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08-17-1994 - Budget Workshop CITY COUNCIL OF EDGEWATER WORKSHOP AUGUST 17, 1994 7:00 P.M. COMMUNITY CENTER MINUTES TAPE ONE OF THE WORKSHOP HELD ON AUGUST 17, 1994 WAS MISSING SO MINUTES WERE TRANSCRIBED FROM THE TIME TAPE TWO STARTED. 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 Excused 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 Mayor Hayman expressed concern with going through some advice and some studies that didn' t pan out with regard to utility rates . Utilities Director Terry Wadsworth presented the Wastewater Budget. He informed Council he would be asking them to establish the $5 rate for a reuse charge for the users of the system as of October 1St due to needing to recover some of the costs they were putting into the system. They had 432 connections to the reuse system with 278 waiting to go to school and 50 waiting to be connected. Councilman Mitchum felt the $5 proposal was an absolute bargain when comparing it to other cities such as Port Orange and Ormond Beach. Mayor Hayman spoke of this being a flat rate irrespective of the amount they consume. Mr. Wadsworth spoke of other cities having tiers for larger users, which the City could establish if they get a larger user. Mayor Hayman expressed concern with the people hooked up to the reuse system that haven' t had to pay the $5 and the people that go on the system as of October 1St having to pay the $5. He then questioned how they could alleviate that. Finance Director Fred Munoz described it 1 Council Workshop August 17, 1994 would be a nightmare to try and keep track of all of the accounts and when they should start billing them. Mayor Hayman pointed out there was a computer software program that could do it for them. It was also pointed out that Councilman Hays was the first to hook up to the reuse system. Councilman Hays spoke of there being a learning curve on the reuse system hookups and he let them practice with him. Everybody knew the reuse project was coming up and some people were more prepared and more willing to go with it and some that weren' t sure if they would be interested or not and wanted to wait and see how it went. Mr. Wadsworth informed Council he received around 100 phone calls asking what the rates would be October 1st and he only had two negative comments on the $5 and both of them felt it should be given to them for nothing. It was the consensus of Council that $5 for the reuse water was a good deal. Councilman Hays commented on the car washes that occur at Winn Dixie and Hardees and suggested the Winn Dixie Shopping Center might be interested the reuse water for the car washes instead of using potable water. Mr. Wadsworth commented on the liability undertaken by doing that. Mayor Hayman spoke of the people doing the car washes being able to be cited because of not being able to wash cars on an impervious surface. Mr. Wadsworth then commented on the need to increase the cost of the reuse connections from $175 to $200 to cover the cost of putting in the connection. Mr. Wadsworth then commented on the Wastewater expenditures with regard to the need for additional Personnel and answered questions presented by Mayor Hayman. There was a brief discussion regarding staffing requirements as a result of going to a 24-hour, seven day a week operation at the Wastewater Plant. Mayor Hayman identified he had a problem with increasing the work force and needed to be convinced an additional person was warranted. Mr. Wadsworth presented reasons to justify the need for an additional person. Councilman Hays felt the request for additional personnel was reasonable due to the scope of the job that needed to be done. Councilwoman Martin suggested it be put in the budget anyway so they could move on with the understanding Mr. Wadsworth would come back and 2 Council Workshop August 17, 1994 address his concerns . He wanted to hear the EPA requirements and guidelines on personnel manning. Mayor Hayman commented on a document he was looking at which was a research report from GASB that had comparisons and statistics he needed to help him justify the need for another person, which he offered to provide to Mr. Wadsworth. Mr. Wadsworth continued his presentation by commenting on Repair & Maintenance; Books, Publications & Subscriptions; Building; and Machinery & Equipment and answered questions presented by Mayor Hayman and Councilman Mitchum. Mr. Wadsworth thanked Rick Fernandez of Quentin Hampton who reran numbers to meet the original budget and come up with a reasonable cost. Mayor Hayman suggested Mr. Fernandez could probably help him with the additional personnel justification. Mr. Wadsworth referred to EPA guidelines with regard to staffing requirements . Mayor Hayman wanted to hear the EPA requirements and guidelines on personnel manning. City Manager McMahon recommended they go back to the General Fund. There was a five-minute recess at this time. Councilman Hays commented on going through the budget line item by line item. He didn' t have a problem with some of it. He suggested each of the Councilmembers identify their concerns. Mayor Hayman felt Councilman Hays' comments were directed towards him and identified why he was going through line item by line item. Police Chief Schumaker brought some statistics to Council' s attention that he was surprised by when he did some research. He then commented on the City survey and the question concerning the Police Department with regard to increasing taxes to increase night time police patrols . He further justified the need to increase personnel in the Police Department by hiring two experienced police officers and the cost associated with doing that. Police Chief Schumaker further commented on the large increase in the Police Department budget, with a vast majority of the increase being for the radios, the evidence building and a contract with CET for new computers. There was further discussion regarding the cost to hire two new police officers and those costs being identified under Machinery & Equipment. 3 Council Workshop August 17, 1994 Police Chief Schumaker identified for Councilman Mitchum the items included under Machinery & Equipment. There was further discussion regarding the contract with CET and having to put so much into the system before they could get anything out of it. Police Chief Schumaker identified for Councilman Hays the $17,000 for the Humane Society was under Other Contractual Services . Councilman Hays then commented on the State requirement and the Humane Society having to purchase a crematorium, which he felt was another unfunded mandate. Police Chief Schumaker stated the Humane Society indicated when the crematorium was paid for they would revert back to the old rate. Councilman Hays then asked if Police Chief Schumaker had any plans for neighborhood watch programs . Police Chief Schumaker informed him they did that now. The citizens come in and request a particular area of the City for a neighborhood watch program. They set them up and teach them what to look for but the interest after a short period of time becomes mooted and then they expect the Police Department to do all of the work, which they don' t have enough personnel for. Mayor Hayman commented on community watch and the citizens helping themselves . He felt they needed to put more emphasis on that type of endeavor. Police Chief Schumaker felt Edgewater Landing had one of the finest neighborhood watch programs in the country. Councilman Hays commented on feeling justified in the need for more police officers . Someone he spoke with referred to the cops as being bully cops and he wanted to see that the officers create a "Mayberry" atmosphere. Police Chief Schumaker spoke of responding to all of the correspondence he receives . Out of 20 letters he may receive, 19 would be thanking him and one would be a complaint. Police Chief Schumaker further commented on other Police departments having cars in our City and Edgewater officers being blamed for the other agencies' actions . He believed to some degree they are viewed as being over bearing and far too active in many cases but that is what they are being paid for. Councilman Hays had no problem with the two police officers requested due to seeing a need for it. Police Chief Schumaker commented on the experienced officers he has in the Police Department that have been with the Department for a period of time. 4 Council Workshop August 17, 1994 Mayor Hayman was not convinced there was a need to hire additional police officers . He felt the crime rate, crime statistics and cases closed had not been discussed and he felt those were measurements of how many officers they need. He proceeded to ask questions of Police Chief Schumaker with regard to hours on patrol, response times, crimes investigated, number of arrests, crimes cleared and other matters of concern as it related to last year. Mayor Hayman still wasn' t convinced or justified as far as the need for two additional officers . Councilwoman Martin spoke of having a population explosion in Edgewater and the need to cover future crimes from happening. Mayor Hayman wanted to be shown what bringing two additional officers would do to further reduce what they already have that is good. They have to have inputs which are dollars, equipment, supplies and training and out of that they have to judge to see how effective it is . Police Chief Schumaker felt the situation was reaching a point after 10 p.m. He spoke of there being some police executives that don' t believe the proper way to deal with a DUI is to arrest them because of the man hours involved. Councilman Mitchum, Councilwoman Martin and Councilman Hays spoke in support of hiring the two additional police officers . City Manager McMahon informed Council they had to schedule another meeting. Mayor Hayman suggested holding it on Monday. City Clerk Wadsworth confirmed Monday was fine. It was determined the next budget workshop would be held on Monday night at 6: 00 p.m. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Councilman Hays moved to adjourn. The meeting adjourned around 10 : 38 p.m. Minutes submitted by: Lisa Bloomer, CMC Deputy City Clerk 5 Council Workshop August 17, 1994