Maps
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBMITTED TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
SUBMITTED BY: Eric G. Parra, Interim City Manager
VIA: Travis K. Hopkins, Assistant City Manager
PREPARED BY: Grace Yoon-Taylor, Principal Management Analyst
Subject:
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Approve the extension of and fee modifications to the Hometown Heroes Banner Program
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Statement of Issue:
Initiated by City Council action on May 16, 2011, the Hometown Heroes Banner Program is a joint effort between the City and American Legion Post 133 to honor the contribution and sacrifice of Huntington Beach’s active duty military persons.
City Council is asked to consider continuing the Hometown Heroes Banner Program and give the City Manager authority to make any future adjustments to the Program’s banner fees, as needed.
Financial Impact:
No budget appropriation is requested at this time. The City Manager’s Office manages the program, and Public Works installs, maintains, and removes the banners at no cost to program applicants. These costs are covered under each department’s respective General Fund operating budgets:
Public Works labor costs: $108/banner (or $2,160 for 20 banners on average annually)
City Manager’s Office staff costs: Nominal (4-8 hours of staff time per month)
In addition, program applicants pay a $160 fee for the wholesale cost of fabricating their banners at no cost to the City. The fabrication is facilitated by American Legion Post 133, and applicants keep the banners after their 1-year display period ends.
If the City Council continues the current program and fee structure, the City will also continue to assume the City’s management and labor/materials costs listed above. All other costs (banner fabrication) will be supported by the applicants’ banner fees.
Recommended Action:
recommendation
A) Continue to assume the City’s management and installation costs to administer the Hometown Heroes Banner Program; continue to charge the wholesale banner fee of $160 to qualified applicants for the fabrication of new and replacement banners; and
B) Give the City Manager authority to make any adjustments to the Program’s wholesale banner fee to offset any future increase in fabrication costs in the future; the rate may be adjusted by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate or up to the full, retail fabrication cost at that time.
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Alternative Action(s):
A) Apply a different fee for new and replacement banners; give the City Manager authority to adjust the Program’s fee by the CPI rate or up to the full, retain fabrication cost to offset any future increases; or
B) Do not approve any recommended action, and direct staff accordingly.
Analysis:
Initiated by Council action on May 16, 2011, the Hometown Heroes Banner Program is a joint effort between the City and American Legion Post 133 to recognize and honor the contribution and sacrifice of Huntington Beach’s active duty military persons.
The first banners were installed before the July 4th Independence Day in 2011, and have since received tremendous support from the community. A number of cities have instituted similar programs including Fountain Valley, Irvine, Placentia, Santa Ana, and Torrance.
Since its inception, the program has honored 241 Huntington Beach residents actively serving in all branches of the United States Armed Forces. Currently, the City displays 74 banners on Main Street from Beach Blvd. to 6th Street and Yorktown from Main Street and Florida Street.
Each banner is displayed for one year, at which time it is returned to the banner sponsor. The banner space is then replaced with another service member’s banner. If there are no other applicants on the waiting list, the City may extend the display beyond one year.
During the initial year in 2011, the estimated cost for customer banner fabrication, hardware, and installation was $270 per each banner. On July 16, 2012, the City Council approved the continuation of the initial Hometown Heroes Banner Program and a lower-cost renewal option of $140 for replacement banners.
Today, the program fee is $160, which covers the wholesale banner fabrication cost by local printing vendor, HB Digital. The fee payment check goes directly to American Legion Post 133, which coordinates the fabrication with HB Digital. The City covers the remaining cost to coordinate the program and install/maintain/remove the banners.
HB Digital indicated that it would continue offering their wholesale banner fabrication cost at $160 with no cost increase at this time. (The full retail price is approximately $245 per banner.) However, should this change in the future, City Council is requested to authorize the City Manager to adjust the fees by CPI or to an amount to cover up to the full cost of banner printing/production, should costs increase in the future. Furthermore, should the City Council decide to continue this program as is, the average annual cost to the City (for installation and staff time) is estimated to be approximately $2,160 in General Funds.
For comparison, the program fees in neighboring cities with similar programs are listed below:
|
City |
Fees to Applicants |
Length of Display |
Payable to: |
|
City of Anaheim |
Currently on hold due to a budget deficit. |
|
City of Fountain Valley |
$0 (subsidized by the FVCF Banner Sponsorship Program) |
1 Year |
Fountain Valley Community Foundation (FVCF) |
|
City of Huntington Beach |
$160 per Banner |
1 Year |
American Legion Post 133 |
|
City of Irvine |
$0 |
As long as service member is active. |
City |
|
City of Placentia |
$260 per Banner |
2 Years |
City |
|
City of Santa Ana |
$187 per Banner |
1 Year |
City |
|
City of Torrance |
$300 per Banner |
1 Year |
City |
Environmental Status:
This action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Sections 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a project as defined in Section 15378) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 3, because it has no potential for resulting in physical change to the environment, directly or indirectly.
Strategic Plan Goal:
Goal 2 - Fiscal Stability, Strategy A - Consider new revenue sources and opportunities to support the City's priority initiatives and projects.
Although this item is not directly related to this Strategic Strategy, this action considers the full cost recovery for the existing program to reduce the City’s reliance on General Fund.
For details, visit www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/strategicplan <http://www.huntingtonbeachca.gov/strategicplan>.
Attachment(s):
1. RCA & Council Minute Action - July 16, 2012
2. Hometown Heroes Banners Program Brochure - Updated