COUNCIL RETREAT
Members of Council held a Retreat on January 21, 2005 at 9:00 a.m. at The Duncan Center, 500 West Loockerman Street, with Council President Williams presiding. Members present were Mr. Carey, Mr. Pitts, Mr. Sadusky, Mr. Ritter, Mr. Hogan, Mr. Salters, and Mr. Ruane. Mr. Slavin was absent. Mayor Speed, Mr. DePrima, Mrs. Green, and Mrs. McDowell were also present.
AGENDA ADDITIONS/DELETIONS
Mr. Salters moved for approval of the agenda, seconded by Mr. Ruane and unanimously carried.
INTRODUCTION AND WARM UP - WHY ARE WE HERE?
Mr. Deprima, City Manager, introduced Mr. David Hugg, City Manager for the Town of Smyrna, and advised members that he would be the facilitator for the Retreat.
WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?
Mr. DePrima stated that the following projects or ideas were implemented as a result of past Retreats:
● Establishing a Human Resources Department
● Burying Electric Lines
● Youth Government Day
● No Smoking Ordinance
● The Concept for Main Street Dover
● Initiation of E-Government
● Fiscal Impact Models for Annexations
● Street Inventory Updates
● Privatization Analysis - Elimination of City Tree Trimming Crew
● Uniform Safety Procedures
WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Mr. DePrima reviewed the results of the 2004 Citizen Survey and noted that the core City services which received low scores were as follows:
● Recreation Programming
● The Range and Variety of Recreation Programming
● Drinking Water
● Sewer Services
● Animal Control
● Services for Youth
● Snow Removal
He noted that the general problems areas were as follows:
● Property Crimes
● Violent Crimes
● Safety Downtown After Dark
● Safety in Parks After Dark
The Quality of Life Issues were as follows:
● Sense of Community
● Indoor Recreation Space
● Openness and Acceptance
● Cultural Opportunities
● Recreational Opportunities
● Job Opportunities
● Affordable Housing
Mr. DePrima stated that he wanted to review the survey results as a reminder for members to consider during their discussions. He also noted that the following initiatives were either current or pending:
● Brown Water Solution
● Electric Generation Capacity Study
● Senator Carper - Homeownership Initiative Participation
● Reducing Cost of Medical and Retirement Benefits (Unfunded Liability) (2)
● American’s with Disabilities Act (ADA) Compliance
○ Renovation/redesign of Council Chambers (1)
Mr. DePrima reminded members that the following projects or ideas were currently in progress as a result of past Retreats:
● Water Master Plan - System Expansion (Tidewater Negotiations)
● Update Comprehensive Plan - Annexation Chapter
● Annexation - Marketing
○ Effort to provide information on the benefits of annexation
● Broadband Exploration
● Charter Review
● Facilities Space Plan
○ Both 5-year and long-term plan
● Library Study and Initiative
○ Actively looking for sites for a 50,000 square foot building
● Indoor Recreation Center Initiative
○ Financing plan
○ Seeking partners
○ Construction of completed design
● GIS Initiative
○ Create a uniform GIS mapping program, including Electric Department, Public Works, Planning, and Police
○ Hire GIS coordinator
○ Train departments in use of GIS
● Long Range I/T Plan Implemented
Mr. DePrima reviewed the FY06 Strategic Objectives and Major CIP Projects for City Departments. He advised members that if there were department projects listed that they felt should be made a priority, or should be removed from the project list, they would have an opportunity to prioritize or delete the projects, based on a consensus of members. Members were requested to indicate whether they wanted to proceed ●, slow down ●, or stop ● the projects by placing the appropriate colored sticker adjacent to each project. The following indicates the results of this action:
Current/Pending Initiatives
1. Brown Water Solution ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
2. Electric Generation Capacity Study ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
3. Senator Carper - Homeownership Initiative Participation ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
4. Reducing Cost of Medical & Retirement Benefits ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
5. ADA Compliance ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Past Retreat Items in Progress
1. Water Master Plan - System Expansion (Tidewater Negotiations) ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
2. Amended Comprehensive Plan - Annexation Chapter ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
3. Annexation - Marketing ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
4. Broadband Exploration ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
5. Charter Review ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
6. Facilities Space Plan ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
7. Library Study & Initiative ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
8. Indoor Recreation Center Initiative ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
9. GIS Initiative ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
10. Long Range I/T Plan Implemented ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
WHERE DO WE START?
Mr. Hugg advised members that the purpose of the Retreat was for members to express their ideas and concerns in order to establish priorities for moving forward.
Although Mr. Slavin was absent from the Retreat, he provided the following items for discussion and possible prioritization over the next year:
● Charter Reform (6)
The short-term goal of completing Council’s revision of the charter, to include the myriad changes made over the years, as well as to eliminate redundancies and conflicts with other statutes. Once complete, Mr. Slavin believes Council should look toward a reform of the Charter, to include a potential reorganization of City government. He also recommended establishing a process and methodology which includes an independent Blue Ribbon Commission that would make recommendations to Council on the reform of City government and the Charter.
● Citizen Participation in City Government (2)
While Dover has a very proud history of citizen participation through the use of various boards, committees, and commissions, Mr. Slavin encourages the use of special focus task forces and commissions to broaden the opportunities for citizens to participate. It is his feeling that this would be an effective way to obtain community input for such things as the proposed recreation center and library, the development of the Eden Hill tract, and the range of services needed by the community’s senior citizens.
● Use of Referendum (2)
Mr. Slavin feels strongly that Council must clarify and perhaps develop a new policy on the use of referendum to support City initiatives, including the use of non-binding referendum for new Public Works projects, such as the recreation center and the library, as well as for public safety and health issues, such as brown water. He also feels that Council should explore the feasibility of offering non-binding referendum questions simultaneously with the November elections to ensure a greater voter turn-out.
● Ninety-eight Percent Rule (2)
Mr. Slavin believes that the City should adopt a 98% rule, similar to State government, which requires that the City cannot budget more than 98% of its projected revenue in a given year. He noted that this has proven to be an effective budgeting tool at the State level.
● Brown Water (1)
Mr. Slavin proposed to continue to fund the Brown Water Contingency Fund which currently has a balance of approximately $200,000 for the remediation of brown water problems. Mr. Slavin felt that higher balances should be established in the fund to help offset any potential infrastructure issues.
● Re-design of Electric Bill (1) } These items were inadvertently omitted
● Notification System (1) } from Councilman Slavin’s items submitted
} for discussion and possible prioritization
Mayor Speed suggested the following topics for discussion:
Homeownership Initiative/Downtown (6)
1) Provide monetary incentives
2) Zoning Changes/new Downtown Zone - adopt a mixed use downtown zone (specified in comp plan) - in addition to adding homeowners
3) Nuisance Property Enforcement (City-wide)
● Transfer Tax Elimination for First Time Home Buyers
○ The State transfer tax is 3%
○ Seven (7) or eight (8) years ago legislation was passed to allow local governments to collect half
○ Adopted exemption for first time home buyer and extended abatement to the seller
○ City of Dover is 20 percentage points behind the national average in home ownership with ten percent (10%) ownership in the target area and seventy percent (70%) Citywide
○ The City of Dover only extends exemption to buyer (most extend to seller)
○ Wilmington extends exemption to first time Wilmington home buyer regardless of how many homes they already own
○ Buyer has to pay up-front costs
○ According to the City Assessor, if the seller exemption was in place, the City would have realized $122,000 in revenue between July 2003 and June 2004
● Real Estate Tax Abatement in Target Area
○ Minimum occupancy restrictions, etc.
○ Reduces up-front costs / redevelopment issue
○ Adjunct to Carper Initiative (Ami Hauer - Delaware Housing Authority - approves of idea)
○ People have difficulty finding houses they can afford - not $200,000 houses
○ Developers should set aside a portion of development for “affordable” housing
○ Show buyers how to manage a mortgage/initial costs, etc
● Elimination of Conversion from Single to Multi-family - RG-1 is largest area
○ Can change downtown in next five years
● Companion Transfer Development Rights (TDR) Ordinance (County Has Passed) (2)
Mr. Salters suggested the following topics for discussion:
● Thorough Review of Planning Staffing (5)
● City Managers Office - Assistant City Manager (2)
○ Need assistant to act when City Manager is out of town
● Administrative Services Staffing (1)
● Electric - Replace Two Engineers with Two (2) Junior Engineers
● Revenue Stream/Taxes - May Be Time/Necessary to Tax (1)
● Obsolescence of City Buildings (1)
● City-wide Code Enforcement (5)
● Learning More About the Target Population at the House of Pride/Better Understanding of Their Long-term Goals (3)
Mr. Hogan suggested the following topics for discussion:
● Review Inspections Policy (New Inspections)
● Park Safety/Downtown Safety After-hours (Blue Light Program) (5)
○ Would provide safety and would be well received by the community
● Broadband Implementation - Not Necessarily Good Idea
● Rules and Guidelines for Certificate of Occupancy Requirements (What Is Needed in New Home Construction Prior to Occupancy)
● Review Reporting Structure - Do Not Need Four (4) Department Heads Reporting to Council (1)
● Recreation Center (duplicate)
● Expansion of the City by Expanding Services Outside of City Limits (Water, Sewer, Police - Contract Enforcement for Nearby Towns)
● Ada Requirements/council Chambers
● Animal Control/greater Cooperation/Relationship Between City and SPCA
Mr. Carey suggested the following topics for discussion:
● Electric Generation - Future Capacity/Replacement & Building
Will be addressed in Electric Generation Capacity Study
● Volume of Water Available - Water Capacity (Pressure & Volume Available - Building/growth/industry
Will be addressed in Water Master Plan
● Revisit Restaurant Health Inspections (Take Back from State Responsibility or Discuss Improvements) (2)
● Evaluate Future Wastewater Needs and Requirements/revisit Agreements (3)
○ Without knowing future needs it will be difficult to plan
Mr. Ritter suggested the following topics for discussion:
● Mobile GPS Tracking - Capability to Track Electric and Police Vehicles (1)
● Turning Wastewater Pump Stations Over to Kent County (In County’s Main Transmission Lines (Related to Pressure) (4)
○ Cost of Puncheon Run is $1.4M - turn over to County and save $1.4M
○ Operating and maintenance costs
● Priority I/I (Inflow and Infiltration) Wastewater (5)
● Why Do City Residents Pay County Taxes for No Services - Dual Taxation (1)
● Quality of Life Task Force/Crime (5)
● Public Notification - Snow Removal (1)
Mr. Ruane suggested the following topics for discussion:
● Work Plan for the Implementation of the Comprehensive Plan (1)
○ Economic Development
○ Transportation
● Should Dover Be Recognized as a Regional Library (7)
○ If so, show commitment by funding (Ruane) (6 of 10)
○ Find out where County is with designation (Williams)
○ Express our interest in being the Regional Library (DePrima)
○ Would the City relinquish rights? How would personnel be shared? (Ritter)
● Affordable Housing (5)
● Vacant Building Ordinance (1)
● Raising Bond Debt Limit Without Referendum (5)
○ Costs of projects have increased
● Oversight of Tax Assessor’s Office (2)
● Master Planning Requirements for Non-City Major Institutions (1)
● Sanitation as an Enterprise Fund - Move Toward Self-Supporting Utility (2)
○ Understanding the true cost of trash removal
● Expansion of Paperless Packet Requirements of Other Departments - Specifically Planning Commission (2)
● Do We Support of Bus Terminal?? (1)
● Relationship of Parking Authority, Main Street, and Downtown Dover Development Corporation (2)
○ Coordinate Supporting Objectives, Staff Review - Study Merger
● Additional Staff to Maintain Red Light Program?
● XX (opposed to) Garrison Farm
● Memorandum of Understanding Re: Livable Delaware (1)
● Support of the Arts
Mrs. Williams suggested the following topics for discussion:
● Garrison Tract Commission Consisting of Secondary and Higher Learning Members (4)
○ Have colleges make commitments to implement programs to train staff for future businesses
○ Mr. DePrima feels smaller lot sizes would be more attractive - would require an ordinance amendment
○ Have engineer start platting lots and roads
○ Maintain large core lot
○ Have spent $100,000 of the $500,000 received for utility improvements
● Electric Surcharge for Non-city Residents (3)
● Identify Partners/Stakeholders in Combined Projects Such as the Regional Library and Recreation Center and Get Commitments (1)
● Code Communications
Mr. Sadusky suggested the following topics for discussion:
● Civic Center (5)
● Ordinance Requiring Security Cameras for New Construction (1)
○ Robberies in parking lots
● Support curbside recycling (1)
○ There will be legislation - does council want to fight or comply?
● Voluntary Pilot Curbside Recycling Program with State support
○ Implement a pilot voluntary program
○ City cannot support the expense of curbside recycling alone
○ Not Federally driven - supported by Delaware Solid Waste Authority and groups interested in the environment and conserving landfill space