450 West Paseo Redondo
Friday December 2, 2005
8:00 a.m.
MOTION: Tom Warne moved, seconded by Wade McLean, to recommend to the Board of Supervisors $18 million in general obligation bond authorization for a psychiatric urgent care center and $36 million in general obligation bond authorization for an 80-bed psychiatric unit, and that the Board have the ability to adjust the recommended dollar amounts for inflation. It was clarified that this recommendation was for a bond issue to be placed on the ballot for May 16, 2006. Motion approved 10-2 with Committee Members John Neis and A.C. Marriotti opposed.
The following is a summary of the December 2, 2005 meeting. Audiotapes of the meeting are available upon request.
The meeting was called to order at 8:10 a.m. with a quorum.
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Committee Members Present |
Committee Members Absent
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Larry Hecker, Chair Carolyn Campbell, Vice Chair Peter Backus Robert Davis Paul Diaz Albert Elias Rene Gastelum Wade McLean A.C. Marriotti John Neis Patty Richardson Tom Warne |
Jesus Gomez Kelley Gomez Debby Hecht David Lyons Chris Sheafe Dan Sullivan Karen Thoreson – Alternate
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Other Attendees
Patrick Cavanagh, District 1 Office Chuck Huckelberry, County Administrator John Bernal, Deputy County Administrator Enrique Serna, Deputy County Administrator Dan Eckstrom Tom Burke, Finance Director, County Paul Wilson, Sheriff’s Department Linda Mayro, Cultural Resources, County Donald Spiece, CIP, County Nicole Fyffe, County |
Neal Cash, CPSA Norm Botsford, UPH Carl Larson, Town of Marana Mike Tuinstra, Facilities Director,County Bob Lutgendorf, Facilities, County Joanne Homer, CIP, County Roger Anyon, County Judy Johnson, CPSA Ms. Macys – CPSA Deseret Romero, County |
1. Welcome
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry provided an update on the implementation of three 2004 bond program projects with the largest bond dollar authorizations: Justice Court/Municipal Court Complex ($76 million), Regional Public Safety Communitcation Network ($92 million), and Kino Public Health Center ($25 million). A memo dated December 1, 2005 was provided to the Committee on this subject. Regarding the Justice Court/Municipal Court Complex, Mr. Huckelberry explained that newly available records are showing that there may be as many as 1,000 burials still remaining in a cemetery that was located on the site planned for the Court Complex. The Committee should be aware of this now since it may impact the cost and scope of that bond project. As for the Regional Public Safety Communication Network, there has been extensive committee meetings, an evaluation committee is in the process of selecting a consultant to develop a business plan for this project, and a newsletter is available to provide updates as this project moves forward. Construction of the Kino Public Health Center is underway and still planned for completion by the end of 2006.
2. Presentation on the Master Plan for the Kino Campus
Norm Botsford, President of University Physicians Health (UPH) provided an overview of the master plan for the Kino Campus.
3. Request for Psychiatric Urgent Care Center
Chairman Larry Hecker re-stated the subcommittee’s motion: to recommend that if there is an election held in May 2006 for the Regional Transportation Plan, that the County Bond Advisory Committee consider requesting that the Board of Supervisors add a question to the May ballot asking voters to approve $63 million for an 80-bed psychiatric unit, psychiatric urgent care center, and psychiatric research institute.
Neal Cash, President of the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona (CPSA) described his organizations responsibilities to provide behavioral healthcare via a contract with the State, as well as the current methamphetamine crisis that has driven the request for a psychiatric urgent care center. Mr. Cash stated that a psychiatric urgent care center would provide an alternative location for people in need of a behavioral and/or drug treatment facility, compared to emergency rooms, the jail and the juvenile detention center, which is currently where many of these people end up.
There was discussion regarding the need for the 80-bed psychiatric facility due to the successful and speedy transition of the hospital at Kino from mainly a psychiatric facility to a full service hospital. There was also discussion about the costs to the criminal justice system, including the jail and the juvenile detention center, for housing and time spent dealing with people in need of behavioral health and/or drug treatment.
Dan Eckstrom spoke about a meth free alliance that he’s involved in, as well as how the south side community could benefit from economic development such as this.
Mr. Huckelberry requested that a recommendation on the proposed research facility be held off until the County Attorney’s office can verify whether the County has the statutory authority to fund such a facility, and whether there are any private activity tax impacts due to the federally funded research that would occur there. Mr. Huckelberry also clarified that the County does have the bonding capacity for these proposed projects. In fact, because the bonding capacity is growing and the secondary property tax rate continues to decline, staff has been directed to begin preparing for a County-wide bond election in 2008.
MOTION: Tom Warne moved, seconded by Wade McLean, to recommend to the Board of Supervisors $18 million in general obligation bond authorization for a psychiatric urgent care center and $36 million in general obligation bond authorization for an 80-bed psychiatric unit, and that the Board have the ability to adjust the recommended dollar amounts for inflation. It was clarified that this recommendation was for bond issue to be placed on the ballot for May 16, 2006.
Discussion: Committee Members John Neis and A.C. Marriotti stated their concerns that placing a bond issue on the May 16 ballot along with the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) plan, may have a negative impact on getting the RTA planned approved. Mr. Marriott also questioned whether making a recommendation for a future bond election was part of this Committee’s obligations. Chairman Larry Hecker, Vice-Chair Carolyn Campbell and Committee Member Patty Richardson, who also serve on the RTA Citizens Advisory Committee, responded to these concerns and stated that they did not feel that a bond issue would impact the success of the RTA plan. Ms. Campbell requested that discussions regarding this issue be held with the various RTA committees and informally with other jurisdictions.
The motion was approved 10-2 with Committee Members John Neis and A.C. Marriotti opposed.
4. Regional Crime Lab Capital Development Needs
Mr. Huckelberry explained how the City and County crime labs are backed up and how this back up impacts the entire criminal justice system. He suggested the County may want to begin exploring the need for a regional crime lab with other jurisdictions.
Chairman Hecker noted that the Committee may hold a meeting on January 6th to discuss further the issue of whether the RTA committees are comfortable with adding a bond issue to the May 16 ballot, and to discuss the research institute.
5. Call to the Audience
No members of the public spoke at this time.
6. Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 9:20 am.