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Work Session Minutes of the Town of FY 2008 Proposed Budget Present:
Mayor Ernie McAlister, Mayor Pro Tem Jack Smith, Council Members
Marla Dorrel, Ervin Portman, Jennifer Robinson, and Nels Roseland Council member Julie
Robison arrived late and her arrival is noted in the minutes. Mayor McAlister called
meeting to order at Mr. Coleman stated that
as a result of questions arising from the first budget work session with
regard to police operating procedures Police Chief Scott Cunningham put
together information about the Police Department employment plan, goals,
and services. Chief Cunningham
summarized the beat structure, personnel allocation and the department
hiring process. He said that
the department tries to accomplish its goals through proactive measures in
prevention by education, deterrence, and investigation.
He said that patrol operations provides high visibility and patrol
in neighborhoods and it helps them to interact with citizens and be
proactive in problem solving. The
patrol division is the frontline and backbone of the department and all
other resources are utilized to support them.
The Police Department deployment structure is beat structure which
divides the community into geographic areas to ensure there is a constant
level of police presence throughout Town.
Chief Cunningham said that when creating beats they look calls for
service, man hours expended, nature of the area, traffic flows and
geographic issues such as size; once created one officer is assigned to
each beat and there should be one on each beat all of the time.
He said there is also floater, which is an officer who doesn’t
have a particular beat but is assigned to an area.
The Town currently has nine patrol beats.
Increasing the number of officers would allow them to increase the
number of beats. Chief Cunningham said
that the Police Department proposed raising the number of beats from 9 to
12 with a stair step method. This
would reduce the size of almost all of the beats to some extent.
He said that in FY07 the Police Department was authorized 10
additional personnel which would enable them to go to 10
beats—anticipated to occur in January 2008; adding an additional six
officers would allow them to start the process to go to 12 beats.
Chief Cunningham said it takes a long time to get en officers on
board. The application process
takes 20 weeks (from the day of the application submittal to the day they
are hired as a Town employee); there is a 3 week process for new employee
orientation for Town and the police department; the next is a 12 week
field training program to acclimate them to our systems, processes, forms
and environment. He said it
takes 35 weeks to bring a certified officer on line.
If they are not certified it takes an additional 17 weeks of
academy training for a total of 52 weeks.
Mrs. Robison arrived at
this point in the meeting at Chief Cunningham said
they constantly strive to stay at full staffing.
The current vacancies are due to attrition and their goal is to
have all positions filled and officers beat certified by the end of year.
He said that the budget request submittal is an effort to keep the
community as safe as possible going forward; however, they haven’t yet
realized the full benefit of the previously authorized positions.
He said that a brief temporary delay in hiring the 6 positions
submitted in the budget request would not in any way compromise the public
safety level of the community. There
are currently nine open positions in the police department.
Of those nine, two were recently approved, and two are over-hire
positions, which leaves five slots left to fill.
Mrs. Robinson asked when
the police department increased the beats to nine.
Chief Cunninghm said they moved to nine beats in 2002.
Mrs. Robinson asked about
the target geographic area and population for each beat.
She asked what are they trying to achieve, and what historically
the police department has felt was a safe level of staffing.
Chief Cunningham said they don’t go by geographic size or
population because there are too many variables.
He said that even with 12 beats there will be a discrepancy between
beat sizes and the population count. The
police department tries to find a balance so that the officer in a
particular beat can be seen by the neighbors and has a fair chance to get
through most of the beat on his or her shift.
Mrs. Robinson asked about
the location of the additional beats if going up to 12 beats.
Chief Cunningham said that beats 118 and 119 would be divided and
they would spread out some of the call load in other beats.
He provided a map showing the location of the beats and different
configurations for 9, 10 and 12 beats.
(A copy of the current and proposed beat system maps are attached
to and incorporated herein as Exhibit A.) Mrs. Robinson asked about
the impetus for the request for additional positions.
Chief Cunningham said that they would like to get to a point where
there is a balance with the demand for services and presence of officers
in the areas. He said that
some beats are extremely large and it’s difficult for an officer to have
a good response time throughout that beat.
He said that some of it is also due to the continued growth.
Mr. Portman asked about
the relationship between beat and staffing.
Chief Cunningham responded that the nine beats are staffed at all
times; the difficulty is having an extra floater to help with the
workload. He said that for
nine beats to be staffed on a regular basis they need nine officers, one
floater, a supervisor and two officers for relief.
There are times when some officers won’t be on the street due to
vacation, training, illness, court dates, injuries, etc. Mr. Portman asked about
the staffing impact for going up a beat.
Chief Cunningham said that seven people are needed to go up one
beat--one is added to each of the five platoons and divided around the
clock and an officer is needed for relief.
He said that part of going to 12 beats is the relief factor.
The police department has a mandatory rule that there is one
officer per beat at all times. Mrs. Robison asked how
many officers are currently training in the academy.
Chief Cunningham said there are six which we will see in August
when they will start their 12 week field training program but they won’t
be able to carry a beat by themselves until December.
Mrs. Robison asked if
that is enough for an additional beat.
Chief Cunningham said they are processing the 10 positions
previously approved which will allow for one more beat with sufficient
buffers. That will bring them
to 10 beats which they are looking to go to in January 2008.
Mrs. Robison asked how
the recently approved two detective positions affect the proposed
personnel. Chief Cunningham
said it allows them to hire two more people in addition to what is
currently in the pipeline. Mr. Roseland asked if the
financial number in the budget assume the officers will start July 1st.
Budget Director Scott Fogleman responded no, it is a full year
staffing number. Mr. Fogleman
said that 10 positions for FY07 were approved to begin the hiring process
early, so there was a full year of wages for 10 officers in FY07 and a
full year of wages being requested for FY08.
Mr. Roseland asked if
approve six positions with an effective date of January 2008 would be
helpful. He that would only
require half of the money for the first year in terms of personnel
costs—instead of $329,000 they would need $160,000.
Chief Cunningham said that it would work.
He said it’s a matter of ensuring they have the right match of
resources to demands. The
current issue is making sure the demands for service match the requests.
Mr. Coleman added that when they evaluated the police department
budget it was not solely a money issue.
There is always leeway on when someone is hired.
Their evaluation of the budget is whether we are accomplishing what
needs to be done with the recommended resources.
He said that they looked at all of the data, crime statistics,
response time, and calls for service.
In looking at the resources allocated in the department it appeared
that before moving to hire an additional six officers they need to see the
impact of having the 10 officers on duty.
He said it appears that the more prudent thing is to see the impact
of the 10 officers before moving forward.
Mayor McAlister suggested
considering the additional six officers mid-year based on an updated
report from the chief at that time about the hiring and progression of the
existing positions through the academy.
He said they can consider adding new positions if there is a
demonstrated need at that time. ACTION:
Mr. Roseland moved that council modify the budget and approve the
additional eight police officer positions effective January 2008.
The motion failed for lack of a second.
Mr. Roseland said they
have approved two computer crime detectives and they are wearing many
hats. He said the chief
recommended 26 positions over three years and council has approved two.
He said relying on a thin staffing patter is not sustainable to
keep Cary safe in the long run. Mrs. Robison asked if Mr.
Roseland was asking for two more detectives in addition to the two
previously approved. Mr.
Roseland said he would like to provide the police department with
resources in front end rather than waiting for a major crisis.
Mrs. Robinson asked when
the 10 beats would be fully operational.
Chief Cunningham said they are targeting January 2008.
Ms. Dorrel asked if there
was a target date to get to the 12 beats.
Chief Cunningham responded that they were originally looking at a 3
years time frame on the patrol side; that was expanded one year in the
last budget to accommodate for the additional detectives and other
personnel resources. He said
that currently they are looking at a 4 year time frame, including the one
that’s already been completed. Mayor Pro Tem Smith said
being aggressive on detectives this year is a sound investment even if it
is delayed until January. He
is willing to wait on the rest because the police department needs to fill
the current vacancies. The
only modification he would suggest is to add the two detectives with a
January date. Mr. Roseland asked if
addressing the demand of domestic violence calls justifies two detectives
related to those types of crimes alone.
Chief Cunningham said they’ve tried to add detectives into the
mix over the course of the next several years to help with the crime side.
They were looking at a comprehensive package on personnel and felt
it was prudent to ask for two detectives this year, which would allow them
to bring the computer group on line. The
two detectives schedule to go into training next month will be the
in-house computer unit specialists but when that expertise is not needed
they will be doing other things. ACTION:
Mr. Roseland moved to go forward in January, in addition to what
the town manager recommended, with two additional detectives to come on
line later in the fiscal year. Mayor
Pro Tem Smith provided the second. Mayor McAlister expressed
concern that council is going beyond doing their job of passing a good
budget and trying to structure a department by putting positions where
council thinks they are needed. Mrs. Robinson said she
would like to know whether the two additional detectives would seriously
help offset the workload. Chief
Cunningham said that with two additional positions the community would
benefit more by adding them to patrol. Mrs. Robison said it
seems they would do well to have a mid-year work session on the question
of staffing once the additional personnel has been brought on board to
inform council of how the 10 beat system is working and they can keep open
the possibility of a mid-year appropriation for more detectives if needed.
ACTION:
Vote was called for on the
motion. Mayor Pro Tem Smith and Mr. Roseland voted “aye”.
All others voted “no”. The
motion failed for lack of majority vote. ACTION:
Mayor McAlister moved that council follow the manager’s
recommendation with the understanding that council will review the
recommendation in some fashion after the positions are hired and touch
point mid-year to hear that they have hired the positions approved
previously, the two cyber crime detective positions, and receive an update
on how that is working. Mrs.
Robison provided the second. Ms. Dorrel suggested that
it be a component of their retreat next year.
Mrs. Robison said they
can leave it up to the manager’s office to determine how the mid-year
update is delivered. Mr.
Coleman said that Assistant Town Manager Ben Shivar operates a public
safety task force with the departments involved in public safety and they
meet on a monthly basis to review statistics on operations.
He suggested bringing a staff report through the Operations
Committee on a monthly basis to provide council with a running report on
what staff is seeing, the results, and what is going on in the community
with public safety. Mayor
McAlister said that would satisfy the spirit of the motion.
Mr. Roseland said there
is enough public safety red flags and trends to warrant more officers.
Mrs. Robison said it is a question of absorptive capacity.
They need to see the positions approved last year filled. ACTION:
Vote was called for on the
motion. Mr. Roseland voted “no”.
All others voted “aye”. The
motion carried by majority vote. CAPITAL
BUDGET DISCUSSIONS Mr. Coleman said that the
capital budget is divided into the utility fund and the general fund.
The capital budgets are based on long range plans.
He said in developing the capital budget they look at what we are
trying to accomplish in the areas of providing capital facilities for
capacity, making sure we replace or maintain facilities and equipment that
is of a certain value that rises to a level of the capital project, and
making sure infrastructure improvements are made to meet either regulatory
requirements or requirements of a particular plan.
Mr. Coleman said the
major utility capital projects recommended in the budget are the automated
meter reading system, the adjustments to the Cary/Apex water treatment
plant phase two pumping, and $13 million for residuals and chemical fee
facilities at the water plant. He
said additionally, there are a number of large water line replacements
which primarily provide redundancy and dual feeds in the system to provide
adequate pressures throughout Town and additional capacity within certain
areas. He said that our
partnership with Apex splits the utility costs.
The $13 million and $2.8 million projects are the full cost of
those projects and the Town will pay 77 percent of those and Apex will
reimburse the Town 23 percent. Mrs. Robinson said moving
to the new water tank has had a very negative impact on the quality of
life of those citizens who have been affected by the water pressure
levels. She said that
irrigation systems have been rendered completely useless by the water
pressure change and she asked council to consider setting up a program to
help people address the pressure shortfall.
Mrs. Robison asked about
the geographic area for those affected.
Mrs. Robison said that some people were affected in the southeast
area but the ones she’s been hearing from are those who live between
Davis Drive and Highway 55. She
said that one neighborhood was so bad that they were taken off of the new
tank and put into the old zone. She
said it is council’s responsibility to help address the negative impact.
She said it’s been a significant drop which will require several
households to spend in excess of $1000 each to reconcile.
Ms. Dorrel asked if
something was going to ops to address the issue.
Mrs. Robinson said it is slated to go to the operations committee,
but it’s something council needs to look at they review the water
budget. Mayor McAlister said
it needs to be handled outside of the budget process.
Mayor Pro Tem Smith agreed that it worth looking into.
Mr. Coleman said that the
sewer capital budget is dominated by projects relating to the western wake
water reclamation facility. The
other items are related to improving and expanding the wastewater flow,
ensuring adequate size lines, capacity in the lines, and adequately review
and maintenance. Mr. Roseland asked if the
$6.5 million swift creek pump station parallel force main is a
prophylactic measure to ensure that failure doesn’t happen.
Mr. Bailey said that we needed capacity as demands increased in
that area of Town. He said
they have asked for the project to be moved up ahead of the capacity to
investigate the corrosion issue of the force main, in addition to having a
parallel force main for redundancy. Mr. Coleman said that
other than the sewer budget recommendations, the transportation capital
budget recommendation is the highest.
He said we staff has tried to focus on providing adequate expanded
road capacity in areas that support RTP through the community, and support
the downtown project, as well as providing additional road capacity into
and out of downtown. Another
focus area is on continued adequate maintenance of the road system and
keeping up with our sidewalk program.
He said that staff discussed delaying the Walker Street grade
separated crossing and Chapel Hill Road widening from Maynard to Maynard
to allow us to complete the streetscape and avoid another bond referendum
in the short term. He said if
those two projects are not delayed the Town will probably have to have
another road bond referendum in the spring of 2008.
Mr. Fogleman
prepared schedules showing our current bond authority, how they play out
in capital projects over the next several years, and where we might look
for additional funding to be able to implement the transportation
thoroughfare plan. (The schedules are attached to and incorporated in these
minutes as Exhibit B.) Mr. Portman asked about
Weston Parkway pavement rehabilitation.
Mr. Bailey said that the road continues to rank low on our pavement
condition rating survey. Instead
of taking the money away from the residential streets and doing nothing
they’ve begun to pull out budgets to deal with Weston Parkway.
He said they are continuing to see failures, ratings drop and
continued cracking and drainage problems and therefore are proposing one
project to get the whole road corridor overlaid and done so that it should
last for 20 years. He said
that Weston is a Town of Cary maintained road while a lot of others, such
as Harrison Avenue, are state maintained.
In explaining the street
rating process and how it relates to the capital budget, Mr. Bailey said
that the Town hires an independent consultant to rank all of the Cary
maintained streets. That
ranking is based on a methodology defined by the Institute of
Transportation and is a pavement condition rating of a number between
0-100 with 100 being the highest. With
cracks and rough ride quality, they get lower and lower numbers.
Staff uses those annual numbers to define our program.
He said that in the past they’ve tried to target enough funding
to overlay every street in Cary on a 20 year cycle.
He said they’ve been seeing our conditions falling and the amount
of money needing to fix them going up, our numbers are back into the high
20s and 30s with the roads. Staff
is asking this year for more street improvements money to trying to get
closer to a 50 or 60. If
streets deteriorate too much the cost to rebuild them is a lot more.
The funding requested should get Weston Parkway up to a pavement
condition rating of 100 for the whole corridor and the $2 million this
year will get the Town back into the 50-60 rating for paving.
Mr. Roseland suggested
increasing funds for the resurfacing effort and reducing their focus on
the Chapel Hill Road project and the Walker Street project.
Mr. Bailey said that staff very recently received the results for
the Chapel Hill Road survey requested by council.
The preliminary results show that Chapel Hill Road is one of the
roads people mentioned needing improvement and it needed to be widened for
additional capacity. He said
what staff is seeing with Walker Street is that the intersection of
Chatham and Academy is beginning to cue up significantly during peak
hours. He said they have begun
the design work on some of those. Mrs. Robinson asked if
the survey reflects the part of Chapel Hill in Cary’s jurisdiction or
the part that runs through Morrisville.
Mr. Bailey said that people were asked to comment on the road
segments in Cary, although it is possible they were focusing on the wrong
portions. Mrs. Robison asked about
the status Cary Parkway widening from Evans Road to Harrison Avenue which
is not on the capital listing. Mr.
Bailey replied that in previous budgets some projects were moved into a
“not included in the budget” list and others were shifted out.
He said that was funded over multiple years so that there was a
small pot of funds used to widen the intersection at Harrison.
He said a left turn lane was added at Norwell.
He said it is a project that is in the budget and is shown in the
10-year plan as an included or funded project but it is in the later
years. Mrs. Robison said that
the road is falling apart and the traffic and Norwell and Nantucket has
because so congested that you can’t make left turns.
She asked why it is not a priority when its the only section of
Cary Parkway that isn’t finished. Mr.
Bailey responded that council has asked staff to look at the level of
service at signalized intersections as one of the driving needs for
capacity. He said that because
of the driver of capacity improvements it has continued to slip in the
budget. He said they use other
mechanisms to deal with maintenance. Mrs. Robison asked about
the Trinity extension. Mr.
Bailey said that Cary Parkway extension to Trinity has been delayed.
It is one component of the impact, as well as the level of service
and other improvements made at the intersections.
Mrs. Robison said that
the Cary Parkway extension needs to be on the list for improvements
because of the condition of the road between Evans Road and Norwell.
She said it is a much higher priority than Weston Parkway. Mayor McAlister asked
where the Weston stretch falls in the survey.
Mr. Bailey said staff is working on getting the ratings going to
council shortly after the budget is approved this year.
He said they will have the list for the upcoming budget year for
improvements. He said if the
areas mentioned don’t come up short in the ranking then he will go out
and visually check them himself to see where they fall.
Mrs. Robison asked why
rankings won’t be provided to council before the budget is finalized.
Mr. Bailey said that they didn’t have the information when
the budget was prepared and they don’t currently have a finalized
version. He will forward it to
council as soon as they are received. Mayor McAlister said the
two issues are the condition of the existing road and whether there is a
congestion issue. He said that
he strongly supports fixing Weston Parkway but council needs to see where
the other stretch of road lies in the survey.
Mrs. Robinson asked about
the Town’s pavement standards. Mr.
Bailey said that’s the current direction from council is to pave into
the gutter and later as we run out of stormwater capacity either add new
curb or mill. He said they are
starting to get to a point where they have to do some milling or raise the
curb on some surface streets. Mrs.
Robinson said council needs to revisit that direction and determine the
standard they want for the Town. Mr. Coleman said that
staff has typically taken the street ratings survey and recommendations to
the operations committee where they look at the funding versus the street
rating and in the past council has said to add more money.
He asked for council direction on the survey and recommendations.
Mayor McAlister said it remains an open question until council sees
the survey. Mr. Coleman said that the
final decision made on the capital budget for 2008 will determine the
Town’s capital spending for 2009. He
said they can make that decision at end of this budget process.
Mayor McAlister asked
about the last bond referendum of $130 million and whether there were
specific projects that needed to be done.
Mr. Bailey said that road bonds specify types of projects, but they
are very clear that the bond is not tied to or a commitment for those
projects. He said it is a
financing mechanism to help accomplish things and get funding.
He said that they frequently end up bring different things forward
to council and shifting project funding, goals and priorities before the
funds are spent. Ms. Dorrel asked if
delaying the projects would be a decision to not move forward.
Mr. Coleman said it would just be delaying the decision. Ms. Dorrel said council
needs to decide what to do on the Walker Street extension and Chapel Hill
Road widening project and provide direction to staff.
Mrs. Robison asked if
there was any federal money for the Walker Street extension.
Mr. Coleman said that the Town may get some but it is likely
that it won’t be enough. Mrs. Robinson asked
whether someone developing on either side of Walker Street would be
responsible for road upgrades at that time.
Mr. Bailey responded no. Mrs. Robinson said that
they need to decide the best way to use the Town’s limited resources to
promote and advance the downtown. Ms.
Dorrel said that it is a question of timing and whether to start the
Walker Street and Chapel Hill projects in the coming year.
Mr. Coleman said another
thing for council to consider is the connection and interconnection
between the downtown project, Chapel Hill Road and Walker Street.
He said that the end result of the streetscape project is going to
be aesthetically pleasing and advance the downtown, with the current
alignment and construction of Chapel Hill Road being one of the major
entrances into the downtown area. He
said it the same for the Walker Street separated crossing.
He said staff’s current information is that the Walker Street
grade separation crossing will do a lot to relieve the congestion which is
becoming more difficult downtown. He
said it is a public policy decision that lies with council. Mr. Roseland recommended
waiting to have the public hearings and receive feedback before committing
another $23 million to widen Chapel Hill Road. Ms. Dorrel asked about
the $1 million already set aside. Mr.
Bailey said that it is funded money for both Walker Street and Chapel Hill
Road. He said that both
projects have been surveyed and can continue.
He said that if there is a possibility that the projects aren’t
going to be funded then they shouldn’t proceed with the design because
it will be expensive and time consuming. Mr. Portman said that
they need to understand the tax rate impact, even if the information
provided is just rough estimates. Mr.
Coleman said that staff can look at the anecdotal information from other
municipalities regarding their experience with investments in downtown
that followed a major redesign. Mr. Portman asked how
road construction will affect the streetscapes.
Mr. Bailey said that the streetscape project goes to Chapel Hill
Road, and provides decorative pavements and traffic signals at both
Academy and Harrison. They can
make predictions about where the road will shift and the impact on housing
with the streetscape project. They
can make it work individually but it is going to take a lot of
coordination. Mr. Coleman said that
staff can identify the level of investment it will take for the downtown
with regard to return on the dollar investment in order to break even or
ameliorate the long term impact. He
said that staff can also look at the town center area plan project,
provide a spreadsheet on the development block-by-block, estimate value
per square foot with buildings recommended, and do some rough estimates
but they will have a lot of assumptions.
Staff needs to know the particular type of information that will be
helpful to council. Mr. Portman the suggested
providing a rough cut that looks at the incremental debt service for the
downtown project and providing information for tax impact. Mr. Roseland said they
should start small with the investment, wait to see if they get the
return. He said suggested
phasing and that staff provide options at next work session.
Ms. Dorrel said that the
decisions on the expenditures have been made.
She said that council needs to make a 2008 budget decision with
regard to the $10 million, and whether to launch the two projects now or
look at them again next year. She
feels strongly that they should continue with the streetscape project.
Mrs. Robinson is
concerned that delaying the Walker Street and Chapel Hill Road projects
may increase the money required to do those projects.
She said it is not worth delaying for one year.
ACTION:
Ms. Dorrel moved that council defer funding of $9 million on the
TCAP Chapel Hill Road widening from Maynard to Maynard and the $1 million
for the TCAP Walker Street extension to a future budget and remove them
from the FY08 capital projects. Mr.
Roseland provided the second. Mayor McAlister said that
the motion speaks to those two projects and asked if those are the only
points of contention. Mayor
Pro Tem Smith said they have to resolve those to move forward. Mrs. Robison asked about
the main objective and what happens with delaying the projects for one
year. Ms. Dorrel said that it
eliminates having three high ticket major TCAP projects in the
transportation budget for coming year.
She said it provides them the opportunity for flexibility, changes
the timing, and it doesn’t hurt the project in any way. Ms. Robison asked if it
in any way derails the progress being made on the Walker Street extension.
Mr. Bailey said that it is funded and they are moving forward
unless they are asked to stop. He
said that staff will look at schedules closely and may have more
information about the interaction with the street improvements projects.
He said they may ask for the money next year or may have more
information that it will be the year after.
He understands that staff is being directed to continue the project
design, so they will continue to request funding for right of way
acquisition and construction until they are told otherwise.
ACTION:
Vote was called for on the motion, and council granted unanimous approval.
Mr. Bailey confirmed that
council would like information at the next work session on North Cary
Parkway, Reedy Creek Road, and Chapel Hill Road toward Morrisville. Mrs. Robinson said they
need to look at what can be done in partnership with Morrisville from
Maynard at least through Weston Parkway.
She said they also need to look at Aviation.
Mrs. Robison asked that
staff look at the aesthetics on Cary Parkway because it’s very
unfinished. Mr. Roseland said that
the Reedy Creek Road area of Town is currently congested.
He asked staff to provide data on the level of service experience
and any design funding to start addressing the issue.
Mr. Portman asked that
the information on the tax rate impact without transportation be updated
to reflect the transportation and downtown that’s in the budget.
The next work session is
Tuesday, June 5 at 4:30 p.m. Mayor McAlister adjourned
the meeting at 6:57 p.m.
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