restaurant debt obligation, and glass separation issues on the building facade. City Manager Starman augmented with additional project updates relative to runway safety improvements at Benton Airpark and early stage planning for construction of a third runway at Redding Municipal Airport, largely due to impacts on FAA thresholds by air traffic generated from significant growth of the IASCO flight training academy. Stillwater Business Park [B-130-070/^E-050-500] City Manager Starman recollected that Southern Aluminum Finishing (SAF) had recently selected Redding as the site for a new manufacturing facility in the Stillwater Business Park (SBP), that staff is working with them on their site improvement plans, and that they had hired a local general contractor that will construct their new facility. Mr. Starman also noted that Southwest Paper continues to consider SBP for a new plant, although he did not anticipate any near-term activity. I Public Works Director Crane provided a PowerPoint overview highlighting the completion of Phase 1A park construction and the scope, cost and schedule for the Phase 1B Project, incorporated herein by reference. Mr. Crane relayed details regarding the Phase I B proj ect that will provide secondary access to the park and includes a two-mile access road (including a 441 foot long/three-span bridge over Stillwater Creek) that ties the park into Fig Tree Lane on the south end. The project also provides improvements to the park entrance, which 03/03/2011 31 includes widening of Rancho Road, and extending distribution gas to the park. He offered an early estimate of$6,940,000 for project costs, which would be funded equally by federal Economic Development Agency grant and city bond resources. Mr. Crane submitted a project schedule beginning with advertising in April 2011 and ending construction in May 2012. John Dixon questioned the suitability of Southwest Paper as a tenant of Stillwater Business Park. Mr. Starman emphasized that all projects would be subject to the standard building permit process and be thoroughly examined and analyzed. I Olney Creek [B-130-070/^F-200-090] Mr. Starman, Mr. Crane, and Development Services Director Hamilton responded to Council Member Bosetti with updates on Olney Creek Levee and FEMA's flood plain remapping. Mr. Crane relayed efforts to find funding sources to replace the Sacramento Drive bridge, including the federal bridge replacement program. He explained that Caltrans does biennial inspections to determine the sufficiency ratings that qualify bridges for replacement funding. At the City's request, Caltrans re-assessed the Sacramento Drive bridge and assigned a 74 percent sufficiency rating, which qualifies it for rehabilitation funding. Mr. Crane stated that he would be submitting additional data to CalTrans, i.e. traffic increases, and was hoping for a determination that bridge replacement would be more cost-effective than rehabilitation; if achieved, this determination would qualify the project for federal highway bridge funding. He noted that Caltrans had agreed to fund the preliminary engineering study and steps had been taken to get the project into the federal transportation improvement program. Mr. Crane responded that, although improvements to the bridge would help, they would not resolve all impacts on the homeowners in the area that had been affected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood plain remapping action. I Mr. Starman reiterated that bridge improvements would contract the flood plain area but would not fully mitigate or eliminate issues because the structural soundness ofthe levee was still unaddressed. Vice Mayor Dickerson noted that Mayor McArthur had recused herself due to property ownership in the area under discussion. Development Services Director Hamilton informed Council that the state has not released Prop 84 grant funding, as expected, and reiterated that the City has no direct funding source to complete work on the levee. He relayed that the state would be in Redding, accepting local comment relative to the grant funding program, on March 8, 2011, and he expected final guidelines to be released in April. He stated that proposed guidelines allow up to $5 million for critical levee repair on individual projects, as well as allowing monies expended prior to grant approval for preliminary engineering studies, etc., to be included in the grant application. Mr. Hamilton noted that the proposed guidelines were significantly better and broadened the scope of allowable work on levees from repair only to include other modifications, i.e. extension of an existing levee. He expected to submit grant applications in late spring 2011. I Shasta View Roundabout [B-130-070/^S-070-1 00- 700] Responding to Council Member Bosetti, Mr. Crane advised that a bid opening for the Shasta View Roundabout project had just occurred. He reported that utility relocation is a little behind and that road construction may not begin as soon as planned due to weather constraints, but he anticipated the project would be completed in time for school openings in mid-August. Potential Themes for the New Biennial Budget [B-130-070/^A-050-060] City Manager Starman relayed results of the senior staff leadership team workday in November 20 1 0 and summarized five of seven key strategic areas they identified, noting they were not mutually exclusive. He requested direction from Council relative to: (1) Economi~ development and job creation; (2) Long-range planning; (3) Core services; (4) Quality of life; and (5) Connecting with the community. Mr. Starman summarized the written information attached to the meeting agenda, incorporated herein by reference. 03/03/2011 32 Economic Development and Job Creation [B-130-070/^E-050] Mr. Starman cited a 16 percent unemployment rate in Shasta County and recognized the national scope of unemployed and underemployed people. He acknowledged the efficiency of a regional approach and the collaborative relationships the City has with several community stakeholders, as listed in the aforementioned documentation. He observed that the City benefits, regardless of where jobs are created, because Redding is the shopping hub of the county. Mr. Starman postulated that filling the vacant Economic Development Director position at some point in the future could enhance the City's ability to pro actively participate in this vital area. Council Member Bosetti cited a business-unfriendly state culture and California's restrictive environmental regulations as obstacles to economic development. He supported local measures, e. g., development design and fee structures, that the City has taken to mitigate negative conditions and encourage large-scale/job-producing companies to locate to Redding. Mr. Starman affirmed the challenges presented by the state's reputation and offered local benefits such as locally-owned public power, a robust labor pool, and west-coast logistical needs of potential companies as marketable amenities of the City. I Council Member Dickerson contended that the state's reputation is motivation to try harder to create and provide a business-friendly climate in the north state, and acknowledged and encouraged all those making effort in that arena to continue to pursue the goal and overcome the difficulties. Mr. Starman called the Council's attention to existing economic development policies and celebrated the City's nimble ability to customize incentives that can attract companies like Southern Aluminum Finishing, Blue Shield, and Captive Air to Redding. He recommended reviewing the City's current position to ensure competitive, attractive, and mutually beneficial policies and incentives. Mr. Starman noted that the contract for marketing the Stillwater Business Park would be expiring soon, which creates an opportunity to examine and assess current partners, past performance, and future efforts. I He emphasized the importance of encouraging the retention/expansion of existing businesses and suggested a renewed focus on this element and its ability to create jobs and stimulate the local economy. Noting the importance of the sales tax that funds public safety and all other General Fund service/support departme~ts, Mr. Starman remarked that continued action was necessary to partner with community groups that promote and encourage local retail activity. Additionally, he described the Oasis Road/Interstate 5 interchange as a major retail hub that is expected to generate revenue to the City and advised that continued effort would be required to complete full build-out in the area. Mr. Starman concluded by mentioning the critical economic development components of regional tourism, creative branding/marketing of the greater Redding area, and potential expansion/use of social media networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. He summarized the City's role as a facilitator/partner in this area and asserted that the private sector must also actively participate. Council Member Sullivan suggested streamlining the City's permit process and property inventory/availability, and improving the level of "user-friendliness," particularly for out-of- state companies considering the area. I Council Member Jones opined that promoting retail activity is imperative and advocated creating a business-friendly reputation for the City throughout the state. Long-Range Planning [B-130-070/^ A-050-060] City Manager Starman acknowledged the natural human tendency to react to immediate circumstances, such as financial challenges, looming budget deficits, and a national recession, and affirmed Council's awareness that current decisions and actions will impact the community for many years. He introduced the concept of consultant services for community surveying, organizing community meetings and/or focus groups on specific 03/03/2011 33 issues, development of a formal, community-based five-year strategic plan, and/or a team- building session/retreat for Council and staff members. I Core Services [B-130-070/^A-050-060] City Manager Starman advised that this topic is critical to budget development and asked for Council's immediate response. Mr. Starman recalled that over the past three years, approximately $17 million (25 percent) has been cut from the General Fund budget. He reiterated that difficult decisions had been made, which resulted in layoffs and closure of one fire station. He opined that further cuts to public safety personnel were inadvisable. Mr. Starman counseled that differentiation of core services and non-core services was needed. He defined core services as public safety and municipal utilities and recommended that the order of budget priority focus be on core services, then support services that keep core services operational, then non-core services. Mr. Starman offered the alternative to make across the board cuts and asked for Council's direction. Peggy O'Lea expressed dismay over ranking the library as a non-core service and cautioned against unintended consequences of reductions to library funding and/or services. Gary Cadd directed Council to re-staff public safety departments, reopen fire station number two, and stop giving raises to city employees. Council Member Sullivan shared concerns about reducing library services, and opined that it would be better to develop and position Redding as the best place for new businesses instead of the cheapest place. She emphasized that parks and trails are very important to the quality of life in Redding and related the availability of non-core services directly to economic development and crime prevention. Ms. Sullivan stressed that thorough contemplation of priority ratings was essential. I Council Member Bosetti highlighted the library as a successful example of public-private partnerships and directed staff to identify other areas of city operations that could partner with private business. Council Member Jones supported protecting core services and asked where future cuts would be made, if necessary. Mr. Starman answered that support services and non-core services would have to be cut further. Responding to Mr. Jones' inquiry about merging departments and privatizing support services, Mr. Starman noted that the Municipal Utilities department had merged with Public Works in 2010 and gave other examples of past practice such as RABA, library services, and dog licensing. He recalled that, in addition to a detailed study performed by the Privatization Exploratory Committee, Council had directed staffto research park maintenance basic services and also recollected that tourism and marketing services previously performed by City visitor's bureau staff had been outsourced recently. Council Member Dickerson underscored the difficulty of weighing core services against non- core services and emphasized that community infrastructure and city services are equally important. Mr. Dickerson did not support reducing non-core services in an unbalanced manner, and was concerned about such actions being a detriment to a vibrant community. Sharon Waranius commented on library services. Greg Washburn commented on photo traffic signals. I Lorraine Dector commented on the Shasta County Art Council. Mayor McArthur stated support for a well-rounded community, which she defined as more than good streets, clean water, and police and fire protection services. Quality of Life [B-130-070/^ A-050-060] City Manager Starman outlined three focus topics pertainil).g to improving the quality oflife forresidents: (1) complete streets; (2) the Sacramento River Parkway; and (3) the City's trail system. Mr. Starman described two ways that the state-mandated "complete streets" concept could be incorporated into the circulation element of the General Plan, which must serve pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and drivers and take into account the needs of people with disabilities, older people, and children. 03/0312011 34 Mr. Starman noted the City's outstanding Sacramento River trail system and offered an option to explore a parkway designation for the Sacramento River corridor that could potentially provide access to grant funds that are not currently within reach. Alan Cost encouraged Council to keep sight of the vision statement and diligently maintain the quality oflife elements that may be considered non-core services but significantly affect the health of the community. He supported the parkway designation, a better brochure on the trail system and complete streets, and opposed extending Chum Creek Road north through the wetlands. Mary Shrank, speaking on behalf of the Shasta Cascade Bicycle Coalition, supported the complete streets concept, including the trail system, as an infrastructure priority. I Responding to Mayor McArthur, Development Services Director Hamilton explained that the complete streets component of the law dictates that the City must plan for all modes of transportation when designing streets. He advised that the complete streets concept is a mandatory facet of the General Plan and must be included in the circulation element to qualify for state and federal grants in the future. Public Works Director Crane expounded that state and federal gas tax revenues are not tied to complete streets, but discretionary funding associated with state transportation improvement program and other earmark opportunities could be affected. City Manager Starman noted examples of new projects incorporating a complete street design approach such as the recently completed Cypress Avenue Bridge and the Dana-to-Downtown project. He observed that retrofitting existing neighborhoods is more challenging and requested direction or a decision related to amending the circulation element, which would be a significant undertaking. Council Member Sullivan supported safety for bicyclists and alternative forms of transportation. Ms. Sullivan affirmed the necessity of community involvement and private property owners maintenance of walking spaces. She promoted partnership efforts to enhance accessability and encouraged walking and bicycling as positive solutions to rising gas prices and clean air quality standards compliance. I Connecting with the Community [B-130-070/^ A-050-060] City Manager Starman recollected that the City had a Public Information Officer in the past, and relayed that a significant amount of time continues to be spent on distributing information and providing access for the public, i.e. press releases, utility newsletters, participation at community events and service club functions, and providing meeting videos on the City's website. Mr. Starman suggested three areas that the City could refocus existing resources: (1) direct contact with citizen's; (2) providing answers; and (3) reaching out, all outlined in the agenda document. He submitted specifics such as forming a database for aggregate email notifications/newsletters; incorporating better use of social media technology like Facebook and blogging coupled with more face-to-face interaction with community members on a regular basis; utilizing the newly acquired URL - CityofRedding.info - for simple access to City information; creating or updating department F AQ web pages, updating the Customer Inquiry Referral Guide, and standardizing the City's web pages while utilizing the home page as a portal for citizens to find answers; establishing and promoting a voluntary Speakers Bureau comprised of department directors willing to serve as key contacts; appearances by City staff on radio shows, TV interview programs, and other forums geared to specific themes, held periodically to allow direct public interaction and access to key City employees, possibly including "live" 60-minute online community forum meetings. John Dixon stated his opinion and expressed uneasiness relative to equal consideration of citizen input and city staff reports by the City Council. I Council Member Sullivan asserted that she spends many hours interacting with citizen's listening to concerns and ideas and expressed distress over Mr. Dixon's commentS. She rebutted that it was unreasonable for a small number of the City's 90,000 residents who regularly attend Council meetings to expect Council to do every thing they want. Ms. Sullivan explained that she listens to dozens of people with various opinions, reads and researches topics, judges the input, and then uses her own moral compass to make the best decisions for the community as a whole. She also acknowledged her fellow Council Members for similar efforts. 03/03/2011 35 Council Member Dickerson observed that Council had been very responsive to citizen's input and provided examples such as the Radical 1 0 in ' 10 list, the Charter City Exploratory Committee (CCEC), and the request to video-record CCEC meetings and post them on the City's website. I Funding Priorities for 2011-12/2012-13 Biennial Budget [B-130-070/^A-050-060] Having previously described projects both verbally and in documents attached to the agenda that identify potential costs/amounts of staff time/funding sources, City Manager Starman reviewed the following scoring matrix that the City Council would use to provide direction to staff relative to the projects and programs that the Council would like staff to aggressively pursue. He asked that Council Members rank them in priority preference order, and reiterated that the rankings will serve as a basis for staff as it begins preparation of the upcoming biennial budget. Priority'l - Very High Priority. Add this topic to the City's current list of priorities. The City should use any discretionary resources to fund this project, program, or initiative as soon as feasible. Direct staffto work on this issue and report back to the City Council before the City adopts its next Biennial Budget. Priority 2 - High Priority. Add this topic to the City's current list of priorities, but only if additional resources are available. The City Council will discuss this topic again before the City adopts its next Biennial Budget. Priority 3 - Medium Priority. The City Council may add this topic to the City's list of priorities at a later date, but only after the City has completed some of its other priority projects. I Priority 4 - Low Priority. The City does not intend to work on this topic at this time. Proiects & Programs for Consideration Scoring Matrix In order of ranking by the City Council I Topics Mayor Vice Council Council Council Total Avg McArthur Mayor Member Member Member Score Dickerson Bosetti Jones Sullivan Complete Streets 1 2 2 4 1 10 ' 2.0 Chum Creek Road 1 4 1 1 4 11 2.2 Extension Privatization of 2 3 1 1 4 11 2.2 City Services Sacramento River 1 3 3 4 2 13 2.6 Parkway Designation 03/03/2011 36 Mayor Vice Council Council Council Avg Topics Mayor Member Member Member Total McArthur Dickerson Bosetti Jones Sullivan Score Community 3 3 2 4 2 14 2.8 Outreach 1 Communication Strategic Planning 2 4 2 4 2 14 2.8 Hilltop Drive - 3 3 4 4 3 17 3.4 Corridor - Specific Plan South Street- 1 4 4 4 4 17 3.4 Railroad Grade Separation Project Team Building for 4 3 3 4 3 17 3.4 City Council 1 Leadership Team Union Pacific 2 3 4 4 4 17 3.4 Property Community 4 4 2 4 4 18* 3.6 Branding I I Churn Creek Road - North Extension [B-130-0701^G-030-070] Gail Rich opposed spending any City funds on this project, citing an exhaustive study that concluded it was not needed and its subsequent removal from the General Plan, and she asserted that the City is facing other funding issues that are more pressing priorities. Privatization of City Services [B-130-0701^A-050-060] Council Member Bosetti relayed results of his research relative to public-private partnerships and the city of Centennial, CO, stating that a city of 107,000 had 57 employees and 7-8 "partners." He promoted exploring opportunities and a financial benefit analysis of similar public-private partnerships for the City of Redding. Mayor McArthur favored consideration and analysis of a few departments, but did not support an extensive effort to privatize city services. I Council Member Sullivan reported that she had also contacted the city of Centennial and discovered that their call center was run by CH2M Hill. She pointed out that Centennial was a wealthy suburb of Denver and, unlike Redding, had been designed from the beginning as a new city without a public works department. Citing the same financially challenging personnel costs, Ms. Sullivan questioned the likelihood that private companies could provide the same levels of service, add a profit, and still be more cost-effective. Recognizing the consequences of further demoralization of existing city employees, she opposed asking staff to spend time and effort researching privatization. 03/03/2011 I I I 37 Council Member Dickerson applauded Mr. Bosetti for his research and acknowledged the differences between the two cities as described by Ms. Sullivan. Alternatively, Mr. Dickerson suggested looking at existing cities that had made successful transitions to contracted services. There being no further business, at the hour of 6:05 p.m., Mayor McArthur declared the meeting adjourned. APPROVED: ATTEST: ~~ City Clerk 03/03/2011