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Minutes note: Meeting convened: 8:37 A.M.
Rick Baehr present for the Comptroller's Officer
Members present: Jeff Mantes, Dennis Yaccarino, Jeff Polenske, Ald. Robert Bauman and Ald. Nik Kovac
Member excused: Ald. Michael Murphy
Kathy Brengosz - staff present.
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| | 1. | | Discussion and recommendations for the Mayor's Proposed 2022 Budget.
Minutes note: Ald. Kovac would like to have the committee meet on a regular basis, with each meetings based on a specific theme.
Ms. Brengosz noted the biggest change was the ARPA funds and capital projects that are usually funded through the capital budget are anticipated to be funded with ARPA funds.
The City Attorney's office has its annual request to return to the 8th floor of City Hall; that space is currently being used as a swing space for housing of staff temporarily displaced or foundation work staff.
The City Clerk staff's request to remodel the offices was again denied.
Ald. Bauman said, that on Friday, the F&P Committee noted that the ARPA funds are a supplement, not to be used to replace, funds that DCD would use for affordable housing.
DER's office remodeling was also denied.
Fire Dept. - asked for $7.2 million and got $1.38 million, which is typical of what had been done in the past. Chief Aaron Lipski said they have continued to downsize the fleet and are also looking at the lease-to-own program, which gives the city some decent savings. Mr. Belott Schuyler noted that the fleet is getting older and needing more repairs and lease-to-own works well as the costs are spread over a number of years, there is a discount for leasing multiple rigs and there is a local company on Appleton that they work with. The Budget Office has reviewed this and lease-to-own is just another financing method. It can take 9-13 months to build ambulances or rigs due to supply chain and chip issues. Prices also increase about 5% per year based upon rising costs. The city is borrowing from the manufacturer rather than issuing general obligation bonds. This lease-to-own does commit the city to paying off the amount due over 5, 7 or 10 years. Per the Fire Chief, a current issue is the amount of times the vehicles are in for repair and having staff come in on the weekend to repair vehicles. The Department will prepare a report on vehicle usage and the life of the vehicles. The repair folks in the shop are the hidden heroes in keeping the rigs running. Chuck Schumacher, said the 123 building on Canal Street hasn't been working out for a number of years and it is on the radar to move parking enforcement and the tire shop to another site. The issue is that the city would prefer a permanent location and they might be able to become more efficient with office space. There are still some years left on the leasing contract.
Fire and Police Commission -- $500 million for the CAD system. Mr. Yaccarino said the contract progression is going well and the contract will permit faster response time and the city will be able to track how its response time compares to other cities. Some remodeling will need to be done for the new equipment and new employees.
Health Dept. - The lab received a number of grants to replace equipment, so that didn't need to be funded through the capital budget.
Library - They are still looking for a site for the Capitol library.
Municipal Library - The courts are hybrid and with the virtual option, out-of-state people are paying their fines more.
DNS - Their office remodel was also denied, but digitizing microfilm may be approved.
Police - The freight elevator is being re-done as it is over 50 years old, per Lt. Matt Palmer. There are a lot of small projects at various districts. Brian White - Fleet Director - the $5 million is just for regular vehicle replacement costs; they got approved for $3.6 million, which will purchase 40 squad cars, some private detective vehicles and 10 motorcycles will be paid for from the ARPA funds. Jeffrey Larson, IT, said the $300,000 are a one-time cost.
Port - Everything requested was funded. Adam Tindall-Schlicht said the newest crane is now fully operational.
DPW - Chuck Schumacher said the central salt dome is still functional. It is the smallest dome of all the districts, but it serves the busiest areas. It was requested just to keep it on the radar for future replacement. A private individual, whose business was no longer functioning, had some materials at that site. Ald. Bauman suggested the site could be used as part of a deconstruction business. They are also funding technology to permit drivers to directly input requests for service. Drivers who embrace this technology make it much more efficient to compile the situations that need to be addressed. That pilot program just ended as it took place over the summer months.
Central City Drop-Off Study - $20 million. This is the result of an Ald. Coggs request to cost out a new, central city drop-off center. This was reported at PW Committee. There would be a tipping floor there, which increases the cost and the size needed.
Forestry - They want to plant a minimum of 3,600 new trees a year; they didn't meet that last year with COVID. This year they have funds to remove 1,800 stumps; removing stumps gives them room to plant. Ald. Kovac asked if trees could be planted on city-owned, vacant lots with the intention of harvesting them in the future; that would provide a temporary tree canopy. Mr. Randy Krouse said the department hadn't considered that, but he will look into that and also what had been done in the past.
Stump removal - In-house, they have capacity to do 1,800 and are hiring contractors to remove 1,800. They are projecting 4,800 at the end of 2021. If the Council passes what the Mayor proposes, the backlog will remain the same. Ms. Brengosz noted the backlog used to be about 400, but it has really grown in the past 7-8 years.
Emerald Ash Borer - Currently there are fewer than 27,000 ash trees and not all are being treated as some are in flux of being removed or are in poor help. They treat about 8,200 trees and 25,000 are actively protected (treated every 3 years). Budget office reduced the amount due to carryover.
Fleet services - They are working on getting the average age down to 6 years (it's currently 11.5 years). They are going to prioritize on what needs to be replaced. They are going to replace 5 refuse packers, which will reduce the average age of the fleet. The best vehicle to purchase for snow plowing is F-550s. Alternate-side parking isn't being enforced, per Ald. Bauman. Ald. Kovac thinks alternate-side parking shouldn't be enforced unless it snows and then violators are towed. Commissioner Polenske said citations are being issued for night-parking violations and it is an on-going issue in the winter months. They contract with more than 50 bulldozers, which are more nimble and flexible than front-end loaders or pickup trucks.
Infrastructure Services - Jared Krushke - a lot of the ARPA dollars will be coming from the state to the city. The Infrastructure Bill will include money for lead laterals. There is a 3-4 year backlog on sidewalks and it's very hard work to get contractors to bid on due to the scattered nature of the work. A lot of the LED lighting work will be contracted out so the savings can begin as soon as quickly. They are looking at pedestrian lighting and see if that can be made safer. Ald. Bauman's concern is with street lights that are higher than the tree lines so the light is diffused by the trees and doesn't reach the street. Once the street lights are upgraded to LED lights, that will result in fewer staff hours responding to outages.
Facilities - $2 million to finish City Hall (construction done mid 2023). For the ADA compliance program, they will be recommending $800,000 per year to modify buildings.
The borrowing is $2.2 million higher than prior years and revenue is down slightly.
Ms. Brengosz will draft a letter on behalf of the Committee.
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