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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget/Finance Committee Minutes 04.05.2005 MINUTES BUDGET/FINANCE COMMITTEE APRIL 5, 2005 5:00 P.M. COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Mark Mace Doug Poehls Ken Olson Gay Easton Kate Stevenson OTHERS PRESENT: Mary Embleton Steve Klotz The BudgeffFinance Committee meeting was called to order at 5:09 p.m., by Chairman Mark Mace. There was no public in attendance. The minutes of the March 9, 2005 special meeting were approved via motion by Kate, seconded by Doug, and passed unanimously. The minutes of the March 15, 2005 regular meeting were approved via motion by Doug, seconded by Kate, and passed unanimously. March claims totaling $324,789.99 were reviewed. Motion by Doug, seconded by Kate, to recommend approval of the claims by the council. Motion passed unanimously. The following purchase requisitions were reviewed and approved: GENERAL FUND: Furnace repair and maintenance - FAP 24" Super Vac Ventilator - Fire Dept. Trim trees - Cemetery Trim trees - Parks $ 1,716.13 $ 2,300.00 $ 5,OOO.O0 $ 4,500.00 STREET MAINTENANCE FUND: Repair Remax asphalt reclaimer $ 7,000.00 SEWER FUND: Install air dryer and filter for air system - plant $ 3,940.00 Replace 280' compressed air piping, add blow-down valves - plant $ 6,590.00 Transfer switch - plant $ 1,717.00 Activated needles - system $ 1,585.68 SOLID WASTE FUND: Replace Heil packer cylinder - collection $ 4,107.36 Steve Klotz, Public Works Director, presented purchase requisitions for the tree trimming in the parks and cemetery, and explained that he filled them out as the "Lowest Bidder" as he hasn't determined who would do the work. Typically, the city uses Magnus to trim trees since he is quite a bit cheaper than other companies, but the city has experienced difficulty in getting Magnus to complete work in the past. Steve also explained that these Budget/Finance Committee April 5, 2005 Page 2. costs are only a start of what needs to be done to care for the city's trees, and to comply with the $2.00/capita requirement to become a Tree City. Steve then presented a request for a replacement cylinder for one of the garbage tracks, and one for routine repairs to the newly acquired asphalt milling machine. Discussion followed regarding the efforts to work with the county on sharing resources to do work on the road west of South Pond. Next, Steve asked for direction on replacing the old Ford Ranger pickup with a 4-wheeler ATV at a cost of $8,500. He told the committee that the ATV would be more versatile than the pickup, and that the old pickup was costing the city more in repairs and maintenance than the vehicle is worth. Discussion followed regarding funding and liability issues. The ATV would be a capital asset, and it has not been budgeted nor included in the CIP plan. Options will be researched to determine if there is a way to fund this asset in the near future. The Comp/OT reports were reviewed for pay periods ending 3/13/05 and 3/27/05. The Payroll Registers for PPE 3/13/05 totaling $119,421.30 and for PPE 3/27/05 totaling $124,862.76 were reviewed. Motion by Doug, seconded by Kate, to recommend council approval of the payroll register. Motion passed unanimously. Mary stated that the second payroll was higher due to the fire department's pay, which is done once per month. Accounting Policies and Procedures - No new progress has been made. However, Mary has been working on the MD&A (Management Discussion and Analysis). Drafts have been submitted to the auditors for their comments, and final revisions will be made soon. Mayor Olson commended Mary's efforts on the document. Also, Norm Klein will come to Laurel tomorrow morning to assist Mary in making corrections to the city's Annual Financial Report to coincide with the audit report for FY 2004. Upcoming Projects: Park Maintenance District - This project is on hold at the present time. SID #111 - The city is waiting on the preparation of the bids to sell the bonds. Solid Waste rate increase - The public hearing is scheduled for tonight's council meeting. The next council meeting will schedule the second reading and vote for passage of the ordinance. If passed, the ordinance would take effect in 30 days, or around May 19th. Mary went on to explain that in the meantime, a resolution of intent to change the commercial garbage rates will need to be prepared and passed at a council meeting. Then, a public hearing for those impacted by the new rates would be held the following council meeting, with final adoption and effective date for the new rates at the next council meeting. All of these dates need to be coordinated so there is no lapse with the garbage rates in effect. Nathan had indicated that all of this needs to be done by July 1st. Mayor Olson commented that the city needs to accept part of the responsibility for taking so long to correct the inequity between residential and commercial rates, i.e. with the residential ratepayers subsidizing the commercial ratepayers for years. Budget/Finance Committee April 5, 2O05 Page 3. Budget Calendar - The budgets to be presented at tonight's council meeting include lighting districts, street maintenance, sweeping, gas tax, solid waste, and planning. The meeting scheduled for April 6th has been cancelled. Mary informed the committee that the preliminary rates from MMIA for worker's comp, liability, and property insurance have been received, but that she has not had an opportunity to analyze their impact on the budgets yet. She will make the changes as soon as possible. The budgets for water and sewer will be presented at the April 12th workshop. Recording Machine - The new machine is up and running. Mary explained that she mistook the phrase "transcribing" to mean that the program writes the minutes from the recording, but that is not the case. Instead, it meant that the computer is converted into a transcribing machine. However, the digital recording can be downloaded into a computer, converted to a file, and then e-mailed to anyone, or can be made into a CD. Under other issues, Mayor Olson told the committee that the draft audit will be distributed to the committee and discussed at the next meeting, or at a special meeting if needed. Mayor Olson commented on the 8~-hour shifts for the police department. He sees it as creating an environment to help retain the officers, and the committee concurs. Rick and Mary will need to document the payroll issues associated with this work schedule, and it will need to be incorporated into policy. Research will need to be done regarding invoking the 207(k) ruling from Fair Labor Standards for this work schedule, and this may all need to be incorporated into the union contract. The city attorney will need to review all of the documents. The Local Government Center director, Jane Jelenski, had contacted the mayor to ask if Laurel would like to participate in a web site development grant. The mayor accepted the offer for Laurel, and appointed Mary and Steve to participate. A letter of support will need to be written, and results of the grant will be known in 6 months. The next regular meeting will be on Tuesday, April 19th at 5:00 p.m. On the agenda will be: Accounting Policies and Procedures, Upcoming Projects, Budget Calendar, Audit Report, and Web Site Development. The meeting adjourned at 6:06 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Clerk/Treasurer