HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - unsigned - 1991-12-20 - Adjourned Regular Meeting
City Council, Adjourned Regular Meeting
City Hall Conference Room
Redding, California
December 20, 1991 5:17 p.m.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Dahl with the following Council
Members present: Buffum, Fulton, Moss and Dahl. Council Member Arness was
absent.
Also present were City Manager Christofferson, Assistant City Manager McMurry,
Assistant City Attorney Calkins, Director of Public Works Galusha, Director of
Planning and Community Development Perry, Chief of Police Blankenship,
Director of Community Services Gorman, Director of Finance Downing, City
Treasurer Linville, Director of Parks and Recreation Riley, Director of
Information Systems Kelley, Budget Services Officer Starman, Public
Information Officer Bachman, Assistant City Clerk Strohmayer, and
Secretary/Stenographer Rudolph.
URGENCY ITEM
(G-100 & P-050-460-700)
City Manager Christofferson indicated that a need arose subsequent to the
posting of tonight's agenda necessitating Council to consider the placement of
an urgency item on the agenda regarding the acceptance of two anonymous gifts
totaling $140,000. He stated that it would be appropriate for Council to
formally accept these gifts prior to year-end.
MOTION: Made by Council Member Moss, seconded by Council Member Buffum, to
consider the acceptance of two anonymous gifts totaling $140,000 as an urgency
item.
Voting was as follows:
Ayes: Council Members - Buffum, Fulton, Moss and Dahl
Noes: Council Members - None
Absent: Council Members - Arness
ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS TOTALLING $140,000
(G-100 & P-050-460-700)
City Manager Christofferson related that the City has received two letters
from John Mancasola of Carr, Kennedy, Peterson & Frost, A Law Corporation,
informing it of the following anonymous gifts: (1) $40,000 to provide field
lighting at the Enterprise High School Field; and (2) $100,000 for the
enhancement of the Sacramento River Trail with feeder trails. He explained
that these gifts are not to be used in lieu of already budgeted monies.
It is the recommendation of staff that Council accept these gifts prior to
year-end.
MOTION: Made by Council Member Buffum, seconded by Council Member Fulton, to
accept two anonymous gifts totaling $140,000 for use as follows: (1) $40,000
for field lighting at the Enterprise High School Field; and (2) $100,000 for
the enhancement of the Sacramento River Trail with feeder trails. The Vote:
Unanimous Ayes
POSSIBLE EXPENDITURE REDUCTIONS
(B-130-070)
City Manager Christofferson related that the purpose of this meeting is to
present Council with the second phase of reductions, totaling approximately
$419,000, which Council directed staff to prepare at its meeting of November
26, 1991. He indicated that these reductions are ones which staff felt would
be the least damaging to public services.
Mr. Christofferson also stated that the City has received confirmation that
its PERS rebate, or what the State and PERS refer to as AB702 Contribution
Credits, will be $2,679,313.00. This amount will be applied to the City's
employer contributions, which means that the City will not submit checks
originally budgeted for, thereby, enabling the funds to remain in the reserve
account until such time as Council directs otherwise.
In response to Mayor Dahl, Mr. Christofferson indicated that Council has a
workshop scheduled for January 18, 1992, to consider fiscal issues and to
review the City's mid-year financial status.
504
12/20/91
Mayor Dahl related that Council has targeted over one million dollars in
expenditure reductions and indicated that he would like to consider the third
phase of reductions either at the workshop or sometime in January.
Council Member Fulton related that the second phase of expenditure reductions
includes some programs which he opined are essential, such as the slurry seal
project which is important to the maintenance of City streets and would not be
in favor of reducing it by $150,000.
In response to Council Member Moss, Public Works Director Galusha indicated
that the slurry seal project is considered long term maintenance and is
normally completed in June or July of each year.
Council Member Moss opined that because slurry seal work is normally done in
warm weather, there would not be a problem in delaying this work until next
fiscal year.
Council Member Fulton concurred with Council Member Moss' recommendation to
defer slurry seal work amounting to $150,000 until next fiscal year. Because
of the large community involvement in various Recreation and Parks programs,
he also expressed concern in reducing its funding by $25,000.
Council Member Moss concurred with Council Member Fulton that Recreation and
Parks programs are long term and he would hate to see any of the programs
eliminated.
Council Member Buffum opined that possibly some of the adult recreation
programs could be eliminated, thereby, providing for the continuance of youth
programs. In addition, she stated that she is not in favor of reducing the
river trail maintenance by $25,000, as the trail is low maintenance and easily
accessible to the community.
Recreation and Parks Director Riley explained that the adult recreation
programs basically pay for themselves and are not subsidized with part-time
salaries. He stated that part-time salaries are used almost exclusively for
youth programs.
In response to Council Member Moss, Mr. Christofferson indicated that
Council's expenditure reduction goal of one million four hundred thousand
dollars is a figure which fluctuates daily. He stated, however, that the
January meeting is very important, as staff will have a much clearer picture
of the City's financial position.
Mayor Dahl opined that in order to preserve the $25,000 for recreational
programs and the $25,000 for the Sacramento River Trail maintenance, the
$40,000 feasibility study concerning an arena on Benton Ranch could be
deferred until next fiscal year.
Council Member Buffum stated that a large number of people gain pleasure from
the Sacramento River Trail and she would be in favor of maintaining the
recreational programs and Sacramento River Trail maintenance in lieu of the
feasibility study.
In response to Council Member Buffum, Chief of Police Blankenship explained
that the department presently completes reports on almost all non-injury
traffic accidents, however, it is not required to do so by law. He related
that one negative aspect of discontinuing this practice would be the
elimination of data currently utilized by the Public Works Department. He
stated that if it is Council's desire to discontinue this service to the
community, the parties involved in a non-injury traffic accident would be
asked to go to the Police Department to file an over-the-counter report.
Council Member Moss stated that he does not want to see the City purchase an
incorrect piece of equipment because of a budget crisis and inquired if the
purchase of the scanner for the Planning Department could be postponed until
next fiscal year.
Planning and Community Development Director Perry related that postponing the
purchase of the scanner until next fiscal year would pose no problems for the
department.
505
12/20/91
MOTION: Made by Council Member Buffum, seconded by Council Member Fulton, to
accept the City Manager's recommendation to reduce the budget in the
approximate amount of $414,000.00 as follows: defer $150,000 for slurry seal
work and other street maintenance for one year; reduce landfill fees for
street cleaning by $10,000; delete $20,000 for aerial control mapping; defer
$5,000 for ditch cleaning; eliminate $30,000 professional services provision;
eliminate $5,000 special projects provision; postpone updating the Open Space
and Conservation Element ($15,000); reduce planning consulting funds by
$30,000; reduce employee training by $3,000; defer Airport Redevelopment
Feasibility Study ($30,000); shift plan line study to traffic impact fees
($25,000); postpone purchase of scanner for Planning Department ($12,000);
discontinue non-injury traffic accident investigation ($35,000); terminate
practice of providing multiple copies of reports to County ($2,500); terminate
practice of providing drivers' license information to courts ($1,500);
terminate practice of finger-printing of non-city residents as an
accommodation; terminate practice of arranging citations in numerical order
for courts; and postpone feasibility study for an arena on Benton Ranch
($40,000). The Vote: Unanimous Ayes
Mayor Dahl related that commissions play a valuable role, and some are even
legally required; however, he opined that this might be a good time to
consider possible consolidations or eliminations and asked staff to review
their associated costs.
Council Member Buffum also asked staff to review the Electric Utility
Commission's travel expenses, as they seem to be excessive.
Council Member Moss related that the Electric Utility Commission has taken it
upon itself to establish a policy which requires the Commission to approve all
travel expenses.
Mayor Dahl indicated that there will be an item on the January 7, 1992 agenda
regarding a "Fiscal Impact Report," which might also be applied to Commission
activities. He stated that commissions need to be aware of the associated
costs whenever they take action, and possibly, Council should approve all
requests over a certain dollar amount.
Council Member Buffum related that possibly each department with a commission
might consider establishing a commission budget. She also inquired if each
department has an overhead figure which could be used to determine the amount
of overhead money being spent on commission activities and projects.
Finance Director Downing stated that part of the rate structure completed
several years ago was to compute the overhead for each department and the
overhead for the City as a whole. She related that this figure has been
followed, but has only been adjusted by the cost of living.
In response to Mayor Dahl, Mr. Perry related that Council's direction as to
the new City Hall and Police Administration building was only to complete
schematic designs. He indicated, however, he was not certain of the
corporation yard's status.
Mayor Dahl stated that the costs for the corporation yard have been reduced
and he saw no problem moving ahead with that project. He indicated, however,
that if the City is financially lean next year, it might be desirable to
postpone proceeding with the City Hall and Police Administration projects for
a couple years. He explained that this can be discussed further during budget
study sessions.
BUSINESS LICENSE FEES FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS
(L-070-100)
In accordance with Council's direction at its December 17, 1991 meeting, City
Attorney Hays presented an Urgency Ordinance amending Redding Municipal Code
Section 6.04.050 regarding the deletion of Real Estate Agents/Independent
Contractors from the list of Professionals. As the billing cycle for business
license fees begins on January 1, 1992, there is an urgent need to implement
this Ordinance for the orderly administration of the license fee schedule for
the upcoming calendar year.
MOTION: Made by Council Member Fulton, seconded by Council Member Moss, that
the full reading of Urgency Ordinance No. 1980 be waived and that Urgency
506
12/20/91
Ordinance No. 1980 be adopted, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of
Redding amending Section 6.04.050 of the Redding Municipal Code pertaining to
the
Professions and Occupations required to pay an annual license fee by deleting
Real Estate Agents/Independent Contractors from the list of professionals to
become effective immediately.
Voting was as follows:
Ayes: Council Members - Buffum, Fulton, Moss and Dahl
Noes: Council Members - None
Absent: Council Members - Arness
Ordinance No. 1980 is on file in the office of the City Clerk.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business, at the hour of 5:50 p.m., Mayor Dahl declared
the meeting adjourned.
APPROVED:
_________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
______________________________
Assistant City Clerk