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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-25-1995 City Council Minutes MINUTE8 SARATOGA CITY COUNCIL TIME: Tuesday, April 25, 1995 - 6:00 p.m. PLACE: City Hall Administration Meeting Room, 13777 Fruitvale Ave. TYPE: Adjourned Regular Meeting/Jt. Meeting.with Chamber of Commerce; Jt. Meeting with Finance Committee 1. Roll Call The meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m. Councilmembers Jacobs, Tucker, Moran, Wolfe and Mayor Burger were present. Staff Present: City Manager Peacock 2. Report of City clerk on Posting of Agenda The City Clerk reported that the agenda for this meeting had been posted on April 21, 1995, and that the notice of adjournment from the April 19, 1995, meeting had been posted on April 20, 19~5. The City Manager requested that an item be added to the agenda as an urgency item which requires action before the next City Council meeting relating to a resolution of commendation for Pat Elenterio who is retiring from the City on April 27th. It was moved by Tucker, seconded by Wolfe and passed 5-0 to agendize the item. It was moved by Moran, seconded by Wolfe and passed 5-0, to adopt the Resolution of Commendation for Pat Elenterio. The City Council adjourned to closed session at 6:04 PM. for the purpose of conference with labor negotiator. Agency negotiator: Harry R. Peacock Employee organization: Saratoga Management Employees and Saratoga Employees Association The City Council reconvened into open session at 7:16 PM. The Mayor announced that in the closed session the City Council had made three decisions relating to management salaryranges and salaries. These were to retain the existing salary range for management employees adopted 'for the 1993-94 fiscal year through the end of the 1994-95 fiscal year, to grant a management merit pool salary increase of 2.4% retroactive to September 1, 1994, and covering the period through August 31, 1995, for management employees currently on staff as of May 1, 1995, and to grant a 2.4% raise in base salary to the City Manager, retroactive to September 1, 1994. These actions to be placed in a resolution for adoption by the City Council on May 3rd. At this point in the meeting the Public Works Director, Larry Perlin, announced to the City Council, as a matter of information, that the repairs on Pierce Road are scheduled to start this week and that the. repairs should be completed and the road open to traffic again by the end of May. 3. Joint Meeting with Chamber of Commerce Dick Wood, President of the Chamber of Commerce, thanked the City Council for arranging for the meeting which has been held annually now for several years. Before making presentations on the evening's topics he noted that he was pleased that the Mayor and City Manager were serving as ex-officio members of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for the past three years, which has greatly improved communication and the working relationships between the City and the business community and has made much of what will be discussed later in the evening possible. a. Celebrate Saratoga. Mr. Wood indicated that the kickoff meeting for the events was held on March 31, 1995 and the organization this year is centered around eight committees with between 104 and 110 volunteers working on the various aspects of the events. Ray Froess, the chair of Celebrate Saratoga, City Council Minutes 2 April 25, 1995 reported that the eight committees were administration, finance, facilities, vendors, publicity, safety, liaison, and staffing. He briefly explained the functions of each committee. The events organizers intend to continue to meet with the restaurants and others, probably in mid-May to work on issues contained in the April 25, 1995, letter to the Chamber of Commerce from the Village restaurant owners. As for the naming of the event, Councilmember Tucker,suggested, "Sample Saratoga" instead of the previous name or other names currently being suggested as most appropriate for the type of event being planned. Vice Mayor Jacobs suggested that the time may come where the City may need to ask the Chamber to help recover the out-of-pocket costs incurred by the City in support of the events. The' City Manager responded to the question about the actual out-of-pocket costs to the City that the cost is about $10,000 a year. He also noted that the City does.get sales tax revenue from vendor sales at the eventS.. b. Saratoga Business Development Council. Councilmember Wolfe discussed the development of the SBDC as a way of improving business in Saratoga. With the opening of the Route 85 Freeway more people from out of Saratoga will find it easier to come to Saratoga to spend money and the SBDC should be exploring ways to capture the increased market. The second objective is to develop a business mix which will meet the needs of Saratogans. Mr. Wolfe briefly outlined the work of the SBDC to date, including the emphasis on the arts and culture, the need for a good directional sign program, the opening of a farmers market on June 10th, and the public opinion surveying Which will be going on over the next three weeks to gather opinions of residents, businesses and shoppers on these very topics. Vice Mayor Jacobs suggested that some members of the City Council believe that ultimately the City will need to hire a professional to run the program if it is to be a long term success. Others agree that in the long run that may be the course of action the City needs to pursue. c. Youth Service Plan Project. Councilmember Tucker invited the business community to become involved in the development of the plan which will have its kick-off workshop at the October Town Hall Meeting. A discussion ensued regarding young people and jobs available in Saratoga businesses with there being general agreement that prior efforts need to be expanded and enhanced to insure a greater chance of success. Another aspect of the Plan will be to examine ways for the schools and the. City to cooperate more closely to provide community activities for young people. The City Council recessed from 8:30 to 8:40 PM. 4. Joint Meeting with the Finance Advisory Committee. The following members of the committee were present, Ousley, Hahn, Low, Van Hoesen. Also present, Interim Finance Director Smith. a. Review of Projected Results of the 1994-95 Fiscal Year Budget The committee and the City Council discussed the projected results of operations and revenues for the fiscal year. The committee noted that revenues to the general fund will fall short of projections by an estimated $98,000 and that the City would end the year with working capital of only $30,000 due to increases to the budget from the general fund which reduced the working capital from an original amount of some $911,000. Council indicated that it was aware that $700,000 was transferred early in the year to fund the street maintenance program, thus reducing working capital. The committee indicated that in the future staff supporting documentation for changes in appropriations from the general fund reserve must show the impact on the general fund and that if the approved reserve level is being penetrated the City Council act to amend the approved reserve level. In discussion with the Council, the FAC also suggested reducing expenditures and deferring expenditures as alternative steps to take when the City was close to invading its required reserve. It was agreed that. the backup material contained in the last budget adjustment resolution was a good beginning. Mr. Smith City Council Minutes 3 April 25, 1995 indicated that the .format could be improved as discussed with the committee on April 17th and that staff would make such improvements to clearly show the anticipated impact on the general fund from any future appropriations adjustments made after the adoption of the new two year budget in June. 5. Warmer Hutton House Dedication. The City Council agreed to hold the dedication at 9 AM on Saturday, June 3rd with the event lasting no more than one hour as it intended to schedule Youth Commissioner interviews beginning at 10 AM. The City Manager indicated that he would notify the Traffic Authority and the Recreation Director accordingly. 6. Self-Evaluation of the April 19th Meeting. Councilmember Moran suggested, as a reminder as to when the City Attorney could be excused from the remainder of the regular meetings, that a not~ be placed at the start of Routine Items indicating that the City Attorney can be excused at that point unless there is a specific request that he stay further into the meeting. The City Manager was instructed'to discuss this item with the City Attorney prior to the next meeting. 7. Report from Compensation Subcommittee. Councilmember Tucker reported that the subcommittee had met to consider many of the issues raised by the compensation study by Mr. Carey and some of the observations made to members of the City Council by the City's labor relations consultant. As a result the following is recommended for consideration by the City Council. a. The City should develop written, long term objectives (policies) based on several factors including but not limited to: -the Carey study -job responsibility -internal equity -external (private sector, public sector) equity b. There is a need to secure professional assistance to perform job evaluations based upon work content, etc. The City Council discussed these recommendations and concluded generally they were in agreement. It was suggested that the subcommittee attempt to refine the first recommendation and cast it as a general philosophy of the City Council toward labor relations, compensation and expectations of the work force of the City. 8. Contract and Billing Issues regarding Negotiating Consultant, Malt Egan. The City Council asked Mayor Burger to contact Ms. Egan and inquire as to whether the standard billing increment for Kay and Stevens is 1/2 hour as the invoices indicate and to express concerns regarding same,- to inquire as to the appropriateness of billing at a rate of $155 an hour for Lori Pegg when substituting for Mary Egan as it was understood that such billing would be at $100 an hour, and to inquire as to the nature of the worker's compensation research done at the request of Irene Jacobs, Administrative Analyst, and whether it was made clear to her that the City would be charged for this time rather than it being considered occasional professional counseling for which no charge would be levied as the City Council was led to believe when the City agreed to retain the firm and Ms. Egan in particular. 9. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 PM. Respectfully submitted, Harry R. a City Manager