HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-04-2019 special called meetingI City Council of Peachtree City
Special Called Meeting Minutes
Thursday, June 4, 2019
I
6:30 p.m.
The City Council of Peachtree City met in a special called meeting on Tuesday, June 4, 2019.
Mayor Vanessa Fleisch called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Others attending: Terry Ernst, Mike
King, and Kevin Madden. Phil Prebor was absent.
New Agenda Items
06-19-01 Consider Contract Award for Stormwater CIPP Pipe Lining - Group A & FY 2019
Budget Amendment
Stormwater Manager Mike Madison explained Group A consisted of the rehabilitation of 5,606 feet
of small diameter pipe via the cured -in-place method. Staff solicited bids from qualified contractors
and received five. Federal EC LLC was the low bidder with a base bid amount of $587,392. Pipe
Group A had sufficient funding, and Staff recommended that Council award the bid to Federal EC
LLC for its base bid amount.
Ernst moved to approve New Agenda item 06-19-01 and award the bid to Federal EC LLC in the
amount stated, $587,392. King seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
06-19-02 Consider Contract Award for Stormwater CIPP Pipe Lining - Group B
Madison told Council Group B consisted of the rehabilitation of 5,526 feet of small diameter pipe
stormwater pipe via the cured -in-place method, Of the four bids received, Vortex Service was the
ri low bid, with a base amount of $578,126. Pipe Group B had sufficient funding, and staff
recommended Council award the bid to Vortex Services in this amount.
King moved to approve New Agenda item 06-19-02 and award the bid to Vortex Services in the
amount stated, $578,126. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
06-19-03 Consider Public Safety Market Rate Adjustment
City Manager Jon Rorie pointed out the final three items on the agenda: consideration of a Public
Safety market rate adjustment, consideration of the impact fee -funded purchase of a fire truck and
ambulance, and, with no Council action required, discussion of the strategic use of debt instruments
to fund capital projects. He said it was important to come out of the Spring's Retreat sessions with
an idea of how to execute policy and determine process.
Rorie noted that the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget was the fifth budget he had done for the City. The
first (FY 2016) was presented just a few days after he was named interim City Manager in 2015. Rorie
read from the City's budget policy that the top priority was to maintain existing service levels in all
divisions and departments. The first thing they needed to do was define what this meant. For the
City to continue in the same capacity, they must establish a baseline that served as an agreed
upon point of departure for subsequent budget discussions. When deciding to expand a service,
they had to decide if it was worth it, especially if it meant adding a new facility or service. At, he
noted, they would be talking about service expansion and how it would be funded. When the
annual budget was adopted, they had to identify ongoing funding sources that would provide new
or increased revenues or identify expense reductions. Rorie said this budget policy prevented scope
creep and mission creep, and kept them focused on their goal of being there to serve. The budget
I was a spending plan, not a savings plan. They could save a lot by doing nothing, but that was not
lug the goal. They were there to serve.
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 2
Rorie noted that he had already said that at first glance for FY 2020, the budget showed they were
l $1 million in the red, which meant they would be spending $1 million of cash reserves. It did not
mean they were "broke." However, they wanted to spend cash reserves only for a very good, one-
time expense, not to fund day-to-day operations. That was how the budget process had started,
Rorie commented, but said he would finish by showing the same budget chart, but it would look
completely different. They started with $1 million in the red after department heads made their initial
requests, but after a period of discussions, Rorie said they were able to turn the $1 million into
$327,000 in the red through expense cuts and modifications as well as figuring out different scenarios
for accomplishing things better, faster, and cheaper. This was process that happened every year,
and he would show that the proposed budget was now in the black by the end of the meeting.
Included in the budget model was the Public Safety market rate adjustment that would be
discussed later. Also in the model was the hiring of three additional firefighters and funding those
positions for the entire fiscal year, which came to approximately $224,000 in salary and benefits and
represented almost the whole $327,000. Rorie again said he would describe how they would get
the budget in the black, even with the market rate adjustment, the hiring of the additional
firefighters, and the purchase of a fire truck. They were expanding service capacity, while
managing the budget and protecting the cash reserves. He told Council he would show that the
City was in a very good position thanks to the decisions that had been made.
Fire Marshal John Dunlap noted that Peachtree City Fire & Emergency Medical Service (EMS)
responded to 4,200 calls in 2018; 77% were medical calls, and the majority of those were for patients
age 70 and older. Their average response time, which meant the time from when they were alerted
to the call to the time they arrived on the scene, was four minutes, 38 seconds. A call for service
C 1 was any type of medical emergency, such as a heart attack, stroke, or asthma attack, and also
vehicle accidents. A common call for service in the City was for a person who had fallen.
Dunlap explained why fire and EMS vehicles had lights and sirens. He said a national study showed
that the average speed of an emergency vehicle to the scene was 35 mph; taking into
consideration traffic, school zones, and signals. The City's policy allowed them to go 10 mph over
the posted speed limit, weather conditions permitting. They could not speed through school zones
and had to obey all traffic signs and signals. Lights and sirens let motorists know the trucks were
coming and allowed them to begin getting out of their path.
Dunlap also recalled that the 911 phone system was started many years ago. Previously, people in
each district had to look up and call the emergency services phone number when they needed
assistance. Dunlap noted that 911 was an easy to remember number and worked for departments
nationwide. The calls went to a central dispatch center that used a global positioning system (GPS)
to dispatch the closest unit to the scene.
Another question that had been asked, Dunlap noted, was why were there so many fire stations.
Again, it went back to the average response time, national standards, and also more practical
issues that he would discuss later. To keep the average response time at 4:38, they had to be spread
out. The police officers used their cars as their stations, but it was impractical to drive a fire truck
around town, waiting for a call. Some people thought there could be one station in the center of
the City, but the center of the City was at the intersection of SR 74/54. Traffic at that intersection
meant it would take four minutes just to get out of the driveway.
Police Chief Janet. Moon reported that the Police Department answered close to 61,000 calls for
L service in 2018. Those calls consisted of everything a police officer could do in a day, whether it was
calls directed through the dispatch center or self-directed calls, such as traffic stops or a house
check. The average response time was five minutes, 18 seconds. That included both emergency
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 3
(� and non -emergency calls. Unlike the Fire Department, her officers were in their rolling offices in the
I I field so that when a crime was in progress, they could get there quicker. There was one police
station, but every vehicle was a rolling office.
Dunlap added that when the Police Department responded to a call, they usually arrived after the
incident. The Fire Department rolled out while the incident, be it a fire or a medical emergency, was
taking place. Their ambulances and fire trucks were mobile offices, too. The ambulances were an
extension of the emergency room where they were able to perform lifesaving interventions before
they got to the hospital. The fire trucks carried everything needed to put out a fire.
Moon showed photos of the types of vehicles the Police Department used, including all -terrain
vehicles employed on the path system and in the parks. She also displayed photos of some of her
officers, noting that adequate personnel were mandatory for operating, these vehicles. The Chief
pointed out that two of the officers in one of the photos were eligible to retire at any time. Another
officer would reach the period of service required for retirement in a few years. A fourth officer in
the picture had left the Department to work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Chief
noted, adding they lost a lot of officers to federal and state jobs. Six officers had already been lost
this year for various reasons. Some of the officers lost in 2018 went to state and federal jobs, but a
couple moved to the Coweta County Sheriff's Office, and another went to the Coweta County
Solicitor's Office. There was stiff competition vying for talented officers. It took at least a year on the
job for a new officer to become a functional officer, Moon remarked. They would complete their
training in six or seven months, but it took another three or four months for them to get comfortable
in the job.
The Fire Department had both full- and part-time employees, Dunlap stated. The part-time
personnel covered for sick leave, vacation, and when people were out for class. They had to
maintain a minimum staffing level in order to operate all the mobile offices and maintain an
adequate level of service. In the last year, they had lost several people. More than half of them
were paramedics, he stated, noting this was important because officers in the Fire Department had
to be paramedics. Five people left for employment in departments that did not provide ambulance
service, Dunlap said. Those departments were first responder paramedics only, and a private
ambulance service did the transporting. These positions were similar in pay to Peachtree City's. In
2019, they had already lost four paramedics, two to retirement and two others due to family
situations. They were losing paramedics faster than they could get them. Internally, they had six
people in paramedic school, which took two years to complete. A brand-new paramedic then
needed to work with a more experienced paramedic to get their feet wet in the field, he remarked.
Human Resources Director Ellece Brown went over the findings of a research project done by
NEOGOV, the National Association of State Chief Administrators, and Accenture. From 2013 to
2017, NEOGOV analyzed recruitment data from 27 state agencies, showing that job openings had
increased by 11 %, but the number of applicants had declined by 24%, leaving a gap of 35% where
the demand was greater than the number of applicants. She noted that they were seeing that in
Peachtree City, as well. She displayed a list of jobs that people were not applying for any more,
and law enforcement was number one, down by 63%. Nursing was down by 50%, while EMT
applications were down by 38%. The research found several reasons for this, including that states
could not offer salaries competitive with the private sector, along with a negative perception of
government work among the public. The administrators also mentioned a lack of robust recruitment
tools as a problem.
Ilu�� Brown said the HR department had surveyed positions in neighboring counties and cities, looking
at the minimum and maximum salaries. Moon noted that a Peachtree City Police Officer made
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 4
$39,619. A Coweta County Sheriff's Officer was at $42,300. The question was whether someone
would drive to Coweta County for that extra money.
Rorie said this was looking at just salary, not total compensation, but if they were facing a lotof
senior people approaching retirement, they needed to be able to recruit new officers and retain
them. He did not want the City to be the employer of last resort. He wanted people to choose to
work for the City. Police officers and firefighters were intrinsically motivated, Rorie noted, but, even
if it was not about the money, they should be appropriately compensated.
The Fayetteville Police Department had raised its starting salary to $40,425; the Fayette County
Sheriff's Office, which had lost 25 sworn deputies, was increasing its starting pay to $42,117. Moon
pointed out that pay raises were happening all around them and said they had prepared a plan
for recruitment/retention strategy.
Moon first explained that officers currently worked 2,080 hours annually, and they wanted to
change it to 2,184. City officers worked 12 -hour shifts and should be working 84 hours in the two-
week pay period, but when the policy was set up, they only worked 80. That meant that during the
two-week time -frame, every police officer from sergeant and below had to "flex out" four hours to
prevent overtime. It was not the most efficient way to utilize the resources they had. By authorizing
the officers to work the 84 hours in the two weeks, their annual hours would go from 2,080 to 2,184,
which was an addition of 104 hours per officer, per year. She said she would discuss the benefits of
this change later.
They also recommended raising the pay of every officer by $2,500, which would take them to
$42,119 as the minimum. She showed that this would put Peachtree City's police pay in line with the
I City of Fayetteville and just below the Coweta County Sheriff's Office. Rorie asked about Newnan,
L and Moon said Newnan was below them, at $36,150, but in the last two weeks, Newnan had called
and asked if the City was planning to increase its salary because Newnan was trying to present
something as well. The difficulty in recruitment was not unique to Peachtree City, the Chief
remarked.
Rorie asked Brown if the recruitment problem applied only to the Police and Fire Departments, and
she said it applied across the board in all City departments.
Moon added that her department had lost six full-time officers and one part-time crossing guard
this year, while the Fire Department had lost six full-time and two part-time. Citywide, 24 employees
had departed. Of those, 18 were full-time; four part-time, and two seasonal. Moon mentioned that
she knew Public Works struggled to hire people for its mowing crew, Rorie said they had been trying
to hire five people for the mowing crew since July of last year. Public Works Superintendent Scott
Hicks confirmed that the fifth one had been hired just that week.
There would be a budget impact if the recommended changes were adopted. Moon reported
that an increase of $2,500 in personnel cost per officer amounted to $163,008 and $21,752 in FICA
and other costs. This came to approximately $185,000 annually. However, if they hired two new
officers, the cost would be $314,000 and would include the car and the equipment. The proposed
change, with the officers working the additional four hours instead of flexing out, amounted to the
hours for two additional officers.
Dunlap noted that the Fire Department was in the same situation. A firefighter/EMT (Emergency
IILJ�� Medical Technician) started at $39,619, while a firefighter/paramedic started at $43,732, just a bit
under Fayette County and a bit over Coweta. They were on par with their neighbors. However, they
had lost several people to Union City, which did not run ambulances, just first responder engines
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 5
with paramedics on board. They did not transport patients to the hospital. Union City's starting pay
for a medic was $42,950, just a bit under Peachtree City's, but for a lot less work and responsibility.
Dunlap read a job description for a firefighter/paramedic. It included: "Interview patient to
determine medical history, what their chief complaint is, medications, allergies, detailed physical
assessment." It got more difficult if the patient was unconscious, he noted. That involved
interviewing witnesses to the medical incident or family members familiar with the patient's history.
A more in-depth physical analysis was required if the patient was unconscious. Paramedics had to
perform invasive procedures, such as checking blood sugar. They had to assess heart rhythms or
airways. They had to determine the closest appropriate facility, not necessarily the closest hospital.
They could not transport a head trauma patient to Piedmont Fayette, for example; a trauma center
downtown was required, These decisions were based on training, experience, protocols, and
standing orders. They communicated with nurses and physicians to provide quality care, which
included invasive procedures such as intubation or intravenous therapy. A paramedic must be able
to work in a high stress environment, work independently with minimal supervision, and be able to
work as a team member. They had to continually assess the patient for changes and consult with
medical control.
Dunlap said it was interesting that this job description was very similar to that of a registered nurse
in an emergency room. They were doing things in the field that a nurse did in an emergency room.
Dunlap proposed that firefighter hours be adjusted from 2,808 annually to 2,920. Dunlap said it
would be too confusing to explain their schedules, which involved working 24 hours and being off
for 48. Pay for all firefighter/medics would be adjusted by $2,500 annually, bringing firefighter/EMT
starting pay up to $42,119 and firefighter/paramedic up to $46,232. Salaries would move up as they
moved higher on the chain of command, with the understanding that once the employee reached
lieutenant, they were required to be a paramedic. Dunlap showed that this increase would put
Peachtree City ahead of other area departments in pay for medics. He noted that the median pay
for nurses was $48,900, and they had lost a lot of people to the nursing field. Another factor to
consider was that a significant number of Fire Department officers were scheduled to retire in the
next few years.
Raising the annual pay of full-time firefighter/medics by $2,500 would equal $176,649 in salaries.
Part-timers would get $31,952. There would be an additional $23,200 in FICA and other costs, for a
total of $225,802 in the budget.
Rorie noted that the City had modified past practices in regards to the evaluation system and the
merit system. Employees were no longer evaluated for the purpose of providing a pay raise. They
held feedback sessions to determine if employees wanted to stay employees. Many organizations
put employees on a spectrum, saying "you get a raise of x percent if you are at 3% on a range of
1% to 5%." Peachtree City did not recognize merit on a percentage basis for average performance.
They budgeted so no more than 25% of employees were eligible for merit, and it was budgeted at
a flat rate of $1,200, regardless of salary.
Even though they budgeted for 25% merit pay, in FY 2019, they did not award about $41,000 of that
money. Rorie said he was going to recommend that they move to adjust the salaries for Public
Safety employees and fund that adjustment beginning September 1, not October 1 when the new
fiscal year began. To do that, he would use the remaining $41,000 that had been budgeted for
merit pay. That would allow them to do this in September without a cash reserve withdrawal or
j budget amendment. It would be impossible to do this in June or July; August might be possible, but
IIILLLJJJIII it was easier from a funding perspective to wait until September.
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 6
11 Ernst asked what it would cost to roll this out in August, saying it looked like about $28,000, Rorie said
it might be possible, but it would require a budget amendment or cash withdrawal. Ernst remarked
that he would like to see the adjustment happen earlier.
The total FY 2020 impact on Public Safety would be $41 1,000, Rorie stated. They were in the process
right now of establishing the FY 2020 budget and were making a recommendation to do a market
rate adjustment that would spend $411,000 for police and fire personnel for FY 2020 and onward.
He said he thought it was necessary and appropriate. They had discussed changing the Police
Department hours for more than two years and had internal discussions of the pay bands and their
impact, along with the benefits package. The timing was right and needed to be done in this
competitive market and to recognize performance.
Rorie recommended Council move forward with this. He read the recommendation: "In
accordance with Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provisions, adjust work hours as recommended
from 2,808 annually to 2,920 annually for Fire/EMS Public Safety personnel and 2,080 annually to
2,184 for Police Public Safety personnel with an associated market rate adjustment of $2,500 for all
uniformed Public Safety personnel."
Madden clarified the meaning of the FLSA acronym.
Ernst brought up the fact that this was an increase for each employee, but it was not really a pay
raise. They would be working additional hours to earn this money. It was saving the City from having
to hire new officers with cars and equipment. It was saving half the price. He said he felt it was a
smart thing to do and was well overdue. Again, he said he would like to see it happen August 1.
n Rorie promised he would look into that.
II Madden said it was important to understand what this meant in terms of attracting and retaining
the best trained and qualified officers. There was a cost to ensure that the highest caliber people
were protecting the City.
Fleisch pointed out that
this was not just a
Peachtree
City problem; it an issue
across the country.
She had recently been in
Gwinnett County
and saw a
notice of an open house
for police recruiting.
Rorie noted there was a debate over whether McDonald's workers should make $15 per hour. With
all the hours they worked, firefighters made a little over $14 an hour, and police officers made about
$19 an hour.
Madden added that he agreed with Ernst and would like to see this done as soon as possible.
King again noted, as Moon and Dunlap had pointed out, that when experienced people were lost,
it cost a lot of money and time to replace them.
Brown asked if the change could begin on the first payroll of the month instead of the first day of
the month. Rorie said they would look into it.
King moved to adopt staff's recommendation. Ernst seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
06=19=04 Consider Impact Fee Funded Purchase of Fire Truck & Ambulance
Rorie reported the City collected more than $4,000 per residential unit as a development impact
fee. Those fees were generated because of growth and could only be spent on projects generated
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 7
by that growth, such as fire stations. They could not fund 100% of the costs of,a project through
impact fees, however.
Rorie explained that a house was built, and a certificate of occupancy (CO) was issued. It was
added to the tax rolls and would generate income for the City in the future. The City could not
overcharge on impact fees, only collect the fair share of the impact as it related to the growth of
a service. Impact fees were collected for three categories: fire protection and EMS, police services,
and recreational facilities for the expansion of the City's number one amenity, the multi -use paths.
For Fire/EMS, they collected a portion of the impact fees based on square footage and the day
and night population of the City. There was a formula to determine this, but at the end of the day,
it was about collecting money to buy a fire truck, buy an ambulance, or build a fire station.
Rorie showed a chart that he and Fire Chief Joe O'Conor developed several years ago. It said they
would collect impact fees for the proposedstation on MacDuff Parkway, and, as the COs came
on board, the City would begin getting ad valorem taxes on those properties. In order to use the
impact fees, the City had to have the numbers to buy a fire truck. In order to operate that fire truck,
there had to be valorem revenue. It was a balancing act to determine when to roll out that station.
They projected that they could build a station on the west side of MacDuff Parkway when they
were at 30% buildout of the planned 1,329 units.
Council did two things: they told the developers of both Everton and Cresswind that they could
have up to 100 COs, but could not get any more until MacDuff Parkway was finished. They got an
$8 million road built. Some people said it was the wrong thing to do, but it got the road built. Right
now, there were 540 building permits issued, and 458 COs. The target number for building the fire
station was 399 COs. Cresswind had been building faster than Everton, but Everton was picking up
speed.
Rorie pointed out that the buildout could go down, with Fleisch interjecting that they had the road
in any case. If the building rate went down, the collection of impact fees would decline, as would
the increase in ad valorem tax collections. However, they knew a station in that area was needed.
The first topic of conversation was to adopt a recruitment and retention strategy for personnel. It
would make no sense to buy a fire truck if there was no one to drive it or if it would have to be
parked outside. Currently, Parks and Recreation had collected $2,105,000 in impact fees. Council
had authorized the building of a $3 million cart path bridge across MacDuff through the Special
Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). They had budgeted $2 million in SPLOST dollars for this and
would use $1 million of the impact fees. The entire cost of the bridge would be funded by impact
fees. The SPLOST money was being used to create cash flow. The bridge was a SPLOST project, but
could not be 100% funded through SPLOST.
So far, impact fees of $1.262 million had been collected for the Fire Department. The City Manager
remarked that the collection of impact fees was almost nothing until Cresswind and Everton started
building. The concept of "first in, first out" meant that they needed to encumber the funds on a
regular basis to execute those projects, and it was time to move forward on the apparatus and
station plans. He presented an impact fee report from FY 2018 that showed Station 85, a medic
vehicle, and fire engine as the next projects, with estimated costs. They would begin planning for
the station and have the apparatus ordered. He said he doubted that would be completed in FY
2019 because it could take six months to a year to build them.
They were trying to strategically locate the assets. Dunlap talked about the people and the mobile
stations. Stations were located across the City because the average speed of a fire engine was 35
mph. People often assumed they were going faster, but that was not the case.
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 8
They were looking at purchasing an ambulance and a fire truck, which Rorie termed an urban
assault fire truck," not a big fire engine. It would be a quick response type engine.
Dunlap again said the average response speed of a fire/medical vehicle was about 35 mph due
to traffic, school zones, and other conditions. In emergency medical response, time equaled tissue.
The brain needed oxygen and sugar to survive; the heart needed oxygen. When a heart stopped
beating, the brain was deprived of oxygen and would start to die in about four minutes. Chest pain
was the heart's signal that something was wrong. Heart tissue was dying, so people should not
hesitate to call 911, He mentioned severe allergic reactions as another case were immediate
medical aid was needed, as was a severe asthma attack or insulin shock. After four minutes without
oxygen, the brain started dying and, after 10 minutes, there was brain death. The four minute, 38-
second response time was critical to get them there in time to do something.
Time also mattered in fire suppression. Given the right conditions of heat, fuel, and oxygen, a fire
could double in size every minute. Dunlap showed a map that indicated where most of their calls
were. Station 81 was always busy. Station 82 covered the newly annexed area along SR 54 East,
which included an assisted living home. Arbor Terrace was covered by Station 83. and there were
a lot of senior housing developments in the area. In Station 84's area was the. Kedron Shopping
Center and Hearthside. Somerby Senior Living prompted them to open Station 85 on the south side.
He showed a new hot spot that marked Cresswind and Everton. Cresswind was a 55 and older
development. People who moved there would age, and they would be seeing an increase in
medical calls in that area. The time response of 4:38, which they wanted to maintain, would be
severely impacted by having to come from a distant station. A west side station was the logical
answer.
Dunlap noted that there were 4.200 calls in 2018, In 949 cases, there were two overlapping calls,
while 361 times, there were three calls running. A motor vehicle accident for instance, could involve
two or more stations. Four calls at once occurred 421 times, while 59 times, there were five or more
overlapping calls. At one point, during a storm, there were eight or more overlapping calls.
Dunlap asked for a volunteer from the audience. A young man named Zach stepped forward, and
Dunlap asked him to hold his breath for as long as he could. Zach managed about 46 seconds.
Dunlap said he wanted everyone to realize just how critical it was to get aid in a situation where
someone was not breathing. Rorie added that the stations were distributed throughout the
community because the fire trucks could not drive 60 mph. By policy, they could go 45 mph at
most. Dunlap reiterated the average response time was four minutes, 38 seconds.
Fleisch asked if they had a slide that showed where each station was. Dunlap pointed them out on
the previous slide showing the "hot spots:' Rorie noted that what separated the existing stations
from the West Village (Wilksmoor Village) was SR 74 and the railroad tracks. Leach Station (81) on
Paschall Road was on the west side of SR 74, but if the other side of the railroad tracks. If they had
a call while the railroad tracks were blocked, they would have to detour around it. He showed a
possible north location for the new station, along with a south location. The distance between the
two sites was 6,887 feet. It would take about two minutes in a fire truck to get from one site to the
other, and they would have to stop at every stop sign and speed bump on MacDuff Parkway.
Rorie made the point that a fire station had never provided medical service or put out a fire. A
police station had never chased down a suspect. The City had three acres along MacDuff and 17
acres on the south end of MacDuff by the Chadsworth subdivision, he noted. He showed examples
of typical fire stations with large bays on the front for the fire engines. He said they were ugly, but
they were made to be functional, not pretty. The new quick response station was in an industrial
warehouse. None of the stations were in a residential area. Fire stations were what was called a
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 9
n LULU (locally unwanted land use), he commented. No one wanted to hear the noise or seethe ugly
I I station, and that was kept in mind when locating a station. Every zoning classification in the City
allowed public buildings, but that did not mean they were wanted in every classification.
Rorie showed a site plan for what he called a $1.5 million LULU on MacDuff Parkway. A front
elevation showed a building that Rorie said was a far cry from anything the City had, but it was still
a big building among the existing houses. Jurisdictions across the nation had begun looking at how
to develop fire stations in residential areas so they remained functional, but blended in with the
area. They were moving to. more home -type buildings. He said one of the first was a re -build of
Station 1 in Cary, North Carolina. It looked like a house from the front, but was huge in the back,
away from the road. He showed a floor plan for a 4,368 square- foot station. Apparatus bays were
off the back, but Rorie said it was still a bit much. There were four stations in Peachtree City, and
77% of the calls were medical runs. The assets needed to be strategically located, but they did not
have to be full-blown fire stations. They needed to fit into the communities.
Rorie said they were looking at an administrative/operations center on the south end of MacDuff
Parkway. Rorie showed a photo of a 3,783 square -foot house. He said they could build something
similar that would fit into the community. The garage doors on the front would not be garage doors.
All the apparatus could be in the back. He had asked Planning and Development Director Robin
Cailloux about the requirements for a metal building in that location, and she told him the
ordinance required that the front exterior be at least 80%, brick or stone, and the side must be at
least 50% brick or stone. He said there could be a metal building with bays on the back. It could
have a community room. The bays could be on the back. The community room could be rented
n or shared with Parks and Recreation. It could become a community center.
LI The south end property was 17 acres, and the topography dropped off in the back. It could be
J positioned in the woods. There were adequate buffers and room for a park and a field. A complex
could be created that was functional and recreational. This was just an example of how to move
forward rather than building a big fire station in a residential area, Rorie pointed out.
Rorie asked Council for authority to move forward with the specification process for the purchase
of a fire truck and an ambulance with the accumulated impact fees. They would do specifications,
get bids and come back to Council for awarding of bids. They just needed approval to start moving
in this direction.
The Mayor stated that it took about a year to build one big engine, asking how long it would take
for the proposed vehicle. Dunlap told her it would be six to nine months for the ambulance and a
bit longer for the fire engine. Fleisch said by the time they got the bids back, they would be moving
on the station.
Ernst asked if he was correct that the medical vehicle was built in Ohio. Dunlap said the last one
was, but he was not sure about the type vehicle they were looking at now. He said it would be a
full-service fire engine, but not a monolithic beast.
Rorie proposed that Council move to begin work on the purchase of a fire truck and an ambulance.
Ernst made the motion. Madden seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Council/Staff Topics
Strategic Use of Debt Instruments to fund Capital Projects
Rorie said this would not require a decision on Council's part now. He noted that the Retreat sessions
in March, April, and May covered a lot of broad topics, then brought the discussion down to smaller
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 10
topics, ending with a discussion of market rate and impact fees. The budget models he had used
earlier would make a return appearance, he promised, as they talked about debt instruments.
It took many months to put a budget together, Rorie remarked, adding that as soon as one budget
was adopted, they began working on the next one. A budget should not be a one-year deal; it
should be a long-term thought process. It was a spending plan to execute a vision of what service
to provide.
Finance Director Paul Salvatore had prepared a chart depicting Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) and
ad valorem tax revenues since 2006. Rorie stated that in 2007, the City's Maintenance and
Operations (M&O) millage rate was 4.985, and there was a 0.548 general obligation (GO) bond
rate, for a total millage rate of, 5.53. Rorie referred to the recession that started in 2008-09, saying
that was when these figures went off track. Property values declined between 2007 and 2008. LOST
declined, too. Council raised the millage rate by.] 37 in 2008. While that resulted in a slight uptick in
ad valorem tax revenues, LOST revenues were still down. These were the City's two highest sources
of revenue. The volatility of those determined how services could be rolled out. There was another
millage rate increase, this time of 1.25, in 2010. LOST remained flat. In 2012, there was another
millage rate increase of 0.372. The GO bond rate went down because they were paying off debt,
but the total millage rate was up to 7.178. He said that was the high water mark of taxation in the
City.
Salvatore pointed out that in 2012, when they raised the millage rate by 0.372, the total tax revenues
collected still went down.
CI From 2012, they pretty much flat -lined, Rorie went on, but things began to look better in 2014-15.
Rorie said he remembered a Council meeting where someone said they were not facing an
economic turnaround, but others disagreed. Property values were beginning to go up around 2016.
Sales tax collections went up a little. They were able to lower the millage rate by 0.524 mills in 2017.
The millage for the GO bond dropped to 0.273, making the total millage rate 6.505. Now, in the
2020 budget, the millage rate would be 0 for the GO bond and 6.232 for M&O.
A chart showed that by raising the millage rate, the City was able to recover some of the money
lost in ad valorem tax revenues during the Great Recession. In 2007, the ad valorem fax revenue
was $9.2 million. In 2010, even after the millage rate increases, they were back at $9.044 million.
They could call it a recovery only because they raised the millage rate. There was some percent
change in property values, as well. In 2007, LOST collections totaled $7.161 million. The City had to
negotiate LOST percentages, and two factors were in play. People stopped spending money, so
there was less sales tax. Plus, the percentage of dollars coming from Fayette County dropped. It
took until 2017 to achieve a level of recovery, with $7.642 million collected in LOST that year.
Ad valorem taxes and LOST were the two revenue streams that carried the City's budget. Both were
volatile. Adjustments in the millage rate had to balance that out. Rorie said this led to a lot of debate
over what got done and what did not. That no longer mattered; it was done. The City just did not
have the money at the time.
Rorie wanted to move on to 2020, so he read from an email he had shared before. It was from a
mother who moved with her family to Peachtree City three years ago. Rorie said he wanted to
share it from a different perspective, pointing out that the writer was not here in 2007 or 2010. She
arrived three years ago. Her focus was on playgrounds. She said they were severely lacking in light
of the taxes that young families were paying. The City was neglecting its playgrounds and parks,
the email went on, saying the investment to upgrade would not be substantial. Rorie showed what
an investment in the playgrounds would mean. If they spent $25,000 on all 22 playgrounds, it would
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 11
total $550,000. A $40,000 expenditure would equal $880,000. It depended on what people would
consider substantial.
This was a perfect example of the debates that went on in the budget process, Rorie stated. Did
you want to spend the money to retain paramedics who provided care to residents, or did you
want to renovate a park, Rorie asked. They balanced these things day in and day out. The writer
closed by saying lack of attention to this would result in young families moving away or voting
elected officials out of office. Rorie said his answer was that a dollar could only be spent once. and
they had to determine the best priority for that. That led to conversations about what could be
done to attract millennials, and it all became clutter when what the focus should be on what was
to be done day -in and day -out.
They needed to talk about how to fund capital projects, Rorie commented. Adding flat field space
at the Peachtree City Athletic Complex (PAC) was a topic they had explored. City Engineer Dave
Borkowski was working to get a contractor's quote to see what it would cost to upgrade the general
conditions of nothing but flat fields, stormwater swales, and grass. The work would not include
parking. When they included parking and other things, the estimate came in at $2.5 million. If they
wanted turf, it would be another $1 million per field. They had also talked about the bubble at the
Kedron pool, as well as the need to renovate All Children's Playground. The condition of the
basketball court flooring at Kedron Was another issue. In the past, they had built baseball fields and
flat rectangular fields in wetland areas. People had emailed them about the need for a 5 -a -Side
soccer court for urban environments. This would allow soccer play for smaller groups of people, not
the seven or nine per side usually required.
r This discussion was about how to fund capital improvement projects (CIP). Rorie highlighted what
was page one of a five-page document currently loaded into the 2020 budget for CIP. The portion
he highlighted included the purchase of two F-350 dump trucks, an F-250 pick-up truck, bobcats,
backhoes, and other vehicles and equipment. They were highlighted in light blue, which indicated
they would be funded through lease -purchase loan proceeds. These were like auto loans. Every
year, one expired, and another came on board.
Salvatore said there were several ways of financing capital assets. Cash, or pay as you go, was one
way. Debt financing was a shorter -term, more cyclical method. This method prevented spikes in the
annual budget by paying a more level amount each year; in the City's case, it was about $2 million
for these revolving type loans to finance $12 million of shorter -term assets. The next group was cash,
or pay as you go, items. Salvatore reported that they had decided they wanted to avoid numerous
facilities bonds after the recession, so these cash items were loaded in the CIP to pay for certain
infrastructure upgrades and facilities improvements, such as bridges or sealing of City Hall.
Fleisch asked how often City Hall, the library, and some of the fire stations had to be sealed. She
noted that every 10 years they had to put out almost $100,000 per building to seal the brick. That
was just ongoing maintenance because they were built out of the wrong kind of brick. Salvatore
said it was part of the maintenance budget because they did not want to borrow for those kinds
of things. Rorie pointed out there was a point when none of that maintenance was done. Some of
the increase in the budget came from loading in maintenance items that were not previously
funded.
Salvatore went on to discuss Recreation projects, such as the All Children's Playground replacement
J and the gym floor replacement. These were big ticket items that he highlighted in pink to indicate
they could be done on a pay as you go basis, but also that they would be eligible for financing
through a facilities bond. In the current budget model, they were listed as cash items.
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June 4, 2019
Page 12
Fleisch asked Recreation and Special Events Director Quinn Bledsoe if they had decided on a
material for the gym floor replacement. Bledsoe said yes and reminded Council that they were
replacing the original 1995 floor that was constructed of a material made for outdoor use.
Salvatore summarized again the three methods of paying for projects: lease -purchase, facilities
bonds, and pay as you go.
Salvatore showed the amount of debt service there would be for the items listed in blue. Instead of
coming up with an immediate $2 million in cash, they could pay it off at $451,000 per year. There
would be a transfer of $1 million from the General Fund to pay for the recreation improvements. In
total, they were looking at a $3 million capital plan for 2020.
Rorie jumped in to make it clear that the previous facilities bond was paid off,. and they were not
recommending a facilities bond for 2020. They were trying to structure the budget to use debt
instruments for budget smoothing and avoid inflation. The Mayor said the loan for the spillway was
a perfect example; it carried only 0.8% interest.
Salvatore noted that it was a policy decision, but they wanted to keep their reserves up in
anticipation of a future recession. By spreading the costs of some projects over 10 or 15 years, they
could protect the cash and avoid the inflationary costs of waiting.
Rorie showed a list of projects for future years that could be on a facilities bond. The total cost was
$2,265,000, as he added it now, but Salvatore said it would probably go up to around $3 million. He
said Rorie had added in the inflationary cost of waiting. There was still a question on some of the
items if they should be done or not. The Kedron bubble was not due to be replaced until 2024, but
l I needed to be discussed before then.
l Rorie pointed out that nowhere in the CIP had they discussed if they wanted to build a pickleball
court, bathrooms, tracks, soccer courts, or another passive park. He noted that there was a flat field
beside the 17 acres they were looking at for a fire station on MacDuff. They had not considered
what to do with this or how to pay for it. Although not considering it at this time, they could use a
debt instrument to pull those pieces together.
Salvatore had completed a chart that allowed the City to analyze its debt position. Rorie said he
could ask Salvatore how much GO bond debt they could carry and get back a complicated
answer, but all he needed to say was they could carry a lot of debt. However, they only carried a
small amount of debt for a short period of time. That chart let them assess the debt situation.
Currently, FY 2020 showed a debt service of $1,493,899. By the time they got to FY 2025, they would
have retired the 2011 facilities bond, the 2014 facilities bond, and the FY 2016 and broadband
equipment facilities bond. If nothing changed, in 2025, the General Fund support of debt would be
down to about $57,000, with no GO bond debt. Their debt position was strong. Strategic use of debt
was not bad. People borrowed money to buy cars and homes.
Rorie recalled that at the beginning of the meeting, he told them they were $300,000 in the red,
and presented a budget model to show what they were working with to get the manager's
proposed budget ready for presentation on June 27. The City's finances were strong. They were
$327,000 in the red. The model showed the public safety pay adjustments starting in September,
which was why, Rorie told Ernst, he was a little elusive when Ernst tried to pin him to starting them in
August. The model with the $327,000 had the full funding of $411,000 for the Public Safety
adjustments. It also had three additional full-time firefighters/medics to staff a station, but that
$300,000 represented them from October 1 through September 30, 2020. But there would be no
station to put them in. Of course, they could distribute them throughout the other stations. if they
City Council Minutes
June 4, 2019
Page 13
went too fast on the pay adjustments, they would have to pull money out of cash reserves, and
that would mess up the other numbers, Rorie commented. He said they would try to make it work,
but it would be hard.
They were predicting revenues in FY 2020 of $38,913,908, and the total use of those funds would be
$38,813,786. Salvatore said they would add $122 to the cash reserves. Rorie pointed out that the
policy for targeted reserves was 25%. Every financial advisor recommended six months of cash
reserves to pay ypersonal bills if something went wrong. If that policy was followed, it would equate
to $9,703,000. If the use of funds went up, that dollar figure should go up. They were also trying to
build up the City's over/under position. They had heard him say he wanted to have $1 million a year
for a five-year period. That would equal $5 million. That would help them cope with the up and
down cycles of ad valorem and LOST tax collections. The over position should be $6,298,000 to carry
them through downturns. The $1.29 million would fund those capital projects. The cash payments
only covered facilities maintenance. Cash was loaded in for Parks and Recreation, and there was
cyclical debt for the new vehicles, and, on top of that, they had grown the reserve to do something
interesting. He quoted Benjamin Franklin, "A penny saved is a penny earned." In 2016, the City's
interest income was $53,000. In 2020, they were budgeting $270,000 in interest income. Those cash
payments came from that. Every dollar saved fed back into a revenue stream that could be used
for a project. This did not mean they should not spend cash reserves, but how would it in the budget
presented on June 27.
Salvatore said cash reserves could be spent only on one-time expenses. Rorie clarified that the
budget policy required that streams of revenue be identified or expenses reduced to fund ongoing
expenditures. That was why the whole discussion of market rate, salaries, how to adjust the budget,
a and debt instruments was important. Debt could be good, but some people did not want to hear
that. He was okay with that, but at the end of the day, he had to balance a $38 million budget to
provide services that some people wanted, at the expense of others who did not want them.
No action was required at this time, Rorie said, he had just wanted to update Council on the budget
process. On June 27, he would present his proposed budget. The City was in a good financial
position, and they might be able to look at various scenarios, but he did not know what that meant.
Right now, their early indication was that there would be an 8.8% increase in the fax digest. Rorie
said Salvatore was too smart to plug in that 8.8% increase, though. He would program a 5% increase
into the budget model. Around August, when they were ready to adopt a budget, they would
figure out the actual growth of the tax digest. If they programmed 5% in, but after appeals, it came
in at 7%, that was a 2% change. That represented $280,000 in additional revenue, Rorie noted, with
Salvatore confirming that each I% represented $140,000. In the 2020 budget model, a mill equated
to $2.4 million. At this point, they did not know where they were at; they were estimating, but they
did know their financial position was strong, and they would be able to make some fundamental
decisions going forward as it related to their capital improvements projects and their facilities. They
had made some good calls and were in a strong position because of that.
They had $3 million in capital projects. Madden asked whether would be wise to borrow the money
now, rather than wait. Salvatore said interest rates were creeping up, but no one was predicting a
sudden jump. The cost of building materials was going up, too. It was a policy decision, he noted.
They could spend the cash, keeping the model the way it was, or they could leverage that low-
interest rate, tax-exempt interest rate and spread out the cost over the life of the asset and drop a
little more into cash reserves each year. He mentioned the concept of intergenerational equity and
spreading the cost among the taxpayers who were using it. There was no right or wrong answer.
Madden reflected that when they borrowed the money for the dam/spillway, they made $328,000
in interest because they borrowed the money and paid the contractors as work was completed.
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June 4, 2019
Page 14
Salvatore said the interest earned offset the interest expense. Madden noted that having no debt
was good for a person as they looked towards retirement. They were a city; they would not be
retiring. They were a growing city that required fire stations, equipment, additional police officers,
and new facilities. Debt might be a good thing to get these projects accomplished.
Fleisch told Madden she understood his point because of the rates. She said she felt pressure to get
things accomplished because she wondered who would take up the charge to finish these things
after she left office. Fleisch recalled that the holes in the spillway had been growing for 10 to 20
years. She worried where they would be in two or three years if they stopped this momentum they
had developed.
Rorie said he wanted to paint a horizon picture. After the SPLOST expired in six years, they needed
to come up with a road paving budget of about $3.5 million. Currently, the General Fund supported
$1.8 million. They needed to be growing that money as that time approached.
Fleisch noted there were years when the City had not done any road paving or path maintenance.
That was her concern; they had a rhythm established.
Rorie stated that, based on the action of at least three people on Council, they went from $600,000
in paving to $1.8 million and doubled the amount spent on path maintenance in the General Fund
budget. They had loaded $350,000 of CIP money for facilities and maintenance, and another
$100,000 in the building maintenance line. That was $450,000 to "fix stuff," Rorie commented.
Fleisch said they had come so far, with all the SPLOST projects and Public Works. Home values were
going up, and 80% of the City was residential, with the average age of a house at 28 years. That
was a good thing to see home values going up. They had to keep the momentum going, whether
they used a debt instrument or not. In the next three to five years, they would still be fixing things.
They had learned from past mistakes, Ernst stated, and had seen an improvement in how the City
operated. He commended Rorie and staff for their work, but said Council ultimately had to make
the hard decisions.
There being no further business, Ernst moved to adjourn at 8:55 p.m. Madden seconded. Motion
carried unanimously.
Martha Barksdale, Rec6rding SeZ7?5ary Vatlessa Fleisch;