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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget/Finance Committee Minutes 08.19.2008MINUTES BUDGET/FINANCE COMMITTEE AUGUST 19, 2008 5:30 P.M. COUNCIL CONFERENCE ROOM MEMBERS PRESENT: Co-Chairman Kate Hart Gay Easton Doug Poehls Mayor Ken Olsan OTHERS PRESENT: Bill Sheridan Cathy Gabrian Co-Chairman Kate Hart called the regular meeting of the Budget/Finance Committee to order. There was no public in attendance. The minutes of the August 5, 2008 meeting were presented and approved via motion by Doug, seconded by Gay, and passed unanimously. July Journal Vouchers # 801-805 were reviewed and approved by the mayor. Utility Billing adjustments for July 2008 were reviewed by the cona.mittee. The documents were approved via motion by Doug, seconded by Gay, and passed unanimously. The July 2008 Financial Statements were reviewed by the committee. The July financials reflect the correct expenses but the budget figures are off and will be until the budget is finalized. Motion by Doug, seconded by Gay, to recommend approval of the July Financial Statements to the council. Motion passed unanimously. The following purchase requisition was reviewed and approved: GENERAL FUND 2 Computer desk modules for Council Secretary & Clerk/Treasurer $ 4,148.00 Bill presented a purchase requisition from Chief Musson for a new police vehicle. There were no bids but Rick had contacted three companies. Doug stated he would like to hold off on this until he sees bids. This was tabled until the next meeting. The committee reviewed the Comp/OT reports for PPE 8/10/2008. The Payroll Register for PFE 8/10/08 totaling $153,364.14 was reviewed by the committee. Motion by Doug, seconded by Gay, to recommend council approval of the payroll register. Motion passed unanimously. Clerlc/Treasurer's Comments: Resolution to transfer Riverside Park revenues to CIP -There was no progress on this issue. Dan McGee has not stated a time frame for completing the survey. There has been no contact with Dan for a period of time. Kate and Doug suggested putting this item under Future Meetings sa there is no pressure an Mary to report on this when there is no progress being made. Bill said it is appropriate to have contact with club members. He would like to meet with them, discuss what needs to be done and come to an agreement. The house in Riverside Park Budget/Finance Committee August 19, 2008 Page 2 needs improvement. It may be part of their agreement that they would be willing to work on projects to help improve the park. Budget pro rg ess update -The budget is as far as it can go without having firm wages. Bill indicated the shop union has a tentative agreement and he will go forward with the non-union wages. Bill said the mediator for the police union will be back on September 4i". They will be looking at the work rules and other areas of the contract, not wages and benefits, and if they come to agreement on these issues, it will be brought to the council to ratify. Then they can concentrate on wages and benefits. Mayor Olson said we have to prepare our argument for the arbitrator by comparing apples to apples. With two unions, we can no longer compare everyone in the City of Laurel; we need to compare jobs with like jobs in cities our same size. Mayor's Comments: CIP u~adate - Zt was felt that we need to continue implementation and proceed with the budget as some capital improvement projects are triggered by outside funding sources. Purchase and Procurement Policy -Mayor Olson said we need to raise this to allow the department heads to do their jobs. Sam is working on the verbiage for it. Chief Administrative Officer Comments: Impact Fees F_ easibility Study update -- Bill stated that he and Mary have worked on it and will continue to pursue it. There are a number of fees that can be assessed but, we need to decide which ones to use. We da not want to stop developers from coming to Laurel because of it. He feels we need to speak to developers before implementing any new fees. We need to assess the impact to solid waste, sewer, and water but also to fire, streets, police, and parks. This study will ga out into our planning jurisdiction. Water and sewer are holding us up. We need to start small and build from there. Storm Water Pra~ect & S. 15` Ave. overla u date -Bill stated this project is a success. He expects the project to start in September and finish in December. Two crews will be working, both day and night, to get the project done. Next spring the state will come in to pave. The curb and gutter will be done through an SID that will be tied in with the paving project. Bill said our engineer, Chad Hanson with Great West, is doing a great job and will go with us to visit businesses. It was stated that in light of these improvements, some businesses may want to make their own improvements to tie in with this project. West Main Sidewalk SID & overlay --Bill had a call fram MDT and nothing fits, and this project is a nightmare. A meeting will be held with them on August 22nd to go over the entire project. Main Street from lsi to aid Avenues is not in the project and seems to have been ignored. There are all kinds of infrastructure problems on Main from aid to 8`" Avenues. Bill said the new man seems to know a lot and feels we can lean on him. BudgedFinance Committee August 19, 2008 Page 3 WWTP U ade Preliminar En ineerin Pro'ect - Bi11 brought this amendment from Morrison Maierle, Inc. They prepared an amendment to consider alternatives to provide additional capacity at the Elm Street and Village Lift Stations and to consider the collapsing I-90 sanitary sewer crossing. This amendment will allow them to consider and present several alternatives for the lift stations and the I-90 sewer crossing to guide the planning and decision making efforts of elected officials and city staff. The cost of this amendment is $10,800.00. Bill said we had hoped to purchase praperty adjacent to the Elm station but asix-plex was built an it. Our next option is to purchase property that currently has a house on it and build a new lift station. With our thoughts to the future, we need to look at replacing the Village Lift Station with a new one, possibly by Seitz-Ronan Road. This station would have the capacity to handle all the subdivisions to the north and northeast of Laurel. If and when this is done, we need to consider water line replacement to handle these same areas. With sewer and water in place, we can look to future annexations. Discussion followed. Motion by Doug, seconded by Gay, to bring this amendment forward to the council. Other - None The next regular Budget/Finance meeting will be Tuesday, September 2"d at 5:30 p.m. The meeting adjourned at 6:25 p.rn. Respectfully Submitted, r Cathy Ga rian Deputy Clerk