Department heads present supplementals: utilities, police, fire, animal services and IT list major needs

Department heads used the retreat to present one-time and ongoing supplemental requests that staff said they factored into the proposed budget or are presenting for council consideration.

Utilities: Alex, the utilities director, outlined capital and ongoing needs. Staff said they requested roughly $2.3 million in ongoing requests (availability in the materials was close to that amount), and described one-time projects that would draw from available capital. Specific asks mentioned in the presentation included a valve truck (staff cited a cost of about $160,000), interior tank inspection work for the Dawn Tower (staff requested approximately $500,000 to inspect and address interior tank needs), and a recommendation to update the utilities master plan (staff said a master plan update takes about a year and recommended scheduling a work session with consultants).

Police: The police presentation listed facility renovations (lobby, locker rooms and restrooms), parking and perimeter security, and a new/renovated firing range because residential and commercial development has encroached on the existing firing direction. The police chief requested a multi-year approach and said the firing range structure and training buildings are aging. Police also requested equipment upgrades, including lower-cost tablet/mobile devices (noting previous mobile data terminals cost about $8,000 each) and network connectivity upgrades for vehicles (staff said the department currently uses cellular modems/CradlePoints and is proposing a service such as Dejero that uses multiple carriers at once to reduce dropouts). The department also requested sustained support for its drone program and training needs.

Fire: Fire leadership presented both one-time and ongoing requests. One-time items included power-load stretchers, GlideScopes (airway devices the department said are end-of-life), and automated medical-supply dispensers (estimated at $10,000 each and requested in multiple units). The department also requested remodeling of a restroom and continued support for PPE. For ongoing needs, fire managers discussed staffing needs tied to a donated parcel for a new station and asked for phased hiring (staff said management recommended funding 12 of the 18 personnel tied to a planned station initially). The department identified plans for replacement apparatus and additional response vehicles and noted a longer-term station replacement project (unfunded estimate mentioned in materials was in the millions).

Animal services and parks: Animal services staff described how the department moved from an 8,000-square-foot facility to 23,000 square feet and said ongoing operational pressures require additional staff; they asked for converting temporary positions to full-time where workloads warrant and noted veterinarian support is procured through two vendor relationships. Parks staff described planned renovations and irrigation automation for major parks and restroom repairs at neighborhood facilities.

IT / SCADA and risk management: Information-technology staff and risk management presented internal-service fund items including SCADA visibility and bridging needs for utility controls, and the interim risk director said the department is still evaluating cost impacts from recent benefits transformation and prefers to budget at last year’s level until another full year of claims data is available.

Staff emphasized available discretionary one-time cash of about $12 million after accounting for committed projects, but said many projects are already under construction or committed. Presenters asked council to prioritize among these supplemental requests; staff cautioned that some items are time-sensitive (equipment ordered for ambulances, safety-critical medical devices) and others require longer-term planning (master plans, station replacements).