Page 1 of 10 City of DuPont 1700 Civic Drive DuPont, Washington 98327 Special City Council Meeting Minutes Budget Workshop December 2, 2014 7:00 PM Call To Order: Mayor Grayum called the meeting to order. Roll Call: Elected Officials present were: Councilmember s Coffey, Courts, Estep Gasak, Trotter, and Westman. Staff present: City Administrator Danek, Finance Directors Henry and Hines, Fire Chief Creekmore, Planning Manager Kingman, Sergeant Larry Holt (For Police Chief Sheehan). Those excused were: Council member Gorski. Discussion Items: Tourism Program: Finance Director Hines gave a presentation on the Tourism program. She explained the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) and its function, the summary of the applications and LTAC recommendations. Questions/Comments: Councilmember Trotter asked what the breakdown was for the car show funding. Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) explained that the $6k asked for includes advertising, entertainment and helping to offset the police overtime coverage. Councilmember Courts asked what the benefit of the car show would be to the City. Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) stated that the car show is included with the 3-day Hudson Bay Heritage event and the visitors who come in for the car show have the income levels to dine in and stay at the local businesses.
Page 2 of 10 Councilmember Westman commented that the car show is another activity that will enhance the event and attract visitors. Councilmember Gasak asked how many years the car show has been coming to DuPont and what has been contributed on an ongoing basis. Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) stated that it has been going on for at least 10 years and in the past has been funded by the ROA (Residential Owners Association). Councilmember Gasak asked if participants are charged a fee to show cars. Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) stated that they are charged, and have several times in the past donated a portion of the proceeds back to the Parks Department. Councilmember Estep inquired about 2014 funding. Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) stated that Tourism funded the Shamrock Walk, National Trail Day, Hudson Bay Heritage Days, and the Cherry Blossom Tea. Councilmember Estep asked what the rest of the funding was used for. Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) explained that some of the funds went towards interpretive signage projects, banners for visitors, museum staff, general advertising and trail maps. Councilmember Courts inquired about the anticipated $25K decrease on page 50 of the Mayor s budget. Councilmember Trotter inquired about the anticipated revenue for 2015. Finance Director Hines explained that the year-end estimate for 2014 for hotel/motel taxes was $118k and the 2015 proposed is $121k. Councilmember Estep asked if there was someone who could explain what type of coordination was done with the Parks Agency to determine the location of the restrooms.
Page 3 of 10 Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) explained that because there is currently not enough funding in the lodging tax budget to secure all three restroom locations at the moment, the Park Agency is recommending that the Clocktower Park is the top priority because the majority of port-a-potty rentals and events occur there. Both the ROA and COA are donating $30k to the City to help build the facility by June of 2015, which will then leave a surplus in the budget to shift the focus on building the restroom at Sequalitchew Creek. Any leftover funds will go towards the restroom at Chief Leschi Park. Finance Director Henry added that the restrooms were not included in the newly revised budget because they did not make the first round of projects to be reviewed, but there will be an additional chance to review them at the beginning of 2015. Councilmember Trotter asked about anticipated ways of dealing with potential cash flow deficits. Councilmember Westman stated that the LTAC did process and approve all of the applications and received input from representatives from the local businesses and historical society. Councilmember Coffey asked for clarification on the $213,840 ending fund balance. Finance Director Hines explained that it is the ending balance for this fund. The hotel motel tax revenue has to be separated by law into its own separate fund and cannot benefit any other purpose than to promote tourism. The proposed end balance is revenue that provides the cash flow and the reserves for the Tourism program. City Administrator Danek reminded Council that once the choice is made to accept or reject the LTAC recommendations in whole, money cannot be moved or changed. Finance Director Hines and Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) pointed out the draft position description for the Museum and Tourism Coordinator. Councilmember Gasak inquired about changes related to combining the two positions into one new position. Mayor Grayum requested Amy Walker read information on the position.
Page 4 of 10 Amy Walker (Recreation and Events Coordinator) explained the past accomplishments of the museum staff and gave a description of what the new position would be doing. Councilmember Gasak asked what was being done to ensure the position is filled more than on a temporary basis, as has happened in the past. City Administrator Danek explained that it is a concern with any position in the city based on the fact that the City does not pay commensurate with sister cities at this time. Councilmember Courts commented that he believes that the City receives a huge cultural benefit from the museum. He would like to see the leadership balance the new 40-hour position appropriately between the museum and tourism needs as events occur. Councilmember Trotter believes combining the two positions into one full time position with benefits will attract applicants who are interested in the work and would possibly make it a career. Councilmember Coffey commented that she feels the position should be an employee position, not a contract position. Councilmember Westman agreed with Councilmember Courts in that this position would offer a lot of flexibility as needed and commented on supervision and accountability. Mark Ireland, (Chairman of Tourism Board) commented on the availability and accessibility of the new position. He stated that it would be important to define what the successes are. City Administrator Danek added that some of the lessons learned with the part time position were the chain of command. Councilmember Estep asked how much time the person in this position would be at the museum. Amy Walker stated the time spent at the museum would be 30 hours. Mr. Ireland explained that the measurements of successes and expectations will be benchmarks set by the Tourism Board and the Historical Society but they have not yet been defined.
Page 5 of 10 Councilmember Courts commented that he agreed with Councilmember Estep and added that all of those involved with hiring and managing this position will need to help develop what this position will become. Councilmember Trotter stated that there have been no measured results in the past but it has not necessarily been a failure. Asking this new position to record the results will help. She added that there are many small pieces of history in DuPont that may attract enthusiasts and unique groups, such as the Heritage Orchard and the railroad. Publicity is important and this position will be able to do that. Mr. Ireland commented that the City could use the LTAC money to reach out, get better visibility for the city, more support for Amy Walker, and enrich the experience for visitors. Councilmember Estep asked for clarification on funding for the position. Finance Director Hines stated that the position is partially funded by the Museum fund because it is a Museum Coordinator position and that portion lies within the General Fund. The Historical Society reimburses a portion of that. Councilmember Gasak asked if there were performance measures in place for this position and if goals were being set. City Administrator Danek responded by saying that there were performance measures in the draft stage and the coordination between the boards and Council will set the vision. Councilmember Coffey stated an interest in having a register at the museum to keep track of visitors. Councilmember Estep stated that it is important to get someone with a skill set and felt that it would be good to know in advance, what the educational and experience requirements would be. Mr. Ireland explained that the City might be limiting itself by basing candidates strictly on education. City Administrator Danek stated that Council will get a chance to give input, but at this time, the Tourism Board and Historical Society have not yet come to a conclusion as to what they think this job is.
Page 6 of 10 Councilmember Estep asked what the criteria or standards were which allowed the reserve to be spent. Councilmember Westman explained the historical sites development reserve. Councilmember Trotter stated that the idea was to put aside money every year so that when sites become available to the City, the City would be able to act on developing them and being able to immediately have another historical asset available to the public. Public Works #2 Position: City Administrator Danek presented an outline on the Streets and Utilities Manager position and funding and the current and revised functions of the Public Works Director. Councilmember Courts commented on the difficulty of Public Works Director Zahn s job and the benefit of having the new position. Mayor Grayum stated the importance of this position and the breathing room it gives to take care of immediate and long-range planning needs. Councilmember Gasak commented that she does feel the position should be on a supervisory level but still supports the belief that it should be a union position. City Administrator Danek stated that he approached his presentation with the open idea that it could be an exempt or a union position. The main issue is about flexibility. Finance Director Hines also explained the importance of flexibility and the challenges a union position presents regarding work schedules and the need to be flexible. Councilmember Courts asked Councilmember Gasak what she thought the advantage was to have this be a union position. Councilmember Gasak responded by saying that the issue is not whether it is or is not a union position, but that it is a huge leap from having no position to having an exempt management position that is on the same level as the Public Works Director. Councilmember Gasak stated that she could see it growing into an exempt position but not starting out as one.
Page 7 of 10 City Administrator Danek discussed the exempt position of Executive Assistant as an example of being a non-union position due to the nature of the kinds of information this position is exposed to. Councilmember Trotter stated that she was fine with it being an exempt position since there is no obvious financial benefit to it being a union position and it has the qualifications legally to be an exempt position. Councilmember Coffey asked City Administrator Danek to expound on the areas of skill sets, manager vs. supervisor, and the at will employee status. Councilmember Westman commented on the various city department structures and current operations and stated he has a difficult time accepting that the new position should be exempt. City Administrator Danek stated that the Police and Fire department current structures are not necessarily acceptable either. He asked Fire Chief Creekmore and Sergeant Holt to speak on the issue. Fire Chief Creekmore explained the difference between supervising and managing within the Fire Department. Sergeant Holt explained the Police Department structure and the challenges faced with supervising as a union member and attempting to stay within the contract. Councilmember Gasak would like to hear from Public Works Supervisor Scott Hein on the issue. Councilmember Coffey asked about city comparables and thanked the City staff for their hard work on the budget. Mayor Grayum asked Council if they would like to see comparables. Councilmember Westman commented that he would like to see comparables by cities with similar populations. Councilmember Estep asked for a review on what new positions were being added for 2015. City Administrator Danek gave a list of the new positions and vacancies.
Page 8 of 10 Councilmember Estep inquired about the 2018 projections in the six-year forecast. Finance Director Hines explained that the current forecast shows the balance being sustained and supported through 2017 with the first deficit showing in 2018. The purpose of doing a six-year forecast is to provide a guideline for making adjustments ahead of time to deal with the deficit. Councilmember Estep stated that he sees this as a huge overhead and wants to hear that the City is comfortable going down this road knowing that a huge amount of staff is being added, although for good reason. Councilmember Courts commented that he is comfortable with it because the City is well postured to move forward and the deficit for 2018 shows a less than one percent gap. Councilmember Trotter added that she is comfortable with this budget and stated that the City is not a for-profit organization and the citizens expect the City to provide services with the money that has been paid in taxes. Councilmember Courts would like to add $5k in looking at different varieties of trees and their impact and $5k to spend communicating with the citizens. Councilmember Coffey wanted to know if new development dollars are figured in the projections. Finance Director Hines said only those for 2015 that building and planning expect to see coming to development. Councilmember Coffey discussed the open and existing positions and the ER&R fund. Councilmember Westman is in support of looking at performance measures, consolidating, cross training and using the personnel that the City currently has. Councilmember Estep asked when the utility rate study was set to take place. City Administrator Danek said it will start in March and be done by the end of 2015. Councilmember Estep stated that he had previously recommended that the irrigation water be metered at a different rate and feels that the rates need to be set by the summer months.
Page 9 of 10 City Administrator Danek said that if Council wanted it done by March, he could possibly re-prioritize. Charging ourselves a specific rate is not something the City can do, but the City is researching different variations of how to charge for water usage. Councilmember Estep asked if there was a policy decision that could be made sooner. He commented on the fact that some parks will still be brown unless the City is watering at the rate the parks need. Councilmember Trotter stated that services are going to be added back gradually rather than all at once so that the projected deficit does not fall in 2016 rather than 2018. Councilmember Estep said that the cost of the water is the only prohibitive factor when looking at what has happened in the budget over the last years. If the goal is to have it green, then why not implement something that will get it green. Councilmember Courts said that the cost of keeping Center Drive green now versus previously will be much less because of the type of new vegetation that has been planted. He agrees that some decisive action will be needed by June, but the City has a few months to come up with alternative solutions to bring more water at less cost. Finance Director Hines wanted to know if Council wanted to follow next week s schedule or if there was going to be a change. Councilmember Westman stated he was not ready for that and felt that more discussion was needed. Councilmember Estep also felt there were more conversations that need to be had. Councilmember Gasak feels that it is important that Councilmember Gorski be present for the budget conversations. Mayor Grayum requested that any issues that anyone had concerns about be put on the table now to expedite the process. Councilmember Westman requested that there be a one week extension and proposed to have a special city council meeting on the 16 th and to have a workshop next week. Councilmember Estep would like to wait for Councilmember Gorski s return.
Page 10 of 10 Councilmember Courts said that he is ready to vote on the budget and said his only addition is the $10k he mentioned previously. Councilmember Trotter stated that she is also ready. Councilmember Coffey would like to have the special council meeting. She stated her only addition was requesting $8,800 be added into the budget for the watering of the parks in the Historic Village. Councilmember Estep asked how Councilmember Coffey s request would make it into the budget and wanted the process explained, as this is his first budget as a councilmember. Mayor Grayum explained the process for proposing changes and making motions related to budget items. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:18 PM. City of DuPont: Attest: Michael Grayum, Mayor Tiffany Graves, Executive Assistant for City Clerk Erin Larsen