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072009 CC WS MinCITY OF SII07 J ° - CITY COUNCj~, ; L ~ o-ESSION MONDAY, JULY ; 2-99 MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITE' COUNCIL, WORD SESSION 5755 C - 'T-1Y CLUB r' COUNC-A, CA-IAMBE S Meeting - - begin following t-- 5:30 P.M. Special Meeting Mayor Lizee called the meeting to order at 6:47 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Liz6e; Councilmembers Bailey, Turgeon, and Woodruff; Administrator Heck; Finance Director Burton; Planning Director Nielsen; Director of Public Works Brown; and Engineer Landini Absent: Councilmember Zerby B. Review Agenda Woodruff moved, Turgeon seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 4/0. 2. 2010 BUDGET Administrator Heck stated the meeting packet for this evening included a memorandum coauthored by Director Burton and him outlining recommended adjustments that could be made to draft 2010 general fund budget. The draft budget was discussed during Council's June 22, 2009, work session. He explained the adjustments were identified after he and Burton again met with the department heads about their budgets. They also took into consideration comments that were made during the work session. During the work session there was discussion as to whether it was appropriate to allot $24,000 for merit pay increases and $5,000 for the appreciation event for Staff and volunteers, and about training and memberships. The majority of the adjustments were reductions in expenses. Additional resources are recommended to be allotted to streets and roadways ($12,000) as well as parks ($3,900). The net effect of the adjustments was a decrease of $28,376 in proposed expenses, not including personnel adjustments. The memorandum also identifies potential staffing related adjustments, noting that dining the June 22°d work session Councilmember Zerby asked if any staffing reductions were being considered based on the current economic conditions. He clarified he has not made any specific recommendations about staffing adjustments. Heck explained the proposed transfers from the General Fund to the Streets and Roadway Fund and to the Parks and Recreation Fund are the same as the transfers budgeted for 2009. These are the priorities identified by Council. Consideration can be given to reducing the transfer from the General Fund to the Equipment Replacement Fund to $100,000 from $175,000 without it negatively impacting the equipment replacement schedule for the next three years. Heck then explained that most of the department budgets include an allocation for office supplies. Essentially all of the office supplies are purchased through the General Government budget. There is no need for each department to have an allocation for office supplies unless the supply is specific to an individual department (e.g., check stock for the Finance Department). Heck reviewed the potential 2010 budget adjustments, not including personnel, which are as follows. MUTES J1 Page 2 01 ➢ Mayor and Council • Miscellaneous supplies - reduce the amount to $1,000 from $1,200. • Travel, conference and schools - reduce the amount to $1,000 from $2,000. Staff recommends Council consider attending the annual conference of the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) and the legislative conference the LMC has with other organizations. These conferences are not that expensive to attend as they are held locally. • Appreciation event - reduce the amount to $2,500 from $5,000 so some type of event can be held at a location that would be less expensive than holding it at the Minnetonka Country Club. • Dues and subscription - reduce the amount to $42,673 from $43,100. Some of the subscriptions include the League of Minnesota Cities, the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District, the Association of Metro Cities, and the Chamber of Commerce July Fourth Celebration. • The place holder for the treatment program for Eurasian Watermilfoil has been placed in the Parks and Recreation budget. • The recommended reductions total $4,127. ➢ Administration • General supplies - reduce the amount to zero from $200. • Travel, conference and schools - reduce the amount to $2,200 from $4,000. Staff suggests attendance at annual national conferences be scheduled for alternating years. • Contractual - reduce the amount to zero from $500. • The recommended reductions total $2,500. ➢ General Government • Part-time help - reduce the amount to $1,000 from $10,800. The City has hired temporary help to scan historical documents into the Laserfiche system. Much of this has been completed. It is the individual departments' responsibilities to scan new documents. The remaining $1,000 is to fund other temporary needs. • Travel, conference and schools - reduce the amount to $2,950 from $3,950. The $1,000 reduction is for tuition reimbursement. The City has a tuition reimbursement program, but the policy indicates that can occur if budgeted for. • The recommended reductions total $10,800. ➢ Elections • Furniture and fixtures - reduce the amount to $600 from $1,200. Two voting booths will be purchased instead of four. ➢ Finance • Travel, conference and schools - reduce the amount to $3,800 from $4,800. Attend the national conference alternating years. • Capital outlay - reduce the amount to zero from $1,500. The laser printer will be replaced in 2009. • The recommended reductions total $2,500. ➢ Professional Services • Miscellaneous services - reduce the amount to zero from $8,000. In the past it has been the custom to budget $8,000 - $10,000 to fund the need for unexpected consulting services. Heck stated that is what reserves are for. ➢ Planning and Zoning • Office supplies - reduce the amount to zero from $200 • General supplies - reduce the amount to $250 from $500. • Travel, conference and schools - reduce the amount to $1,900 fi-om 4,000. J1 , Page 3 of 6 TING MINUTES ® Contractual - reduce the amount to zero from $3,500. A Planning Assistant will become the recorder for the Planning Commission meetings. Woodruff questioned what the impact of doing so would be on the Planning and Zoning workload. Heck stated this was the Planning Director's idea. ® Dues and subscriptions - reduce the amount to $600 from $750. ® The recommended reductions total $6,200. ➢ Municipal Buildings • Communication - reduce the amount to $1,000 from $2,000. Two analog lines will remain for the fire protection system. • Utilities - reduce the amount to $9,000 from $12,000. • Rental - reduce the amount to $1,000 from $1,500. • The recommended reductions total $4,500. ➢ Public Works General supplies - reduce the amount to $9,000 from $10,000. Utilities - reduce the amount to $15,000 from $18,400. Bailey noted the budget for fuel in 2009 was increased close to $10,000 because of the high cost of fuel. Woodruff stated there would not be huge increases in the cost of diesel fuel in 2010. Staff will verify the budget for fuel is accurate based on historical consumption. • The recommended reductions total $4,400. ➢ Streets and Roadways • General supplies - increase the amount to $85,000 from $73,000. The amount is based on the price of asphalt being $65 per ton for 1,250 tons. ➢ Sanitation • Personnel - reduce the amount to zero from $649. ➢ Parks • Maintenance, buildings - reduce the amount to $1,000 from $2,000. • General supplies - increase the amount to $10,000 from $8,000 based on historical data. • Consulting - reduce the amount to zero from $ 1,000. • Contractual - increase the amount to $67,000 from $63,100. The amount reflects the costs for CRR to provide park scheduling and park coordination activities for the year. The contribution to the Southshore Center was eliminated and the $6,000 placeholder for the chemical treatment of Eurasian Watermilfoil was added. • The recommended adjustments total an increase of $3,900. Councilmember Woodruff stated it is his recollection that the City had made a decision to take over some of the maintenance responsibilities for the ball fields located in Freeman Park from the South Tonka Little League (STLL). Director Brown stated there was $3,600 in fence repairs that had to be made and the City should be responsible for the repairs because it's the City's backstop. That repair basically used up the budget allocation for Parks general supplies. The general supplies budget for Parks has already been used up this year. Woodruff asked Staff would recommend be budgeted for similar work at the ball fields in Freeman Park. Woodruff noted the concession stand near the fields needs to be re-roofed, and he thought it would be a maintenance expense not a capital expense. Director Brown stated there is usually a maintenance need that costs $2,000 - $4,000 each year. He noted that in the past STLL has typically repaired things such as the back stops. Woodruff suggested the budget include a place holder for need-to-have maintenance, noting the fence repair was borderline need-to-have maintenance. He stated the replacement of the roof Pa ! on the concession stand is a need to have item. Councilmember Bailey stated it's not the City's responsibility to have state-of-the-art ball fields; it should provide adequate and safe fields. Mayor Lizee stated that historically STLL has partnered with the City on keeping the fields maintained. There was lengthy ensuing discussion about whether the City or STLL was responsible for replacing the roof on the small concession stand. SILL built the stand and the City owns it because it's on City property. STLL receives all the benefits from the stand. Councilmember Bailey questioned why the City should have to maintain the stand when it does not share in the benefits of it. He stated STLL keeps all the revenues generated at the stand, noting the purpose of the stand is to generate revenues. He explained he supported having sponsorship signs on the ball field fences in Freeman Park because it does not cost the City anything. Mayor Lizee stated the City owns the structure because it's on City property and she questioned why the City would treat this structure any differently. Bailey suggested Staff and the STLL discuss what each party's role should be in maintaining the structure. Director Brown explained the City has a Park Capital Improvement Program, and it is his recollection that the new roof would be funded out of the Park CIP. Every year a repair or maintenance issue at the ball fields arises that costs $2,000 - $3,000. He recommended budgeting $3,000 for the small maintenance needs. Councilmember Woodruff suggested the budget have a place holder for small maintenance needs at the ball fields in Freeman Park. Councilmember Bailey stated he wanted Council to have a candid discussion about the concession stand before there is any consideration of the City funding a new roof for the stand. Administrator Heck explained the Public Works Department has been short one position since December 2008, and that has left the Department with seven full-time personnel to maintain roads, parks, sewer, storm water, and equipment. He related it's Director Brown's goal to have all Lead Equipment Operators (LEOs) to have utility licenses; this would allow for more effective use of staff because more staff could be allocated to a project. Administrator Heck reviewed possible personnel time adjustments, noting be has not made any recommendation about these possibilities. ➢ The pool for merit wage increases could be reduced to zero form $24,000. ➢ The Planning Assistant for Planning and Zoning could be reduced by 0.1 hours. ➢ The Planning Assistant for Protective Inspections could be reduced by 0.1 hours; the work could be reallocated to the Planning Assistant for Planning and Zoning or the Administrative Assistant. If done, the description for this position should be changed to reflect website maintenance responsibilities only. ➢ The 0.5 hours the Park Secretary spends on protective inspections could instead be spent on parks related activities. ➢ LEO Public Works related activities could be reduced by 0.3 hours. ➢ LEO streets and roads related activities could be reduced by 0.45 hours. ➢ LEO snow and ice related activities could be reduced by 0.14 hours. ➢ LEO tree related activities could be reduced by 0.08 hours. Councilmember Woodruff stated he did not want to under staff Public Works. He questioned if there was an opportunity to make the open Public Works position a part-time, seasonal position. He thought there is more work in that Department in the summer. CITY F u u , .._INUT 5 July 20, 2009 Page 5 of 6 Administrator Heck stated Council has indicated it wants an aggressive program for roadway seal coating, and Public Works has to repair the roads for seal coating. The Department has to also keep up with all of the inspection and maintenance work for the sewer system. The Department also has to flush the hydrants, and maintain the wells. He and Director Brown have not discussed whether it would work to have a seasonal person to work on the roadways. Mayor Lizee stated the Public Works department has many activities it has to do in non summer months. She noted Council has talked about replacing Dennis Johnson, a former employee, with another full-time position. She commented the Public Works Department does hire part-time people during the summer. She stated Council has placed a high priority on streets and roadways and there needs to be sufficient staff to do the work. Also, there are many state and federal mandates that must be met for things such as NPDES, storm water management and so forth. Councilmember Turgeon stated that from her vantage point most of the mandates were engineering related. Director Brown explained that with the current crew of seven the City will not meet its requirements. During his tenure with the City there has only been one year when roadways were not repaired before they were seal coated; he did not want to go through that again. He then cited an example of when a sanitary sewer backup occurred. The backup was not directly the fault of the City, but the first thing the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) asked to see was the City's maintenance records. This will be the first year the City will not be able to inform the LMC that it was able to meet its goal of cleaning one- fifth of the City's sewer system; substantially less was cleaned. The LMC indicated the City should not let that happen again. He related that Councilmember Woodruff has in the past asked why the City is not satisfying its NPDES requirements. He stated the Staff does check the City's allotment of storm water structures because it is a federal mandate. He explained there are winter activities the Public Works staff must perform. He explained that when he first came to work at the City ice rinks would not be cleared after a Friday snowfall until the following Monday morning, and the trails would not be cleared until at least one day after the snowfall. Now the trails and ice rinks are cleared right after the roadways are cleared. He noted that he personally routinely plows the trail and small lots, and even sometimes the ice rinks. Councilmember Turgeon suggested Staff conduct an assessment of all of the Public Works staffing needs. Councilmember Woodruff stated the City has taken on many obligations because of the mandates. If the mandates are really related to enterprise activities then he would like to have the cost of doing them appropriately reflected in those budgets and not in the operating budget. He questioned if the shortage of an employee in Public Works for the last six months was sustainable. Administrator Heck stated Public Works personnel are also allocated to enterprise activities. Administrator Heck stated he and Director Brown will review the staffing needs and allocation for Public Works positions. Administrator Heck again stated the transfer from the General Fund to the Equipment Replacement Fund will be reduced to $100,000 from $175,000. Mayor Lizee questioned what the longer-term impact of that reduction will be. She cautioned against making reductions for a short-term benefit that will have a negative impact on long-term needs. Administrator Heck stated he thought it would be not impact the three-year replacement schedule. The reduction still allows for the schedule to be reasonable and sustainable for the next three to five years. Director Burton stated the City has a history of reducing transfers to capital funds when economic times are bad and restoring the transfers to compensate for prior year reductions when economic times are better. J1' Page 6 of Councilmember Woodruff stated it's nice to have a replacement schedule in the CIP, but when economic conditions are poor the City has to consider whether the replacements are a necessity. Director Brown explained that because Staff has recommended the purchase of used equipment in some instances the Equipment Replacement Fund is in a better position than it would have otherwise been. Councilmember Turgeon commended Staff for finding approximately $100,000 in reductions. Councilmember Woodruff stated there is a proposed $25,376 in operating expense savings (not including staff reductions and a $3,000 increase in parks maintenance) and a decrease in the transfer to the Equipment Replacement Fund. He requested Staff review the staffing needs for Public Works and the budget for fuel. Councilmember Bailey stated the draft budget includes a transfer of $40,000 from the Liquor Fund to the General Fund. He noted the Liquor Fund did not earn $40,000 in interest in 2008. He wanted Council to understand the transfer to the General Fund from the Liquor Fund was going to include principal and interest. The Liquor Fund is being reduced in order to fund operations. Administrator Heck asked what Council's priorities were for the use of the Liquor Fund. Councilmember Woodruff stated it was his recollection that for General Fund purposes there would be a $40,000 transfer to the General Fund. Woodruff then stated the Liquor Fund was probably only earning $8,000 in interest. He recommended Council consider using the Liquor Fund to fund parks needs. He stated it may not be possible to make the transfer to the General Fund. Mayor Lizee stated the use of the Liquor Fund should be had in the near future. 3. ADJOURN Bailey moved, Turgeon seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session of July 20, 2009, at 7:35 P.M. Motion passed 4/0 RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder J Christine Lizee, Mayor ATTEST: ,Brian-~fteek/,,'t4dministrator/Clerk