2022-02-16 EMC minutes draft - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

c. Upcoming budget proposals for FY 22-23 Budget time is coming up, Chair Adams said. Are there particular issue areas that we should be prepared to support that you don't think you're going to get far enough with the Council, that it would make a difference for us to write a “Yeah. We need this money really, really badly, and we're willing to trade off something to pay for it”? Director Mansour said the budget always is a challenge. Our challenge is the funding, financial obligation, and staffing. So this year we submitted what we think we need to be at for each division, he said. But he keeps being reminded that there's only one pie that goes for the entire County, and we get a slice of it. So that slice is constrained. We don't have any other way to fund it because it just comes through certain baskets and we get our share from that basket. So we may not get what we asked for, but we're still working on it, and see where that's going to take us. It would tie our hands more of what we need to do and accomplish. He understands the logic behind it because there's so much money coming in, and so much money needs to be delegated to different departments within the entire County. Chair Adams asked if there is a particular element to support, to let us know, pass that on. 7. REPORTS/CORRESPONDENCE Requests for updates: The commissioners have requested informational updates on the following: a. Summary of significant new and upcoming DEM activities since January EMC meeting. Chair Adams said she had read an article about Mayor Roth talking to the Cost of Government Commission about various different issues, including Pay As You Throw, and that there were some hurdles to looking at public-private partnerships. Previously, the Cost of Government Commission had recommended increasing landfill fees. So are there some things that the Mayor is trying to push as well for the County that you're participating in? Director Mansour said as far as from the latest report that we submitted is concerned, public- private partnerships were one of our top agenda items. We tried to get private capital funding to come in to assist the County, at least on the wastewater side, so we don't have to tie up County funding and raise the debt ratio. But unfortunately, that bill died. But there is that bill that he spoke about, SB 3362, that could allow maybe the potential of also anything above $100 million. You could allow private funding where they could come in and kind of take over the design, construction and maybe the maintenance, but not the operation. Kudos to the Mayor, he tried the day that he took office, and we tried and we are still continue trying to figure a way how to get our hand into the private funding, so we could at least start getting into a better infrastructure system as far as the wastewater collection system, R-1 system, the treatment plant facilities, and what have you. But that doesn't mean that we're going to stop. I know we are still working, trying to facilitate between communities that wanted to connect to a nearby private facility. We're not going to just raise our hands and give up, but we're going to try to make deals and assist our communities to be able to get what they deserve, to get a 10