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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2009-02-25~o~~x SANF~ MI TE S 0 ~. CITY COUNCIL `""~'`~ CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO cgLIFOR~IP REGULAR MEETING MUNICIPAL SERVICES BUILDING COMMUNITY ROOM 33 ARROYO DRIVE WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2009 CALL TO ORDER: 7:00 P.M. ROLL CALL: Present: Councilmen Garbarino, Gonzalez and Mullin, Vice Mayor Addiego, and Mayor Matsumoto. Absent: None. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Mayor Matsumoto. PRESENTATIONS • Relay For Life of South San Francisco Event at South San Francisco High School - Presented by Tyler Silva of the American Cancer Society. Tyler Silva, Manager of the Relay for Life Program with the American Cancer Society, appeared before Council to announce the Relay for Life Event that would take place at South San Francisco High School on May 16th and 17th 2009. The event would span 24 hours beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and ending at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday. The first lap of the relay would be kicked off by cancer survivors and their caregivers. A luminaria would be lit up in the evening and a local cancer survivor would speak. Funds raised during the event would permit the organization to continue its work of cancer research advocacy and services. Mr. Silva invited City residents, employees and officials to participate in the event. AGENDA REVIEW None. PUBLIC COMMENTS Resident Barbara Irli appeared on behalf of Soroptomist International of Northern San Mateo County to promote the organization's Step into Spring fundraiser. The event would take place at the Municipal Services Building on March 20th from 5:30 8:00 p.m. Exhibitors and crafters would be present and a silent auction would be included in the festivities. She thanked South San Francisco residents and volunteers for their generosity during difficult financial times. ITEMS FROM COUNCIL • Announcements • Committee Reports Councilmembers reported on attendance at community meetings and events, including the Community Learning Center's Tenth (lOt") Anniversary Luncheon, the Lion's Club Fellowship Dinner and a League of Women Voter's panel for sustainable prosperity that was held at the Green Building Exchange. Council advised residents of upcoming events including a Housing Element Public Meeting that would take place on March 3rd at the Magnolia Center between 6:30 and $:30 p.m., the Police Department's Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner scheduled for March 8, 2009 and events at the Library on February 28'". Specific items for further action andlor consideration were set forth as follows Councilman Garbarino encouraged residents that would be eligible for the next round of the Airport Noise Insulation Program to participate as the program substantially helped to reduce noise related to airplanes. Councilman Gonzalez and Vice Mayor Addiego reported on a meeting with the Harbor District at which the District indicated an interest in extending the current Joint Powers Agreement with the City. Vice Mayor Addiego suggested the City might take the opportunity to consider whether the Harbor should be operated by municipal government in the future. Mayor Matsumoto asked Chief of Police Raffaelli to advise how a grant of $102,000 from the Office of Transportation Safety would be used by the Department. Chief Raffaelli advised the grant would be used to fund overtime pay for officers to staff test areas for drunk driving that would be set up around the City periodically using road blocks. Mayor Matsumoto also requested Council's support for a proposal to adopt a Marine Corp Unit stationed in San Bruno that would be leaving for a tour of duty in Iraq in the near future. Council expressed support for the idea. Chief Assistant City Attorney Woodruff advised Council did not need to vote on the item since the Mayor had authority to take the required action via Proclamation. CONSENT CALENDAR Motion to approve the minutes of the meetings of January 17, 2009, February 10, 2009 and February 11, 2009. 2. Motion to confirm the expense claims of February 25, 2009 in the amount of $1,730,784.40. REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBERUARY 25, 2009 MINUTES PAGE 2 3. Resolution No. 17-2009 awarding a Consultant Services Agreement to Wilsey Ham for topography survey services for the East of 101 Area in an amount not to exceed $47,200. 4. Resolution No. 18-2009 awarding a Consultant Services Contract to Rockridge Geotechnical for Geotechnical Investigation of Littlefield Avenue in an amount not exceed $18,650 and amending the Capital Improvement Program Budget in the amount of $25,000. 5. Resolution No. 19-2009 amending the following sections of the City Council Handbook: (1) Appendix 10, increasing the annual reimbursement limit for the Mayor's attendance at regional events; (2) Appendix 1 A, updating the rotation schedule for the Mayor and Vice Mayor; and (3) Page 25, amending the absenteeism policy for Board and Commission members. 6. Resolution No. 20-2009 authorizing the City Engineer to file an application for federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding and providing assurance of project completion. Motion- Councilman Garbarino/Second- Councilman Gonzalez: to approve the Consent Calendar. Unanimously approved by voice vote. ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS 7. Transmittal of Mid-year 2008-09 Financial Report and Resolution No. 21-2009 amending the 2008-09 Budget., Finance Director Steele presented the mid-year 2008-2009 financial results and recommended changes to revenues and expenditures in the 2008-2009 budget. He advised the context of his report included that the economy had entered into a recession that was worse than at the time the budget was adopted and amended. He further noted that there were no signs of improvement or changes to the economic picture at Mid-year. Director Steele then provided the following information: General fund revenues were projected to come in $.95 million less than the amended budget, an unfavorable variance of .2%. Due to the ongoing recession, staff was projecting additional declines to Sales Taxes, Transient Occupancy Taxes ("TOT"), Motor Vehicle In-Lieu Fees and Parking Taxes. He advised there were no signs these trends wouldn't continue into next year. Councilman Mullin questioned whether the County had provided an estimate of the impact of property reassessments on property tax revenues. Director Steele advised this was still forthcoming. Mayor Matsumoto questioned where the City would be if the voters had not passed the commercial parking tax. REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBERUARY 25, 2009 MINUTES PAGE 3 Director Steele advised revenues would be down an additional $1 million. He then continued his presentation as follows: General Fund operating expenditures for 2008-2009 were projected to come in $.15 million below the amended budget, a favorable variance of .2% after factoring in the mid-year budget reductions totaling $1.47 million that the City Council authorized on February 1 1, 2009. Director Steele advised the year end expenditures estimate was fairly conservative and assumed Departments spend every dollar of their respective appropriations. Director Steele advised two (2) changes to expenditures were needed, including $250,000 additional budget funds to cover payments made to employees in January who exceeded their annual maximum accrual of banked vacation hours. On a positive note, the other change involved restoring the $400,000 set aside due to the uncertainty that had been pending prior to the passage of the state budget. With the passage of the state budget the prior week, concerns that the state might take away funds or hit the City with additional fees had been assuaged. Director Steele next cautioned Council that retiree health costs continued to escalate. The Finance Department was expecting an actuarial study that would likely indicate that the City might have to reserve $1 to $2 million more than it currently was to cover this ongoing liability. Further information would be brought to the Subcommittee and Council as it became available. Councilman Garbarino questioned the size of the potential retiree health adjustment in relation to the total operating budget. Director Steele advised the potential. increase would amount to 5% of the total operating budget. He then closed his presentation as follows: The Finance Department would work with the City Manager on additional reductions for the 2009-2010 Fiscal Year. Staff would continue to meet with the Budget Subcommittee and report back to Council in the spring. He further noted he believed it would be prudent to reduce property tax increment revenues by 5%. The RDA would still be well above water and there would be adequate reserves to fund the CIP. He also would recommend reduction to revenues in the sewer fund while rate scenarios were forthcoming. He noted there were adequate reserves in the sewer fund through year end.. Councilman Mullin observed that although the present state budget did not negatively impact the City's budget, declining tax receipts might lead to state budget revisions in May. He further noted that the success of the state budget was contingent upon the results pertaining to five (5) or six (6) initiatives that would be presented during a special election. Accordingly, he questioned the prudence of restoring the $400,000 that had been reserved for uncertainties relating to the state budget. Director Steele advised that based on information he had received from financial consultants, the City would not be amiss to restore the $400,000. The state budget was balanced through the end of year and a plan was in place for the next budget that included REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEBERUARY 25, 2009 MINUTES PAGE 4 all the doom and gloom scenarios. Additionally, since the revenues contingent upon the initiatives that would be presented to the voters in a special election did not need to kick in until 2011 or 2012, restoring the $400,000 in the current budget was still advisable. Mayor Matsumoto questioned whether furloughs were continued in the state budget passed the previous week. Director Steele advised that he believed the state budget included one (1) mandatory furlough day per month for certain state agencies. In addition, hefty across the board reductions and lay-offs at the state level were included. Vice Mayor Addiego stated he was still hopeful the City was positioned to weather the economic storm. Councilman Gonzales explained he had talked with an employee in the Fire Department about the need for the budget cuts that had been made. He stated there was no other way to explain Council's action except to advise that it was trying to prevent worse service cuts. Mayor Matsumoto thanked the Budget Subcommittee, Staff and Department Heads for their continued hard work on the budget issue. Motion- Councilman Garbarino/Second- Councilman Gonzalez: to accept the mid-year 2008-09 Financial Report and approve Resolution No. 21-2009. Unanimously approved by voice vote. COMMUNITY FORUM Councilman Gonzalez and Vice Mayor Addiego announced a Life Sciences Career Fair that would be held at the Conference Center on March 9, 2009. Prospective applicants desiring to participate in the program could obtain more information by visiting the City's website at w~~~v.ss£net. Councilman Gonzales also announced an eWaste collection that would be taking place at Fire Station 61 on Friday and Saturday February 26th and 27th ADJOURNMENT Being no further business, Mayor Matsumoto adjourned the meeting at 8:09 p.m. Submitted bv: Krista ai i elli-Larson, City Clerk City of South San Francisco Approved: Karyl Matsumoto, Mayor City of South San Francisco REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES FEBERUARY 25, 2009 PAGE 5