1-31-12 workshop minutes · 2009 2010 2011 1 housing market/foreclosures 84.9 91.1 94.1 2...

2009 2010 2011

1 Housing Market/Foreclosures 84.9 91.1 94.1

2 Unemployment 87.5 91.2 93.8

3 Graffiti 65.8 65.4 81.2

4 City Budget/Reduction in Services 73.1 75.3 77.3

5 Education/Schools 65.6 70.7 76.2

6 Gang Activity n/a n/a 76.1

7 Traffic Congestion 67.8 66.1 59.0

8 Growth 61.8 54.5 49.8

9 Taxes 42.6 42.3 48.9

10 Neighborhood Appearance 30.6 36.4 47.1

11 Fire Services 35.1* 37.4* 46.1

12 Police Services 35.1* 37.4* 40.3

13 Flooding 30.6 35.9 29.4

*Previous years asked about "Public Safety"

Citizen Concern ‐ % Large/Medium Problem Rating

SPARKS CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP MINUTES Tuesday, January 31, 2012

City Hall Basement Training Room

1. Call to Order by Mayor Martini at 8:30 a.m. 2. Roll Call:

Present: Mayor Martini, Council members Julia Ratti (arrived at 8:35 am), Ed Lawson, Ron Smith, Mike Carrigan, Ron Schmitt, City Manager Shaun Carey, City Clerk Linda Patterson, City Attorney Chet Adams

Absent: None.

Staff: Steve Driscoll, Jeff Cronk, Tom Garrison, Neil Krutz, Barbara McCarthy, Brian Allen,

Adam Mayberry, Judge Barbara McCarthy, Heidi Shaw, Stacy Hemmerling, Tracy Domingues, Teresa Gardner, Wayne Webber, Armando Ornelas, Steve Keefer, Jenny Lewis, Chris Syverson, Kevin Cavanaugh, John Martini, Andy Koski, Rick Darby, Robert King, Dan Marran, Chris Cobb, Chris Crawforth, Kathy Clewett, Andre Stigall, Dave Bruketta

* Comments from the Public: None

Lunch will be served at a time uncertain at midpoint of discussion 3. Presentation of the Annual Report, including a summary of the Public Attitude Survey results Teresa Gardner presented a summary of the 2011 Annual Report and Public Attitude Survey, which provides City Financial information and Departmental accomplishments. Highlights of the Public Attitude Survey included the following information: - Conducted between November 29th and December 14th, 2011 - 6,368 phone calls were made - 503 responses were gathered - 7.9% response rate - 95% confidence level (4.4 confidence interval)


Other Points of Interest included: • Citizen Concerns: Graffiti had the most significant change from 2010, a 15.8% increase • 15% less are watching Sparks’ Government Channel • 3.4% more are conducting business with the City of Sparks using the internet • Parks and Recreation ratings have declined • Special Events showed 86% of citizens rate them as good/excellent • Transportation received a Good/excellent rating of availability of public transportation and

bicycle lanes declined and availability of pedestrian walkways increased

Ms. Gardner also reported on the 2011 Internal Services Survey in September 2011, which spanned Facilities Management, Fleet Maintenance, Human Resources, Benefits, Risk Management, Accounting, Purchasing, Information Technology, Geographic Technology and Employee Morale and had a 23.3% response rate. The survey results indicated: • Although quality and timeliness of service declined in several areas, employees are complimentary

and understand the challenges created by resource reductions • Satisfaction with training saw the largest decline since the last survey in 2009 (down 24%) • A Learning and Development fund was established in July, 2011

- 90% of the fund has been utilized - 250 learning opportunities

Council member Ron Schmitt asked for demographics on the Consolidation question. Ms. Gardner noted that 26% of those surveyed were from the 65 years of age and above and 40% were in the 45-65 years of age demographic, so the survey definitely reflects a mature audience. Councilman Mike Carrigan commented that knowing why they feel the quality of life has gone down would be of value. 4. Presentation and possible direction of the Strategic Plan Assistant City Manager Steve Driscoll gave a brief overview of the Strategic Plan and opened the floor for Council discussion and questions. Council member Julia Ratti applauded the overall progress in the planning tool for the comprehensive measurements that have evolved, and asked for a Redevelopment metric to be added. City Manager Shan Carey explored the trends of the Strategic Plan, stating that our primary goal is to create a prosperous and sustainable city. He noted that one area of concern is our lack of technology investment (i.e., Police Radios) which will be a hindrance to the future sustainability of the city. Mr. Carey asked the City Council how the City is doing with Citizen Involvement and building strong alliances, which spurred a discussion of the upcoming election and Legislative session. There was consensus that it is better to not lead change at this time. Joint Council meetings will resume in February, though we have no items on the agenda. Council member Mike Carrigan asked why we are conducting joint meetings when we have no critical issues covered. Assistant City Manager Steve Driscoll reported that the Shared Services Committee has now been tasked with a study on five areas of possible collaboration, though these areas have already been studied with an unsuccessful conclusion.


Mr. Driscoll stated that one example is the purchasing piece, which continues to be brought up for consolidation. Current studies show that each entity has a completely different process and two agencies would have to completely retool their systems, which is not fiscally advantageous. Purchasing Manager Dan Marran explained that there were two areas in the purchasing study that could impact savings – personnel and cost of goods. At this point in time, staffing is down 75% of previous years and all three entities are already purchasing goods in common where it is feasible. Councilman Ron Schmitt suggested that we spend some time educating the Chamber of Commerce as they are pushing the consolidation agenda. Phase one of the business licenses collaboration has been completed, but there remains two more phases to complete this project. Mr. Driscoll noted that without time to complete this project before moving on to another, we will create failure for the business licensing collaboration. Consensus was to give staff space to accomplish what can be done in the collaborative process and protect staff from useless studies and rabbit trails. City Manager Shaun Carey opened discussion on Goal #5: Quality of Life, noting that graffiti and gang activity were highlighted as issues in the public attitude survey. A discussion surrounding the crux of the issue (enforcement vs. prevention) culminated in a plan to change city ordinances and use resources to keep neighborhoods (especially in Wards 1 and 2) from the “tipping point” of destruction. City Planner Armando Ornelas is working with a newly created Vacant Building Task Force, utilizing resources from the Risk Fund to find solutions to the abandoned houses throughout the City and will bring ordinance changes to Council in March 2012 to address the issues. 5. Presentation and discussion of core services including challenges and opportunities in service

delivery FIRE: Battalion Chief Tom Garrison opened departmental presentations with a brief summary of challenges and opportunities in the Fire Department. He noted that the opportunities include: - All Sparks Fire Stations remained operational 24/7/365 in 2011 due to a change to 3-person

minimum staffing which allowed a response time to all priority 3 calls within 6 minutes 75.4% of the time.

- The Fire Prevention Bureau provided excellent fire engineering, enforcement and education through the Target Hazard Inspection Program which corrected 2,693 fire safety deficiencies in Sparks businesses.

- Prevention through Project SAFE, provided new smoke alarms in 351 homes and participated in the region’s Juvenile Fire Setter Program through grant funding.

- The department has focused on alternative revenue sources and cost saving programs which resulted in over $500,000 in grant monies and acquisition of two new pieces of equipment.

- Each battalion maintained and repaired equipment and facilities, saving the City approximately $45,000 in costs.


Chief Garrison also noted that challenges and concerns include: - Due to lower staffing, increased training has focus on external fire suppression and more companies

being sent to a structure fire, leaving the remainder of the city with reduced resources for additional calls.

- Without grants, fire education would be almost non-existent. Proactive programs for children and families have been severely limited, which may be reflected in an increased number of juvenile fire setters in the past two years.

- Staff and personnel burnout is beginning to show as personnel are doing more with less and handling a host of special projects.

- Grant funding and opportunities appear to be decreasing. - There are no depreciation schedules for our more expensive equipment (SCBA & fire apparatus). POLICE: Chief Steve Keefer discussed the Police Department’s top five goals and objectives: - 6 minute response time on priority one calls, which is currently closer to 7 minutes. - Reduce Big 5 Crimes (residential burglary, commercial burglary, vehicle burglary, grand theft auto

and robbery) by 5% and are trending at that. - Reduce Traffic Accidents at top 5 locations by 10%- achieved 12% reduction. - Create a child abduction protocol – completed. - Missing Child/Runaway Protocol – 75% complete. - Murder, Robbery, Aggravated Assault – statistics are down, but case loads are draining to our

detectives. - Sexual assault – has increased in the 5 months of this fiscal year. - National Statistics – 2010 – 56 police officers murdered. 20% increase in 2011 to 66. Violent

crimes (road rage, shooting at the Police Dept) are definitely escalating. - Staffing – 10% of patrol is on light duty, admin leave, etc. and is affecting overtime costs. Have

only one property evidence technician and need to increase the coverage. - Victim Advocate – will know if there is grant funding in December. In process to update a grant to

continue this position. - Vacancies – there are three police officer positions open. Councilman Ron Smith asked when the Reserve Officer program will begin and if the Reserves always work with another officer. Chief Keefer reported that the candidates are currently going through background checks and that reserve officers always work with a sworn officer. Council member Julia Ratti asked if the 10% light duty is a new trend. Chief Keefer responded that he believes it is an isolated incident in time. It is rare to be up to 10% - the normal trend is 3% to 5%. COMMUNITY SERVICES: Deputy City Manager of Community Services Neil Krutz stated that the department’s story is explained in Strategic Goal #3, where nine of the ten key services are denoted. It is a story of inadequate resources to do the work. From the single resource in Code Enforcement and Graffiti Abatement to Building Maintenance, Mr. Krutz reported that there is no ability to impact the needs of the community. Parks Maintenance has a trend of declining effort in terms of man hours per year spent and you can see this in each park throughout the city. This trends across into Building and Safety where there’s not enough revenues coming in. This has reduced resources so drastically that turnaround time on plan checking is 20 to 30 days, rather than the old benchmark of a 10 day


turnaround. Building Inspections used to be on a same day service, but now are 1 to 2 days depending on the workload on that day. Mr. Krutz reported that there are some things going well, beginning with signal maintenance. Pavement condition is better than ever, due in large to the franchise fees that the City Council earmarked and the Regional Transportation Commission resources that have been brought into the mix. In terms of emerging performance measures, the department has developed the first performance measures for the Capital Improvement Program, which will be gearing up to take the CIP across all funds on an increasing program based approach. The Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility poses a dark cloud on the horizon due to resource cuts over the past 10 to 15 years which have resulted in deferred maintenance issues. We have just celebrated our ninth year with zero violations for discharge into the river even though there have been some major breakdowns in equipment and pipes. Councilmember Carrigan asked if it would be a valid request to the Legislature to use park impact fees to update the parks in the Wards 1 and 2. Mayor Martini asked for a report on how much money is currently in the Park Impact Fees Fund. Councilmember Ron Smith stated that 30 day plan review is unacceptable and that last year the Council offered to provide extra funding for this if needed. Mr. Smith asked for the cost for one FTE for plans checking to keep the turnaround at an acceptable rate. PARKS & RECREATION: Parks & Recreation Manager Tracy Domingues reported that overall the health of the department is good, though the survey gave some unfavorable ratings. The Special Events Coordinator recruitment will take place this week and that will free her up to concentrate on future planning and rebalance the staff’s schedule. This will hopefully minimize fatigue for all staff. Attendance numbers are slightly on the rise and event production is being minimized so emphasis can be placed upon event recruitment coordination. The Parks Department is anticipating an 81% cost recovery rate in recreation programs, while the national average is 38%. Funding secured has been increased by 22% for $620,000, with a 95% occupancy rate at Golden Eagle Regional Sports Complex. Ms. Domingues reported that her team has successfully developed A River-Park Closure Plan this year for community safety when rising water poses a threat. Some departmental challenges noted include rising participation and demand for services. Youth Watch may experience capped enrollments in specific schools to maintain the safe student-to-counselor ration (which is 15 to 1). There is an increased demand for the pool at Alf Sorensen, by a movement to have Alf reopened on Fridays. Unfortunately, it has been determined that the additional $15,000 for part time salaries is not available to open Alf on Fridays. Revenues paid by the swimmers will only cover 1/3 of the cost to open the facility on Friday mornings.


Although there is a slight bump in Youth Watch services, this is the area that has seen the largest reduction in revenues, because so many parents are out of work or income has been reduced to the point that the elementary children are staying home alone. Just last week two families came in to use services because they went back to work. The technical refresh and registration software cannot serve our customers now. The system cannot retain credit card information so an eight step process is required every time a child is registered in one of the programs. The users are frustrated with our processes. Staff is currently researching options to upgrade the software programs needed to revitalize this part of the recreation experience. Council member Julia Ratti clarified that the Youth Watch Program is hitting caps where we will be turning children away because there is a budget challenge. If safe ratios of staff to children cannot be maintained, due to drop out/in of participants, it becomes problematic. Every Wednesday is an early out at school, so every Wednesday the program is challenged for staffing. FINANCE: Finance Director Jeff Cronk discussed the challenges in the Financial Services Department, noting that rapid technology changes and internal programming are at the front of the issues that must be juggled to deal with issues. Mr. Cronk stated that we have the most dedicated and talented pool of staff that he has ever worked with. He also noted that one of the biggest areas of difficulty is compliance requirements from the Federal, State and County levels (GASB, as an example). Much of the compliance is well intentioned but completely inefficient, trying to be more transparent, but creating complications. LEGAL: City Attorney Chet Adams reported that his office is down two attorneys in the criminal division, though prosecutions are up. The District Attorney’s Office has determined that they will not prosecute citations issued by school police or gaming control (misdemeanors) and the laws were amended last session for the crime of petty theft, bad checks have been raised from $250.00 to $650.00. In spite of these challenges, the City Attorney’s Office has maintained a 95% conviction rate for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and 65% conviction rate for domestic violence (which is three times higher than the national average). These prosecutions are currently being covered through contracting with outside attorneys. Mr. Adams explained that he is also using cross-trained civil deputies for some of these criminal matters. Instead of buying software, they are modifying their own software to track criminal cases and complying with the ever-changing State standards relating criminal records. The Victim Advocate in the Attorney’s Office assisted over 1400 victims during 2011 and with bilingual interpretive services. On the civil side, the City Attorney’s Office defended and increased 40% in State and Federal Court lawsuits (including forfeiture cases), protecting over $10 million of the City’s treasury. The office managed to face this increase workload with a deficit of one civil attorney by using outside counsel both by contract and hourly retainer. New areas that have arisen include the Abandoned Building Task Force and ordinances to bring businesses into compliance with business licensing laws. There are currently six hundred delinquent business licensed companies. Mr. Adams reported that outstanding civil issues include: D’Andrea Effluent Debt – $150,000; outstanding issues with REDS; Police ordinances that we need to update; greater liability as City property declines; and keeping up with ADA accessibility issues.


COURT: Judge Barbara McCarthy reviewed the current issues at the Municipal Court, including the rise in DUIs and early case resolution. The Judge discussed staffing (the Court is down two clerks) and the volunteer program that has been instituted with retired employees from the Court and reduction of community service worker hours due to outside agencies paying the Sheriff’s Office for the workers coming to their agency to work. There is considerable evidence that the Sparks court may need to keep Sparks’ community service workers in Sparks, rather than being administered by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office. 6. Presentation of proposed budget/forecast with approved Financial Policies applied and city

forecast for the Sparks Redevelopment Agency Areas 1 and 2 : Finance Director Jeff Cronk reviewed the approved financial policies applied to the FY 2012-13 budget.

Mr. Cronk noted that property taxes are expected to decline by 4% in FY 2013. Other revenues are expected to increase by only 1%. He stated that there is an expected 1.9% decrease in revenues from FY 2012 to FY 2013. Employment projections remain flat.


Council member Julia Ratti requested the percentage of property taxes that come from residential vs. commercial. Mr. Cronk discussed expenditures and the policies that are driving them. He noted that there is a one-time cessation of funding from the General Fund into the Health Care Fund, which will generate a $2.3 million savings. The City budget will exceed the 8.3% ending fund balance policy goal at 15.3% for FY 2011-12. Expenditures are projected to be $51,310,000 for FY 2011-12 and to rise to $53,980,000 for FY 2012-13. Council member Mike Carrigan asked how we are able to reduce contributions of $2.3 million to the Health Fund this year. Mr. Cronk stated that is because the Health Fund is healthy (a minimum of 2 times coverage over liabilities). This draw down will take the fund down to 3 times coverage. We are expecting to draw the fund down to $1.9 million (which is 3 times coverage of assets to liabilities). City Manager Shaun Carey discussed the health plan changes that were attempted early in 2012 to move all employees to a high deductible plan. The costs of the Health Care Fund has grown in costs from $3.3 million in 2000 to $9.l million in 2012. In order to change the plan, the City must successfully negotiate with all of the bargaining units. As the City moves forward in the future, a goal will be to limit the Health Care Fund contribution. Mr. Carey stated that this is one of the challenges that we have to overcome – to get a cap on health care costs. But this must be done in conjunction with our employees. Councilman Carrigan asked what discretion the City Council has for funding the Health Care Fund. Human Resources Manager Chris Syverson explained current incentives set within the health care plan to motivate users to make better health care choices. Mr. Carey reiterated that this is an area where the relationship with our employees does not give the Council unilateral decision making. We must reach a compromise and solution together. Holding the Health Care Committee to a maximum of 3 times coverage will require the committee to address medical inflation. We need find a Win/Win solution for employees groups and the City to make the system sustainable. Detective Chris Crawforth asked why the personnel costs as a percentage of total revenue is projected at 72.2% in FY 2012 rather than the 78.2% in FY 2013 and why the goal of 75% was changed from the 78% referenced in last year’s budget workshop. Mr. Cronk explained that with the SSSI restructuring last May, which brought $1.8 million from Parks Maintenance into the General Fund and reduced the transfer, the base revenue had to be changed to total revenues. The historic comparison no longer works without this adaptation. Council member Ed Lawson asked if costs for Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) coverage is in this budget and is it expected to grow. Mr. Cronk stated that the costs are not reflected in the information presented today. We are not setting additional money aside to meet this liability at this time.


Council member Ron Schmitt stated that this affects only the employees who are covered by our programs. It is the Council’s job to fund this liability but if we fail to do that job, the employees are the ones who reap the consequences of that decision. Finance Director Jeff Cronk summarized that this OPEB legislation has forced all local municipalities to put the liability on their balance sheet. But it does not force funding of the liability because it would put many local government agencies out of business. (At this point the meeting was adjourned for 15 minutes for lunch.)

City Manager Shaun Carey reconvened the meeting by asking the City Council to look at the question of sustainability further and decide if we want to set policies based upon Government Finance Officers’ Association (GFOA) standards which recommends that a city maintains a fund balance of 16%. If we continue with our current policy, we will maintain 8.3% (one month’s revenue), however, this policy has to do with cash flow.

Mr. Carey discussed the cash flow trends in 2011-12, which makes the GFOA standard valid. If the City were to integrate the GFOA standard, it would provide a stabilization of the cash flows caused by timing of our property tax installments and payroll expense spikes. Another step in sustainability is to live within the percentages which we’ve used to define the budget. We have worked very hard to reduce budgets and get them focused into key services by priority percentages. So we might use these percentages within those allocations (i.e. payroll at 63% without health insurance) as a policy tool.


Mr. Carey further noted that these percentage allocations add up to 100% of our revenues and if we were to use these for the next fiscal year’s allocations, we would need some major adjustments to employee costs to make it sustainable.

Council member Julia Ratti asked for clarification regarding the Stabilization Fund and Mr. Cronk explained that there are two sets of rules, one kept by the State of Nevada, where the NRS allows us to access the Stabilization Fund if there is any sort of disaster or if we have a loss of revenue (and that is not defined). The rules got stricter through GASB 54, which allows for more restrictive uses for the Stabilization Fund-a disaster or loss of revenue of 4% or more. We currently have a policy to commit $200,000 to the Stabilization Fund each year, if funds are available. Mr. Cronk also explained the rules for Contingency Fund usage, which is determined by Council decision to be used for whatever Council directs.

When asked about Cash Flow Trending, Mr. Cronk handed out a chart which depicts the most current annual trends.

Mr. Cronk explained that the City lives on the four main distributions of property taxes but they are not quarterly (which would be a most helpful change if that happened). Washoe County distributes it at the time the property bills are due. Historically August and January are consistently low cash


flow months for the city. Mr. Cronk explained that our bi-weekly payroll is $1.6 million with health insurance costs and in the past, when the general fund balance drops below a safe reserve, the financial services team borrowed from other funds. New regulations do not allow that to occur without a formal public notice and getting Council approval for a proper inter-fund loan. City Manager Shaun Carey reviewed a five-year budget projection, with the assumptions of a 3% increase in revenues and a 3% decline in revenues (see chart below) which is $1.5 million swing. This number ties with the 8.3% ending fund balance and demonstrates how a small economic upset can send the city’s finances right back down. Mr. Carey then reviewed the Council control over General Fund Expenditures.


As statutes and contracts are applied, it appears that the Council has control over about 18% of the General Fund expenditures and only limited control over 82% of the budget. After discussion of these options, City Manager Shaun Carey offered to provide a budget profile A (with 8.3% ending fund balance) and B (with 16.6% ending fund balance), with an OPEB style investment strategy for the Budget workshop in April. A motion was made by Council member Mike Carrigan, seconded by Councilman Ed Lawson to have the City Manager bring forward two budget scenarios (one with current policies reflecting an 8.3% ending fund balance and a second with a 16.6% ending fund balance with an OPEB style investment strategy for the budget workshop in April. Council member Ratti asked for clarification on how the 78% personnel costs in the May retreat document became 75% in this document. Mr. Carrigan amended his motion to reflect this clarification and the motion passed unanimously.

7. Review and discussion of the Capital Improvement Plan, including priorities and needs Capital Projects Manager Chris Cobb presented an overview of the Five Year Capital Improvement

Plan.

TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS - Projects/Capital Expenditures Streets - Corrective & Rehabilitation - $1,600,000 Mill & Overlay or Full Depth replacement in FY2011/2012: ◦ Full Depth Rehabilitation Projects

P Street – O Street to Probasco Way East Gault – Probasco Way to York Way Union Street – Pullman Drive to Union Court Pullman Drive – Robbie Way to E. Prater Way Sage View Drive – O’Callaghan Drive to Robbie Way

◦ Mill & Overlay Projects Sells St – Thornton Street to E. Lincoln Way Thornton Street – E. Lincoln Way to End of Road Glen Vista – Howard Drive to William Morby Drive

Projects/Capital Expenditures Streets ◦ Preventive - $350,000 ◦ Preventive projects are part of the Annual Slurry Seal Program ◦ Approximately 1.6 Million Square Feet of Residential Roadway is slated to be slurry

sealed. Sidewalk ◦ Transportation funded sidewalk rehabilitation $175,000 will be incorporated with the

Pavement Management Rehabilitation Projects.

City Wide Pavement Condition Index (PCI) Past Seven Years Average PCI Rating (updated every July)


◦ 2005 – 68 ◦ 2006 - 72 ◦ 2007 - 76 ◦ 2008 – 77 ◦ 2009 – 79 ◦ 2010 – 82 ◦ 2011 - 86

Mr. Cobb explained that the success of the Pavement Management Program is identifying the most effective/least cost alternatives using City Transportation Funds and coordinating RTC Preventative/Rehabilitation efforts within the City of Sparks.

Mayor Martini asked Adam Mayberry if an advertorial or Spotlight on Sparks could be created to get the information out to the public about the improved road conditions.


Transportation Projects

Projects/Capital Expenditures

Streets ◦ Preventive - $350,000 ◦ Preventive projects are part of the Annual Slurry Seal Program ◦ Approximately 1.6 Million Square Feet of Residential Roadway is slated to be slurry

sealed. Sidewalk ◦ Transportation funded sidewalk rehabilitation $175,000 will be incorporated with the

Pavement Management Rehabilitation Projects. Utility Projects

Funding Sources ◦ Sewer/Storm fees, Connection fees, & Effluent use fees

Project Identification ◦ Video Assessments

Special attention to roads being rehabilitated by City, RTC, or NDOT ◦ Studies have identified deficiencies that may have environmental or citizen/property

impact ◦ Engineering & Maintenance Staff review of excessive service/cost ◦ Council, Senior Staff, & Citizen concerns


Projects/Capital Expenditures Sewer-Rehabilitation/Replacement/Programs

◦ I Street (Rock Blvd to 18th St) - $125,000 ◦ Residential Backyard - $500,000 (Lining or Bursting) ◦ Lift Station Radio Upgrade- $150,000 ◦ Small Diameter Camera Upgrade - $300,000 ◦ Pelican Park Pathway/Maintenance Access Road Rehabilitation - $325,000

Storm Drain-Rehabilitation/Replacement/Programs ◦ FEMA CRS/CAV Flood Mitigation - $50,000 ◦ Pioneer Diversion - $175,000 ◦ Annual Curb/Gutter & Drainage Inlet - $500,000 ◦ Sparks Marina Permit Review - $75,000 ◦ Backflow Prevention Project Site 2 & 4- $235,000

Effluent ◦ Emergency/Contingency - $150,000 ◦ Metered Site Upgrades - $50,000

Capital Projects (Fund 1404) Funding Sources

◦ General Fund Project Identification

◦ Engineering & Maintenance Staff review of excessive maintenance for service/operations of facilities

◦ Council, Departments, Advisory Boards, & Citizen concerns Projects prioritized as follows:

Structural Integrity/Life Safety Mechanical/Electrical Accessibility Issues/Grant Matching Projects Workability/Use of Space Critical to Operational effectiveness-Remodel Comfort/Upgrade-Remodel Projects/Capital Expenditures

Facilities Police Department Portable Radio Replacement (Phased over two years)- $210,000 Police Department Lobby Bullet Proof Glass Retrofit - $200,000 Fire Station No. 1 Security Fencing - $60,000 Fire Station No. 3 Roof Replacement - $110,000 Maintenance Yard Bull Pen Bldg Roof Replacement - $110,000 Senior Center Parapet & Stucco Repair Project - $110,000 Fire Station No. 1 Plumbing Rehabilitation - $95,000 City Hall Electrical Upgrade Phase 1 - $320,000

Energy Conservation Projects- C Street Garage LED lighting retrofit - $120,000


Capital Projects (Fund 1405) Funding Sources

◦ Ad Valorem-Special Note State’s 75th Legislation Bill No. 543 redirected all of Ad-Valorem & personal property tax revenue to the State’s General Fund, this fund will be spent to zero

Project Identification ◦ Engineering & Maintenance Staff review of excessive maintenance for service/operations

of facilities ◦ Council, Departments, Advisory Boards, & Citizen concerns

Projects prioritized as follows: ◦ Structural Integrity/Life Safety ◦ HVAC/Mechanical/Electrical ◦ Accessibility Issues/Grant Matching Projects

Workability/Use of Space Critical to Operational effectiveness-Remodel Comfort/Upgrade-Remodel

Projects/Capital Expenditures ◦ Facilities

Senior Center Security Fencing - $30,397 Parks Projects (Fund 1402, 1406, 1407,1408)

Funding Sources ◦ General Fund, Franchise Fees, Residential construction taxes dedicated to neighborhood

park construction, rehabilitation, and improvements Project Identification

◦ Parks Administration & Maintenance Staff, CS Engineering review of excessive maintenance for service/operations of facilities and infrastructure

◦ Council, Advisory Boards, & Citizen concerns Projects/Capital Expenditures

Parks ◦ Bike Path Rehabilitation - $120,000 ◦ Deer Park Pool Sand Filter Replacement - $22,000 ◦ Recreation Registrations Management Software - $25,000 ◦ Cottonwood Park Shade Structure Dist #2- $70,000 ◦ Les Hicks Play Structure Replacement Dist #2 - $200,000 ◦ Kestrel Park Improvements Dist #3 - $34,000 ◦ Red Hawk Park Improvements Dist #3 - $19,000

Community Development Block Grant

Funding Sources ◦ CDBG Funds – Federal Government

Project Identification ◦ Planning & Engineering Staff review of authorized areas to do neighborhood

revitalization ◦ Council & Citizen concerns

Projects/Capital Expenditures


◦ Pedestrian & Street Improvements - $254,000

Municipal Court Funding Sources

◦ Municipal court administrative assessments for purposes to enhance/support municipal court facilities/operations

Project Identification ◦ Judges, Municipal Court Administrator, PW Engineering /Maintenance Staff review of

facilities/operational needs or upgrades ◦ Council & Citizen concerns

Projects/Capital Expenditures ◦ Municipal Court Bathroom ADA Remodel - $50,000

Victorian Square Room Tax & Redevelopment Agency Area 1 & 2 Funding Sources

◦ Room Tax, Redevelopment Area Incremental Property Tax


Project Identification

◦ City Council, Redevelopment Agency, Redevelopment Manager, & PW Engineering staff collaborate on Priorities & Facility status

◦ Citizen concerns Projects/Capital Expenditures

◦ Victorian Square Development Contribution - $50,000 8. Discussion and possible direction on budget priorities for FY 12-13

City Manager Shaun Carey called for direction on the Capital Plan or budget priorities for FY 2012-13. There was consensus that the Council would like to consider New Needs in the budget scenarios presented in April.

9. Discussion and possible direction on 2012 Legislative Platform. Community Relations Manager Adam Mayberry explained that the platform is an advocacy strategy

that shows that the Mayor and City Council are in unity on the various topics that the State Legislature takes up.

Purchasing Manager Dan Marran discussed local preference in government purchasing. The Council changed the platform to reflect the following: Item 1c: Support legislation that would allow for a local preference in government purchasing. (Pg 11) Item 4j: Stricken from draft (Page 13) Item 13b: Support legislation to clarify roles, functions, address costs to local governments for the Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Governing Board. Item 7a: Pull the Statement.

A motion was made by Council Member Smith, seconded by Council Member Schmitt, to approve the platform with changes as outlined. Council Members Ratti, Lawson, Smith, Carrigan and Schmitt, YES. Motion carried.

10. Discussion and possible direction on Bill Draft Requests for the 2013 Nevada Legislative Session Community Relations Manager Adam Mayberry advised that the Bill Draft Requests (BDR) will be

selected by June 2012. Some ideas noted as possible BDRs included: Resetting the property tax depreciation; amend the mandate of Sparks Charter Committee membership; Ward only voting.

11. Discussion and possible direction on 2012 advisory ballot question Community Relations Manager Adam Mayberry reviewed the potential for an advisory ballot

question on Ward only voting. There is a July 16, 2012, deadline to have the question ready for the Registrar of Voters to put on the ballot.

Council member Julia Ratti advised that the Reno City Attorney has put on record that the current

system will eventually be challenged and the City of Reno would lose in regards to the federal voting laws. She added that she feels this is relevant and that the Council needs to be concerned about the potential liability in regard to the current system.


After discussion, Council member Julia Ratti asked for an opinion from the City Attorney’s Office

on whether or not ward voting will run into constitutional challenges. 12. Review and discussion of current Boards and Commissions for possible additions or changes. City Manager Shaun Carey explained that the purpose of this item is to determine if some of our

Boards and Advisory Commissions could be consolidated or eliminated. He noted that we have downsized our government quite a bit and there may be opportunities to reduce/expand the number. This isn’t about the value of our citizens efforts, but rather a review of their function and purpose.

Council member Ed Lawson noted that the Sparks Advisory Committee for the Disabled was not

disbanded, but suspended. Other Boards & Commissions that were suggested for removal include: Local Emergency Planning Commission Ready for Life Advisory Committee Historic Preservation Committee Washoe County Senior Services Advisory Board Human Services Advisory Board

13. Comments 13.1 Comments from the Council and City Manager - None 13.2 Comments from the Public – None 14. *Adjournment at 3:15 p.m.

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