HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-30-20 Signed Minutes Council RetreatMinutes of the Arlington
City Council Zoom Retreat
Council Chambers
110 East Third Street
July 30, 2020
Councilmembers Present Remotely: Mike Hopson, Michele Blythe, Jan Schuette, Marilyn
Oertle, Jesica Stickles, Debora Nelson, and Don Vanney.
Council Members Absent: None.
Staff Present Remotely: Mayor Barb Tolbert, Paul Ellis, James Trefry, Kristin Garcia, Bryan
Terry, Dave Kraski, Jonathan Ventura, Marty Wray, Marc Hayes, Jim Kelly, City Attorney Steve
Peiffle, and Wendy Van Der Meersche.
Also Known to be Present: Four (4) YouTube viewers.
Mayor Barb Tolbert called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m., and the Pledge of Allegiance and
roll call followed.
APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA
Mayor Pro Tem Jesica Stickles moved to approve the agenda as presented. Councilmember
Michele Blythe seconded the motion, which passed with a unanimous vote.
DISCUSSION ITEM
2021-2022 Biennial Budget
City Attorney Steve Peiffle introduced himself as facilitator and opened by providing an
overview, with a brief review of the agenda, and the ground rules.
City Administrator Paul Ellis proceeded with a review of the Budget Retreat slide deck
prepared by Finance Director Kristin Garcia.
Strategic Priorities
Public Safety
Addressing safety needs of the community
Fiscal Sustainability
Providing services within available financial resources
Economic Development
Attracting investments for affordable housing and jobs
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Minutes of the Cif of Arlington City Council Retreat July 30, 2020
2021/2022 Budget Overview
• No new discretionary spending
• Assume Fire/EMS expenses
• Maintaining sufficient reserves
• Economic indicators
Additional items from the slide deck were discussed:
State Shared Revenues, Non -Discretionary Costs, and Actions Already Taken were
discussed.
Councilmember Marilyn Oertle submitted items for the parking lot portion of the retreat.
• Crosswalks
• Stop signs
• Property purchase for park in Smokey Point
Discussion followed.
The Budget portion of the retreat ended early.
North County Regional Fire Authority (RFA)
After a short break, Facilitator Steve Peiffle welcomed Councilmembers back. Mr. Peiffle
asked for any additional parking lot items. There were none.
Mr. Ellis continued by reviewing the document previously emailed to Councilmembers,
titled "North County Regional Fire Authority (RFA) - Arlington Annexation City
Council and Board of Commissioners Briefing", which is a Summary of Proposed Terms
for Annexation of Arlington Fire into North County RFA
The City of Arlington and North County RFA have been engaged in discussions regarding
potential annexation of the City's fire department into the RFA for over a year now. A
committee of two Councilmembers and two RFA Commissioners has been meeting for this
purpose since February of this year, and has provided monthly updates to the full Council
and Board of Commissioners. The purpose of this briefing is to summarize the Committee's
recommendations made to date. The next step is to complete a formal RFA Plan
Amendment incorporating these terms, which would then be submitted for approval of the
RFA Board of Commissioners and City Council later this year.
The proposed annexation plan will come forward to both legislative bodies for
consideration in October of 2020, in the form of an amendment to the RFA's current
operating and finance plan (RFA Plan Amendment). Both the RFA and the City will need to
formally approve the RFA Plan Amendment in order for the annexation proposal to
proceed. If the parties agree to the annexation plan, the City would then request an
annexation ballot measure be placed before the City's voters. For the measure to appear on
the February 2021 election, the ballot measure request would need to be transmitted to the
County Elections Department no later than December 11, 2020. If approved by a majority
of the City's voters at the February 2021 election, the annexation would go into effect in
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Minutes of the City of Arlington City Council Retreat July 30, 2020
August 2021, and the RFA's taxing authority would extend to Arlington effective January 1,
2022.
Discussion followed with Mr. Ellis and Mayor Tolbert answering Council questions.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 4:14 p.m.
Barbara Tolbert, Mayor
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