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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/22/2018 Work Session City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY,JANUARY 22, 2018 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room,225 Fifth Street, Springfield,Oregon,on Monday, January 22,2018 at 6:04 p.m.,with Mayor Lundberg presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Lundberg and Councilors VanGordon, Moore, Stoehr,Woodrow,and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi,City Attorney Mary Bridget Smith, City Recorder 'Amy Sowa and members of the staff. Councilor Wylie was absent(excused). 1. Community Development Block Grant(CDBG)Update Erin Fifield presented the staff report on this item.The Springfield Community Development Advisory Committee(CDAC)met on January 4,2018 to discuss potential strategies for the allocation of 2018-2019 CDBG funds,and has made a recommendation to Council for a One Year Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2019. Ms. Fifield distributed the FY2018-19 CDBG One-Year Action Plan Draft Budget to the Council. Following Council's direction, staff will publish the draft One Year Action Plan for public comment. In April,the CDAC will meet to hold a public hearing on the draft plan,and will make a final recommendation to Council for the allocation of funds. Thereafter,Council will be asked to adopt a final CDBG FYI 9 One Year Action Plan for submission to HUD, Councilor Moore asked if this was the same fund the City had to carry over and spend. Ms. Fifield said those funds were spent on neighborhood improvements.The list distributed was for anticipated funds. Mayor Lundberg said if Council approved of the list, it would go out to the public for comment in February. Councilor Woodrow said the CDAC spent a lot of time in deliberations looking at Council direction and priorities,and the carryover amount.There was a lot of understanding by the committee members. Councilor VanGordon supported the list.This is a great example of the hard work done by the CDAC members and how they considered the Council direction as they went through the list. Mayor Lundberg noted how this had become more complicated since the formation of the HOME Consortium.They no longer see the HOME funds and CDBG funds compared to each other since they are now separate.While she was in Washington DC, she talked extensively that there are too many requirements by the federal government for these funds.Congressman DeFazio's office will be working with the City to find a way to streamline the process. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes January 22,2018 Page 2 Council approved of the list as presented. Ms.Fifield said the CDAC will hold a public hearing in March or April. They will discuss any comments made or received and will make a final recommendation to the Council in work and regular meetings. The final plan must be submitted to HUD in mid-May.The first allocation would be looking at the affordable housing strategy to make sure it fits the Council goals. 2. Springfield Open Streets Event. Emma Newman, Senior Transportation Planner,presented the staff report on this item. Initial conversations about the possibility of Springfield starting an open streets event have led to conversations of possibility and excitement,seeing the event as a key initiative to celebrate and promote active transportation and showcase Springfield community organizations and businesses. A working group consisting of Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee(BPAC)members,City of Springfield staff and Willarnalane staff developed a draft vision and goals for Springfield open streets. Vision: Springfield open streets events promote healthy,active living by temporarily opening the city's streets so people can walk,bike,roll,and discover active transportation in a safe,car-free environment. Goals: • Encourage walking,biking,and rolling through a free community event • Enhance Springfield's economy by featuring local businesses and organizations • Create opportunities for community engagement and civic pride • Highlight accessible transportation options for community members of all ages and abilities • Promote the health and environmental benefits of active transportation Ms.Newman acknowledged some of the partners in this effort. Councilor Woodrow,Moore and Stoehr expressed support for this program and it was suggested they try to do the event in east Springfield at some point. Councilor Woodrow asked if Travel Lane County would have any funding that could go towards this effort. Ms.Newman said she could look into other options for grants if requested by the Council. The concept is to do one event per summer, repeating each year. If successful,they could eventually expand to more per year. Councilor Pisbioneri asked about the cost for staffing this event. He wanted to know how much Willarnalane would be helping with those costs.If the overall costs are$22,000,be could support.If over$100,000 he would not support. Ms.Newman said she could get those estimates. Councilor Pishioneri said with budget concerns,he would like to know where the money would be coming from and what other services might be out.Other resources might be from downtown businesses that may be willing to help with the cost of police services. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes January 22,2018 Page 3 Kim Lyddane from Willamalane said Willamalane is supportive of the event,but doesn't have funds in this year's budget.They have resources available to alleviate the impact on City staff. This has not yet gone to the Willamalane Board. Councilor VanGordon asked about regional transportation grants. Ms.Newman explained. Councilor VanGordon said he likes the idea of an event like this and the impact,but still has questions and concerns.He could support Option 2,but would like more information such as the full budget. The Symmonds 800M event was mentioned and it was noted that the funds for that event were provided through donations and sponsorships. Councilor Moore suggested getting the School District and Springfield Utility Board involved. Mayor Lundberg said she is supportive of this type of event,but would like to see full budget. She sees the potential of reaching out to our neighborhoods such as Daisy, Thurston,Mohawk,Q Street and Gateway areas.Focusing around schools is also a great place to use as a staging area, The first year is critical. She would be supportive of going for some of the transportation dollars available,and any other grants. She asked staff to determine total costs and how those could be offset with grants and Willamalane assistance. Councilor Pishioneri said this is a great idea,but be wants it to be a community event supported by the community. Councilor Moore said she appreciates the letters of support. Mr. Grimaldi said staff would bring this back to Council after additional information was gathered. 3. FY 18 Mid-Year Budget Update. Finance Director Bob Duey presented the staff report on this item. Through tonight's discussion,they would be looking at the next three years. Much of the reason they are looking out to a three-year window is due to the PERS issue. The City had a substantial PERS increase on July 1,2017. That same rate increase will occur again on July 1,2018,and another PERS increase on July 1,2019. The conversation tonight is how to mix the immediate short-term budget onto the long-teen. Discussion at this work session is intended to provide staff with general direction not only for the FY 19 budget but also FY20 to help staff develop a 12 month work plan in preparation for developing a sustainable response for the FY20 budget process. Mr.Duey said Council has already reviewed how they got to Priority Based Budgeting, the use of performance measurements, and the finance policies. There are still a couple of finance policies to finalize.Li September,Council held an all-day session to work on their outcomes. Those outcomes were included in the agenda packet and included 90 outcomes for 6 goals. Mr.Duey noted how the budget packet would be formatted to make it easier for the Budget Committee to follow. The performance measures will be linked to the budget and outcomes. Springfield does not have a very high property tax base. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes January 22,2018 Page 4 Mayor Lundberg asked if Springfield was representative of the growth rate of taxable values of other communities, Mr.Duey said we are somewhat low for a city our size. Mayor Lundberg asked if the increase in Lane County represented Eugene. Mr.Duey said we are actually outpaced by most small cities in Lane County. The outcomes and the direction from Council address that issue,and we need to figure out how to keep that going. Funds were added into Economic Development but it was only one-time money.This year$140,000 is being added based on the guidance of the Council. It's a longer ten-n fix for future years. Mayor Lundberg said our housing strategy is so important in getting our population to grow. Mr. Duey said this is where the outcome discussions are starting to link the direction from Council to where the funds are going.There are a number of factors that affect the growth of the City. We have some growth, but need growth revenue to match expenditures. It was noted that having enough housing available is important to our population growth,but it is a more complex issue. Mayor Lundberg said the Council needs information on what they need to do to see growth. It is something the Council needs to think about and figure out how to overcome. Mr. Duey said there are many growth factors affected such as franchise fees, in lieu of fees, etc,The State percentage was used because of state shared revenues. He noted that the City is doing things right,we just need time for things to come to fruition. Mr.Duey discussed the PERS increases.There are ways cities can set up separate accounts that could grow at a rate hip-her than normal savings to help offset the costs. Discussion was held regarding PERS and the need to continue to lobby for a solution. Mr. Duey discussed the current year adjustments of adding funding to programs,and balancing that by cutting positions and reducing expenditures in materials and services.The City has cut over 40 positions over the last 7 years to address the budget. Looking ahead to FY 19,they are proposing continuing extra funding for economic development,UGB expansion legal fees,IP alerting system, Police radio replacement and IT security officer. Some of the reductions to offset those costs include reduction in contributions to partner agencies and reduction in materials and services.They are also looking at staff reductions in several departments and delaying some purchases. Mr. Duey reviewed a chart showing where the funds are allocated by percentages. Councilor Moore said Public Works is also part of our public safety team, She would like to look into prioritizing public works. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes January 22,2018 Page 5 Mr.Duey noted that the General Fund of Public Works was more around building maintenance, vehicle maintenance, custodial work, etc. Things like sanitary sewer and stormwater have a different funding source. Mr.Duey reviewed the budget trends and priorities for improving sustainability for FY20. Most things already discussed are not sustainable and they are not projecting a lot of other revenue growth in FY20. There will again be an increase in PERS and there are a number of labor contracts in negotiations.They are trying to make FY20 our sustainable year with things accomplished over the next year. He described some of the things that could be considered. Councilor Moore asked if an efficiency study had been done internally. Mr. Duey said they have tried different things to be more efficient. Councilor VanGordon said technology could assist with efficiencies and is worth discussing, but can be complicated and expensive. Mr.Duey asked Council for further direction on what has been discussed and shown. Councilor VanGordon said the City generally does a good job keeping our costs under control.A lot of this will rely on economic development. He feels they need to look at the real number that needs to be taken out of the budget to be sustainable. He referred to Cahoots and felt there was a revenue neutral way to keep that program or a comparable service. Mayor Lundberg said we need to think as creatively as possible for revenue sources. She reminded them that LCOG could write a grant for the City as part of our membership for a short-term solution. We could let them know what we want money for and they could look for appropriate grants. She would like to put a moratorium on planning grants. We don't need to start any more planning efforts that aren't required.We need to look for efficiencies and also for minimums in reporting that is acceptable.A lot of our costs are going towards reporting so we should look at what is required so we are not spending more time than needed in that area. Mr. Grimaldi said they will try to find grants that address what we are actually doing. The Library is a great example of getting grants they can use. Mr. Grimaldi asked for additional revenue ideas.We need to find some reasonable revenue sources that will grow over time. If not,they will come back each year with staffing reductions. Mayor Lundberg suggested sending sometbiDg out to employees asking for revenue ideas. Mr. Duey said it will take multiple ideas to get a sustainable budget. Councilor Moore said we have so much potential and Springfield is a great community. Mr. Duey said he would like to be in a position that when things are good,we can do good things and not just try to dig ourselves out of a deficit. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes January 22,2018 Page 6 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Minutes Recorder—Amy Sawa Christine L. Lundberg Mayor Attest: Amy Sow City Recor er