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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/05/2011- Staff Goal Setting WorkshopVIVO 11111 IL U 11 , City Council Minutes Special Meeting City Council - Staff Goal Setting Workshop OASIS Senior Center - Room 2 801 Narcissus Avenue, Corona del Mar, CA 92625 February 5, 2011 — 8:30 a.m. 1. WELCOME Call the Meeting to Order Mayor Henn had everyone at the meeting introduce themselves. He emphasized the importance of the annual goal setting meeting and expressed hope that, by the end of the workshop, direction can be provided relative to the new goals /priorities. Roll Call by City Clerk Present: Council Member Hill, Council Member Rosansky, Mayor Pro Tem Gardner, Mayor Henn, Council Member Curry, Council Member Selich , Council Member Daigle Comments from the Public on Non - agenda Items - None 2. REVIEW WORKSHOP AGENDA Jan Perkins, Meeting Facilitator, highlighted the goal setting workshop agenda. 30 REVIEW STATUS OF PRIORITIES SET IN JANUARY 2010 City Manager Kiff utilized a PowerPoint presentation to review the status of some of the 2010 priorities, including fiscal, economic, and environmental sustainability; reorganization; updating the Charter and zoning code; improving resident communication; community enhancement; Civic Center, Sunset Ridge Park, and OASIS Senior Center projects; traffic management, and changing the dynamics of West Newport. Regarding public art, he reviewed the process for placing art at the Civic Center site. 4. FISCAL OUTLOOK City Manager Kiff discussed how the City is using Good to Great by Tim Collins to assist in the new way the City will be conducting business and to identify what the City is passionate about, what it wants to be the best in the world at, and what drives its economic engine. He further explained how the Quarterly Business Report (QBR) is structured, and noted that project tracking is listed in the QBR. Regarding the City's fiscal outlook, he explained how pension costs, facility maintenance, and investing in basic infrastructure will affect the City. He reported that the City needs to invest more in critical IT, have the right employees, and be entrepreneurial, innovative, and communicative. He also reported that the General Fund Capital Improvement Program (CIP) needs to be about $5 million, the City will continue to protect its reserves, and expenditures need to be reduced 5% this fiscal year and in 2011 - 2012. Volume 60 - Page 37 City of Newport Beach City Council Special Minutes February 5, 2011 Mayor Henn emphasized that this is a fundamental change in how staff views its role, forces everyone to distinguish needs and goals, and is a cultural change that will become a generational change. Council Member Hill believed that government should be run like a private business and commended staff for taking the first step. 5. ESTABLISH BUDGETING PRINCIPLES City Manager Kiff reviewed the six budget principles outlined in the presentation. In response to Council questions, he explained that the City has a $30 million to $40 million overall CIP budget, but the General Fund CIP should remain at about $5 million. Council Member Selich recommended reviewing the Newport Beach Municipal Code (NBMC) and determine if any regulations should be repealed. Dennis Baker encouraged the City to develop a financial plan for future dredging of the Lower Bay after the federal government fulfills its obligations. Jim Mosher referenced the City Charter and believed that Council receives more compensation than allowed in the Charter. City Attorney Hunt indicated that he will look into this. Dave Miller suggested that the City develop a short term and long term strategic plan, asked which cities the City is benchmarking itself against, requested more public involvement be included, and suggested including a performance dashboard in the QBR for project status. Mayor Henn reported that the City utilizes 10 -20 cities to benchmark against and that this process will continue. Bernie Svalstad requested that the City communicate with the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) regarding cutbacks. Bill Dildine commended the City for developing the QBR. Mayor Henn recessed the meeting at 9:35 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at 9:45 a.m. with all members of Council in attendance. 6. GOAL SETTING FOR 2011 City Manager Kiff discussed and provided examples of core City services which are primarily staff driven, mid -goals that Council reviews but staff executes, and emerging /generational issues for 2011 which involve active Council and community input. Proposed 2011 Priorities and Goals John Wayne Airport (JWA) Settlement Agreement Extension City Manager Kiff reviewed the goal for JWA; discussed the involvement by Supervisor Moorlach, the Aviation Committee, and various community advocates; and highlighted Phase II. of the air /water quality study. He noted that extensive staff work is involved and community involvement will be solicited. Council Member Curry reported that the City has been working hard to have one Orange County voice to present to the Board of Supervisors. Council Member Rosansky suggested also working with the City's federal representatives. Council Member Daigle noted that the City has a lobbyist and a good relationship with the Volume 60 - Page 38 City of Newport Beach City Council Special Minutes February 5, 2011 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In response to Dave Miller's question, Mayor Henn stated that the City has solicited and received support from many Orange County cities, but Newport Beach is taking the lead on this issue. Revitalization City Manager Kiff reviewed the goal associated with revitalization and which areas this goal could focus on. Mayor Pro Tem Gardner requested that MacArthur Boulevard /Coast Highway be looked at to provide a better traffic structure into Corona del Mar. Council Member Selich suggested prioritizing what needs to be done. Mayor Pro Tem Gardner emphasized the need for a vision, not just projects. Discussion ensued relative to the responsibilities of the Economic Development Committee (EDC). Assistant City Manager Smith indicated that staff will come back to Council with a public input plan, particularly so ad hoc committees include members with real interest and skill sets for the specific areas. Police Chief Johnson discussed the correlation between revitalization and a decrease in crime. Ralph Rodheim, Balboa Business Improvement District (BID), asked that the City work with the BIDS from each village. Dennis Baker stated that it is important to have funding available in the event projects can move forward. Bernie Svalstad, Corona del Mar BID, provided a handout relative to enhancements that can be made at Coast Highway and MacArthur Boulevard. He stated that the BID has $50,000 and requested staff time to assist in finding an outside contractor to conduct a study of the BIDs plan. Joe Martin believed that EDC should be restructured if revitalization was going to become one of its projects. John Corrough suggested providing a development incentive to the waterside areas which could be paid for by new user fees for boat launches, party boats, and duffy boats. He encouraged the City to make design changes that will improve people's view of the water. Mayor Henn stated that the City needs an organizational solution to pursue revitalization and an action plan. City Manager Kiff indicated that staff will bring a proposal to Council. Council Member Daigle noted that the City has done many visioning plans. Tidelands Management City Manager Kiff reviewed the goal which would address dredging, beach replenishment, sea level rise, oil and gas, a water quality master plan, and create a similar long term capital plan as the Facilities Replacement Plan (FRP). Volume 60 - Page 39 City of Newport Beach City Council Special Minutes February 5, 2011 Mayor Pro Tem Gardner believed that the City needs to determine what services are vital and suggested contacting the Orange County Sanitation District (OCSD) to come up with a diversion project for Little Corona. She expressed support for looking into the feasibility of implementing a tidelands user fee. Mayor Henn noted that there is not enough tidelands revenue to do everything that is needed. He recommended creating a tidelands master plan to identify priorities, trade -offs, and resources. Council Member Selich stated that he would support the continued effort to have the federal government dredge the federal navigation channel since it is their responsibility. Following that, the City can then be responsible for dredging the Lower Bay. Council Member Hill suggested creating a harbor improvement district. Mayor Henn stated that there may need to be more of a mechanism that ensures that those types of fees are spent only in the harbor or in the tidelands. Jeff Herdman, Balboa BID President, believed that money should be spent on safety and health issues first, like seawalls, flooding, groins, before beautification projects. Lee Billing expressed concern about the condition of the Grand Canal and the seawalls, and noted that many of the private piers need to be reconstructed due to the low sand levels. Mayor Pro Tem Gardner suggested developing a sediment plan for the entire City. Dennis Baker hoped that the City did not forget about the Semeniuk Slough and how it supports fish nurseries, especially since the City has a good relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In response to Nancy Skinner's questions, City Manager Kiff indicated that tidelands funds are secure from the State because it is not a property tax but considered an enterprise fund. John Corrough expressed the importance of public support for the Lower Bay dredging project and of maintaining the level above rising sea level. Mayor Henn indicated that Council will be receiving a recommendation from staff about a structure on how this priority will happen. Pension Reform City Manager Kiff reviewed the goal and discussed the City's hiring competitiveness. He indicated that the City's strategy includes conducting negotiations with the City's bargaining units and becoming involved regionally and statewide. He indicated that the public can assist by becoming aware of the basics about the formulas and what the various groups are talking about. He stated that he will be talking about this issue more with the public. Mayor Henn noted that CalPERS has approved a defined contribution program for state employees, but not for local agencies. Mayor Pro Tem Gardner stated that she understands the importance of having a statewide reform; however, expressed concern that the state will do anything and that the City will need to handle this issue to maintain its fiscal sustainability. ,In response to Bernie Svalstad's question, City Manager Kiff indicated that this is one of the Volume 60 - Page 40 City of Newport Beach City Council Special Minutes February 5, 2011 League of California Cities (LCC) top priorities. Council Member Curry reported that the City cannot offer a 401(k) -style retirement plan because it is not offered by CalPERS. He pointed out that the City's PERS costs will be increasing $10 million between now and 2014 and commended the City employees for increasing their share of the employee contribution. He added that this will be discussed during budget deliberations for many years to come. Restructuring City Manager Kiff reviewed the goal and highlighted the City's strategies. Mayor Henn commended staff for managing change and believed that Council and citizens also need to be disciplined since the City may be doing things differently in order to increase efficiencies. Mayor Pro Tem Gardner also commended staff for looking at the change in the economy as an opportunity to better how the City conducts business. In response to Council questions, City Manager Kiff reported that staff is evaluating which programs can be cut but assured everyone that they will work with Council and the community. He clarified that citizens may experience some type of change in service levels. Mayor Henn emphasized that the City does not want to reduce or eliminate programs that make it special. Dave Miller indicated that the City needs to work on its mission statement and also needs a good strategic plan. He stated that another priority should be to educate the public on the new standards so they can support what the City is trying to accomplish. John Corrough emphasized the importance of safety and commended staff for their responsiveness, but stated that he understands that safety needs to be balanced with overtime, pension, and other factors. Other Priorities and/or Maior Goals Council Member Daigle expressed support for conducting a review and reducing the amount of regulations. Council Member Hill stated that eliminating unnecessary practices should be a practice conducted in everything the City does. City Manager Kiff indicated that he will include this as a separate goal with a work plan. Council Member Selich requested that a fund be set up to replace the concrete streets. Mayor Pro Tem Gardner requested that the color of the material used to patch street cracks on Ocean Boulevard and Peninsula streets be changed to the concrete color. Council Member Hill noted that some school facilities that the City uses also needs refurbishment. Jim Mosher noted that the City is being fined for not having a California Coastal Commission certified Local Coastal Plan (LCP). Acting Planning Director Campbell stated that the City has been working on the LCP for over two years and that it is high on his priority list. Council Member Selich indicated that the Coastal Commission wants to eliminate categorical exclusion designations for coastal zone areas and believed that this would be unacceptable to the community. Dennis Baker believed that there should be a joint effort with other cities to deal with sediment issues, commended the City for installing the log boom which captured 230 tons of trash in December, and believed that the Junior Lifeguard Program is not getting the City's full recognition and support. Volume 60 - Page 41 City of Newport Beach City Council Special Minutes February 5, 2011 7. WRAP UP City Manager Kiff reported that staff will develop work plans and estimated budgets for each priority, and bring it back to Council at the February 22 meeting. He reported that these priorities will be tracked using the project tracking sheets included in the QBR. He expressed hope that there would be a disciplined approach to these priorities and that Council will be aware of how additional projects effect the progress of the priorities. Mayor Pro Tem Gardner requested that staff and fellow Council Members make each other aware if additional requests are being made out of the context of the priorities. She asked if the lifeguard headquarters can be relocated to Marina Park and how that could impact the Junior Lifeguard facility. City Manager Kiff noted that he will be bringing a report to Council on February 22 relative to City facilities in West Newport and which facilities may need to be relocated or constructed. Council Member Daigle emphasized that safety and protection are the most important issues to residents. The meeting adjourned at 11:23 a.m. The agenda for the Special Meeting was posted on February 4, 2011, at 2:10 p.m. on the City Hall Bulletin Board located outside of the City of Newport Beach Administration Building. Mayor U-7)/! Cl7\/ aLC4 Volume 60 - Page 42 }