City of Bloomington Committee of the Whole met Sept. 19.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
1. Call to Order
The Council convened in Committee of the Whole Session in the Council Chambers, City Hall Building, at 5:35 p.m., Monday, September 19th, 2016. Mayor Renner called the meeting to order and directed the City Clerk to call the roll.
2. Roll Call
Aldermen: Kevin Lower, David Sage, Mboka Mwilambwe, Amelia Buragas, Joni Painter, Karen Schmidt (arrived at 6:23P.M.), Scott Black, Diana Hauman and Jim Fruin.
Staff Present: David Hales, City Manager; Steve Rasmussen, Assistant City Manager; Jeffrey Jurgens, Corporation Counsel; Cherry Lawson, City Clerk; Jim Karch, Public Service Director; Melissa Hon, Assistant to the City Manager; Scott Sprouls, Information Services Director; Bob Yehl, Water Director; Brendan Hefner, Bloomington Police Department Chief; and other City staff were present.
Alderman Absent: Alderman Schmidt (arrived at 6:23 P.M.)
3. Public Comment
Mayor Renner opened the meeting to receive Public Comment. The following individuals provided comments during the meeting.
Marty Seger Patricia Marton
4. Consideration of approving the Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes of August 15, 2016.
Motion by Alderman Black, second by Alderman Painter, that the minutes of the Committee of the Whole Meeting of August 15, 2016 be dispensed with and approved as printed.
Mayor Renner directed the Clerk to call the roll which resulted in the following:
Ayes: Aldermen Lower, Sage, Mwilambwe, Buragas, Painter, Black, Hauman and Fruin.
Nays: None.
Motion carried. (viva voce)
5. Presentation of Streets and Sidewalks portion of the Five Year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). (Presentation by David Hales, City Manager and Jim Karch, Director of Public Works 20 minutes, Council discussion 40 minutes.)
Mr. Hales stated Individual Project Data Sheets were given to Council. Each project in the Five Year Capital Improvement Plan should have its own project data sheets. Some project sheets are still being finalized. Each project data sheet describes the project in detail; explains why the project is needed, and what the funding sources are. The sheets provide for Council discussion, research, and to look at each topic apart from one another, so that no project is reliant on another within the Plan.
Mr. Karch presented the Five Year CIP Plan for Streets and Sidewalks in three different sections; sidewalks, complete streets, and major road and bridge projects. In 2015 Council approved a Sidewalks Master Plan. Ramps and curb ramp repairs are included in Street Resurfacing. Ten (10%) percent of budgeting for Street Resurfacing goes to Sidewalk Ramps. There is approximately seven ($7) million dollars in outstanding ramps still awaiting repairs within the City. The Sidewalk repair status is on track with current budget, however, gaps occur when new problems arise. This poses the question of “Do we allocate additional funds to address these gaps?” The past two years $600,000 has gone to Sidewalk repairs. Mr. Karch stated staff would be proposing for additional funding from Council to accommodate for these gaps.
Alderman Lower expressed concerns in gaps within the City’s school zones.
Alderman Sage asked Mr. Karch to clarify a reasonable increase in a dollar amount to take care of gaps annually.
Mr. Karch stated, staff would be proposing for an additional $100,000 per year to go into gap sidewalk issues.
Alderman Sage would like to concentrate on gaps within school zones as well as making progress with Connect Transit within the community.
Mr. Karch stated, a recent ordinance was passed for Complete Streets. Continued efforts are being made to have more comprehensive bicycle, pedestrian and multi-modal components of Connect Transit throughout our community. The City has put a lot of time, money and effort into Hamilton Creek and Fox Road areas. Fox Creek is the major corridor for this community. The budget is in place and construction will begin on Fox Creek in 2018. Hamilton road has been a high priority for multiple years. The City has tried to get grant funding to repair this road, no success has been made. Due to lack of funding, Council will be presented with a proposal to give a commitment, in the budget, for up to fourteen ($14) million dollars to repair Hamilton Road. It is critical that the City get an at-grade crossing. In order to do this, the City would have to close down two other crossings in exchange for an at-grade crossing. With proper funding, construction on Hamilton Road can begin as early as 2018.
Alderman Lower questioned the two crossings that would be closing, and how close the next available crossings would be.
Mr. Karch stated, the next available crossings were only a block away for both crossings that would be presented as tradeoff.
Alderman Sage stated, Austin Grammer should be part of this process to discuss the potential economic development in return for the at-grade crossing.
Mr. Karch stated, Mr. Grammer previously put something together for Council that could be presented as a refresher. The Streets Master Plan is nearly complete and will help provide additional performance metrics to Council to begin prioritizing these projects and budget funding.
Mr. Karch stated, bridges were another component of the Five Year Capital Improvement Plan. The Linden Street Bridge’s funding has been secured; however there are bridges in the area that still need repairs, as well as funding. Jersey Avenue and Cottage Avenue are two other bridge projects in the Five Year Capital Improvement Plan for Council to consider.
Traffic signals throughout the City need to be updated. There have been some delays in updates due to staffing.
Alderman Painter and Alderman Buragas stated, public and Council input should be considered before a project is put into motion.
Mr. Hales stated, that the CIP Plan would use Citizen Engagement to help make decisions on each individual topic.
Mr. Karch stated, $4.8 million dollars are allocated in the budget for resurfacing streets, resurfacing sidewalks, and sidewalk curb ramps. State Motor Fuel Taxes are used for major projects such as Fox Creek Road and its bridge. Staff is proposing Council use a tiered rating system for community streets and sidewalks; arterial roads have a rating of 5, collector roads are given a rating of 4, and a rating of 3 goes to local roads and alleys. Through this tiered rating system, the City can reach attainable amounts for budgeting each year. The annual funding budget suggested that meets this rating is $8.8 million dollars each year in the 5 year plan. With this increase, the City would be able to resurface and repair twenty percent (20%) of the roads in the community. Additional staffing would be needed to complete such tasks. Mr. Karch stressed the importance that sewer repairs must precede street resurfacing. Without proper funding to address the underground infrastructure, a major streets initiative will not be successful.
Alderman Fruin questioned whether bidding would become more competitive if Council gave the proposed amount of money each year.
Mr. Karch stated that this additional money given yearly should make bidding more competitive.
Alderman Sage stated, Council has not been able to come to a consensus on such topics in the past. While he encourages the Five Year CIP, without a consensus on these decisions, Council cannot move forward.
Alderman Black asked for clarification on the process once Council is presented with a project and funding proposal.
Alderman Hauman asked for clarification on potential increases on operating budget.
Alderman Buragas stated, she wants Council to not only worry about how to come up with budgeting for projects, but to also come up with a smart plan, to make the project last, so resources are extended. A list of “gap” projects needs to be looked at closer and put in front of Council in order for Council to see how many “gap” projects exist.
6. Employee Compensation Strategic Plan Initiative (Presentation by David Hales, City Manager, Nicole Albertson, Human Resources Director, Dr. Lust 30 minutes, and Council discussion 45 minutes.)
Dr. Lust assisted the City in preparing an Employee Satisfaction Survey last year. Through conversation on making a long-term Employee Compensation Strategic Plan, Ms. Albertson and Mr. Hales talked with Dr. Lust about giving his insight on working in private and public sectors of Employee Compensation.
Dr. Lust presented his background experience and explained what is needed when preparing a Compensation Plan. Compensation has two components; the pay portion, and the benefit portion. Within the private sector the pay portion is about 69.7% and the benefits portion is about 30.3%. Within the State and Local Government sector the pay portion is about 63.6% and the benefits portion is about 36.4%. When Unions are considered, the portions differ by about 10%. The City has to balance goals when creating a Compensation Plan; The City wants to attract, retain and motivate it’s employees, while also keeping costs in line and maintaining legal compliance. The City achieves this balance through equity. There are three types of equity; internal, external, and individual. All three of these apply to both the dollar side and the benefits side.
In any Compensation system there will be base pay, raises, incentives, and bonuses. Benefits typically fall into one of four categories; legally required benefits, employee protection programs, payment for time not worked, and services or perquisites. Benefit costs vary widely.
Alderman Sage questioned whether it is possible for a municipal government to bring their benefits in line with the surrounding private sectors.
Dr. Lust stated most public sector entities are now unionized which plays a factor in their benefits package.
Alderman Lower asked Dr. Lust to differentiate the private sector for Council as small business and small business compensation are very different.
Dr. Lust stated that size of a business plays a factor in the companies’ ability to pay. Thus, small businesses have less paid time off than larger entities. Retirement plans are minimal if they exist at all within smaller businesses.
Alderman Fruin stated he does not feel the City of Bloomington should be comparing itself to the top twenty employers in Bloomington-Normal. Residents and small businesses in the community should not be paying for the benefits that City Employees are being provided.
Dr. Lust stated the City needs to compare itself to other entities that are similar and where it could potentially lose its employees to.
Alderman Black would like more specifics on cost benefits specifically paid time off.
Dr. Lust mentioned how tight the labor market is and how this effects a compensation plan.
Alderman Mwilambwe stated recruiting and retaining employees should be held in high regards when any benefits decision is being made.
Dr. Lust stressed the need for a conscious decision relative to market position. He asked Council to take a look at the Market and figure out where the City belongs within it. The City can lead the market, match the local market, or lag behind. Dr. Lust suggested that the City create a Compensation plan that contains only aggregated data reports that go directly to an independent person who will aggregate the results. Data should not be collected by participants.
The reports should be based on raw data from no fewer than three individual companies reporting and the reported data should be of historic nature.
Alderman Fruin mentioned health care plans are easy to compare with other employers. The City of Bloomington has a rich benefits package. The City should be able to make steps and decisions regarding benefits without having to do a comprehensive survey.
Mr. Hales mentioned in the past the City of Bloomington has done external Comprehensive surveys. However, their data was not localized to central Illinois. It was based mostly up north in the Chicago area.
Mayor Renner stated the next step would be to get a localized Central Illinois Comprehensive Survey.
Mr. Hales stated that he is proposing Council approve a Comprehensive Plan to help the City move forward and make decisions more easily in regards to benefit packages.
7. Adjournment
Motion by Alderman Lower, seconded by Alderman Mwilambwe, to adjourn Committee as a Whole Session. Time: 7:50 p.m.
Motion carried. (viva voce)
https://www.cityblm.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=12482
Alerts Sign-up