Loading...
CC07-29-14Min_WSLONGWOOD CITE' COMMISSION Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue Longwood, Florida WORK SESSION MINUTES July 29, 2014 4:00 P.M. Present: Mayor Bob Cortes Deputy Mayor Joe Durso Commissioner Brian D. Sackett Commissioner Mark Weller Jon C. Williams, City Administrator Michelle Longo, City Clerk Troy ]Hickson, Police Chief William Gulbrandsen, Fire Chief ]Pam Barclay, Finance Director Sheryl Bower, Community Development Director Chris Capizzi, Leisure Services Director Craig Dunn, Information Technology. Director Richard Kornbluh, Utilities Division Manager Tom Smith, Streets & Fleet Division Manager Absent: Commissioner John C. Maingot (arrived at 5:49 p.m.) 1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Cortes called the meeting to order at 4:01 p.m. 2. REVIEW AND DISCUSS PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2014-2015. Mr. Williams said he would turn the meeting over to Ms. Barclay who has a power point to present an overview of the budget. He said they will then turn it over to the individual departments to answer any specific questions the Commission may have. He said at the conclusion, they will adjourn the work, shop and convene in a Special Meeting, to set the tentative millage rate. Ms. Barclay said the proposed budget is $24,045,466 million, roughly $2.7 million above last year, or thirteen point two (13.2%) percent. She said the increase is primarily due to Capital Projects that fluctuate through CC 07-29-14/1 the years, whether they take them on or not. She said the City has experienced a twenty eight•point one (28.1%0) percent decline in the �I taxable value since 2007. She said their preliminary taxable, value was $877 million, which is an increase of $19 million, or two point two five (2.25%) percent increase in their taxable value: She went on to state during the same period, the cumulative inflation has increased sixteen point six (16.6%) percent. She said they are proposing a 5.5 millage rate, which is the current millage rate. She stated it. is 2.25 above the rollback Tate . of 5.3788. She said this will generate 1.1 thousand dollars in tax revenue. She said compared to other Seminole County cities, they may . have a higher millage, but are the lowest in the taxable values. Ms. Barclay went on to discuss where the money comes from. She said of the total budget $24 million, sixty one (61 %) percent is the General Fund. The next largest is Public Utilities.at eighteen (18%) percent. She said of the general fund revenues, taxes makes up the largest percentage at fifty six (56%) percent, and then charges for services at fourteen (14%) percent. Comparing the revenues from last year: to this year's proposed budget, the increases are if they get the 101 to maintain the millage at 5.5, the ad valorem taxes will be 101 increases, electric franchise fees are up $75,000, utility taxes are $89,500, the half -cent sales tax is $48,000. She then went over the decreases, and stated the community service tax has declined every year and is $75,000 this year. The licenses and permits is down, and since they had a change in the. School Resource Officer, that commitment has been reduced as well. She then went onto discuss where the money J goes. She said that fifty (50%) percent of the total budget is going out in general fund expenditures. The fund balance, with the 5.5 millage rate, will remain at twenty one (21 %) percent fund balance. She said it is a goal to stay at twenty (20%) percent or above. The largest part of the general fund is personnel services at $9.5 million. She said for personnel costs, they are budgeting for a $137,524 dollar increase. This is one point five (1.5%) percent increase, which is after eliminating ten (10) positions, adding five (5) new positions, and includes a, three (3%) percent salary increase for all employees. Health insurance is anticipated to increase four (4%) percent, and dental insurance at fifteen (15%) percent, and workers comp is budgeted at ten (10%) percent. She said if they just looked at personnel costs as a percentage of what the millage rate would have to be just to cover personnel costs, it would have to be 10.8736 as opposed to 5.5. Commissioner Sackett asked about the comparison slide regarding the cities and asked her to repeat her comment. Ms. Barclay said in order to maintain all the services that their neighboring cities have, they all have a tax base that can support those services. She said for them to support those services, they have to have millage and taxes to cover those services. CC 07-29-14/2 Mr. Williams said it is representative of their taxable value compared to the other cities in Seminole County, along with the millage rate that they do levy in comparison to those other cities. He stated their next closest city would be Casselberry with relative comparable millage rate, but their taxable value is exceeding one billion dollars, where they are slightly below that. Commissioner Sackett asked about the population rate for them, versus Casselberry. Mr. Williams said their population is 14,000 and not;sure of Casselberr_y's population number. Mayor Cortes asked about the tax value increase of $19 million and was there a raise in appraisals. Ms. Barclay replied yes. Mr. Williams said there is new construction that will hit the tax rolls next year. He said one of those is WaWa, and Mr. Blackadar is adding some new buildings, Meadow Ridge Estates, and Maronda Homes also. They should start to see a better recovery than what they have had this year in comparison to last year's. He emphasized this is the first budget since he has been here that they have been able to walk in and include a three (3%) .� percent pay raise for employees. Part of the reason is not backfilling some of the vacancies and positions that have occurred throughout the last fiscal year. He said they can move on to the City Commission budget. Mayor Cortes asked about the increase in salaries from $24,024 to $24,745. Ms. Barclay said that is the three (3%) percent increase in salary they budgeted for. Mr. Williams said the model does not distinguish between employees and Cormnissioners. Commissioner Sackett said he would forgo it and give it back into the City. It was the consensus of the Commission to remove the three (3%) percent salary increase. Mr. Williams said next is the City Clerk budget. Mayor Cortes stated there was an increase to the employee development �-- line for the clerk because of the requirement to obtain a CMC/1N1MC certification, which is included in the employment contract. CC 07-29-14/3 Commissioner Sackett asked about line item #3400 and switching from Iron Mountain to. Crown Shredding and what would that involve, which is $3,000. He asked if that was from the City Administrator or because of a switch to Iron Mountain to Crown Shredding. Ms. Longo said that is an overall savings because of switching from Iron Mountain to Crown Shredding. Deputy Mayor Durso asked about the CALNO in the Commission budget. He said in the past they have discussed this and no decisions were made, but there is a potential that $500 will come off the books if the Commission decides to drop CALNO as an expense. He said Winter Springs has dropped it, and the School Board is considering it also, so there is that possibility. Mr. Williams commented on the City Administrators budget. He said he is proposing that they not backfill the Executive Assistant to the Administrator, which was vacated when Ms. Longo got promoted. He said they have included an upgrade of a clerical worker from a part-time position to a full time position. He is planning to relocate his office to where Human Resources is currently, and Ms. Longo and he can share resources. He has been approached by some members of the Longwood Council and has included $1,000 under promotional items for creating their own Longwood Chamber of Commerce. Deputy Mayor Durso asked for clarification about line item 5200, computer supplies. Mr. Williams said it is for the day to day items that go along with modern technology and supplies. There were no questions or comments on the City Attorney budget. Mr. Williams answered Commissioner Sackett's question on the General Services budget regarding the $20,000 item under Contingency. He said they have reserved that for any unforeseen emergency repairs to City Hall that may be necessary. He said the roof has needed repairing for some time and their infrastructure is aging. Commissioner Weller asked if he has gotten a price for roof repairs. Mr. Williams said they have but it would need to be updated from about three years ago. Commissioner Sackett asked if the time was coming to consolidate everybody and get a new building. Mr. Williams said he believes so and is supportive of that. CC 07-29-14/4 Mayor Cortes mentioned turning down the A/C over the weekend when no one is using the building. He asked if a policy can be put in place to lower A/C over the weekends. Commissioner Weller asked if there was a company doing an infrastructure inspection, and they should be checking on the efficiency for the A/C to reduce the costs. Mr. Williams said Snyder Electricity did that and are developing a free, no -cost business case analysis and is waiting for the report. Commissioner Sackett asked about the Chamber Sound System for $2,160. Mr. Williams said it is for quarterly maintenance by Tear Engineering for recalibrate of the microphones and check everything out to be sure it is working; properly. Mayor Cortes moved on to the Human Resources budget. Deputy Mayor Durso asked about the liability insurance and explain what the significant increase is connected to. i Mr. Williams said liability insurance.is projected to increase by fifteen (15%) percent. He said they felt some of the buildings were under -insured in comparison to today's costs, so there was some tweaking of those values. A portion of the increase is associated with adding new assets and re-evaluating values. i- Commissioner Sackett said under Service Awards, you made a recommendation to cut $250. He said the Commission cut the pay increase; in their salaries and he would like to see people recognized. Mr. Williams said he agreed and can certainly add that: $250 back in. Mayor Cortes asked what the $250 represents. Mr. Williams said they looked at what had been done in prior years, and wanted to have the flexibility to have it there to recognize employees: It was the consensus of the Commission to keep the $250. Mayor Cortes moved on to Information Technology. Mayor Cortes asked about the increased costs with contracts. CC 07-29-14/5 Mr. Dunn said some of the contracts have increased, like Sun Guard that is in the last year of that contract and has increased three (3%) percent. He said there is also a small. increase in Nexus. Mr. Williams said they are moving from Sun Guard to another vendor. He said they will have an opportunity to vote on this by August 21 St. He said they have been evaluating several different enterprise accounting systems, and believe they have one that satisfies all of the departments' needs. He said they can demonstrate a return on investments of two and a half (2 ''/z) years, or less than two (2) years. Mayor Cortes moved on to Purchasing. Deputy Mayor Durso asked Mr. Williams to go over the differences between office supplies versus operating supplies. Ms. Barclay answered stating office supplies are strictly staples, paper, and basic things. Operating supplies are furniture, filing cabinets, etc. Mayor Cortes moved on to Finance. Commissioner Sackett asked about IPads and who is using them and how many are there. Ms. Barclay said she has one, but if anyone. is working at home and doesn't have internet she gives them her air card. Mr. Dunn said the air cards are used in different departments. He said the Police Department has about forty (40) air cards for mobile computer terminals, and the Fire Department has a MyFi device in each of the rescue engines, the rescues, and the command staff. He said many of the Department Directors have a MyFi device to have the ability to work remotely. He said they negotiated with Verizon for $36.99 a month with unlimited data which was a decrease. Deputy Mayor Durso said at CBC they use a lot of air cards because their caseworkers are in the field a lot, and the sensitivity of the information that they have is really regulated heavily by the federal and state government, so they are secure, and they provide the tech people the opportunity to know who is using them, where they are, when they are logged on, what kind of information they have accessed, so they are very secure now. Mayor Cortes asked about the audit services and if this is what they pay McDermit. Ms. Barclay said it is up for evaluation and to re-submit/re-solicit if that is what they want to do this year. CC 07-29-14/6 Mr. Williams said some of the increases are associated with whether they qualify for a federal single audit, state single audit, and they have done pretty good in obtaining grants, and have qualified for 'those individual, separate audits. Mayor Cortes moved on to Utility Billing. He said they are going to be adding two meter type customer service representatives and asked Ms. Barclay to explain this change. Ms. Barclay said they presented a plan to the Commission to do a re- structure, and they brought the meter -reading function under Finance/Utility Billing. She said it is no longer under Mr. Kornbluh's Utility group. Both readers double as a customer service representative and will be doing meter -reading and customer service functions. Mayor Cortes asked about the new vehicle and if they were replacing; any vehicles. Ms. Barclay said when they took the function over, Mr. Kornbluh gave them a truck, which is doing fine. She said the van is'not equipped with any flashing lights or signage that says the City of Longwood, so they are putting :it in the budget to have a vehicle for the purpose of meter. reading. Mayor Cortes moved on to the Police Department. Commissioner Sackett asked about staffing. Chief Hickson said the only increase in staff that he proposed is through the COPS Grant, which is for two (2) officers. He said they have put in for that :for the last three (3) years, and have not been funded. He said they are trying again this year. He said those are the only proposed changes for this year. Deputy ]Mayor Durso asked about the Records Clerk and if that position is going away can those duties be taken by someone else in the agency. Chief Hickson said what he did last year was combined positions from the CID secretary and the Records Clerk, so they have one person doing both jobs. Mayor Cortes stated for clarification, they are reducing; Corporal by two (2) and adding an extra Coinmander. Ms. Barclay said they never updated last year's and her numbers are reflective of what is current, but there are changes for last year. CC 07-29-14/7 Mayor Cortes said everything is status quo, with the possible addition of two (2) police officers, which is contingent upon the COPS Grant. Chief Hickson stated with the increase in drug activity and the addition of SunRail, they have been running with a skeleton crew for a longtime. He said because of the funding problems, they have only been seeking these two (2) positions for the past three (3) years as funding through the COPS Grant. Deputy Mayor Durso asked about the cost of those two (2) positions. Chief Hickson said per officer, it was $74,000 with benefits and does not include equipment. Commissioner Sackett asked to look at this again at the end of things to see where they sit. Mayor Cortes said they are replacing four (4) vehicles, and adding a security system to Candyland Park. Chief Hickson said last year they funded the. infrastructure and there is one (1) camera out there. He said what they are proposing to do is to add additional cameras now. He would like to see, in additional phases more cameras to keep watch on all aspects and areas of functions at the park. Mr. Dunn said the infrastructure at Candyland is the actual DVR, which is where all the storage will be taking place, and the internal networking at the facility, so it would just be adding IT based cameras at different locations at the park. Mayor Cortes asked about parking lot resurfacing and is this something that can be included in the streets budget. Mr. Williams said the parking lot is definitely warranted for a complete milling and may need reconstruction of the base underneath. It is deteriorating badly. Chief Hickson said there is root intrusion in several spots. Mr. Williams said it is under the umbrella of the general fund. They do have a public facilities improvement fund that they have been accumulating some funds for local option gas tax that they can go back and see if there is a possibility for a local option gas tax. He said there are capital funds for this. Mayor Cortes moved on to the Fire Department. CC 07-29-14/8 Chief Gulbrandsen said they are holding the line for actually providing l— funds for the three (3%) percent pay raise for employees, but coming in at only $6,000 over last year's approved budget. He said they have added the air cards with terminals also, so they are in step with the County as they move to paperless recording and patient reporting. He said the major thing is retention of the Safer employees because the budget at $3,889,000 would have them going back to the staffing they ha.d when he was hired. He said. they have had the benefit of the Safer employees, but that funding runs out on October I". He said they will receive an ISO Class 2 rating based on their current staffing. He said that Class 2 rating is achieved by only 750 departments throughout the country, and is an exclusive, world - class rating for their fire department. He said there are only sixty (60) Class 1 fire departments in the country. He said if they have to release their staffing, that would put their ISA. Class 2 in jeopardy. He said they do have a plan for revenue production to keep those six (6) positions employed. Deputy Mayor Durso said he is sure all of them have had a conversation with Mr. Williams about this. He said they have seen the material. If they were going to move forward with this, he would have to see contractually some real hard evidence that this would be a payoff for the residents. He stated the Chief is coming to the Commission to see if they are okay with the idea, and then the idea would have to be worked out if it is legal, what the contracts would look like, the expense versus the revenue. He said he wants the Chief to follow up that idea and see if there is some revenue to be had in a way that provides extra service, helps keep firefighters on the job, and allows the City to not be on the short end of tYie stick. He supports moving forward with the idea and see if they can put it in some kind of contract, and see what comes up. Chief Gulbrandsen presented a power point presentation of his proposal. He said they have increased their revenue since his employment, and improved data collection and billing. He said they are collecting about $700,000 a year in EMS transport revenue. They are operating two (2) units that equates to $350,000 per unit per. year. They are a major contributor to the fees Ms. Barclay mentioned earlier that the City is collecting. He said they are servicing ninety five (9.5%) percent of their potential 911 calls now. He said they average about: 4,000 calls a year. He said fiscal year 2014 is not complete yet. For the 911 related calls, about seventy (70%) percent of those result in a transport. Of that, they successfully collect about seventy (70%) percent of the amount billed. There are approximately 750 calls out of the City limits, and that could include getting into the Inter -facility transport business. With the hospital right across the street, they know there are advance -life support patients that are being taken from there to other agencies. He said on occasion, they have been asked to transport those patients. At times, they have been able to, and other times, have not. He said this equates to about two to three more transports per 24 hour shift the firefighters would work, and CC 07-29-14/9 the estimated revenue from that is about $468,000. He said it would be $380,000 to retain the current staffing and $46,000 to lease a new vehicle and the equipment to go with it to make this feasible. He said that vehicle needs to be replaced anyway, because that vehicle would be replacing a 1996 Freightliner -type ambulance that is going to be twenty years old. They can get by a few months with it as a reserve, but that is what it is replacing. He said there is about $27,000 in consumabtes, which includes EMS medications and $3,000 for- additional or improved utilities, $8,000 in estimated cost for fuel, their estimated costs are about $464,000. Commissioner Sackett asked why they are being moved over to Douglas during the day. Chief Gulbrandsen replied because the County controls the dispatch. He said the air cards are an automatic vehicle locater and shows dispatch where those units are on the big map. They see these holes and they move to cover the areas of high volume and high density. He said Longwood is centrally located in the County. They have Highway 17-92 and State Road 434 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard, so they are the hub of activity and the closest unit to allow the calls during the peak rush hours. . Commissioner Sackett asked what would stop Seminole County from putting more in the Douglas area. Chief said they cannot afford it. He said adding a third unit to the mix will reduce the overload on their current units. He went on to discuss the units getting maxed out and how it will provide the staffing to protect their ISO rating of 2. He discussed the growth in the City and increased traffic on the roads in the City. He said by keeping these positions they meet the needs. He stated the advantages are reduced response times, improved service to their citizens, increased capacity for service, maintains their current staffing for an ISO Class, addresses current and future growth needs, reduces reliance on the County to make that NFPA requirement, and is cost effective to implement now in an, incremental fashion. He said if they advance by two (2) people per shift now, they won't be caught three (3) years from now needing six (6) people per shift to meet the demands of the department. Commissioner Sackett said the presentation is good and easy to understand. He asked what is to stop the County from doing the same thing. Chief said they cannot afford it and they are ready to go. He said if they cannot do this by October 1st, he has to dismiss .six (6) positions, knowing by December they are going to have three (3) positions actually retiring. CC 07-29-14/10 Mr. Williams stated at the conclusion of this fiscal year, the grant revenue for these six (6) positions expires. Therefore, if they do continue to retain them, then there is a revenue source that comes to help cover. Chief Gulbrandsen said they looked at the true cost: offire service over that five (5) year study. In 2009, the true expenses were $3.7 million, but revenue from EMS was $476,000. He said his goal is to keep the true costs in that $3.2 to $3.3 million dollar range. If this;is the direction the Commission wishes to take, they have August and September to get those contracts and information together. Mayor Cortes said a point of clarification and posed two scenarios. He said if they lose the six (6) positions in October, is :it reflected in the proposed 2015 budget with the $6,000 basic difference versus last year's budget. Ms. Barclay said no, it is not. She said it shows minus the Safer Grant employees and takes out everything with the third rescue. Mayor Cortes asked if it would drop the twenty one (21%) percent fund balance if they go with adding the six (6) employees, the third rescue that was proposed. Mr. Williams said if they do not have a corresponding revenue source, absolutely. He said if the C'ormnission likes the concept, he will start trying to nail down those contractual obligations for inter -facility transport, and identify a procedure of protocol. He said explain how these non -emergencies transports are going to be dispatched, and bring that back to you in time for a budget adoption. Deputy :Mayor Durso said unless they can come back and show that Seminole County getting into it won't matter, because they have contracts that will generate revenue and allow them to expand their service or maintain the level of service, at that point it is not risky. He said if the risk exists thatanother city or the county might step in and do something similar, he is not willing to do that. Mayor Cortes said they will have to spend $300,000 on a new rescue, and keep one; as a backup. Chief said this one would be out of service for two or three weeks to refresh it. He said they have estimates of $10,000 to $1.2,000 to do that. He said they have put out for bid from three vendors to build one, and all, of them have demo or trade-in units that they could provide until the delivery of a new vehicle. �-- Mayor Cortes asked about using the Fire Admin building. as a possible extra station, which will incur some extra cost. CC 07-29-14/11 Chief said they looked at an alternative site which is cost neutral for the _ first year, and as things progress with the County and if they can move into Station 19, "then that will be another situation for discussion. Mayor Cortes said he thinks the Commission would all be in agreement if it is cost -neutral, they would support it. Mayor Cortes asked about the life of defibrillators. Chief Gulbrandsen said there is a potential to refurbish those. He asked the EMS Coordinator, Richard .Usher to answer. Mr. Usher said they have been working hard to keep them in service, but they need to do upgrades to meet the new EMS challenges and reporting. He said most of their stuff is fairly old and needs to be replaced. They have a minimal value as far as a trade-in. Mayor Cortes moved on to Community Development. Deputy Mayor Durso questioned reimbursement of professional services, $45,000. He asked for clarification regarding the expenses for the services and whether they will be reimbursed. Ms. Bower stated yes. Mayor Cortes asked if a planner is being added. Ms. Bower said that is the old stuff, they are not adding any new positions. Mayor Cortes asked about the Economic Development/Special Projects position and looking forward to a lot of new things. He said there is promotional activity, marketing materials, and market outreach. He asked Ms. Bower to elaborate a little more. Ms. Bower said they are trying to be a lot more pro -active. She said they have not been able to successfully market Longwood because they don't really know what they have. She said they want to bring in an expert in retail attraction so they can tell them how do they attract these people and help them to do that. She said they also want to be able to get to more trade shows and do a professional presentation for the City of Longwood. She said they want to talk to more groups and be -represented at more events. Some of this they are already doing, like the advertisement on the trains, and for FlexBus they will be doing advertising for that. She said it is expanding what they have. She said they have a number of programs that they want to try to initiate because they really haven't done economic development. She, said they don't know what businesses they have in their industrial district. She said it would be really helpful for Mr. Krueger if CC 07-29-14/12 they had a data base. She said he is going out visiting businesses, talking L with them, to know exactly what their products are, how many people they have, and plans for expanding. She said they need to get all of that information, and reaching out to professionals and bringing them in to help them better sell themselves and to know how to,do that and being able to market that. Deputy Mayor Durso said there are conferences for commercial folks and where deals get struck. He asked if this is what they are trying to do with that particular line item. Ms. Bower stated yes. Mayor Cortes asked if small business incentive loan grant programs is something new. Ms. Bower said it is something new and they wanted to create a pilot program. She said they have talked to businesses that could benefit for having a little start up. She said Longwood is mostlya small business place and they do have the opportunity to create a lot of small businesses because the rents are cheaper. She said they don't have the type of space one would find at Altamonte and Lake Mary. They found that they could benefit from having a small grant or loan that they could make available. She said they want to see if it works and this would be their first year testing it out. She said she and Mr. Williams visited a not for profit called Fam-a-Lab, a technology incubator, and they really could benefit because they are all donations and could benefit from a little bit of help. Mayor Cortes asked how they sign up. He asked if it is a matching grant or a loan, is there an established procedure to be repaid if it is a loan, and is there any interest or interest free. Ms. Bower stated they still have to establish the parameters of the program but she wants to get it funded before she gets into the details. She said they will bring it back once they get it funded. Mayor Cortes moved on to Leisure Services. Mayor Cortes said they have $200,000 for Reiter Park, which is contingent to the Water Conservation Grant. Deputy Mayor Durso asked if that was a one to one (l=1) or a two to one (2-1) match. Mr. Capizzi said it was a two to one (2-1) match. Commissioner Sackett asked about the Candyland renovations with overhead netting. CC 07-29-14/13 Mr. Capizzi said it would be all arc's. Commissioner Sackett asked when it would be complete. Mr. Capizzi said they have the overhead netting, so this would be for the nettings for the sides for first base and third base for all of their fields. Deputy Mayor Durso asked to have updated copies of the manpower pages for staffing. Commissioner Weller asked about equipment for Raven Park. Mr. Capizzi said he has money left over on a purchase order which he has to get with Ms. Barclay and Mr. Williams. He said several years ago there was a purchase order for Rec Services and not all of the $48,000 was used. He said they have already paid them that money, and he talked with Rec Services and was able to come to a deal that has not been finalized yet, but they are willing to give them brand new health equipment for Reiter Park as well as, playground equipment for Raven Park for the amount that they owe the city. Commissioner Weller asked if there is money to make Raven Park look nice or for maintenance. Mr. Capizzi said they do have funds in repair and maintenance as well as, operating. He said they are hesitant to do anything right now with the impending drainage project coming, so he thinks by January or February they can' really do some things to make Raven Park aesthetically more pleasing. Commissioner Weller asked about getting sidewalks put in running along Grant Street at Candyland Park. He asked if they could get money for engineering to see. if they can get sidewalks in that area. Mr. Capizzi said he will look into that. Mr. Williams asked Mr. Capizzi if he had enough money in his current professional services line code to do an evaluation on that right now. Mr. Capizzi said he did under engineering. Commissioner Sackett asked how Helping Hands was doing taking care of Candyland Park. Mr. Capizzi said. currently, they are happy with Helping Hands in reference to most of their city maintenance right-of-ways and City Hall area. He said they are very responsive and other than a few minor issues, they have been very satisfied. CC 07-29-14/14 Mr. Williams said he was going to ask the Commission if they wanted to continue with those services. He ,said they have just contracted out fleet Services recently. He asked the Commissioners if they wanted them to look at any other areas. Mayor Cortes said he has been very pleased with the differences in the mowing and now the garage is up and going. He said he would like to explore other areas that they can look at and mentioned Code Enforcement. Chief Hickson said he can look into the potential of reducing the staffing in Code Enforcement and privatizing, just to compare the two and let them decide what direction they want to go. Mayor Cortes asked Mr. Capizzi about equipment, Workman HDACG with vertical lift. Mr. Capizzi said it is a work utility vehicle. He said last year they had two. He is asking for a Toro, which is the same brand they had. He said it carts their guys around, they are able to carry equipment on it, it moves heavy material, and has a vertical lift on it so they aren't having to go to Public Works all the time to use their cherry picker. He said it looks like a golf cart but it has a flatbed to it and is for utility purposes. He said it goes on the fields without messing them up and holds several pieces of equipment and materials. Mayor Cortes went over the department's staff count. Mr.Capizzi said there are twelve (12) employees total, including him. Commissioner Sackett said regarding the Community Building, it seems they have cut $18,000 off the building. He said this is the jewel for. the City, and he is concerned they are delaying some things that need to be done. Mr. Williams said they are doing it this current fiscal year. Commissioner Sackett said that makes him very happy. Mayor Cortes moved on to Public Works, Streets. Deputy Mayor Durso asked if he has ten (10) employees. Mr. Smith said he has ten (1.0) people. Mayor Cortes said he noticed a reduction in salary from. $656 to $519. CC 07-29-14/15 M.s. Barclay said that is an elimination of positions, such as the fleet and the lake maintenance. Mr. Williams said last year they authorized to outsource their lake and aquatic maintenance that is funded out of the storm water fund. Mayor Cortes asked if they are adding new signage per the Department of Transportation (DOT) requirements. Mr. Smith said yes and they are the stop and yield signs along with speed limit signs. Mayor Cortes asked about resurfacing. Mr. Williams said road resurfacing is funded out of the public facilities improvement fund, and that is where they keep some local option gas tax. Mayor Cortes asked when the one cent sales tax takes effect. Mr. Williams said on January lst, and they are anticipating their first distribution to be in March and they have a revenue estimate in that fund projected in the amount of $56.7,000. He said they have proposed, conservatively, improvements of $650,000 out of that fund. Mayor Cortes asked what road surfacing projects they are going to tackle `J first. Mr. Smith said they have not yet decided. Mayor Cortes moved on to Building Inspection Fund. There were no questions of comments. Mayor Cortes moved on to Grants Fund. Mayor Cortes asked how high the hopes of getting all these grants are.. He said he knows Chief Hickson mentioned the COPS Grant, there was none in previous years. He said there is almost one million dollars in grants. Mr. Williams said the glass is half full, not half empty. Mayor Cortes said in the past five (5) years they have increased their grants from what they did before and asked if they are going to continue to go after them. Mr. Williams said they will and in 2013 they had total revenues with matches of $895,775, and from years past, that is a drastic increase. CC 07-29-14/16 Mayor Cortes moved on to the Police Education Fund. Deputy Mayor Durso asked if a lot of this is driven by state mandate. Chief Hickson said it is used for training for the off cers for continuing education and the required of the FDLE mandates. He said they are running short in this because this is funded by ticket revenues, and this year they are falling $7,000 short. He is not certain this will continue to fund the needed training for their Police Department. He said training is something that should not go away. He said his goal this year is with the JAG Grant that they get countywide to instead of turn the money over to the county for a single project, that they all. want their part of that grant money, which is going to be between $15,000 and $16,000. He stated his plan this year is to commit that entire amount of money to training. Mayor Cortes said he sees this grant falling into the negative $6,800 and asked how they get away from this. Ms. Barclay said depending on how the bottom line ends this year, they will transfer from the general fiend and next year they are anticipating he can use JAG monies to subsidize it. Deputy Mayor Durso asked if they can combine funds. Chief Hickson stated the confiscation fund is something that is dictated by the State on what and how it can be used. He said he would like to see a line item in the police department budget separate to deal with training. Mayor Cortes moved on to the Confiscation Fund and there were no questions.. Mayor Cortes moved on to Special Assessment. Ms. Barclay said initially they have the Capital outlay; which is, why they are in the hole. She said once the allocation and the collection of that capital occurs ten (10) years out they should be whole. Mayor Cortes moved on to the Storm Water Fund. Mr. Williams explained about the negative balance. He said they will be receiving the first reading of an Ordinance on August 4"' to continue the fund. He said the fund is actually due to sunset and they have several major projects planned for this fund. The first they anticipate occurring this fiscal year which is the TOD regional storm water pond. He said they have had a pre -bid, and the actual bids are due back on August 11t', and subsequent to that, they will bring an agenda item to avoid that bid. He said that estimate is in the range of $600,000, they hope; the re -bid of that will bring those costs down and see some savings. They have some other CC 07-29-14/17 improvements that are coming directly off of the Master Capital Projects list from the Master Plan that was done. He said SkyLark outfall and Raven, which is in the process of being designed, which they believe will commence after the fiscal year. He said also, Rock Lake outfall and the big one is Bennett Drive at $650,000. Mayor Cortes said they are also including a Vacon truck on a freightliner chassis. He said they pay dearly year after year when we hire a private company to do that. Mr. Smith said between Streets and Utilities, it is probably about $70,000 per year that gets budgeted. Mayor Cortes said this would be a saving and after five (5) years, they own it free and clear, and life expectancy on this truck would be a long time. He asked what the Vacon truck cleans. Mr. Smith said it cleans out the piping, man holes, storm drains, and lift stations and pipes and man holes for Utilities also. Mayor Cortes moved on to Public Facilities. Mayor Cortes said they are making out pretty good on this fund and is that because of the one cent sales tax. Mr. Williams said they will begin collecting that revenue next fiscal year, but their fiscal year ending 2013 was almost 1.2 million. He said they have been accumulating the local option gas tax funds as well for some time. He met with the Purchasing Manager and directed her to go to the marketplace for a paving contractor so they can start their road resurfacing program. He said the key to that is having a vendor in place to be able to do that work. Mayor Cortes asked after next year will they have a five-year Capital Improvement Plan for other projects. Mr. Williams said yes and if everything goes well with the citizens supporting their efforts for a Charter amendment, then they will probably look at doing that as soon as this year. Mayor Cortes asked where the security fence is going at the Police Department and does it include where all the cars park.. Chief Hickson said yes and the only thing it will not encompass is the memorial and potentially some of the retention pond. Commissioner Maingot arrived to the meeting at 5:49 p.m. CC 07-29-14/18 Mayor Cortes moved on to Public Utilities. Deputy Mayor Durso wanted to make a comment on this budget. He said he commended Mr. Williams earlier in a conversation with him, and he wanted to do it publicly. This is one of the more detailed budgets he has seen, and when he had questions on the front page, he only had to flip one or two pages in to determine the answer to whatever question he had. He commended Mr. Williams and his staff for all the hard work put into this. It is one of the better government budgets he has seen in a long time. Commissioner Maingot thanked the EMS team who saved the day for him. Commissioner Sackett said he commended Mr. Williams on his team of Directors. Mayor Cortes said this is his fifth budget, and it is the most simplistic, with no wants and mostly needs. He said it is amazing that they are covering a potential three (3%) percent raise across the board, which they have not been able to do for years. He thanked everyone for the great job they did. 3. ADJOURN. Mayor Cones adjourned the meeting at_i:55 p.m. Robert Cortes, Mayor ATTEST: ch le Longo City er ' CC 07-29-14/19 This Page Left Blank Intentionally. CC 07-29-14/20