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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/21/2024Town of Los Altos Hills Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session Minutes Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 10:00 AM Council Chambers, 26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills, California 1. CALL TO ORDER (10:00 AM) 2. ROLL CALL Mayor Mok called the May 21, 2024, Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session to order at 10:04 a.m. Present: Mayor Stanley Mok, Vice Mayor Lisa Schmidt, Council Member Linda Swan, Council Member Kavita Tankha, and Council Member George Tyson Absent: None Staff: City Manager Pirnejad, Assistant to the City Manager Cody Einfalt, City Clerk Arika Miller, Public Works Director WooJae Kim, Community Development Director Evanson, Assistant Director Bradford, and Maintenance Supervisor Schloetter. Other: Finance & Investment Committee (FIC): Chair Allan Epstein, Susan Mason, Nathan Blair, Kjell Karlsson, Jeanne Seeley, Sean McGraw, Michele Raffin, Consultant Drew Corbett 3. STUDY SESSION A.Study Session Regarding Proposed FY24 – FY25-26 Operating Budget and the FY2025 –2029 Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan (Staff: P. Pirnejad) City Manager Pirnejad provided introductory comments and introduced Consultant Drew Corbett. Consultant Corbett shared a presentation, outlining the proposed budget. He highlighted the proposed change from a one-year plan to a two-year plan. A question-and-answer session between the Council, Staff, FIC Members, and Consultant Corbett ensued regarding presented elements of the budget, with the Council requesting more detail be provided in certain areas of the budget documentation. The meeting recessed at 11:05 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 11:09 a.m. Jim Waschura, a resident of the Town and attending via Zoom, commented about the issues around needing a full-time compliance officer. City Manager Pirnejad responded to the comment. Assistant to the City Manager Einfalt continued with the discussion regarding elements of the budget proposal. Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session May 21, 2024, Minutes Chair Epstein provided comments and asked staff questions regarding elements of the Administration section of the budget. A question-and-answer session between Council and Staff regarding the categorization of certain expenses ensued. Each Councilmember provided comments in turn. Rajiv Bhateja, a resident of Los Altos Hills, provided comments regarding errors in the budget as presented. Chair Epstein noted his agreement with Rajiv’s comments regarding errors in the budget as presented. Mayor Mok requested the public comments be heard at each section of the presentation and asked if there were any questions from the public regarding the current section of the budget being discussed. City Clerk Miller commented there were no questions from the public. Assistant to the City Manager Einfalt continued his presentation of the draft budget document. A question-and-answer session between the Council and Staff ensued regarding expenditure for consultants. Chair Epstein noted discrepancies in the numbers presented in the proposed budget. Anand Ranganathan, a resident of Los Altos Hills, provided comments on the staffing issue and the budget. Rajiv Bhateja, a resident of Los Altos Hills, provided comments on the consultant and contractor expenditures. FIC Member Nick commented on the proposed budget. Mayor Mok provided comments regarding the inflation factor, the increase in animal service costs. Councilmember Swan commented on the Housing Element expense that as placed upon the Town by the state. Vice-Mayor Schmidt asked about the other items that were added to the numbers in that area. Chair Epstein commented that one of the factors in increases was the addition of headcount. Mayor Mok noted the increases that were itemized. City Manager Pirnejad provided clarifying comments for each line item of the “Budget by Department” section of the document in response to the Council’s comments. Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session May 21, 2024, Minutes A question-and-answer session regarding viewing a detailed spreadsheet, and whether the Finance department had reviewed the budget information line-by-line between the Council, FIC members, and Staff ensued. FIC member Nate Blair noted he did wish to see the line-by-line items in the budget. Chair Epstein provided comments regarding items in the presented draft budget, using the example of changes in the staffing in the Finance Department from year to year. FIC member Karlsson provided comments regarding details not presented to the public in the draft budget. City Manager Pirnejad provided comments in response to the concerns regarding staffing and allocation in the budget. He noted that staff had prepared for the 2023-24 budget vs. the 2024-25 budget for this meeting. He requested the Council provide directions to staff regarding delivering a budget proposal that satisfied their expectations. Anand Ranganathan, a resident of Los Altos Hills, noted that the Council and FIC could not have things both ways, citing that each was asking for a line-by-line proposal, but also stating they did not want to review a line-by-line budget proposal. Assistant to the City Manager Einfalt continued with the department budget presentation regarding the City Attorney section. City Manager Pirnejad provided clarifying comments on this area. City Clerk Miller presented the City Clerk section of the budget, noting the one major difference was the addition of $35,000 for the upcoming election. A question-and-answer session between Chair Epstein and Staff ensued regarding details of this section. Mayor Mok asked for comments from the public and City Clerk -Miller noted there were none. The presentation continued with the Committees and Commission section of the proposed budget. Mayor Mok asked for comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. The presentation continued with the Community Service Grant Expenditures section of the proposed budget. (2:05 in the video timeline) A question-and-answer session between the Council and Staff ensued regarding donations to organizations. Chair Epstein provided comments regarding donation allocation. Mayor Mok asked for comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. The presentation continued with the General Liability section of the proposed budget. Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session May 21, 2024, Minutes Chair Epstein noted that the numbers represented a 31% increase. He requested that the Town review their insurance later. The presentation continued with the Finance and Administration section of the proposed budget. Chair Epstein provided comments regarding the planned change in director for this department. City Manager Pirnejad provided clarifying comments in response to FIC comments. Chair Epstein provided follow-up comments, requesting where the $60,000 line item for the contract services that was recently approved by the Council was listed in the budget, as it was not shown in the table shown. City Manager Pirnejad provided a response and a question-and-answer session between Staff and the FIC ensued. Rajiv Bhateja, a resident of Los Altos Hills, commented that he felt the typographical errors in the budget proposal were not much a concern for him, but the mathematical errors were much more serious to him. A discussion regarding a lunch break ensued. The meeting recessed at 12:25 p.m. The meeting was reconvened at 12:35 p.m. The presentation continued with the Town Center Expenditures section of the proposed budget by Assistant to the City Manager Einfalt. The Council provided comments and a question-and-answer session between the Council and Staff ensued. Chair Epstein commented on the items listed on this section of the proposed budget. City Manager Pirnejad affirmed Chair Epstein’s comments. Mayor Mok asked for comments from the public and Assistant to the City Manager Einfalt noted there were none. The presentation continued with the Police Administration Expenditures section of the proposed budget by Assistant to the City Manager Einfalt. City Manager Pirnejad asked clarifying questions to help the Council understand the listed numbers. Mayor Mok commented that he did not believe that the Town could reduce law enforcement services at this time, despite the projected increase in budget. Chair Epstein noted that this area was of great importance to the community and felt he needed to explore this section more thoroughly. A question-and-answer session between the FIC Chair and Staff, and the Anand Ranganathan ensued. Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session May 21, 2024, Minutes Anand Ranganathan, a resident of Los Altos Hills, continued his public comment by asking if the community benefitted from the increase proportionally. Rajiv Bhateja, a resident of Los Altos Hills, provided comments on this area of the budget and posed a question. He noted that he felt that there was merit to the increase due to the increase of safety issues in the community. Mayor Mok asked for further comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. The Council provided comments and a question-and-answer session between the Council and Staff ensued. The presentation continued with the Animal Control Expenditures section of the proposed budget by Assistant to the City Manager Einfalt. City Manager Pirnejad provided clarifying comments to help the Council understand the listed numbers and projected increases. The Council provided comments and a question-and-answer session between the Council, FIC members and Staff ensued. Chair Epstein commented on this section of the budget and noted corrections that needed to be made. The presentation continued with the Community Development section of the proposed budget by Director Evanson. Director Evanson shared the presentation of the Planning Administration section of the proposed budget and provided comments. (~2:46 in the video timeline) A question-and-answer session between Chair Epstein and Staff ensued regarding Housing Element expenditures. Mayor Mok asked for further comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. Director Evanson shared the presentation of the Code Enforcement section of the proposed budget and provided comments. Mayor Mok asked for further comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. Assistant Director Bradford shared the presentation of the Building Operations section of the proposed budget and provided clarifying comments relative to the presented information. Mayor Mok noted his approval for the completeness of the presentation of this section of the budget asked for comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. Chair Epstein provided comments on items in this section of the budget. Assistant Bradford provided response comments to Chair Epstein’s concerns. Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session May 21, 2024, Minutes FIC member Karlsson noted his approval of the improvements in the staffing and departmental improvements that have occurred over the past year. Mayor Mok opened the floor to public comment on this section of the proposed budget. Anand Ranganathan, a Los Altos Hills resident, noted his concerns about the numbers projected in this section of the proposed budget. Assistant Director Bradford provided clarifying comments in response to Anand’s concerns. Rajiv Bhateja, a resident of Los Altos Hills, asked for an explanation for increases in certain budgeted items. Assistant Director Bradford provided clarifying comments in response to Rajiv’s concerns. A question-and-answer session between the Council, FIC, and Staff ensued. The presentation continued with the Community Services Expenditures section of the proposed budget by Assistant to the City Manager Einfalt. (~3:31 in the video timeline) A question-and-answer session between the FIC members, Council, and Staff ensued. Vice-Mayor Schmidt left the meeting. (~3:38 in the video timeline) Public Works Director Kim shared the presentation of the Engineering Expenditures section of the proposed budget and provided comments. A question-and-answer session between the FIC members, Council, and Staff ensued. Mayor Mok asked for further comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. Public Works Director Kim continued with the presentation of the Sewer Expenditures section of the proposed budget and provided comments. A question-and-answer session between the FIC members and Staff ensued. Mayor Mok noted that he wished to have the next sections of the budget be presented without comment, and then take comments afterwards. Public Works Director Kim continued with the presentation of the Storm Drain and Pathways Operations Expenditures sections of the proposed budget and provided comments. Maintenance Supervisor Schlotter provided clarifying comments on the Maintenance and Corporation Yard section of the proposed budget. Mayor Mok asked for public comments on this section of the proposed budget. Rajiv Bhateja, a resident of Los Altos Hills, made a request to organize the budget differently. Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session May 21, 2024, Minutes Mayor Mok asked for further comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. City Manager Pirnejad requested to review the next section at a high level to preserve time. Director Kim provided clarifying comments on the various projects noted by the city manager. A question-and-answer session between the FIC members and Staff ensued. Mayor Mok asked for further comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. Mayor Mok closed the study session around 4:10 in the meeting video and moved to the next section of the agenda. No motion. 4. NEW BUSINESS A.Resolution Authorizing Staff to Negotiate an American Rescue Plan Act Funding Agreement with Los Altos Hills Community Fiber to install underground fiber infrastructure at priority sites; and Approving the Broadband Infrastructure Project to be included in the 2024-25 City Council Work Plan Public Works Director Kim queued the presentation and introduced the project consultant. Project Consultant Sean Rose, of S.R. Rose Engineering, spoke to the prepared slides on the Broadband Infrastructure Project. Public Works Director Kim continued with the staff report after Sean’s presentation. A question-and-answer session between the Council and Staff ensued. Mayor Mok asked for further comments from the public. Gautam Agrawal, a resident of Los Altos Hills, commented on this project. A question-and-answer session between the Council and Gautam ensued. Daniel Dulitz, a resident of Palo Alto and owner of Next Level Infrastructure, which is the contractor the Los Altos Hills Community Fiber has been using, provided public comment. Rajiv Bhateja, a resident of Los Altos Hills, provided public comment. Allan Epstein, a resident of Los Altos Hills, provided public comment. Kjell Karlsson, a resident of Los Altos Hills, provided public comment. Mayor Mok asked for further comments from the public and City Clerk Miller noted there were none. Joint City Council and Finance & Investment Committee Special Meeting Study Session May 21, 2024, Minutes MOTION MADE AND PASSED: Councilmember Swan moved that they pass a resolution authorizing the staff to Negotiate an American Rescue Plan Act Funding Agreement with Los Altos Hills Community Fiber to install underground fiber infrastructure at priority sites; and Approving the Broadband Infrastructure Project to be included in the 2024-25 City Council Work Plan with the amount of staff work minimized by outflowing as much of it as possible to LAHCF as appropriate. The motion was seconded by Mayor Mok. MOTION PASSED: 5-0 AYES: Swan, Tankha, Tyson, Schmidt, Mok NOES: none ABSTAIN: none RECUSE: none ABSENT: none 5.PUBLIC COMMENT Public Comment is Limited to Items which are the Subject of the Special Meeting Public comment was noted as taken during the presentation of each item. 6.ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 3:23 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Arika Birdsong-Miller