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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-05-12 City Council (3)TO: FROM: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT:CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE DATE: SUBJECT: MAY 12, 2003 CMR: 244:03 PROPOSED MILESTONES FOR COUNCIL "TOP 5" PRIORITIES FY 2003-05 RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the City Council review and adopt the proposed milestones for the FY 2003-05 Council Top 5 Priorities. BACKGROUND On February 18,.2003, Council reviewed the mid-year accomplishments for FY 2002-03 Top 5 Priorities, and reaffirmed the following Top 5 Priorities for fiscal year 2003-05: City Finances, Infrastructure, Affordable Housing, Land Use Planning, and Alternative Transportation/Traffic Calming. In addition to setting the Top 5 Priorities, Council Members suggested a number of milestones to measure the pro~’ess on each priority. In prior year’s priority setting process, the City Manager and Council agreed upon a series of assumptions regarding the Top 5 Priorities: 1. if everything is a priority, nothing is. 2. Major priorities require multi-years to achieve efforts. 3. The 2003-05 budget must reflect the Council’s Top 5 Priorities. (This will be especially challenging in the upcoming 2003-05 Budget, given the significant General Fund deficit.) 4.Staff will report back regularly on success factors/milestones to ensure accountability. 5.Council and staff must communicate on a regular basis through a variety of means, and let the community know the status of the Top 5. 6.Council and staff need to avoid adding new projects and activities to the "full plate." This is a joint responsibility of Council and top management to keep from having CMR:244:03 Page 1 of 5 attention diverted from priorities. It is important to recognize that 90 percent of the departments’ work is not on the list of priorities. If the Council adds new projects and activities during the year, it is the responsibility of the City Manager to clearly indicate the impact on the Top 5 and the ongoing workload. DISCUSSION Overview of Milestones Staff reviewed the Council’s comments from the February 18 discussion, as well as the status of each of the 2002-03 milestones, and has proposed milestones for each of the Top 5 Priorities for 2003-05 (See Attachment). These include estimated completion dates. Staff made an effort to select milestones that were measurable and attainable. The following is an overview of the milestones for each Council priority: City Finances - The major challenge to City finances, especially in the 2003-05 budget cycle, is to implement structural changes that bring the budget into long-term balance, including looking at new revenues, service levels, staffing, salaries, and employee benefits. The Long Range Financial Plan identified significant deficits over the next ten years if no action is taken. A budget plan that reduces City expenditures by 5 percent will be proposed to the Finance Committee in May 2003, to address Council’s priority on long-term expenditure/structural issues. Work on development impact fees is continuing, with one final issue on Phase I housing fees to be resolved by June 2003. The City’s transportation model has been completed and the Fee Nexus study is to be completed in June 2003. With this study completed, the City can implement Phase II traffic fees in September 2003 with the appropriate ordinance. Staff anticipates that once these fees are implemented, funds can be accumulated to finance ~affic o~lm~,,, ,, ,,~o (~l-no~l........ ~, ~,r,,je,~ts, another ........ Staff continues to pursue revenues through aggressively seeking grants. Staff works with The Ferguson Group, eCivis (a web-based grant locator), and congressional representatives to identify these unique funding opportunities. The ad-hoc Economic Base Committee will continue to meet every other month to plan business outreach efforts and maintain a viable revenue base. Staff will continue to explore a new business license tax or an increased transient occupancy tax to support new facilities. uuluullai work and outreach to the business community is necessary before any proposal can be presented to Council. Finally, the effort to accurately and efficiently track expenditures for youth programs will be implemented in 2004-05 when Phase 2 of the City’s new financial system is completed. CMR:244:03 Page 2 of 5 Infrastructure - In 2003-05, the milestones for the Cityworks Infrastructure priority continue to focus on the Infrastructure Management Plan (IMP) and the goal of rehabilitating the City’s existing infrastructure. The planning of other major infrastructure projects will also be the focus for the City Manager’s Office, Community Services and Public Works Department project staff that are also committed to the IMP. These include the library or community facility projects; the storm drain system; the police building; and the Roth Building and SOFA park, among others. It is important to recognize that the IMP was developed six years ago and did not factor in inflation, programmatic changes and new projects that would compete for staff and budget resources. Consequently, staff believes it is necessary to move beyond the concept of a 10-year program and recognize that the City Council has made an ongoing commitment to enhanced infrastructure maintenance. Affordable Housing - In 2003-05, staff will work with Eden Housing to secure an affordable housing site; complete regulatory agreements for the Oak Court Apartment Housing project and issue the building permit; identify resources to prevent conversion of affordable housing to market-rate housing; select an administrator to continue implementation of the BMR Assessment Loan Program; augment the potential longer-term housing site in the Housing Element by identifying appropriate commercial sites for residential use;and rezone four sites on the Housing Sites Inventory to residential or mixed use. Land Use Planning - A comprehensive update to the City’s zoning ordinance is the highest priority for Land Use Planning in the coming year. Various land use categories will be drafted and the public will be invited to review and comment on each draft as it is completed throughout the next year. The final draft update wil! be available for public review and comment by early 2004, and will include a new format with a form code for urban design, new residential and mixed-use zones, parking, development s~anaaras, and procedures. The south El Camino Real study is another high priority, as is completion of Phase II of the South of Forest Coordinated Area Plan. Alternative Transportation/Traffic Calming - in April 2003, Council mandated that the Charleston-Arastradero Corridor Plan be completed in nine months. This is a phased master plan for transportation and landscape architecture/urban design improvements for the two linked roadways from Fabian to Miranda, as well as for the environs of East ~,~-~o,~,,,~~,~,,~,~,,,, and Alma. Per Council ~,~,~,~l,m~’~"*~’-" oo~o~’+-,~ ,~,m~, ~ complete this work by January 2004. Additionally, in 2003-05, staff will, among other goals: continue to enhance the Palo Alto Shuttle operation; complete and irnplement a citywide transportation impact fee to expand the use of traffic fees to non-vehicular transportation modes and extend the fee coverage area citywide; complete six individual local and collector street traffic ? ,,Page 3 of 5CMR:_44:0~ calming projects, as well as the Downtown North traffic calming project and traffic calming plans for both the Lytton and College Terrace Neighborhoods; complete Phase 2 (South Palo Alto) of the Citywide School Commute Study and recommend to Council designation of a School Commute Corridor Network; begin construction of the Embarcadero Bridge bicycle and pedestrian bike path and the Homer Avenue Bicycle and Pedestrian Undercrossing, implement a citywide traffic signal system upgrade; and pursue funding to implement the City of Palo Alto Bicycle Transportation Plan. Report Format These newly identified Council Top 5 Priorities (Attachment 1) will be in effect from July 1, 2003, until June 30, 2005. Staff will present quarterly progress reports on the Top 5 Priorities beginning in October 2003. In response to Council input, the format of the Council Top 5 Workplan has been revised in order to provide Council and the public with a clearer picture of the milestones, completion dates, and accomplishments, The Workplan lists the five Council priorities and the related milestones. Milestones have been given individual numbers for tracking purposes. Each milestone has an associated estimated completion date. If staff needs to adjust an estimated completion date, the existing date will be lined out and a revised date will be placed below the initial estimated completion date. Revised completion dates will be accompanied by an explanation of why the date has been altered. Attachment 2 provides a link from the FY 2002-03 to FY 2003-05 priorities. Council requested that milestones from FY 2002-03 be carried forward for FY 2003-05. A number of these milestones have either been compieted or wiil be compieted by June 30, 2003. These milestones are readily identified by a strikethrough mark. In order to promote the priorities, staff will continue to do the following: Prepare periodic displays in the area between the City Hall lobby and the Council Chambers. Continue to place a Top 5 logo on staff reports or items in the City Manager’s Weekly memo to highlight progress on the priorities. Continue to use CityPages and the employee oniine newsletter "in the Loop" to publicize the Top 5 priorities, beginning with the August issue of CityPages and the first available issue of "In the Loop." CMR:244:03 Page 4 of 5 The City Manager’s budget document will identify the financial impact of the Top 5 Priorities and the related milestones. The budget document will be submitted to Council in May and will address implications of the 2003-05 Council’s Top 5 Priorities. ATTACHMENTS 1. The Top 5 Workplan FY 2003-05: Final 2. The Top 5 Workplan FY 2003-05: Working Draft PREPARED BY:/... // C~is Moge~n~s~n, Assistant to the City Manager CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: Manager CMR:244:03 Page 5 of 5 d C~C~ I I I [°° 0 © d 0 o o © 0 r-., 0 ~.o=- E 0 0 N © Z ®E~--’E 0 o 0 O 0 ’5 0© © d c 0 EE 0 o o o ~E 0 00 ~.. ,-- E0 o 0>0 ~ 0 CDCD "’1 0 0 0© oeOTM 00c~ o 0 0 0 0 00 _~E~o E I. 0 0 0 0 d E 00 0 0 0 ._> t~ or- r- LL. © r- 0 00 0