HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Head Meetings Minutes 10.21.2003 MINUTES
DEPARTMENT HEAD MEETING
OCTOBER 21, 2003 3:00 P.M.
OLD COUNCIL CHAMBERS
PRESENT: Mayor Bud Johnson Mary Embleton
Larry McCann Peg Arnold
Joel Bamhart Jan Faught
Jean Kerr Steve Klotz
Mayor's comments on chan~es to Department Head Meetin~ format
· From now on, department head topics will come from department heads.
o Started having meetings every week - too often
o Then first Tuesday of month- not often enough
o Now scheduled same day as council meetings to be able to prepare department
head issues for council workshop and then council agenda.
· And conversely, for council to give direction to mayor for department
heads.
· Mayor produced graphic to illustrate
· Set up a framework so that issues from both council side and department
head side to be addressed.
o MDU brought issue to workshop; instead probably should have been at council.
o Try to keep workshops for staff input
o Educational and informative
Mary. - City Newsletter ol~tions and recommendations
· First newsletters were done in-house and mailed directly to city residents
o Pros - good distribution
o Cons - very time consuming for city staff and expensive
· Current newsletters are printed by Outlook and distributed with newspaper
o Pros - more efficient use of city staff and better format for newsletter and more
cost effective
o Cons - distribution limited to Outlook readers (not city-wide)
· Combine best of both, and have Outlook produce the newsletter, but then mail it directly
to city residents
Larry. - Ul~date on Public Utilities Department
· Investigation on how to treat raw water to settle sediment
o Found a new chemical to replace three chemicals being used now for settling
· Reservoir to be cleaned and checked
· Sed basins at the plant to be checked
· CDBG Grant for wastewater
o Helena workshop on Oct. 28-29
· Looking for original streetscape design drawing
· Water plant is now metered
· Dean Rankin ready to get rid of old grain elevator
Department Head Meeting Minutes of October 21, 2003
o Working with Rocky (economic developer)
o May build new store
Steve - Court Building reoort
· State issued a Workplace Safety Order
o Mold was found in Court building
o Three options issued for city to consider
Steve has questions and wrote memo
Three molds cause health problems and are toxic
Samples were taken at various locations inside and outside the building
City must respond by November 10th
· Any questions or concerns should be directed to Steve
Jan - Changes in the EMS system by State of Montana · To be effective 1/1/04
· Ambulance service will be changing from BLS (Basic Life Service) to ALS (Advanced
Life Service)
· Will require a lot more training
Joel - Fire Department issues
· New billing resolution - increase charges for special fire billing
· Clarification on when emergency becomes city's responsibility
o Start/end time for emergency responders
· MMIA and AEM (Paul Hutter) will be consulted.
Pe~ - Report on Retreat at Chico
· Virtual Reference
o New technology for library references
· Brian Klose - attorney for libraries, state-wide
o Wentto D.C.
o Censorship - need policy
o Patrons have right to inquire
o Libraries are "agents of state"
o Intemet access
· Children's filtering
· Need procedure in place
· Child pornography is a State and Federal offense
· Meeting room access
o Can limit to number of times and amount of time/use
o Cannot limit who can use
Jean - Ootions for Court
· Any suggestions for a place to move, if necessary, would be appreciated
· City's Web site helped court to verify court's authenticity when requesting auto insurance
information on clients
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Department Head Meeting Minutes of October 21,2003
For Council Workshop on 10,28/03 · Court Building report from State
· Fire department resolution to increase special fire billing charges
· Nuisance ordinance - draft has Public Works Committee recommendation.
Other
· Need to find a uniform method of doing the budget - Budget Timeline to assist in process
o Will bring information back from Budget/Finance on budget process
· Peg mentioned need for a disaster plan.
o An evacuation plan would be a good first step.
The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Clerk/Treasurer