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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget/Finance Committee Minutes 09.20.2011 MINUTES BUDGET/FINANCE COMMITTEE September 20, 2011 5:30 P.M. COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Chuck Dickerson Emelie Eaton Doug Poehls OTHERS PRESENT: Shirley Ewan Mayor Ken Olson Co- chairman Doug Poehls called the regular meeting of the Budget/Finance Committee to order at 5:45 p.m. There was no public in attendance. The minutes of the September 6, 2011 meeting were presented and approved via motion by Chuck, seconded by Emelie, and passed unanimously. The Utility Billing adjustments were reviewed by the Committee. There were a few errors and corrections in the adjustments and the City accounts were reversed as we no longer bill ourselves. Chuck made a motion to approve the adjustments, seconded by Emelie, motion passed. The Mayor approved and signed the August journal voucher. Shirley placed a graph and explanation in the committee's packet to explain why the General Fund reserves went from 19% last year to 25% this year. General Fund spent $1,177,296 less than budget authority given to department heads. Revenues came in $30,925 over what was budgeted, thus the reason reserves went up by 6 %. The August financial statements were reviewed by the Committee. Shirley went through the month's reconciliation, actual vs. budgeted sheet and the monthly graphs of the major funds. Shirley informed the committee why some revenues and expenditures are above the 17% of the year's budget authority. There were no questions. Motion was made by Chuck to approve the financial statement, seconded by Emelie. Motion passed. There was one purchase requisition presented to the Committee. The sewer department is requesting authorization to purchase a new lawn mower for the sewer plant. The lowest price was from Ditch Witch of Montana. The price is $8,093. The other bid was from John Deere with a price of $9,100. The Sewer Fund has budgeted $10,000 for the lawn mower. Chuck made a motion to approve the purchase requisition, Emelie seconded. Motion passed. The Comp /OT reports for PPE September 4, 2011were reviewed by the Committee. Shirley reiterated to the committee that the overtime with stars at the left of the name would be reimbursed to the City. Chuck inquired as to whether the City Court jury trial would be reimbursed by the Court. Shirley stated it would not, as that would be charging ourselves. There were no other questions. 1 Budget/Finance Committee September 20, 2011 The Payroll Register for PPE 9/4/11 totaling $167,345.00 was reviewed by the Committee. Motion was made by Emelie, seconded by Chuck, to recommend Council's approval of the payroll register. Motion passed unanimously. Clerk/Treasurer's Comments: Nothing. Mayor's Comments: Public Works Union Update: The City is waiting to hear when and who the mediator will be. Park Maintenance Districts: The Mayor informed the committee that Sam Robertus has still not gotten back to Heidi with an estimate as to how much it will cost to do the SID. The Mayor asked if the committee knew of anyone that would be willing to give the City an estimate. Chuck stated that possibly Jake Roth would be of some assistance as he does landscaping for a living. Heidi has contacted 5 other landscapers for an estimate and has not heard back from any of them. The Mayor stated that he will contact Mr. Roth. Other: The Mayor stated that the water meters are still being looked into. There were 50 meters that quit this last month. Shirley stated that it takes Kelly 41/2 hours to calculate averages for the meters that have no reads. The Mayor stated that the City is trying to determine if the meters were from a bad batch or a design flaw of Neptune's. If it is a design flaw the next step would to find out if other cities have had the same problem and settle the matter through litigation. The Mayor let the committee know that ExxonMobil has an additional request of the City. ExxonMobil would like a special meeting of the council on September 27, 2011 to request an extension of the Right -Of -Way Easement for Construction Agreement. The company is going to pull the pipe from the river and would like to place it in the park until they can dispose of it. Due to this request they would like to enlarge the area of the park that they are using and extend the contract until the end of February 2012. The Mayor has requested that the fee be raised to $1,200 /day which is $200 /day more than they are paying now. While ExxonMobil is working in the park they want to keep it closed to the public until March 1, 2012. Exxon would also like to lease the triangular area adjacent to the water plant so they can get on both sides of the river to pull out the abandoned pipe. Doug inquired as to what the Gun Club and the Jaycees would be doing if they are unable to use their buildings. The Mayor stated that if they have a scheduled meeting or event ExxonMobil is paying the fee that they would have gotten from the event. Meanwhile, they have to find another place to meet. The Mayor mentioned that he has some problems with the length of the lease and whether Exxon would be willing to let the City work on the levee at the same time they are using the park. For the Next Agenda: Continuation of the same. 2 Budget/Finance Committee September 20, 2011 The next regular Budget/Finance meeting will be on Tuesday, September 6, 2011, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 6:23 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Shirley Ewan, City Clerk/Treasurer 3