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HomeMy WebLinkAboutcc min 1995/06/07 MINUTES OF A SPECIAL WORKSESSION/MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA Wednesday, June 7, 1995 Council Conference Room 6:~p.m. Administration Building CALL TO ORDER 1. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Councilmembers Alevy, Moot, Padilia, Rindone, and Mayor Horton (left the meeting at 9:13 p.m.) ALSO PRESENT: John D. Goss, City Manager; Bruce M. Boogaard, City Attorney; and Vicki C. Soderquist, Deputy City Clerk BUSINESS 2. REVIEW OF DEPARTMENTAL BUDGETS Mr. Goss stated Council had started a practice of going through the department budgets and tentatively approving them until the final public hearing on June 20th. Council had also identified those items they wanted discussed in detail which would be "carry-over" items for the June 14th meeting. At that time Council would also be reviewing the board/commission budgets, promotions, and carry-overs. In reviewing the budget there was approximately 60- 70 issues regarding expenditure proposed cutbacks and revenue enhancements. Many of those were very difficult issues within the Planning, Police, Library, Parks & Recreation/Open Space, and Community Development/Redevelopment departments. PARKS & RECREATION/OPEN SPACE Parks Mr. Goss stated there was a proposed decrease in the Parks & Recreation budget of $356,980. The effort had been to structure the changes to minimize the impact on the quantity and quality of services provided. It was recommended that the Gardener I position and seasonal gardener position continue to be frozen and that an additional Gardener I position be frozen. The department would also take on the maintenance of the street medians as a cost saving measure. The water budget would be reduced by $44,000. Staff was recommending against the request for unfreezing the Park Ranger position due to budget constraints. One-third of the Park Supervisor's time associated with the activities at Marina View Park would be charged to the Port District. Councilmember Rindone questioned if staff was doing consolidated bidding for maintenance services. Jess Valenzuela, Director of Parks & Recreation, replied that staff continued to do "cluster" bidding as general policy. Recreation Mr. Goss stated it was recommended that the after school program be expanded to Olympic View Elementary School. In order to offset the costs of the program it was recommended that a Program Participation Fee be established of $10 per participant per year. It was recommended that staffing for Sunday programming at the Community Youth Center be eliminated. Parkway Pool would be open for six months and Loma Verde Pool would remain open for twelve months. Staff recommended that the two bene~ted Senior Lifeguard positions be eliminated and be on a part-time basis during the summer months only. Deputy Directors would be given a mileage allowance rather than being provided vehicles. A $30 annual fee for the Therapeutics Program would be instituted for residents and $40 for non-residents. City sponsorship of Camp Sunrise would be reduced from two weeks to one. Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 2 Mr. Goss stated there was a proposal for reduction in wages for hourly employees. He then provided wage comparisons and information with transparencies. The department did not feel it would affect the quality of part- time employees hired. Councilmember Rindone questioned the total projected savings from the reductions. Mr. Goss replied that the overall savings would be $72,000. Regarding revenue enhancements, Daily Admission Fees and Learn to Swim Fees had already been discussed. Swimming Pool Passes had been discussed and there was no resolution with staff returning with an additional proposal. He recommended that the Swimming Pool Passes be treated as a carry-over item. Staff recommended that the adult league fees be increased by $50.00 and that a $25 surcharge be applied to the youth leagues. One staff recommendation that the Parks & Recreation Commission did not support was the recommendation for a $1.00 drop-in fee for the Parkway Gym. The cost of printing the recreation brochures currently borne by the General Fund would be transferred to the Recreation Trust Fund. Open Space Districts Mr. Goss stated that because the general taxpayer was paying a portion of the open space districts' administrative support it was recommended that the districts be charged for their portion of the Parks Department overhead but not a full cost recovery factor. Mayor Horton questioned if the City owned the Women's Club. Mr. Valenzuela responded that the City did own the facility and it was rented out and utilized for recreation classes. It was an Enterprise Fund that paid for itself, i.e. maintenance, staffing, etc. The City was probably on the low end of the hourly rate for the Womens Club and staff could look at those figure. Mayor Horton felt the Parkway Pool should be kept open until mid-October while the weather was still warm. Mr. Valenzuela replied that the attendance did drop off significantly after school began in September. Councilmember Padilia referred to Account 5225, Transportation Allowances, and questioned the dramatic increase from 1993/94 to 1995/96. Mr. Goss stated the two deputy directors currently had City issued cars and it was reconunended that they receive a car allowance. There was an increase in that account but there would be an overall reduction of approximately $4,900. Councilmember Rindone questioned if the $1.00 drop-in fee was only applicable to the Parkway Gym. He further questioned the amount of revenues received if Council supported the $10.00 Program Participation Fee. Mr. Goss stated the revenues generated from the Program Participation Fee would be approximately $10,000. Councilmember Rindone stated he had met with Mr. Goss regarding his deep reservations on three items. He felt he could support the $1.00 drop-in fee for non-residents for Parkway Gym. The two that were totally unacceptable were the reduction of part-time salaries, a savings of $72,000, and the $10.00 Participation Fee, projected revenues of $10,000. He would not be part of a Council that would place a participation fee on youth to play on a playground on an annual basis. That was totally unacceptable. Mr. Goss stated it was not a fee to play on the playground but to participate in organized activities. They would not be excluded from playing on the playground. Councilmember Rindone stated he did not want to see any assessment placed on any youth participating in after school recreation programs. Council needed to be committed to being pro-active and not just reactire with additional police, etc. He felt Council could find the $82,000 somewhere else in the budget to cover those costs. Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 3 He recommended that the salary cuts for part-time personnel and the $10.00 participation fee be carded over with alternative ftmding sources or other reductions for the $82,000. He had not heard of any mid-level management positions being reduced or eliminated in the Parks & Recreation Department. MOTION: (Rindone) Council would not include the $10.00 Program Participation Fee or reduction in the salaries the of Recreation Aide, Recreation Leader, and Recreation Supervisor. Place those items on the carry-over list and direct the City Manager to find alternative funding sources or other reductions to make up the $82,000. Mayor Horton stated she was supportive on the $10.00 Participation Fee. However, she preferred the decrease in part-time salaries rather than laying people off. When looking at the salary comparisons with other cities the reductions were not out of line. She wanted the items carried over to Council could see the entire budget and know what they were dealing with. Councilmember Padilia felt Council needed to look at the entire budget and see what the reality was in terms of the flexibility. Council needed to look at the bottom line and then they would know where they could mitigate some of the reductions proposed that they were uncomfortable with. He was in favor of carrying over the item for further information. Councilmember Alevy stated he had a problem with the increase in fees for the senior leagues. He felt it would eliminate many adults from participating in those activities. Certain sports put more stress and wear on the fields than others and he felt more attention should be paid to that. The City had contributed electricity, water, labor, administration, manpower, and allowed the youth leagues to have their own concessions without taxation and he felt the department should look at those costs with a set-aside for scholarships for teams that could not afford to participate. He questioned if the walk-in fee for Parkway Gym was for residents as well as non-residents. Mr. Goss replied that it was proposed for residents and non-residents. He was uncertain of the administrative ability to do it for just non-residents. That was an issue staff could return with morn information. Councilmember Alevy stated he was concerned that Parks & Recreation personnel were responsible for maintenance of the street medians. He felt it was inappropriate for that department. Mr. Goss stated that in the past it had been contracted out but staff was proposing that the parks staff pick-up that task as a cost saving measure. Therefore, maintenance may not be as good as currently provided with the proposed reduced staff and adding the maintenance of the medians. Contracting the organization had been the focal point of most of the budget. Councilmember Alevy felt that many of the full-time and part-time employees of the Parks & Recreation Department were doing as much to mitigate crime, gang problems, etc. as many of the social service agencies. He questioned if the City should not look at the CDBG structure and taking some of those funds to enhance and augment what the Parks & Recreation staff was doing instead of giving it all to someone else. Councilmember Moot stated he wanted to carry over the potential savings that was rejected which involved the Boys & Girls Club assuming some of the after school recreational progrants. Mr. Valenzuela stated he had talked to representatives of the Boys & Girls Club and they felt them was a possibility of combining Park View Elementary School and Gregg Rogers School. It would be assumed at the Club versus the playground sites. Mr. Mosher felt they could accommodate it but they charged a $15.00 yearly fee. Councilmember Moot stated he had a difti~rent philosophical perspective regarding the $10.00 Participation Fee. He did not feel that was a tremendous amount of money to participate in a program. It was an opportunity for the youth to raise funds for something that they wanted to do, it could be a positive thing. Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 4 ® Manuel M. Martinez, 347 Monteaim Street, Chula Vista, CA, representing Park View Little League, stated he was strongly opposed fees charged to Little League teams as they were a non-profit organization. He felt the support they had received from the City was minimal at best. The adult league could afford to pay an increase. He questioned the status of the remodeling of Gregg Rogers Park. · Ken Newton, 2442 Manzana Way, San Diego, CA, stated he had been a Recreation Leader for the Parks & Recreation Department for six years. The job had assisted him in paying his way through San Diego State University and make his career choice in life. He was opposed to the pay cuts for the part-time staff and the implementation of the fees for the after school sites. He proposed to form a committee of recreation leaders to develop a list of revenue generating aetivlties patterned after local universities intermural activity programs. He did not feel that many of the families would be able to afford the annual $10.00 Participation Fee and, therefore, those students would be out on the streets. · Karen Walden, 362 Del Mar Avenue, Chula Vista, CA, stated she was a Senior Lifeguard and she opposed the staff recommendation to freeze the position. Terminating the position created a greet risk and liability for the City. · Diana Ross, 152 Garret Avenue, #22, Chula Vista, CA, representing the recreation staff, stated she was pleased to hear that Council was not supporting the $10.00 Park Participation Fee but another issue of concern was the $1.00 drop-in fee for the gymnasiums. She suggested an annual or monthly fee for those facilities. She was opposed to the reduction in pay for part-time personnel. They were currently on the high end of the salary survey but they were highly trained. If the pay cuts were approved they would be on the low end of the salary survey. She had not heard anything about management taking pay cuts and felt it could be spread out more evenly. · Steve Palma, 176 Montgomery Street, Chula Vista, CA, Parks & Recreation Commissioner, stated Parks & Recreation was preventative maintenance. The youth should not be the ones to sacrifice. When looking at the overall operation cost for department staff maybe there could be some consolidation. He had voted for some of the increases as he felt there was a need to generate income but he did not see how they could ask certain people to take pay cuts. He disagreed that Parks & Recreation should take any cuts. Council should look at the overall City. · Russ Hall, 235 "K" Street, Chula Vista, CA, Parks & Recreation Commissioner, stated the budget had been a difficult process for the Cornnnssion. He was troubled that the fees that would be raised were not guaranteed to go back to the Parks & Recreation Department. If that was true, they would be back in the same place next year with no end in sight. He felt the Council should decide what the core services were that could be provided on a regular basis without pitting one side of the community against the other. The Director should meet with the key members of his staff and develop those basic core services he felt his department could provide based upon a commitment from the Council of a stabilized budget. Council would be making difficult choices that had been delayed for years. MS (Horton/Alevy) to carry over the Parks & Recreation budget. Coaneilmember Moot questioned what the Landscape Architect did. Mr. Valenzuela replied that he provided all the landscape architectural services for the department, new park planting, involved in the park master plans for new parks and open space area, assisted the Director with the landscape installation for open space areas, and helped to develop the CIP program for rehabilitating the aging parks in the western part of the City. His pay was defrayed through either CIP monies or development aceottnts. It did not impact the General Fund. Councilmember Moot questioned where that inflow was reflected in the budget. Mr. Goss stated it was reflected in the revenue section, i.e. transfers into the General Fund. It was not reflected by department. Because of the difficulty of segregating the revenues that would go to individual departments it was listed as General Fund revenues. Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 5 Councilmember Moot questioned how staff could say that the Landscape Architect was fully funded by CIP and not reflected in the budget. Mr. Goss stated staff did know, but the nature of the way revenues for the General Fund were reflected was that revenues were accumulated by the category of revenues that went into the overall budget. The department kept time sheets and charged out those costs to the individual projects. VOTE ON MOTION: to carry over the Parks & Recreation budget to the budget heating on June 14, 1995. MSC (Rindone/Alevy) the Program Participation Fee of $10.00 per child to participate in the after school recreation prograin not be brought back. Approved 3-2 with Horton/Moot opposed. MSF 01indone/Padilla) the reduction of part-time salaries of the Recreation Aide, Recreation Leader, and Recreation Specialist not be brought back for consideration. (Direction to staff to find an alternative revenue source or reduction.) Failed 2-2-0-1 with Horton/Moot opposed and Alevy abstaining. Councilmember Moot questioned the wisdom of not bringing back the $10.00 Program Participation Fee. * * * Council recessed at 7:55 p.m. and reconvened at 8:04 p.m. * * * Mr. Goss stated discussions were being held with the Sweetwater Union High School District regarding underwriting the costs for the manager of the EastLake Performing Arts Center. Those were ongoing discussions and there was a possibility that an additional position would be added. At the present time he felt it would be revenue neutral. POLICE DEPARTMENT Mr. Goss stated the Police/Police Grants budget was proposed to increase by $223,058. If grants were discounted the budget was actually decreased by $110,000. Staff proposed to add four additional police officers for $220,000 utilizing Federal Crime Bill monies at $100,000 with the local match of $120,000 allocated from CDBG funds. Staffs analysis was that there was no place else to get the money other than the CDBG funds or the General Fund. He outlined other grant-funded officer positions. Recommendations for revenues included: equipment violation sign-off charge, privately-initiated vehicle impound fees, full cost recovery on issuing traffic accident reports, tow referral fee for Police-initiated tow, and increased fees for fingerprint services. Budget reductions dealt with overtime costs, the elimination of the school patrol camp subsidy, and the South Bay Community Services contract. The patrol vehicle replacement would be shifted permanently from 2 to 3 years for patrol vehicles and from 4 to 5 years for the replacement of canine vehicles. It was recommended that the deletion of the Quality of Work Life and Training Coordinator be switched from Personnel to the Police Department as the Police Community Relations Coordinator. A vacant Community Services Officer position would be deleted. Coordination of sworn officer training duties would be civilianized and a new position of Police Training Coordinator would be added. Entrepreneurial ventures included the commercial traffic enforcement program to identify and fine improperly equipped commercial vehicles and vehicles carrying loads in excess of road surfaces. Supplemental budget requests for eight new microcomputers was recommended for deferral at the present time. A request for two new positions, i.e. Lieutenant and Sergeant was not recommended. Mayor Horton requested that staff address the concerns expressed in the letter from the Police Officers Association. Mr. Goss stated the reference to problem vehicles was not a current issue. The Department had worked very closely with Public Works Operations in terms of developing specifications for patrol vehicles. Rick Emerson, Chief of Police, stated Mr. Cox and some of the members had drafted their concerns after hearing only the budget overview from the City Manager. Staff had not had an opportunity to meet with them on the issues. The Department was currently ordering Crown Victories which was giving the Department good service. There was a problem in the past in getting vehicles outfitted which resulted in a delay of 4-5 months. Staff felt that could be managed. Vehicles were no longer being auctioned off but stripped for used parts. Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 6 Councilmember Padilia questioned who had administrative control over the police fleet for time and service. Chief Emerson raplied that the Department worked with Public Works Operations and the Fleet Manager. Councilmember Padilia questioned if there was an average mileage on a patrol unit so when it was exceeded there was accelerated maintenance costs. Dave Byers, Deputy Director of Public Works/Operations, stated three things were tracked for replacement: 1) age, 2) mileage, and 3) cost per mile and total life maintenance of the vehicle. Past experience had been at approximately 100,000 miles. Because the Crown Victorias were new vehicles they did not have the maintenance history. Chief Emerson distributed a tentative outline that had been developed in conjunction with the people in the unit. Staff looked at the outreach program, i.e. Senior Volunteers, PAL, CAST, and volunteers, alarms, community relations, and crime prevention programs. They felt it could be addressed in a more effective fashion. They did not have a firm definition of how it would be broken out. Mayor Horton questioned if it was the Department's recommendation to management and not from management to the Department. Chief Emerson replied that was correct. There had been discussion about how to assimilate people and not have layoffs but when looking at the available people that were there they felt it was something that would work out for them. Mayor Hotton questioned how the individual volunteer programs were presently administered. Chief Emerson stated in reality some of the programs were in the wrong place and spread out through the organization because they did not have someone that could be centrally in charge of the programs. Mayor Hotton stated they did not have a problem with the way the programs were currently being handled and questioned why a new position should be created. Chief Emerson replied that staff did not have the opportunity to do the other things they should be doing because they were working with the volunteers. They probably could continue to operate in that fashion but it would give them an opportunity to organize it the way it should be done. Mayor Horton questioned the deletion of the Community Service Officer. Chief Emerson replied that 56 police officers had been hired since he came to the City. They did not get enough of an opportunity to write police reports as they should. During the training process staff felt some police officers could be at the front desk in a training mode where they could process 10-15 police reports in an eight hour period. They would receive immediate feedback on those reports. He felt that would enhance the Department's abilities. Mr. Goss stated the addition of four police officers was being recommended and another officer would be displaced by a civilian so that officer could go back to patrol duties. Councilmember Padilia stated a CSO would absorb some of the responsibilities that would be delegated to the patrol person out in the field. He questioned if the situation with the volunteer organizations was untenable and, therefore, required the addition of the Community Relations Coordinator essentially eliminating the ability to fund preventative or proactive programs in the department. Chief Emerson responded that in order to keep volunteers going they needed to have rewards and assurance that what they were doing was really important. Without that attention volunteers dwindled away. Last year volunteers Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 7 donated 29,000 hours. With the addition of the Senior Volunteer Patrol the number would reach 40,000 - 50,000 hours. Community based policing meant they had to be in touch with the people they were providing service to. Councilmember Rindone recommended that the micro-computers be added to the carry-over list. Councilmember Padilia requested responses to the operational impacts on the department. Mr. Goss stated the Civilian Training Coordinator would replace an agent that would go into patrol or investigations. He felt it was up to the Chief to assess the needs of the department when teassigning that position and shifting personnel accordingly. Chief Emerson stated he did not know where the POA had received their information regarding the shifting of that position, but in reality that agent would probably be shifted to narcotics. · Kathryn Lembo, 315 Fourth Avenue, Chula Vista, CA, representing South Bay Community Services, explained the services the Police Department had contracted for over the last twelve years. Mayor Hotton stated she wanted the Police Department budget carried over because she had concerns regarding the cuts. Ms. Lembo stated her costs for programs was $149,500 for actual staff and she received $120,000 from the City. The difference was made up through fund raising, leveraging United Way dollars and private donation dollars. Other services offered through the agency was approximately $100,000 - $200,000 per year which was private funding. She was willing to work with the City Manager, the Police Chief, and Public Works Director and look at graffiti as a whole because it was currently included in the Police Department, CDBG funding, and Public Works. She felt they could work out a way of providing the same level of service at a cheaper cost with some of the money going over to diversion. They had a grant proposal which would cover the cost of one counselor and they would not know if they received the funding until the end of July. She felt the City and South Bay Community Services should meet with the Presiding Judge regarding the increase of fees to help diversion. There needed to be a policy commitment that the service remain. Councilmember Padilia stated he supported carrying over the funding for South Bay Community Services. He was concerned in cutting out their funding and then creating a position for $63,000. He wanted to sea funding alternatives to keep the diversion program. Mr. Goss stated it was a reluctant proposal but there was some concern about the level of service being provided. The $63,000 was being deleted from the Personnel Department. There could be other alternatives with the additional of~ricers being added and it was possible that another CSO could be deleted for a cost savings of $38,000. Chief Emerson stated they supported prevention and hoped there was a way to get the program to support itself with a fee based program and grants rather than the rest of the City supporting it. Councilmember Moot questioned if Council could address issues that were subject of on-going negotiations that would come within the budget. Mr. Goss stated that based on on-going negotiations there could be fiscal impacts on the budget that were currently unknown. One of the dangers of stating that a certain dollar amount had been set aside for any results of Meet & Confer would be that it would become the point of negotiations. It was a difficult issue and in terms of Meet & Confer Council may want to talk about it in Closed Session. Councilmember Moot felt those issues should be solidified before Council review of the budget so they would know what that number was. Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 8 Mr. Goss stated there was a problem with that as well because it was not known how much money was available at that time. It was a problem either way. Councilmember Alevy questioned if grants were received if the budgeted funds then went to off-set General Fund expenditures. Mr. Goss stated grant monies could not be used for salaries and equipment was usually not a negotiable item. Councilmember Padilia questioned how the positions funded by the COPS Bill would be absorbed. Chief Emerson stated they would be transferred to the General Fund. The COPS Bill was a bridge that would get the Department through the tough times and at the end of the three year period the economic conditions in the community would be much better. Because of the projected growth of the City the Department would need to continue adding officers. Councilmember Rindone stated the facilities were built for the year 2000 and questioned future needs. Mr. Goss stated the master plan anticipated that there would be additional buildings built on the present site. Eventually, for the Police Department, it would entail eliminating Community Development and the legislative offices. In ternas of overall needs the interim step would be the purchase of the El Dorado building. MSUC CRindone/Padilla) to carry forward the Police Department budget for one week. Mr. Goss recommended Council review the Library and Planning budgets and carry over the other budgets. Council normally adopted a tentative budget prior to July 1st. Councilmember Rindone stated Council did not have a meeting scheduled for 6/27/95 but that a special meeting could be called with Council not meeting on 7/11/95. * * * Mayor Horton left the meeting at 9:13 p.m. * * * LIBRARY Mr. Goss commended the department and the Director for adding a new facility which required a tremendous amount of staffing and reorganizing the department in order to minimize the increase in staff'mg. The proposed budget contained fee adjustments, supplemental budget issues, and recommended reductions. The biggest item was the reduction of the materials budget of $118,000, but the Library DIF was being utilized as a capital funding source for the South Chula Vista Library and building up its stock. Councilmember Moot stated the Library budget stated very clear goals which he would like to see for every department. He would also like to see along with the goals some performance criteria. Mr. Goss stated many of the departmental budgets contained goals but some were not included in the cotnmentary. Councilmember Alevy stated he did not have any problem with the budget but felt the name, Civic Center Library, was boring. It was an opportunity to memorialize or honor someone and get the community involved. It was a matter of civic pride. Mr. Goss stated when he first came to the City there was a definite notion that facilities would not be named after people. Councilmember Rindone stated three of the current five Councilmembers had recently been involved in the recent bloodletting process and the name chosen was the South Chula Vista Library. He questioned ifa benchmark survey had been recently done on key positions in the Library. Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 9 David Palmet, Library Director, informed Council that the Assistant Library Director position had been eliminated. Councilmember Rindone requested that Council be given a copy of the organizational chart for the Library. MSC (Rindone/Moot) to tentatively approve the Library budget, staff to return with an organizational chart with the carry-over items. Approved 4-0-1 with Horton absent. PLANNING Mr. Goss stated the budget contained a lot of shifting around of staffing. In the 1994/95 budget the percent of non- General Fund revenues to support operations was about 73 %, the projection was about 63 %, and for 1995/96 it was proposed to be 95%. The impacts of the budget would be diminished ability to work on General Fund funded projects. Councilmember Alevy questioned how that compared to other cities. Robert Leiter, Director of Planning, stated it was probably higher than most cities. They would be starting EastLake and San Miguel Ranch in 1995/96 which were one time projects. Therefore, staff felt they could meet the 95%, but because they were one time projects that percentage would have to be re-evaluated at the end of those projects. Councilmember Moot questioned the progress of the Park Implementation Plan. Mr. Leiter stated that project was on track and staff was currently working on it with the Parks & Recreation Department. He felt projects such as the Central Chula Vista Zoning Study, which had not been started, would be impacted. Mr. Goss stated the Otay Valley Regional Park Plan was also on going and the City neexted to protect the City's interest. Councilmember Rindone questioned if staff had started the review of Third Avenue north of E Street. He was concerned that the emphasis was not on the older areas of the community. He questioned what the budget impacts were on the GIS system. Mr. Leiter stated certain segments had been accomplished but it was a long term project, i.e. reviewing neighborhoods one at a time. The GIS system was being used to produce planning maps and reports. Developing new applications, entering new data bases. or expanding the capabilities of the system would occur at a slower rate with the budget cuts. Councilmember Moot questioned if input had been received from the developers regarding the 95% and the cost to them on the projects. Mr. Leiter stated staff had negotiated with both EastLake and San Miguel regarding the work programs, staffing plan and funding requirements and they were in basic agreement with both. Mr. Goss stated it was the same thing with Otay Ranch and staff was recommending additional staffing or unfreezing of certain positions. Baldwin had agreed to pay those costs. Councilmember Rindone questioned what the change was from the present budget to the proposed budget for planning staff for general services. Mr. Leiter responded 2.5 positions would be transferred to work on the special projects that would have otherwise been working on current and advanced planning functions. None of the changes would require layoffs. Staff would also continue to look for other outside funding sources, i.e. grants, etc. Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 10 Councilmember Rindone questioned if the Cellular Antenna Siting Study would be delayed. Mr. Leiter stated other cities were addressing the same issue and SANDAG was addressing it from a regional perspective. Staff was trying to bring in outside resources. Councilmember Rindone questioned if interns and volunteers were being utilized. Mr. Leiter stated they presently utilized a .5 intern which would be reduced to .25 for the next fiscal year. Councilmember Rindone stated if the budget was too tight the Department could return to Council. He felt the budget contained some very tough decisions and recommendations. MSC (Alevy/Moot) to tentatively approve the Planning Department budget. Approved 4-0-1 with Borton absent. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Mr. Goss stated an issue in the Community Development budget which was an overall issue Council may want to consider was in conjunction with the minutes that were taken for the boards/commissions, other than the Council, RDA, and Planning Commission. While reducing staff there was an increased work load in taking minutes for the boards/commissions. Councilmember Rindone questioned if a tiered structure had ever been examined. There were some commissions that had a sigin~cnnt number of recommendations to Council which would require more detailed minutes while others were not as significant. He questioned if Council should form a subcommittee to review all boards/commissions to see if it could be streamlined. Mr. Goss stated it was 1,800 hours for Community Development, i.e. 600 hours for the Redevelopment Agency minutes with 1,200 hours for all the other boards/commissions the Community Development Department supported. He felt it was a workload problem. Councilmember Moot questioned if it would eliminate the staff person at the meeting. Mr. Goss responded that the staff person would be present but the minutes would be action minutes which only reflected the motions. He felt Council may want to form a subcommittee for review. Councilmember Rindone stated he preferred to add the issue to the carry over list because Mayor Horton was not present. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None OTHER BUSINESS 3. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT(S) - None 4. MAYOR'S REPORT(S) - None Minutes June 7, 1995 Page 11 5. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Moot Councilmember Moot did not want the Council to be so quick to abandon the $10.00 Park Participation Fee. He felt many could afford the fee and he would not propose that those that could not afford the fee pay it. He did not feel it unreasonable. CLOSED SESSION Council did not meet in Closed Session. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATOR - Pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 ® Agency negotiator: John Goss or designee for CVEA. WCE. Executive Management, Mid-Management, and Unrepresented. Employee organization: Chula Vista Employees Association (CVEA) and Western Council of Engineers (WCE). Unrepresented employee: Executive Management, Mid-Management, and Unrepresented. ADJOURNMENT ADJOURNMENT AT 9:38 P.M. to the Regular City Council Meeting on June 13, 1995 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Respectfully submitted, BEVERLY A. AUTHELET, CMC, City Clerk I\ I i / -, , ~ ! ~ ~ ~.. !". ~ -~,' by: ' .IX':*'- ' \~. xli'~ ,I Vicki C. Soderquist, CMC,..l~eputy City Clerk