HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Head Meetings Minutes 03.02.2004 MINUTES
DEPARTMENT HEAD MEETING
MARCH 2, 2004 4:00 P.M.
OLD COUNCIL CHAMBERS
PRESENT: Mayor Ken Olson Mary Embleton Jan Faught
Peggy Arnold Steve Klotz Sam Painter
Rick Musson Joel Barnhart Larry McCann (4:10 p.m.)
Laurel City Voice articles
· Articles due to Cindy by Monday, March 8th
Evaluations
· Ken was involved in discussion regarding performance evaluations at the Mayors'
Conference in Bozeman last week.
o Out of 38 mayors in attendance, only Laurel indicated that performance evaluations
were not done on a regular basis.
· Department heads to complete performance evaluations for their employees
· Mayor to complete evaluations for the department heads
· Evaluations to be done once a year
· Discussion regarding the need to have AEM train department heads on how to complete
performance evaluations
· Police Department has done evaluations sporadically.
· Discussion:
o Process works well when an employee has the oppommity to set his/her own goals
and objectives.
o Evaluations are the basis for things such as discipline, improvement, and wage
increases.
o Format for evaluations should require a verbal assessment, not just a check offsheet.
· Mayor will contact Paul Hutter regarding the evaluation form and training of the department
heads.
Petty. cash fund for Ambulance Department (check with auditors)
· Auditors told Mary that a petty cash fund is not recommended.
· Ifa petty cash fund is used, a $50 limit was suggested.
· Ftmd must be maintained with receipts and cash totaling the correct amount.
o Clerk-treasurer's office should conduct surprise cash counts of the petty cash funds.
· Mayor stated that petty cash funds could be set up with those standards if the department
head feels it is necessary.
· Jan wants a petty cash fund for the Ambulance Department.
· Peg and Rick will evaluate the need in the future.
Tentative LaserFiche demonstration workshop on March 24th · Tom Thompson, of United Micro Data in Idaho, is setting up a LaserFiche workshop.
· Provide an oppommity for department heads to see if their department could utilize the tool.
· March 24th is the tentative date for the dcmonstratinn workshop.
Department Head Meeting Minutes of March 2, 2004
· Discussion regarding the location of LaserFiche on the computers.
o City has one input and four retrieval terminals.
· Discussion regarding the GIS system.
o Old GIS version on Steve's computer
o Need a college intern to work on the GIS program this summer
o No interns have responded yet.
o Larry will contact the College of Technology in Billings.
Preliminary. budgets - when do department heads want them back?
Budget/Finance Committee directed Mary to schedule preliminary budget presentations on
Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
· Mary distributed sign-up sheets for the department heads to choose their preferred dates.
o Department heads to return the sheets to Mary by Friday.
· Discussion regarding presentations to Budget/Finance Committee instead of to the council.
o Two new members on the Budget/Finance Committee need to be educated in the
process.
o Discussion at the Mayors' Conference that the mayor shall prepare the budget with
consultation of the council.
· Discussion regarding the need for two presentations for the Enterprise Funds.
· Discussion regarding streamlining the presentations.
o Do not belabor line items.
· When the schedule is set, Mary will return the budgets in a timely manner corresponding
with the schedule.
· Discussion regarding staggered deadlines for the budget process next year.
Policy for surplus auctions · Steve distributed copies of a rough draft of a City Auction Policy for City Surplus.
· Department heads will review and submit comments at the March 16th meeting.
· Explanation regarding approving expenditures with trade-in values.
· Suggestion to advertise appropriate items to smaller cities and similar agencies.
Aviation Teehnolok, y Week · Dmann Kerns and Chuck Rodgers contacted Steve regarding Aviation Technology Week.
· Item will be on the March 9th council workshop.
4th of July vendors in Thomson Park
· Public Works Department has handled the vendors in thc past.
o Steve asked if there was any knowledge that Public Works has to do that.
· The Fire Department would like the oppommity to run thc whole event.
· Discussion regarding not requiring a business license for vendors on the 4th of July.
o Need to recover the cost of electricity and thc toilets.
o Local business owners have to get a business license.
o Need to charge a vendor fee to recover costs.
· Discussion regarding rental of toilets.
o Jaycees and the city split the cost of thc rental (about $600 each).
· Public Works Department would provide the necessary barricades for the streets.
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Department Head Meeting Minutes of March 2, 2004
· Mayor recommended that the Fire Department submit written paperwork regarding the
proposal.
o Proposal will be on the March 16th department head agenda.
· Discussion regarding liability insurance.
o Mary suggested that MMIA review the proposal.
o Fire Department buys a $1,000,000 policy on the Company side for their events.
o MMIA requires the City of Laurel to be named on the Fire Department policy.
Draft PurehasinR Policy · Rick asked for input regarding the draft purchasing policy.
· Discussion regarding purchase order numbers on standing orders.
Workers' eoml)
· Discussion regarding workers' comp coverage for ambulance attendants that respond when
not on call.
o Example of incident in Sidney
· If they are not on call, Jan has instructed the crew to call dispatch to confirm that they are
responding to a call.
· Ken stated that there should be something in policy.
o Mayor will forward the concern to Paul Hutter.
o Mary mentioned that MMIA is our carrier and may have established guidelines.
Sidewalk at the library.
· Peg contact Merle Cherry regarding the heaving in the sidewalk at the library.
CIP l)rocess
· Discussion regarding the CIP Committee
· Jean had asked Ken if all department heads could be involved in the CIP process.
o Explanation regarding whether the judge is a department head.
o Mayor wants everyone involved.
· All department heads were and will continue to be involved in the process.
Wastewater rate increase
· Rate increase to be presented at the council workshop and meeting in April.
AI)l)ointment of Ambulance Director
· Need to research whether an appointment needs to be made
The meeting adjourned at 5:07 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Cindy Allen
Council Secretary