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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-05-09 City Council Special MinutesWork Session and Special Meeting of the City Council of Apache Junction May 9, 1979 A work session and special meeting of the City Council of Apache Junction was held on the 9t1i day of May, 1979 at the Apache Junction City Hall, pursuant to the notice as required by law. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Vice -mayor John Granillo. Invocation was presented by Marie Shanks. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Jerry Burgess. Councilmembers present: Vice -mayor John GrEnillo, Jerry Burgess, Thomas Damiano, Vinton Peck, Virginia Seeman and Marie Shanks. Councilmembers absEnt: Mayor Roy Hudson Staff present: Isabel C. Ballard, City Clerk and Michael Curtis, City Attorney Guest Speakers: Mr. Del Floyd of the Arizona Department of Transportation spoke about the Highway User Fund End each year beginning next fiscal year the City of Apache Junction will be asked to provide a report of highway revenues. This is a restrictEd fund to be used only for improvement, construction and reconstruction or maintenance of municipal streets, highways and administrative expEnses. The city council and audience asked questions of Mr. Floyd on what Iighway User Funds could or couldn't be used for. Mr. William Platt presented his qualifications and proposal for City Attorney to serve the city at a cost of $50.00 per hour with a retainer of $500 per month for 10 hours. A written proposal has been submitted. Attorney Curtis stzted the reason the city is reviewing the need for a City Attorney is that this is the initial retention period and it is the under- standing of the coLncil they only wanted legal services contracted for through the start of the nEw council at which time they wanted a complete review. Attorney Michael artis submitted a written proposal as City Attorney and remarked it is most difficult for the council to choose an attorney, and stated if his firm is not chosen they are willing to be of assistance to the city and to help in the transition of whoever is chosen as attorney. Mr. John Beatty prEsented his qualifications of Planning Consultant but is not prepared at this time to submit a written proposal as he needs more direction as to thE scope of the work involved and what the priorities of the city are. Mr. Beatty is retired from the City of Phoenix after serving 27k years as Planning Director and is interested only as a consultant on a part-time basis. He answered many of the councils' questions and offered his assistance. Thomas Damiano told Mr. Beatty it is contemplated to hire a Planning Ditector and asked if he would be willing to assist in the hiring of this person, also that CAAG and OEPAD have been helping and will report to him at the Tuesday, May 15 meeting. Work Session and Special Meeting May 9, 1979 Page two Vice -mayor John Granillo asked Mr. Beatty to meet with Mr. Damiano for more discussion after which Mr. Damiano will recommend to the council. Employee Merit System: Attorney Curtis will get information on this. Consent Agenda: Marie Shanks said she has been looking for ways to expedite the agenda faster and asked Isabel Ballard to find information on consent agendas. City Clerk Isabel Ballard reported she has sent for a brochure on Consent Agendas from IIMC with their recommendations and will report at a future meeting. Fiscal year end Audit - Intergovernmental Budget: Marie Shanks reported an audit is needed at the end of the fiscal year and to send out bids for contract to do the audit. City Clerk Isabel Ballard reported the audit must be performed by either a Certified Public Accountant or a licensed auditor and asked if the council would let her proceed to send letters to auditors or to advertise; also prior to June 30 a Chart of Accounts must be set up and when the budget is done these account numbers are already on a working budget so when money is spent it is automatically charged to those accounts. Attorney Curtis suggested the directive and Vice -mayor John Granillo instructed the City Clerk to secure proposals to the creation of the Chart of Accounts, books of record, the expense of the audit, as well as periodic consultation with the staff of the city to make sure the audit recommendations and procedures are followed through. Budget and Finance: Vice -mayor John Granillo reported the budget still needs a lot of work done on it and he had met with a representative of the ALCT, Mrs. Seeman, Mr. Damiano, Mrs. Shanks and the Attorney to discuss personnel actions, and asked the councilmembers to come up with some type of figures so the City Clerk can begin formulating a budget. Streets and Rights -of -Ways: Vinton Peck presented the tentative figures for the operation of the street department, including the cost of large equipment, small tools and equipment, supervisor, two operators, cost of materials, fuel and other expenses as approximately $217,000. There was a lengthy discussion and Mr. Peck was asked to submit these figures as a start for budget preparation and to do more research and submit a more in-depth proposal at a later date. Police, Fire and Magistrate: Virginia Seeman asked to have placed on next weeks' agenda the Errors and Omissions Insurance Policy. Only one has been submitted which is for Magistrate Court. Work Session and Special Meeting May 9, 1979 Page three Planning and Zoning: Thomas Damiano reported on the Tuesday evening meeting with the Planning and Zoning Advisory Committee Meeting on the progress of the maps and inventory of land use, also read a letter from Terry Smith regarding PZ-559-78 (Julius Barroco) change of classification from GR to CB -2 asking for the councils' recommendation if there have been any changes since January 10, 1979. This is to be placed on the agenda for next week for further discussion. Thomas Damiano further reported the Planning and Zoning Advisory Committee recommended the Planning Director job description and directed the City Clerk to advertise as approved by the council at the May 2 meeting. Policies and Records: Marie Shanks reported she is trying to find more efficient ways to make things go smoother for the City Clerk and the councilmembers so meetings will be shorter in duration. SPECIAL MEETING: Attorney Curtis reported insurance consultants could not both help design and bid on insurances as this competition can be construed as a problem with anti-trust laws, so the concept on using a Risk Analyst arose once again. He suggested a proposal be made to determine what it might cost to have a single individual who is qualified as a Risk Analyst prepare the specifications and all interested people could bid using the specifications and there would be no doubt as to the propriety of the behavior of those people. He further recommended the services of a Risk Analyst be secured on the terms and conditions that would not exceed the amount of money the Insurance Advisory Board has recommended. Motion was made that the council authorizes the Mayor to enter into a contract of employment with a Risk Analyst for the purpose of drwing the specifications for insurance requirements of the city and the fee to be paid not be in excess of that recommended by the Insurance Advisory Board on insurance made by Virginia Seeman, seconded by Jerry Burgess.Four (4) voted yes - Vice -mayor John Granillo, Jerry Burgess, Thomas Damiano and Virginia Seeman. Two (2) voted no - Vinton Peck and Marie Shanks.Motion carried. Attorney Curtis stated the notice for a special meeting for this purpose has been posted and the names of the individuals and their proposals will be available Thursday afternoon, May 10th. (End of Special Meeting) Announcements: Vinton Peck asked the City Attorney if there is a legal arrangement without abandoning a street we can allow it be closed. Attorney Curtis said he thought a street can be closed by the city upon the request of concerned citizens as opposed to abandoning a street.If abandoned the land reverts back to land owners and the city would lose the right to control. Mr. John Beatty explained the revocable permits used by cities. Virginia Seeman asked if the meeting of the work session of May 23, 1979 could be postponed to May 30th for the purpose of attending eighth grade graduation. Several other council members could not attend the meeting of May 23rd so it has been postponed. Notices will be posted. Work Session and Special Meeting Ma3f 47, 1979 Page four Input from the Floor Mr. C.T. Parks asked Mr. Peck how many miles of gradable roads we have in the 12 square miles of Apache Junction, how a road grader would be used and if we had contacted a private contractor to keep the streets up for the first year, agreeing buying new equipment would be good but the costs of organizing the city are high, and suggested before budget time some of the contractors could help and keep the costs down, recommending Mr. Peck look into the feasibility of a private contractor. Mr. Donald Nesser spoke regarding the Palm Springs Utility Co., and the Arizona Corporation Commission and the resolution of April 25, 1979 and requested a notice of any public hearing of the investigation of the Arizona Corporation Commission be given and made available to the public. Mr. Harvey Morrison questioned Mr. Del Floyd of gas taxes, etc. that we get from the state whether we have to buy equipment from the state for this reason. Mr. Floyd replied we didn't have to but there are municipalities that buy used equipment from the state. Mrs. Gertrude Ray asked how an ordinance can be enacted for the use of BB guns.Vice -mayor John Granillo said at the present time there is no way an ordinance can be enforced whether enacted or not but after July 1 and upon the completion of the Code Book such violations will be covered. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn was made by Marie Shanks, seconded by Thomas Damiano. Meeting adjourned: 9:30 p.m. Approved this City Council. d ay o City Clerk NOTE: , 1979 by the Mayor and the Mayor Roy Hudson declined to sign minutes.Let the record reflect that a Work Session and Special meeting took place and the above subjects were discussed and acted upon and the minutes were approved on said date by the Mayor and Council.