HomeMy WebLinkAboutStudy Session Agenda Packet 03-21-16STUDY SESSION AGENDA
CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE, COLORADO
7500 W. 29th Ave.
Wheat Ridge CO
March 21, 2016
6:30p.m.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to participate in all public meetings sponsored by the
City of Wheat Ridge. Call Maureen Harper, Public Information Officer at 303-235-2877at least
one week in advance of a meeting if you are interested in participating and need inclusion
assistance.
Citizen Comment on Agenda Items
.L Staff Report(s)
2. JEFFCOM IGA and consolidation
3. Revenue enhancements/storm water utility
4. Elected Officials' Report(s)
ADJOURNMENT
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... _ r City of •
.. ~Wheat~dge
.J?'PoLICE DEPARTMENT
TO:
VIA:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
ISSUE:
Memorandum
Mayor Jay and City Council 0\t\
Patrick Goff, City Manager J1JlJ'
Dave Pickett, Division Chief, Support Services Division
March 21 ,2016
Staff Report: Consolidation of Emergency 911 Services
An Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) has been formulated between the chiefs of the Arvada,
Golden, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge Police Departments, the chiefs of the West Metro, Arvada, and
Evergreen Fire Protection Districts and the Jefferson County Sheriff for the purpose of consolidating
emergency 911 services. Each agency supports the creation of a cooperative 911 center that services
each of the mentioned agencies as well as smaller, agencies within Jefferson County that would
contract call-taking and dispatch services from the cooperative. The consolidated center would be
known as J effcom.
PRIOR ACTION
On May 1 0, 2010, City Council received a staff report from Chief Brennan regarding regionalization
of services by the police department. ln that report Chief Brennan outlined the opportunity for the
regionalization of communications center services as well as other regionalization opportunities. Cost
savings and the ability to provide citizens with increased services was the incentive for exploring
regionalization opportunities. City Council provided Chief Brennan with the direction to continue to
explore the regionalization of services.
On February 23 , 2015, City Council heard a presentation from Mr. Brian Wilkerson, the managing
director and principal consultant of Revolutionary Advisors a consulting group tasked with producing
a recommendation for how regionalization should be configured. This presentation recommended that
a single dispatch center serving each of the agencies listed above be created . City Council directed
staff to continue exploring the creation of Jeffcom.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Jeffcom would be funded by a combination of funds from the Jefferson County Emergency
Communications Authority (JCECA), the member agencies and fees collected from agencies that
contract dispatch services from Jeffcom. The JCECA is the emergency 911 authority that collects fees
from Jefferson County phone users to assist in the funding of all 911 services in the county. The total
initial operating budget for Jeffcom is $15 ,149,580. The JCECA will contribute $4,100,000. Contract
service users will contribute $261 ,192 and the remaining $10,788,388 will be contributed by the
member agencies. The lGA outlines a funding formula termed the Equitable Sharing Cost Allocation
Funding Formula. The IGA states:
Staff Report: Consolidation of Emergency 911 Services
March 21 ,2016
Page 2
Equitable Sharing Cost Allocation Funding Formula shall serve as the initial funding model for
Jeffcom and is based on standardized staffing costs, taking into account the costs expended by each
member to provide its own emergency services communications and dispatching center, including
costs for supplies, services, equipment, maintenance and reserve funding, as well as employee salaries,
benefits and training.
The Wheat Ridge Police Department's (WRPD) equitable share based on the IGA formula is projected
to be $657,222. The 2016 budget for the current dispatch center is $924,709. The projected cost
savings is $267,487.
It is anticipated that not all duties that the WRPD dispatch center currently performs are appropriate to
transfer to Jeffcom. A comprehensive evaluation of all ofthe dispatch center's duties is currently
underway and a determination of what duties should be transferred and what duties should be kept in
house will be made. It is anticipated that some additional personnel costs may be incurred to perfonn
those duties not transferred to Jeffcom.
BACKGROUND
In 2008, Jefferson County law enforcement agencies began discussing cost saving measures based on
the regionalization of services. Since that time, regionalization agreements between the WRPD and
other Jefferson County law enforcement agencies have included a regional crime lab, regional SWAT,
and a records management system. Each of these projects was undertaken for two purposes; cost
savings and increased service to tl1e community. The driving force for WRPD has been increasing the
level of service to the citizens.
The police department has experienced increasing difficulty in maintaining adequate staffing in the
communications center. In 2015, City Council authorized two additional emergency services specialist
(ESS) positions for the center. To date, the police department has been unable to fill those positions,
although staff, with the assistance of Human Resources, runs a continuous hiring process. During
2015 the staffing level ofthe dispatch center averaged 40% below that authorized.
A single call-taking and dispatch center for the county would provide a single resource pool that would
enhance specialized services as well as provide personnel who had police/fire cross training.
Additional benefits for the police department would be improved service levels for officers, increased
ESS staffing levels for all shifts, better coordination on inter-jurisdictional activities and events as well
as career enhancement for dispatch center personnel. The community will see improved call
answering times and reduced hold times, increased efficiency and communication between area
agencies including police, fire and emergency medical services, and better coordination of critical
events that cross jurisdictional lines.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that City Council approve the IGA forming Jeffcom and making the City of Wheat
Ridge Police Department a member agency.
Attachments:
1. Memo regarding regionalization efforts, dated May 10, 2010
2. Memo regarding regionalized 911 efforts, dated February 18, 2015
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.... ~J.~
... ~ r City of • .. ~Wheat&_dge
.J?'PouCE DEPARTMENT
Memorandum
TO: Mayor DiTullio and City Council
THROUGH: Randy Young, City Manager
FROM: Daniel Brennan, Chief of Police
DATE: May 10,2010
SUBJECT: Staff Report: Law Enforcement Regionalization of Services
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
After the recent strategic budget planning session, City Council requested additional
information on current and proposed regionalization efforts by the Police Department.
The Police Department has actively engaged in finding opportunities to share resources
by collaborating with other Jaw enforcement agencies in providing services. Examples of
completed partnerships include Forensic Crime Lab services; radio infrastructure,
hardware and maintenance; regional police academy; and a joint Emergency Operations
Center.
In 2009, the chief law enforcement representatives in Jefferson County committed to
examining public safety services that could be consolidated or regionalized. Our
discussions focused on efforts that would enhance services to our citizens, broaden
expertise within profession, provide cost effective delivery of law enforcement services
and consistency in providing these services throughout Jefferson County.
BACKGROUND
The Police Department currently participates in twenty-three Intergovernmental Agreements
with surrounding agencies. I have attached a previous memorandum that addresses our current
agreements. The department is in the process of exploring the following regionalization efforts:
SWAT Team
There are currently four departments that utilize SWAT Teams in Jefferson County; a Jefferson
County Regional Team consisting of members from the Sheriffs Department, Arvada, Golden
and Edgewater Police Departments; the Lakewood Police Department; the Westminster Police
Department; and Wheat Ridge Police Department. Representatives from the Jefferson County
Regional Team, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge are currently meeting to discuss the feasibility of a
countywide team or teams to provide SWAT services. The Westminster Police Department does
not wish to participate at this time.
Communication Center Services
The Arvada, Lakewood, Westminster and Wheat Ridge Police Departments utilize the Harris
Radio System. The Jefferson County Sheriffs Department and Golden, Mountain View and
Edgewater Police Departments utih:~ a ·t10ton,Ia Radio Svstem. For the most part, each
Attachment 1
Staff Report: Law Enforcement Regionalization of Services
May 10,2010
Page2
community utilizes a different Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system; however, Arvada,
Lakewood and Westminster utilize an Intergraph CAD system. The Police Chiefs from
Lakewood, Arvada, Golden and Wheat Ridge have agreed to meet on May 14, to discuss general
concepts around regionalization. There are a variety of issues to discuss involving technology,
staffing, equipment maintenance, procedures and costs. This is a longer-term project and will
take considerable time and effort to complete.
Other Regionalization Opportunities
The law enforcement chief executive officers of Jefferson County identified additional areas of
potential regionalization. These areas included a regionalized police-training academy, a
regionalized crime lab or sharing of forensic services, sharing of crime analysis resources,
sharing of police property/evidence storage facilities, sharing of towing storage facilities, and
sharing of technology services. At this time, there is some discussion regarding a regional police-
training academy and a regionalized crime lab or sharing of forensic services. Because of our
current agreements on police recruit training and forensic crime lab services, the department does
not anticipate reduced costs or enhanced services in these areas.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
As the department works on these concepts, one of the detennining factors will be the affect
these regionalization efforts have on the department's budget.
RECOMMENDATION
The Police Department will continue to explore partnerships and regionalization efforts that
result in cost savings to the City and/or enhancement of policing services. I will keep City
Council infonned on the progress of these efforts.
DB
Attachments
~II. A~
.... ~ r City of • .. ~WheatRi_dge
_jVp"OLICE DEPARTMENT
Memorandum
TO: Mayor Jay and City Council
THROUGH: Patrick Goff, City Manager
FROM: Jim Lorentz, Division Chief
Patrol Operations Division
DATE: February 18, 2015
SUBJECT: Regionalized 911 Communications Update
Beginning in 2008, the Police Chiefs from Arvada, Golden, Lakewood , Wheat Ridge and
the Jefferson County Sheriff met to discuss the agencies' commitment to examining
public safety services that could be consolidated or regionalized . These discussions
focused on efforts that would enhance services to citizens, broaden expertise within the
profession, and provide consistency in delivering cost-effective law enforcement
services throughout Jefferson County. One of the areas identified for consideration was
a regionalized 911 Communications System.
In April of 2014, Revolution Advisors, LLC was engaged as a consultant to conduct a
study of options for regionalization across Jefferson County 911 services. Currently,
eight agencies from the County are participating in the study including both law
enforcement and fire/rescue. In April and May, Revolution Advisors gathered data from
all of the agencies involved as well as the Jefferson County Emergency
Communications Authority (JCECA) and conducted extensive interviews with personnel
from these agencies. In June of 2014, a preliminary feasibility study was presented to
the Authority Board and participating agencies to outline options to be considered for
911 regionalization approaches. Through review meetings with the Chiefs of each
agency, it was determined that the single center with specialized dispatch approach was
the one to be pursued. This document summarizes that option and its associated
implementation approach.
At the February 23, 2015, Council meeting, Mr. Brian Wilkerson, managing director and
principal consultant for Revolution Advisors, will provide an update on the progress of
the Jefferson County 911 regionalization project.
Attachment 2
~ .. '~ .... ., City of --~Wheat&_dge ~OFFICE OF THE CnY MANAGER
Memorandum
FROM:
Mayor and City Council
Patrick Goff, City ManageJ;;i;.
TO:
DATE: March 15,2016 (for March 21 ,2016 Study Session)
SUBJECT: Revenue Enhancements/Stormwater Utility
INTRODUCTION:
Councilmembers Genevieve Wooden and George Pond requested that an agenda item be added
to a study session to discuss potential revenue enhancements including, but not limited to, a
stormwater utility fee.
BACKGROUND:
The City's primary revenue source is sales and use tax, equating to approximately 70% of total
General Fund revenues. The City's current tax rate is 3% which is equal to or lower than most
Denver metro area cities. ln addition, Wheat Ridge has one of the lowest property tax mill levy
rates in the Denver metro area at 1.830 mills. On a house valued at $325,000, the City receives
only $47 a year in property taxes.
Sales Tax Rate Property Tax Mill Levy
Wheat Ridge 3.00 1.830
Arvada 3.46 4.310
Englewood 3.50 8.124
Golden 3.00 12.340
Lakewood 3.00 4.711
Northg_lenn 4.00 11.597
Thornton 3.75 10.210
Westminster 3.85 3.650
Most other Denver metro area cities also impose other fees on their residents such as a
stormwater fee to fund stormwater drainage issues (see attached staff report). The City of Wheat
Ridge does not impose this fee or many other types of development impact fees that are common
in other cities to help fund new or expanded public capital facilities.
The City of Wheat Ridge is responsible for an extensive list of assets totaling over $55 million.
These assets include land, buildings, vehicles, machinery and equipment, infrastructure and
software. The City has over 133 miles of streets to repave, re-strip, sweep and plow on a regular
basis and 36 miles of storm water drainage infrastructure to unclog and clean regularly. Over 200
vehicles and large pieces of equipment, such as police patrol cars and snowplows, must be
maintained adequately to ensure City staff can provide a safe community for our residents. The
Parks and Recreation Department is responsible for over 42 sites that include parks, open space,
recreation centers, and other visual green space totaling approximately 430 acres.
When funding is limited, the list of postponed repairs and maintenance of these assets can
become very long -very fast. Projects that are put on hold, repairs that are neglected and
preventative maintenance that is ignored add up to a costly and complex problem. Unfortunately,
in the City of Wheat Ridge we currently have approximately $6.0 million in deferred
maintenance that is considered critical. This total includes over $5.0 million in street pavement
rehabilitation, $500,000 in Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sidewalk deficiencies and
$320,000 in bridge deficiencies.
In addition to the City's unfunded deferred maintenance backlog, staff has identified over $267
million in community investments that may have an impact on the quality of life of Wheat Ridge
residents and on the long-term fiscal and environmental sustainability of the community. These
needs include investments in street reconstruction, bicycle and pedestrian trails, stormwater
drainage improvements, park improvements, undergrounding of utility lines, and improvements
to municipal operating facilities.
Residents also request on a regular basis additional or new investments in the City's assets to
improve their quality oflife. With the heavy rains in 2015, the lack of an adequate storm water
drainage system prompted many residents to contact the City after their garages or lawns were
flooded. Speeding vehicles through neighborhoods prompt citizens to ask for more police patrol
or traffic calming infrastructure to slow down drivers. Our environmentally and health conscious
culture has encouraged residents to find alternatives to the car and the City is continuing to
receive many requests for additional mobility options such as sidewalks and bike lanes.
These investments take a considerable amount of resources to fund and complete. For the City to
construct and maintain a modem day storm water drainage system, City staff estimates the City
needs approximately $1 .0 million per year for such a system. The City would need over
$500,000 a year to address neighborhood safety concerns caused by speeding vehicles. Similarly,
to fund and address the recommendations in the City's Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan, to
construct additional sidewalks and bike lanes throughout the community, an additional $500,000
per year would be required.
To continue to provide the current level of services and programs to the residents of Wheat
Ridge, City Council has had to use reserve funds to balance the budget. The City's policy is to
maintain a minimum reserve level of 17% of General Fund expenditures which equates to
approximately $5.0 million. The 2016 Budget was adopted with a projected undesignated reserve
level of 17%; therefore, additional funding is not available for critical repairs and maintenance of
the City's assets without a decrease to current service levels or an increase in revenues.
NEXT STEPS:
Fee increases such as a stormwater utility fee do not require a public vote; however, any new tax
or tax increase does require a public vote pursuant to TABOR. The deadline to submit ballot
language to Jefferson County for the 2016 general election is September 91h.
Staff is requesting direction from City Council if additional staff time and resources should be
dedicated towards evaluating the City's current fee and tax structure.
~~'~
.... ~ r-City of . .. ~WheatRi._dge ~PUBLIC WORKS
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
Background
Memorandum
Patrick Goff, City Manager ~
Scott Brink, Public Works Director
March 21 ,2016
Stom1water Utility Discussion
At the Study Session held on September 14, 2015, Council engaged in a discussion regarding
overall drainage deficiencies and needs in the City, including a lack of funding available to
address these needs. The discussion was motivated in part by above average precipitation and
heavy rainfall events that occurred earlier in 2014, along with an overall history and knowledge
of needs that have been previously documented and discussed.
Drainage issues and related complaints from property owners have been on-going for years, and
the City has several times in the past attempted to address and mitigate many of these issues.
Capital projects required to address these issues have been difficult to implement as a result of a
lack of funding. However, recent wet seasons and rainfall events have further exposed the needs
and a renewed sense of urgency for the City to again confront the issue. Drainage issues are
numerous and varied, ranging from general nuisance areas (ex: ponding at intersections) to more
serious flooding and property damage issues.
From a historical perspective, Wheat Ridge was incorporated as a City in 1969. However, the
majority of development occurred prior to that time, and construction and development occurred
without much of the comprehensive planning that is typical of many municipalities. As a result,
a majority of the public infrastructure, including streets and drainage were completed on more of
a piecemeal basis without much of the comprehensive oversight needed, such as looking at larger
areas, subareas, and even individual neighborhoods as a whole. This is visually very apparent as
one drives through the City. For example, streets vary in width and construction, some with curb
and gutter and some not, and others constructed as a more rural section without any associated
drainage infrastructure. As a result, there is a wide variety of ditches, culverts, drainage pipes,
graded shoulders, and other features that carry stonn water. Downstream facilities, as they may
or may not exist, often cannot accommodate heavier flows originating further upstream. As a
result, some areas of the City may drain well, while in others, drainage may be very poor to even
non-existent.
Capital projects have been constructed to correct and improve drainage deficiencies as
opportunities have been presented, such as when streets are reconstructed, or when leveraged
with private developments if possible. However, capital funding targeted specifically for storm
water improvements has overall been insufficient. During and after rainfall events, Public
Works Operations crews often attempt to correct and mitigate drainage issues to the extent
Attachment 1
Stonnwater Utility Discussion
March 21 ,2016
Page 2
possible by cleaning existing pipes and ditches, repairing aging and deteriorating pipes, grading
shoulders to facilitate drainage, installing asphalt edges, and/or other measures as they may be
available. However, because of the overall needs and a Jack of capital funding, these efforts are
minimal and considered more spot repair or "band-aid" approaches, where more badly needed
capital projects are necessary to correct the issues. These needed capital projects often include
the reconstruction of problem streets with curb and gutter and storm sewer, and the construction
of larger storm sewer projects with detention basins and/or other facilities. In addition, much of
the infrastructure that does exist is aging and deteriorating, and simply replacing existing pipes is
a significant expense.
Past Funding Efforts
A previous effort to address this issue occurred in 2004. At that time, recently adopted
regulations of the Clean Water Act required that certain types of facilities needed to attain
stonnwater discharge pennits. Essentially, cities were required to address water quality issues
under subsequent provisions of the Colorado Water Quality Control Act and the requirements of
federal NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permitting requirements. As
a result, the City was faced with confronting State and Federal water quality requirements in
addition to the on-going drainage needs.
In order to address both issues (drainage and water quality), including funding needs, the City
retained the consulting finn of Carter-Burgess to prepare a report that included a list of estimated
project costs and to propose a capital improvement funding mechanism. The funding mechanism
proposed at the time was a stonnwater utility, which a significant percentage of municipalities in
the Denver metro area (and nationwide) have adopted . However, the City Council at that time
elected not to move forward with a utility.
Essentially, a stonnwater utility provides a means for assessing a monthly or quarterly fee to
properties (city-wide), similar to other utility fees such as a sanitary sewer, water, street lights, or
other services. The fee is typically calculated on a formula that estimates the contributing runoff
from a property, including the size of a property, surface type (i.e., percentage of hard surface or
turf, etc.). From this formula, a unit rate is established and then factored for different rates for
residential, commercial, and other property uses. The 2004 study by Carter-Burgess essentially
provided a funding mechanism recommendation and proposed billing means consistent with
other municipalities in the Denver area. Primarily, a typical residential property would be
assessed a unit ERU (Equivalent Residential Unit), while commercial, industrial and other
properties would be assessed multiple ERU's based on the size of the property. For example,
under various options provided in the 2004 report, a monthly residential fee of $4.10 wou ld
generate revenue to provide for $500,000 in capital improvements annually, including
administrative/billing costs; $6.02 would generate $1 ,000,000, etc. Again, these estimates are all
from 2004.
In 2007, the City re-visited the issue and established a Drainage, Infrastructure, Roads and Trails
(D.I.R.T.) task force to address all infrastructure needs comprehensively (including streets, trails,
sidewalks, and park needs in addition to storm water). From public input and other available
sources, the task force essentially developed a ranking of priority projects from a list that was
estimated to be a total of $143 million. A copy of the D.I.R.T. rankings are attached. Since
2007, some improvements within the list have been completed as resources have been attained,
Stonnwater Utility Discussion
March 21 ,2016
Page 3
such as the recently completed 291h A venue area drainage project between Sheridan and Fenton.
However, a majority of needs remain on this list, without any identified funding source or
timeline.
Floodplains
More recently, the 100-yr floodplain maps were revised by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) and adopted by the City in early 2014. This revision placed several additional
Wheat Ridge properties into the designated flood zone, thus resulting in additional regulatory
restraints and flood insurance costs to many properties or increased insurance costs for some
properties already paying for flood insurance.
Staff, in a very preliminary manner, has explored possible grading projects that might remove
several properties from the flood zone by shrinking the size of the zone, thus possibly resulting
in significant savings to those properties. Such projects would require a significant amount of
capital, and a funding source would need to be identified. More recently, the City has engaged in
a comprehensive study with the Urban Drainage and Flood Control District (UDFCD), and the
City of Golden to investigate the possibility of updating the flood zone maps with the assistance
ofhistoric stream gauge data in addition to hydrologic modeling. Preliminary work is indicating
that it may be possible to reduce the flood zone boundaries based on this work.
Conclusion and Recommendations
As previously mentioned, attempts to correct and improve drainage deficiencies have occurred as
resources and opportunities have presented themselves. However, a dedicated consistent funding
source for implementing storm water and drainage improvements does not exist, despite previous
discussions. Drainage issues will continue, and even worsen as long as existing infrastructure
continues to deteriorate and critical capital projects addressing drainage are not completed.
Following are key discussion points for Council to consider for further staff direction as follows:
1. Does Council desire to pursue a dedicated funding source for addressing drainage needs,
such as a storm water utility or other?
2. Should Council dedicate additional funds on an annual basis in the Capital Investment
Program (C.I.P.) to address storm water maintenance more effectively? (Would require
the reduction of other services).
3. Should the D.I.R.T. report and list of projects and rankings from 2007 be revisited and
revised to reflect current and projected needs, both in terms of drainage and overall
infrastructure improvements needed?
Recommended Options for Council Consideration
1. Direct staff to update the D.I.R.T. Task Force Report.
2. Prioritize projects by considering the following:
a. Critical drainage need (i.e., number of properties benefitted, nuisances vs. actual
property damages/loss, etc.)
b. Leveraging cost and benefit opportunities with other project needs such as sidewalks,
street reconstructions, redevelopment opportunities, and work by others (private
utilities, other agencies, etc.).
3. Develop a long-term (1 0-year) Capital Improvement Program
Storrnwater Utility Discussion
March 21 ,2016
Page4
4. Work with a consultant to revisit and update the previous storm water utility proposal,
including updated revenue projections from various fee structures, which Council may
later consider.
ATTACHMENT:
l. D.I.R.T. Task Force Report (2007)
1
2
3
4
!
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Attltchment A
D.I.R.T. Overall Pro!ect Ranking Bv SCO[!
3!2
342
I I 341
PTRG
Plri lll/rtlltnlt:IIIN
1 unrt~~~a I 331
RSil
Wllllfwordl ~-J6tla 1D
'46tla I 329
309
I£IrU1'1WtCll Wamlnt System
270
262
ITIU
Dlsplllcll CoiiS()IG, Mobile
14 ond Potttlble /lod/os 258
ITI¥2 &c 3
Co"'PMitr Aithd Dlspllldt
15 (CAD) 4/l«~~rds 255
SSN12
Gllrrison Str~d, Uth to 1-10
16 251
PL N3
Jltlr Ave., KlplllffiD
17 Yormd/dd 246
PLNI
YoMnlfldd
18 227
SSN16
41st Allenlle, Felflon to
19 Amn 223
LB~
Jltlt 4 Depew Frultdllle
20 222
PWtll
MlllfidpiJI MllilflelflllfCe
21 F11dlity 218
LBN4
1-70 tllfd Fnlitdlllt
22 212
PLIU
LMtlteTIVI P11rlcwll)l to
23 Klplint 200
PLNl
Ttlbor to YoM11gjUid
24 188
ITNS
Cily-wlih Wlf1 Ndttlork
25 (CWC) 171
PW /12
City Htlll
26 170 - -·-----
Attachment B-Summary of O.I.R.T. Ranklna By Pro!ect Group