Record of Services for the 21st Century
Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting
7:30 PM; Tuesday, August 18, 1998
El Cerrito Open House Senior Center

7: 40 pm (about):

Call to order of the Committee-of-the-Whole (CotW) by Co-Chair Anne Delehunt.

All present introduced themselves.

George A. requested 10-15 minutes at the end of this meeting to discuss the results of last motions passed at the last meeting addressing the use of the $605K loan repayment made by the RDA to the City.

Brad C. requested a schedule of the coming meetings.

7:45 pm (about):

Agenda Item 1; Report of Financial Review Team (FRT):

  1. Steve M. announce he expected to have the response to the FRT request to City Attorney Howard S. for an official report on the current repayment agreements between the RDA and the City next week.
  2. The FRT has been reviewing repayment options using assumed amounts to evaluate the method being used. With Howard S.'s report, we can get an actual amount and work towards recommendations for the CotW.
  3. Janet A. reported that the Budget review & Comparison subcommittee (Brad C., M. Selph, Evalyn K., Linda Blum., & George A.) met last Friday and will meet again 8/28. They now have a copy of the Anderson Report, so they can get on with their salary review. Their report with documented recommendations is near.
  4. Steve M. has been reviewing the EDEN System capability. It seems satisfactory and can do more than the City is using it for. It has file export capability and can export complete account figures.
  5. Steve M. reported that Jay C.'s illness has slowed Finance & Administrative Dept.'s response to the FRT's questions. Also, the final budget for 1997-98 has not been compiled.
  6. Steve M. and George A. continue to pass out questions that have been submitted and work through them with Staff.
This report was followed by a general discussion on the comparisons in the Anderson report. This discussion ended with agreement to wait until the FRT subcommittee makes its recommendations. Two items will be looked at closely. One is the City policy of keeping staff salary at the mean of the cities in the Anderson Report. The second item is are we comparing ourselves to the right collection of cities.

8:10 pm (about):

Agenda Item 2; Presentation of the Community Development Department; Building & Planning Division.

Gerry R. opened the presentation by saying the CotW had heard fro ElisaT. on RDA in previous weeks; Mori Struve is on vacation and will present at the next meeting. He identified the material provided in advance of the meeting (attached) as the City of El Cerrito Annual Budget CDD Overview page; A Gerry R. Memo dated 8/4 which contained Expenditure Preparation Worksheets for Planning, Building Inspection, Maintenance Services, and Engineering; and two Mori S. Reports, "Pavement Management" and "Park Grounds Maintenance and Restoration Needs."

He continued by saying that the "cycle" of the CDD is Plan, Build, Maintain, and Replace. To be successful, this cycle must address the following issues:

  1. Quality of Life--Code enforcement; not routinely done by City any more, only on case-by-case basis.
  2. Economic vitality-Addressed by RDA or proposed Economic DevelopmentAgency.
  3. Aesthetics--Tree trimming (special), signage.
  4. Safety--Street maintenance, emergency tree trimming, storm drain work.
  5. Service to community--Processing permits, planning applications, etc.
Total budgeted expenditures of CDD for year 1998-99 is $2,490,066.00 or about 17% of total City expenditures. Only about $601,000.00 or 4% comes from General Fund; mostly funded from outside sources such as Gas Tax Proceeds, Lighting and Landscape Assessment funds, Building Service Fees, & Planning Fees.

CDD Personnel have been reduced from 29 in 1991-92 to 15 in 1998-99 by City action to reduce costs. We got out of the vehicle maintenance business, got rid of a lot of under utilized equipment, and started contracting out landscape maintenance. Gerry R. claimed better service now, but a reduced levels in many areas.

Gerry R. then introduced Ed Phillips, our City Planner.

Ed P. passed out and briefly discussed the following handouts:

  1. Outline of Planning Division's Services Provided and Purpose Statement.
  2. General Plan Update: A Progress report
  3. City of El Cerrito General Plan Update Program Background Papers for Public Workshops, July 1998.
  4. Planning Application Submittal Guidelines.
  5. Residential Build Out Requirements.
  6. Opening a Business in El Cerrito.
  7. City of El Cerrito Home Occupation Application Form (for Businesses run from your home).
  8. Application for Planning Permit
The reduction from 2 planners to one has reduced sign ordnance enforcement to a "on-a-complaint" basis.

The following questions were asked and comments made:

Referring to the Planning Division Expenditure Preparation Worksheet, Steve M. asked why there was such a large increase PERS costs from last year to this year(Line 5112-00).

Answer : Change was caused by a change in the City retirement plan to "2%@55". Resultant discussion revealed that the City pays entire cost of PERS, employee pays none. Also, the PERS rate of contribution as a % of salary changes each year, with the change being determined unilaterally by PERS after their annual review. In El Cerrito, Police. Fire, Management, and other employees are all on different PERS rates, because of the differences in the work they do. LTD Insurance(Line 5173-000) is Long Term Disability Insurance. Steve also asked Why do dental costs vary so much?

On Line 5390-000, Minor Equipment, what is the $5,325 item?

Planning computer upgrade. Gerry R. will provide details to Steve M.

Peter L. asked Ed what the environmental consultant costs (Line 5220-276) were for.

Answer is to cover the estimated E.I.R. costs until they can be passed on to the developers. They appear in the Planning Depart by State C.E.Q.A. law.

Is there going to be a new E.I.R. fo r the Plaza? Ed said yes, if needed. Peter then asked what has been spent so far on the General Plan Update? Ed answered, about $50K, but one outstanding invoice is still being negotiated.Peter asked if Plaza development goes as indicated, will Planning Division be faced with high costs? Ed didn't think so. Planning will get 30% of what consultants get to do the E.I.R. If unusual costs arise, we would negotiate for more,

Ed said the Planning Fee Schedule brings in about $33K per year, which is comparable with surrounding cities. Planning spends about $15 k per year, not counting salaries and benefits. George A. asked how our business fees compare with surrounding cities. Ed did not know, and Gerry offered to get the answer for George.

Gerry R. then introduced Steve Mitchell, our Building Official.

Steve has the longest tenure among the City management, having started in 1989. He listed the following as some of his accomplishments:

  1. Development of a city wide zoning map marked up to show Hayward Fault zones, flood zones, and slide areas in 1989.
  2. Appointed city ADA coordinator in 1991.
  3. Became Building Maintenance Facilitator in 1992.
  4. Completed Long Range Maintenance Needs Plan in 1993.
  5. Became city Surplus Property Coordinator in 1994.
  6. Monitored new Fire Station project in 1996.
  7. Developed First Annual Citizens Workshop for people planning additions or other home modifications.
  8. Developed Year 2000 fix for the computer systems he uses in 1998.
He also maintains general reference material for citizens planning to upgrade their homes or businesses. He passed out the following as examples:
  1. Building News, An Information Publication for the El Cerrito Community.
  2. Plan Submittal Check List - Residential.
  3. City of El Cerrito Construction Policy.
  4. City Facilities/Improvement Needs.
He called our attention to the Chart contained in the advance material entitled "Building Services Division Operating Costs/Fees Collected," which shows that for all years except 1991-92, the fees collected exceed division operating costs.

After a general discussion on the Building Division, the following questions were asked:

Steve M., referring to the Building Inspection Expenditure Preparation Worksheet (line item 5172-000) asked how the dental costs were allocated. Gerry R. will get the answer.

Steve M. then asked what the Building Maintenance Services (Line Item 5245-000) were for. Steve Mi. said cleaning of "City Hall" temporary buildings and Public Safety Building and service of fire alarms and sprinklers in all City facilities.

What about Capital Outlay costs of $25,237 in Line Item 5521-000? For PW Share of procurement of the new 400Hz radio system. The $13K in Line item 5220-205 is for operation of the system by Richmond dispatch center.

Al M. asked when was the last time the City looked at a City-wide cleaning contract for a possible cost savings over the several small contracts we now have. Steve Mi. said this year, and because of the very low cost Monica has arranged for the Child Care Facilities, there were no savings to be had.

After a review of the ball park numbers for deferred maintenance costs contained in Building Division Hand Out #4, Steve Ma. asked what resources are needed to get detailed costs. Steve Mi. estimated about 90-120 days for contract and about $20K. this was followed by a general discussion on capital improvements.Steve then asked what % of use of the Swim Center and Child Care is non-resident? Gerry R. said that Monica K. Community Services Manager would provide the answer during her presentation in Mid September.

9:50 pm (about)

Non-agenda Item: Where should the $605K RDA Loan Repayment Go?

George A. introduced the discussion by saying that the discussions leading to the votes taken on the two motions at the last meeting, in his opinion, seemed to emphasize the small differences between them, rather than stressing the common intent on getting the repayment into the General Fund, where it is needed most. Brad C. disagreed, saying that the two motions have a clear difference, one supported the General Fund, and the other did not.

Because of the late hour, and the fact this was not an agenda item that could be acted upon, it was agreed to agendize this topic for the next meeting (9/1/98) in the hope that we could reach agreement on how to present the results of the two votes to City Council.

Meeting was adjourned at about 10:05 PM

Note; All of the Handouts mentioned will be attached to the hard copy version of the Final Minutes of this meeting when they are distributed. They were also passed out at the 8/18 meeting and are available from Gerry Raycraft at the City Administrative Office.

List of Attendees signed in at 8/18 meeting of the Services for the 21st Century Committee-of-the-Whole.

Go back to the Home Page of the Committee of the Whole

Return to previous page: