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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Town Board Budget Study Session Afternoon 2024-10-09RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town ofEstes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, October 9, 2024 Minutes of a Budget Study Session meeting of the TOWN BOARD of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held at Town Hall in said Town of Estes Park on the 9th day of October, 2024, Afternoon Session. Board: Mayor Hall, Mayor Pro Tem Cenac, Trustees Brown, Igel, Hazelton, Lancaster, and Younglund Also Attending: Town Administrator Machalek, Deputy Town Administrator Damweber, Finance Director Hudson, Directors Bergsten, Careccia, Muhonen, Hinkle, and Williamson, Managers Bailey, Bucci, Garcia, Klein, and Schlichtemier, Supervisor Berg, and Town Clerk Williamson Absent: None Mayor Hall called the meeting to order at 1 ;46 p.m. WORKFORCE HOUSING & CHILDCARE The Workforce Housing Regulatory Linkage fund contains $752,000 in anticipated revenues and expenses with the funds being used by the Estes Park Housing Authority to assist with the purchase of the Fall River Village for workforce housing. The 6E funds for workforce and childcare anticipates $5.375 million in revenues and expenses with the funds split 80/20 to accomplish strategic plan goals. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Planning: Revenues generated from Planning applications has been budgeted at $45,500 for 2025 with expenses of $879,033. In 2025, staff would begin the Estes Park Development Code rewrite. Staff would work to formalize the annexation policy with Larimer County and implementation of electronic submittals to automate the workflow processing. Building: SafeBuilt would continue in 2025 to provide building services with 100% of building permit fees estimated at $600,000 going directly to the company. The total expenses are projected at $727,612. A discussion ensued with Trustee Igel commenting and questioning the contract with SafeBuilt and the need to ensure it remains competitive. He acknowledged the improved customer service provided through the contract. Town Administrator Machalek stated the contract with SafeBuilt would be reviewed in 2025 because the contract would end in December. COMMUNITY EVENTS & VISITOR SERVICES Visitor Services: Revenue are budgeted at $20,000 and derived from 5% of the sales from the RMNP Conservancy store within the lobby of the Visitor Center. The expenses increase in 2025 with the new facilities allocation and the maintenance of the restrooms shifting from Facilities to the Visitor Center budget. Staff would work on a number of strategic plan items within the current budget such as ensuring the availability of an official visitor guide mailing program; collaborate with RMNP Conservancy to provide onsite educational opportunities at the Visitor Center; and explore interactive exhibit for the Center. A discussion ensued on the publication Vacationland becoming a substitute for the previous visitor guide produced. Visit Estes Park has begun discussions with the publisher ofVacationland and may purchase additional printed copies to provide to guests. A further discussion was heard regarding the contracts to maintain the restrooms, questioning why the funding does not come from one fund, and questioning if staff has considered bringing the service in house. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town Board Budget Study Session - October 9, 2024 - Afternoon Session - Page 2 Events: The division anticipates $934,122 in revenues and $3.107 million in expenses in 2025. The budget includes funding for a breakaway roping event and PRCA Tour-Top 60 event with offsetting revenues and expenses. Staff would resource within current funds the following strategic plan items: develop a guiding philosophy for events that include consideration of impacts on businesses and the community; utilize Laserfiche to automate event processes such as event orders, vendor inquiries/forms and check request forms; and evaluate and implement effective tracking metrics for the Town's outdoor festivals. An upgrade to the audiovisual equipment was not resourced within the proposed budget. Discussion was heard on what matrix has been identified to compare events as it relates to revenues and expenses. MUSEUM Revenues are budgeted at $69,000 for charges for services, monetary donations, and funding from the Friends of the Museum. In 2025, the gallery donations would be collected by the Friends of the Museum in order to invest the funds. The Friends would continue to support the two contracted employees in 2025. Discussion was heard on the operations at the Hydroplant Museum and a need to review signage related to operations to ensure its clear to public. The normal seasonal operating hours for the museum did not occur due to a decline in volunteers. Trustee Igel stated he would encourage staff to prioritize resources in order to have the museum open. PUBLIC WORKS Parks: Parks would receive $35,000 in revenues from the Mrs. Walsh's Garden endowment fund for the maintenance of the garden. $1.786 million in expenses have been budgeted for personnel and O&M. Trustee Younglund requested staff review options to fund wraps for trash cans and utility boxes downtown with historic photos. Conservation Trust: The Town would receive $41,000 in lottery funds to be used for parks and open spaces. The budget contains an additional $20,000 earmarked for weed management. Open Space: Larimer County Open Space sales tax of a quarter percent would generate an estimated $595,000 in revenues in 2025 to be used for open space purchases and trail maintenance. The expenses have been budgeted at $862,728 to fund a Parks Master Plan, trail reconstruction along US 34 and Hwy 7 Phase 2, park improvements, the purchase of battery equipment in lieu of gas powered equipment, snow removal equipment, and the Thumb Trail improvements. Streets: Revenue of $378,000 from the Highway Users Trust Fund (HUTF) are budgeted with $1.638 million for O&M and personnel costs. Stormwater: - This fund contains no revenue and has budgeted expenses of $576,475. Stormwater Infrastructure 1A Fund: This fund was established with the passage of the 1A sales tax in April 2024. Revenues have been budgeted at $1.279 million and expenses at $1.786 million and would be used for the Stormwater Management Plan Phase 1 including the scoping project recently presented to the Town Board related to the waterway issues downtown and the replacement of the Performance Park bridge. This fund would also support the personnel costs for a Stormwater Engineer. Enflineerina: This fund contains no revenue and has expenses of $709,448 for O&M and personnel costs. The budgeted funds contain $15,000 to evaluate traffic flow and business impacts of the Loop project. Additional strategic plan items resourced within the current budget include: complete the design of the Fall River Trail final segment and advertise for construction to commence in the fourth quarter of 2025; seek grant funding for the corridor study that identifies needed multimodal transportation improvements on US 34; select specific recommendations from the 2045 Multimodal Transportation Plan for budgeting and implementation in 2026; and design the Community Drive Multi-use Trail. Streets Improvement 1A: This fund was renewed with the passage of the 1A sales tax in April 2024 for an additional 10 years. The fund is estimated to receive $2.102 million in RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town Board Budget Study Session - October 9, 2024 - Afternoon Session - Page 3 revenues and expend $2.329 million for STIP street improvement and patch program and for parking lot rehabilitation, complete reconstruction of Matthew Circle, and the complete reconstruction of Steamer Parkway. Additional items resourced within the current budget funds include the complete rehabilitation of West Elkhorn Avenue from Moraine to Far View Drive, the completion of the Cleave Street Improvement project, and the completion of the reconstruction of 2"d Street. Trail Improvement 1A: The fund would not receive ongoing revenues as it was sunsetted as of June 30, 2024 and the renewed funding with the 1A sales tax approval in April 2024 would be allocated to the new Trails Sales Tax Extension 1A fund. The funds remaining in the account would be spent down with $227,000 earmarked for the US 34 and Hwy 7 Phase 2 improvements. Trails Sale Tax Extension 1A: The new fund would be used to receive the new 1A sales tax extension funds approved by the voters in April 2024. The fund anticipates $1.271 million in revenues and $1.180 million in expenses. The funds would be used for the Community Drive Multi-use Trail and trail reconstruction on US 34 and SH 7 Phase 2. TRANSIT Revenues estimated at $15,500 come form sponsorships and advertising on the shuttle buses. The expenses have been budgeted at $807,243 to fund seasonal summer transit service and special event services. Grant funding for the 2025 season has not been identified, however the following grants are anticipated: $1.2 million from CMAQ, FTA5311 for $109,000 and OSTG25 for $45,000. Trustee Igel questioned the operational cost difference in leasing versus owning transit equipment. PARKING Revenues are $859,750 and expenses budgeted at $870,178. The budget includes funding updated mobile license plate recognition hardware for the patrol vehicle as it has reached the end of its useful life. The fund incurred a reduction in revenues in 2024 with the deactivation of parking lots during the Loop construction. Revenues are anticipated to increase in 2025 with all lots open for the season. The parking management plan would go out to bid in 2025. The strategic plan identified the design and construction of a 3-level parking structure at Big Horn that was not included in the 2025 budget. Discussion ensued on the appearance of Town staff enforcing parking in private parking lots due to Car Park employees wearing Town logo vests. Staff stated a review of the parking season and implementation of Phase III of the parking plan would be forthcoming, and stated Phase III would increase revenues by approximately $430,000. POWER & COMMUNICATION The fund anticipates revenues of $26.432 million, $1.350 million in transfers out, and expenses of $29.916 million. Service proposals included in the proposed budget include the following infrastructure projects located at Acacia Drive, Concord Lane, Moraine Park 1A, Allenspark tree cable, Big Owl Road tree cable, Lab Road area tree cable, Tahosa/Meeker Park tree cable, Wild Basin Area tree cable, and the replacement of several vehicles. WATER The fund anticipates revenues of $6.993 million, $120,000 in transfers out, and expenses of $10.835 million. Service proposals included in the proposed budget include Glacier Creek Water Treatment Plant (GCWTP) improvements including raw water meter standardization, runoff SCADA programming, ion chromatographer, and filter influent; Marys Lake Water Treatment Plan (MLWTP) improvements including air compressor control system upgrade, pump upsizing, house water pump 2 replacement, raw water meter replacement, and train 3 pump replacement; electrical upgrades and grounding; GCWTP pond rehabilitation; MLWTP east storage tank improvements; SCADA improvements; Strong pumphouse improvements; and GCWTP backwash pump. Staff would work internally on the development of a penalty process for customers who do not comply with water administrative regulations. This process would assist the Town in meeting regulatory requirements and avoid the Town from being cited for violations. Staff would initiate construction on the Mail Road Looping project as an in house project for 2025. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town Board Budget Study Session - October 9, 2024 - Afternoon Session - Page 4 BUDGET SUMMARY Interim Finance Director Hudson concluded the meeting by restating the Town's 2025 revenues are estimated at $79.786 million, $8.796 million from fund balance to be utilized in 2025, and expenses budgeted at $88.582 million. The final year end budget would balance with a 25.4% fund balance in the General Fund. He noted a number of projects would rollover from 2024 to 2025 such as the Graves Avenue Trail, Cleave Street project, and numerous utility projects. He stated Power and Communication anticipate adding five (5) new full-time positions in 2025. The budget process would continue with public hearings at the Town Board on October 22, 2024 and November 12, 2024. December 15, 2024 would be the deadline to certify property tax levy to the County, and the final adopted budget must be submitted to the State by January 31, 2025. There being no further business, Mayor Hall adjourned the meeting at 4:28 p.m. ^J^.<'Z> 0 .a_—-fl ^ ^E^ <J"\^ rah(<ie Williamson, Town Clerk