Fort Walton Beach Council agenda — 11-26-2007 special agenda — reading text

Q. 0 i b i- S 1-'- B8~~ o ,- a> 10 0 0..., 5<. 0 c _ 0 1D i c C Appendix C Department Directors' Responses c c  J J DATE: November 8, 2007 \\ c TO: FROM: Mayor & Council tt Helen Spencer- City Clerk '( SUBJECT: Alternative Services Delivery Study IRecommendation # 11~ Retain the high service level provided by the City Clerk. The City Clerk' s office continually strives to provide a high level of service. IRecommendation # 12~ Conduct an annual performance evaluation for the City Clerk position. No comment. Recom endation# 13~ Explore the potential for contracting out for minutes 'production with a local vendor. The City Clerk's Department attends the meetings and prepares minutes for: City Council meetings (regular, special and workshops) Beautification Com ite /free Board, Code Enforcement Board, CRA Board, General Employees Retirement Fund} c Golf Club Advisory Committee, Historic Sites and Advisory Board, Municipal Planning Board} Police Officers Retirement Fund, Vision Plan Stewardship Committee, Youth Committee Waterfront Committee 289 hours which resulted in During fiscal year 06/ 07 staff attended 163 meetings with a total of a total of 768 pages of minutes. This included City Council meetings ( regular, special and reviewed for workshops) and Boards/ Committee as listed above. All minutes are accuracy The overtime several times over and mostly presented for approval at the very next meeting. hours. At the current required for the meetings is compensated with flex-time of work in overtime is between $ 6, 425 to employee salary level for the department the annual savings 9, 000. A call to a local court reporting firm determined there is not a local vendor who currently be created or that providesthis service within the local area. It does not mean it could not there is no interest but the costs associated with this service were unable to be determined at this time. The City Clerk recommends that the minutes not be outsourced. c 24 t. . -# c CITY OF FORT WALTON BEACH v MEMORANDUM DATE: November 9, .2007 TO: Joyce Shanahan, City Manager FROM: Missy McKim, CDS Director SUBJECT: CDS response to the Study of Alternative Delivery Methodologies for City Services I concur with the study's findings for the Community Development Services department. City Council has requested that I report to them in January 2008 on the status of the Neighborhood Program since the Neighborhood Improvement Coordinator position has been frozen. We have had 2 meetings of the Great Neighborhood Partnership Committee and residents and win have 2 more before I report to the City Council which will give staff and City Council four active months under the current program to determine if it has been successful without a full time Coordinator. I do want to comment on the dependence the Community Development Services department has on a number of other departments within the City. As City Council considers potential cut backs, I want them to be aware of the importance of these other departments in the success of the Community Development Services Department. Purchaslna: The CDS department organizes both City Ch$ nger projects and World Changer c projects. These projects depend on the equipment the City has purchased to support these projects such as ladders, painting and roofing tools. These tools are stored in the Warehouse and the Inventory Control Specialist is called upon to collect and disperse these tools to the various organizations that volunteer for the City and to ensure all of the tools are then returned and stored. He also ensures they are In the same condition when they are returned as when they are loaned out. Parks and Recreation: There are a number of services that the Parks and Recreation department provides to CDS. CDS uses the Senior Center for a number of meetings that no other facility is available for no cost. The Great Neighborhood Partnership Committee meets at this facility monthly. When a charette or large public meeting is required, the Senior Center is . accommodate more than 60 people. the only facility available that is large enough to The Museum Director handles the Historic Sites and Structures Advisory Board and the Certified Local Government program, There is no one else qualified in the City to administer this program except the Museum Director. Chester Pruitt Community Center is the location for the Summer Recreation Program and after school tutoring program funded by the Community Development Block Grant program. Police: Two Community Police officers are funded with CRA funds. These funds are limited to be used only for "community policing initiatives". Although the report does not appear to be specific, I want to emphasize that the CRA officers must be part of a community policing unit, they cannot be patrol officers who have a totally different function. In addition, the eRA commuf1ity police officers must work only within the CRA. They have been particularly effective in addressing the vagrant issue and the property owners have seen a difference in this c 25  I- C problem. However it is ongoing and the community policing officers have to constantly stay top of the problem. As more redevelopment occurs it will be necessary to have additional on attention paid to this area to ensure that it is always s~fe for those who visit, work and live in the CRA. With the neighborhood program, community police officers assist with the concerns of the to flare neighborhoods that are outside the CRA. They respond to specific concems that seem up within a neighborhood such as a drug house, unruly teenagers, speeding, too many people hands on living in a household, noise, etc. These types of issues take a more proactive and who to immediate calls. is able to provide. approach than a patrol officer, responds Community policing is a proactive form of policing that is very visible and responsive to business owners and residents and is absolutely essential in meeting the vision of this city. Public Works and Utllltles= Both departments provide excellent professional services to the CDS department in review of building permits, site ptans, comprehensive planning and other required functions of the CDS department In Public Works, the City Engineer and the CAD specialist provide essential services to this Environmental department. In Utilities, the Utilities Director, Utilities Operation Manag~ r, and Specialist also pro~ide essential services to the CDS department. In order for the Zoning and Building Division to continue to provide the timely review and issuance of building permits these people in Public Works and Utilities must be available to review the plans within day. My a concern is that if they are overloaded with more responsibility, they wilt not be able to provide the service our clients ( contractors and home owners) demand, c Other: In order to develop and administer the Comprehensive Plan for the City, Public Works, Utilities, Parks and Recreation are all essential. Before cutting any programs or services, the Comprehensive Plan level of service standards must be reviewed and met. This is particularly important for recreation programs. water, sewer, stormwater, and traffic. Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Although I am in concurrence with the recommendations specifically for CDS, I wanted to express how much the success of our on other departments. programs and compliance with the State of Florida requirements depend Without the support of Police, Public Works, Utilities, Parks and Recreation and Purchasing. CDS could not provide exceUent service and could not meet the State of Florida comprehensive ptanning requirements. In addition, we could not meet the needs of the residents or the Vision for the City of Fort Walton Beach. c 26 c Response to MAG Report - Section 5.0 Finance There are a few minor errors or misstatements as follows: L SectionS. 1 states " next year budget function," however this bas