08-17-1993 - Budget Workshop CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER
WORKSHOP
AUGUST 17, 1993
7:00 P.M.
COMMUNITY CENTER
MINUTES
Call To Order
Mayor Hayman called the Budget Workshop to order at 7 : 00 p.m. in the
Community Center.
Roll Call
Mayor Jack Hayman Present
Councilman Kirk Jones Present
Councilwoman Louise Martin Present
Councilman Michael Hays Present
Councilman David Mitchum Present
City Attorney Krista Storey Present
City Manager George McMahon Present
City Clerk Susan Wadsworth Present
Police Chief Lawrence Schumaker Present
Overview of General Fund Budget - City Manager
City Manager McMahon advised Council he wanted to go with the
succession of the departmental budgets after his overview of the
General Fund Budget. He described this as being a more difficult
budget year than last year. He spoke of the need to increase the
reserves over the years to come in order to keep the City financially
sound. He then commented on the need to have a fund balance in order
for the City to operate in case of an emergency. Another reason they
need to have a fund balance is to cover expenses due to revenues not
coming in until the taxes begin to be collected around the end of
November or beginning of December. The gap in time needed to be
covered with the cash they needed to operate. The City over the past
four to five years had used the fund balance to balance the gap
between the property taxes and all the revenues collected and the
amount of expenses they have had. He further commented on revenue
sources and described many of the revenues sources had reversed
themselves in terms of how much they got and in terms of the trend
they were getting, which was no longer the case. The economic times
of the State had created problems for every city around them. This
year that problem was extended by the loss of property base the City
has, which had decreased. This creates a reversal of the trend of the
type of growth over the past few years. They were faced with dealing
with the problem of what they need to balance a budget and how they
needed to do that.
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City Manager McMahon asked Finance Director Fred Munoz to present an
overview and summarize some of the problems with revenues and the
taxable values the City had.
Finance Director Munoz started his slide presentation with an overview
of where they were with the FY 1994 General Fund Revenues as it
related to ad valorem taxes and taxable values .
Finance Director Munoz then commented on the FY 1994 General Fund
Expenditures .
City Manager McMahon commented on personnel costs and this being an
area of concern the City has been trying to address . They had a net
reduction of six people overall between last year and this year. They
were attempting not to hire people into positions if they could work
in the areas of productivity throughout the City. He pointed out the
pay for performance system was starting to show signs of helping them
economically.
Finance Director Munoz continued his presentation by describing a
graph which included information from the last four years with regard
to the percentage a particular item makes up of the whole budget and
the growth which occurred from year to year as it related to revenues
and expenditures .
Finance Director Munoz then commented on the General Fund balance by
comparing the balance over the last four years .
Finance Director Munoz then commented on increasing personnel costs
and the millage rate. City Manager McMahon described the reason for
the significant increase in personnel costs from three years ago being
because of the City transitioning from a contract Attorney to an in-
house Attorney, which wasn' t previously reflected as a personnel cost.
Finance Director Munoz continued his presentation by commenting on the
workers' compensation bill he recently received where the rates
increased from 11% to 29% .
Finance Director Munoz also commented on the increase to the pension
costs for the General Employees as well as life and health insurance.
Finance Director Munoz commented on the common question asked by the
citizens with regard to where their taxes were going. He informs them
to look at the ad valorem taxes they pay and the public safety that
they get.
Finance Director Munoz identified these were increases in costs the
City had been experiencing. Most of the increases were external,
which they didn' t have much control over. The bottom line is the
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trend of increased costs to serve an increasing population coupled
with the decreasing flat revenues is that the City' s fund balance has
decreased. Management feels they need to build it back up.
City Manager McMahon felt Finance Director Munoz did an excellent job
in summarizing the condition of the City' s moneys, where they come
from, where they are spent and what has happened in terms of trend
analysis . He felt the City was on track for maintaining good control
of its expenditures and that they knew what the problems were and what
to do about them. Unless general revenues increase in the future,
they will have to continually watch everything they do and make sure
the fund balance doesn' t begin to deteriorate. This year he was
proposing a tax increase of 2 mills . He asked Council to consider
removing the 341 mill for the roads and ask the City staff to look at a
bond issue only for the cost of those roads as a result of the public
meeting held last week.
City Manager McMahon further described as the roads improve and the
infrastructure is in place, the property values should increase.
Property values are primarily driven by market value. He believed the
homes would be more marketable if they have the infrastructure in
place and if the roads are paved.
City Manager McMahon commented on the City transitioning from back in
the 70' s and 80' s to a City of 17, 000 people. He then asked Council
when they went through the budget to look at reducing the $17, 000 in
the Council' s budget for promotion.
Questions by City Council on overview
Councilman Jones commented on the increase to the General Employees
Pension and asked how they can be aware in the future of such a jump.
He felt their actuaries and their figures should have indicated this
was coming. Finance Director Munoz elaborated on Councilman Jones'
concerns. City Manager McMahon commented on a problem with the
pensions being the Defined Benefit Plan. He further commented on
staff looking at a defined premium. He also spoke of being driven by
the union contracts and being required to provide certain benefits
under those contracts .
Councilman Jones felt they should be concerned about this because they
don' t need that type of increase continuing to nip them because they
aren' t prepared for that. He couldn' t believe they weren' t warned.
Finance Director Munoz spoke of seeing the same thing in the Police
Pension fund. Councilman Jones mentioned the pension boards meeting
every quarter. Finance Director Munoz informed him the pension boards
had no control over this .
Councilman Jones spoke of going from a part time to full time City
Attorney and then they had a City Manager that left and then they
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hired an outside attorney that costs them money and it was one of
those things they encountered and there wasn' t anything they could do
about it. It was needed and it was done. City Manager McMahon
mentioned there was a public issue over how much they had expended in
terms of legal help for the labor work that was done here. He pointed
out Edgewater spent under $17, 000 for the negotiations of all three
unions; the City of New Smyrna Beach with one union spent $61, 000 and
next year were projecting $75, 000 for labor negotiations .
Councilman Jones further commented on doing what they had to do to get
where they were today. He was very proud of the legal staff and felt
City Attorney Storey had done an outstanding job of getting things
done the City needed done. Councilman Hays agreed. Councilman Jones
further commented on the people wanting change.
Review of all General Fund City Departments
City Manager McMahon wanted to begin with the City Council' s budget.
He asked Council to make their changes by consensus and they would
adjust them into the budget.
City Manager McMahon then made a presentation of the City Council' s
budget with regard to the items identified under promotional
activities and changes made to this line item.
City Manager McMahon and Finance Director Munoz answered questions
presented by Councilman Hays and Mayor Hayman.
Steve Dennis, Chamber of Commerce, commented on the different things
the Chamber does for Edgewater businesses and the services they
provide.
At the request of City Manager McMahon Mr. Dennis requested they
reduce the request of $ .50 per capita down to their previous year
which was $6, 667 and use the difference to for the City' s economic
development program. They were suggesting the request be reduced to
approximately $7, 000 with the difference of the $ . 50 per capita going
to economic development.
City Manager McMahon asked for Council consensus on that before they
were done discussing the promotional activities .
There was further discussion regarding the amount the Chamber had
requested being reduced last year.
Councilman Hays felt $7, 000 was reasonable for the Chamber.
City Manager McMahon continued his presentation of the Council' s
budget.
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Councilman Jones wondered if the Chemical People were present. He
wasn' t familiar with them but knew the City had a DARE program that
the City spends a good amount of money on. It seemed this was a
duplication of services . Police Chief Schumaker explained the
difference between what the Chemical People do and the DARE program
and answered questions presented by Councilman Hays .
City Manager McMahon informed Council he had not added any new
requests . He spoke of evaluating very carefully the repetition of
services that were being delivered through other programs .
Mayor Hayman commented on the Family Crisis Center, who had submitted
a request for a donation.
Councilman Hays spoke of the City providing space to various
organizations that provide services to children. He questioned
budgeting $2, 500 for ICARE and if the majority of that was being used
in our community.
There was further discussion regarding ICARE being a strong
organization. Finance Director Munoz presented statistics with regard
to cases they handle in Edgewater.
Mr. Dennis commented on there being three other organizations in
Edgewater that provide services to the community.
There was a brief discussion regarding whether the donation of $600 to
the Kiwanis House was enough in comparison with the $2, 500 the City
gives to ICARE.
Councilman Hays felt the budget request should be changed to $1, 200
for the Kiwanis House. Councilwoman Martin agreed.
City Manager McMahon identified the increases made to the City
Manager' s budget.
There was a brief discussion regarding there being no overtime in the
City Manager' s budget due to the City Clerk' s Department now handling
the minutes which used to be handled by the City Manager' s Department.
City Manager McMahon and Finance Director Munoz then made a
presentation on the Personnel Department' s budget.
Finance Director Munoz answered questions presented by Councilman
Jones.
City Manager McMahon and City Attorney Storey then presented the Legal
Counsel budget.
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City Attorney Storey and City Manager McMahon answered questions
presented by Mayor Hayman with regard to the increase in retirement
contributions and the reduction in transportation. They then answered
questions presented by Councilman Jones with regard to unemployment
compensation.
Community Development Director Mark Karet then answered questions
presented by Mayor Hayman with regard to the increase in professional
services in the Community Development and Building Department budget.
City Manager McMahon commented on continually putting off the GIS
system which he felt would be beneficial to the City.
Community Development Director Karet and City Manager McMahon answered
questions presented by Councilman Hays with regard to the increase in
travel and per diem related to training.
Mr. Karet answered questions presented by Mayor Hayman with regard to
having enough money in the budget as it related to the streamlining
process for the permitting of improvements and construction in
Edgewater and revamping the present system.
Councilman Hays felt they needed to really consider this due to the
number of permits increasing over the next year. City Manager McMahon
spoke of deleting one position for inspections and replacing that with
a full-time Building Official .
Councilman Jones further commented on working on a one stop
permitting. He spoke of the community slowing down tremendously and
not having near the building permits . He felt once the CIP was done
they would see growth increase again. Mr. Karet answered questions
presented by Councilman Jones with regard to the average number of
building permits being issued.
Mayor Hayman spoke of doing some preliminary planning while things
were calm. Mr. Karet felt within the 5. 1% increase there was the
ability to increase their efficiency but that wouldn' t solve all of
the problems .
Mr. Karet answered questions presented by Councilman Mitchum with
regard to the increase in printing and binding. He also asked for an
explanation of what the Other Current Charges were, which Mr. Karet
and Finance Director Munoz identified and explained for him.
Councilman Mitchum spoke of Mr. Karet being over budget on Other
Current Charges and further commented on Overtime. Mr. Karet spoke of
being able to reduce Overtime by working with individuals to take comp
time.
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Council Workshop
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City Manager McMahon identified under Building they were going to
attempt to begin restructuring their physical area once they got the
evidence building completed, so he put half into next year' s budget.
Mr. Karet further commented on restructuring of the physical area.
City Manager McMahon asked Council if the piano was sacred and if it
went with the City. He felt they needed to have a place to put it.
He was going to try to research it and if he found no historical value
to it he was going to come back to Council and ask when they have the
annual auction that they include the piano.
Councilman Jones wanted Travel & Per Diem reduced to $3, 500 and Other
Current Charges reduced to $1, 500 . Councilman Mitchum agreed. Mr.
Karet further elaborated on their concerns . City Manager McMahon
suggested he and Mr. Karet work together on reducing these items .
Councilman Hays asked about Capital Outlay for $10, 000 . Mr. Karet
identified that was for the restructuring of the Building Department' s
physical area.
City Manager McMahon agreed to meet with Mr. Karet tomorrow before the
tentative budget was completed and would have a recommendation for the
Council tomorrow night.
Mayor Hayman called a ten-minute recess at this time .
City Manager McMahon asked that after Mr. Karet was finished that they
go to Public Works due to the distance Public Works Director Hugh
Williams had to commute.
Mayor Hayman questioned if the 100% increase in Overtime was
associated with the CIP and inspection of the sewer connect. Mr.
Karet identified the items associated which included creating a
Building Official position and eliminating a Building Inspector' s
position. He further commented on there being a need to create a
Building Official position as Fire Chief Vola was currently also
serving as the Building Official.
There was further discussion regarding the positions that would remain
in the Building Department, the Building Official position being a pay
grade increase from a Building Inspector and who the Building Official
would supervise.
Mayor Hayman expressed concern with the Fire Inspector coming under
the Fire Chief. City Manager McMahon addressed his concern by
identifying the Fire Inspector was serving in a dual role and also
served as a person who helps them staff the needs for their fire
people when they have to respond during the day but her primary
function was as a Fire Inspector.
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There was then a discussion regarding State mandated certifications
for inspectors which reflected an increase in the budget and the
importance of the person put in that position having the needed
certifications or having the ability to obtain those certifications .
There was then a discussion regarding individual items included in
Machinery & Equipment.
Councilman Mitchum commented on understanding the situation with
creating the Building Official position which was a 25% increase but
since the total was a 55% increase he felt they would be remiss if
they didn' t take another look at it. Mayor Hayman agreed. Councilman
Hays disagreed. Mr. Karet pointed out $27, 000 of the $38, 000 was for
personnel costs .
There was a brief discussion regarding the cost associated with
letting the Building Inspector go if he did not become the Building
Official in terms of accrued time. Mr. Karet stated if the individual
currently in the position applies for the Building Official position
and is a candidate they may be in a position to come back and some of
the money could be amended out of the budget.
Finance Director Munoz presented a breakdown of the overall costs
associated with cashing in time, FICA taxes, pension, and workmen' s
compensation with regard to the Building Inspector and creating the
Building Official position.
There was further discussion regarding $10, 000 not being associated
with personnel costs . City Manager McMahon agreed to sit down with
Finance Director Munoz and Mr. Karet tomorrow to review this item to
see if they could reduce it anymore. They would come back to Council
with a recommendation tomorrow night.
City Manager McMahon pointed out when they did the budget they
eliminated a lot that Council doesn' t see. Overall there was an
excess of $1 .2 million that was reduced.
City Manager McMahon made a presentation with regard to Economic
Development/Industrial Development. He asked whatever money the
Council appropriated for this budget that they make it an allocation
and not an appropriation. He felt Council needed to give direction to
this program.
Mr. Jim Reichardt commented on some of the things that the Business
Development Corporation had done to help Edgewater with regard to
economic development and marketing for the City to attract business to
the area.
Councilman Hays asked how many cities were currently contributing to
the Business Development Corporation. Mr. Reichardt described that
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all twelve cities were contributing in one way or another. He further
spoke of this being a joint venture and the best year they ever had.
He then commented on New Smyrna not having any land for development
and Daytona, Ormond and Deland being very limited. He spoke of
Edgewater being one of the top four developable areas in the County.
Mayor Hayman referred to a letter submitted by Mr. Reichardt dated
June 15th asking for $ . 50 per capita at a projected population of
16, 394 which equaled $8, 197 . 00 . The City had allocated a little
better than $ . 09 per capita. At the request of Mayor Hayman, Mr.
Reichardt identified what other cities were doing.
Councilman Jones described why he felt Edgewater was in a situation
that they had a unique area that offers potential for people to come
here. Councilman Jones then suggested they allocate $ .25 per capita.
Councilman Mitchum spoke of discussing the Water Authority. They said
this year they were going to invest in this again but they wanted to
see some fruits of their labor. He pointed out the City funded the
Business Development Corporation for many years and up until the last
year or so there had been little interest and little activity. He
spoke of the tools that needed to be put in place and having to
further discuss marketing. He wanted to invest in the Business
Development Corporation another year with the stipulation they needed
to bring something back to Council showing what they had done for
Edgewater. If they are going to invest, they want a return on the
investment.
Councilwoman Martin felt this was a great step forward and that they
needed to keep moving and they needed their services so she wanted to
continue.
Mayor Hayman spoke of Edgewater being one of the last resources along
the river available for a company to come in and break ground right
away.
Mayor Hayman further commented on meeting he attended with some
gentlemen who were extremely interested in that area that he felt were
being very secretive.
City Manager McMahon informed Council if it was their desire to
strongly commit financial resources to marketing this area this year,
he recommended they take $3, 000 from Professional Services under this
budget, which was not earmarked for anything specifically, and add it
to the $1, 500 already allocated. They would have to make up the
difference in the budget of about $2, 500 .
Councilman Hays explained why he felt it would be important for them
to pursue this now. He appreciated Councilman Mitchum' s comments as
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Council Workshop
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far as showing them what they get for their money. He would support
whatever increases they needed to see that happen.
There was some discussion regarding Kayat Engineering, who was moving
into a location across from Boston Whaler.
Councilman Hays suggested they use the $2, 250 allocated for Chemical
People due to Police Chief Schumaker identifying there would money
available next year to replace that money. Councilman Mitchum agreed.
He felt all of the organizations were good but felt they needed to
streamline.
City Manager McMahon identified why he felt charitable contributions
by the City were legitimate but in his mind were very questionable
activity.
Mayor Hayman had a problem with taking the $2, 250 from the Chemical
People without really having excess of what they were proposing
budgeted. He asked Council to support him in this thought.
Finance Director Munoz identified that Chemical People had requested
$6, 000, which staff felt was excessive and they cut it back to $2, 250 .
He then read the request from Chemical People dated May 2, 1993 .
City Manager McMahon then explained he had difficulty relating to some
of these things that were initiated before his time.
Councilman Mitchum expressed concern with opening the door and setting
a precedent and how they choose who to give money to.
Councilman Jones felt the Chemical People needed to realize they
weren' t cutting them off and there would be another funding source.
Councilwoman Martin mentioned the Chemical People being the first
group established in this area and felt that was why they leaned
toward them each year.
Joe Martin expressed concern with regard to no money being allocated
for economic development after having not made the final budget cut
and the Industrial Development Board having no funds . He further
commented on grant opportunities that require matching funds and
having a need for personnel time, whether it is staff or a consultant.
There was a discussion regarding what if Boston Whaler wanted to
expand and their having a need for water and sewer. City Manager
McMahon identified any expenditures for that particular service needed
to come from the Enterprise Funds and not the General Fund. He
further identified the options they had.
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Mayor Hayman felt they needed to go back to what their original
guidance was and develop a needs study on their business environment
to determine what the economical growth management plan was for the
future.
Mr. Martin described needing clarification on the economic development
policy plans . Mayor Hayman felt in order to formulate a policy they
needed to know what the conditions were.
Councilman Mitchum felt at the workshop held with the Industrial
Development Board that they had made a commitment to the Board that
they would look at funds for them. He felt they either needed to go
through with the commitment or change their minds and tell Mr. Martin
to go away.
Councilwoman Martin asked if they had committed themselves to an
economic report to determine what can be done, how it could be done
and how much it would cost them. Mayor Hayman described that was one
of the things he has been striving to work towards . As far as total
commitment, he didn' t think that question had ever been broached
asking for a consensus of Council for total commitment.
Councilman Hays further commented on the request of Mr. Martin for
$50, 000 . Mr. Martin and Mr. Karet then answered questions presented
by Councilman Hays with regard to the need for a person to work on
projects, such as an economic report and position study. Councilman
Hays felt if there was something where the ground work had been laid
and they were ready and the only thing they needed was someone to buy
a whistle to blow, he felt they needed to seriously to look at it but
if it was something they would like to do, that they didn' t need to
spend the time or money. City Manager McMahon identified they were
looking at around $10, 000 which would be around one tenth of a mill .
Councilwoman Martin questioned what a report would cost them. Mr.
Martin spoke of never planning ahead due to never having any money so
they never raised the issue. If something was to happen, he felt it
would be nice to have money in the bank. Finance Director Munoz
described having to look at concrete items that had to remain in the
budget and those with a great deal of uncertainty had to go. He
further spoke of money budgeted for the Beautification Committee and
the potential that those vision projects may not have the same urgency
as some of the projects that Mr. Martin was trying to accomplish.
Councilman Hays spoke of making a commitment to the Industrial
Development Board and identified he felt they needed to do something.
He didn' t want to budget dollars just for them to figure out a way to
spend it. He wanted to see at least $10, 000 put in the budget. If
they couldn' t get the money any other way, he recommended they put the
required millage rate increase into the budget to come up with the
$10, 000.
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Councilwoman Martin again questioned if they knew what an economic
feasibility study would cost. Councilman Mitchum stated they would
need to do a study to study that first.
Councilman Jones understood Mr. Martin' s frustration. He felt the
Industrial Development Board had done a tremendous amount of work
since he has been on Council . He spoke of having a Board that was
eager and willing to go out and look at coming up with innovative ways
to do things . He further spoke of the frustration of the board
members who serve the community and then have no money to do anything.
He felt the Industrial Development Board needed to have money
available for when they need it.
Councilman Mitchum agreed with Councilman Hays that they needed to
find $10, 000 .
It was the consensus of Council to have City Manager McMahon find the
$10, 000 they needed as they went through the budget process . City
Manager McMahon agreed to sort out what the Council had already done
and adjust it into that figure. Councilman Hays felt if they hadn' t
found it by the time they get to the bottom of the page, they should
increase the millage rate.
City Manager McMahon asked for clarification that they wanted $10, 000
put in the budget for this purpose but they also wanted a more
detailed program to come back before Council before committing to that
expense. Mayor Hayman stated they were looking for an allocation
figure and once they see the specifics of the program they then do
apportionment through appropriation.
City Manager McMahon described anticipating . 75 of a mill for the road
paving which actually was . 73 of a mill, the difference between the
two generating $60, 000 .
City Manager McMahon agreed to work with Finance Director Munoz on
this tomorrow. They would come back with the Council' s recommended
changes tonight incorporated into a final tentative budget.
City Manager McMahon asked to go into the Public Works and Maintenance
Department budgets .
Public Works Director Hugh Williams made a brief presentation on the
Maintenance Department budget.
City Manager McMahon answered questions presented by Mayor Hayman with
regard to personnel costs . Of the 6. 82% overall increase to this
budget, 5. 85% of it represented personnel cost increases . The only
other increase was in Operating Supplies .
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Council Workshop
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Mayor Hayman commented on improvements that he has seen being made to
the City Hall facility.
Mr. Williams answered questions presented by Councilman Hays with
regard to Operating Supplies and if those were projects that were
already planned.
Mr. Williams then presented the Public Works Department budget.
There was a discussion regarding there being $250, 000 taken out of
Other Contractual Services because of earlier action by the Council
which resulted in an 11% reduction from the previous year' s budget.
Mr. Williams continued his presentation of the Public Works Department
budget with regard to replacing street signs .
City Manager McMahon identified the signs that had already been
replaced, with Florida Shores being next once the CIP was completed,
and then work their way through the rest of the City.
There was a brief discussion regarding some of the equipment they were
proposing for this year' s budget.
Mr. Williams then identified they were proposing a used computer for a
computerized program to keep track of the maintenance of the City
vehicles .
Councilman Jones asked about the cherry picker coming out of
Stormwater. Mr. Williams commented on the 18th Street canal where
there was a tremendous amount of over growth that they couldn' t get to
because of the lack of right-of-way. Councilman Hays commented on the
difficulty of maintaining canals behind properties where stockade
fences are placed in the power line easement that the City can' t get
to.
City Manager McMahon briefly commented on the Engineering Department
budget and complimented City Engineer Fegley for doing an excellent
job with the CIP program.
Parks & Recreation Director Jack Corder answered questions presented
by Mayor Hayman and Councilman Hays with regard to the Special
Recreation Facility (Community Center) budget.
City Manager McMahon then made a brief presentation with regard to the
City Clerk Department budget. There were no questions from Council .
City Manager McMahon then answered questions for Mayor Hayman
regarding the Library budget.
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City Manager McMahon identified the Police Department budget was
extremely conservative even though the budget was large because of the
services expected.
Police Chief Schumaker answered questions presented by Councilman Hays
with regard to Travel & Per Diem. He then answered questions
presented by Mayor Hayman regarding the 42% increase in Repair &
Maintenance.
There was then a discussion regarding Promotional Activities within
the Police Department.
Police Chief Schumaker then commented on the increase to Machinery &
Equipment with regard to replacing vehicles . He further commented on
changing the detail on the patrol cars .
There were no further questions from Council regarding the Police
Department budget.
City Manager McMahon and Finance Director Munoz answered questions
presented by Mayor Hayman regarding Other Governmental Services .
Finance Director Munoz identified the items included under Other
Governmental Services, which is the catch all line item.
Finance Director Munoz and City Manager McMahon answered questions
asked by Mayor Hayman about the increase in Books, Publications and
Subscriptions .
Finance Director Munoz answered questions of Councilman Jones with
regard to Travel & Per Diem.
Mayor Hayman called a recess at this time.
Fire Chief William Vola highlighted the Fire/Rescue budget by
commenting on Other Contractual Services with regard to an unfunded
mandate from the Federal Government, which represented the cost to
inoculate every volunteer and career employee they have against
Hepatitis B and for TB screening.
There was further discussion regarding anyone who is exposed or has
the potential to be exposed to blood and body fluids being required to
be inoculated and screened. Fire Chief Vola identified he was talking
about 25 people.
Fire Chief Vola answered questions presented by Councilman Mitchum
with regard to this being membership driven and the membership being
strictly limited to a total of 30 personnel, career and volunteer
combined. Fire Chief Vola identified the rate of turnover would vary
from year to year and estimated it to be around 10% .
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Council Workshop
August 17, 1993
City Manager McMahon didn't understand if they had volunteers who were
not certified to be EMT' s why they had to be inoculated for the
exposure they weren' t licensed to deal with. Fire Chief Vola
explained there was no requirement under law that a volunteer be a
certified firefighter or certified EMT. They only had to have a
minimum amount of training. He further identified the cost of the
inoculations were $150 per person and that the hours of operation for
paid staff were 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with two personnel .
Councilman Jones identified he didn' t have to have one . Fire Chief
Vola explained they had to offer it but someone did have the right to
deny it. He didn' t know why a volunteer would want it if they will
only be out there a short period of time. They have trained EMT' s on
staff that most of the time were going to get to the scene first.
Fire Chief Vola identified they don' t pick and choose what they want
to volunteer for. They volunteer for hazardous materials, civil
defense, emergency medical services, and fire suppression.
There was a brief discussion regarding there being no way to recoup
the cost should someone leave shortly after being inoculated.
Councilman Hays spoke of requiring people to take their own certain
precautions . Fire Chief Vola described the Federal government has
mandated that they must offer it to all uniform members who provide
emergency care. He further spoke of Volusia County, South Daytona and
Deland going through the process . He did a poll and he had one person
who said they wouldn' t take the inoculation.
There was then a discussion regarding having to do a pre-screening to
find out if someone can receive the shot. They are also tested after
the series of shots .
Fire Chief Vola then commented on vehicle repairs .
Mayor Hayman asked Fire Chief Vola to comment on Printing & Binding.
Fire Chief Vola identified the State of Florida had adopted an
Emergency Medical Services Report form and all of the Emergency
Medical Service providers had to use this form, which had to be
purchased from the State of Florida.
Councilwoman Martin expressed concern with the increase in Other
Current Charges . Fire Chief Vola addressed her concerns with regard
to the clothing allowance.
Councilwoman Martin then asked about Building. Fire Chief Vola
provided the specifics by describing maintenance that needed to be
done to the Fire/Rescue buildings .
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Council Workshop
August 17, 1993
There was further discussion regarding who would be doing the roofs
and the costs associated with the three estimates that were received,
which included installation.
There was then a discussion regarding Fire Station #2, which was an
apparatus garage with no living quarters and no office space.
Mayor Hayman asked Fire Chief Vola about the projected 50% increase in
Overtime, which Fire Chief Vola elaborated on. Councilman Hays
questioned Fire Chief Vola as to why he needed overtime since he had a
24 hour a day manned department and 25 volunteers . Fire Chief Vola
described they only have two personnel on duty around the clock. If
one calls in sick or goes on vacation and they have no spare personnel
they bring someone in on overtime. He further commented on a
volunteer system being inherently questionable and identified
situations where volunteers didn' t show up to a call and career
personnel were called in.
There was then a discussion regarding City policy with regard to no-
show volunteers .
Councilman Jones expressed concern with the City Council needing to
know about these mandates . If they were going to pay for it, he
wanted to see them. He further identified there were a lot of
mandates they are confronted with that they don' t know about.
Councilwoman Martin asked if the volunteers realized how much the City
invested in them and what they expect of them. Fire Chief Vola
assured her they did as he sits down with them and he explains
everything to them.
Councilman Jones hoped down the road they would be going to advanced
life support. Fire Chief Vola stated they were scheduled to do that
January 1, 1995 .
Mayor Hayman commented on being invited by the Legislative Delegation
to the New Smyrna Beach City Hall next month. He wanted to have some
of the mandates in his possession when they meet with them.
Mayor Hayman asked Fire Chief Vola to explain Other Salaries and Wages
and the 200% increase associated with that, which he identified as
being part of the State' s incentive program, with a majority coming
back to the City from the State of Florida.
Fire Chief Vola proudly spoke of the Department they have and the
career department in New Smyrna Beach relying on them for their first
response backup for mutual aid and also identified Edgewater had the
lowest cost per capita for the services they provide out of any
community in Volusia County.
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Council Workshop
August 17, 1993
Councilman Hays identified comments he has heard with regard to people
standing around at the scene. Fire Chief Vola explained they had a
policy or procedure that said that was what was supposed to happen.
He also asked to be told when Councilman Hays hears these comments so
he can handle it. He further identified they do the best they can
with the resource allocation they have and that sometimes there may be
a duplication of efforts and an appearance of waste but he felt it was
better to have extra sets of hands and not need them.
Fire Chief Vola answered questions presented by Mayor Hayman with
regard to Operating Supplies within Civil Defense.
City Manager McMahon asked about money that was budgeted for projects
the Beautification Committee wanted being cut. Parks & Recreation
Director Jack Corder confirmed some of the money was still in there
but it had been cut back. Originally they had requested $64, 100 and
they cut it back to $50, 000 . He also identified money was in there at
the direction of Council for the reclaimed water lines to be placed
down Indian River Boulevard.
City Manager McMahon further identified the majority of the reduction
in the budget being the one time use they had for the FIND money and
the grant, which had been deleted this year because the project would
be completed.
There was then a discussion with regard to Rentals and Leases and the
office space Mr. Corder needed in order to consolidate his staff into
one office and putting the money into a building as opposed to paying
rent.
City Manager McMahon agreed to put some numbers together and explained
if they could find a better opportunity to build, they would come back
and ask that the money for rentals and leases be used for that.
Councilman Jones commented on the 26-acre gymnasium complex and that
land already being paid for. He felt his department would be more
suitable to that area and suggested they look at building something
there, where the main headquarters would eventually be.
There was further discussion regarding consolidating the Parks &
Recreation Department staff.
There was additional discussion regarding the Riverwalk along
Riverside Drive.
Mr. Corder reminded everyone of the ribbon cutting on August 28th at
5: 00 p.m. at the Gazebo on Riverside Drive.
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Council Workshop
August 17, 1993
Mayor Hayman reminded Council of the Budget Workshop tomorrow night at
7 : 00 p.m. in the Community Center to discuss the City' s Enterprise
Funds.
There was a brief discussion regarding the contract the City had with
DOT for Special Road Maintenance on Page 38 .
Adjournment
There being no further business to discuss, Councilwoman Martin moved
to adjourn.
Minutes submitted by:
Lisa Bloomer, CMC
Deputy City Clerk
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Council Workshop
August 17, 1993