 And then the other thing that as a biker. I don't really know Dive in great. I will call the board of finance order at 534 p.m. And the first time on the agenda is the agenda I would welcome a motion to adopt it to adopt the agenda. Thank you president right there second second by councillor pine Take from the nodding head So any discussion any changes do we have any changes all those in favor of adopting the agenda, please say aye Any post we have an agenda that brings us to the public forum. Is there anyone here to speak to the board of finance? Seeing no takers We will close the public forum and move to the adoption of the minutes of May 20th 2019 councilor busher They were revised Seconded discussion all those in favor of the motion, please say aye Opposed motion carries unanimously Thank you Excellent. Thanks for that. Councillor Paul. We would go to 4.01 For board of finance approval fully within our authority as a board to make this decision Authorization to approve 87,490 for the maintenance lights upgrades by sequentrick energy systems Move to approve and authorize Approval as stated Excellent. We have a second second great. Any discussion councilor busher. I do um I Will we inform that there was a problem because this seemed really a surprise to me that they're that you were all having to Manually turn the lights on and off. That's number one and number two is that since it was only one firm that responded And that firms from georgia Do they have expertise for winter weather? So I'll start with the first Question we have been struggling with this For a number of years and it has Been something that staff has accommodated through a lot of hours of labor of manually checking each of the 96 parking ban lights to make sure that the The integrity of the system is up so that if there are any parking tickets issued that they can be defended in a court of law And it is taking staff time Precisely the time when we need it most to tackle the winter storms As to the second question the winter but you suffer in silence. You didn't share that It's been a number of years, uh, I don't recall. I know we've talked to the commission about it But I don't believe we've brought it to the council. I think well, there's this really unfortunate I feel like this is a priority and hopefully we could forget I've got you relief earlier I don't personally know but I I know dade garen has talked to them extensively about the technology and the biggest concern He has about the technology is that it's going over cell He's not paranoid that we're going to do cell service or Somebody that we're going to get a couch by the cell company or something He doesn't have any concerns about the hardware or the housing because all weather tech housing Okay, good standard Thank you It is uh, I I'm sorry if I've done this before but uh, this is our assistant director our acting assistant director jeff pageant With us maybe for one of the first times tonight. So welcome jeff You hear twice today excellent To work cancer paul actually jeff was here for the uh dpw but the budget presentation Yeah, and uh and did a wonderful job Um, and you were on the commission Once upon a time I have a chair. Wow Well, you loved it so much that you joined us. Wow. What more can we ask for? Um, I just wanted to second what councillor busher said is that you know, I mean if this has gone on for like five years I mean that sounds like an enormous amount of work As you say at a time when you have do not have extra people just sort of hanging around It, you know, I hope that in the future if there are things like this that You know, perhaps there was a mitigating reason In terms of wanting the technology to catch up or whatever, but I mean it just seems like Um, you know councillor pine remembers it when he was at cito. So I would prefer to You know, I guess there must have been a mitigating factor There there certainly has been we we had been working on trying to repair it. Uh, since we were narrow banded A number of years ago the radio signal stopped working. We thought there could be a patch We kept exploring options and then with uh, there's been transition in this position We are now able to focus on some of the the proactive work that we need to be doing So, uh, we're pleased to be bringing this forward tonight Thank you Excellent, um Great, are we ready for action? All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye, aye. Any opposed motion carries, you know, honestly Great, I'm excited. This is moving forward too. I I was not aware of until I did a ride along this, uh Whenever I'm on one of the Trucks for this spring Um Authorization of the reclassification of the parking maintenance worker position Are we ready for motion here or I'll make a motion to approve and recommend to the council As the as stated in the recommended action Is there a second? Yes, excellent Discussion questions council butcher just one quickie. Um, I'm supporting this obviously this makes sense, but Um, I didn't see where who's going to be training these individuals on their expanded Jobs description is that going to be done in house with It just was silent in that in that aspect They're doing the plumbing carpentry and all of that they're they're So none of this will be expanded it's just compensating them for the job they're doing Okay. All right. Thank you Excellent We're ready for action all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed Motion carries unanimously Thank you both. Good to see you Are for a lot of work on this one Great. Thank you Diana. No Everyone on the team involved, um Yeah, we actually have big hr representation tonight, don't we? 5.02 authorization to accept the 2017 local edward burn memorial justice assistant grant program Um Please welcome. Yes. Thank you President right move approval recommendation to the full council excellent Do you have a second second my counselor busher? Discussion well one one glaring thing which is in the communication um We'll and it's sort of addressed, but will we still get the money even though we really didn't accept all the conditions And so it says that the attorney is going to respond to this But I you know and it's not a big ticket I mean it's $38,000. It's it's nothing to sneeze about. I'll take $38,000 But for the city it's not a ton of money, but I wasn't quite sure because we Have issues with the immigration component of the conditions. Let's let uh the city attorney speak to that That the US conference of meetings brought against the partner of justice that ended up with a resolution that said That basically all of us or in the US conference of mayors would get the their f 17 Of way 17 jag grant and there was this the language But what we would put in these letters was approved. It has been modified slightly Which is why it's just waiting for my final review on that language With the modifications Great Any further discussion Great. I appreciate the work of the city attorney's office on this issue that we've been able to Continue to police the city of the way our department has for many years Keep these monies Flowing to burlington has been a real fight. Um, but we're we're pleased about where we stand on it Uh, with that we'll uh, we'll go to I second that It's been a lot of work on the city attorney's part. So I appreciate the sticking with it Uh, all of that. Thank you at least all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. All right any opposed Motion carries unanimously Thank you Uh, so 5.03 is authorization of burlington town center I'm also going to see place burlington Extension of the project management services contract with jeffie glassburg This company's called renaissance development company I see this is a totally critical contract for us and hope the board will agree with that president right Um, cancer pie and I were talking about this What what does the phrase mean that it says? um For an amount up to 84 000 for the term july 1 2019 to july 30 2020 and to a maximum limiting amount of 150 154 000 what does that mean? I mean it says uh amount up to and then another amount up to So it's 84 plus the old amount Okay. Yep Okay, we're clearing that So before we well can we discuss it before we move it because I'll move it, but then I want to just I want to ask a question I'll move to recommend to approve and recommend recommend the city council approve And then but I have a question, okay So I wanted to know if indeed I guess it this really is for you I think it's for you mr. Mayor. I really don't know. Um It would be I I read the agreement and you know, I'm glad he's there and I'm glad he wants he's willing to continue but would he Be willing to come before the city council on some type of regular basis also because he meets with a bunch of different groups and and all of those seem most appropriate But I feel like we haven't really had an opportunity to ask him About how things are going and I I feel that that's a missing component in this contract or agreement And so I just wasn't sure how if he would be receptive to that because it's an additional step Which is not addressed he absolutely would be receptive to that within this contract He has come numerous times of course in the past and he would be willing to I mean, I think it's just a question of The council and you know We present right now. I have done our best to try to bring new information as it makes sense to to the council I know there have been frustrations that it hasn't been more frequent at times I'm This is not a criticism of that at all. It's just a matter of making him available for the council to ask him questions It's not a criticism of how you've tried to get information to us The problem is that there hasn't been a lot to share But I it would be good to have him interact with us whether it's every two weeks or once a month I'm not going to set that but I really I really feel like as we move forward um, and this only goes and and um Uh, whatever the name of the whatever they're called the town center city place whatever is only going to pay $10,000 per month for these services up until the project restarts and then it goes to tiff um, so Yeah, um, so I just feel like it's really important in this interim that we be kept informed And do we need to amend this agreement? How about um, that sounds good. I I don't think we need to amend the agreement I'm totally confident. He will do whatever that, you know, we wanted to in terms of communicating with with the council I think we should Well unless something you have him come back for the next I'll I don't know if we want to work it out here or president right and I are, you know, we will He absolutely can Come as the council would like him and he has done other things with counselors like he brought the new counselors up to speedy to an orientation with them And he he definitely should be a resource to counselors So one last thing since we it would be nice to have him be there For the last city council meeting before we take our summer break It would be good. We only have one meeting in july and one in august It would be good to have him present at both of those meetings if he's in town if he can do that And then I'll let that you set the stage for the rest of it But um, I think those that would be realistic to me. Thank you Just to make sure I heard you great July and august and the last meeting in june Yes, I think before we leave it would be good to have him give us an update And maybe something will have happened that interim Maybe you know, it's not like we're really leaving Well, I'm I'm calling it our summer recess, okay I mean we need to last meeting in june and we meet a couple weeks later, I know I know Anyways, thank you. I like this notion of the council adjourning Wait a minute. We're all really like that Take up All right very good Do we have I think we have a motion on the floor That pending a vote are we ready to vote? Yep. All those all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. I pose Motion carries unanimously. Thank you Uh Very good 5.04 authorization to approve Proposed position reclassifications and reporting structure changes related to permit reform I'm Brian Lowe here to lead this conversation Bill Ward here as well who this is Brian is eagerly looking forward to handing off the reins of this project, uh to uh, Or if you have to go through every attachment, right? Yeah Sorry person right just to get the motion on the table move approval recommendation to full council. Excellent. Do I have a second? Second Thank you councillor pine All right, councillor paul. Thank you. So there were 23 attachments This is hoping that maybe you could give us a little bit of what you feel are the high points In an overview Yeah, I don't think I think that sets a record Okay, perhaps when dpw just created it was so it's more important if there's more attached Months because you had each position. Yeah, we we because we're creating a new city department There were a number of job Technically reclassifications that occurred I think the way to think about it is that there are three positions where there are significant changes the director's position And then the two manager positions The housing compliance position and the zoning administrator position That takes care of a number of the different attachments 17 other positions were affected by this And many of the other attachments relate to reporting line changes For those positions i.e. And you're no longer reporting to the department of public works director You are now reporting to the new permanent inspections director bill ward So I would say those are the the highlights The the major changes within those three positions are Changes in responsibility for the director position to Originally it's the code enforcement director position so it expands now to include inspection services at dpw and Zoning which is part of planning and zoning as it currently is existence in existence and then with the That position also takes on the role of the zoning administrative officer Direct appointment by the mayor per the charter change that the governor signed at the end of last month So there's one kind of point of accountability in that department now One department had serving in all those roles delegating out those authorities as as planned I'm happy to go on but I want to make sure i'm responding to your two questions Yeah, I mean, I you know I read the obviously the memo and the Organizations chart and some of the the the things that are at the very top a lot of these appendices. I assumed were just the You know and I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing something in some of the other Fair fair question the appendices look at because we scored and I'm speaking here in part because this is bill's position We're talking about so I think it's probably easier for me to speak about it in that way One of the appendices looks at A number of other communities that do permitting and inspections in a way like this and those positions across the country really And how those are compensated and what their responsibilities are The other one looks at the The how the city scores Positions the three positions that change in terms of the actual pay grade changes And and tries to create like a clear rubric for counselors as to how and why those pay grade changes occur Thank you Is is there a change are there changes as a result of this to the bargaining unit that represent these folks? There are 14 union positions implicated by this change But those are I believe to a position Reporting line changes. They are not impacting the job functions So no shrinkage of the bargaining unit or growth of the every number stays the same No, there are two positions One in dpw a current third customer service positions being held by a temporary employee and a currently vacant management position in the in the new department That could be reduced in the future, but that's not contemplated here We don't know how the new department is going to operate well enough to make those choices At the outset, but it is possible that I come back to you in the fall looking to Change or restructure that department Currently we're keeping them but not failing them I have a lot of questions about this So First of all, but starting with easy ones Are we eliminating the the code department? And if we are I probably should say that in the resolution that could be simply but isn't it is it going away? Because it's referenced that you're moving from code to the new department from code to the new department So that department code is really gone. Is that true? That's correct, but essentially the It starts with that department and the other teams are joining it So the actual people doing the work and the work that we're doing won't change but the name of the name of the department Yeah, and I think it will no longer be a correct. I think that should be cleaned up. Um, so, um The other thing, um, let me just look at this Um, so The permit reform advisory committee does that committee exist? Yes, okay Okay, and who makes up that committee There are five individuals who I think were originally appointed by resolution in 2017, I'm sorry about that. I don't I don't know it predates my it predates my time in this role But I think it was 2017 It it it had met monthly. It's meeting less frequently now And it meets because these are individuals who either have a legal or architectural or Property owner they have some insight into the permitting system. And I think Counselor Hartnett at the time had been a strong advocate for creating this committee because he wanted members of the public to oversee What the city was doing as well He wanted people who'd be directly impacted by permit reform to be Watching and observing the reform effort. Okay. Thank you. I for some reason I That didn't rank I can see you daily. Yeah, sorry, that's probably a better way to do is the walking arts So and and who appoints them? I think council president did at the time So so my two cents on this is that since this committee is going to really be between the planning commission and permit Reform advisory committee. We might want to look at that committee makeup because we've created this new department We might want to see if we want to augment it or whether you want to keep it the same I'm looking to the departments that know more about this. It's not something I really know If it's adequate so be it, but I'd like to understand how people get off and how people get on That's the kind of question I have for that Can I just stop for just on that topic? I just say that there are other two other members bruce baker from the planning commission and tiki arshambo from the dpw commission Okay So I think you know I I need to know if are they staying on that and what if they what if they Step away from the planning commission and dpw commission. I guess that's those are the kinds of questions I have So that's fine So my real issue and I did call beth in advance of this meeting And the reason I this this really came to the forefront was that we've created some new positions And one of them was in cedo And one of them is right under the new head of cedo And that salary range was pretty significant and when I looked at the salary range for the new head of this department It and I and I and I read the packet and I printed these out and I looked at who you referenced for You know the the department the communities you referenced It seems that I'm more concerned about fair compensation within our city And not I'm not looking to have anything mr. Mary. You know, I'm not looking to spend extra dollars but it it it was problematic for me because I think that the new Director has a lot of different pieces and parts, especially Taking on the new zoning component, which is not something that that that you have done Um, and um, so there are there are a bunch of different groups coming together being um reporting to to you and I Felt that I was not comfortable with this and so I Just needed to be honest with that I just felt that That I just felt that this was Seemed inconsistent with what we had done with another department I wonder and I I mean I may defer to my hr colleagues on this, but I think in that specific instance the CEDO has estimated what they think these positions should be and what that compensation range should be I don't think they've actually scored it through hr So it may be one of the it may not be an apples to apples comparison in the sense of Um, I don't know if CEDO's estimate will come out of hr at the same level that it is now So that that's problematic to me also, but thank you for sharing that Um, when I looked at the the um, if I can just finish up with this when I looked at the various salary ranges um, you know, there was Only one of them really, um, which was from Middletown, Connecticut really talked about a planning component a lot of them had other components in the brief synopsis that was provided as far as what the job description was for For what you did the comparison the chief building official code administrator, etc But you know, so there was um, and that person made about the same salary range as what you're putting forward But then there were other positions That seemed to be more and the chief Building official seemed I I really don't know once again. I can't really tell from that sense whether Who they oversee the size of the department, but some of these others had Higher salary ranges and anyways, I just I'm just worried about Comparability and and complexity of jobs and how we compensate people in this city And it's troubling to me Just have to be honest. It's just troubling councilman Yeah, I was looking at the um former sort of if you will reporting structure from department to boards and commissions and wondering if you could speak on that inspection services related to dpw Code enforcement if needed would go to housing board of review Zoning issues would go to drb and planning commission perhaps, but is all that just staying the same? Exactly. So we let the boards know in advance that those reporting structures wouldn't change I want to say almost all of that is specifically controlled by ordinance And so it's natural that the The issues that trades for example deals with If there's an appeal it goes before the dpw commission And they're staffed by norm baldman who's the the city engineer So he will be separate from this group But also be able to give them independent advice to say that the city act did appropriately or Find that the engineering was appropriate. Um, none of those reporting Or appeals change in this structure So it leads to my question about um in other departments that have No commission per se because you have several tend to report to a city Tend to relate to a city council committee and I don't see a structure here that's comparable to that. I don't think we have Done that here. Maybe I'm missing something but Because I think of hr has an hr committee Cito has cdnr Beth reports to us so or you know it's part of this discussion. So I'm just wanting to see if we've Kind of overlook that So I'll just share my experience so far has been code enforcement already has the same Sort of setup that it has now we report to The dpw commission when we have appeals of our vacant building issues if there's a health order It's appealed to the housing border. I'm sorry it to the berlington board of health housing issues are appealed to the The housing board review and if our zoning actions are appealed they go to the development review board So we already have those for sort of in our Um commission so to speak so we already report to a group And that's expanding now because we'll have connections. I think councillor pines raising that Many departments if not most may most departments have kind of dual oversight of both sort of some form of commission or a citizen body as well as Some kind of council structure I um So currently What you sometimes come to see vnr for code enforcement, right? And certainly building inspection services degree that becomes a council issue I don't know that doesn't too often become a council issue much and planning and zoning You know David and megan are in front of the council in one form or another and all sorts of different ways I didn't mean to make a problem of it. I'm just saying we should be aware of this. We should just Interesting point. Yeah, I was just going to say I mean I I'm actually I should I can't remember. Are those relationships sort of laid out In writing and the are those sort of informal reporting that has like ebb and flowed with how different councils have wanted to divide the work Or is that actually written into? Into into the but it's informal so If that's correct, and this isn't somehow Disparate with what we else we do. I mean certainly I think we would welcome a conversation with president right and the council about how you would like to You know, I think it makes sense to be thinking about how the council wants to engage in this new important Initiative as we go forward from here. We've had sort of that ad hoc committee up until now But that a couple of those counselors are gone and It may help with a smooth transition, right? Do you have that? Just I don't know how to how to structure that. I'm just If you had how committee was me chip mason and jane, right? Of the council. Yes, that's right. I thought I thought council hartner might have been involved. No, it was just me jane So that's why I was asking about permit reform advisory committee and planning commission because I saw those two avenues As the reporting mechanism besides directly reporting to the council So I was just trying to figure out How the permit reform advisory committee functioned So just in keeping with your conversation. That was part of what I was trying to get at So listen, I'm sure we're going to be entering a period where you all are going to be hearing from your constituents about this Hopefully some positive reviews of things improving, but I'm sure there will be glitches and Oversights as well. So I It would make sense to me if you want to think about how the council would like to I think would be helpful To have some kind of council engagement with the new entity either on a neuron basis or something more permanent And one other question. This is going to do with a different position. This has to do with the zoning manager and principal planner Once again, I'm not convinced that that's I'm I'm concerned about the scope of responsibility this individual Was really key in working with planning and really orchestrating change Land use change and so I'm really worried about this But in the job description that has been amended one of the functions that this person did Which I didn't realize was chaired the city's technical review committee And that's lined out now So who and it's under your job description, but it doesn't say you're going to chair it You're going to oversee it. So who is going to chair the technical review? Committee do you know yet or no? I would say it's either likely to be me or scott gustin But I don't think that we haven't ironed out the specifics going forward The agency is involved will all be under my control. So I think as we get them together We'll have a better discussion at our first meeting Moving forward. I think I think the best the safest plan would be to say I will until Permanent decision is made And then the last thing is that scott's old position was Participate as part of the department's planning team and the development if this is what I spoke of of area specific and resource issues specific land use and development plans He did that so well that this is a huge loss And I just need to tell you that was why I didn't support the creation of your department had nothing to do with it Because I wanted permit reform but to divide planning and zoning and I still don't know how that's really going to work and I'm worried about who actually is going to fulfill this I I really am because I don't think you I don't think people know unless you really You know watch dog some of this stuff that you realize how How integrated a number of these positions are and how they really make the whole system work from the beginning From caron and I requesting something And having it come through the planning and having scott play a role in that And then have it become an ordinance, etc So I I have some real concerns about that and I'm worried because he now has to supervise people So even if he wanted to do that, I don't think he has the time that he could do that as well anymore So that's my concern I'll just share I want to point out, you know, david white has been Really a great asset in this and he and I have talked about this Because I think scott and mary and ryan have all still have a strong interest in the planning component of what they do There are no walls being built between our departments and since they've already been there There's all there's going to be a natural connection to that They're not prohibited from being involved and from providing guidance to david and his team when asked And they will still be participating in meetings, but it's removed from us as a specific item on their job description For exactly that reason because they're in this department with this expertise, but That's part of what was missing before where we had people in a siloed effect I feel like david and I have really worked well through this transition period and much to his credit It's probably been a harder lift for him. I've had it pretty easy people are coming to me and they're Leaving him, but he's been great and I think that's going to continue He's a strong leader and I think the team that he's giving me has great Value and and they're going to continue to use that I think from a development perspective They want to continue developing in the planning area I don't I agree that there's a concern, but immediately I would say they will still be active in that role Jump on to that. Thank you bill I think council busher there is a change in the text of the job description But there is language in here about representing the department in collaboration for the city's planning and policy staff Development of these plans in and ordinance amendments. That's the that's the connection that's in the job description and it's up to us Really beginning right now to build the institutional relationships as to how do we actually continue that workflow so that both scott and mary particularly Are actively engaged particularly in ordinance development, but also, you know related plan to develop scott's work in the open space plan mary's So one last thing mr. Mayor I don't want to vote against this because I I really think a lot of this is spot-on, but I really do have problems with the compensation for the Department head. So what I'm wondering Is because this is all new If indeed the motion could ask that hr At the end of a year relook at that job description and make sure that that And the duties etc And the compensation Are Are correct And also look at how other we've made a lot of changes how other departments are being compensated with positions at the same level of complexity and Just make sure that we're not straying from what we say About our city as being Being fair and how we compensate people so So if that's acceptable, I will be able to support this, but I must admit i'm i'm concerned Thank you At the end of so it's going to start July 1st So, you know by the end of next year and you know, I would really appreciate it to you've had a year now to And I know that's not a lot of time But it's enough time to figure out if if the duties are really as described on paper And whether they've been added or changed and and I think that At least I I feel better about having someone relook at that and make sure that we have compensated and and Classified these positions correctly Thank you Well, thank you council butcher. I appreciate the both attention to this um and Flexibility on seeing a way to go forward with it. Um, I You know I too had had some questions about the the compensation And that I had those questions satisfied you're raising them further Um Certainly, I think to me suggests that I'd be wise to to to you know to keep looking at this as we You know it is it is something new and if the job evolves from what's uh anticipated um So if you want to make if it was at a motion with with that, yes, I will move to um recommend That the city council approve and adopt the resolution which really speaks to all the positions that are created, etc um With the understanding that at At the end of the first year Um hr will look at didn't I already make a motion on this to start with? Yes, okay. You're amending. Oh, I'm amending it. Okay, so I'll just amend it to have hr Look at you're talking like you're making a classification. Yes. Okay Um good. Is there a second for that amendment second Any discussion of that? um, I think we're We're comfortable with that right so Uh So all those in favor of the amendment, please say aye. Aye. Opposed motion carries unanimously Now we're back to the underlying motion any further discussion or thoughts All right, let's do it. All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Opposed motion carries unanimously Thank you both and everyone else who's worked on this hr. I know this is That's why the big hr delegation tonight That 23 attachments is a sign of how much work went into this. Thank you. Um, everyone Uh, who has gotten it to this point. It's exciting. So this will The final step will be next uh Next monday's Um, very good 5.05 Authorization to approve court diversion contract number 38384. This is another Big time consuming initiative a lot of people worked on leading up until now president right Move to approve the court diversion contract and recommend approval to the full council Great, um welcome, uh Why don't can rachel, uh, do you want to just give a quick summary of what we're doing here? Sure for the record and just to make sure everyone's on the same page Yep, thank you. Um, I also wanted to quickly introduce the director of court diversion programs from out of the attorney general's office Willa ferrell who's just been kind enough to come tonight and kiss. There's any questions because this is new to our our department um as Reflected in the memo. This is a unique opportunity because it's first of its kind when rfp went out in the fall um For the attorney general's office to combine what had been Previously known as court diversion services with a few services called pretrial service monitoring and tamarack in other parts of the state Here in chinning county a lot of us know the services rick rapid intervention community court that was birthed in our state's attorney's office So this was tj donovan's uh office's idea of streamlining a lot of more forms of alternative justice And so that rfp went out in the fall and we applied and uh, we were Given the chant the offer to The attorney general's office would like to work with us to offer so many more services under what has been now the cjc, which is certainly a branch of alternative justice and uh, we get a lot of our The majority of our referrals pre-charged directly from the pd but this Kind of increases the umbrella of where we can get our referrals and how we're understood even in the county by The folks that receive the services the judges and the officers that refer cases to our way to our way I mean i've been in the position two years And i'm constantly asked the question of what's the difference between the cjc and court diversion And we are not alone that that question is asked often Um, so the referrers and the clients shouldn't need to worry about that differentiation Um, so this is an opportunity to provide these services under one Great. Well said. Well summarized. Um This is good Great counselor plan Can you explain the um the fee for service and how that works? I I read it, but I just need to Yes, it's it's a is that a guaranteed So there's statute that does that lays out the cost of each of the programs And offers a sliding scale depending on income. So that's um done different. It's different Generally the range is 175 to 300 dollars, but it there is that sliding scale Also, somebody can pays up down to zero But it is also a part of the financial model of court diversion statewide in terms of how The various organizations or entities that offer it fund the whole service Is there anything you would say in addition to that willa? I just like to note that These are collected under state authority. So it's considered we need to include it in the contract as Included in the maximum amount We Include a generous figure. This was a figure that was hired in the one that rangel and david had originally projected Frankly because that avoids us having to amend the contract should Should the cjc collect more fee revenue than is needed and in the first year the change of Service provider. It's difficult to really budget what the fee revenue will be And so if the fee amount exceeds this that would be an issue, but it probably we're unlikely that it could right So does that fee cover Operating costs for the program is that ultimately what it's used for it's included in the whole package. Yes Yeah Does it provide additional does it augment the budget for cjc at all included in the total budget? So I wouldn't say that and if it's higher it might might but this is the amount. So, okay It is all it like willa said it is a bit of a Not it's not total guesswork because you had past data to go on and you have the statute in terms of So we're but we're it is based on estimates of how many referrals and where they're They're Okay I think this is great. We brought it to community development neighborhood view utilization some time ago Yes, it's been in the works for a long time and I appreciate HR has worked very hard on this As has willa's office tremendously in the trend with the transition and an interim director Neil Lunderville before and interim director white has also spent a lot of time on it as has the mayor's office and bet A lot of people have given a lot of time and effort towards Envisioning how it could work No one more than rachel. She has a real champion for this And one that got in here without her really leadership Are we ready for a motion? I think you have a motion one moved Apologize. Sorry. Are you ready to vote? Ready great. Let's go to it. All those in favor of motion. Please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously Excellent. Congratulations. Thank you for your hard work. Thanks much and I guess 5.06 is this is related, right? Motion to You're making the motion I would move motion to as proposed in the memo second Great discussion So this is the authorization of creation and reclassification. Is that where we are? Okay So I had one quick question in the other memos it said So there is a job that went from Um non exempt to exempt so that does that have to go? Do you have to notify the union on it was a non union position to begin? It's a non union position. Thank you I thought so but I couldn't figure that out. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that and then um, I had a hard time with that little court diversion and Um service budget Some of these positions some of the titles Were a little different. Yeah, so I had a hard time making that comparison Um, and some of the dollar amounts were different also because I figured that this there was some flexibility in this So I'm not I'm not bent out of shape, but I think I made the right. I mean sometimes it was really easy To mix and match but the other time I wasn't quite sure And the case worker assistant. I didn't know where that person came assistant service coordinator We had I apologize that we didn't revise the budget from this went through many renditions Once the ag's office came to us with their final offer or at that time find that their initial proposal And we went through and I didn't go back to revise the case positions as we then created the job descriptions And had them graded and the budget was accurate at that time Although we did receive great news tonight that the ag's office is going to be offering us more Then um, we originally banked on so the budget might be going through some some addition It won't be it's an additional new and you know, it's additional money. So which is great news Um, so those that final number was correct, but I apologize that you're right. That's okay. You don't have to apologize I just wanted to make sure the but the only thing I couldn't figure out was the case worker So it's service point. Okay. Perfect. Thank you. That's it One more follow-up. Sorry if I could go ahead and receive tonight in baby obvious button in reading the memo Beth is just letting me know that because we just received this news that they I don't know if willa wants to speak to this either But this was something that we needed to wait until the legislature passed its budget for the ag to be able to Have a final number that they had to distribute Um statewide and we did just receive the news that that number will be a hundred thousand higher So Instead of four 20 Yeah, because it says maybe equal or greater than I've never had I know well, this has been the conversation between willa and I the last several weeks as we We couldn't bank on it until we had the final order. So this has to get final council approval So you'll just change that before it goes to council. Okay. Great. You're ongoing council. Wonderful. Okay Yeah, yeah, so we wouldn't have to come back to you for saying I get it. Great. And this this may be a very obvious This may be obvious, but do court diversion staff still work for court diversion under this scenario? Or do they work for city? So currently they are still working for the not Chinden county court diversion services that has the nonprofit has staff And then they will as they're only employed I guess through june 30th And then we will put out our positions Description, you know, we'll post all of our positions and they can choose to apply or not Although have to reapply for their job Okay, okay Good. You ready to vote on this? All those in favor of the motion, please say aye. All right. Any opposed? Motion carries. You notice Lee? Great. Thank you Okay We have three more items that um, None of which require action, but um, of which Um, I think we're going to want a little at least a little bit of discussion on each of them Excuse me, um first 6.01 report on purchasing savings. I know this is something the board Has been an interesting update on particular. I think council polls always had a lot of standing interests in this And I thought this was an exciting report. Um, and uh, do you want to summarize it? They uh, I'll say So the uh, the purchasing memos relatively because it's a recap of what we've been working on Also shows where our focus has been at a very high level. The savings is, you know, 1.4 million dollars over a two-year period That's actually was achieved by, you know, collaboration with, you know, the different departments A lot of work hard work directly from the Osama County, that we so wrote Um, bet the innocent is very supportive in What we were looking for the biggest areas of savings in the direction we want to go and I have supported us in making sure that You know, we would get the appropriate approvals and keep things moving and I think that We have been successful The savings are coming from many different areas throughout the city Not all savings here is directly related to general funds and savings. Are you discussing this related to city line savings? They do think it's a good start If you have any questions, please Okay, everyone. Let's get in on this. Uh, councilor, councilor busher. Sorry So, well anyways, um, just great. Wow Any luck with schools but wait because I also have a request. I think You and whoever else you want to bring with you should do a vermont league of cities and towns workshop On your savings and insights because I can see this as a postcard and you know going out to every community On on what you did and how you accomplish these savings and maybe in smaller communities It's a no-brainer because there's just one purchasing area But for some of the other communities of size and there are a few in the state of vermont I think these insights. I think what you did was remarkable was really good And I think the state would benefit. So that's what I have to say. Thank you But any luck with schools because you're it's sort of silent there we always struggle Continue eventually They're going to jump on board So I'm just taking the future this great rocket two weeks when we do go up to bed. We always try to bring them into the mix We just finished up as you know the a few lyre p. That's not part of some of the savings We've been working with three different rubbish removals to Find savings there as well. I think that's going to come together perhaps in the next I'm hoping within the next six to eight weeks and then we just You know piggyback off what we say and come up with new ideas to continue to save money It's great Okay, uh council ball. Um, yeah, so, um, council bursher said great. Wow This is great. Wow and Just wanted to mention. I you know, I thought it was interesting that um of the larger figures On the selection of the new actuary was one of the was was one of the stars here And I think that just shows how important it is to bid major contracts like that. Um, you know, we uh, uh, I think when We're probably through with the next, you know the next audit contract We probably should try to do that and maybe more aggressively than we have been Perhaps there is a savings there in addition to the fact that we I mean we've had a good auditor But I think we might be able to do better Um, financially and then also just wanted to say that um in the background information Um, uh, you had said that it was a resolution in 2013 and I just Just can't let this go without just Giving kudos to the person who really started this and that was counselor vince brennan He his in his professional job This is what he does and he was one of the people that really came forward with this and I think he would Be really happy to know that this has been so successful Um In saving the city a lot of money. So we move forward. This is great news Wow, too. So I don't forget. I do want to thank Justin st. James Because he has actually worked really hard. He's been very responsive. He's done a great job Reviewing proposals reviewing r&bs. You know, that's a big part of this process That he spent absolutely great through this whole process There was one other thing I just thank you There's one other thing that I did want to mention. I know it's not directly related to purchasing but as a way of saving I don't know if they're There's There's funds that we get back from the state that don't that come back to us like quarterly And I think I think it's sales tax There's you know, yeah local option and I've you know, I've always wondered I mean we've had this conversation before I know it's not the same thing But in terms of money that we could get sooner or quicker Um, has there ever been any further conversation about getting that more quickly? Then we have been okay the interest. Yeah Oh Okay, all right because I've always felt that there was something That we could I mean after all they really are holding on to our money for A fairly long period of time when you think about it and it's not it is no small sum So thank you cast your point. I just wanted to say that the um outcome the fact that you know tried this 2013 and had minimum, you know mixed success This actually believe it or not this started This idea was promoted by a guy named Doug Hoffer when he was hired at CEDO He tried to get city departments to do this and there was such a Fiefdom in city government that you couldn't accomplish it when we were a commission-led system of government We didn't have accountability the mayor didn't other than setting the budget didn't didn't appoint department heads So this is one of the outcomes of leading to a more streamlined Someone say centralized and I think in this case the taxpayer is benefiting from this. I think this is great Brian this great work and tim ash and I brought forward the resolution and tried to work with schools on this before Vince Brennan got on there, but wait till they see how successful this is they'll jump on they'll be calling rich Sometimes it just takes that window of opportunity to make this brought it forward and gave it new life And I don't want to diminish that new how important that new life was That they can't pay a new voice without thinking about how they can save the money on the invoice Trained up Great, thank you I'm serious about that workshop though I'm serious that you have some good insights and I think a lot of people could benefit I'd love to see your face on a postcard On that note Excellent just one quick Obviously add to the kudos great work And you you also say that you've identified numerous additional opportunities. Do you expect the additional numerous opportunities to What level of saving that we're looking at going forward The further you get in the more difficult is to find new savings, but you just you just don't know We're an opportunity come up. I know that we're going to be looking at legal There may be an opportunity in there We're going to be looking at our financial advisor One council going right through all I may just spend on all our vendors and we're looking for You know making sure that we have to go through this place and go through that process But there may be others Great Excellent, thank you rich. It is exciting to see this getting traction. Um, they're It's also we're starting to see savings on the kind of The energy side this is the first year's Or some of those have been more measurable the savings there you add that The savings being generated by our collective action the clerk treasurer's report or the clerk treasurer's office around the Savings because the credit rating upgrades and you know, you add it all up and it's a significant amount of Of money that That you know a lot of which is recurring and you know kind of Compounds over time. So it's exciting work. Thank you Thank you for everyone who has been involved in Bring focus to us for a long time um, okay, so Let's uh talk about 6.02 and um, listen, I apologize. I I think uh, this didn't get out The actual memo backing this up didn't get out till today that was there was sort of a miscommunication there Uh You know my fault that it didn't get out to you guys earlier But um, the topic is one we've been talking for some time now. So I think you know Summary of where we're at we have kind of cut back from the Three or fourth really fourth different things we've been talking about adding to the Ceto slash planning budget in the coming year. We're down to really just two things um the The a budget for the assistant director for community works and I do think it's important to especially given the conversation earlier that is not backed up at this point by a You know a future step would be actually scoring that position and there's there's still more administrative steps But we would like to put the budget authority into into the budget at the proposed level Plus some additional dollars for some flexibility for the new Ceto director to address some of what you've heard about how challenging it is to assign people to respond to issues large issues within the community Because of the funding streams would give some more flexibility To the department for uh, certain staff time allocations Those are really the only two things left the associate planner position is out We may come back and talk about it at some later point, but it's out for now the Urban Designer or sort of architect position is is not being proposed here at this point either So We have given you some additional information on the udag funding We have some additional information in there trying to explain the And document our confidence and why we can bank on some of the bcdc revenue So again, my apologies that the actual written documentation didn't get to you till today But hoping this puts us in position where a week from now You will be yeah right now. I'm planning. This is likely to be in my Budget that comes to you at the end of the week and unless something about this conversation Suggests that we should not go in that direction. So with that the floor is open Um, council busher, so I really haven't had a chance to look at the memo. So that's unfortunate But I'm listening to your comments I appreciate the Wait-and-see approach regarding what staffing the department will need I'm not trying to make that department not be able to function and accomplish what It has long wanted to accomplish But I just felt that it was premature adding those positions. So I appreciate that I haven't looked at the funding for the udag Or the bcdc which if that's in this memo also But can you just respond to my quick questions are in the communication Is there a mechanism to pay ourselves back from those to Funds yes, the the if if this is approved in the budget We will Then what the memo says is we will document This investment with a formal intra fund loan document like you've seen for some other things and there will be It will be a vision as a longer term loan than Some of the others that we've done. I'm proposing my my thought would be kind of a 20 year term But it would it would document paper the notion that the goal is to Pay back the udag investment over time from Both the bcdc revenues and bcdc revenues and the new revenues which We would give the department some time to Create we're not banking on those revenues immediately But this city I think we this it would be formalized So that if this wasn't working if these revenues weren't weren't being created Future you know our successors would be able to kind of Cut off They continued investment in this in this area if it doesn't seem that that theory is is playing out So it would be a formal work So udag loan it mean that that grant or whatever it is. It's really important to pay back bcdc If you would allow me I will get back to you, but I mean we have Given money and not expected to return on it. We have also Given money loaned money and then been compensated and those funds have grown which have allowed us to then Use that money As a nonprofit entity to do something else in the city So I I feel like We really need to value what we have we worked hard to get that And so I don't want to diminish that so it's not there for us in the future So those those are my two points here So anyways, I'll let other people who've read the memo speak Yeah, I didn't I didn't um I didn't see it specifically addressed and maybe it's because there's no change in plan, but we had talked about a Economic development strategy coming out of this work And that still is the plan and that doesn't change as a result of this, right? That is still the plan we're looking at using there's unsigned fund balance Last year last year's that I think carried. Oh jobs and people study that money would carry forward To carry forward and then potential ask for next year But we're also looking into the EVA Source that you mentioned Okay, great. So we'll get started on that work probably come winter time So in terms of the this work appearing in the budget, it's a carryover of the unspent And that's it in the budget right now It's 25,000 for the jobs people jobs and people study. Excuse me Okay Right, there will be a second phase that will be more expensive and you're saying that would either be paid for Actually and miss the seed as part of the budget for the for 21. We'd be looking at Potentially using unassigned fund balance or if we're successful with an EVA grant that that'll be part of what we're looking at That's it. Okay I suppose UDAG is a potential source for that as well, but Definitely on Yeah, I think it's a good good development. Great All right, so no votes tonight unless anyone else has burning comment on this. Um, we'll move to Um, I I guess this is just I don't think we have a lot for this 6.03 Jeff white 20 budget unless you all had anything you haven't had a chance to say up until now Um, that you want So the one that is the master tax rate projected is now Is it called tax rates master projected? Yeah, so that one is no longer projected. It's that's real. That's okay President right Can you talk about where we are with the Report from the senior center study committee with the request for the additional $26,000 The $58,000 I couldn't hear the end of that There would likely be an ask later on to use fund balance for that, but I think the the study So we have the higher level just the the fy 19 level is replicated at fy in fy The late breaking request for an additional 26,000 is Not in the budget now Um, and because you know Not that there should not that there's uh discomfort with You know Funding it at that level necessarily but because That proposal hasn't been it hasn't even like fully been received. It has now been just recently received internal city team needs to do the work to fully Since we just received this study from the committee we have to do that work internally to Understand what is needed budget-wise and For example, I'm not satisfied with the notion that by taking on the second center There's no efficiencies to be gained by that essentially the report doesn't Acknowledge any efficiencies and and there's but we've got a bunch of staff already working on the existing senior center I think it's got to be exploring whether that Existing staff could take on some of the responsibilities That were projected as new expenses in the second center. So That work's got to happen and will and the you know, what's the timeline on that? Do we have a timeline from the team? Then we'd have a budget amendment if It just I'm I'm all in favor of finding efficiencies and if there's a way of The cost of that but um, I don't want to leave them hanging and As soon as possible if whatever money is needed I mean we've found money for lots of other things. I want to make sure that we do the same for The senior center So mr. Mayor when we had this conversation before You had said that you would you would entertain the dollars the additional dollars But you also said that you would do that as a form of a budget amendment And that's I think reflected in some set of minutes. I didn't resurrect them, but I'm pretty sure they it's there So the question I have is Does that need to be part of the budget? Resolutions saying that those additional dollars will if real if needed will be Addressed in a budget up to that a dollar amount. Do you understand what my point is so that it's documented? Do you I don't know whether that's necessary? But it certainly might be the way to I think that the people that really care about this Want to make sure that that that won't be forgotten. And so I'm just throwing that out there I think I understand what you're saying. Councilor. Why don't we look at whether there's a way to Add that knowledge that little sentence. I would I would appreciate that that also. Yeah Budget resolution Yeah, I do think just in fairness to our team too like I think, you know, There's some real work that has to happen before this is ready to be Approved for for everyone's sake. I mean what there was this kind of late development that We want to keep two different entities or the committee recommended taking keeping different entities with the senior center continuing to exist As an ongoing entity with certain responsibilities and the city taking on other responsibilities all that I think before it can be properly acted on by the council needs to be You know just vetted a little bit and flushed out and documented so that like there isn't a misunderstanding between the parties About who's responsible for what and what gets done. So That's why I think it is going to take a little bit of time But I like the idea of acknowledging that this work is ongoing and that there's an intent to come back During this, you know in the upcoming months to try to resolve this issue And in a budget form if necessary So I have one last question. Are you are you going to adjourn? Is that what you're planning to do or are you going to move on to another topic? I believe once we're done with this my plan had been to adjourn. Okay No, no, no, no, no, I just wanted to are you going to talk more about the budget though I have nothing more to say about the budget at this point unless because I we just had it on here as a last Right, so I'm not quite sure where we stand with so we got this nice chart which of of the investment of unassigned fund balance But I don't know where we are with all of that Some of it is new money and some of it is what we did before and so I'm not quite sure how that Pertains to your budget and I'm not looking to I want to go home and never mind I don't want to stay here all night either But Yes, I'm sure but I I want to make sure that we're clear as to what dollars are Supporting the budget that you're going to present. That's my point and then the bt funds Whether or not, you know, we discussed that before and there was a discussion about If I understood it correctly of using the unassigned fund balance and delaying That until we had our meeting in July, but I don't want to be I don't want to Leave here with the wrong conclusion. So could you just speak to When we're going to how we're going to look at this or what what in these charts are necessary for your budget? And What we're doing with the bt funds. Okay, that's it So So The I don't think you'll be surprised by what the budget will have with for the most part with respect to I mean the unassigned fund balance I It's certainly our assumption is we are moving forward with all of the stuff that we've been talking about that was You know necessary to keep the tax rate at the lower level I haven't heard really I don't believe there's that we're planning on amending The the last version of the chart that we gave you with respect like nothing. I didn't hear push back against. I don't think any of the Any of the items are strong that It seemed like there was not going to be support to keep that on the budget if if If there's stuff that people were looking to see come out I mean, I think at this point I had not heard anything making me think we were to come out the big on unresolved question I understand not all counselors like the way we've proposed using the bt funds and I haven't I guess we have not Entirely decided yet as to whether we're going to make an adjustment. I'm uncomfortable with the idea of To keep all of this in the budget To keep to keep both the tax Rate buy down and the In the snow plow amount and the sidewalk plow amount in the budget And not use the bt funds would require us Spending down the unassigned fund balance virtually to the the tower committing to it virtually to the target And I'm you know, that's I'm not I'm not actually comfortable with with with that. So I I may keep it in there as I proposed. I mean, I've sort of kind of out there having publicly announced this for some time And if the council Chooses to go in a different direction. I would sort, you know Maybe an area where the council needs to take some kind of action if you wanted to go in a different direction So one last statement just or question if everyone looks at the pages the five pages of this unassigned fund balance the new requests Am I to assume that those are Are we've acted on those? No, we have not acted on. Okay. All right. So I just wanted to make sure I understand what we're doing We did give one of the documents was an update for you Just the status of stuff that you had already acted on just informational purposes largely But no the new new requests for use on a signed fund balance june 2019 This would be new authorization approved in this budget And and what about what about purchasing the dca building? Those are possible future needs, okay Okay, give you a sense of what else might be on the list someday and what okay. All right. Um so You know how you might use a budget amendment And for to deal with the senior center I would like to plant the seed mr. Mayor that you could use a budget amendment after The meeting with the city council if the city council decided to use the bt funds And you could swap out the unassigned fund balance monies for bt funds Wink wink. That's what I think might be the way to proceed I you know, I'm I don't want to do I don't want to use those money those dollars before we have the Conversation and have the vote by the council. That's just how I feel about that But thank you for answering the question. Appreciate it. Okay. Good Thanks for the last discussion on that Um, I think I share council bushers. Okay perspective on that. Definitely. I think that's a could be a I think it's an important conversation for the full council. I've said that before and I'll Continue that one. Yeah, I have as well. I mean I and I don't think that it's something that we need to delay I mean we can have this in reasonable order and move forward Exactly. Yeah, right We're all in agreement. Yeah Which means we're ready for you to take the next step very good Uh I'll take the next step by adjourning us. Thank you 54 p.m. But thank you all. Thank you Great Before sure