02/14/2017 - Work Session - Minutes MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 , 2017
The City Council met in Work Session on Tuesday, February 14, 2017,
at 4 : 18 p.m. in Room 326, Committee Room, City County Building,
451 South State Street.
In Attendance : Council Members Erin Mendenhall, Derek Kitchen,
Stan Penfold, Charlie Luke, and Lisa Adams .
Absent: Council Members James Rogers and Andrew Johnston.
Staff in Attendance: Cindy Gust-Jenson, Executive Council
Director; Jennifer Bruno, Executive Council Deputy Director;
Patrick Leary, Mayor' s Chief of Staff; Lynn Pace, Mayor' s Senior
Advisor; David Litvack, Mayor' s Deputy Chief of Staff; Rusty
Vetter, Deputy City Attorney; Allison Rowland, Council Public
Policy Analyst; Mike Reberg, Community and Neighborhood Department
Director; Orion Goff, Building Services Official; and Scott
Crandall, Deputy City Recorder.
Guests in Attendance: Dave DeRoos, Citygate Associates President;
John Hester, Citygate Associates Project Manager; Paul Skeen, Eide
Bailly Audit Partner; and Michael Michelsen, Eide Bailly, Audit
Partner.
Councilmember Penfold presided at and conducted the meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 4 : 18 p.m.
AGENDA ITEMS
#1 . 4:18:25PM RECEIVE A BRIEFING REGARDING A RECENTLY COMPLETED
AUDIT OF THE CITY' S BUILDING SERVICES PROCESS. Independent
auditors will present the results and recommendations of the study,
which was commissioned by the Council to encourage economic
development by improving the permit process for new construction
and building rehabilitation projects. View Attachments
Allison Rowland, Orion Goff, Mike Reberg, Dave DeRoos, and
John Hester briefed the Council with attachments and PowerPoint
presentation. Comments included develop consensus, customer
services, restructure department, stakeholder assessment, implement
best-practices, develop/continue employee training/development
plan, customer interviews/survey, improve internal procedures,
timetable for customer plan review, customer service metrics,
performance measurement system, cascading performance measures,
inspection process improvements, organizational support, annual
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MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 , 2017
policy review, combine permits (building, electrical, mechanical,
and plumbing) , certificate of occupancy approval process, financial
management recommendation, cost allocation/permit fee study,
succession planning, empowering City Staff, active Staff
development process, comparison of permit services to other
municipalities, development review team, customer service
considered key component, customer experience, utilize audit for
continued improvement, ombudsmen services, add data analyst
position, submit department needs in upcoming budget, and modify
processes to better serve the community.
Councilmember Penfold said future briefings would be scheduled
with Building Services to discuss/compare customer service data.
#2 . 6:11:27PM RECEIVE A BRIEFING THE CITY' S COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL
FINANCIAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2016, AND THE
MANAGEMENT AUDITOR' S LETTERS REGARDING INTERNAL CONTROLS AND
COMPLIANCE . View Attachments
Paul Skeen and Michael Michelsen briefed the Council with
attachments . Comments included risk-based approach, un-modified
report, capital asset assessment, Federal audit reports, internal
controls related to financial reporting, timing deficiencies,
compliance issues, State compliance violation (impact fees to be
paid back) , Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funding, rotating
audit firms, and adhering to audit standards (best practices) .
Discussion was held regarding the length-of-time the same
company should be conducting ongoing City audits (potential
conflict-of-interest with audit firm employees being hired by the
City and visa versa and having a fresh perspective with a new firm) .
Councilmember Penfold said the Council was not always familiar
with internal controls to protect against potential conflicts and
complacency and wondered if there was an opportunity for Eide Bailly
to communicate those to the Council as part of the audit process .
Mr. Skeen said a Work Session briefing could be utilized to conduct
an in-depth discussion with the Council .
Councilmember Mendenhall requested a follow-up briefing with
the Administration to review impact fee refunds identified in the
audit.
#3 . 6:33:40 PM RECEIVE A BRIEFING FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
REGARDING ISSUES AFFECTING THE CITY THAT THE STATE LEGISLATURE MAY
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MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 , 2017
ADDRESS DURING ITS 2017 SESSION. View Attachments
Lynn Pace and David Litvack briefed the Council with
attachments . Councilmember Adams asked about the "criminal record"
provision in the good landlord bill . Mr. Pace said the bill was
intended to preclude cities from using the "criminal record"
preclusion in their programs . He said Salt Lake was one of the few
cities that did not have a criminal prohibition. Councilmember
Penfold asked about Airbnbs . Mr. Pace said a compromise bill was
introduced which would essentially preclude cities from preventing
owner-occupied rentals .
Discussion was held on a proposed bill that would allow money
to be syphoned from the Salt Lake City School District to subsidize
other districts that were unable to generate enough tax revenue to
fund serious capital improvements . Mr. Pace said the State indicated
they would allocate one-third of the revenue intended for education
into an equalization fund. Councilmember Penfold said he was
concerned the City could end up bearing an unfair share of that
capital improvement bill and wanted to see a tax rate comparison
with other cities . Mr. Pace said this was basically a policy
decision for the State to decide where they wanted to allocate their
resources . He said other cities were in a similar situation and
were actively working on the issue .
#4 . 6:47:23PM REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INCLUDING A
REVIEW OF COUNCIL INFORMATION ITEMS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS . The Council
may give feedback or staff direction on any item related to City
Council business, including but not limited to:
• Downtown Alliance Annual Urban Exploration Trip,
• Annual Calendar updates, and
• Scheduling items.
See File M 17-5 for announcements .
#5. REPORT OF THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
No discussion was held.
#6 . CONSIDER A MOTION TO ENTER INTO CLOSED SESSION, IN KEEPING
WITH UTAH CODE §52-4-205 FOR ANY ALLOWED PURPOSE .
Item not held.
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MINUTES OF THE SALT LAKE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14 , 2017
The meeting adjourned at 6 : 52 p.m.
COUNCIL CHAIR
CITY RECORDER
This document is not intended to serve as a full transcript
as other items may have been discussed; please refer to the audio
or video for entire content.
This document along with the digital recording constitute the
official minutes of the City Council Work Session meeting held
February 14, 2017 .
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