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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-04-09MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2010 — 1:00 P.M. Administrative Services Conference Room PALM DESERT CIVIC CENTER - 73510 FRED WARING DRIVE Palm Desert, California 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor/Chairman/Chairman Finerty convened the meeting at 1:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Present: Councilmember/Member/Member Jean M. Benson Mayor Pro TemNice ChairmanNice Chairman Jim Ferguson Councilman/Member/Member Richard S. Kelly Councilman/Member/Member Robert A. Spiegel Mayor/Chairman/Chairman Cindy Finerty Also Present: John M. Wohlmuth, City Manager/RDA Executive Director David J. Erwin, City Attorney Stephen Y. Aryan, Assistant to the City Manager Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk Russell Grance, Director of Building & Safety Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Paul S. Gibson, Director of Finance/City Treasurer Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs Dorian Cooley, Division Chief, Palm Desert Fire/Riverside Co. Fire Dept./Cal Fire Bill Hunley, Battalion Chief, Palm Desert Fire/Riverside Co. Fire Dept./Cal Fire Andrew Shouse, Asst. Chief, Palm Desert Police/Riverside Co. Sheriffs Dept. J. Luis Espinoza, Asst. Finance Director Lori Carney, Human Resources Manager Clay von Helf, Information Systems Manager David Hermann, Management Analyst III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY IV. NEW BUSINESS APRIL 9, 2010 A. CONSIDERATION OF THE PRELIMINARY CITY MANAGER'S FINANCIAL PLAN FOR FISCAL YEAR 2010-2011: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, BUILDING & SAFETY, SHERIFF, FIRE, CITY MANAGER (includes City Council, City Clerk, Human Resources, and Special Programs), AND FINANCE DEPARTMENTS. Following is a verbatim transcript of the discussion and action occurring at this meeting. Key: JMW John M. Wohlmuth, City Manager/RDA Executive Director RAS Councilman/Member/Member Robert A. Spiegel PSG Paul S. Gibson, Director of Finance/City Treasurer JF Mayor Pro TemNice ChairmanNice Chairman Jim Ferguson RSK Councilman/Member/Member Richard S. Kelly CF Mayor/Chairman/Chairman Cindy Finerty SYA Stephen Y. Aryan, Assistant to the City Manager AS Lt. Andrew Shouse, Asst. Chief of Police, Palm Desert Police/Riverside Co. Sheriff JMB Councilmember/Member/Member Jean M. Benson DC Dorian Cooley, Division Chief, Palm Desert Fire/Riverside Co. Fire Dept./Cal Fire FR Frankie Riddle, Director of Special Programs RDK Rachelle D. Klassen, City Clerk LA Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development DJE David J. Erwin, City Attorney LC Lori Carney, Human Resources Manager JLE J. Luis Espinoza, Assistant Finance Director RG Russell Grance, Director of Building & Safety CVH Clay von Helf, Information Systems Manager JMW Thank you for scheduling this meeting and attending. We want to go over Police, Fire, City Manager, Community S-, Development, Building and Safety, Recycling, and Finance today. And bef-, maybe I'II give you a general overview of what this proposed budget, or staff -generated budget, it's...reflects $42, 910,000 revenues, which is, essentially, static from last year...some decreases, and an expenditure plan of $42,637,000, which leaves a temporary surplus of $272,963. But we're not going to call that a surplus, because some of the deferrals we made in the last two years, like the Retiree Health Account, we'd like to fund that, if...there is a balance at the end of the budget discussions. We've...delayed our contributions to Retiree Health and to Equipment Replacement in the last two years, so we're not calling it a surplus, given the layoffs and the other amendments that we've made in the budget. But know that...in the event that you wish to add to the budget, there's $272,963; we could defer Retiree Health one more year. So 2 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 that's...the plan. You'll also note that there's a City Manager Column — the cuts as I went through the Department Budgets — we've cut a little over $2,000,000 at the staff level before it got to you as a City Council. That does include the employee layoffs that we instituted for the struct-, to fix the structural issues that we have moving forward. The first item, if you wish, is the Police, and Stephen will give an overview of the Police Budget and the discussion at the Public Safety Commission. RAS John, can we talk about your revenues first? JMW Sure. RAS Seems like that's...then we're gonna' go into the Budget. JMW Okay. RAS I think that they're misleading. Sales Tax - you have us earning, getting $400,000 less this year than, next year than this year. Our retail sales are beginning to rise, as you've noticed, and we're going to have the Village on El Paseo, Gardens Expansion opening up, and I don't see how we're gonna' do less in Sales Tax this year than last year. PSG Unfortunately, Bob...the State each year makes an adjustment for the prior year. So the current 09-10, they make an adjustment called "true -up," typically around October is when they make that. Unfortunately, based on what the current forecast from our consultant is, it's dropping us down, because they're going to take some more away from us based on their adjustments. So that's the reason it's down while the people are up. RAS The State's going to take money away from us? JF (Unclear)...State's... PSG Every year they make an adjustment, either positive or negative. If we're growing like this, they give us an...adjustment based on last year's actual history. RAS So we don't get what we earn. PSG Right now, the forecast is, will...take...an additional RAS We will not get what we earn. JMW We get what we earn. What Paul is saying is they...pay us a Sales Tax number, and then they, after the end of the quarter, then they reconcile that number. So they advance us the Sales Tax based on the projection... 3 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 PSG Right. JMW ...and then they rectify that, or reconcile that at the end. PSG In October's when they do the final adjustment. And right now, based on what our consultant has said, we'll have a negative adjustment. RSK They make their estimate, though, on a Statewide basis. PSG Correct. That's part of the problem. RSK And ours is not necessarily follow the State... -wide trend. PSG Correct. RSK So what you're saying is they make the adjustment after the quarter. PSG At the end of their, the full... RSK At the end of the year? PSG ...when they've collected all the Sales Tax and got all the numbers reconciled, then they make the adjustment — typically around October is when they provide us that information. RAS If we get it in October, it'll still be in this Fiscal Year. PSG Our books are already closed at that point, depending on when they release that information, but typically, it's for next year is what they're adjusting it for. RAS That plus the fact that you've got our Hotel Occupancy Tax being about the same. PSG Right. RAS And in talking to the Marriott, they anticipate a much better year next year than this year, because of what they've already got booked. PSG These are conservative numbers. Could they be better? Yes, but I ca-, at this point, there's a lot of things that are happening in the Valley. For example, there's over 400 layoffs occurring in this Valley, due to the Schools, due to the County, due to the Cities, that can have an impact on our retail. I don't have a crystal ball, but I felt more comfortable with being conservative here than being optimistic. 4 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JMW We met with the Marriott, and they estimated 51 % occupancy rate. So I don't know...if the corporate...conventions and the outings start picking up. Usually, those are booked a couple years in advance. They...have seen an increase in their weekend stays from the local Los Angeles market coming out, but that's not the big dollar number, usually it's the convention sales and... RAS I understand that. JMW ...most of those, if they start coming back, we'll see those in future years. RAS I'm just telling you what I was told. JF So we all hope that you're wrong... PSG That'd be nice. JF ...basically. PSG That'd be a positive outcome. JMW Paul hopes he's wrong too. CF Yeah. JF Well, don't we, haven't we historically always overestimated...expenditures and underestimated revenues? JMW Yes. JF By a certain percentage? PSG In the past, yes. But the last two years, obviously... CF Last two years, yes... PSG ...our revenues have been lower than the estimates. RAS Yeah, the last two years. PSG Yes. RAS But over the history of the City. 5 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 CF I would rather be pleasantly surprised, and I appreciate your conservative approach, Paul. JF Well I'm sure we all do. RSK Well I think that...especially now, we ought to be shooting at what we think is the middle of the target. I mean I can, I understand you conservatives, and you're always happy, but for 27 years, we've had a surplus that I've been around. And it seems to me, you know, if you're shooting at a target, and you keep hittin' at one side, hittin' the one side, hittin' the one side, somewhere along the line, you ought to be adjusting to try to get zeroed in on the target. And so my only point is that if it means that we're gonna' cut something that...is a public service just because we're trying to be conservative, when we ought to be tryin' to shoot right at the target. RAS Anyway, just wanted to give you my concerns. JMW Thank you. Steve? IPolice Services SYA Thank you, honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers. The budget amount indicated to maintain the current level of Police Services next Fiscal Year is approximately $16.4 million, representing an increase of a little over $1 million, or 7% prior year's budget. This increase is primarily attributable to a retroactive 3.98% Patrol Rate increase this year and an anticipated 3.5% increase of this rate next Fiscal Year. As part of their budget request, the Police Department presented various recommendations and options that the Council could consider that would reduce the budget by not contracting for various positions. The City Manager is recommending the following three actions. First, closing the Washington Street Substation, saving $6,500. Second, eliminating the vacant Community Services Officer -I (CSO-I) position, saving $74,000. And lastly, reducing the overtime budget by 50%, saving $154,000. Now collectively, if these recommendations are implemented, the budget would be reduced by approximately $235,000. RSK Not over last year, though? SYA Would be reduced from the $1 million. RSK Would be reduced from what was asked for. SYA Correct. RSK You sound like the State of California. 6 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY SYA The $1 million increase would be reduced by $235,000. RSK That's a better way to say it. APRIL 9, 2010 SYA Yes, sir. The City's Public Safety Commission approved the City Manager's recommendation last week, along with not contracting fora currently filled CSO-I position. So the Commission is recommending a budget increase reduction, a budget reduction of that $1 million of approximately $310,000, which is the extra position that they added to the recommendations. This concludes staffs recomm-, presentation. We'd be happy to answer any questions you have, and Lieutenant Shouse is also available. RAS I have a...couple of questions. We have 1.56 officers per thousand, is that correct? SYA Yes. AS Yes. RAS How's that compare to the other cities? AS We're slightly lower than Rancho Mirage, slightly lower than Indian Wells. With regard to the other outlying cities... RAS Palm Springs and Cathedral City and... AS Not sure what their ratios are. I think probably safe to say that we're...my guesstimate is that we're better staffed than those two other cities. Better staffed than Coachella. Probably about even with La Quinta. I'm not sure about Indio's. RAS How do we compare with the County, how is the County's ratio? AS County's...right now I think 0.9 officers per thousand. So they have significantly less staffing. RAS Okay. CF I might add the national average they strive for 1 officer per 1,000 people. We have, through the General Plan Process, decided that we didn't want to be just average, we wanted to really go out there and be proactive. And we decided to be at the 1.5 at a minimum. RAS I got no problem with the 1. ...(unclear) RSK Talkin' about...our objective that we have in the General Plan, isn't that 1.5? 7 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 CF Yes. JF Yeah. CF 1.5. RSK 1.5. And so we're over that. CF Barely. But it's kinda', it's not even a full position, actually, it's...a half a position. RAS My next question is do you plan on closing down over here, pretty much, except for maybe one person when you move out, is that right? AS The 111 Substation? Or the Washington Street? RAS This one right here. JF Next door. AS Oh, I'm sorry. The Civic Center. The...plan right now is to...maintain a presence there at the Civic Center...Substation. As you know, the Sheriffs Department is negotiating with the City for that lease over there to keep Dispatch there. The plan is to maintain some office space in the front portion of that building so that Palm Desert Police Officers can go in, use the building...use the computers there to write reports, and so forth. If we maintain, or if the Council decides to keep the existing CSO-I that we have, then that CSO-I will work at the Civic Center Substation, and we'll maintain some office hours during the week. RAS The reason I bring it up is, you probably know we're getting a lot more vandalism in our parks, and Civic Center Park is not immune to that. And...without some kind of presence around here, we might have problems. AS I think we'll be able to, whether or not the Council decides to...retain that CSO-I to work in the Station, I think we'll have significant presence here still. The...one of our plans is to have our Business District Officers, have their bicycles and Segways located in close proximity to the business district, whether it be at the Civic Center Substation here or the 111 Office over there. So...we don't want our officers riding on Segways from Gerald Ford down to the business district, so that makes good sense. A lot of Traffic Officers in and out of the building, so I think we'll still be able to...maintain that presence that you're looking for. RAS And you're gonna' maintain your Highway 111/Monterey Substation? 8 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 AS As long as the Council...wants us to. We don't have office hours there right now, but as you have seen, I'm sure, on a regular basis, black and whites there —writing reports, you know, using the computer, and so forth. RAS My last question is how do other cities pay for School Resource Officers (SROs)? Do cities pay for them or the School District? AS Most...cities that the Sheriffs contract with, those SROs are either partially funded by the School District or fully funded by the School District. Palm Desert is...unique in that they fully fund two SROs without any...assistance from the School District. RAS Should we go after the School District a little bit, John? JMW I'd be happy to - I don't think the School District's probably in any position to help pay for it this year. RSK What do they do in La Quinta and Indio and... AS La Quinta...pays for 50% of their SROs, and the District pays for the other 50%. RSK And... JMW So I'd be happy to talk to the School... RSK ...so there's a precedent out there. RAS Mmm-hmm. CF So even though it's in Desert Sands, the La Quinta Schools and Palm Desert High, they're both in Desert Sands, yet their policy and their budget is different. AS Correct. The schools in La Quinta...are partially funded by the District. RAS When we were awash in mondy, money, we agreed to totally fund it. RSK But that's not the case anymore. RAS I don't think so. I'm not suggesting that we should cut back on what we have, don't get me wrong, with the amount of...reports that we get on what's going on in the schools, I think it's...very important. CF Well, who are our Two x Two people? 9 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RSK The what? CF The Two x Two Committee Members? RSK Well, we can put it on the agenda for next meeting. JMW Okay. APRIL 9, 2010 RAS In the meantime, could we get the information on what the other cities in the Valley...pay for and what the School Districts pay for — Palm Springs Unified and Coachella Valley School District? JMW Yes. RAS Thank you. JF I'd like to jump back over to the CSO-I position. It says here in the Minutes from Public Safety that you only have one, and the other position is vacant, and yet the Public Safety Commission rec-, is recommending getting rid of the only one that you've got so you'd have none? AS Correct. SYA Correct. JF What's the logic there? AS The... JF We don't like Community Service Officers? AS No...the sense, I think, that we got from the Commission was that in these economic, economically challenging times, perhaps it makes sense to eliminate that position. The position would be simply as an officer that staffs Substations. So...what...would happen is if you decided to eliminate that position, we could not maintain office hours over here at the Substation. The... JF This one here. AS This one here at Civic Center, yes. JF So, to Councilman Spiegel's point about having a presence here, if we eliminate this CSO-I, we have no presence here at Civic Center anymore. 10 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 SYA There wouldn't be accessible office hours; there would still be a presence — Andy, you're having your Dispatch Center personnel here, as well as routine patrols that come out of here for writing reports, using the restroom, etc. AS We...would have a similar presence...that, like we have at the Highway 111 Substation now. You would see black and whites here... JF Right. AS ...but they wouldn't be... JF But it wouldn't be consistent. AS Beg your pardon? JF It wouldn't be consistent. It would be sporadic. AS Cor-, correct. It would be whenever the officers needed to use the facilities, use the Substation... JF And the City Manager's recommendation wasn't to eliminate the CSO-I. SYA What... JMW What my...that is...their currently filled CSO-I, that is correct. What I... JF Okay. JMW ...talked to Lieutenant Shouse about was...having the only CSO-I here as a transition so that as we...open up the Gerald Ford Station, this one for the next year would be a transition and be our primary...field, or...what do you call it? AS (Unclear) JMW (Unclear)...it'd be our primary Substation. SYA The Substation staff. JMW Because we really don't have a Substation on 111. JF Right. 11 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JMW Because there's no office hours. People just can't go in, only officers go in and write reports. But it would...it'd seem to me to be wise to have a transition period here at this new Substation so that the people that are used to coming here could be directed to the Gerald Ford Station or be served here. That was what I envisioned. CF That makes sense. JF Yeah, I agree with...Bob. If I'm at the Park, and I see, you know... RAS Hooligans. JF ...that girl that got molested a couple years ago, I'm sprinting across the parking lot and pounding on that door, and if there's nobody there, you know, our whole city is used to our Police Station being next door. And if all of a sudden there's nobody, not even a CSO there who would call for back-up. JMB They're only gonna' come to City Hall, if they're pounding on that door, and it's not open, they're gonna' come over here to see what's wrong. As...you say, they've been used to going there... JF Right. JMB ...and...I think it would be wrong to close that completely, because... JF Absolutely. JMB ...that's part of our community involvement, and that looks like we're cutting police and safety for people. And then they get there, they don't know where to go, and City Hall's closed, you know, I don't think it's a good move. I...you know, we've had so much criticism on the, not using our...reserve and laying off employees. I've never had so many phone calls, so what's the matter with us, we just, all we do is cut people down here, we don't think of the community, and we're gettin' an awful reputation out there. CF So we're talking about eliminating the additional CSO that the Public Safety Commission recommended; where your budget shows a vacant CSO position, where we would have hours for the first six months from Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, then it says, "After six months, the Substation at limited hours," what are the limited hours? JMW Well...the...to fully staff a substation, you essentially need two CSO-I's, because of vacation, and they work 40 hours, sick, and they work 40 hours, so...you'd need two CSOs. That was why the recommendation to close the Washington Street, don't put a CSO-I out there when we need it here. 12 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 CF Okay, but still after six months, the Substation would have limited hours, how limited is limited? AS Well they'd be, what we talked about with the City Manager...Dan and I, was to...the CSOs work a 9/80 schedule, so they're off three days one week and two days the next. In addition, they call in sick, have vacation, and so forth. So in order to maintain five -day - a -week coverage from 8 to 5, regardless of sick...and...so forth, we would need to...have a CSO-I I cover those hours, pull a CSO-I I...out of the field, have them cover those hours. And what we talked to the City Manager about was doing that...for a minimum of six months so that we had...Monday through Friday coverage, and then after that time, simply staffing the Substation with that existing CSO-I...where...the Substation would not maintain...Monday through Friday office hours if the CSO was on a day off or, and so forth. RAS The weekends are more important than...Monday through Friday. AS Well, the...Station here, I think, people that come to the...Police Station to get a Police Report, they've been involved in a crash, they need to pick up a Police Report, they want...to...make a...past report, and that's what the CSOs take. They don't take any, obviously, any ongoing, you know...crime reports. Those, typically, are hap-, happen during office hours, Monday through Friday. The...definitely on the weekends, we still have...a "bat phone," if you will, that rings straight to Dispatch right outside the front doors. People that come there now after hours, you know, they come at 10 o'clock at night, they pick up that phone, it goes straight to Dispatch. So there is access to...Dispatch, although they have to pick up a phone to do it. So, but...the majority of business -type stuff that the CSO-I's do typically does happen during the business week. RAS Is there any money...in your budget for...cameras in our parks? AS For cameras? RAS Yeah. AS I didn't budget for...cameras. But that's something that we definitely have been talking with...Parks...Personnel at the City about — the possibility of doing something like that in the future. RAS And I know this is kind of ridiculous, but as you probably know...the employees of the City have agreed to de-, defer their sales, their salary increase this year. Would the 80 dedicated...Police defer their increase this year? AS The...Iong story short, the...County and the various bargaining units...have had discussions. Riverside Sheriffs Association (RSA) has had discussions with the County 13 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 a couple months ago, and I think the Sheriff alluded to it in his letter that I attached to my initial budget. And the County...basically told the Unions (this is thirdhand information, I wasn't there), but told the Union that they didn't...want to...enter into any agreement to defer...raises temporarily; that, basically, they will see them when their contract is up. So, in a nutshell, I think that's kind of where we stand. The County's waiting for the RSA's contract to come back up, at which time, I'm sure, they'll try and...you know, negotiate a new, better deal for the County. RSK I think it's wrong to...have a Substation and then it's half-hours or something, because people come there, and if they depended on it being open, and it's not open... JMB They don't know what to do. RSK ...that's worse than having none at all and just saying, hey, there is none here. If we're gonna' have one, then it needs to be staffed, so that when people come there, there is somebody there. RAS Will you look into cameras, John? JMW Yeah. We've...l've been working with Mark Greenwood, and they're investigating two parts of the camera. One, the...a real camera and then who, how would it be monitored, especially in the outlying parks; or two, a camera...and have a camera box with a sign and no camera in it as a deterrent. But if we're gonna' have a camera, and the intent is to deter, the...camera box will do that. If it's to record an incident, then we'll have to have a real camera being recorded, recording what's going on. So we're looking at that at Freedom Park and at... RAS Soccer Park? JMW ...Soccer Park, correct. RSK Could you have boxes and then have random recording? In other words, not record all the time but nobody knows where you're recording today. JMW Certainly. RSK So that'd be less expensive and still it'd actually be, they won't know if that's the, their day, it's that day or not. Otherwise, it's, if there's no cameras, that'd get around in a hurry. JMW Yeah, we'll, we're getting prices on that right now and meeting with the Sheriff and Public Works on what's the best strategy for the increased vandalism at the Park. 14 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RAS How much is a camera? JMW I don't know. Paul, do you remember what it was? APRIL 9, 2010 PSG I think the last installation we did for a VCR and camera was around $20,000 for one spot. Obviously, the cameras are probably about $5,000, so each one you add onto that. JF I wanna' go back to the CSO for a minute. Because I agree with Jean and Dick, well, all of us, I think, want a presence here at Civic Center, because as it stands right now, we're sticking you, pretty much, in the middle of nowhere. And the way building's going, it's gonna' be nowhere for probably three to five years. You know, knock on wood that it speeds up, that would be nice. But the majority of the whole City is back here, and they're all used to using that Substation. And so using one CSO for six months as a transition, I just think is completely inadequate. And back to Dick's point about hitting the center of the target and maybe using some of our reserves, I think besides building roads, Police Services is the most important thing that we're supposed to do. So I just cannot imagine shutting it down or just having a shell there. RSK The other thing is that's a teenie-weenie bit of the whole budget. JF Right. RSK It has a larger impact, but still it's such a tiny part of the... JF Right. RSK ...total budget. AS Well, what...we could do if...the Council wanted to...maintain those office hours...five days a week, regardless of...vacations, etc., with one CSO...the Police Department would have to pull a CSO-II out of the field in order to maintain those office hours on days that that CSO-I wasn't there. So...if...but understand that if that happens, obviously, there's a reduction in service to...the community, because that CSO is not assisting with transportation of prisoners, not handling past Police Reports, and so forth, and those duties fall on a sworn peace officer. So...if today was a day where I had to pull that CSO-II out of the field, now mind you, the CSO-II's, we have six of them working Patrol... JF Okay. AS ...there are three shifts per day (days, swings, and graveyard), and then those, so each shift has two CSOs, and they split the workweek with an overlapping Wednesday. So today on day shift, I have one CSO-II that's working the field — assisting with past reports, taking prisoners to jail, and so forth. So if I...if...we had to staff the office hours today with 15 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 that CSO-II, a Deputy makes an arrest, that Deputy takes the C- to, the arrestee to jail and is no longer working in the City. JF That's assuming we don't just hire another CSO-ll. AS Correct. That's all, I just was trying to explain the... JF Okay. AS ...if you leave the...if you leave the current level of service, or the current staffing with one CSO-I, that's what would happen. Obviously, if...you decided to add another CSO or keep the existing CSO-I that we...that's vacant right now, if we filled that, then, obviously, that would...we'd have two CSOs available to maintain those office hours. JF Well we... RAS Go ahead, I'm sorry. JF We've been...working on that Police facility that's gonna' open up out on Gerald Ford for almost 10 years, and consistently through that entire period and through both Sheriffs...we were constantly assured that there would be a presence here at City Hall. And so I'm a little surprised to now find out that we're gonna' have one person here for six months, and that's it. Because I just don't see us building out in that area fast enough. And all of your calls for service are still gonna' come back to south Palm Desert and Palm Desert Country Club, and people are still gonna' go next door to...visit their officer, for lack of a better word, or they're gonna' call 9-1-1. AS There was some discussion that I'm aware of where there was some talk about taking the Police Department and assigning certain...divisions within the Police Department to this Substation. Maybe leaving Traffic here, the SET Team, or...different components of the Police Department here. And...Dan and my opinion are that that's...that would cause us command issues — bifurcating his command...causes...span of control issues that we're concerned with. The Rampart...Scandal is a...kind of a glaring example of that where you had...people in outlying...sections away from the station operating and no central control. So we think that we can maintain a Police presence here by having officers come here to write reports, by leaving equipment down here...by...having them use the building, but when it comes to reporting for work on a daily basis, they would all do that at...Gerald Ford. JF Okay. RAS When will you move into Gerald Ford? 16 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 AS The Station's still on schedule to be done...May 6th, and after...Facilities Management delivers the building to, gives us the keys, it'll take about three weeks, we're being told, to install the furniture, all the systems furniture. So we're hoping about the beginning of June. CF If you're successful at the Two x Two, an SRO is $124,000, where a CSO-I is $74,000, a difference of $50,000. So if we could get Desert Sands to split the bill with us, we'd have enough to keep the CSOs. RAS We're gonna' have trouble doing that, I think, Cindy. JMW I... CF Well, how...do they then, the question needs to be asked how do they justify doing it for other cities and not ours. JF Because they don't like our Pass -through Agreement. RSK Squeakin' wheel principle. CF Then we better squeak. RSK Yeah. JMW 'Cause we started paying for our SRO before they had their SROs, so the...schools, now that we pay 100%, it's going to be hard to get that 50% off. Like I said, I'II try, but we had our SROs before La Quinta and Indio had SROs. CF I know we did, and I know that we were generous in doing that. It just seems fair, and know life isn't always fair, but it seems that if that's what they do in other schools throughout Desert Sands, then it ought to be an, level playing field. JMB I agree with that. But I just think we're knit -picking over this position when it, if you start, you know, takin' so much crap, so to speak, on our employees being let go without using our reserve, to start on Public Safety, I think, is a bad mistake. RSK That's kind of the principle I was aimin' at when I said this particular position is just such a tiny part... JMB Yeah, it is. It's just knit -picky, and it's... RSK ...of the total. But what is it, $16 million? 17 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 CF Mmm-hmm. JMW That's our (unclear)... RSK But we're talkin' about a $74,000 out of $16 million? JF Sixteen million dollars. JMB When this is something the public. . RSK It is. Talk about knit -picking, that's... more than knit-pickin'. JMB ...recognizes and knows is there. Yeah. JF Right. JMB That's why I said it — we've taken enough crap. RSK I think that the Council wants to keep that position. RAS I think so. JF Yeah, think that's pretty much the general sentiment. (Laughter) RAS I think that's what we said. John? JMW You wanna' keep that position, we'll ke-, we're talkin' about the vacant CSO-I, right? RAS That's correct. CF That's the one we want to keep. But in addition to that, we still want you to talk with the Two x Two and... JMW Okay. JF But... JMB Call 'ern and ask about it. CF Even if they pay 25%, I don't know, just ask the question. 18 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JF The problem is, we negotiated our Redevelopment Pass -through Agreement early on, and Carlos was smart enough to get a great deal, and the other schools don't have as good a Pass -through Agreement as we do, which is why we get such lousy service on our High School over the years, and we were last in improvements on just about everything. And they don't like the fact that... RSK They'll remind us when we're talkin' about it. JF Every single time. CF Okay. JF So in their mind, we already get more money than we deserve, because we negotiated a better deal then. So I don't... RSK We'II still talk about it. CF Yeah. JF It's worth bringin' up. So are we keeping the one that we've got and the vacant one? Or just the one that we've got? CF Well, it's just, John's recommendation was to eliminate a vacant, the vacant position. We're saying no, don't eliminate the vacant position. JF So we're throwing out Public Safety all together, going back to John and modifying it, and saying no, putting the vacant guy back in. CF Right. We're... JF Okay. CF I guess that we're still gonna' close the Washington Street Substation, reduce the Overtime Budget by 50%. JF And then can we re-evaluate in six months? SYA Yes. JF To see what kind of a transition we're getting and whether...if there's a problem or not. RAS We weren't doing much on Washington Street anyway, if it's only $6,500. 19 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY JMW Well, we were gettin' the space... CF For a dollar. APRIL 9, 2010 JMW ...for a dollar. But we...even with the CSO-I's back in, we couldn't operate that Substation the way this one's gonna' be operated. So it's my recommendation still to close Washington Street Substation. JF Okay. JMW 'Cause you can't, you...can't staff it. JF Right. RAS Sixty-five hundred dollars doesn't staff it. JMW No. AS That's just the utilities...this year. SYA And Lieutenant Shouse, do you anticipate a quicker response time at your new station to that part of town? CF Yes. AS Yeah, there was some concern of, I think...the residents out there would get less service, and I think, you know, Gerald Ford and that whole region of the...City, actually provides faster access from the Station... JF Yeah. AS ...to the eastern... SYA Mmm-hmm. RSK If I read the Police Blotter properly, they're gettin' their share. AS For sure. We're...fairly active over there in the Palm Desert Country Club. RSK I'd say we're very active out there. CF But they're getting more than their fair share. 20 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 AS They might not want their... RAS Unfortunately. JF Yeah. RAS Okay. What do you want, Fire? JMW We can go to Fire, and I'II evaluate this and bring it back in six months. That's what I said about the Overtime as well. CF Yeah. JF Okay, so at the outset, you said we had, what, $255-... JMW $272- JF $272-, and we just spent $74-, but, so we've got $198- left to... JMW Correct. JF Okay. JMW Wanna' go to Fire? IFire Services SYA Yeah. Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers, if you could turn to page 16 of your Budget Books, you will notice that there are two Budget amounts listed by the Fire Department. The first column...is an Exhibit A Budget, and that Budget reflects the State's practice of budgeting each position at the highest salary level. Next to that is an Anticipated Budget Number, and that is based on historical expenditures. Staff is recommending approval of the Anticipated Budget Amount of $9.3 million, as it's a more accurate reflection of the true cost to provide these...Fire and Rescue Services. You'll see that the Budget has remained relatively static and reflects approximately a $47,000 decrease over last year. And this reduction is primarily attributable to a position reclassification and no longer needing to budget start-up costs for the new medic unit that's based out of Indian Wells Fire Station 55. RAS Didn't we have to add somebody to go there? SYA We added, that was in last year's budget, sir. We added a, what was it, a crew of... 21 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY DC Six, six bodies, yes. APRIL 9, 2010 SYA Six bodies. There are also some capital equipment costs that the Fire Department is looking at. The City Manager did remove some of these, specifically the bedding items, because we identified money in this year's Fire Budget for them, as well as a...available grant fund that we had available. The only capital items requested for funding are the Mini -Muster Program materials and a...Code Book Update for the Fire Marshal's Office. Both of these items will cost approximately $11,700 together. In closing, as part of this year's budget proposal, staff also recommends that the Fire Marshal's Office be relocated from the Parkview Complex to City Hall. Specifically, they'll occupy the former Code Compliance Offices. This move was requested to enhance customer service for the community. It will provide a one -stop shop to...at City Hall for obtaining permits, and staff also interacts, talking to Building & Safety, Planning, and Public Works. They interact quite heavily with the Fire Marshal's Office on a regular basis. So having him here at City Hall is also an internal benefit to us. We anticipate that this move will cost approximately $2,000; there were some costs to replace the carpeting that we were able to use grant money for, so I'm not adding that to this total. And, as you see, we could also generate potential revenues by leasing the vacated Parkview Office Complex. But, again, I want to stress that this move is being recommended for customer service. Just want to add that the Public Safety Commission did approve the City Manager's recommendation with no changes. Thank you, and...Chief Cooley and his staff, as well as I, will be able to answer any questions you may have. CF When we met with the Outside Agency or Community Block Grant, didn't we fund Mini-Muster...through the Historical Society? FR They do have a, they did have a cost in there... CF For $20,000? Some of which went to Mini -Muster? FR Some of it, yeah. How much of it... PSG That's their cost, what they do to operate the Mini -Muster, and Fire has their own extra costs above that as I understand it. CF So then it's really not just $5,700 to operate it, it's really $8,700? SYA Well...the supplies is about $3,000...is that they're asking for, and that's, if you could correct me, that's for promotion materials, stickers, hats, books... DC Correct. SYA ...they hand out to the children. 22 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 RAS How many people would be in the Code Enforcement, how many people are you moving over here? SYA Total, is it five... DC Five. SYA ...personnel? DC Five personnel will be in those offices. SYA We've had discussions extensively with Chief Cooley and Fire Marshal Brooker, and they are amicable, they support the move. We've laid it out on AutoCAD and were able to find that it's adequate space. They're coming from about 1,300 square feet to about 800 square feet. But keep in mind that they, that 1,300 square feet also included conference space that they will be utilizing for the various conferences, conference rooms in City Hall. So it's...adequate room for them...(inaudible) JF So do you pay rent currently? (Collectively) No. PSG It's a dollar -a -year -type of rent. JF Okay. So we'll get somebody in there that actually pays... RAS What is the revenue? JF ...rent and brings in some revenue. SYA Anywhere from $2,000 to $2,400 monthly, potentially, depending if it's government or private. JF Right. Let me just go back real quick, John, 'cause I want the Paper to at least get this clear. We're proposing to spend $16,278,000 and some change on Police Services this year. JMW Yes. JF You're going with the $8,617,000 figure for Fire? SYA The eight million, yeah, that's...that figure is after the truck cost reimbursements, correct. 23 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JF Okay. So we're spending $24,895,000, basically, $25 million of our $42 million goes to Public Sa- JMW Yes. JF ...Public Safety. SYA Correct. JMW Yes. JF Okay, which is about 60%... JMW Sixty percent, correct. JF ...if my math isn't too far off. JMW Correct. JF Okay. RAS We should feel very safe. JF Well our crime rate's going down. RAS Yeah, I know. CF Yes. SYA I may add we have one of the fastest Medical Aid Response and Fire Response Times in the Valley. RAS Yes, we do, and that's good. DC We have pretty good response times. JF Good. Well, you said there was no change from Public Safety and the City Manager's recommendation? SYA No, sir. Recommended as...approved as recommended. RAS Good. Next is City Council. 24 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY City Council RSK I see the City Manager cut us. APRIL 9, 2010 RAS Yes, he did. What...are "Committee Conferences," page 17, that you cut $2,500 out of? RSK Which one you askin' about? RAS "Committee Conferences," it's about two-thirds of the way down. JF Oh, yeah, and then you "Conferences/Seminars/Workshops?" RAS Yeah. Budgeted at $5,000 and then... RSK What is that? RAS I don't know. PSG Last year you didn't spend anything, so...l'm not sure either. RAS Okay, that's good. RDK That...was an amount established...in the past. Occasionally, you had Planning Commissioners or other Commissioners who needed to go to special training through the League or another organization, so that's what that fund was established for. RAS Oh, that... JF Oh, to send them to Monterey... RDK Yeah, if necessary. Like we said, we didn't do anything last year in consideration of all the budget issues. LA I think they did travel last year, they traveled out of the Planning Budget. JMW The Planning Commissioners. LA Yes. RAS The Monterey...thing for City Cler-, Council has been canceled this year. The only one they're gonna' have is the one in San Diego. 25 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JMB The other one is not gonna' happen? RAS No Monterey. JMW For the Council, that would be the item above that. RAS Yes. (Unknown - during audio tape change) What is "Professional - Other?" JMW For example, the Audio Consultant would be "Professional - Other." It doesn't come out of your budget, right? Came out of City Clerk? RDK Correct. JMW But that's a "Professional - Other" type of an expense. RSK Well, what would we have "Professional - Other?" JF Well we have, we used Ted Flanigan for a number of years on Energy. JMW You could use... RAS Teach us Ethics. JMW We could use it, for example if...you asked for a Rock Outcropping Study, we could take it out of that, not out of the Planning. JF Bad example. (Laughter) JMW It was a recent example. (Laughter) JF That'll make the Paper. RAS Not much in there. JF We're gonna' study rocks. RSK I don't think there's much you can do with that. 26 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RAS Nope. CF Nope. Looks good to me. RAS City Clerk. JF (Unclear) RSK Looks pretty trim to me. ICity Clerk RAS What kind of "Legal Advertising" do we do? APRIL 9, 2010 RDK All Ordinances that are adopted... JF Lots. RDK ...Public Hearing Notices...Bid Solicitations... RAS Oh yeah, okay. RSK How 'bout number of employees? I always like to see with one of these, the pages, the number of employees. RDK Currently, we have seven. We absorbed two from last year's... RSK So there's seven in that page? RDK Correct. We absorbed two in last year's reorganization. RSK I'm just interested in numbers here. I think the best way to control a budget is with numbers of employees. RAS Yes. CF I think we've demonstrated that. 7RSK It's...been proven to me over and over and over and over — you keep track of how many employees you have, you control the budget. That's why you spend money. 27 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RAS Okay. JF So... RAS Legislative Advocacy. APRIL 9, 2010 Legislative Advocacy JF Is that mostly just our contract with the Gonsalves Firm? SYA Mmm-hmm, correct, Gonsalves & Sons, as well as some money available for the Legislative Analyst to travel to Sacramento, if needed. CF Okay. SYA Or Councilmembers. RAS Well, if we don't have an Election this year, we could save some money. JMW No, Legislative Advocacy is not for the Election. It's for Gonsalves... RAS No, I'm talkin' about the next page. RSK (Unclear)...next page. JF (Unclear)...on the next page. RAS I'm on the next page. i RSK Elections is at 61,000... RAS $61,900. RSK ...$900, with no Election. JF That's gonna' happen. RAS City Attorney. Elections 28 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RSK What'd...we do about the Elections? CF We're, don't have a choice. RAS There's nothin' you can do. RSK Huh? CF We don't have a choice. RSK Well what is it for? RAS Election... JMW Election - you have an Election... RAS ...in November. JMW ...in November. RSK Oh, we, that, even though we don't have a City Election? (Collectively) We do have a City Election. RSK Oh, November, oh yeah, well I'm not runnin', so I didn't think of that. (Laughter) JMB If you wanna' cancel it. RSK That's somebody else's problem. (Laughter) CF That's true. RAS Don't the candidates pay you to... RDK They pay for their Candidates' Statements, but as far as... RAS But that's got nothin' to do with this. RDK Correct. Conducting the Election is on the City. APRIL 9, 2010 29 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RAS Okay. APRIL 9, 2010 ICity Attorney I JF Okay, is our Legal Number - I just got this month's bill, and cumulatively, we've spent three hundred and some odd thousand dollars. And here you've got budgeted $225-. Aren't we kind of... PSG That's, this is the retainer, this piece of it is. JF Oh, this isn't the litigation? RAS That's the next page. JF Sorry. So you're at $335-, okay. PSG According to Dave, next year we should see some reduction of that cost, as most of our big litigations have... DJE We don't have the... PSG ...(unclear) DJE ...mobile home rent control. JF Well, our hillsides alone cost us $100,000 this year so far. (Unclear)...pieces of litigation. DJE (Unclear)...that's gonna' be the big... JMW We don't have as much Code, but we... JF Okay. DJE Code has been reduced to almost nothing. CF So... JF And does that include RDA, or is that just... PSG This is strictly the City's portion... DJE No. 30 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY PSG ...of it. APRIL 9, 2010 JF Just the City's. Oh, that's right, we do RDA later in the month, don't we? ICity Manager RAS City Manager CF The number of full-time positions? SYA Five. PSG Five. SYA Five? Five. That includes the recent transfer last year of the Risk Manager. JF He's one of the five? SYA Yes, sir. JMW Yes. JF So there's what, two secretaries, you, Gary, and the City Manager? SYA Correct. JMB What is the City Manager's "Special Events?" RAS Lunch. SYA Special Events? Well there's...$3,000 budgeted for Miscellaneous Community Events, that could be anything from the YMCA to United Way to anything that's of a community benefit. The remaining funds, we budget about $800 for our United Way Barbecue Campaign Kick-off. Typically, like as this year, we spent about that same amount, and the employees contributed about $17,000 based on that $800. So...you get a good return. RAS What is "Employee Safety?" SYA "Employee Safety"... JMW For boots? SYA Yeah, "Employee Safety" is basically for our First Aid Kit resupply and our Safety Shoes. 31 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JF And our what? SYA Safety Shoes - we're required to provide... JMW Field Personnel. SYA ...Field Personnel with Safety Shoes. We have a... JMW It's a steel -toe... JF Oh, steel -toed boots. SYA ...boot truck that comes every eight months. For next Fiscal Year... JF Got ya'. SYA ...it's actually coming twice during the Fiscal Year, because it overlaps, the eight months. RAS This year we just spent a thousand dollars, and we're planning on spending 15? SYA Ahh... PSG If you remember... LC It's the cycle. PSG ...we used to have the Development Services Budget in, Gary was in a different Budget. So that's why you don't see it in the current year. RAS Oh, okay. (SYA, JMW - inaudible) JMW We could cut that another two thousand, 'cause we have four less safety personnel this year. Is it two thousand? SYA It's about $2,000. CF So "Employee Safety" could go to thirteen thousand, making the overall 910,350? JMW Correct. So that'd be at 13,000. JF Putting us back up at 200- on (unclear) 32 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY CF Yeah. Right. Community Services RAS Community Services. RSK How many employees? FR Four. RSK Now, wait a minute. JF Four? RAS Four? RSK This...is not. There's more than four Community Services. APRIL 9, 2010 FR No, because part of our...salaries come out of the Recycling. There's for Lisa, Miriam, myself, and Amy. RSK But for this budget, one million... RAS No, this budget is 181,000. RSK Oh, 390-, I see it. FR Yes. RSK Actual - what's that, "Salaries - Full-time?" JF Yeah, what is that $1.2 million number? RSK Oh, I see... PSG Prior, that used to be Sheila's... RSK ...because of the big change in the salaries. FR Right. That was before the... PSG ...of ACM along with her staff that she had. 33 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RSK So how many did you say? FR Four now. RAS Four. RSK Four. JF So we've gone from almost two million down to 400,000, roughly? CF Mmm-hmm. JF That's a sizable savings. CF (Unclear) RAS Twenty-four thousand for telephones. What is that? FR That's for our radios...for the Field Staff. JF (Unclear) RAS Radios for the Field Staff? APRIL 9, 2010 FR Yeah. We have the Nextel Radios for them to communicate. We don't have the, you remember those two-way radios? Well we don't have those anymore, now we use the Nextel Radios, you know, the Direct Connect. RAS Is there any money for building a new Community Garden anywhere? FR Well, I can look into maybe using some of the Recycling Funds for a portion of it, but I don't know if we can do the whole thing. If we put one out at the University, there'd be a fence, and you'd have to do...some work to the soil and put the, you know, the... RAS University - there's nobody livin' out there, so you wouldn't wanna' put one out there. FR Right. RAS But there were other spots that we had picked out. CF We don't want a recycled one? FR I'm sorry, there was the one at the Soccer Park that we were proposing... 34 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RAS Yes. FR That that one you'd do. RAS Yes. That one we've got people living there. FR We can look into it. I can look and see... RAS See how much it is. Okay. FR ...how much we can apply to the... RAS 1 think it'd be a good idea. Human Resources APRIL 9, 2010 RAS Human Resources? How many people have you got? LC Three. RAS Three? RSK What was that? Three? CF Three. LC Three. Myself and two Techs. (Sound of fire engine sirens and horns in background, on the street going by City Hall.) JMW Dorian, they're running a little late. They were supposed to come by... DC Their timing's off, isn't it? JMW Yeah. They were supposed to come by during the budget discussion. JF Yeah. (Laughter) RAS Waving a flag? i 35 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY JF Okay. RAS "City Wide Training" - will we bid on that? RSK Planning? Where'd they go? LC I'm sorry? RAS "City Wide Training?" APRIL 9, 2010 LC Well, we have a lot of mandated training, some of it that we did, (unclear) budget, because some of it we did this year...such as the Ethics and the Sexual Harassment Training. So we reduced the budget for that. We have a Tuition Reimbursement Program. We also do skills -based training where we train all our staff on, you know, we've had Word Training, Excel Training...Project Management Training, anything where, you know, there's a benefit to the City as a whole to invest in...training multiple members of our organization. And as we're doing more with Tess staff, I really think it's important to keep investing in the staff that we have to make sure that they can do the most (unclear) as possible. RAS So (unclear). Thank you. LC Mmm-hmm. JF And we el-, completely eliminated "Temporary Help?" LC We have... JMW Yes. LC ...completely eliminated "Temporary Help." IPlanning RAS Planning. CF How many employees? LA Community Development has 14. RSK How many? 36 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 LA Fourteen, a total, counting Code, Public Art, and Planning. Two of those positions are paid for out of the General, or not from the General Fund. Those are the Public Art positions. CF Okay, so how many in Planning and how many many in Code? JF (Unclear)...Planning. LA There are six in Code. There are five, counting...clerical support, in Planning. Two and a half Planners, a half-time Sustainability, and then support for the ARC and for the Planning Commission. JMB That was what? CF Okay, so six in Code, five in Planning, that's 11. LA Two in Public Art and me. CF Okay. JMW So that's six in Code, six in Planning. JF Right. LA If you count me as Planning, yes. One of the...changes that is in this year from the General Fund is that the Senior Management Analyst is being moved into Public Works Department...effective immediately. Most of that is being picked up, so that will change our...salary, and one of the positions, one of the Assistant Planner positions is now splitting half-time Planning, half-time Sustainability. And so part of her salary, that the half-time for Sustainability, part of that comes from the Recycle Fund, and part of it will come from the Redevelopment Agency in addition to what comes out of the General Fund. CF So then from the 2009 Adopted Budget, it was 1.698, it's gone to an actual of 1.694, so it's only $4,000 off. Why is it going up to 1.835? JMW Because we added...Art, which was under Community Services. RSK And that's completely from Art In Public Places Fund, right? JMW Yes. But Art Personnel was moved to...Community Ser-, Services. CF Okay, so you added two Art people, but they're paid out of... 37 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JMW Art, Art In Public Places. CF Okay. RAS But they're in here. JMW They're in here now. Last year they were in... RAS Art In Public Places. JMW Another, well... PSG Community Services. FR They were under Community Services. LA Under Community Services. PSG Under Sheila's Group. CF So is it just their salary, or is there health insurance, etc., paid out of that fund as well? PSG Ev-, everything that's... LA Yes. CF Everything? PSG ...related to their position. RAS So it's up over last year, but it's because of that. JF Well, then, why do we have a sheet on page 28 that is Al PP, saying it's health insurance? PSG That's their positions, the two positions that have (unclear)... JF So is that an itemization? PSG The salaries here includes Ryan, who got transferred from Development Services over to here during the current year. LA He was transferred in last September when we did the adjustment then. 38 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 PSG And we haven't reflected changing amount, because we hadn't had the notice at the time we were puttin' the book together to move it yet, so. RSK How...much revenue do we expect in...Art In Public Places Fees? PSG We have sufficient fund balance. Basically, we're using fund balance. We believe there's not going to be much in payment of art... RSK We...should...also have an estimate of how much we expect to come in... PSG ...other than interest... RSK ...of the revenue. PSG ...we're anticipating zero coming in. No new development coming in and generating... RSK (Unclear)...next...zero in... PSG ...Art In Public Places. RSK Well, how can we expect zero... PSG We have a fund balance reserves that we're using to cover costs there. RSK Well, but our Art In Public Places Fee, the half percent for commercial and... PSG Right. RSK ...quarter percent for residential... PSG We're not reflecting any activity that would generate that Art In Public Places Fee. RSK Well we have a lot of construction going on. We have a... PSG I'm not aware of it at this point. RSK ...EI Paseo, we have a large... PSG We weren't given any information that shows that there's gonna' be activity at this point to generate it... RSK And we also, I saw... 39 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 PSG ...in our current budget. RSK ...I saw we had an application for...10 or 12 houses residences this month. LA The... PSG That would be a positive extra, but it's not counted in the budget here. LA ...fee is paid at the time that the permits are... RSK Gotta' be some revenue comin' in if there's... LA ...pulled, so a...couple...of the big projects that...you see out there now on El Paseo, on... RSK ...what is there $45 million... LA ...Segovia, those have already been paid in this year, so we are not anticipating those next year. CF Okay, but... LA And at this point, we don't have in the pipe any projects the size of The Gardens On El Paseo, or Segovia, or something like that that we have seen...(inaudible) RSK What about the swimming pool? LA We have... PSG We're doing an art. LA ...that has a separate line item for art... RSK What? LA There's a separate line item for Public Art in that... RSK That's an Art In Public Places... LA ...and that money's already been encumbered this year. PSG Instead of... RSK I thought they paid it when they took out a building permit. 40 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY LA We... APRIL 9, 2010 PSG Instead of transferring it to the Art Fund, we will pay it directly from the RDA and buy the art from the RDA. So it won't directly go into Art Fund. LA It was about two meetings ago when we selected the artist, I think we appropriated the money at that time for, and the purchase order, then, to the artist has actually been written. CF (Inaudible)...money paid out of AIPP and there's no money coming in for those two employees. We're apparently using AIPP balance reserve fund, and Dick said that...(inaudible) LA Couple of items that I would draw your attention to, one is "Professional Lot Cleaning Services." We have $20,000, and for the last few years, that's what we use for our abatement projects —for cleaning up the foreclosed properties. JF That's right. LA It's been running about $20,000. It looks like this year we had a burst of activity, and it's gonna' be more than that. Our guess is 20,000 for next year, provided that there's a dramatic change in the amount of foreclosures, that could vary as well. And additionally, on the "Professional Other Services," that $20,000 in there is for hearing officers, sound consultants, architects doing line -of -study surveys, things like that. It does not include any money for update of the Zoning Ordinance, which, I believe, there was a White Paper on. And, again, if you wanted to update the Zoning Ordinance, that would be another $140,000 is the amount we would recommend on that. I also should point out that in the "Animal Control," the County has, we have two contracts for "Animal Control" —one for the Shelter Services and one for Field Services —the County...has recently given us notice of increases, pretty steep increases in those. And at this point, we've budgeted based upon what the County is expecting in their anticipation of what the overtime will be, which is $250,000, $257,000 for both contracts. We're still working and negotiating with them to see if there's some things that we can nail down a little bit. They did offer that one of the changes that they could make would be staffing, and they could provide a half-time position rather than a full-time position for Animal Control Officer dedicated to Palm Desert. At this point, we have recommended keeping the full-time position dedicated, because we think the responsiveness to the residents is important. But that is something that could be offered up as...incremental savings if you wanted to reduce the responsiveness and response time. CF I still want to go back to Planning and Community Development with the two people from the Art Department and try to help me to understand why page 26 is showing an increase 41 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 in the total dollars of the 1.835 million. And the explanation was because we added two employees, but if you go to page 28, it shows "Salaries - Full-time" at 163-5. PSG Actually on the Planning Budget, itwentfrom the...adopted million one up to a million two, but that's due to the fact that during the year when we deleted...Development Services, Homer's budget... CF Right. PSG ...Ryan Stendell came from that and moved over to this Department. So that's, what's reason it went up this current year. And that's why it's... RSK Where's Ryan's...(inaudible) PSG ...a million two for next year. Now, since we've done the... LA Right now it's in here, but it will... PSG ...changes... LA ...go to Public Works. PSG ...that the City Manager recommended, he's gonna' be moving to Public Works, which would decrease this down and Public Works would go up for that same amount. CF So this will be decreased. PSG Once Ryan, we transfer Ryan, yeah, I didn't have that information at the time when I... LA Those changes were made after this was published. PSG ...after this, yeah. So it has not been changed. JMW So we'll reflect that change... PSG In the final budget. CF $560,000 for two employees who (unclear)... LA In the Public Art, too, there are a couple things that I would draw your attention to. One is that we do have, we've put $150,000 in the Capital Budget for this year...we try to anticipate what projects might actually be done. And for that, we're anticipating that...we'll be looking for an artist and...to commission to do a piece of art for the Carlos Ortega 42 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 Villas. We think that would be an appropriate place to have public art that would commemorate Carlos. We also are anticipating, or setting aside money for the...new Exhibition on El Paseo that begins at the end of this year, it's a two-year exhibition. Typically, we ke-, purchase a piece of art out of that at the end of the run...or somewhere along the line, so we have set money aside for that. And we also anticipate that we will be doing...art for...in fact, we will be looking at purchasing another piece of art probably for the Expansion at Desert Willow for the Clubhouse —something to go outside of the entrance there, the...new banquet entrance. CF Since we have to maintain all the pieces of art that we've purchased, are we ever gonna' get to a point where we think we've purchased enough pieces? JMB With the what? LA That's a, I believe that's a policy decision. JF I was gonna' say. I think it was a political question. CF Do you think? (Laughter) RSK Does our "Dragonfly" go away when we get the new? LA Yes, it will, unless we were to decide to purchase that one. RSK That...piece draws more attention than anything we've ever had there. LA It does receive a lot of comments. JF It has panache. RAS The Capital Budget is really high, isn't it? CF I...just think for $560,000 for AIPP in these days is just excessive. LA Well that is, part of it is the Capital. The one other thing that I'II point out is $60,000 of that is for the El Paseo Exhibition. That's different from last year in that since we only do this every two years, there was no funding for it last year. RAS So there won't be anything in it for next year. LA Correct. There will be nothing again for next year. 43 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JMB Well I think on the...hundred and fifty, when you said that's for Carlos Ortega Village [sic], it seems to me, I don't think we paid that much when we did Ernie Hahn's plaque out in the park there that told who Ernie Hahn was. And that's what we should have at Carlos Ortega Village [sic], because people going in there, other than pe-, local people, well, I was gonna' say City Hall people, probably might not know who Carlos was. And it seems to me just the plaque with his outline and...a short par -(unclear) that who he was and what he did is sufficient. I don't think we need any big piece of art. But I do think that at the entrance something should say who Carlos was. CF I would agree. I think that even Carlos wouldn't want us spending that much money. LA He didn't get the whole 150,000. CF No, I know, but still that's... LA Whatever is not used or if you wanna' put a lesser amount in...it can be adjusted...the, this comes out of the money that is set aside... RSK We're committed to one percent. LA Yes. RSK (Unclear) RAS It'II come back to us anyway to...the Council. LA Yes. RAS Right? So... LA Yes. It will go through the Commission and Council. RAS Yeah, we'Il...see it at the Council level whatever it is. LA This is money that has already been set aside, already been paid into the Public Art Fund, so there's a reserve there. And I believe, Paul, did-, there's something on the order of $500,000 in that available? PSG It's more than that. LA More than that, so... 44 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 CF So then why would we need to add another, say 100,000? The projected actual for 09-10 is 52,000, why do we have to add another 100,000 for Carlos Ortega Villas Art? LA Because...this year...I don't know if we're changing how we're tracking this. We were trying to establish how much money we would actually spend or what a reasonable number of projects to "Capital" and what's on coming forward would be. It was our anticipation that $150,000 would cover the three ones that I identified. Last year we did not have the three projects, I mean these are three...different projects that we've identified. CF Okay, so... LA (Unclear) RAS Following up on that, you didn't have it in 08-09 either. You only spent $18,000. LA Luis, can you help me out here? I think we changed the way we were tracking or setting aside money into this. JLE Yeah, we got three projects that total up to 150-. LA And in the past we haven't set this money aside... JLE (Unclear) PSG Well, we waited `til there's projects to be built... LA Okay, to allocate them. PSG ...as far as any projects, there wouldn't be any (unclear). JLE The project would already come to the Council. PSG Correct. CF Okay, but Redevelopment is building Carlos Ortega Villas, right? LA Yes. CF So they're the applicants, so are they required, then, to put art there? 45 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 LA Yes. They're actually required to pay, they have a higher percentage, they're required to pay one percent that gets, at the time they pull the permits, that will get put into the Public Art Fund from which this money comes. RAS So you can reduce this amount then? JMW But...this...has three projects in it that equal 150,000. CF So what are the other two projects? RSK This is the part I was asking about. In other words... JF Right. RSK ...a public building requires one percent of the total cost. Of commercial, a half a percent; a resident... RAS A quarter. RSK ...a fourth. And so, this, that figure of 150,000 is their estimate of the amount that's gonna' be, come forward from those...requirements. And where RDA is the one that's doing Or-, Carlos Ortega Villas, they'll have a responsibility to provide one percent of the total cost of that for public art. RAS Lauri says no, why, Lauri? RSK It's a, we have an ordinance that...requires that. LA This isn't...the money that actually gets paid in from those. This, those get paid into the Fund, this is the money that's being appropriated out of that Fund. PSG For whatever purposes, project it might be. LA For, yes, and the three projects...that we identified for this year would be, one would be the art for the entrance to the new banquet facility at Desert Willow. One would be for the Carlos Ortega Villas, and the third would be to purchase something off of the El Paseo... RAS Does that show up somewhere in our income, then, Paul? CF Okay, wait a second, the third would be to purchase the El Paseo Exhibition? LA Purchase a, typically we purchase a piece off of the... 46 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY CF But isn't that already down there for 59,000? APRIL 9, 2010 LA No. That money was...almost all honorariums, I believe about 40-some thousand of that was honorariums that were addressed last night at the Council Meeting for the artists who submit pieces and are selected for, they each get $2,700. RSK But we don't have to buy one of those, do we? LA No, you do not. JMB Well, we (unclear)... LA We buy different art or no art, or... JMB ...know if we have a special art for the addition to Desert Willow. And to me, that's kind of just... CF Ridiculous. Desert Willow, the whole thing is art, the way we've done it. JMB Because we've got art out there. CF Yeah. JMB We put the Chihuly piece for Desert Willow, period. LA Yes. JMB So it...if we expand the kitchen, we're gonna' put a piece of kitchen art, you know, that's... ridiculous. RSK It doesn't require that we put what, something there, it just requires that that, from that Fund there's that much... JF You pay into that fund. RSK ...goes into the Art In Public Places Fund. JF Yeah. RSK It doesn't have to go to Desert Willow. JF Right. 47 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 RAS Paul, where's that (unclear)... RSK The budget says it has to go into the Fund. JMB That's our (unclear)... RSK Whether you put it there is another decision. JMB Yeah. But she's taking the Fund and putting it in here. RSK Well, this doesn't say where they're gonna' spend it. CF No, but that's why I asked where they're gonna' spend it, and this is the two examples... JMB She did. CF ...that she gave. LA This was our suggestions when we're trying to anticipate what needs there might be during the coming fiscal year...for expenditures, capital expenditures, these were the three projects that we had identified that would be taken under consideration. All of it... JMB And I'd say (unclear)... LA ...would go through the process... JMB ...that we shouldn't identify Desert Willow. LA ...of going to the Public Art Commission and to the City Council. RSK Nobody's identified them yet, have they? JMB She has. RSK Well, yeah, but that's a staff suggestion. LA Yes. It...goes through the... RSK Council has to make that decision. LA ...Public Art Commission and City Council before any of this is developed, decided. JMB But it affects the amount of money that's there. 48 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 RSK No, it doesn't. JF We're the (unclear)... RSK Ordinance says that when we spend $3 million... JMB I know what the ordinance says. RSK ...then we have to put a...one percent into the Art In Public Places Fund. It doesn't say where we have to spend it. RAS Where does that show up on...our General Fund income? PSG The art? It comes into a separate fund. It's...a development fee; therefore, we have to put it in a Fund 436. RAS And we're looking at the General Fund Budget. PSG This...art one is not. It's..a separate fund, but we decided that anything that had salaries in it, that we'd show you the budget so that way you knew all operating funds. So this is strictly Art In Public Places Budget. JMW Maybe let me take a crack at it. There's a, we're talkin' about the expenditure accounts here. There's a revenue account in a revenue fund for Art In Public Places. So Dick's right. If we build a project, one percent of the total cost of that project... JF That's right. JMW ...go into that revenue fund for Art In Public Places... JF Right. JMW ...revenue account 431. The $150,000 is an estimate of what we would spend out of that for, in this case, three pieces of art... JF Right. JMW ...on three projects. RSK It...doesn't have to go on the project. JMW It doesn't have to. 49 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY LA That's correct. JMW We just... RSK You could put it on El Paseo. PSG Anywhere in the City. JMW Correct. APRIL 9, 2010 RSK It...the...ordinance says if...the developer wants to put it on his property, and they could put it on his/their property. The Council, if we decide we want to put it at Desert Willow, we could. But we...make that decision. The ordinance just says it goes into the Fund, it doesn't say where you have to spend the Fund. JMW Correct. LA As the Redevelopment Agency Board, you will have the opportunity to decide yes, you want to put money into the Fund and you don't want it spent at the project either at Desert Willow... RSK You have to, you don't if you want to. LA ...or the Carlos Orte-, or you can say we want to select the art, we want, rather than to put it in the Fund, we want to provide the art, and that, again, would go through the... RSK We have the same option... LA ...AI PP Commission. RSK ...as a developer would have. LA Yes, exactly. RSK That we...can choose where to put it. LA Yes. RSK But we can just put the money in the Fund and use it for our Art Program. LA Somewhere else. RAS Put it in the Park. 50 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 RSK Put it anywhere you want. RAS Okay. JMW So do you wanna' leave the 150,000 in there, or do you wanna'... RSK Well, you're gonna' collect it. That's what you're just sayin' you're collect-, you're not sayin' you're gonna spend it. A budget's not an authorization to spend the money. JMW That's correct. PSG Correct. RAS Yeah. RSK But it makes sense to know how much you're gonna' expect to come in. If you ever spend it, so be it. If you don't, you don't. Buildina & Safety RAS Okay. Russell - Building & Safety. How many people we got? RG We have 12. RAS Twelve. RSK How many employees do we have there? (Collectively) Twelve. RSK Twelve. RAS With very little building going on, do we need 12? RG Currently, with the activity we have, and over the course of the year's downsizing, we're actually going out in the field with just about the same amount of stops per inspector that we were when we had seven. So I think we're right -sized for the amount of activity we currently have. JMW Last year we cut three inspectors, so in the year, last year's budget we had a couple of retirements. 51 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 RG Three retirements. JMW Three retirements and layoff notice for two of those. RG All, technically, all three were...proposed...you know, they...voluntarily participated... LC Two were laid off. RG Two were laid off, but we eliminated three positions through... LC Correct. RG ...the Early Retirement Process. They were just not funding for the current fiscal year. JMW So last year's study, we looked at, Russell did a study: how many officers, given our current...building permit trend, do we need? So he looked at it, and we were doin', one...inspector was doing, for example, 14 inspections a day. Now with the downsizing in Building & Safety, one inspector, on the average, does 17 inspections a day. So we've increased the number of inspections per day by...reducing the inspector staff in Building & Safety so that all, on the average, all inspectors do 17 a day. RSK We do have Tots of building additions, not new residences, but we do have a lot of activity and renovation and building additions, and those all take inspection. Building on a room takes the same amount of time to inspect as if you were inspecting a new house. RG We're actually seeing an... uptick in construction activity. Fiscal year to date, we've...done approximately 51,000, or I'm sorry, 51.5 million in construction valuation, which is...pretty good if you compare it to the other Valley cities. We're seeing a lot of new activity plus the El Paseo Gardens is under construction, and as you well know, they've...Ieased out a hundred percent of their spaces, and we're seeing those tenant improvement plans coming in. Next fiscal year, we put our feelers out and...talked to the community development community, and it looks like we've got...about a half a dozen Bighorn homes anticipated, D. R. Horton...is moving forward with approximately another 20, 23 units at Renaissance and 14 at Ponderosa, and the Alegria Project has several as well. So we are seeing an uptick, and it is a positive sign. RAS What is the..."Professional Architectural - Engineering?" That's outside? RG Yes, that's outside consultants who we use for Plan Review. This last fiscal year we actually modified our consultant contracts. In the past when we sent them projects, we had to send them the whole project. We restructured those so that we can pull out just the structural component, thereby saving...you know, substantial amount of money to the City and keeping staff busy, and... 52 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RAS I see John cut $15,000 outta' your request. APRIL 9, 2010 RG And actually...fiscal year to date, we've performed 582 plan reviews and only sending six of those to our consultant, and that was a structural review, so we're keeping staff really busy. RAS Okay. Recycling Fund RAS Recycling Fund. RSK (Inaudible) RAS We've gone from 700,000 in 08-09 to a million six. JMW Yeah, we...as you know, that Recycling Fund was quite healthy. So in working with Frankie, we've identified some areas in the City that we can fund projects from the Recycling Fund. For example, in the road improvements, if we add rubberized asphalt, which is a recycled material, we can pay for a portion of the overlay with the Recycling Fund. And then I asked Frankie to look at the amount of Code that inspects or cites on...trash enclosures and recycling, so some of that's coming out of the Recycling Fund to offset some of the...General Fund expenses. RAS How many people are in here? FR Four - a portion. One full-time is Lisa, and then a portion of the other three, or actually it'd be four because we're paying for a portion of the Sustainability Coordinator. JMW So we're...spending down some of that Recycling Fund. RAS And all of this is funded? JMW Yeah. There is... FR Yes. PSG Yes. JMW But there's four million in that account? PSG Yes. 53 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY FR Yeah. RAS Did it make $4 million? APRIL 9, 2010 JMW No, that's what's been building up in that account. Now we're spending it down, appropriately —I saw Councilmem-, Mayor Pro Tem Ferguson look at me —we're appropriately spending that down with recycled projects. Some of it's going to our Parks with, when we replace benches and tables with recycled lumber or recycled plastic composite lumber. FR Yeah. JMW We can replace the broken slats with recycled materials, so we're funding as much as we can, and obviously, that helps with our sustainability and our completing the full circle with recycling. RAS Well, you got an income someplace in here that...? PSG Recycling receives money from Was-... RAS Burrtec? PSG Burrtec. FR Burrtec. PSG It's around 400-plus thousand a year, and we haven't been using that much over the years. RAS Is that somewhere in here? PSG It wouldn't show up here, Bob. In the regular budget you'd see it; we didn't reflect all the revenues for all the other funds in here. But it's around 450,000 a year. RAS I guess I don't get it. There's...we got a million six in the budget... PSG Right. We have reserves of over $4 million sitting out there that accumulated over the last five years. RAS So that doesn't show up anywhere. PSG It will in your final budget, it will show there. 54 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JMW Can we, before we have the next meeting, do you wanna' see the Revenue Accounts? CF Yes. JMW Okay. RAS Yes, I think so. JMW Let's make 'ern a copy of the Revenue sheets. PSG Okay. JMW And the different fund, the Art In Public Places, the Recycling, the General Fund and Redevelopment - we'll provide you those Revenue Accounts. RAS But when we talk about the $43 million budget, this expense is in there, correct? PSG This...is a separate fund. JF No. RAS No, it's not in there. JMW No. RAS Okay. All right. FR Because the 43 is just the General Fund, right? CF Uh-huh. FR Yeah. IFinance RAS Finance. How many people? PSG We went from the 09-10 fourteen down to twelve. We lost one in Early Retirement, and then from the cuts, we also lost an additional one, so two positions we lost. RAS And we got a memo today that you're only payin' bills once a week now? 55 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 PSG That's how we've been...the only thing that we sent out was that...in the past...because we had two positions for Accounts Payable, we would allow departments to pull checks and then...have people pick them up. That's an extra eight hours every week that I no longer can afford to have...staffwise. RAS Now who would we do that for? JF It means no more "Pull Fridays?" PSG Unless it's an emergency. JF Thank God. PSG So if... RSK So what's the number? JF Thank God. RSK So what's the number? PSG What, which... JMW Twelve employees. PSG Twelve employees. JMW Twelve employees. PSG Last year it was fourteen, so down two. RAS So who do we do that for? PSG It was just about everybody. RAS You mean the people that do work for us, like Granite Construction? PSG From the work they do to checks that need to be distributed to the County, so only those that are really deemed an emergency that nes-, need to be...we will still do it, and they have to get my approval first, so that way we can limit it down to the minimal amount. JF But it's still is pretty thick. 56 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 PSG It was a lot, yes. JF Oh, that's the best news I've got all day. RAS Well how can the City Manager pull $77,000 out of your budget? PSG That's a, most of that is due to the position that we eliminated through the positions cut this year. That's, it's dealing with a position. JMW I cut one position in Finance as part of the... RAS Okay. IIndependent Audit JF And our Auditor gave us a $4,000 break? PSG No, we're just managing within the budget allotted. JF Okay. IGeneral Services RAS General Services. (Audio tape change.) PSG On our Property Taxes, the County can charge us a percentage based on their actual staff time used to collect it, assess it, etc. So that's how much they deduct from our Property Tax Bill, or Revenue that we receive in. So we show, the auditors had recommended that we charge an expense instead of netting it off our Revenues. JF That makes sense. RAS And the telephones are our new telephones, right? JMW Correct. PSG That is your... 57 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RAS How did you put 760 in there? CVH In the phone number? RAS Yeah. That's pretty good. I can't do that at home, can I? CVH Not with the...straight Verizon. RAS That's good. Information Technoloay APRIL 9, 2010 RAS Information Technology. How many people do we have? CVH Five. RAS Five. JF Do we have Wi-Fi in here somewhere? CVH Yeah, the hardware is in there. JF Okay, good. What about the labor to install it? CVH I'll be coming in May with...some contracts and... JF Okay. JMB And the update on the mic system in the Council Chamber, where is that in here? CVH That's not on the IT Budget. That's a Fund, the Capital Improvement Fund. JMB Oh. CVH The $130,000 that we were talking about yesterday. RAS It's already been put aside. CVH Yeah, it's already been put aside. 58 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY Unemployment Insurance APRIL 9, 2010 RAS Will we need the 200,000 in Unemployment Insurance? PSG Yes. LC If we, if these, if the people who lost their positions... RAS If they don't get a job. LC ...aren't able to get another job, they'll receive Unemployment. We pay as we go at the City, which has always been... RAS So you're anticipating it'll be above that. PSG Correct. LC We're hoping it's not (unclear). Interfund Transfers RSK What's in Budget Transfers? RAS Which Budget? JF We ask that question every year. PSG Page 37? RSK Hmm? PSG Page 37? RSK Thirty-seven, yeah. JF Interfund Transfers. PSG The bulk of what we have in there is our Library where we contribute extra money to have the extra services for keeping the Library open. So it's transferred from this fund to Fund...I forget. 59 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY RDK Four -five -two. PSG Four -five -two, RAS PSG JF PSG to operate the Library Costs — buying books. Outside Agency Funding It's not the Senior Center anymore. We'II notate it as The Joslyn. (Inaudible) APRIL 9, 2010 i Regarding the Outside Agency, we just met, the Committee recommended that we leave the same amount, so we sent out applications as of Wednesday to request those individuals. So we'll meet in May as far as seeing who we're gonna'... RAS The Outside Agency? PSG Correct. RAS And HUD isn't in here? PSG JF RSK PSG JF PSG No. That's a separate fund. Are we really cutting 35,000 out of After School Programs? What page you on? Are you referring to... Thirty-eight. ...Actuals of 08-09? CF Mmm. JF Yeah. PSG Those are typically ones where we, Council adds an item during the year, and the Committee, if you remember, prior last year we cut it a portion when we did the Outside Agencies, so that's why it reduced down. 60 MINUTES SPECIAL JOINT MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT CITY COUNCIL, PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, AND PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY APRIL 9, 2010 JF Oh, okay. Okay. RAS And that's it. CF Good. RAS For today. PSG Right. Our next meeting would be Public Works and along with that would be the Capital Improvement Programs. JF On the 26'h RAS Okay. V. ADJOURNMENT With City Council/Agency Board/Authority Board concurrence, Mayor/Chairman/Chairman Finerty adjourned the meeting at 2:37 p.m. CI FINER , 'MAYOR/CHAIRMAN/CHAIRMAN ATTEST: RA HELLE D. K1 SE CITY CLERK/SECRETARY/SECRETARY CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA/ PALM DESERT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY/ PALM DESERT HOUSING AUTHORITY 61