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CC 05-31-94 . : . . . CC-88Dß MINUTES Cupertino City Council Regular Adjourned Meeting May 31,1994 CALL TO ORDER At 7:05 p.m., Maycr Koppel called the meeting to order in Conference Rooms C & D in City Hall, 10300 Torre Avenue, Cupertino. ROLL CALL Council members present: John Bautista, Don Burnett, LauraIee Sorensen, Wally Dean, and Mayor Barbara Koppel. Council members ab~t: None. StatfPresent: City Manager Don Brown City Clerk Kim Smith Administrative Services Director Blaine Snyder Community Development Director Bob Cowan Parks and Recreation Director Steve Dowling Public Information Officer Donna Krey Public Works Director Bert Viskovich ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. Review of the 1994-95 fiscal year preliminary budget The City Manager highlighted the cmrent budget and compared it to budgets of previous years. He explained that it is the policy of City Council to have General Fund reserves which total at least 75% of \he annual operating expenditures, and their goal is to have 100% in reserve. At the end of FY 1994-95 that reserve is projected to be 106% of the ope.ating expenditures. He reviewed some of the significant accomplishments in the community over the past years despite the difficult economic situation in the State. The City Manager said this was a balanced budget, and most revenues show slight increases. All enterprise funds were healthy except for the Cupertino Sports Center, and staff feels they can bring that a.-ound. . . May 31,1994 Cupertino City Council Page 2 . He noted that none of the options the State is currently considering for its budget would include money from cities, but their expectations regarding the receipt of federal money may be optimistic so the cities may still be at risk. The Admini!ltrative Services Director reviewed the overa1l revenues and expenditures. He noted that next year the debt service payment would drop down because of this year's refinancing. The trend over the next five years for the Gas Tax Fund, Park Dedication Fund and General Fund is for an increase of about $2.4 million. The State may attempt to make up funds they expected to receive as a result of a property tax shift. Also, there may be impacts on this community as the result of l'f:a1location of sales tax proposed by the State Committee on Restructuring Government. The Administrative Services Director reviewed '-he revenues shown on page 12 and 13 of the preliminary budget and noted those that increased or decreased. He also distributf:d and reviewed a document titled "Summary of Budget Transfers" dated April 30, 1994, which included both inter-departmental tran3fers as well as additional appropriations authorized by City Council. He highlighted the City Council and Commissions budgets, and reviewe<.i some additional requests for funding which were not reflected in the prelimin:-.ry budget figl1re$, as follows: . <. Request from Joint Venture Silicon Valley for $10,0'10. · Direction from City Council regarding a salary increase for Council members. · Request from Cupertino Library to fund two hours a week in addition to the Sunday hours that are already funded by the City. · Request from Fine Arts Commission to authorize the transfer of any remainil'lg ñmds in their budget to the Quinlan Community Center Piano trust fund. · Recommendation from staff that any amount over the operating reserve of 40% in the Cable Television fund be automatically transferred to the General Fund. · Request ftom Euphrat Museum of Art for a total 0[$6,000. The City M.mager discussed the request ftom the Library and recommended approval of funding two hours per week in addition to Sunday because it appeared that a permanent funding solution may have been found but was not yet in effect. Mr. Charles Liggett, Chairman of the Library Board, said that this year the City Council had funded four additional hours. Next budget year the C<,unty will be able to pay for two of those, and he asked tœt the City Council fur.d the remaiuing two so that the Library can maintain their current hours of operation. He said this reque!Jt was a compromise, since the Board was aware of the climate in the business community and all that the City has done for th.; Library in the past. Mso, it appears that a permanent funding source may be found as a result of pending legislation. . Ms. Ian Rindfleisch, Director of the Euphrat Museum of Art, explained that they have traditionally received their funding from the grants budget of the Fine Arts Commission, May 31, 1994 Cupertino City Council PIIU . although they did not have to specifically compete with other grants recipients. She said that tlùs year the museum receive\! $3,000 of the total $7,000 in grants funds, and she asked that next year the amount given to the Euphrat Museum be increased to $6,000. She reviewed the history of funding, which several Year!J ago had included annual amounts of $6,000. Ms. Rindfleisch showed color copies of photographs of their recent event, Family Day, and she thanked the City Council for their past support. She said they also received funding from Sunnyvale and Los Altos. Discussion followed regarding the request from Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Mayor Koppel said that Council had given them $8,000 about two months ago. She noted that the subject had come up at the Cities' Association meeting too, and the City ofMilpiras officials were frustrated because they were attempting to participate but were not gettina a response ftom Joint Venture Silicon Valley. Counc. Dean said that although they received donations from cities, they were refusing to give any funds out themselves. Counc. Bautista said it had been his understanding that they would not ask Cupertino for additional funds for a year. Counc. Sorensen was oppoSt::d to giving them any more money. The Council members concurred to defer this request. . Discussion followed regarding the question "f a salary increase for Council members, which if approved, would not take effect until after the election in 1995. Mayor Koppel said she was in favor of a salary increase for the other members, although she would not personally benefit. The City Manager explained that the Govemment Code allowed a maximum increase of 5% per year since the last raise, which occurred in 1989 Council members were currently paid $486 per month and they could raise the maximum salary to $631.80 in 1995 Counc. Bautista said he opposed an increase the timing was bad considering what the Library was going through. The remaining Council members concurred to direct staff to place an ordinance on the agenda which would enact a 5% increase, which would add a total 0[$1,468.00 to the Council salary budget. The Council members concurred to authorize the transfer of the Fine Arts Commission's fund balance to the Community Center piano trust fund. . Discussion followed regardi'\g the request from the Euphrat Museum of Art. The City Manager explained that instead of putting funds for the Euphrat in a single line item, they were lumped in with the grant funds, which gave the Fine Arts Commission discretion on how much of those grant funds they wished to donate to the Museum from year to year. The Museum did not have go through the grants process to receive these funds. Counc, Sorensen said that the Museum should not be given more money unless Human Services was also given additional funding. The Public Information Offi.:e Donna Krey said that Human Services funding has remained at $35,000 for several years, and they have requests for more money than is available. Discussion returned to the Euphrat Museum. Counc. Burnett said he was in favor of authorizing $6,000 for the Museum. Mayor Koppel said the amount should be fixed and the Museum expected to live within those limits. She suggested a limit of $5,000. Counc. Sorensen was not in favor of increasina the funding, but the remaining Council members agreed to add $2,000 to the Fine Arts May.1I, 1994 Cupertino City Council Page 4 Commission's grants budget which would bring it to a total ofS9,000. The Commission could use its discretion to determine how much of that would be awarded to the Euphrat Museum. The Council concurred to adopt a policy that any amount over the operating reserve of 40"/0 in the Cable Television fund would be automatically transferred to the CkneraI Fund. The City Manager and Public Information Officer reviewed their budgets and highlighted the items which differed ftom the status quo. Those changes included: · The City Attomey to become a City employee with benefits, which was projected to save the City $49,000 a year and increase the level of service; · An increase in the law enforcement budget. Last year's increase was offset by a refund ftom the Public Employee's Retirement System (PERS) to the County. Also, the County has had a increase in Workers' Compensation costs; · The status of an employee of the City Channel will change ftom hourly pay to part-time with benefits. · There is a drop in the bottom line of the Community Relations and Information budget because of the $30,000 given to the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce as a one-time support for the Library. I The Public Information Officer said that the Human Services budget traditionally funds the Senior Day Care Center, Mid-Peninsula Support Group for Battered Women and Children. and the food bank. Counc. Sorensen asked that the Council consider a modest increase to th:ir budget. The Council discuss~ what amount would be appropriate, the changin.g needs in the community for social services, and whether they should make it a one-time increase or consider an annual increase. Counc. Bautista movo:d to approve an increase of 3% over the last year's base a:iJ a 3% increase each year. The motion failed for lack of a second. Counc. Sorensen moved to approve a one-time increase of 5%, or $1,750. Counc. Burnett seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. The Administrative Services Director reviewed his department budget and highlighted the changes. Those included: · Purchase of computers. · Decrease in disaster preparedness costs. That task has been taken over by the Fire Department. · The first full year of anima1 control services has reduced costs. · Implementation of an information management a..;ivity with funds transferred ftom computer maintenance. · Implementation ofa Geographic Information Sy~"tem (GIS) on computer. · An increase in insurance administration costs. Þ . Decrease in debt service costs. '. May 31,1994 Cupertino City Council Page' . The Parks and Recreation Director reviewed his budget and highlighted the changes, which included the increased costs of operating the Cupertino Sports Center, and an increase in the number of fee-based recreation programs which are self-supporting. The Community Development Director reviewed his budget and discussed the changes from last year. One was an increase for Task No.3 of the Stevens Creek Boulevard plan. He explained that Task No. I was underway and was funded with money from this year's budget. Task No.2 was land-use planning which would be done in-house, and Task No. 4 was to develop the design guidelines for private development, which will be done privately and nOl :>t City cost. He added that duplicating costs will increase bec.-1'1'se of a number of projects hat will be underway, and salaries reflected in division budgets will change because employees are being moved to different divisions. He said that no increase in personnel was expected. The Parks and Recreation Director said that the increase in Parks and Recreation would be in seasonal help, which was covered by the fee-based programs. Also, they may need to change the Cupertino Sports Center manager position from an hourly position to a 5IIlaried position. þ The Public Works Director reviewed his budget and highlighted the changes, which included an increase in school site maintenance, an increase in personnel units at the Fremont Older school site, the Sports Center, and traffic signal maintenance. DiscUS$ion followed regarding the difficulty of attracting employees to serve as Street Crossing Guards, and staff was directed to bring back an agenda item to consider a pay increase for that position. . The Administrative Services Director highlighted the Capital Improvement Project budget, which Council had reviewed in detail during their review of the 5-year plan. Counc. Burnett expressed concern about the $500,000 for the next two years for the Stevens Creek Boulevard plan, and said it didn't appear they would be ready to spend that money next year. The Public Works Director said that preliminary designs would be ready soon whic~ would include a double row of trees. It was important to select fairly large trees so that businesses' signs would not be blocked, and to plant them at the same time so the growth rate was comparable. Mayor Koppel said that care should be taken that the beautification efforts include the medians on Stelling and the streets that feed into Stevens Creek Boulevard, which was strongly supported in the design charette. Coone. Bl1mett said during bis campaign he spoke to many people who were not in favor of a project at this cost. He said he was in support of improvements to Stevens Creek but tbey must have the support of the people who own the land. The Community Development Director explained that the plan was to infill the areas between street trees that were already established. The Public Works Director said that many people had objected to the earlier plan known as the "Grand Boulevard" because of the style and cost, but the current plan is a continuation of what already exists on the boulevard. The City Manager said that the funds were eamla!Xed in the Capital Improvement Projects budget for this . , ~ þ . . May 31,1994 Cupertino City Council Pl8e 6 but that Counc:iI was not committed to a speciJic project. so they could change the plans or defer it. Couuc. Dean said that the concerns raised during the election were addressed during the charette, beCII1I5r the final design was very different from the original proposal. The Administmtive Services Director said !hat at the June 20 meeting be would present a resolution and SI..........y report to CoUDCil reflecting the changes to the prelimirsuy budget that Counc:iI bad made at this meeting. ADJOURNMENT At 9;25 p.m., Council adjourned to June I, 1994, at 6;00 p.m. at Dartanian's Restaurant, 1655 S. SaratogaISunnyva1e Road to discwts the status of the Council's goals and to conduct a personnel review of the City Manager. ~~fm¡¡¡¡ Kim Marie Smith City Clerk