HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Minutes 05/30/2002May 30, 2002
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a : ~ ~ City of Petaluma, California
Ct `Council flee#in
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Vol. 37, Pdge 479
1 City Council Meeting .Minutes
2 Thursday,.. May 30, 2002 -"7:00 p.rn.
`3 Budget Workshop
4
5 PRESENT: Cader-Thompson, Vice Mayor Healy (7:30 p.m.), Maguire,
6 Moynihan,. O'Brien Mayor Thompson, and Torliatt
7
8 ABSENT: None
9
10
11 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE -.Police Chief Patrick Parks
12
13 PUBLIC COMMENT
14
15 Terence Garvey; Petaluma -Spoke regarding the Street Maintenance ,Budge:t,
16 the Wastewater Treatment Facility and the need to spend funds widely.
17
18 COUNCIL COMMENT
19
20 Councilmember Cad'er-Thompson corriplimented Councilmember Torliatt on her
21 new hairstyle.
22
23 Councilmember Moynihan referred to a memo from Human Resources ,Director
24 Dennis Morris regarding the 3,~ at 50 PERS. retirement plan:- Apparently, he was
25 not able to find out what -the projection. is for next -year. He is concerned, about
26 the amount of the coming year's PERS contribufiion: He would like Council ~to
27 consider an interim actuarial evaluation on the PERS contract. In addition, PERS
28 provides free of-charge a contract amendment evaluation for any changes the
29 City is considering. He anticipates "huge" increases'in the PERS contributions and
3;0 the cost of benefits.
31
32 Councilmember Torliatt thought there was a cap on the amount the: City would
33 be required to contribute to PERS. Hopefully, staff has looked at° that and
34 budgeted appropriately.
35
36 City Manager Fred Stouder clarified that the information the City has is not based
37 on two-year actuarials but on the most current information from the state. The
38 actual cost and contributions,. as the Council knows, are part of the collective
Vo1.37, Page.480 NTgy30,'2002
1 bargaining negotiations underway .and.. will be part of the Closed Session
2' discussion at the Monday, June 3, 2002 Council Meeting.
3
4 Councilrnembe~ Moynihan noted that the memo from Mr. Morris did address the
5 cap for public safety officers. He believes PERS bases. its information. on a two-
6 year-old actuarial study.
7
8 Counc:ilmernber O'Brien stated that 3~ at 50 applies to public safety employees.
9 It was a, negotiated item. Those employees basically "bought'' this by foregoing
10 raises. If Councilmember Moynihan would like- 'to see. this benefit taken .away
11 from those. employees of a Jater date, when all other public-safety employees in
12 the state are getting it, he is "dead set" agpinst it. He feels. the employees have
13 earned that 3~ at 50.
14
15 Councilmember Maguire concurred with. Councilmember O'Brien and added
16 thaf the information Co~ncilmember Moynihan was seeking would be given to
17 the City as a matter of course.-
18
19 Finance Director Bill Thomas' clarified that the City receives information about-the
20 .Employers Contribution'Rate on an annual basis from PERS and for public safety,
21 ti-ie City received that information in NYarch, and it is factored into the budget.
22
23 BUDGETVI`IO,RKSHOP
WATER: RESOURCES ANQ "CONSERVATLON bEPARTMENT
Mr. Thomas referred. to Council's request for a proposed fee schedule. The
schedule wi l be in, tomorrow' Council packet, as will the CIP budget.
Engineering Manager Mike. B.an presented an overview of the Water Resources
and Conservation Department's operating budget-for FY 2002-03.
Councilmember- T'orligtt asked aboua, any additional storage facilities tha# the
City may 'be considering in the coming year, and the: line item "Acquisition for
Parcels-A ,&'B of. the Sewer Treatment Facl y. "'
,M'r. Ban explained that those wou d be covered in the' CIP- budget; which is
seheduled'_for discussion two weeks from tonight. -
~CouncilmemberMoynihan' referred to page 402, Water Conservation Budget.
This outlined water purchases,. which_he. thought helpful, but it showed about
$5,.179,000 in services. and supplies. He was having q hard time redonciling that
..with the schedules fhat follow behind it. He asked ~Mr; ,Ban to indicate where that.
money was going. He Thought it was. clearly not the purchased water, which was
a line item.
45
46 Mr,. Thomasexplained that .the schedule- aggregated all. of .Water anal Water
47 Recycling. That $5,179.;000 was the totdl o.f :everything included in the entire
48 Water budget. .
May 30, 2002 Vol. 37, Page 48.1
1 Councilmember Moynihan -Including Wastewater also2
2
3 Mr. Thomds -Yes.
4 _ .. ..
5 Councilmember Moynihan. -Regarding the detail under "Wastewater" on page
6 433, he tried to add up the numbers.. He asked for clarification as he couldn't see
7 where th_e Water Reclamation, Wastewater Utility Funds were.
'8 "
9 Mr. Thomas -Was n,ot clear what the question was.
1~0
11 Mayor Thompson -Explained - on page 402 -Councilmember Moynihan was
12 asking how t,he,$5,179,000 under "Services and Supplies" was derived.
1'3
14 Mr. Thomas -,That's the sum of all the individual divisions within the department -
15 the sum of both funds. 601 and 602.
16
17 Councilmember Moynihan -And then we have also summaries of some of the
.1'8 subsets as far as the Wastewater Utility...
1'9
20 Mr. Thomas -Thought the one Councilmember Moynihan was referring to on
21 page 433 was the Wastewater Utility Administration -which was one division
22 within Wastewater.
23
24 Mayor Thompson - So if you a;dd up all Water Reclamation, Collected System
"25 .Maintenance, Industrial Waste, and Storm Drain, that's the number you''ll come
26 up with.
27 '
28 Mr. Thomas - fihe total on page 429 is the Wastewater Utility Fund 602, and. the
29 total on page 407 is for the Water Utility Fund 601. Page 402 shows the total of
30 both of them.
31
32 Councilmember Moynihan -Moving on to page 429, the $4,204,900 under the
33 Wastewater Utility listing for Services .and Supplies...
34
35 Mr. Thomas -That would be detailed for you in the Form 3's s;tarting° on page l .
36
37 Councilmember Moynihan -Didn't see where the Form 3's added back in under
38 those .categories for Services and Supplies. Theoretically, the Form 3's for th'e
39 Services and Supplies subcategories should total that number on 429.
40
41 Mr. Thomas - Xou'd have to total all of the Form 3's. There. are individual Form 3's
42 for each of the divisions.
43
44 Councilmember Moynihan - So not only the ones following page 429, but the
45 ones in front of page 429?
46
47 Mr,..Thomas - No -the pages following 429. We can go through it, but that's
48 where it's coming from.
Vol. 37, Page 482 M'ay 30, 2002
1 Councilmember Torlia.tt -.Asked whdt page listed the total of excess of revenue
2 over expenses.
3 .
4 Mr. Thomas - Thdf's in the. front of the. summaries. On page 22 and 23 are the
5 fund summaries for the Water Utility Fund 60.1 and. Wastewater Fund. The, actual is
6' in the second column,. the ending. equity, and then we show you what the.
7 budget did to th:e equity. -what we feel the .estimated actual will do ;to' the:
8 ending. equity -and then we project it to next year with the budget.
9 .
10 Councilmember Torliatt = Are 'we projecting :dn;y increases; .in the Water Utility. .
11 Fund. or the Water Pollution Control Fund th`af.the Council hasn''t approved'yef?
12
13 Mr. Thomas- In equity?
14
15 CouncilrnemberT,.orliatt - N:o, in revenues that you are looking at;in here - I know
16 we were on the' three-year plan of $5.00 per month for sewer, treatment to
17 increase they revenues and I didn't ..know that we were on....or .maybe we were
18 waiting for the rate stud;y...maybe fhe question is, when is the rate study coming
19 back? ~ '
20
21 Mr. Ban.. - f think your question will be answered when we bring, the rate 'study
22 back.
23
24 .Councilmember Torliatt - So we're not prdjectng any increases at this point. in ,
25 time?" In°the budget ~iri the: Water Utility .Fund.: - ~ . ~.
26 '
27 Mr. Ban - On 'the Wastewater side, no. That is the rage. that was instituted as o,f this
28 year. On the Water side, yes.
29
30 Councilmember Torliatf -What is the increase thaf you're projecting in the Water
31 U ility Fund.?
32
33 Mr. Ban -It's about 6%.
34
35 Councilmember Torliq#t -But we haven't yet approved that as a Council when
36. we look atthe overall rage study. Is that correct?
37
38 Mr: Ban -Yes.
39
40 Councilmember Moynihan =Skipping '.back to 402, we have intergovernmental
41 charges of $'1,985,000,, which is about a 50% increase over lastyear,. Gould you, in
42 general, detail, why those charges are going up? Is it based on the blli_rig
43 system?
44
45 Mr. Thomas -Those charges are going up as a result of the. cost allocation study
46 that we had done last year, at which time it actually looked at the stricture fhat
47 we have now. The old intro-:departmental charges were based. on a study ghat
48 wds done in 1994 or 1995,. At that time, the structure of Wdter and Public Works
May 30, 2002
Vol. 37, Page 483
1 was a lot different than it is today. That's why we hdd a new cost allocation
2 study done,.
3
4 C'ouncilmember Moyhihan - In general, the billing aspe`.ct...,
5
6 Mr. Thomas -W'e're billing aspects of those two enterprise funds that are
7 essentially being supported by the Generaf Fund: Finance, City Administr"ation, all
8 of the service departments of the City..
9
10 Councilmemb.er Moynihan -One question about the storm drainage -page 441
11 -This appears fo be the second year we're doing'it -doing maintenance of'our
12 storm drainage system with water dnd sewer fetes thaf'we've collected from the
13 users, and f guess my question is - is that allowed? lt's not direcfly a payment for
14 the utility, as such, from what I can tell
15
16 Mr. Ban -Actually, it's a common. practice: By maintaining the stormwater
17 collection system, fhe nexus is that it prevents: that water from getting into the
18 wastewater system, so there's a benefit to the wastewater side. to having awell-
19 maintained storm drain system.
20
21 Councilmember Moynihan - l,n that sense, do we 'have to do a certain
22 percentage of offsefting spending from our Generdl Fund, or is there some.. kind
23 of a formula or ratio to determine just how much of fhe storm drain maintenance
24 can be charged to the ratepayers of the water anal sewer?
25
26 Mayor Thompson -What is the rule of thumb of"the percentage of monies used
27 from the water and sewer revenue side for storm drain maintenance?
28
29 Mr. Ban -All of the storm drain funding comes from the Water Utility Fund... .
30
31 Mayor Thompson - We need $10 million worth of storm drain work done in town.
32 How much will you `take from the sewer bill to pay for that? Do you take the full
33 $10 million, or some percentage? Is there a formula for that?
34
35 Mr. Ban - It depends on what the. expenditures would ~be for. Part. of our funding
36 comes- from Zone 2A, but not for the maintenance -just for projects. On the
'37 maintenance side,. it would all be from fhe sewer rates.
38
39 City Manager Fred- Stouder - In maintaining the storm drains, a certain
40 percentage of those costs come from the sewer bills -revenues. The sewer bills
41 pay for what percentage of the maintenance of the storm drains?
42
43 Mr. Ban - So, how much of your sewer bill goes toward maintaining.,..
44
45 Mr. Stouder -Was that the question?
46
4.7' Mayor Thompson - No, but that would b.e interesting to find out, as well.
48
Yol; 37, Page 484
May 30, 2002
1 Mr. Ban,- I'd have to come. back with that information.
2
3 Councilmernber Moynihan - I don't ..necessarily need that information. My
4 question. was more from a regulatory point of view-- if .the City has, an.obli'gation
5 to c:ontribute: a 'p.ortion toward the storm drain mainfenance from a diffevent
6 source. A bad storm drain system. can credfe~.a number of problems for a; City's
7 infrastructure. ldon't know how you jus=tify thdt. it sounds like we're no.t wo'rry_ng
8 about it.
9
10 Mr. Sfouder-Here's what should. be und=erstood: We are required by fe=decal
11 regulation to ,meet torm-drainage requirements, which not only create a large.
12 capital investment, bu a maintenance cost. The federal governmen;t~,, true to
13 their history, does, not provide. any ''revenue for thaf, necessarily, and does not
14 have a rule of`thumb of`how.we're going to come up with it.
Councilmernber.Torliatt== It's. called.'`unfUnded mandaaes." On page 22 a_n,d 2.3,
you show in the budget transfers out of $375,000 from each of the funds. What is
that $375,000 going, to? .
Mr. Ban - Tha`t's seed money for the equ'iprnent replacement program.
Counelmernber Toelatt -How much o.f. the water and sewer fund's are .going
toward street rnain,tenance'2
Mr. Ban -Our street maintenance program fhaf's funded through the water and
wastewater utility is our street resurfacing program. That budget is about $170,,000
a year. That ;is to` do spot repairs of fhe road fhdt was damaged during water
main and, sewer main replacement projects.
Councilmember Torliatt - So'it's $170;000 from each fund?
Mr. Ban -'No - tot=al. If"s. about $65,,,000. from the wastewafer side, and: $105;000
from the Water side.
Councilmember Moynihan -That's covering the trenches, ;basically. Tha#'a ;not
maintenance.
Councilmember Torliatt= So the "public facilities fund is not getfing any more than
$1.70,000 from; either'of these funds to do street maintenance?
Mr. Ban -That"s correct.
43 Councilmember Moynihan.- That raises 'the subject -some' cities such as Santa
44 Rosa have, certain criterid when our dater and sewer lines are replaced„ that
45 they require the repaving of the street from. curb to curb, instead, of basically just
46 backfilling a, french.:Trenches are often the location of`~a failure. You`l( see a lot
47 more `"alligatoring" and the like around the trenches: It maybe q policy question
48 to bring back in the not too distant future. I don't think we'll wrestle' with it in this
May 30, 2002
Vol. 37, Page 485
1 budget; .but it°`would be helpful if we were looking for funding sources for streets
2 and. street maintenance -capital improvements - on an ongoing basis. What it
3 will do, of course, is pass. through the cost to the utility payers -ratepayers - in
4 the'r°wager and sewer bill,. in addition to covering. the storm drainage, which we
5 see they're doing -but also covering maintenance of streets or larger repairs.
6 That's what some cif ies have found to be one way to raise some funds. I think it
7 would be worth considering from the point of view of capital improvements.
8 ..
9 POLICE DEPARTMENT
10
11 Police Chief Patrick Parks introduced the Police Department budget. He
12 provided Council wi#h handouts and indicated that Captain Steve Hood would
13 have extras dvalable. He acknowledged the Police Department staff for their -
14 work on the budget process.
15'
16 He explained how the Police Department staff reductions and grant funding '~
17 received contributed to the City's FY 2001-02 budget and will contribute to the
18 coming year's budget.
1.9
20 He addressed questions' about department overtime, and positions added.
21
22 He expressed his concerns .about personnel reductions, noting the difficulty of
23 limiting overtime
24
25 Councilmember Maguire asked Chief Parks is he anticipated some improvement
26 in time demands when the new CAD system is fully implemented.
27
28 Chief Parks thought there would be some benefits. Efficiency should improve, but
29 at the same time, improved technology results in public expectations rising. If
30 there were some timesavings, he would like to see more time spent on
31 community policing projects. The bottom. line, he added, is that the Police
32 Department's staffing is too thin.
33
34 Councilmember Moynihan appreciated Chief Parks' report. He had. compared
35 the 1997-98 budget with this year's, and found that there are ohly four .more
36 funded full-time. positions in this year`s budget. He did not think four was p large
37 jump. 'The salaries, in five years, jumped about 27%; and the benefits jumped
38 about 101%. He noted that the contribution out of the City's General Fund had
39 increased more. than 30% in five years. He asked Chief Parks if he saw any ways
40 that the department could become less dependent on General Fund revenues..
41
42 Chief Parks mentioned the Cost Allocation Study, which has been commissioned
43 to piripgint ways to increase revenue. He added that the Council is on the right
44 path wflen talking about utility taxes, parcel taxes,. and certain kinds of
45 develop ~~:ent (that doh't further tax the City's infrastructure.). Those are areas
46 that other cities have explored,. He didn't think Petaluma was alone in "having to
4,7 bite .the bullet" this year, nor did he think Petaluma was alone in terms of costs of
4'8 salary and benefit increases across the board. The City must stay competitive in
Vol. 37, Page 486 May 30, 2002
1 the marketplace. -not only in. terms of salary,. but also in terms of workload He
2 did not think`it possible to reduce services, further. '
3 ~ .
4 Councilmernber Moynihan repesated' that the G'e.neral Fund contribution to 'th'e
5 Po ice p'epartment has been increasing - 36~ iri five years.. Other than charging
6 more for services provided, did Chief' Parks see any other way for the
7 depgrarnent to be less dependent on Gerieral Fund. revenue?
Chief Parks answered that unless some sort of a Public Safety Assessment, Fe.e
was put in place - a_nd he didn't think that would be successful of thin time - h'e
did not.. The department has done everything possible to bring .in outside.
revenues, especially grants. He did not know of a city police department the size
of Fetaluma's anywhere that is doing .moue than Petaluma is with. ,grants. He
assured. Councilmember :Moynihan that his department would continue to look
for addtio;n;al revenue sources: He reminded him that staff, "Have •farnilies to
feed and wanta workload thaws manageable,"
Councilmemb.er O'Brien stated thdt Petaluma has an excellent Police
Depart:menu. He asked Chief Parks if calls for service were up proportions ,ely to
the increase in the budget.
Chief Parks replied that population had 'in'creased; some demands .have
increased. A lot more follow=up is required on some kinds of calls thane used to be
the case -domestic violence, .elder abuse, and sexual assault calls, `for example..
Officers. are, expected to "problem solve:" As a result,. the community is a safer
place to be.
Councilrne,mber O"Bfien understood the need to be competitive: He asked .if
Chief Parks, knew how a. Sonoma County Deputy Sheriff's salary corripared with
that of a Petaluma ,Police. Officer.
Chief Parks thought their' salaries were substantially more -about 20%. Their
retirement ~b,e'nefits are. not as good as Petaluma's. Petaluma does lose officers
to the Sheriff's Department because the pay is better and the overall benefits
:package is better.
Councilmemb,er O'Brien asked what it cost the City to lose officers and 'bring
new ones in. `
Chief Parks replied that when a fully trained officer goes to another city, it is very
costly to Petaluma because: of the cost of training that officer: As workload
increases, the City runs. the risk of dosing more officers - at a huge cost to, the City.
44 Councilmember O'Brien referred to~ Dare Officer position that was cut from fhe
45 budget. He believes the DARE program is excellent - a proactive program. - nqt
46 a reactive program. Wds there any way that the additional School' 'Resources
47 Officer could .pick up some of the functions of the DARE Officer? Was there any
.:;-.t;
May 30, 2002
Vol. 37, Page 487
1 way to save; the program? He did not fhinK the "public 'was aware of the
2 importance of DARE.
3"
4 Chief Parks explained that the Petaluma School District, which. is experiencing
5 major budget cuts., decided to eliminate their contribution the DARE program
6 this year.
7
$ Councilmember O'Brien asked how often the number of officers on duty was
'9 "inadequate."
10
11 Chief Parks replied, "We"re running at minimums almost constantly." The past
12 year has been difficult. Wf1en workload and pressure increase to a certain.;point,
13 disabilities occur.
14
15 Councilmember O'Brien asked if the City were somehow able to reinstate the
16 positions that had been eliminated, would that :result in significant overtime
17 savings? And if so, 'how much?
18
19 Chief Parks thought it would result in a savings in terms of productivity and
20 overtime.
21
22 Councilmember D'Brien' .saw the CAD (Computer Assisted Dispatch`)
23 demonstration today, aril 'was amazed to see that Petaluma's dispatchers still
24 use a card system. He thought that "went away" more than twenty years ago.
25 He thought what the Petaluma Police Department was able to do with "what
26 they don"t have" was exceptional. If there was .any way for the City to reinstate
2.7 the eliminated positions, it should be done.
28
29 Councilmember Torliatt asked if City departments other than Fire and Police
30 were accruing. overtime? if it was only the Police and Fire Departments, why was-
31 that?
32
33 Chief Parks explained that Police and Fire are "emergency`' departments.
34. Citizens can wait to have to. have a building permit signed; they can't wait for
35 Police or Fire to respond in an emergency. The average City department is only
36 open during business hours. Fire and Police are "24/7" operations.. That, and the,
37 fact that staffing levels are always low, is what. contribute to the high number' of
38' overtime hours.
39
40 Councilmember Torliaff "referred to .page A-17 an;d noted that the full-time.
41 positions for the Police Department have been reduced. by two each year for
42 the last two years. The two positions eliminated this year are the Public Safety
43 Dispatch Supervisor and one officer.
44
45 Chief Parks clarified that in the upcoming year's budget one .lieutenant position
46 and one officer position were eliminated. In last year's budget, the Dispatch
47 Supervisor, Grants and Training Manager, a lieutenant, an officer,, and a records
48 position were eliminated. These were all General Fund-dependent. They have
Vol. 37, Page 488 May 30, 2002
1 been replaced by three: positions, none of which is completely General, Fund-
2 dependent:
3'
4 Councilmember'Torliat't asked what types ofi calls dominated those received by
5 .the departrrment.:
6 .
7 Chief Parks noted that the fyp:es of calls the department receives are'`across fhe
8 .board." Aggravated assault and property crimes are up.
9
10 Councilmember Torliatt would like to see positions filed to reduce overtime- costs,
11 if... possible. This is a philosophy tha# needs to be embraced by the City. ;She
12 would also like to: see some additional information about salaries in other areas-
13 the Sheriff's D;epdrfinen.t', for example., At the beginning of the budget hearings,
14 she requested the. 'salaries and total compensation packages for each' of the.
15 levels of employees of the City: She got that, but would, like to .have; an idea of
16 how well th.e City 'is "competing" in those positions. She believes the `Police and
17 Fire Departments should' share the cost of the Public Safety Dispatch.. Supervisor
18 position:
19
20 Chief Parks said That any compensation package must be evaluated 'in its.
21 entirety..
22
23 C~ouncilmember Maguire asked how many employees were currently out on.
24 disability.
25
26 Chief Parks~_reph.ed that the situation 'is better than it was; there. are still. 'four
27 employees o,n long-term, disability.
28
29 Cou,ncilmember ,Maguire' asked if additional' safety training had resulted in a
30 reduction in in~urie.s and disability.
31
32 Chief Parks answered that. the department' h,as spent snore time this yea"r on.
33 "emotional survival." They need to work further on occupationdl safety issues.
34
35 Councilmember Maguire asked if asset"forfeiture had.. increased..
36
37 Chief Parks explained that, :new :Paws, had' r„educ'ed the figure; however; the
38 department is actively pursuing several;cases'th'at may result in asset°seizures.
3.9
40 Councilm,ember Maguire commended Chief ..Parks and the Police Department
41 for "doing a greatjob under tough circumsfances."
42
43 `Vice Mayo"r Healy thought the whole Council understood. what a "lean
44 operation" the' Police .Department was running: ~He noted the correlation
45 between a decrease in traffic citations and an increase in injury. accidents. It
46 takes awhile to reverse ghat kind of pattern. This is a very ''cautious"' budget; for
47 two primary reasons: we don't know how bad the news out ofi Sacramento wi l
May 30, 2002
Vol. 37, Page 489
1 be, and continued sluggish economy. Some ,issues will have to be addressed
2 during mid-year budget adjustments.
3
4 Chief' Parks agreed.
5 _
6 Councilmember Torliatt - If the Police Department we.ce_able to provide Council
7 with information about how these positions could be funded (aside from General
8 Fund) -she would like to move forward with reinstating them. She asked if the
9 other Councilmembers agreed. ~.
10
11 Councilmerber O'Brien :agreed, and .added that the summary provided by
72 Chief Parks noted that personnel reductions. "created grant compliance issues."
13
14 Councilmember Moynihan asked if the Police Deparfinent received many
15 applications.
16
17 Chief Parks replied 'that the department has not had difficulty finding qualified
18 applicants. It~~ta.kes time, but they, have been able to hire "cream-of-the-crop"
19 individuals. The problem is retaining them.
20
21 Councilmember Cgder-Thompson tflought it necessary to consider the impact of
22 new development, on public.. sa#ety departments". When proposed n'ew
23 developments come before Couic~l, fhey "should include reports from Police and
24 Fire detailing these impacts. The saying goes, "Development pays for itself." It
2'5 doesn't really, when you considerthe impact on public safety.
26
27 Chief Parks explained that the Police :Deparfinent does participate in the
28 planning process. Captain Steve Hood afetends th.e General Plan meetings. Plans
29 for new development do come through the Police Department; however;
3D reduced staffing means less time available .for review of those projects.
31
32 Councilmember Torliatt agreed that it would be helpful to get a better
33 understanding of how new development indirectly costs the General Fund. She
34 pointed out that overfirne and understaff,ing effect the morale and productivity
35 of all Cify departments. fn the Community Development Department, there are
36 a number of contract employees. She would like to see the City hire employees
37 who will have a vested interest in the City and the community.
3.8
39 Mayor Thompson thought it probable that there were more calls for service in
40 areas of "high density habitation." The City is receiving a number of applications
41 for apartment buildings, efc. If that is the case, perhaps. the developer could be
42 .required to contribute funds to offset the cost to the Police Department. He
43 thanked Chief Parks for"his presentation, calling it a "service to the department
44 and the Cify."
45
46 Councilmember O'Brien pointed out'that if the City loses more than $100,000 (in
47 training costs) when an officer leaves, and it costs $102,000 to hire and train an
Vol. 37, Page 490 May 30, 2002
1 officer, and hiring that officer can prevent two others from leaving, ".that's a no-
t brainier -we've doubled our money."
3 - ~ '
4 .FIRE. DEPARTMENT
5
6 Fire Chiefi Chris A,Ibertson gave a review of the Fire. .D,epartment's
7 accomplishments during the past yearand what fhey hope. to do in the coming
8 year. He emphasized fhe high. quality of the departme'nt`"s ,personnel
9 ~ "
10 Councilrnernber Torliatt .noted that the 'Fire Dep:artment's proposed over time
11 budget is approximately $ZQO>Q00. As he had stated, during the Police budget
12 presentation, ;if' filling. positions_ .to,.reduce stress levels and; increase. productivity,
13 etc. can reduce. overtime, she; would' like to see it` happen'She 'looks at it as an
14 investmen:f'ih'~the community.
15
16 Chief Albertson dgreed_:' it`s_ not just a matter of "dollars and cents," it's d matter
17 of the welfare of the em-ployees.
18
19 Councilmember To.rliatt encouraged both 'the Fi"re and Police ~ Departments ~fo
20 seek ethnic and gender diversity among- qualified applicants..
21 ,~
.__
22 Councilmember Cader=Thompson appreciated "Chief Albertson's presence in
23 the City. She- asked him if the Fire Depgrfinent wasactively considering
24 reloca.tio.n of fire stations.
25 _ ..
26 Chief Albertson replied that they -were n'ot. ~ ~ He stressed the importance: of
27 protecting Petaluma's Historic Downtown.
28
29 Councilmember O``Brien.'hoped the City would. hire the mos# qudlified applicants-
30 available,.. without bias as to gender or race.
31
32 Chief Albertson feels tha the community workforce .should reflect the
33 community that`it serves.
34
35 Councilmember Moynihan congratulaf,ed. Chief Albertson on the installation of
36 the ALS equipment on the fire engines.; He looked forward to the study Chief
37 Albertson would be conducting a possible BLS ambulance. These issues have
38 been discussed. before. Could past information be. used to move forward more
39 quickly on modifications to the ambulance service?
40
41 Chief Albertson explained that the raw data was somewhat dated. They are.
42 looking at what current transport numbers were beip;g utilized, how many
43 transports a day to break even, what would be the cost of .staffing a transport
44 ambulance:. Ari outside consultant who is familiar with the financial imp i'c'ations
45 of running a full-fledged ambulance will render, an opinion on the issue: does it
46 make sense? Then we cqn determine if this is a vi"able suggestion.
47 "
May 30, 2002.
Vol. 37, Page 491
1 Councilm'em'ber M'oynih~an would like to see a' presentation on the alternatives
2 and. suggestions.
3 - ~ ,
4 Chief Alb~erfson would'be happy to do that; however, he emphasized that at this
5 point this was simply a proposal between him and the City Manager and it was
6 not reflected, in thebudget Council had before them.
7
8 Councilmemb;er Moynihan, noted that the EMS study had highlighted.. the
9 potential for billing, patients' .insurance providers for t`he ALS element. Was there
10 any kind of contribution that could be sought when the ALS equipment was
11 utilized?
12 .
13 Chief Albertson said. tlaf much of that was reflected in the Cost Recovery Study,
14 .including a cost for the engine~~ company that responds with the ambulance.
15 Social Security has lowered the dllowable fees for ambulance transport. When
16 people don't have secori,dary insurance, '' What we ge is what we get..."
17
1$ Councilme~mber Moynihan asked if it would be possible to contract out for a BLS
19 ambulance and if thi'"s h~dd been discussed.
20
2'1 Chief Albertson answered that it was probably possible, but had not been
22 discussed. He did not strongly endorse the idea; he thought staffing and service
23 were available from the City.
24
25 Councilmember Moynihan asked if there. were other cities that contracted for
26 outside transport or ambulance-related services.
27
28 Chief Albertson agreed, but' reiterated thaf the City provides quality service, not
29 only within the fourteen square miles of the City, but the 160 square miles of the
30 ambulance response zone.
31
32 Councilmember Moynihan noted fhat benefits were a major part of the increase
33 in the budget for both fire and ambulance.. These figures were up over 98% from
34 five years ago. He asked Chief. Albertson how many funded positions have been
35 left empty due to workers' compensation.
3.6
37 Chief Albertson -Nine out of 48 total in fire suppression were out when he came
38 to the .City. Currently, three are out. Some of those previously out on workers'
39 compensation have retired.
40
41 Councilrnember Moynihan concluded that workers' compensation claims had a
42~ substantial impact on the budget.
43
44 Chief Albertson - Injury time is an impact on the budget, the overtime budget,
45 the welfare of the employees who are backfillin'g those positions. They have
46 taken steps: to lessen that. They will compare total days lost -this year compared
47 to last.
48
Vol; 37, Page 492 May 30, 2002
1 Councilmember Moynihan ,asked if Chief Albertson was familiar with -some: cities
2 contracting out.forprivatized workers' comp-type insurance. Was there abreak-
3 even point when it became cheaper to seek. another type of insurarce;z
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Finance Director Bill Thomas did not think it possible ge# such insurance on. th:e
ripen market. The'Human Resources Director indicated to. him several weeks ago
that self-insurance is the .most cosf effective type.
Chief Albertson clarified .ghat.-the Petaluma Fire Department's situation was not
unique.. Fire and ambulance is° a danger business and employees do get injured:.
Councilme,mber,Moynihan pointed ouf the General Fun'd' contributi.o,n to the Fire
Deparfrnent budget has increased. Did Chief Albertson see any ways to
minimize the future demand on General Fund Revenues?
Chief Albertson feels that fhe best value for fire protection dollars comes from
public educ:a.tion' and fire. prevention. However, when iricidenfs-do occur; a~
professionally trained. :force.. wifh appropriate equi;pmen`t. and .leadership, is
needed..He suggested public safety assessment fees or.ut:ility tax.
,y
Councifinemb,er Moynihan clarified- thaf he wanted to know if Chief; Albertson
saw ways to "wean" the department away from , General Fund .Revenu.e
demands and use other kinds of revenue to run the department.
Cfief;Al_bertson replied, "no:" They are a General Fund department. As the: cost
of doing business: within the Fire Department' here, 'rel'ative to our peers and
neighboring organza;tions: are we cornparable2 I believe we are - or 'maybe.
slightly- Power.. The o:ne difference, in 'our organization is theEnterprise Fund for fhe
ambulance:: That account does pay for 9J firefighters, and that doesn't come
out of the Generaf Fund.
MayorT,hompso;n thanked Chief Albertson. for his: report.
ADJOURN
The- meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
E. CiarkThompson, Mayor
ATTEST°
Paulette Lyon, Interim City Clerk
*****