Loading...
FEDRAC MIN 06-28-2011Federal Way City Council SUMMARY Tonal Affairs Committee 1. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Mike Park called the meeting to order at 5:33 PM. Committee Members in Attendance: Committee Chair Park, Committee Members Burbidge. Chair Park excused Committee Member Dovey's absence. Councilmembers in Attendance: Mayor Priest, Deputy Mayor Duclos, Councilmember Kochmar, Councilmember Ferrell, and Councilmember Freeman. Staff Members in Attendance: ASD Bryant Enge, Finance Director Kraus, City Attorney Richardson, CED Director Doherty, Parks /PW Director Roe, IT Manager Fichtner, Parks and Facilities Manager Ikerd, RCM Jones, Executive Assistant Lindquist, and Executive Assistant Cain. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT: One public comment was received from Susan Honda. She spoke in regards to the high rise building proposal for the city owned downtown property and her concerns about the previous development company. 3. COMMITTEE BUSINESS Topic Title /Description Council Placement A. Approval of Minutes: May 24, 2011 N/A Discussion Only Chair Park had one correction for the May 24, 2011 minutes. On item E, the motion should reflect a 2 -1 vote. Committee Member Burbidge moved to approve this change. Chair Park second. Motion carried 2 - 0. Committee Member Burbidge moved to approve minutes with the requested change. Chair Park second. Motion carried 2 - 0. B. Federal Way Civic Center Project Update N/A Discussion Only ASD Enge provided the Committee with an update on the Civic Center project. He stated there has been progress made since the last update. In February 2011, the advisory committee was formed. The advisory committee has members from the business community, performing arts groups, Councilmember Burbidge, a technical advisor and lodging expert. This group is in an advisory role and provides input in the process. In April 2011, the RFQ went out for architectural and engineering services. 15 proposals were received including three international firms. LMN Architects were selected and are currently in contract negotiations. Due diligence will be next. The Public Works Department is working on sidewalk improvements, which should be done by July 2011. The cost for those is approximately $100,000. Councilmembers inquired about where the money will be spent. Parks /PW Director Roe stated the same downtown standards will be applied here and will include decorative lights, sidewalks, and plantings. There will be a presentation for the City Council on July 5, 2011. There was one question from the audience. Who reviewed proposals? ASD Enge stated the committee did which included multiple community members as listed above. C. City Center Redevelopment RFQ Responses Business 07/05/11 Patrick Doherty presented the "Request for Qualifications" responses for the City Center Downtown Redevelopment RFQ. The RFQ was released on April 25, 2011. The RFQ was printed in the Daily Journal of FEDRAC SUMMARY June 28, 2011 Commerce, the Puget Sound Business Journal, the west coast edition of the Wall Street Journal, the International Council of Shopping Centers magazine, and direct mail. Three responses were received. CED Director Doherty completed a brief summary of each proposal. Mayor Priest stated this topic will be a special City Council meeting on July 19, 2011. There was a discussion on the current market conditions that may have had an affect on the number of responses. There was a discussion on whether or not there could be modest changes in the downtown area including public art, grassy areas, signage for the Civic Center, etc to help with attracting development. Mayor Priest discussed having a more aggressive plan for revitalization of the downtown area. It may be the small things that make a difference. Councilmembers expressed their desire to meet on 7/19/2011 to discuss these proposals. They would like to see finance documents for one of the proposals. They also discussed what the market could handle, what can be done to spruce up the area, having a downtown community group, and height of the buildings. Councilmembers inquired about having a large concept for the entire downtown and not having competing design concepts. There was a discussion on how to get new downtown development ideas to decision makers. Councilmembers inquired on the financing for some of the smaller projects. CED Director Doherty stated that some of the modest improvements could be financed from city funds. There are some great opportunities for some improvements. There is interest in researching some of the ideas to see if they could be implemented. There was a request for dollar amounts for the modest improvements. Mayor Priest stated some of these costs will be presented at the 07/19/2011 meeting. Committee Members discussed their hesitation with the three proposals not reflecting the Council's vision of the downtown. One commented in regards to throwing out all the responses. There was a discussion on next steps. There was a discussion on the EB -5 Program. There was a lengthy discussion in regards to options for the land. Chair Park moved to forward to July 19, 2011 City Council meeting as Council business. Committee Member Burbidge second. Motion was withdrawn by Chair Park. Chair Park moved to forward this item to a special session on July 19, 2011 and potentially onto the City Council meeting under Council Business. Committee Member Burbidge second. Motion carried 2 - 0. D. ORDINANCE: Citizen Initiative and Referendum Process Intro Ordinance City Attorney Richardson presented a proposed ordinance about the processing of 07/05/11 citizen initiatives and referendums. This is a housekeeping item that deals with who verifies the signatures, the processing of the initiatives and referendums, and time allowed to gather the signatures. Councilmembers had questions about when the signatures can be gathered and how old they can be when turned in. Committee Member Burbidge moved option 1. Chair Park second. Motion carried 2 - 0. E. Energy Conservation Measures Consent 07/05/11 Parks and Facilities Manager Ikerd and Resource Conservation Manager Jones presented energy conservation measures to the Committee. Approximately one year ago, the City entered into agreement with PSE to assist with conservation measures. This program is partially funded through WSU's Energy Extension Program, PSE and the City. RCM Jones has been performing building audits at all City FEDRAC SUMMARY June 28, 2011 facilities. The primary focus of this program is to implement low cost /no cost measures. These measures would provide immediate and measurable return on investment. RCM Jones reviewed a chart of measures that staff is recommending to implement in four buildings. Committee Members inquired about lighting measures and had heard that LEDs have improved. RCM Jones stated that there are incentives for upgrading items. On July 12, 2012, the old style of lighting will not be manufactured and PSE will be taking incentives off the table. PSE is currently picking up 50% of the per bulb cost. LED lighting has become a proven technology. LEDs are expensive but they cut wattage by up to 80% and have reduced maintenance costs due to the longer burn time. These bulbs have now been installed in the City's traffic lights and in the City Hall art hallway. Committee Member Burbidge moved to forward the authorization of using building reserve funds for implementation of energy conservation measures: $15,573 for City Hall & Police Evidence Building, $8,883 for the Federal Way Community Center, and $3,200 for Dumas Bay Centre, and authorize the Mayor to move said authorization of using reserve funds to the full Council July 5, 2011 consent agenda for approval. Chair Park second. Motion carried 2 - 0. F. Redundant Internet Connection Consent 07 /05 /11 IT Manager Fichtner discussed a redundant internet connection for the City. NoWYR was chosen to provide a point -to -point wireless link that would be redundant. Their service will be much quicker than the other companies in the area. This will also help improve the free wireless service in the downtown area. Committee Member Burbidge moved to forward option 1 to the July 5, 2011 consent agenda. Chair Park second. Motion carried 2 - 0. G. Copier lease vs. Purchase N/A Discussion Only IT Manager Fichtner provided a chart that compares leasing of copier equipment vs. purchasing it. He also stated that IT has reviewed the brand of copiers to make sure we are getting the best for our dollars. IT has chosen Canon copiers as the best brand for City operations. He also presented manufacture costs for purchase and operations. Staff recommends purchasing copiers. Committee members stated that purchasing is the best option. H. Windows 7 /Office 2010 Upgrade IT Manager Fichtner stated the City is upgrading our Windows products. The current version does not have the same functions as the new version has. Windows 7 has been around for 2 years. This is not a simple task for IT staff. There will be major systems upgraded including the servers that have already been upgraded. The email server will be upgraded next and then workstations will be done. IT has been running Windows 7 and Office 2010 and a few bugs have been found. IT will fix those before the rollout. There will be energy savings as Windows 7 can be put in sleep mode easier. Updates will be completed easier and quicker. Committee members inquired about a smooth transition. IT has been using this for 7 months to make sure there are no bugs in the system. The timeline is aggressive but IT will insure a smooth transition. Committee members inquired about donating old computers to non - profits or the schools. IT Manager Fichtner stated there are ways of getting rid of excess equipment and donating to non - profits will be looked at. I. Cooperative Purchasing Agreements N/A Discussion Only N/A Discussion Only Finance Director Kraus stated the City intends to join three national purchasing cooperatives that will provide additional options for purchasing. Membership with these cooperatives does not mean they meet our purchasing requirement so Finance has developed a checklist for departments to use to make sure City's purchasing FEDRAC SUMMARY June 28, 2011 requirements are met. Chair Park inquired whether the City uses the state contract. Finance Director Kraus responded yes and this would add more options. Committee Members wanted to make sure we are using the State of Washington procurement. Finance Director Kraus stated we do use their contract. J. May Monthly Financial Report Consent 07/05/11 Finance Director Kraus provided a brief update on May's Monthly Financial Report. Property tax continues to show a favorable variance, up approximately $60K compared to year -to -date budget estimate. By year -end property tax is expected to exceed budget by approximately $123K. During the last few months, we have sales tax down roughly 2 %. This month we are seeing a better picture but some of the increase is due the $59K amnesty payments the City received. Excluding amnesty payments, sales fax is down 2 %. We have received June's sales tax distribution that also included amnesty payments of roughly $29K. Year -to -date June sales fax excluding amnesty payments is down 1.4% from budget. Utility fax continues to exceed budget. Compared to year -to -date 2010: • Electricity is up $187K, 2011 year -end estimate projects a $1 OK increase • Gas is up $198K, 2011 year -end estimate projects a $152K increase • Solid Waste is up $14K, 2011 year -end estimate projects a $19K increase • Cable is up $13K, 2011 year -end estimate projects a $27K • Phone is down $46K, 2011 year -end estimate projects a $121 K decrease • Cellular is down $99K, 2011 year -end estimate projects a $565K decrease Real estate excise tax continues to exceed budget and is projected to reach $1.4 million by year -end. Gambling tax also continues to exceed budget and by year -end should be close to exceeding by roughly $350K. Red light photo revenues are also up, however, March, April and May net revenues are below 2010 levels. Animal licenses are still projected to reach 50% of budget by year -end. Court fines and forfeitures are seeing some improvement with Traffic and Non - Parking fines maintaining the similar variance as in April's report - down $45K compared to year - to -date May 2010. Jail is currently showing a positive variance. We are seeing savings by using the Chelan jail in 2011 instead of Yakima. January through April Yakima bills in 2010 total $464K compared to $31 OK in 2011, a savings of $100K from decreased usage and $54K from medical savings. Federal Way Community Center continues to perform well with revenues exceeding budget and expenditures below budget. Chair Park inquired whether adjustments would be made to the 2013/2014 budget. Finance Director Kraus stated the mid - biennium budget adjustment would start in September of this year and there would be adjustments made to the 2011/2012 budget which may impact 2013/2014 estimates as a result. Chair Park stated the City's financial situation is much better than other cities. There is some work to do with Animal Services fees. Committee members inquired about what will be done with any revenues that are higher than expected. There will be some adjustments stated Finance Director Kraus. Committee Member Burbidge moved adoption. Chair Park second. Motion carried 2 - FEDRAC SUMMARY June 28 2011 0. K. Vouchers Councilmember Kochmar inquired on check # 223432, payment to Rainier Valley Construction. Finance Director Kraus stated this was a payment made by Public Works Street Department for Hylebos but did not have the specific details of the payment but would provide follow -up. Kraus stated all payments were standard and noted there was one payment to state that was voided and reissued. Committee Member Burbidge moved adoption. Chair Park second. Motion carried 2 -0. * *NOTE: This follow up was sent via email directly after the meeting. ** The payment of $15,603.75 to Rainier Valley Construction is according to agreement # 1 1- 083 for waterline hookup to Lakehaven to the two Hylebos Caretakers homes. Currently the caretakers' homes are on well service. Water connection is scheduled to occur later this year. 4. OTHER: None 5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS: Financial Procedures 6. NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 Meeting adjourned at 7:34 PM. Attest: Mike Park Jeanne Burbidge Committee Chair Committee Member Consent 07/05/11 Brook Lindquist, Executive Assistant Jack Dovey Committee Member