MEETING MINUTES Regular Meeting of the Tri-City Council Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. The Grill at Laughlin Ranch 1360 William Hardy Drive, CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Chairman Mayor Nexsen. 1. Roll Call Lake Havasu City Council Present David Lane, Council Member Staff Present Charlie Cassens, City Manager Kelly Williams, City Clerk Lieutenant Shane M. Sloma, Police Department Shirlee Palbicki, Human Resources/Risk Manager Bullhead City Council Present Kathy Bruck, Council Member Annette Wegmann, Council Member Staff Present Toby Cotter, City Manager Susan Stein, City Clerk Brenda Richardson, Human Resources/Risk Manager Pawan Agrawal, Public Works Director Sergeant Robert Trebes, Police Department Kingman Council Present Staff Present John Dougherty, City Manager Sydney Muhle, City Clerk Jackie Walker, Human Resources/Risk Manager
Others Present Steve Moss, Mohave County Board of Supervisors District 5 Allen Tempert, Mohave County Elections Director Kristi Blair, Mohave County Recorder Jeanne Kentch, Mohave County Assessor Ken Strobeck, League of Arizona Cities and Towns Exec. Director Michele E. Beggs, ADOT Sr. Community Relations Officer Alvin Stump, ADOT Northwest District Engineer Judy Toledo, Mohave County Lynne Petersen, Unisource Energy John Pynakker, Bullhead City Chamber of Commerce Robert Freeman, Mohave Community College Jacqueline Ikonomov, Erin Collins and Associates (NAEBT) Ed Bantel, Southwest Risk Program Administrator Kevin Adam, Rural Transportation Advocacy Council Neil Young, Mohave Valley Daily News 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Introduction of Special Guests There was no discussion under this item. 4. Call to the Public Chairman Mayor Nexsen opened the call to the public. Having no one present wishing to speak, Chairman Mayor Nexsen closed the call to the public. 5. Approval of the Minutes from the January 18, 2017 TCC meeting Mayor Brady made a motion to approve the January 18, 2017 TCC meeting minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Mayor Gates and a vote was taken with all present in favor. MOTION CARRIED 6. Northern Arizona Employee Benefit Trust (NAEBT) Fitbit Challenge Presentation Jacqueline Ikonomov said the Trust held quarterly Fitbit challenges. She said Bullhead City had won the first challenge, but Lake Havasu City had won the next challenge. Bullhead City Manager Cotter reluctantly turned the Championship Belt over to Lake Havasu City Manager Cassens.
7. Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) Update Alvin Stump, P.E., Northwest District Engineer Alvin Stump said ADOT was currently receiving public comment on their fiveyear program. He said there was about $400 million in projects planned over the next ten years. He said they have completed the spot repairs but still have some bridge work to complete on Interstate 40. He said the shoulder widening project on US 93 was 40 percent completed, and said box culverts were installed. He said the SR 95 Management Study was in process in order to optimize highway safety. He said roundabout construction was planned for the intersection of Aztec Road and Highway 95 in Fort Mohave. He said they were working with Bullhead City to install a traffic signal at Corwin Road and Highway 95. He said a safety project at Kiowa and Highway 95 in Lake Havasu City was planned. He said the Arizona Transportation Board meeting would be held in Kingman this July. 8. Legislative Update on Transportation Funding Kevin Adam, Rural Transportation Advocacy Council Kevin Adam said there was still a tremendous amount of infrastructure repair work to be done in the area. He said this was reflected in the state s five-year update and said this was the most expansive plan they had seen in the last decade. He said there was a $63 billion funding gap between existing revenue streams and the needs out there. He said ADOT was in the process of updating their long-range plan, and said he anticipated an increase in that gap. He said HURF revenue sources have increased to the point of 2007 levels, and said that was significant. He said there was a tremendous amount of legislation introduced this year. He discussed various bills that were introduced. He said, in the end, none of the bills succeeded but they got much further than in previous years, which was reflective of the progress being made. He said their focus was on the budget, and said the big sticking point was the university capital financing and carving out shared revenues to pay for that. He said a $30 million restoration of HURF revenues to the counties and municipalities for local road systems was proposed. He said a $30 million HURF restoration to the state was also on the table, but said it did not look like that would move forward. He said they were losing ground in funding to improve the condition of the bridges and pavement within the highway system. He said Arizona was the 44 th state in the country to consider implementing an increase in gas tax. He said more federal funding was available to dedicate to local rural road projects in Arizona, and said the HURF exchange program allowed municipalities to trade federal funding for state funding; thereby no longer having to comply with the federal processes. He said this would save on funding and accelerate project delivery by many years. He said currently there was enough state generated funding to restore the exchange program after a ten-year suspension.
Lake Havasu City Manager Cassens asked about the effect of the changeover in state legislators. Mr. Adams said the response had been positive as it related to HURF, and said he had seen more support from the newer members. 9. League of AZ Cities and Towns Legislative Update Ken Strobeck said he agreed that newer members of the State Legislature had strongly supported transportation related funding. He said he was impressed with the smooth operation of the Senate and House this year, especially with the budget. He said Governor Ducey s focus was on supporting education, and said a lot of time had been spent on that topic. He said there had been no appetite for increasing any tax whatsoever. He said tax collections were down and said revenue collections were not looking good for the immediate future. He said the big issue was the proposal for the university capital financing system to keep the TPT they were paying and using it for their own uses. He said Arizona was only one of six states to require universities to pay TPT. He said the proposal would allow universities to take the state portion of TPT (self-declaring) including a significant share that went to cities and counties. He said there would be no oversight in this process. He said their concern was the taking of city and county money to fund the universities, and said it would disrupt the stability of the entire TPT system. He said this was the last issue to be resolved in this year s budget. Mr. Strobeck said the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) funding was a huge issue. He said the new Tier 3 system was created with HB1428 but said there had been some setbacks. He said some Supreme Court cases took the contributions from members that were capped at 11.65 percent and rolled them back to 7.65 percent. He said the money paid between 2007 and 2011 had to be repaid to the members, which was not good news. He said SB1063 would reinforce the 50/50 contribution for all new Tier 3 employees going forward, and create a pooling system including a statewide disability pool. He said under SB1442, unfunded liability for Tier 1 and Tier 2 had to be paid off in 20 years, but said a resolution could be passed by a municipality in order to push the deadline to 30 years, if required. Mr. Strobeck said Representative Cobb s TPT reform bill did not move forward this year. He said both of the small cell SB1214 and HB2365 were successfully resolved with the telephone and cable industries. He said the bill related to community facilities districts was vetoed. He discussed the status of other proposed bills. Chairman Mayor Nexsen asked if the League had a position on the billboard bill. Mr. Strobeck said the League did not take a position because it did not affect all of Arizona s cities and towns, but said they were supportive of the bill
10. Mohave County Supervisors Update Steve Moss, Mohave County Supervisor County Supervisor Steve Moss said everything was not the same as last year, such as the pension issues and road maintenance, and said there was a new sheriff. He said the county was behind the curve by $15 million, and said there was library debt of $1.7 million. He said he would be proposing two sales taxes on a county wide level, one dealing with pension/sheriff issues, and the other with transportation issues. He discussed the proposed provisions of the tax proposition, and said if it failed, they could propose a property tax. He said the County s Finance Director could provide additional data. He said they needed to slow the bleed; and said the longer they waited, the harder it would be to fix the problem. 11. Mohave County Elections Department Update Allen Tempert, Mohave County Elections Director, thanked the three City Clerks for their assistance with the election process. He said last year, they decreased the number of voting precincts from 73 to 24 in order to save on funds. He said for example, Bullhead City currently had 4 voting centers for the entire city, which was reduced from 10 individual precincts. He said having fewer precincts streamlined the process and decreased the number of polling workers required. He said the new electronic voting equipment allowed for streamlined vote counting and processing. He said no elections had been planned for this year, but said they did have all of the same expenses as in an election year. He said they would analyze the expenses and present a cost report to the cities later on in the summer. 12. Western Arizona Law Enforcement Training Academy (WALETA) Update Lt. Shane Sloma, Lake Havasu City Police Department Lieutenant Sloma said he served as the Western Arizona Law Enforcement Training Coordinator. He said after a site visit, the Arizona State Parks Director extended their lease for the future and approved their project to move forward. Chairman Mayor Nexsen adjourned the meeting for lunch at 11:51 a.m. and reconvened the meeting at 12:20 p.m.
13. Report from Mohave County College (MCC) Workforce Development - Robert Freeman, MCC Small Business Development Center Robert Freeman said Mohave Community College provided quality workforce training to members of the community. He said he began his career as a recruiter for the two-year college. He said the earned college credits could be transferred to any four-year college. He said the college offered more than 60 different degree and certificate programs. He said the college developed programs according to the needs of the community, and offered counseling and training for small businesses. 14. Overview of Arizona Municipal Risk Retention Pool (AMRRP) Ed Bantel, Southwest Risk Program Administrator Jackie Walker said AMRRP had provided the lunch in celebration of 30 years of municipalities coming together in order to save on insurance coverage. She said AMRRP also worked with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns on legislation that impacted workmen s compensation and liability insurance throughout the State of Arizona. Ed Bantel said he had been with Southwest Risk since 2001. He said the company was established in 1987 in order to administer a self-insured alternative to the insurance market for municipalities, and said Camp Verde became the first member. He said they now provided coverage for 76 municipalities and have a wonderful relationship with the League. He said commonality allowed them to specialize claim handling, customize loss control and coverage, and stabilize rates. He said they had been effective in lobbying with the League and offered programs and training for members on land use, police liability, intergovernmental, personnel and workmen s compensation issues. 15. Presentation and Discussion of Tri-City Council Booth at the 2017 League of Arizona Cities and Towns Conference Chairman Mayor Nexsen said it was Lake Havasu City s turn to coordinate the booth and said they would work with Jerri Bracamonte. 16. Individual City Update Mayor Gates said the Kingman would partner to host an Arizona Town Hall. She said they were working on a strategic plan in order to grow the community, and said a planning meeting was scheduled for May 1st. She said great things were happening in Kingman, including the two interchanges and the
Kingman Crossing Project which would help boost retail and entertainment venues. She said the Rancho Santa Fe Parkway project would begin soon, and said they were working with the Kingman airport officials to establish some long-term goals. Mayor Brady said the new DOT Foods distribution facility was under construction near the Laughlin Bullhead Airport. He said they were glad DOT chose Bullhead City, and said a truck driver training program had been created by Mohave Community College. He said American Airlines now flies in and out of the Laughlin Bullhead Airport every day, and urged members of the community to support the new service. He said after years of work, they finally put their first veteran through the Bullhead City Veterans Court. He thanked Lake Havasu City for helping them with this project. Mayor Nexsen said Lake Havasu City earned second place in the America s Best Communities (ABC) competition. He said their city was one of eight finalists out of 350 applicants. He said Huntington, West Virginia received the $3 million grand prize. He said they would allocate their dollars primarily toward a downtown catalyst project, an eco-environmental center, and a center for entrepreneurs. He said the annual Desert Storm event with big boats would start next week. He said a Veterans Court graduation would be held on Friday. He said a team would travel to Washington, D. C. in July to provide a presentation on their Veterans Court. He said they currently had more than 60 individuals involved in the highly successful program. 17. Discussion and Possible Action regarding Future Agenda Items There was no discussion under this item. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Mayor Nexsen adjourned the meeting at 1:05 p.m.