PonceInletFL - 08/10/2009 Special Town Council Minutes

5. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 09/10. Mayor Goudie stated that they would be discussing the old gas tax and new gas tax line items. Ms. Clauss noted that Vice-Mayor Davis, after the last meeting, had inquired if the new gas tax could also be used towards payment of the SRF loan instead of using it for street paving. Ms Clauss stated that the answer was yes, it could be. However she noted that the SRF loan is 1.95% which is the lowest interest rate they have on a loan. Ms. Pont stated that they were earning 2 basis points interest on the old gas tax loan which Mayor Goudie noted was one fifth of 1%. The outstanding loan balance was not readily available but Ms. Pont stated that she would get the information to the Council. Ms. Clauss let the Council know that this was something that could be done anytime during the fiscal year and did not necessarily need to be determined as part of the budget process. The Town will receive $57, 604 from the new gas tax and whether it is used in this fiscal year or choose to allow it to accrue for future projects it is there and could at any point be used to pay on the current loan which is over a million dollars, according to Ms. Clauss. Mayor Goudie thought the amount was approximately $1.6 million. Councilmember Sturno questioned whether there were any paving projects coming up that must be done as they may consider foregoing such to pay-off this loan sooner. Ms Clauss stated that the Development Services is working to establish a master plan of the paving projects and Ms. Clauss asked Mr. Gunter to clarify if there were any projects that definitely needed to be completed in the next fiscal year. Mr. Gunter stated that they had slated for next year Kelly Bea, Pompano and the Marie Drive area because the man holes are settling. If there is a water break in the middle of the street, some of the repairs could be off-set, the asphalt portion, instead of hitting the whole lump sum in the water funds. Mayor Goudie stated that they should not deplete the fund entirely and Mr. Gunter concurred just in case they do need to use funds for an emergency situation. Council agreed. No further questions were asked about the gas tax portion of the budget. Ponce Preserve was the next fund to be discussed. Mr. Joulani explained that this is a cash carry forward fund and that there is $400,000 from the ECHO grant and $270,000 for the grant and another $136,000 matching from the general fund. They plan in this coming budget year to spend that money and to move $10,000 to go toward solar security lighting and the 6300 budget line item which includes the dune walk-over, parking and observation platform and landscaping as well as a pavilion and creation of walkways. The 4300 line item for $2,800 was supposed to be allocated for $3400 which is for trail clearing and playground clearing, which needs to be corrected on the budget. Development Services is planning on going ahead with the completion of this project in this coming year and it includes the area between the ocean and Atlantic. There were no Council comments or questions. The next fund to be discussed was the 141 Tree Bank Fund was has monies being transferred to Timucuan Oaks for landscaping and also to 143 Beach Street landscaping as well as other planned Town-wide beautification projects. Mr. Joulani explained that this is a mitigation fund which is collected for tree ordinance violations and other such mitigations. There is over $11,000 in that budget and all of that will be spent in the projects Ms. Clauss mentioned. Councilmember Derr wanted more information of the Town-wide beautification projects for $5,000. Mr. Joulani explained that there are ongoing projects at the Beach Street approach and there may be other small projects coming up this year but there is nothing planned at this time. Councilmember Sturno wanted to know more about the miscellaneous revenues which is the mitigation fee from Las Olas, what are the odds of collecting that. Mr. Joulani was not sure of the background but they have collected some money. Ms. Richard explained that every building permit for Las Olas pays the $1,700 mitigation fee and they do not get the permit until they pay this. Timucuan Oaks is the next budget item. Mr. Joulani stated that the land has been purchased and improvements have been made to the front; the retaining wall, parking adjacent to the street. This is a three phase project and the front landscaping is the first phase which is planned for this year. The middle portion includes a raised walkway and a platform. The third phase is a canoe/ kayak launch. They are asking for almost $10,000 for this year to do the landscape area. The total project eventually is going to cost almost $270,000 and in the future they plan to apply for ECHO grants for most of it and matching funds would be required from the Town. Councilmember McCormick wanted to know the impact of deferring funds out of the general funds or are they on a plan that states that have to do that. Mr. Joulani stated that money has already been spent on the engineering design of the entire project. The $10,000 will make the park usable. Ms. Clauss stated that this was broken into a three year project so that no one year was hit too hard with it. In the sidewalk fund, there is $4,255 allocated for miscellaneous sidewalk improvements as determined by the Town, per Ms. Clauss. Councilmember Derr observed that $4,130 was being pulled from the reserves in order to implement any sidewalk improvement and wanted to know if there was an actual cost that was incurred by people who are constructing and needed to have sidewalks repaired. Ms. Clauss stated that this was from the sidewalk reserves as opposed to the general reserves and contractors do have the option of making a contribution to the sidewalk fund in lieu of placing a sidewalk in front of the home which may not have another sidewalk on that street. Mayor Goudie asked that if there is any money left over is it rolled over into the reserves? Councilmember McCormick wanted to know how much was in the reserves. Mr. Gunter stated that they were pretty good on the sidewalks and that was the reason they were cutting the budget down. He further states that the sidewalks are on a yearly maintenance schedule. Ms. Pont noted that there is approximately $7,900 in the reserves at this time. Mayor Goudie observed that these monies are derived from permitting fees. Parks and Recreation was covered by Mr. Joulani. This is money that has been collected from impact fees and we project will be four additional single family homes to be built this coming year. He is also asking for $9,000 to be carried forward from the previous year for a total of $11,567. Part of the money will be used to create Parks & Recreation master plan because the Town did not really have any master plans but were instead in piecemeal and this would cost more money and more time. Basically, it is impact fees being spent on parks. Mayor Goudie asked, on the expenditure side line item 572.6400, why it was left blank but yet there is equipment for Davis Park (toddler swings, fitness stations, etc), are these project not being undertaken? Mr. Joulani thought that the money had already been spent on playground equipment and the creation of fitness stations along Peninsula Drive and Ponce preserve is being planned. Mayor Goudie asked Mr. Gunter about the toddler swings for the Pollard Park for $1,300 had been purchased yet and Mr. Gunter stated that this was not purchased yet. Ms. Clauss states that the line was left blank because it was not requested for the proposed 09-10 budget. Mayor Goudie stated that he has heard both suggestions and complaints about Pollard Park and how there is no toddler swings. Councilmember McCormick noted that this is the first year that impact fees have been used for Parks & Recreation and wanted to know how it got funded before. Ms. Clauss stated that in looking at prior years, the projects were done with grants and Ms. Pont said that FY08-09 was paid for with the reserve funds in this fund. Mayor Goudie wanted to know if the Council would agree to fund the $1,300 for the toddler swings at the Timothy Pollard Park. Councilmember Derr agreed that this park is being used quite a bit as did Councilmember Sturno. Councilmember McCormick asked if there were any other requests for this park. Mayor Goudie asked that this be included in the line item for the budget. Councilmember Sturno noted that this fund has come way down from previous years. Community Center fund (145) was next to be discussed. Ms. Clauss said that there is the contribution from the PICCI Board for their insurance but the Town does cover the building insurance which is $7,060. Transferring from the general fund to cover the cost of the utilities, insurance and allowing $5,000 for improvements on a case-by-case basis as requested by the PICCI Board and approved by the Council. Councilmember Sturno wanted to know what the $5,000 in improvements was for other than building. Ms. Clauss stated that this could be for parking lots improvements or anything else the PICCI Board might request. The Police Education Fund was explained by Ms. Clauss as deriving its revenue from citations and criminal cases. This is just an estimate on the low-end and it purely used for in-house training (Law Enforcement Training Network). Councilmember Derr asked, in regards to the Training Network, is that just for the actual cost of the training program and if there were any costs associated with overtime? Ms. Clauss answered that this was just for the training program. The Debt Services for the State Revolving Fund was next to be discussed (201 Fund). Ms. Clauss deferred to Ms. Pont to go over this fund. Ms. Pont stated that the revenue is derived from various sources. There is revenue derived from the old gas tax, new gas tax, telecommunications tax and cell tower lease come from the general fund and there is a source from the enterprise fund which is the sewer and refuse. This is strictly in and out; what comes in comes out in the debt services principal interest payments. Mayor Goudie asked if there were two principal payments in the range of $50,350 and two interest payments at approximately at $25,000 and we make two of them per year. Ms. Pont confirmed that this was correct. Mayor Goudie stated that this was the revolving fund which financed the storm water improvements on the south end of Town. Councilmember Sturno asked about line 7200 interest payment that is being paid on that loan. Ms. Pont thinks that it is 1.95% but she will double check that figure and get back to Council. The next fund is the 203 Fund. Ms. Clauss states that the 202 Fund, Debt Service for the Diocese property is now paid off. Ms. Pont states that the revenue for the 202 fund comes from the 302 fund which is the public land acquisitions fund and is paid accordingly to the debt service interest and we are in the 5^th year of a 20 year loan. This was for the bond of the construction of the new administrative complex as well as for some improvements to the old Town hall which was ultimately transitioned to the fire department. Councilmember Derr wanted to know if this was the one where we had the pre-payment clause and Ms. Pont confirmed that it was. Councilmember Sturno, stated for the record, that for the previous item, we were paying 5.95% on that loan and therefore, it was elected to pay this off rather than pay a low interest rate. Vice-Mayor Davis would like to obtain a legal opinion on whether general funds can be used to pre-pay any part of the Town hall construction because it is a capital improvement and there was not a citizen’s referendum on whether to use ad valorum funds for the capital improvement and she does that think that legally ad valorum taxes could be used to pay down any debt services on the Town hall project. She would like to have Ms. Shepard answer that before the Council looks into paying this debt service off. Mayor Goudie directed Ms. Clauss to contact the law firm and pose that question. Councilmember Sturno asked if the Council had already begun to investigate the possibility of refinancing this project. Mayor Goudie said that this has gone slower than they thought because a letter of interest was posted to encourage people to apply for the Banking Services Committee and those people will be appointed at the next Council meeting. Councilmember Sturno suggested that we see if we have any viable options available before spending money on legal counsel. Mayor Goudie agreed. Ms. Clauss stated that there were no ad valorum funds proposed to be used, for the record. The 204 Fund, Debt Services Equipment, was the next fund to be discussed. Ms. Pont explained that this fund was for the new fire truck and in FY 09-10, we will be making our first payment of a five year note with an interest rate of 3.25% and the funding comes from the reserves of this fund, not general fund reserves. Mayor Goudie explained that the proposed budget of $39,365 is coming from the 204 cost center fund and that his fund was created to derive revenue to pay a debt obligation. Councilmember Sturno commented that if we were able to pre-pay on a yearly basis to this fire truck, we could save the 3.25% interest and thinks that it is probably worth doing. Ms. Clauss confirmed that this loan could be pre-paid at anytime. Land Acquisition Fund, 302 Fund was the next topic of discussion. Ms. Pont explained that the funding comes from utility taxes, FPL electricity, propane companies that do business in Town and the bulk of the expense goes to fund the 203 Fund for the new Town hall Councilmember McCormick noted that we transferred last year $211,000 to the 203 fund for the debt services and this year it is $327,000 and wanted to know if that was a normal escalation in payments. Ms. Pont offered to research that but this is the fund where monies are coming in and then they are being transferred over to the debt services fund which has to be set up for the payments for the Town hall loans. 143 Beach Street Fund: Mr. Joulani explained that this is $211,720 in ECHO Grants with a $200 interest on that grant for a total of $211.920 and we are going to spend $122,050 for the ongoing restoration. There is a $5,250 cost that was not predicted at the beginning of the project for structural engineering. There could be a shortage of funds for this project due to unforeseen factors and no reserve within this fund. Mr. Joulani noted that there were new factors that were not anticipated such as a new septic tank. When they were lifting the building up, it was discovered that the flooring is not in good shape. The floorboards for the post office are approximately $10,000. Mr. Joulani is not sure that an ECHO Grant would pay for this scope of work. Vice-Mayor Davis stated that we cannot go back for an additional grant and wants to go forth with this in the budget. Mayor Goudie thought that a small operating reserve to deal with any contingencies would be helpful. Tami Lewis, Ponce De Leon Circle, noted that ECHO Grants have a lot of restrictions and nobody thought of restoring it to what is was before because this was supposed to be a static display. Miscellaneous Land Acquisition Fund (306): Ms. Clauss stated that this was the fund that she noted earlier and they we are taking monies from that fund and using it to repay the water fund and pay off the “old debt” the water operating and maintenance fund that was used for the purchase of 143 Beach Street. That along with $4,000 from the general fund pays that in full. This was for the original purchase of 143 Beach Street which was paid for out of the water fund and the intent was to repay on it each year. Councilmember Derr wanted to know how money is in the water fund and what those monies can be used for. Pat Drum, 57 Ocean View Avenue, inquired about the land next to the lighthouse being sold for condos and if there are any plans for the purchase of the waterfront areas. Vice-Mayor Davis asked if there was still a land acquisition committee and Ms. Clauss confirmed that there was which meets on an as needed basis. In the Accounting Software Fund (307), Ms. Clauss mentioned that there is nothing budgeted in that fund for FY 09-10. The next fund in the Water Operation Maintenance Fund (401): Ms. Clauss states that we have a projected water sales of $1.65 million, the connection fees coming in at $2,800 (estimation with four single family residences and four multifamily residences) and the water energy charge is a charge that was just begun at the midpoint of the current fiscal year as well as interest earnings from this fund. On the expenditure side, a portion of the salaries of employees who dedicate a fair portion of their time is in the fund as well. Mr. Gunter explained the professional services portion of this fund which is updating any utility service maps, etc. He noted that we are not capable of doing this in-house and would need to rely on Quentin Hampton. Ms. Clauss went through this fund line by line explaining them as needed. Councilmember Derr had a question about line item 4400, Rentals and Leases: the telephone lease is dispersed throughout each department? Ms. Clauss confirmed that it was and the total is $8,700. Chief Scales explained the leasing of the phone system. Councilmember Sturno wanted more information on line item 3400 (Hydrant Maintenance) of $12,000 and line item 4630 (Hydrant Maintenance) of $12,000 again which appeared to be a duplicate entry. Ms. Clauss and Ms. Pont noted this as well and will be reducing line item 3400 to $4,140. He also asked about the on-call incentive of $100 per week for 24/7 coverage and Ms. Clauss explained this is for one person per week. Line item 9900 (Contingency) $78,670 and what does this cover? Ms. Clauss states that this is the amount that we expect to receive that we do not expect to spend and therefore would roll into the reserves for this fund. Vice-Mayor Davis wanted to know more about the on-call incentive and why it wasn’t considered to be part of their job. It was explained that the on-call person is a weekly rotation and since they are hourly employees and ensures that an individually is readily available to the Town. Vice-Mayor Davis: 1550 and 3450 line items; we have an IT stipend and also paying JBT for helpdesk charges and annual support. Why do we have to have so much computer support? Ms. Clauss explained that the $5,000 IT stipend is to Chief Scales who fills this position of managing the IT area internally. A stipend is a better way to recognize the additional work than incorporating it into the salary because, if Chief Scales left, their next fire chief may not be the best suited to these additional duties. Chief Scales is the point of contact with JBT and makes any decisions regarding ordering of any computers, manages software contracts, etc. Vice-Mayor Davis asked why the hydrant maintenance was moved from the fire department into public works. Ms. Clauss explained that a survey of other municipalities showed that they had this in their water departments as opposed to the fire department. Chief Scales further explained that a professional company called Mueller does an annual inspection, cleaning, painting and flow testing as well as the shift crew inspecting the hydrants twice a year. Vice-Mayor Davis asked about line items 4000 and 4010 in regards to what kind of training does public works do. Ms. Clauss stated that the travel and per diem covered the cost of meals and fuel while at the training class as well as any lodging and the training covers the actual cost of the conference or training class itself. Mr. Gunter explained which water certification training classes the public works department attended. Vice-Mayor Davis asked Mr. Gunter about the computers in the public works facility. He stated that there are three computers and that these are the same type of computers at Town hall. Councilmember Sturno asked how many fire hydrants there are in Town and Chief Scales stated about 110 hydrants. Mayor Goudie wanted to know more about the JBT helpdesk charges and wanted to discuss this later. Refuse Fund (402) is a fund that has monies that come in and we pay the contractor. Some of the postage is covered in this fund for the mailing of the bills, postage machine and one advertisement a year in regards to solid waste. Sewer Fund (403) is completely an in-and-out fund. The monies that come in sent directly over to the City of Port Orange except for the $325 in office supplies and chemical sampling that we do. Expansion Fund (404) shows the impact fees coming in and going out. The only expense that is planned is the engineering design water for Dixie and Montrose water system upgrades. It is a restricted fund for water expansion and improvements. Mr. Gunter explained that it was out into the budget so any money that is received from the federal government a shovel-ready project is planned. Pat Drum, 57 Ocean View Avenue, wanted to know about burying the power lines and how they fit into the master plan. Ms. Clauss states that in 2005, FPL spoke to the Council and noted that this would require a referendum to cover the cost of such. Mr. Gunter stated the FPL will have to pay 25% of the total cost but each house will have to pay approximately $5700 to run the electrical lines from the street to their house. If one house refuses to pay, we lose the 25% of the FPL share. It would take a lot longer to fix if the lines are underground. Telephone and cable lines are not included in this cost. Town wide technology items were discussed by Chief Scales. The graphic information systems work station would replace Mr. Joulani’s current computer. For the public access computer, there are some spare PCs that could be used. The Council approved the GIS workstation for $1,800. The rest of the technology items will be discussed at the beginning of the next budget meeting.