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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 12/22/2008SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP 22 DECEMBER 2008 The South Burlington City Council held a special budget workshop on Monday, 22 December 2008, at 6:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, Audette Public Works Building, Landfill Road. Members Present: C. Smith, Chair; M. Boucher, S. Dooley, S. Magowan, M. Emery Also Present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; Chief D. Brent, E. Spooner, Fire Department; L. Murphy, Community Library; T. DiPietro, Stormwater Department; B. Hoar, Public Works Department; J. Nadeau, Water Department; S. Crosby, Water Quality Department; D. Bedard 1. General Information: Mr. Hafter noted that the Council still needs to trim $33,136 in order to get to a 4% increase. Other possible deductions include: plowing sidewalks, National Night Out, Police accreditation, paving, other city services. 2. Fire Department: The Fire Department budget has increased from $1,935,000 to $2,540,000. Almost all of this increase is attributable to the SAFER grand and new fire trucks approved by the voters. Salaries show a decrease as the Department lost a highly paid employee who was replaced with an entry-level employee. Health insurance has increased by $40,000 and the pension contributions by $24,000. Chief Brent distributed information on fire prevention activities, hose replacement, emergency call-back, and responses to EMS calls. He noted that the Fire Prevention Coordinator gets a $1500 yearly stipend and a budget of $3500. The main expense is the Open House, which gets equal contributions from the community and businesses. Hoses are tested on a yearly basis. Some are as much as 25 years old. The budget for replacement is $7500, which includes replacement of nozzles, etc. Emergency call-back overtime is budgeted at $21,000 for fire and $8,000 for ambulances. The Chief gave Council members a graph showing emergency responses. The Department relies on off-duty firefighters for serious fires and emergencies. Without them, the ladder truck and 3rd pumper could not be used. They are vital for upper floor rescues and are a big portion of the response capability. Having an engine respond with the ambulance to EMS calls doesn't cost any extra as personnel are already on duty. The only cost is wear/tear to vehicles and fuel, about $3900 for the year. The goal is to have advanced EMTs on site within 4 minutes. The Chief noted that it is impossible for 2 people to handle all equipment, stretchers, etc. The Chief said the people who have been hired as a result of the SAFER grant are a huge benefit, and there will be a reduction in Workers Compensation issues because of this. Chief Brent noted that from Friday afternoon until this Monday evening the Department has had 31 responses. Reimbursement from EMS calls continues to be excellent, 80+%, well above the average in other parts of the country. Mr. Hafter asked if there is a way to tighten the "call back" budget. Chief Brent said he is constantly doing that, and they have cut back to only high risk types of calls. He gave members information on those types of calls. He added that there isn't a lot of fire loss in the city because of the Department's fire- fighting ability. Mr. Boucher expressed concern about the cost of wear/tear on fire vehicles for EMS responses. Firefighter Spooner, President of the Firefighters Association, said that to have only 2 people show up at an EMS call is not good. UVM has 4 or 5 people on their ambulances and Colchester has a minimum of 3 riding on theirs. Firefighter Spooner noted that in the southern end of the city, the fire truck actually gets to an EMS call before the ambulance. Mr. Boucher said he hadn't realized other ambulances have more than 2 EMS personnel, and he was OK with sending the engine on those responses. 3. Community Library: The Library budget has increased by 3.2% overall. Ms. Murphy said they have increased the hours for the Community Assistant and added summer hours for the Bookmobile. On-line subscription to music has increased by $400. The Library does not have space for music in the Library and the on-line system fills that request from patrons. On-line access is provided to thousands of types of music. This year, 3,274 tracks of music have been played. Ms. Murphy said she would be willing to cut her trip to the Public Library Association Meeting ($2,000), although it is beneficial to the program. The Library's outreach programs go to 4 retirement centers every month and provide books to avid senior readers. The cost of $2176. The Library programs are the heart and soul of the Library, at a cost of $4700. Over 10,000 people attend these programs annually. One option to save money would be to close on Mondays. Ms. Murphy said she did not favor this. She would prefer to decrease Library hours by 6 a week. This would save $9000 for the year. Ms. Murphy recommended closing on Monday nights and 2 of the Saturday hours. She also felt they could close on Saturdays in the summer and holiday time (Christmas, New Year, Labor Day, etc.). There are visitors to the area who use the Library on Saturdays in the summer, especially for use of the computers. Members agreed to closing on Monday nights and for 2 of the Saturday hours. They did not cut the Library Association meeting trip. 4. Water Department: Mr. Nadeau noted that the last increase in water costs was in 2005. They have managed to maintain the rate until this proposed budget, including absorbing 2 rate increases from CWD. This year they are asking for a 5.3% rate increase. Water sales were down 8% from the previous year, mostly due to the unusually wet first quarter of the fiscal year. Large users have also decreased sales. This accounts for 87% of the Department's income. "Bulk water" (construction projects, landscaping, etc.) had been budgeted at an estimated 6.02 million gallons. They won't come anywhere near that. Connection fees are also way down this year, and there is no anticipation that this will increase in FY10. Mr. Nadeau noted they reached a successful agreement on the litigation and have begun installing the new metering system. Mr. Nadeau also noted that they had anticipated a 5% increase from CWD. Today he was told it will be 10%. This means the budget will be short $39,000. This would mean an 8.3% increase in water rates instead of the projected 5.6%. There is about $800,000 in cash reserves, and Mr. Hafter suggested using some of that to absorb the CWD increase and keeping the city's increase at 5.6%. Members agreed. Mr. Nadeau noted the city's aging infrastructure and showed pictures of deteriorating equipment. They hope to address this with federal grants under the new President. 5. Water Quality Department: Mr. Crosby said there is a significant increase in chemical costs, some of which is offset from savings from reduced alum ($18,000-20,000). They have a local farmer ready to take biosolids. There are hoops to go through, but it will be a significant savings. The Department will be replacing the vacuum truck which is constantly breaking down. Mr. Hoar noted that on a sewer plug call today, they had to have a man lie over the back of the truck to unplug the line. This is not safe. Mr. Hafter felt they can get a grant for a significant part of the cost. Mr. Crosby noted they received a $12,500 grant for the co-generation project. He also noted that Vermont has identified $70,000,000 in projects for federal funding, $15,000,000 of which is identified in South Burlington. This could be used to reduce the cost of the Airport Parkway facility project. A proposed increase in sewer rates would result in approximately $22.00 more per year for the average family. Members were OK with leaving the budget as presented. 6. Stormwater Department: Mr. DiPietro said there is no increase in the budget over last year. Operating expenses were cut 2.5% to offset increases in insurance, etc. Mr. Gravelin noted that he discovered some errors today which results in a $10,500 savings. There will be one capital expense, a brush mower. No increase in rates is proposed. 7. Bonded Debt: Mr. Hafter reviewed the existing bonds for city, water and WPC. 8. Other Entities: Mr. Hafter said they have received no figures yet for the County Courthouse. This will be plugged in when received. Members then considered possible additional cuts in the budget. They rejected the idea of not plowing sidewalks. The bucket truck rental was reduced from $5000 to $3,000. They agreed to cut National Night Out funds and to try to get this privately funded. They agreed to keep Police Accreditation. Members considered hiring a Police Officer in January 2010 instead of July 2009, but rejected this unless the budget fails. With the additional Police Officer the budget increase is 4.2% Members agreed to go to the voters for addition money for paving and for the additional Police officer. Members also agreed to cut 15% from the City Services budget, with the proviso that funds to the Family Center not be cut. Mr. Magowan felt that the proposed budget would leave the community viable when things come out of the current recession. Mr. Magowan then moved to accept publication of the budget as proposed. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.