11/16/2010 MinutesCITY OF GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA
MINUTES OF CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
November 16, 2010
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a Study Session of the City Council of the City of Grand
Island, Nebraska was conducted in the Council Chambers of City Hall, 100 East First Street, on
November 16, 2010. Notice of the meeting was given in the Grand Island Independent on
November 10, 2010.
Mayor Hornady called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. The following Councilmember's were
present: Nickerson, Ramsey, Dugan, Carney, Gilbert, Haase, Niemann, and Meyer.
Councilmember's Zapata and Gericke were absent. The following City Officials were present:
City Administrator Jeff Pederson, City Clerk RaNae Edwards, Finance Director Mary Lou
Brown, City Attorney Dale Shotkoski, and Public Works Director Steve Riehle.
INVOCATION was given by Mayor Hornady followed by the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
MAYOR COMMUNICATION: Mayor Hornady introduced Community Youth Council
members Danielle Jim and Steven Bartz. Also mentioned was the CYC "Create Your
Community" Art and Writing Contest this Saturday and Sunday at the Conestoga Mall. Mayor
Hornady thanked the community for the successful Volleyball Tournament.
Discussion Concerning- Expanding Sale of Fireworks in December. Jeff Pederson, City
Administrator reported that the Nebraska State Legislature passed LB 880 during the 2010
Legislative Session allowing the sale of fireworks from December 28 to January 1. A request had
been made from one fireworks vendor requesting the City to consider amending the Grand Island
City Code to allow for the sale of fireworks during the specified period in LB 880.
The Fire Department was not in favor of allowing firework sales in December as it would add to
the duties to already limited resources. Depending upon sales volume and the weather the Police
Department didn't think it would have a major impact on their department. A survey of 22 cities
was conducted with four cities approving the sale of fireworks in December.
Marvin Kohler, 1739 Ingalls spoke in support and explained the Consumer Products Safety
Committee (CPSC) regulations and changes in the new law. Tom Towne, 1609 Meadow Road
spoke in support.
Discussion was held regarding the additional duties to the Fire Department. Fire Chief Troy
Hughes stated they would be tasked with inspecting the stands, dealing with heating devises, and
hazards due to dryness during that time of the year. Mentioned was a survey of 22 communities
who had looked at this law and 4 who had approved it. Safety and quality of life issues were
mentioned as a concern for not supporting the sale of fireworks in December.
Seeing no strong support, City Administrator Jeff Pederson asked Council to get back to him by
noon tomorrow if there was an interest in bringing this back to council for a vote.
Page 2, City Council Study Session, November 16, 2010
Presentation of 2°d Year Program Prioritization Plan. Jeff Pederson, City Administrator reported
that in 2009 the City of Grand Island implemented Program Prioritization for its budgeting
process and format. Program Prioritization enhanced understanding and decision making to the
process of allocating the City's financial resources during the fiscal distress facing the City.
Consultants Johnson & Fabian conducted the first year process in creating the new system along
with the City Council, Administration, and Department Directors.
Through Program Prioritization, the first year included the balancing of the General Fund budget
without an increase in the property tax rate and without the drawdown of General Fund reserves.
This brings a strong foundation for the 2011 /2012 budget.
Several objectives for improvement to the process for the second year included: opportunity for
public validation of a key component of the model; increased definition and meaning of the
program scoring process; and reduction to amount of staff time required in Year Two.
A following detailed Plan for the 2"d Year Program Prioritization was presented by City
Administrator Jeff Pederson:
• Refine the definition of "Program" (Internal & Consultants)
• Complete a total revenue/expenditure forecast for the General Fund (Internal)
• Conduct apublic-input process to weight the Sub-Result Areas to include Town Hall
meeting(s) and visits to service clubs (Internal, Consultants, City Council & External)
• Directors conduct program scoring using new sub-program weighting (Internal)
• Peer Review of Program Scoring (Internal & Council)
• Identify Tier Spending Adjustments (Internal && Consultants)
• Present New Budget Targets to Directors (Internal)
• Directors Determine Program Result Impacts from new targets (Internal)
• Council Staff Budget Workshop (Internal & Council)
- March
- Program Impacts presented
- Direction for follow-up retreat identified
Finance Director Mary Lou Brown commented this was a general road map and there was a lot
of work to be done in going forward. Several councilmember's spoke in support of continuing
this form of budgeting. Ranking programs, CIP funds, employee involvement, new
councilmember's and new mayor were mentioned in moving forward with this process.
Discussion concerning town hall meeting(s) and service clubs input was mentioned as an
important part of this process along with transparency.
Update on Waste Water Capital Improvement Plan (CIP~ Steve Riehle, Public Works Director
reported that Waste Water planning was used to develop a Capital Improvement Plan, multi-year
rate projections, and annual budgets. The Plan analyzed collection system issues such as flow
projections, system condition, and operation & maintenance plans. The Plan addressed treatment
plant issues such as loading & hydraulic capacity, condition, operation & maintenance plans, and
Page 3, City Council Study Session, November 16, 2010
future regulations. The Plan also recommends short and long range Capital Improvement Plan
recommendations.
CH2MHi11 Consulting Engineering was hired to develop an updated comprehensive plan for the
waste water collection system and treatment plant. Black & Vetch was hired to conduct a rate
analysis of the Master Plan including the need for capital investment and debt financing.
With the decision by JBS to construct extensive pretreatment facilities, the Plan changed to
include a more aggressive commitment to replace and upgrade collection facilities. A
PowerPoint presentation was given outlining the impact on the 2009 rate analysis associated with
the revised CIP and the JBS conversion.
Presented were the following Waste Water 2011 CIP Projects:
• Aeration Basin Improvements
• North Interceptor
• Sewer replacement between 4t" & 5th Streets from Eddy Street to Vine Street
• Head works
- Bar Screen/Concrete Vault
- Influent Pumps
• Platte Valley industrial Park East
• Miscellaneous Projects
The following Rate Model was presented:
• 6% overall revenue increase was needed to support 2009 rate model
• Overall revenue increase was now projected at 7.5%
• 2009 Rate Model design (allocation to customer classes) underway to reflect additional
revenue requirement and reduced CIP spending
Discussion was held regarding the 2012 CIP total of $11,490,000 which allocated $5,850,000 for
the North Interceptor. JBS plans to build additional pre-treatment facilities and the loss of
revenue to the City was discussed. Mr. Riehle stated operating expenses should be lower for the
City with JBS implementing their facilities. Interceptor pipes were discussed at length. Mandates
from DEQ and debt service for CIP projects were mentioned.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
~~~ ~
RaNae Edwards
City Clerk