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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-24-18 Personnel and Finance • O�SpUTH 8 d �\P ACE x x 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK PERSONNEL &FINANCE SEPTEMBER 24, 2018 3:46 P.M. Committee Members Present: Karen White, Gavin Ferlic, Regina Williams-Preston, John Voorde (late) Committee Members Absent: None Other Council Present: Jake Teshka, Tim Scott, Jo M. Broden, Sharon L. McBride Other Council Absent: Oliver Davis Others Present: Kareemah Fowler, Bianca Tirado, Graham Sparks, Bob Palmer, Gabriel Murei Presenters: Jen Hockenhull, Eric Horvath, Kara Boyles, Jeff Jarnecke, Marcy Dean, Randy Rompola, Herschel Frierson Agenda: Substitute Bill No. 38-18- Levying Taxes and Fixing the Rate of Property Taxation to Meet City Expenses for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2019 Bill No. 39-18- Approving Monies for the Purpose of Defraying the Expenses of Departments and Funds of the Civil City for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2019 Bill No. 40-18- Appropriating Monies for the Purpose of Defraying the Expenses of Designated Enterprise Funds for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2019 Bill No. 41-18- Transpo Budget for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2019 Bill No. 42-18- September 2018 Appropriation Ordinance- Civil City Funds Bill No. 43-18- September Transfer Ordinance Bill No. 44-18- Authorize Issuance of Economic Development Bonds Series 2018 for Potawatomi Zoo Project INTEGRITY1 SERVICES ACCESSIBILITY JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BLANCA L.THRADO JOSEPH R MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY1DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS DEPVrx/DmE=R OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W.Jefferson Blvd.I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.92211 f 574.235.9173 1 www.southbendin.gov CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Committee Chair Karen White called to order the Personnel and Finance Committee meeting at 3:46 p.m. She introduced members of the Committee and stated, As a note,Bill Nos. 38-18, 39-18 and 40-18 will be heard toni ht but will be continued to be voted on, in Council Portion Only, on October 8th, 2018. She then gave the floor to the presenters. Substitute Bill No. 38-18- Levying Taxes and Fixing the Rate of Property Taxation to Meet City Expenses for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31,2019 Jeri Hockenhull, City Controller with offices on the 12th floor of the County-City Building, stated, Before you is a substitute bill that levies the taxes and fixes the rates for the property taxation to meet the City's expenses. The numbers are now calculated based on the information we've placed in Gateway. Gateway is a great system where we can put all the budget information in and then it calculates the rate for us. What you have in front of you are simply the rates that the DLGF has calculated and they are very similar to ours. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to questions from Committee and Council Members. There were none. She then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. Committeemember John Voorde arrived at the meeting at 3:49 p.m. Sue Kesim,4022 Kennedy Drive,asked,Are these figures online with the packet notes or are these new,that you've given Council? Ms. Hockenhull replied, Do you mean the ordinance? Ms. Kesim stated, The handout. Ms. Hockenhull replied, The overview is online. Ms. Kesim replied, Ok, I just wanted to make sure I have the most up to date numbers. Committeemember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to send Substitute Bill No. 38-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Regina Williams-Preston seconded this motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 39-18-Approving Monies for the Purpose of Defraying the Expenses of Departments and Funds of the Civil City for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31,2019 Ms. Hockenhull stated,I don't have any handouts today. We did send out a link on Friday that will allow you to access the entire line-item budget. All eight hundred (800) plus pages of it. This evening we will have public input on the budget and we do have a presentation to share that will summarize the last six(6)weeks of our time together. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to questions from Committee and Council Members. There were none. She then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 1 TTD 574.235.5567 I www.southbendin.gov 2 ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Committeemember Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 39-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember John Voorde seconded this motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 40-18-Appropriating Monies for the Purpose of Defraying the Expenses of Designated Enterprise Funds for the Fiscal Year Ending December 31,2019 Ms. Hockenhull stated, I don't have anything additional to add for this legislation. When we present our information tonight, it will be on the entire budget and enterprise and civil city funds aren't typically separated in our budget. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to questions from Committee and Council Members. There were none. She then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. Carol McAfee, 605 Marquette Avenue, stated, My question for this particular bill is, as I learned yesterday, about the City-wide two dollar ($2) per month assessment to establish a Storm Water Utility Fund. My question is,and I'm all in favor of it,why wasn't a fund like this established after the last flood in 2016?Or even prior to that?The other thing I would like to know,in appropriating monies for this project, is spending the money on trying to bring the South Shore railroad a viable option? I don't see that as a viable option because where are the commuters going to park? That area where they want to bring it in is very congested already. I propose they take that money that you were going to do the studies with and bring it downtown to actually repair the infrastructure in our system so our neighborhood doesn't get flooded again like it was. I have friends who've lost absolutely everything. They were just getting their basements back to normal and now they have to do it all over again. We are talking about $40,000, $50,000, and $60,000 worth of losses in a block. The other thing is Angela was so flooded that nobody could get in or out.They are also going to have to disclose this if they go to sell their homes. I think they are going to have a hard time because there are a couple homes on Angela that have been for sale for a while and because they have this disclosure, they have a hard time selling them. I think you should take the money from something that didn't really work in the first(1St) place because I rode the South Shore. Committee Chair White interjected,The South Shore,if I'm not mistaken,is not part of this budget at all. We are just focusing on the parts that deal with Bill No. 40-18. The South Shore is another discussion at another time as it is not part of this budget. Ms. McAfee continued, Ok, thank you. And you're going to get opposition on this two dollar($2) a month charge. I'm fine and I think everybody in our neighborhood is fine with that. My concern is the infrastructure. How does an eighteen (18) inch pipe flow into a ten (10) inch pipe? It seems backwards. Committee Chair White requested Eric Horvath, the Director of Public Works, to sit down with Ms. McAfee to discuss her concerns further. Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, Yeah, I guess I still have questions post the Lawson Fischer Study and the punch list that was presented as sort of tentative at the budget meeting.Now that we have a little bit of daylight between the day that was presented and where we are now, the EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 l f574.235.9173IM574.235.5567lwww.southbendin.gov 3 CITY OF SOUTH BEND ( OFFICE OF THE CLERK refinement of that list would be nice to see how that impacts not just the North Shore Triangle but the other three (3)areas. I've heard a lot of support for the fee especially from those affected. That is twenty four dollars($24)versus the cost of clean up expenses. What are we going to be chipping away at? And I understand at the time there was an identified top ten (10) list of projects, but I guess I'm not seeing those priorities align with the hardest hit areas. Eric Horvath,Director of Public Works with offices on the 13th floor of the County-City Building, replied,I don't have the budget in front of me but,to be clear,the ten(10)projects were an ongoing list of projects we've been working on based on the requests from residents. That is only one (1) part of that storm water budget. I think we had allocated $350,000 of the $1.2 million for those projects. There are other funds that were allocated for other pieces, and like I said I don't have those in front of me, but there were pieces that address that issue. That top ten(10) list is only for that $350,000. I think it is listed in the budget as small drainage projects or something like that. Councilmember Jake Teshka asked, My understanding is that part of this storm water fund could be used for, say, our CSO allocation, correct? Mr. Horvath replied, As it relates to storm water directly, yes. So let's say we were going to separate an area into sanitary and storm lines, we could use the storm water fund for the storm water piece and then use the sanitary funds for the sanitary piece. So it definitely could be eligible. Councilmember Teshka followed up, I've heard from some folks and we need some clarification as to why this isn't considered a rate hike and why it doesn't need to go downstate and follow that same process. Mr. Horvath replied, The only utilities governed by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) would be the water works. So when we go for a rate increase on the water side, that goes to Council then it has to go through the process with the IURC and then the OUCC also. They typically have comments they provide as well. Then once it gets through that process it comes back to Council to be voted on. On waste water, storm water and only enterprise funds,that solely lies with you, the Council. There is no interaction with IURC. If you guys pass the rate, then that is the rate. Councilmember Broden asked, Why two dollars ($2) and not, like, four dollars ($4)? That would get us closer in line with the average that we saw compared to other municipalities. To follow up, of the other municipalities that have it, how many are within our watershed? Mr.Horvath replied,I will have to get that answer to you later. Off the top of my head,Mishawaka does not. Elkhart and Goshen do. So it sounds like most communities do and once you go north you're into Michigan. We are the last City on the watershed at least for the St. Joseph River. And our needs are obviously greater than the $1.2 million. We've got a back log of storm water issues and quite honestly, we could use $5 million a year and still not have enough money. The issue is we are trying to balance that with concerns for our residents and how much they are paying. We are trying to keep it at a reasonable rate and I know that is probably very dependent on who you are and what your ability to pay is and that is why we are trying to keep it as low as we could but still generate some revenue to do projects.We are considerably less than most.The average is right around five dollars ($5)both statewide and nationally,per month. This will allow us to get at least some revenue that, right now,we don't have at all. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld ISouth Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 1 TTD574.235.5567 Iwww.southbendin.gov 4 :®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Councilmember Broden followed up, And you had chosen a flat rate over the alternative method? Mr. Horvath replied, Correct and that was mostly for the ease of implementation. The more complicated the system is, the more money would be spent on billing and billing processes and that would mean less money that actually goes into capital. Since we are starting at a lower rate, it would be best to keep it simple and use that money on capital projects.Again,the money generated is going to go into capital projects and related services. It will not go into offset costs of folks cleaning sewers or sweeping streets. Councilmember Broden then asked,And the South Bend Dam project, how does that relate to the storm water issue? I thought it had nothing to do with the flooding. Mr. Horvath replied,No, it doesn't do flood control. That is typically where you pay for any dam repairs is from storm water fees because it is managing water that is going through the City. There is no Dam Fund. The Dam is either an asset or a liability but, really, it's both. It is something we have to maintain otherwise it breaks and then it is gone. We have to do minor maintenance on it and that is what the funding is for. Councilmember Teshka stated, A lot of what I'm hearing from residents is that we are already paying too much. So I would like some clarification on the difference between what you pay for with water usage and this new storm water. So if I'm just a resident and I'm looking at it, it is just water. There are a lot of us that wouldn't mind paying an extra twenty four dollars ($24) a year to ensure we have proper ways to manage storm water better. Obviously with residents on a fixed income, that may be harder to encumber. This fee also doesn't factor into the EPA and their guideline on our water rate should be in ratio to our low and fixed income folks, correct? Mr. Horvath replied, What you are alluding to is our financial capability analysis and what that does is it looks at a number of different factors in our community's ability to pay. One(1)of those factors is comparing the percentage of the bill to the median household income. At a point where the bill gets above two percent (2%) of the median household income, they call that the point of severe economic burden. What that does is it doesn't give you a break but typically they give a longer period of time to do these programs. They'll typically start with saying we want you to solve this CSO issue in a ten(10)year period,but because you have high burden,we will give you fifteen (15) or twenty (20) years to do it. Our current consent decree is a twenty (20) year plan because we were at high burden. We were somewhere around three point seven percent(3.7%) of the median household income. That is not the only indicator but that is a significant one (1). With the new plan at $200 million, we are still at burden. We are just over two percent (2%). We are right around two percent (2%) so we are still at the high burden. If you added a storm water fee, we would include that as part of the financial capability analysis because it is an associated fee we can include in that calculation. We don't include drinking water but we include storm water because they are related. Committeemember Voorde asked, How much does twenty four dollars ($24) a year generate for capital improvements? EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.55671 www.southbendin.gov 5 ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Mr. Horvath replied, So what we requested in the budget was two dollars ($2) for residential and then it went to, depending the size of the property, five dollars ($5) and then ten dollars ($10). With that formula, it will generate about$1.25 million in revenue per year. Committee Chair White stated,You had shared with me that other cities have investigated income- based. Maybe we could research that too? Mr. Horvath replied, That is something we are definitely looking at as an opportunity that didn't used to exist, at least in the State of Indiana. The legislature has opened the door to allow us to do rates other than strictly cost of service rates. Before, we were governed by making sure what we did was solely based on cost of service. That means that you're going to pay for a gallon of water what it costs for us to pump that,treat it, and get it out to your house. Regardless of your ability to pay, everyone was paying the same for that gallon of water. There are some folks who have recently looked at trying to find a way to make that income based so that those who have the ability to pay will pay a little bit more and then those that don't will pay a little less. It would restructure rates in a way that would have the lower income folks pay a little less in their rates. That would be easier to do on the waste water side through our waste water rates because it is local control and we could structure a rate that would allow us to do something creative there that would hopefully help people with lower income. We are looking at that now but we don't have any rates to bring to Council.We haven't even done legal research on how that would be rolled out but it is definitely something we are interested in. Councilmember Broden stated, I hope I have just two (2) questions. What was the net resident loss,the impact from the 2016 flood event?And what was it from the 2018 flood event?Plus,what is the total for the legacy drainage events that we've known about for some time? I would like to put that context around this because it's not just the flood event. I think we need to have a real sense,as Council, of the issues City-wide. We've just had these recent flood events where four(4) particular areas were affected and then there was a subset where that was overlapped if you look back to the previous year. So I would like to bring those numbers up and I have them and I'm sure you have them but I think we all have to look at them. My last point is it is only going to get worse in terms of impact and in terms of flood events. I rather be more aggressive on this because we've been hit by some historical events back to back. I think we should be sensitive to that overall as we consider if this is the right level right out of the gate. She went on,As a follow up to that,the post-flooding reports specific to the North Shore Triangle, we had significant follow up to the citizen's question about Angela Boulevard. We know that is adjacent to the old St. Joseph High School property site. We know as soon as you cross there, it is County. Solving that and working on that, I want to make sure that is included in our punch list. I want some assurances because that has been at least a two (2)year issue. I think it is pretty evident that is a long-term issue. Though it is not in our City's boundaries, it is certainly impacting City residents. Mr. Horvath replied,I will say, quickly,that we are working with the property owner on that issue. We don't have any solutions as of yet but we will continue to work with them. Secondly, I want to make sure that we are really transparent about what this fee will do. It will not solve issues like we had in the flood event. That would take hundreds of millions of dollars and we would talk about a fee that would be nowhere near just two dollars ($2). I don't want people thinking that they are paying two dollars ($2) and all of these issues will go away in the future. We are a long way from EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W Jefferson Bvld I south Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 i TTD 574.235.55671 www.southbendin.gov 6 tIOCITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK that. To prevent the flooding that happened last February from occurring, it would take hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. I don't want people thinking this will take care of everything. We will have programs to help in any way we can. We will try to look at the worst stuff, get the low hanging fruit and get the most bang for the buck. It will make a difference but it won't solve all issues. Councilmember Scott stated, Within this report,this is based on what people reported to the City. To me,that is under reported because I know people within Keller Park that aren't concerned with that. I know you guys know that but my concern is what that does for our overall dollar amount. To me,we will look at this dollar amount and we hope to get revenue to match that. I think this is a start. Councilmember Sharon L. McBride stated, I would like to piggyback off the comments as well and request to get some more information. I happened to be in the Sunnymede Area when the downpour came. I saw people digging in drains to try and get the water to go back down. People have been living there for twenty (20) or thirty (30) years and they have to do it every time. This is a great discussion and a great start to see how we can help. My home was impacted and now every time there is a downpour we are getting impacted all over. I think this is great dialogue. Committeemember Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 40-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Voorde seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 41-18- Transpo Budget for the Fiscal Year Endin;; Deceniber 31,2019 Ms. Hockenhull stated, The representatives for TRANSPO will be here toni ht. They have no changes from the information they presented at their budget hearing. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to questions from Committee and Council Members. There were none. She then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 41-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Williams-Preston seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 42-18- September 2018 Appropriation Ordinance- Civil City Funds Ms. Hockenhull stated,We come to you tonight with the appropriation ordinance for the Civil City Funds. There is not one (1) for the Enterprise Funds as typically we have three (3)per quarter and this quarter we only have two (2). Most of the appropriations requested here are either clean-up of the budget where we found we actually have to decrease the budget. A lot of them are clean-up from the 2018 budget to be sure the 2019 budget operates correctly. Those are just clean-ups. The first(ls)one(1)of$672,000 for the Economic Development State Grant is a new lead grant we've received so we are just asking to appropriate those funds from the State. The$1 million of the DCI Grant Fund, and you'll see a lot of these are for the Grant Funds, we receive the money in at the very end of the year so we are just trying to appropriate that. We received more than we anticipated EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building J 227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 I TTD 574.235.5567 I www.southbendin.gov 7 •CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK and so we are just trying to budget for the funds we've received in prior years. There is $500,000 we are requesting from our Worker's Comp and Liability Insurance Fund. We got hit pretty hard last ye . And the very end of lasts there were several very large dollar items and the cost of those are trickling in throughout the year. This is requesting to increase that fund. Fingers crossed we are hoping this covers us through the rest of the year. We don't make the decisions on any of that stuff as there is a third(3rd)party that does that,we just fund it. The $199,000 for the Liability Insurance Fund is due to us setting up separate divisions and one (1) is called Catastrophic Events and we are just requesting to appropriate funds to cover some of the flood-related expenditures that hit the City. We are requesting $200,000 here and we are getting reimbursed by the insurance company so the money will come back into the Fund as we get it. Councilmember Oliver Davis arrived at the meeting at 4:27 p.m. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to questions from Committee and Council Members. Councilmember Broden asked, I would like you to go through that other big mix up, there, on the LOIT. Ms. Hockenhull clarified, On the LOIT versus the Local Roads and Bridge Fund? Councilmember Broden confirmed, Yes. Kara Boyles,City Engineer with offices on the 13th floor of the County-City Building,replied,The first (lst) one (1), the $300,000 came back to INDOT. So, we started doing the Community Crossing Grant program in 2017 and in that year, they had the program set up such that we would budget for the project and they would then reimburse us. So it's a$2 million project, we budgeted $1 million and they gave us $1 million. Then we did the project and it was only $1.4 million. So then we had to give half(1/2) of that back because it is a fifty-fifty (50/50) matching grant. That is the$300,000. That is left over from 2017. Then the second(2nd)portion, overstated transfer out, I think this is just an overstatement of the fact that we thought we were going to do $2 million again this year, then the State changed the program. The year before, they gave us the money upfront and in this second (2nd) year, they gave us the dollars but they didn't give us $1 million. They only gave us $670,000 which meant we could only really do a project worth$1.3 million or $1.4 million. Then we didn't need to use the $650,000 that we got. Councilmember Broden followed up, So what is left unspent? Ms. Boyles replied, In that sense, in two (2) years, we've done Community Crossings valued at about $1.4 million each year instead of the $2 million. In the first (1St) year, the project came in way under what we anticipated so we had to reimburse them back. Councilmember Broden then asked, And there is no way to add any projects in at the end? Ms. Boyles replied, It wasn't possible for that first (1St) go-around. I think there was a learning curve for them as well in terms of how they were running the project. Even this year that has changed again so even the third (3rd) year will be different. They will now do two (2) disbursements. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.55671 www.southbendin.gov 8 II .*CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Councilmember Broden then asked, And what is Community Investment UDAG? Committeemember Voorde replied, That stands for Urban Development Action Grant. Councilmember Broden followed up, So what does that mean in terms of what happened there? Ms. Hockenhull replied, When we did the 2018 budget in 2017,there was actually an outstanding loan that we had with the Building Development Corporation. As they make payments in, we can pay back COIT. So we decided to do a big push to pay back this loan in 2018 but it looks like the loan repayment isn't coming in quite as we had planned for 2018 but we think it will come in in 2019. So, we are just reducing it to be a more appropriate budget. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 42-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Voorde seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 43-18- September Transfer Ordinance Ms. Hockenhull stated, Before you is the quarterly transfer request. This is just moving money between categories. You've got the Personnel Category, the Supplies Category and then the Services Category. We have budget that is remaining in the services and we would like to move it up to supplies. So in front of you we have some items we would like to move around within the Parks and Recreation Golf Division to cover some different salary and part-time folks. We've got the Motor Vehicle Highway transfer to cover a conflict monitor tester. And then we have, and I apologize it says Century Center Capital Fund there in the middle but the fund is #287. The numbers are correct we just had the incorrect words. It should actually read to be the EMS Capital Fund. We had used the incorrect account last quarter and are fixing it for this quarter. We accidentally requested it in Repairs and Maintenance but it should have been Capital. The rest of them are very small just trying to clean it up. Councilmember Broden stated, Sorry. The Economic Impact Study with the Century Center, the last item, I'm not familiar with that. What were the results and what was the goal? Jeff Jarnecke,Executive Director of Venues with offices located at 128 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, replied, The Economic Impact Study was performed originally in 2012 and again in 2017 with the findings of the Century Center having an economic impact of more than $12 million in the community. There were more than 8,000 hotel room nights in that year and more than 10,000 this That is considerably up from the previous 2012 study which was closer to $7 million or$7.5 million. We look forward to continue increasing that number going forward and that study was paid for then this past year. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227W Jefferson Bvld i South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.91731 TTD574.235.5567 immsouthbendin.gov 9 CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Committeemember Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 43-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Voorde seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 44-18-Authorize Issuance of Economic Development Bonds Series 2018 for Potawatomi Zoo Proiect Mr. Jarnecke stated, Aaron Perri, our Executive Director, sends his regards. He has some unexpected travel delay and will be at the Council Meeting this evening. A number of years ago when the private-public partnership was originally imagined,there were three(3)goals established from the onset. The first (1st) was to ensure the employees of the zoo were taken care of going forward. The second (2nd) goal was to ensure the zoo would continue expanding its impact. Third (3rd) was lessening the financial burden on the residents and taxpayers. I'm pleased to share that all three (3) of those goals have been achieved as well as so much more. So much more that after the completion of the original agreement, we are now embarking upon a fifteen (15) year agreement. We believe that it is a result of the Board of Park Commissioners' support of that and because of the good work the Zoo has done. Pre-2014 when the City operated the Zoo, we were operating at a net deficit operation of nearly $1.3 million. In 2018, we'll have an expense in contribution to the Zoological Society of around $890,000. And then going forward, we will average a contribution of around$810,000 over the next fifteen(15)years with a decline in amount each year through that agreement. Mary Dean, Executive Director of the Potawatomi Zoo with offices located at 500 S. Greenlawn Avenue, stated, I'm here to go through what the bond will fund. So, $2.2 million of the anticipated bond would fund deferred maintenance. In August 2017, we brought outside inspectors into the Zoo to complete a deferred maintenance audit. The packet I emailed you all last week was the very detailed conclusion of that audit and there are three (3) Urgency categories. Urgency one (1) are immediate needs that need to be addressed either before or during our Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) inspection. We understand not everything will be addressed before June 2019 but as long as we can show the AZA accrediting commission and team that we have funding, a plan and an audit,we will hope they will understand the timeline to the projects. We will then have to report back to them at our hearing the following September or even after that. I would like to touch on what some of those deferred maintenance needs are. As you know from the ninety-eight (98) page document I sent you,there are several. I use the term needs because there is not one (1) want in that document. These are all needs whether they are Urgency One (1), Two (2) or Three (3), at some point they are all going to have to be addressed. Urgency Two (2) will be addressed in the next two (2) to three (3) years and Urgency Three (3) is the next three (3) to five (5) years. All of this needs to be done in the next five (5) years. She continued, So,repaving guest pathways, and these(referencing a slide in a presentation which is available in the City Clerk's Office) are all actually Urgency One (1). So, repaving guest pathways,for those who have come out you would have seen that we have several yellow markings and that is because we are trying to make sure that we don't continue the pattern of guests tripping. A lot of it is from tree roots that have busted up the guest pathways over the years. That is very important. Next is new carnivore containment for the Leopard and the Lion. That means current carnivore containment standards require assessable mesh, which is the AZA standard. The wire we contain our leopards and lions in rusts. There are some issues that come with that. That will EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.55671 www.southbendin.gov 10 ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK probably be done after our inspection because that is a very large project, but that is Urgency One (1) and will be part of that$2.2 million bond.New roofs on several buildings and new HVAC and electrical systems are in the queue. We know several of our electrical panels are out of date and need to be updated. We are also looking at newer and safer patron fences throughout the Zoo. Our current standard of patron fence is actually not up to AZA standard. They did comment on it at our last accreditation in 2014. We know if we don't fix that before inspection in June 2018, that will be written up. If there was a comment in the last accreditation and we do not address it before this upcoming accreditation, we know that becomes a citation and violation. She went on, We are also needing new animal containment all throughout the East Barn. That was also a comment on our last accreditation. All of our exterior holding on East Barn right now is actually failing. We have some serious containment issues there. We also need new fencing throughout the Zoo Farm. We need repairs to several buildings. We need new decking for the alligator. We also need repairs to the tiger exhibit. All of these are Urgency One (1) big ticket items. Then $1.5 million of the bond is designated for the final phases of our Zoo entrance. The Zoo entrance is a$3 million capital project and is part of the first (1St) phase of the Zoo's Master Plan. We are leveraging $450,000 of Regional Cities funding and we also raised $1.5 million of private funding that includes a landmark$500,000 gift. That is the largest gift in the Zoo's history. The Zoo's new entrance is designed to accommodate more guests per year and overall improve the flow of entry to the Zoo. Since 2014 when we formed the first (1S) private-public partnership with the City of South Bend and Venues,Parks &Arts,the Society has raised over$3.5 million in funds for new capital projects. She continued, The Zoo entrance project will address several issues. ADA compliant bathrooms and thoroughfares are big ones. We know the ways into our Zoo, right now, are not ADA compliant. Both hills are not ADA compliant. Several of our restrooms were grandfathered into non-compliance. This new building will be completely ADA compliant as well as have a family restroom. A new point of sale system is in the cards as well as our current point of sale system is archaic. There will be improvements to our gift shop as well. There will be twice as much space for education and classes and then a dedicated group and field trip entrance as well. That entrance also has a lot of needs. I will open it up for questions but that is a general overview of the projects for what that$1.5 million plus the $2.2 million will be going toward. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to questions from Committee and Council Members. Committeemember Voorde asked, Why is the accreditation so important? Ms. Dean replied, So the Association for Zoos and Aquariums, or AZA, is important because without that we would lose seventy-five to eighty percent (75% - 80%) of our animal collection. There are 2,800 USDA permitted animal exhibitors in the United States and just over two hundred (200) AZA accredited facilities. Because we are accredited, we are allowed to exhibit the endangered and critically endangered species we have and also participate in those breeding programs. That would all go away. It is also very important in that it shows we have the highest standard and quality of animal care. It is important in terms of our funding and veterinary care as well. Being AZA accredited helps us with USDA accreditation. It also helps on the guest perspective. When you walk into an institution,you want to know that the institution is being held to the highest standard and that it is safe. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 TM574.235.55671www.southbendin.gov 11 CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Councilmember Teshka stated, I'll preface my questions by first (1St) saying that I am a Zoo fan. We just had my son's birthday there and my wife actually used to be the butterfly keeper. That being said,as Council,we often act as a liaison between our residents and their City's government. A lot of what I'm hearing is that we've got this deferred maintenance piece that totals$3.6 million. In essence,we could fully fund the deferred maintenance piece with what we are asking for in this bond. I don't know and I've talked bare and briefly about this, possibly offline, but why is there a rush to do the entrance when we could fully fund this deferred maintenance piece with what we are talking about in terms of bonding? Ms. Dean replied, That is a great question and I am happy to answer that. The reason we need to do the entrance first (1St) and we need to do it now is to build out any other phases in our Master Plan,which all encompass animal improvements and new exhibits,we need to do the entrance first (1St) for all those reasons that I listed. So we know, right now, our current entrance cannot serve the needs of the almost 240,000 annual guests that we see. That entrance was built for, probably, 150,000 people. We have long lines, the inability to serve guests, members and we have ADA compliance issues. So before we can build out any other pieces of our Master Plan, we have to redo the entry. If we can't properly serve our guests in the manner of which they need to be served at the front, we may as well not do the rest of the Master Plan. We will have an influx in terms of attendance. I can tell you now, we will probably have a ten percent (10%) plus increase in attendance off of the giraffe feeding station. Our entrance can't handle that. Our restrooms can't handle that. The ADA issues can't, our gift shop can't, so if we don't do this space first (1St), we wouldn't be able to take care of what we have to offer. It would be almost a disservice to build animal exhibits first (1St). I have donors who are ready to pay for the giraffe exhibit and I have to tell them we can't yet because I can't bring guests in under the current entrance conditions. Councilmember Teshka followed up, My next question gets to a question we had asked Aaron Perri when he was here before about the City's contribution. My question is, if we are spending down reserves in other parts of our budget,why would we bond this out? Ms. Hockenhull replied, We are spending down reserves in other portions of our budget but the funds in which we would use for this bond are EDIT Funds and that is not a fund we generally want to spend down. We want to continue to use the revenues we get in on an annual basis in that year. This allows us to continue with the other programs included in EDIT. This would allow us to keep the reserves in that Fund very healthy. Councilmember Teshka replied, Thank you, and I think that is an important question to answer because I'm being asked it and my answer at this point is I don't know. I don't like giving that answer. Thank you for the answer and maybe we can dig a little bit into that more offline. Has PZS ever considered a tiered entry fee? Ms. Dean replied, We have not, no. Are you talking about in-County versus out of County? Councilmember Teshka responded, Correct. So, there would be a different rate for City residents and County residents. Ms. Dean replied, We have not publicly considered it since we formed the public-private partnership,but that is not to say it hasn't been brought up internally in our conversations. We are not opposed to it at all, honestly. When we shifted over, we stayed with the same system the City EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson BvldI South Bend,Indiana 466011p574.235.92211f574.235.91731 TTD574.235.5567lwww.southbendin.gov 12 +®CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK was using because at the time it was working. I have to be honest, it has remained low and affordable. We have upped it fifty cents ($0.50)here and there every two (2) or three(3)years but have not really toyed with it because it was a system that, in our minds, wasn't broken. We also had so many other things that needed to be addressed after we took over, namely, getting reaccredited and getting a Master Plan in place. That is not to say it couldn't be considered in the future, it just was not something in the mix when we took over. Councilmember Teshka followed up, Last question, you've got donors in the wings? When you look at what you've raised so far, there is more out there but you have to do some of these things before you get that money, correct? Ms. Dean replied, Correct. It has to be timed and stepped and that is why we created the Master Plan and phased it. If someone just handed me $40 million today and said I would like to do your entire Master Plan, I would say that's great but it would take ten (10) years. We have to take all kinds of things into consideration. Next year will be a down year. Attendance will be down. Entrance construction is hard and so that is why it is stepped the way it is. We know one (1) has to come before the other in order to make sure we do right by our community, our guests, and our staff. There are definitely donors in the wings. That $3.5 million we raised is strictly for capital. That is not what we are raising now on the operational side, general donations or special events since 2014. I'm happy to get you those numbers at some point but we've worked hard to balance that as well. I'm happy to say we've had significant operational increases to offset additional costs for staffing and all those other things as well. Councilmember Teshka stated, Thank you. I think it's important for the public to recognize that this has been a thoughtful process. Councilmember Broden stated, I appreciate all the information. The audit recommendation from the last accreditation I think is missing from the public record. I heard you say there is some carry over from that. Ms. Dean interjected, There are things they commented on. And just so you understand, some of the comments are not actually noted in our AZA inspection. Verbal comments, though they are not noted in writing, have to be addressed. Patron fencing was a verbal note. So not absolutely everything is actually documented throughout the three (3) inspections. We do a lot of verbal and mental noting and then we go back and make those lists. Councilmember Broden followed up, I think seeing that audit would be beneficial. And am I correct in my understanding there is a public hearing on that? Ms. Dean replied, It is not public. Actually, none of it is public. The AZA inspection is not public as well as the hearing. The hearing takes place at AZA. That is a private hearing done with the AZA Board,the accreditation commission and several other people involved. We either pass, fail, or are tabled. Normally they will come and do the inspection and then leave you a list of information you need to address before the hearing. They will also leave you with a list of things you need to address at the hearing. We would send our packet of information in Auger and then go before a huge room of people in September. They look at everything and they ask for all sorts of information. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building I 227W Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 1 TTD574.235.5567 lwww.southbendin.gov 13 ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Councilmember Broden then asked, And your Board is very involved in those reports and understanding that to-do list? Ms. Dean replied, I answer to the Board and the Board President throughout the entire AZA process. Then the people who actually go and sit before the hearing are myself, my Director of Animal Programs and Education, our Director of Business and Operations and then, if need be, anybody else from the team. Those are the three (3) people that have to be in the room for the hearing and then I'm the one (1)who actually has to present. Councilmember Broden followed up,Then your cost estimates,does that include or exclude union wages? Then is it per project? The way it was lined out, I wasn't certain if there would be some efficiencies. Then I guess two(2)related pieces to that,has City crew or anyone else thought about doing any in-kind? Like walkways? Where is our in-kind help here? Ms. Dean replied, It is a little mix actually. It is a mix of people paid and people who are volunteering their time. We have found some efficiencies. So the audit you see, I've taken and have broken it down. When you look at it, the entire audit is $4 million and we have $2.2 million. So, realistically, we are only covering half of Urgency One (1), Two (2) and Three (3). I've highlighted and separated out from this what my staff can do internally,meaning,my maintenance staff. We've already started ticking those things off and getting to that low-hanging fruit. We've also looked at the community and asked who could do some of that work in-kind. I have a community member who has become very involved in this project and he has helped from that standpoint. He has brought in volunteer welders. The thing I've tried not to do is put a strain on additional City resources because I know they are tight. I'm trying to figure out how to not put too much strain on the resources. One of my maintenance guys is HVAC certified. The hard thing is we have a maintenance staff of two (2). So I have to balance ten{10)work orders a day coming in a well. I'm maximizing the 2.2 million as best as I can. dust 1n general stuff with them s g $ Councilmember Broden then stated, When we considered the Park Bond, there was just decades and decades of deferred maintenance. So in terms of this project, part of me wants to ask how we got here, right? Does that pre-date 2014 when we handed this over? What was the game plan? Ms. Dean replied,I'll say that there wasn't a game plan. We took it over and our first(1St) concern was financial sustainability. There was a $1.3 million deficit and we needed to get it ground up. The year we took over we went through accreditation and we knew from our previous accreditation in 2009 that there were some serious financial solvency and governance issues that needed to be addressed. So,there wasn't really a game plan. I know that is not a great answer but almost all of this predates 2014 and we are just trying to clean it up and address it now. Councilmember Broden then asked, Within our packet,there is reference to PSAP. What is going on with the 911 and these funds and all of that. Randy Rompola, Barnes & Thornburg with offices located at 100 N. Michigan Street, stated, We are serving as Bond Counsel for the financing. The Ordinance provides for the issuance of these bonds to be payable from the Economic Development Portion of the Local Income Tax. It used to be formally known as EDIT. COIT is another component of it. The Bonds will be without standing bonds that are payable from the EDIT tax that were issued in 2015. Additionally, a portion of the City's distributive share of the EDIT revenue was designated back to the County to help pay for EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building I 227W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.91731-n D 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 14 ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK that PSAP agreement and the new facility. The County issued its bonds and the City of South Bend, through Mayoral Designation and pursuant to that agreement that Council approved back then, designated a portion of the City's distributive share to the County. So the City never even sees that money and so the ordinance simply makes reference to the fact that these bonds will be issues unmarried with the 2015 bonds. There is also a component of the EDIT revenue, the LOIT and the LIT that is received by the County. We just needed to make that clear in the ordinance so that as the bonds go on the market, the market understands that these are married with the 2015 bonds but there is a portion of the LIT revenue that is not received by the City because of the Mayoral designation. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, I was just concerned when it was announced that the City pledges $3.7 million. I was concerned about the fact that the pledge was done prior to coming to our Council. It was reported in the South Bend Tribune on August 10th,2018 that says that the City of South Bend will help pay for the project and they pledged $3.7 million. I didn't know how pledges are done prior to coming before the Council because then it puts us in a tough position. Did the Administration just plan that without talking to the Council? Mr. Rompola replied,I understand it was in the agreement between the Zoological Society and the City, agreed to by the Parks Board. It contemplated that amount being available but it wasn't truly a pledge because it hadn't been approved by Council. It just stated in the agreement that the Parks Board would pursue that funding but,obviously as you said, it hadn't come before the Council for approval so it is not accurate to call it a pledge. Councilmember Davis followed up, Yeah, that was my concern. Before pledges are made out there,I would like to have had to have input from this Council ahead of that. Speaking to that same situation, we are doing $900,000 per year at this time? The City is? Ms. Dean replied,At your current agreement it is$700,000 per year. We are in year five(5)of the current public-private partnership. Councilmember Davis asked, So it's dropped down? It was $900,000 at first(1St)? Ms. Dean replied, Yes. The last five (5) years it has been tiered. So in year four(4) and five (5) it was $700,000. Councilmember Davis followed up, I didn't understand. If we are at$700,000 now, why isn't that we could have, we have ten(10) more years left? Ms. Dean replied, The new agreement will be fifteen(15)? Councilmember Davis replied,No, I'm talking about the old one (1). Ms. Dean replied, Five (5), we are in year five (5) of a five (5) year agreement. Councilmember Davis stated, I need some clarification on how that was done. So this is the last year of the agreement that we had at that time? Ms. Dean replied, Yes. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY 1 INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1 227 W Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.92211 f574.235.91731 TTD 574.235.5567 j www.southbendin.gov 15' •CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK ' Councilmember Davis stated, And so all of that has been paid off from that standpoint. And so, therefore, we are at the fifteen(15) year? Ms. Dean replied, Next ye we will start the new agreement. So we are ending off year five (5) of the first(1St) five (5) year agreement. Councilmember Davis then asked, So, just for clarification, we would have a fifteen (15) year agreement plus this bond? Or? Ms. Dean replied, It is all coupled in,together, in this fifteen(15) year agreement. Councilmember Davis then asked, Are we separating what we are doing now? Mr. Jarnecke replied, The current agreement that expires as of December 31 st, 2018, in the event we were not able to negotiate a new agreement with the Zoological Society, the City would have taken ownership and operation of the Zoo back on JanuM 1St,2019. We didn't feel that was a core competency of the City any longer which then pushed us into a more meaningful agreement. Year one (1) of fifteen (15) starts January 1St, 2019 for a period of fifteen (15) years. Councilmember Davis stated,And so therefore,that will be similar to what we are doing right now and that does not include the bonds where the fifteen (15) year agreement is separate from the bond? Ms. Dean replied, It is all coupled into the agreement. The amount is all coupled into the agreement. Mr. Jarnecke stated, It is spelled out in the presentation. It is front loaded with cash and it tails off. Year fifteen (15)will be around $300,000. Councilmember Davis stated, I'm at peace. Committee Chair White asked, In regards to individuals working on the project, you mentioned it will be all local? Ms. Dean confirmed, Yes. Committee Chair White followed up, There will be union and non-union? Ms. Dean replied, Yes,there will be a mix of both. Our maintenance is union as well. Half of our full-time staff is union. Councilmember Broden stated, I guess I want to concur with Councilmember Davis. The perception of a pledge and Council support, and I read all that information, it wasn't the best handled.Union and non-union,I appreciate that.I do have a question though.After the fifteen(15) years, what is our anticipated level on the Zoo? EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 if 574.235.9173 1 TM574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 16 ►®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Ms. Dean replied, After fifteen (15) years, we will come back to the table to negotiate again. So essentially, in fifteen(15)years, if we don't negotiate a new public-private partnership agreement, the City will take over, the Society with dissolve and take our piece with us. Councilmember Broden followed up, So the fundraising piece that marches on during this timeframe should be of a significant interest to this Council,the members of the Park Board, and I want to be sure we incorporate some of the frequent visits to us to update us on that. I would enjoy getting to-where this isn't part of our portfolio. You said you would come back after fifteen (15) years. I see in this document an auto renewal that is of decision by the Park Board. Can someone clarify that? There is a specific segment of the agreement that says that. I want to make sure they can't do that without Council clarification. Mr. Jarnecke confirmed further discussion of that issue between now and the evening's full Council meeting. He stated, To speak to your earlier question regarding the responsibility of the Zoo, it is our hope there is less dependency on the City's end to provide this. That is by design, intentional and strategic. Ms. Dean stated, We have been looking at other ways to fund the Zoo publicly,too. I haven't been shy about the different avenues we can go down with various taxes and such. I feel we are very much a regional asset and we need to look at it being taken care of by the region. We will continue our efforts. Councilmember McBride stated, I would like to make everyone clear. When I had my discussions with the Zoo, I made it clear that this will not happen in that order again. We will be notified as Council prior to any money being pledged. I will be one (1) of the core competencies of this moving forward. Committee Chair White then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, stated, I come to you as a citizen advocate because I have comments from multiple people. These are not just my comments. The comments started off with oh hell no. And it went from there,just to have you know that. They felt that because there was a ground breaking before there was even funding that you guys are just rubber stamping the Administration and the citizens have no voice. The animal advocates want to see the whole thing closed. They don't like to see the animals caged and treated as such. A lot of people thought that we gave multimillions to the parks and Aaron should just find a place in his budget. He's already maxed out the debt for the citizens and he should figure out a way to make it work. Others think there should be no financing at all. I think twenty(20)years at six percent(6%) is really excessive and will really make this project cost a lot more. If we have a double A (AA) bond rating, why aren't we getting two percent(2%)? Why are we financing it all? Why twenty(20) years?I mean, seriously. That is a whole bunch of interest. Citizens want to hear the actual total cost. The twenty (20) years at six percent (6%), how much will it really cost the taxpayer over all of those years? They want an actual bottom-line dollar amount. This is from multiple people but the overall thing was oh hell no. That was the overall theme of it. Citizens were not really in support of it so I just thought I would let you know. Committee Chair White then gave the floor to the presenters for a rebuttal. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227W Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 If 574.235.9173 1 TTD 574.235.5567 1 www.southbendin.gov 17 ®CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK ' Herschel Frierson, Indianapolis, IN, replied, We are serving as the municipal advisor of this particular deal. In reference to the six percent (6%), in the ordinance it is a max interest rate. We have not sold the bonds yet so until it is approved by the Council and sold in the open market we won't know what the exact interest rate will be. We anticipate the interest rate to be below the six percent(6%) we do not try to guess what that interest rate will be because we don't want to come back before you to get approval for a higher interest rate. So it will not be a six percent (6%), knock on wood. We are estimating four percent (4%). Mr. Jarnecke replied, While we appreciate all citizens' comments and feedback, we do believe that, as supported by the Board of Park Commissioners, this makes South Bend a more livable destination. It enhances the experiences of the more than 240,000 people that attended the Zoo last ygar. Relative to the terms and to process, we will work on that to ensure there is greater clarity and transparency with how the Board of Park Commissioners interact with the Council moving forward. We've engaged the citizens throughout this effort. Ms. Dean replied, I do know there was some concern with the groundbreaking. We broke ground with the $1.5 million of private funding and the $450,000 Regional Cities money from the State. That money is in hand already. We had $2 million in hand which covers the first (1St) few phases of the entrance construction. This bond is anticipated to help with the completion of the final phases. We did not break ground without money. We would never break ground with anticipated money. In terms of the animal advocates, it is a very large and holistic conversation that we would not have time to touch on toni ht. I will say as part of the AZA accreditation, a great deal of it is how we take care of our animals. I answer this question a lot but would these endangered species be surviving if they were free?The answer is no. When we look at declining populations all across the world, zoos do great work in keeping these highly endangered species alive. We appreciate hearing what the animal advocates have to say but we have our own side as well. We not only bring great and many things to our direct community as a whole but we are working for the greater good in conserving endangered species. Committee Chair White then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 44-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Williams-Preston seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. With no further business,Committee Chair White adj oumed the Personnel and Finance Committee meeting at 5:26 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Zfe!White, Committee Chair EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011 p 574.235.9221 if 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.55671 www.southbendin.gov 18