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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/08/2001 BAKERSFIELD (~~/~~'~ Mike Maggard, Chair Aian Tandy, Cit~cM~;{ager Harold Hanson Staff: Darnell Haynes Mark Salvaggio AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMI'I-FEE Thursday, March 8, 2001 4:00 p.m. City Manager's Conference Room 1. ROLL CALL Call to Order at 4:05 p.m. Present: Councilmembers Mike Maggard, Chair; Harold Hanson and Mark Salvaggio 2. ADOPT FEBRUARY 5, 2001 AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT Adopted as submitted. 3. PUBLIC STATEMENTS 4. NEW BUSINESS A. Committee recommendation regarding a request for funding from the Bakersfield Museum of Art The City has received a request from the Bakersfield Museum of Art for $28,500 to help fund a Russell and Remington, Storytellers of the American West exhibition they plan to bring to the Museum in September. Assistant City Manager John Stinson provided a memo on the criteria the Council typically uses in evaluating contributions to nonprofit groups. Historically, rather than funding ongoing operating expenditures, the Council funds one-time capital improvement expenditures; startup costs or one- time activities tied to specific City Council goals; and use of city facilities by nonprofit 501(c)3 groups. The Council has always been very supportive of the Arts as demonstrated by previous contributions to the Arts Council of Kern, the Kern County Museum Metro Recreation Master Plan, Bakersfield Symphony, and many other cultural activities. Recently the City deeded the land to the Bakersfield Museum of Art (approximate value $295,000) and contributed $30,000 for.the new Sculpture Garden as part of the Museum's expansion program. Staff is recommending any funding approved be in the form of a one-time contribution. Rogers Brandon and Charles Meyer, representing the. Museum, thanked the City for the recent contribution and spoke regarding their funding request being an investment in the community due to its cultural and economic benefits. They plan a user-study on the economic benefits to the community from such exhibits. ADOPTED AS SUB/4I~ APRIL 5, 2001 AGENDA SUMMARY REPOR'I BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, March 8, 2001 Page -2- There was agreement that due to the popularity of Western Art, the Russell and Remington exhibit would be educational and culturally beneficial and very popular with local and out-of town visitors. Committee member Hanson suggested that the Museum membership step up promotions in the .' private sector. Committee members Hanson and Salvaggio expressed support of the arts, but had concerns about setting a precedent of funding operational expenses and frequency of requests from groups. Committee member Salvaggio explained the difficult position of Councilmembers wanting to be supportive of the arts and other such worthy requests for contributions and still maintain fiscal balance and fairness; however, he would support a contribution of $5,000 to $10,000. , Committee Chair Maggard said he felt that the City is better served if it spends funds on items that will provide benefit for a long period of time such as the arts and culture. Because there is limited history on the economic benefits, he suggested museum staff talk to Cai State and develop an economic model showing the multiplier effects of the people coming from out of town to these art events. The Committee was in agreement. As they had already planned to do a study, the Museum representatives agreed to come back to the Committee within the next two months to demonstrate the economic benefits these types of events have on the local economy. B. Public Works staff report and Committee review and recommendation regarding traffic light preemption devices At the City Council Goal Setting Session on February 11th, the Council referred the mid-year budget adjustment of $250,000 in addition to doubling the current annual budget amount to acceleratethe signal preemption program to the Budget and Finance Committee for review and recommendation to the City Council. At an earlier meeting, Council also referred consideration of funding soumes from Golden Empire Transit to help fund the remaining signals in exchange for the buses being able to use priority deviCes. Traffic Engineer Steve Walker stated there are 255 operating traffic signals in the City. Currently, 110 have the emergency vehicle preemption devices, which leaves 145 unfunded. Chief Fraze has identified 46 that are very high priority, located near fire stations or on routes where it would be beneficial to have the devices. Although the devices cause traffic delays, they are of great benefit to the Community, Fire Department and ambulances services and are highly recommended by staff. Buses do not use the same preemption devices, but use priority devices, which extend the green light for 10 seconds when the priority emitter is engaged. Unlike the occasional use by emergency vehicles, buses come through the intersections several times a day. Traffic is disrupted even with a 10 second delay, because that time is taken from somewhere else in the intersection. It affects the left-turn capability and the cross street, which will cause approximately 30 vehicles to stack up, which will add up to about 300 seconds in delays. Because the time is reduced, traffic will have to wait until the next cycle. Most of the signals operate on 120 second cycles, causing a wait of another 120 seconds before vehicles can cross or make a left turn. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, March 8, 2001 Page -3- The Traffic Engineer stated he does not feel we are at the point where the benefit to the buses will outweigh the cost to the public in driving time, extra gas, and increased NOX emissions. Further, the bus priority is something that can be deferred for several years before the buses will need to have priority to meet performance standards. At this time, emphasis should be put on getting the critical 46 intersections equipped with preemption devices for fire trucks and ambulances. Police Sergeant Kirsten Borton stated the Police Department did a trial run. An officer mounted the device and it did work but at the speeds he was traveling by the time he approached the intersection and the light turned from red to green, he was within 60 feet of the intersection. Two of the three instances where he changed the light, cars ran the red light. Police cars actually move faster that other emergency vehicles, so there are safety issues that need to be resolved before the Police Department recommends using the devices for Police vehicles. Chester Moland of Golden Empire Transit (GET) agreed with the Traffic Engineer that at this time they do not need the priority devices to keep their buses on schedule to meet their performance goal. They view this as an opportunity to tap into some funding sources that may not be available to the City, but that are available to GET. This funding can be used to the City's benefit to put preemption devices on the lights and at the same time benefit GET to equip the buses with priority devices. The drivers would not be activating the device, but it would be programmed into the Satellite and the device would be triggered automatically when the bus is behind schedule. GET does not have the funding at this time, but if the City approves GET buses using the priority devices, they could apply for the funding. If GET is approved for funding, due to state and federal budget cycles the funds will not be available until October 2001. Mr. Moland stated as GET does not need the devices at the present time, they will be happy with whatever decision the City makes. Staff has concerns that the City has invested significant funds in our signal coordination efforts, Traffic Operations Center and synchronization projects and would not want to adversely impact these projects when from a traffic engineering standpoint, this is not needed by GET at this time. Public Works Operations Manager Brad Underwood clarified that at busy intersections, left:turn lanes will overflow and traffic will back up into the regular traffic lanes causing traffic problems. There was discussion whether certain congested intersections could be excluded from GET bus use and still get approval for the grant money. Al Valdez from Henberger Traffic spoke about the flexibility of their system. It can recognize buses from other vehicles. There are adjustments that can be made so that Police vehicles can be recognized much farther away to adjust for their speed; however, the system is not set up that way at the present time. High pursuits are much safer if the signal can be cha.n,.ged before the speeding vehicle goes through the red light and endangers other motorists. Committee Chair Maggard stressed that he would like to pursue funding so that we can expedite the traffic preemption devices on the balance of the signals to have safer streets now, but the decision will be if we can do it faster and save the City money by having GET funding, what are the negative trade-offs. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, March 8, 2001 Page -4- It was discussed that the Committee does not have enough information to make a decision regarding GET funding. Before making a recommendation to the Council, the Committee would like Police Chief Matlock to give his recommendation. Al Valdez from Henberger Traffic said he would be glad to meet and provide further information. The Committee unanimously approved the mid-year budget amendment to appropriate $250,000 in addition to the funds currently budgeted for this fiscal year to expedite the 46 traffic preemption devices and forwarding to the Council for approval. Staff was directed to work with GET regarding their application, contact state and federal legislators to see what funding is available, determine the use application restrictions, and bring the information back to the Committee so a recommendation can be made to the Council on whether or not to accept the GET funding at this time. C. Committee review and recommendation regarding amendments to the City of Bakersfield Operating and Capital Improvement Budgets for FY 2000-01 Finance Director Gregory Klimko stated staff is bringing a summary of actions taken by the Council the first six months of the fiscal year to the Committee for review, recommendation, and forwarding to the Council. The Committee unanimously approved accepting and forwarding to the Council. D. Committee review and recommendation on Audit Reports: 1. Independent Auditors Report, Single Audit Report, Schedule of Federal Expenditures for the City of Bakersfield for FY ended June 30, 2000 2. Independent Auditors Report on appropriations Limit Worksheet (GANN Limit) of the City of Bakersfield for the FY ended June 30, 2000 Finance Director Gregory Klimko reported that the Single Audit Report states there are no material problems. The audit report on appropriations states we are below (in compliance with) our GANN Limit. The Committee unanimously approved accepting the audit reports for Council approval. E. Committee review and recommendation regarding funding for Kern Bluffs Open Space Plan (This item was moved and heard after Item A) At the City Council Goal Setting Session on February 11th, the Council referred the mid-year budget adjustment of $200,'000 to be used for a planning function (specific plan) to the Budget and Finance Committee for review and recommendation to the City Council. The Committee unanimously recommended a mid-year budget adjustment to set aside $200,000 for the Northeast Hills Preservation - Specific Plan for the developing northeast area of the City and forwarding to the Councii for approval at the March 28th meeting, which can be included in the administrative report being prepared for the balance of the proposed mid-year adjustments from the Council Goal setting session. AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Thursday, March 8, 2001 Page -5- 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. Staff present: Mayor~Harvey L. Hall; City Attorney Bart Thiltgen; Assistant City Manager John W. Stinson; Assistant City Manager Alan Christensen; Finance Director Gregory Klimko; Assistant to the City Manager Darnell Haynes; Planning Director Stan Grady; Fire Chief Ron Fraze; Assistant Finance Director Nelson Smith; Public Works Operations Manager Brad Underwood; Public Works Traffic Engineer SteVe Walker; and Police Sergeant Kirsten Borton Others present: Charles Meyer, David Cohn and Rogers Brandon, from the Bakersfield Museum of Art; Rich O'Neil, Kern River Parkway Committee; Dan Eichmann and Al Valdez from Henberger Traffic; and Michelle Beck, Kern River Parkway Committee; Chester Moland, Golden Empire Transit (GET) cc: Honorable Mayor and City Council DWH:jp S:/Darnell/2001 BFCommittee/bf01 dma198surnmary.wpd