The City Council met in Work Session on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, at 1:00 p.m. in Room 326, Committee Room, City County Building, 451 South State Street.
In Attendance: Council Members Lisa Adams, Erin Mendenhall, Stan Penfold, James Rogers, Luke Garrott, Charlie Luke, and Kyle LaMalfa.
Staff in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council Director; Jennifer Bruno, Executive Council Deputy Director; David Everitt, Mayor’s Chief of Staff; Lynn Pace, Senior Advisor to the Mayor; Margaret Plane, City Attorney; Russell Weeks, Council Senior Policy Analyst; Dan Weist, Public Policy Analyst/Communications Director; Marina Scott, City Treasurer; Lehua Weaver, Council Senior Policy Analyst; Bill Haight, Information Management Services Director; Sean Murphy, Council Policy Analyst; Jill Love, Community and Economic Development Director; Mary DeLaMare-Schaefer, Community and Economic Development Deputy Director; Brent Beck, Community and Economic Development Financial/Budget Analyst; Karen Krieger, Arts Council Executive Director; Chris Burbank, Police Chief; Krista Dunn, Deputy Chief of Policy; Gina Chamness, Finance Director; Tamra Turpin, Risk Assessment Manager; Rick Graham, Public Services Director; Alden Breinholt, Operations Division Director; Greg Davis, Finance and Accounting Division Director; Robin Hutcheson, Transportation Director; and Nicole Smedley, Assistant City Recorder.
Councilmember Garrott presided at and conducted the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 1:12 p.m.
AGENDA ITEMS
#1. 1:12:11 PM HOLD A DISCUSSION ON THE COUNCIL’S POSITION ON THE PROPOSED RELOCATION OF THE UTAH STATE PRISON, HOW TO ENGAGE AND INFORM THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE PROPOSAL, AND THE PROPOSAL’S IMPLICATIONS FOR SALT LAKE CITY. The Prison Relocation Commission plans to hold public information events about its studies of potential sites, including an open house May 20 from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Utah State Fair Park. The Commission plans in August to recommend a new location to Gov. Gary Herbert and the Legislature. View Attachments
Lynn Pace, Dan Weist and Russell Weeks briefed Council with attachments. Mr. Weeks said the Joint Statement on the Location of the Utah State Prison was a recap of the points previously adopted February 24, 2015 and from documents released by the Prison Relocation Commission (PRC). He said the Statement would be distributed to appropriate Legislators, The Salt Lake County Council, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, Governor Gary Herbert, The Senate President, and The Speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr. Pace said the open house at the State Fairpark would be a panel of technical experts, not decision makers. He said the event was State sponsored, hosted by the consultants to the PRC, and would be duplicated in Draper and Tooele. He said consultants are gathering site specific information about each of the proposed locations such as soil characteristics, geography, utilities access, and cost. He said the study would narrow the relocation options based on the technical data received and then the PRC would hold a public hearing.
Discussion followed regarding the quick timeframe a decision would be made, Council being present at press conferences and rally’s, economic issues, Salt Lake City being the least preferable site, West Side growth, future development, running the risk of being in the same position as Draper, and encouraging the public to join the Council at the State Capitol.
#2. 1:28:17 PM RECEIVE A BRIEFING ABOUT THE ISSUANCE AND SALE OF UP TO $25 MILLION IN TAX AND REVENUE ANTICIPATION NOTES (TRANS) FOR FISCAL YEAR 2016. This is an annual process where the City borrows money for General Fund expenses until the major portion of property taxes is received, usually in December. View Attachments
Marina Scott briefed Council with attachments. Ms. Scott said the City issues Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes each year to provide financial assistance to the City’s General Fund. She said Tax Notes are a short-term debt until December. She said this item would be on the agenda for adoption June 2, 2015.
#3. RECEIVE A BRIEFING ON ITEMS RELATED TO THE PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2015-16 ANNUAL BUDGET. The briefings include budget proposals for departments, separate funds, and other budget related items.
a. 1:30:20 PM Information Management Services (IMS).View Attachments
The Department of Information Management Services provides technical support for all General Fund services and all Enterprise Funds in the City. The department is operated as an Internal Service Fund with divisions including Administration, Software Engineering, Network/Infrastructure, Technology Consulting, and Multimedia Services.
Lehua Weaver and Bill Haight briefed Council with attachments/Power Point Presentation. Mr. Haight said Information Management Services (IMS) had gone through significant reorganization in order to reach their goals, which are eliminating redundancies, improved customer service, and increased innovation. He said currently, IMS teams are assigned to locations such as Public Services, City & County Building, Library, and the Justice Court. He said IMS teams are also assigned to software applications and end user programs. He said they would like an Innovative Solutions Team to work with the Administration and Council to devise a list of issues and work for the best solution using the appropriate level of technology. He said projects this year were replacement of email system/office 365 and of key infrastructure/servers. He said the average server was four years old.
Council inquired if the software support team needed more resources. Mr. Haight said a nationwide survey indicated there should be 3.6 IMS staff for every 100 employees, there are currently 2.8. Council expressed concern about several departments asking for their own IMS position in this year’s budget and asked who they would report to. Mr. Haight said they would report to those departments individually and would coordinate resources with IMS, not establish their own IMS departments. Council inquired if IMS would change their procedures if departments got their own IMS people. Mr. Haight said it would be very challenging for them and they would have to make significant changes. He said the foreseeable problems are a decentralized model of IT, departments splitting off and going in their own direction, and duplications/redundancies of software and applications.
Council inquired as to the age of the City webpage (slcgov). Mr. Haight said slcgov received a facelift 3-4 years ago. He said they would open a software development position the first of the year to seek someone with the skill set to make changes to the website. Council requested being kept abreast regarding the maintenance of slcgov and expressed concern regarding regular maintenance being a budget amendment.
Council inquired as to how it would affect IMS if Fire and Police added IMS positions. Mr. Haight said it would be complimentary because right now they interface with several people, and if they had one specific contact it would help them prioritize their resources for the departments. Council inquired as to how far behind Salt Lake City was in IMS. Mr. Haight said the average spent for IMS was $6,844 per employee, and the City was currently spending $5,817 per employee. He said the goal was to get to 85%. Council inquired as to who makes final decisions regarding Information Technology. Mr. Haight said IMS collaborates with the Administration and individual departments to devise a solution that compiles the best resources, security, and integration with current systems.
David Everitt addressed the centralization/decentralization of IMS Staff in other departments. He said some service appointed employees are doing IMS functions in their departments, and sometimes IMS blends into communications. He said they were not adding massive amounts of capacity by the positions they are proposing in CED, Fire, and Police. He said they are freeing up staff already doing IMS to get back into their original sworn roles.
Discussion followed regarding SLCTV as an asset; the number of subscribers being unknown; upgrades; workload increase with additional meetings/events; and being shared through other avenues such as YouTube and the City website. Council inquired as to how innovation was implemented. Mr. Haight said through third party service providers and then transition into software/end user. Discussion followed regarding sufficient budgeting for innovation implementation and not as a budget amendment. Council inquired about competing demands from departments and how they are prioritized. Mr. Haight said the Systems Steering Committee should assist with prioritization. Cindy Gust-Jenson said the steering committee was not effective because every department advocates for their own projects. She said the departments with the most resources implement what they need to on their own.
Council inquired if the Police Department Laptops should be paid for out of the IMS budget. Mr. Haight said they replace notebook computers every three years. He said this year was an unusual circumstance because the Police Department purchased the notebooks out of their own budget three years ago before the change was made from police having an IMS budget.
Council requested documentation/inventory to capture all equipment, and compile a schedule for regular updates. Council requested GIS mapping to contextualize neighborhoods in the coming year as the Council was making great effort in affordable housing.
b. 2:34:00 PM Community and Economic Development (CED) View Attachments
The Department of Community and Economic Development is a General Fund department. The Department includes CED Administration, Building Services, Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND), Transportation, Planning, Engineering, Economic Development and the Arts Council.
Sean Murphy, Jill Love, Mary DeLaMare-Schaefer, Robin Hutcheson, Karen Krieger, and Brent Beck briefed Council with attachments. Ms. Love reviewed proposals for the FY 2015-16 budget including a new Business Development Specialist position at the permits counter, a new Project Coordinator position in Housing and Neighborhood Development, Enterprise SLC determining direction for new hires, a one-time increase to address homeless needs, a non-departmental transfer to Housing and Neighborhood Development for ongoing homeless services, and an increase for additional resources for outreach to diverse populations.
Mr. Murphy addressed questions from the budget overview regarding building services fee process/schedule and how cost was assessed, a potential new cost study, a onetime grant for the National Development Council providing assistance to developers in finding tax credits or various incentives, maintenance taken out of the General Fund, and additional funding for cost estimation related to specific projects.
Councilmember Adams said she felt the City needed to conduct the permit and fee cost study. She inquired about the vacancies in Economic Development. Ms. Love said the vacancies are a Director of Economic Development and a Small Business Manager. Councilmember Mendenhall expressed concern regarding legal issues surrounding parking and requested a future closed meeting. Council inquired if the number of parking meter complaints were going down due to lack of use. Ms. Hutchison said parking meter use was rebounding very well and complaints are dropping. Council inquired about parking revenue between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Ms. Hutchison said they would provide Council with those revenue figures.
Discussion followed regarding adequately tracking parking complaints, a technical study of available parking, a brand/logo for available parking, 25,000 parking stalls located in private lots, coordination with partners to create additional parking, no resources for hot rooms in homeless facilities, pilot program being for storage only in this budget, reaching out to stakeholders who want to invest in the City, current youth shelter funding through ESG, City assistance to ESG for new Youth Shelter, exceptional homeless population outreach by Police Department, moving forward with homeless outreach using social workers, social service being a County Collective Impact process, support for Engineering, turnover in Economic Development, outsourcing, and quality control.
Council inquired about the relationship between the Arts Council Foundation and the City. Ms. DeLaMare-Schaefer said the Attorney’s Office was creating a master contract explaining the relationship. Discussion followed regarding ticket outsourcing for the Twilight Concert Series, 24 ticks being a sponsor providing an in-kind amount for services, and SLCPD/private security determining the amount of security at Twilight. Council inquired if the ticket cost increase at the door would generate revenue. Ms. Krieger said that it would and that the budget has been out of balance and they needed the revenue to balance it out.
c. 4:03:05 PM Police View Attachments
The Police Department is funded by the General Fund, but also benefits from various federal and state grants.
Jennifer Bruno, Chief Burbank and Krista Dunn briefed Council with attachments. Chief Burbank said the direction of the Police Department was to recuperate sworn officer positions with additional civilian positions to free up sworn officers, and maintain high staffing levels in homeless outreach. Ms. Bruno reviewed the budget changes for the year. Council inquired as to why the budget didn’t include new police officer positions. Chief Burbank said it was a year long process to train an officer and get them out on their own, and the additional civilian positions they are requesting are now occupied by sworn officers. He said once the civilian positions have been filled, the sworn officers would be moved out on the streets. Chief Burbank said vehicles, computers and pay increases for existing officers were already limited. He said the balance was to make sure the officers they have are working effectively.
Discussion followed regarding reinstating East Side Park Bicycle Patrol, turnover with Community Intelligent Unit (CIU) Detectives, length of response times, outstanding homeless services outreach, transparency during the budgeting process, affordability of processing rape kits, sex assault crimes/training, use of force protocol/training, replacement of lap tops in officer’s vehicles, limited fleet availability, body camera replacement in future budgets, covering all first time responders with a body camera, community based policing, police presence averting crime, and current vacancies in the department. Council requested a recent training effort/summer training schedule, and how the Police Department balanced needs in high crime areas (such as Rio Grande) with the needs in the rest of the City.
d. 911 Communications Bureau – Written Briefing View Attachments
The 911 Communications Bureau was created as a part of the FY 2013 budget process, and consolidated Police and Fire Dispatch personnel into a single department.
Written briefing only.
e. 5:32:37 PM Non-Departmental and Governmental Immunity Funds View Attachments
The Non-Departmental Fund is one of the City’s largest in the General Fund because it is a place to account for transfers to other funds, grants and other special revenue funds that do not programmatically belong to particular City departments. Major fund transfers, like those from the Capital Improvement Projects Fund and allocations for the City’s Hive Pass Program, appear in the Non-Departmental Fund. The fund also is used to account for a variety of disbursements for City purposes and civic organizations that are not legal entities of the City but whose value lies in public activity and discourse. The Risk Management Division of the City Attorney’s Office administers the Governmental Immunity Fund, which is the City’s self-insurance fund for liability claims.
Russell Weeks, Gina Chamness, Tamra Turpin, David Everitt, Jill Love, and Robin Hutchison briefed Council with attachments. Mr. Weeks said the Sugar House Park Authority requested additional funds to address inflationary increases and the reconstruction of public restrooms. Discussion followed regarding the Sugar House Fireworks being a City sponsored event. Mr. Weeks said there was a potential $150,000 for operation of the S-line, $500,000 for structural safety programs to help ready residents for an earthquake, a miscellaneous grant increase of 10.3 million dollars, and 2 million as a buffer for future grants.
Councilmember LaMalfa expressed concern regarding the amount funded for the Structural Safety Program; he suggested moving the funds to the Capital Improvement Programs. Discussion followed regarding federal grants and matching funds.
Council inquired as to how funding for Mountain Accord would be used. Discussion followed regarding consulting work, community engagement, a seat at the table, developing NEPA scope, funding from Public Utilities water resources budget, protection of the watershed, and a ground transportation endorsement.
f. 6:12:22 PM Golf View Attachments
Jennifer Bruno, Rick Graham, Alden Breinholt, and Greg Davis briefed Council with attachments. Ms. Bruno said the budget proposed closing WingPointe, a consultant position (including sponsorship and partner opportunities), and keeping Glendale open until the outcome of the General Obligation Bond initiative was known. She said the proposed Consolidated Fee Schedule has a demand pricing model, effective January 1, 2016. She said it increases fees at higher demand times and lowers them at lower demand times with the only increase being $2.00 at Bonneville and Mountain Dell during high demand time for eighteen holes. She said the budget was proposing the General Fund contribute to the Golf Fund for the policy shift for the living wage proposal until the Golf Fund was more stable. She said the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) would be funded with a steady funding stream. Mr. Breinholt said the budget included lease payments for the purchase of carts at Bonneville and Mountain Dell. Discussion followed regarding purchasing carts for Rose Park and Forestdale and those lease payments starting in 2017, carts being the largest revenue stream, carts should be replaced every six years, and carts being eight years old.
Ms. Bruno said the biggest decision for the Council was the long term solvency of the Golf Fund. She said recognizing the budget situation; they would continue to monitor it.
Council broke for the Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board interviews and Formal Meeting.
Note: The Work Session meeting resumed following the Formal Session.
7:43:37 PM Councilmember Luke expressed concern that Council was not aware of what the Energy Savings Company (ESCO) involved at Bonneville when they approved it in the last budget cycle. He said the amount of acreage that was not going to be irrigated was unclear. He said they found out last night that there are some larger, older trees that might be lost. He said trees were a council priority this year and they have put a lot of effort protecting trees. He inquired as to what the administration was doing so that they were not in this position in the future. Mr. Breinholt said they did not perform an adequate outreach involving the community that borders the golf course. He said they have learned to share more detail, maps, etc. Councilmember Adams inquired as to what the plan was to address the concerns from residents. Mr. Breinholt said they had held three community meetings, two at Anderson Library, and one at Sunnyside East Community Council. He said the area was still maintained, part of the golf course, and playable area. He said it was just not green grass. Discussion followed regarding it not being a fire hazard, drip systems, large root structures, saving mature trees, City still weeds and fertilizes/herbicides, and well water as an option.
Council inquired as to how public/private partnership was going. Mr. Breinholt said until they hire a consultant to help them meet strategic and operational needs they won’t know. He said they would be hiring consultants with specialties. Discussion followed regarding asset valuation, operational efficiencies, 2,000 mobile app subscribers within two weeks of launch, marketing being critical, reallocating funding for marketing, and conversion to secondary water at all courses.
Straw poll: Council support for Administration to bring back a marketing proposal. All Council members were in favor.
#4. RECEIVE A BRIEFING FROM THE ADMINISTRATION REGARDING A POTENTIAL UPCOMING APPLICATION THAT THE UTAH TRANSIT AUTHORITY (UTA) MAY BE MAKING TO THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION IN THEIR LATEST ROUND OF TIGER (TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT GENERATING ECONOMIC RECOVERY) GRANT FUNDING. View Attachments
No discussion was held.
#5. 6:24:24 PM INTERVIEW ALI OLIVER AND NICK JACKSON PRIOR TO CONSIDERATION OF THEIR APPOINTMENT TO THE HOUSING TRUST FUND ADVISORY BOARD. (ITEM H1)
Councilmember Garrott said Ms. Oliver and Mr. Jackson’s name was on the Consent Agenda for formal consideration.
#6. REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INCLUDING A REVIEW OF COUNCIL INFORMATION ITEMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS. View Attachments The Council may give feedback or staff direction on any item related to City Council business.
No discussion was held.
#7. REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
No discussion was held.
#8. CONSIDER A MOTION TO ENTER INTO CLOSED SESSION, IN KEEPING WITH UTAH CODE §52-4-205 FOR ANY ALLOWED PURPOSE.
The meeting adjourned at 8:27 p.m.
This document is not intended to serve as a full transcript as other items may have been discussed; please refer to the audio or video for entire content.
This document along with the digital recording constitute the official minutes of the City Council Work Session meeting held May 19, 2015.
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