HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget/Finance Committee Minutes 03.02.2010MINUTES
BUDGET/FINANCE COMMITTEE
MARCH 2, 2010 5:30 P.M.
COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chairman Kate Hart
Doug Poehls
Mark Mace
Mayor Ken Olson
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mary Embleton
Bill Sheridan
Chairman Kate Hart called the regular meeting of the Budget/Finance Committee to order at 5:36
p.m. There was no public in attendance.
The minutes of the February 16, 2010 meeting were presented and approved via motion by Mark,
seconded by Doug, and passed unanimously.
February claims totaling $464,544.51 were reviewed. This amount included over $262,000 in
construction project payments, $55,000 in debt payments, and other normal expenditures. The claims
were recommended for approval via motion by Doug, seconded by Mark, and passed unanimously.
June 2009 Journal Vouchers #871-872 and Year-end 2009 Journal Vouchers #YEA905-
YEA910 were presented. The auditors prepared these as part of their field audit. Motion by Doug,
seconded by Mark to approve. Motion passed unanimously.
There were 2 purchase requisitions presented:
GENERAL FUND:
27 trees for Laurel Lions Park (DNRC Tree grant) - parks $ 5,782.00
SOLID WASTE FUND:
4 containers for solid waste- collection $25,865.00
Motion by Mark, seconded by Doug to approve. Motion passed unanimously.
The Comp/OT reports were reviewed for PPE 2/21/10, which included the Presidents' Day holiday.
The Payroll Register for PPE 2/21/10 totaling $162,610.09 was reviewed by the committee. Motion
by Mark, seconded by Doug to recommend council approval of the payroll register. Motion passed
unanimously.
Clerk/Treasurer's Comments:
Water line insurance fund: Mary had talked with Kurt recently and they are working on a system to
record this activity.
Audit findings: Mayor Olson stated a deadline of March 31'. Discussion was held regarding Miral
Gamradt's remarks about the rental fee finding and other areas of the audit. Mayor Olson has
scheduled a meeting on March 10'' with the CAO and clerk/treasurer to work on the responses. The
committee agreed that the city needs to try to get some findings removed from the draft audit report,
especially 09-04 and 09-10 & 11. More information will be reported next meeting.
Budget/Finance Committee
March 2, 2010
Mayor's Comments:
TIFD update: Mayor Olson and Bill attended the LURA meeting on Monday, and the agency
approved $30,000 for assistance with the water line improvements for the proposed movie theatre.
LURA also repeated their recommendation for the remaining $35,000 for water and sewer line
extensions across West Main to the south for the "streetscape" plan. Mayor Olson stated that this
may not be feasible, due to other infrastructure obstacles in the ground. City staff will obtain an
updated estimate. Doug asked if the city could simply extent the mains to the south side of the street
and then "cap" them. Mayor Olson voiced caution in using reserves for projects, as the city does not
want to do any rate increases for a while.
Intake lids - cost recovery: No progress has been made on this issue. Mayor Olson stated that Bob
Morrison, president of Morrison Maierle, has requested a meeting with the DPW, CAO and himself
on March 15th to discuss ways to better serve Laurel.
Chief Administrative Officer Comments:
Impact Fees: Bill is halfway there.
West Main Sidewalk SID & overlay: Kurt and Bill will work with Great West. The MDOT will let
the bids for this project in April. Bill also mentioned that he needs to work with Great West on the
Library roof replacement issue. He told the committee that the new owners of the $1 store would like
to have something from the city in writing to take to the banks for the movie theatre renovations. Bill
also stated that he has recently been made aware of plans to do a brew pub at the old Johnson Ford
building.
Wastewater Plant Upgrade project: Bill reported that work will start up soon. Great West is working
on the design engineering for Phase 2A2, due to be completed by November. Bill is concerned about
this amount of time being needed for the design. Bids for the project would then be let in January,
2011. Bill was impressed with the engineer during the meeting last week. SRF funding is also a
factor in this project's timeline.
Other - Mary reported that the interest rate for Intercap loans is 1.95% for this year.
The next regular Budget/Finance meeting will be Tuesday, March 16'h at 5:30 p.m.
For next agenda: Same.
The meeting adjourned at 6:14 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary K.inmbleton
City Clerk/Treasurer