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HomeMy WebLinkAbout4.F.2. Approval of Minutes: August 28, 2012 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS OF THE SHAKOPEE CITY COUNCIL ADJ. REGULAR SESSION SHAKOPEE, MINNESOTA AUGUST 28, 2012 Mayor Tabke called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: Mayor Brad Tabke, Councilor's Pamela Schurman, Matt Lehman, Steve Clay and Jay Whiting. Absent: No one Staff Present: Mark McNeill, City Administrator; Kris Wilson, Assistant City Administrator; R. Michael Leek, Community Development Director; Bruce Loney, Public Works Director/Engineer; Julie A. Linnihan, Finance Director /City Clerk; Sara Foley, Parks & Recreation; Jeff Tate, Police Chief; and Rick Coleman, Fire Chief 2. Mayor Tabke asked if there any additions or deletions to the agenda. Mark McNeill, City Administrator, was asked that discussion on additional debt be added to item number 4. Whiting/Schurman moved to approve the agenda as amended. Motion approved 5 -0. 3.A. Julie A. Linnihan, Finance Director /City Clerk, presented Council with the 2013 Preliminary Budget of Expenditures and Revenues. She provided a preliminary budget that shows a slight increase in General Fund Revenues from $20,121,000 in 2012, to $20,655,000 in 2013. There is also a slight increase of expenditures of $20,120,679 in 2012, to $20,185,031 in 2013. She also discussed the proposed transfers that need to be discussed, which include $150,000 to the EDA Facade improvement program and $500,000 for Capital Project Funds. Ms. Linnihan included in the preliminary budget the budget initiatives proposed by Council and staff at a cost of $599,531. The proposed total expenditures including budget initiatives total $21,434,562. 3.B. Ms. Linnihan discussed the Debt Service Levy which staff recommends to bring debt service levy coverage to the budget, starting with several of the smaller debt issues. The total Debt Service payments recommended to be levied is $390,229. 4. Mr. McNeill presented Council with Budget Reductions. He said staff has met to find reductions within their departments to offset the impacts of adding additional staff and other requests. He said staff suggested re- evaluating the addition of four full -time fire fighters to the department and what impacts it would have. He said that staff has also examined what other duties might be assigned to the full -time firefighters, such as the possibility of code enforcement. Staff suggested that prior to hiring four full time fire fighters that a study commission be put together to examine in depth the many issues facing the fire department, including day -time availability and station locations. Official Proceedings of the August 28, 2012 Shakopee City Council Page 2 After discussion between Council regarding fire department staffing, it was decided to have a separate Council workshop to discuss these issues before the fmal budget and levy are adopted in December. It was also decided to leave the four full -time fire fighter positions and the six paid on -call fire fighters in the preliminary budget. Mr. McNeill talked about the possible sources of additional revenue such as increasing charges for fuel/car /truck wash; increasing rates for Community Center memberships, recreation fees; and initiating a Fee Study in 2013 to ensure cost coverage of permits /inspections, etc. These would increase overall revenues by an estimated $30,500. All five Council members agreed to proceed with the suggestions. Mr. McNeill then discussed possible expenditure reductions. Mr. McNeill presented changing from an employee custodian to contracted services for cleaning buildings, cost savings $20,000; automate or reassign front desk procedures at City Hall for a cost savings $49,000; and have employees pay HSA and FSA fees for a cost savings $7,000. Four Council members agreed to leave the Employee HSA and FSA fees with Lehman opposing. All agreed not to automating or reassigning front desk procedures at City Hall and discuss again when Council discusses budget initiatives. Cncl. Schurman moved to eliminate the one full -time custodian that is employed by the City. Motion died for lack of a second. Mr. McNeill brought forward eliminating city funds for community events. Council agreed to eliminate the overtime wages in Public Works that are not reimbursed for Derby Days clean up. Cncl. Whiting opposed. The cost savings is $1,700. All agreed to keep the Boards and Commission picnic. The next discussion was regarding eliminating printing/publication costs. The first discussion was to combine the Hometown Messenger with the Park and Recreation brochure at a cost savings of $21,500. All agreed to combine both publications, with Cncl. Lehman opposing. The second was to eliminate city job postings in local newspapers and rely solely on internet postings. All agreed to post only part-time seasonal positions in the local newspapers, and post full -time positions only on the internet, for a cost savings of $1,500. The last discussion was with regard to eliminating the newspaper subscription for City buildings. All Council members agreed to keep the subscriptions. Mr. McNeill brought forward the elimination/reduction of recreation services. The first discussion was to eliminate the public access channel at a cost savings of $5,000. After Council discussed, they agreed to eliminate the public access channel, with Cncl. Whiting and Cncl. Lehman opposing. The next discussion was to close outdoor ice rinks. All agreed not to close the ice rinks. The last item was to close the Enigma Teen Center at the Community Center. This was not recommended by the Park and Recreation Advisory Board. All of Council agreed to keep the Teen Center open. Official Proceedings of the August 28, 2012 Shakopee City Council Page 3 Regarding technology reductions, the discussion to reduce cell phone provision to bare minimums were denied by all Council members. Next was to reduce the use of credit card payments by City customers, which would result in a reduction of on -line registrations. Ms. Linnihan suggested that in the proposed fee study Council should increasing fees to cover the costs the City is charged for accepting credit card payments. All Council agreed to continue allow the use of credit cards, but to increase fees to cover the credit card costs. The final items discussed included reducing promotional products the police and fire hand out; reduce or eliminate mowing of Upper Valley Drainage way; and eliminate departmental dues to professional organizations and discontinuing memberships. All Councilmembers agreed to continue the services discussed. Lehman/Clay moved to recess for a 10 minute break. Motion carried 4 -1 with Cncl. Schurman opposing. Mayor Tabke reconvened the meeting at 8:39 p.m. 5. Mayor Tabke brought forward the personnel and project budget initiative and asked all Council members to weigh in with their thoughts on the four project initiatives: feasibility studies; neighborhood festivals; continuation of the downtown flower baskets; and security system camera upgrades at the Community Center. Mayor Tabke then decided to take each item on an individual basis. The first item discussed was the feasibility studies. Mr. McNeill stated that the feasibility study proposal is for an archeological study in Memorial Park, which would permit improvements necessitating excavations. Mr. Whiting said that there is a group that is willing to donate kiosks for Memorial Park but it can be done only if there is an archeological study performed first. He also said there is a bike path that will be developed in the same area. He supports the initiative. Mayor Tabke then asked Mr. Whiting about his thoughts on the other three project initiatives. Mr. Whiting said he only objects to the security system camera upgrade but would keep the other three projects. Cncl. Clay only supports keeping the downtown flower baskets in the budget. Cncl. Lehman said he would include the archeological study in with the bike trail plans and then said he would cut all four of the projects out of the budget. Cncl. Schurman also supports the idea of including the archeological study in with the trail plans. She would also like to keep in the security system camera upgrade but would eliminate the flower baskets and the neighborhood festivals. Mayor Tabke would like to keep in the downtown flower baskets in the budget. He isn't convinced that the security system camera upgrade is needed at the community. He said he agrees with the neighborhood festivals, but isn't going to fight hard for it. He also agrees that the archeological feasibility study should be included in the project cost process. Cncl. Clay said he would support including $10,000 for the archeological study, but doesn't support the neighborhood festivals or the security system camera upgrades. Mayor Tabke, Cncl. Clay and Cncl. Whiting supported $10,000 for archeological study in Memorial Park. Cncl. Lehman and Schurman oppose. Mayor Tabke, Cncl. Clay and Cncl. Whiting also supported leaving in the budget the downtown flower baskets with Official Proceedings of the August 28, 2012 Shakopee City Council Page 4 Cncl. Lehman and Schurman opposing. There wasn't enough support to keep in the neighborhood festivals or the security camera upgrade. Both were removed. Mayor Tabke then discussed the personnel portion of the initiatives. It was decided to eliminate the half -time grant writer position. All were in agreement. Cncl. Schurman asked to keep in the Crime Prevention Specialist. Mayor Tabke, Cncl's Schurman, Lehman and Clay agreed to leave it in, with Cncl. Whiting opposing. Mayor Tabke discussed his reasons why the City needs an Economic Development Specialist. Cncl. Lehman opposed because the position was once occupied but then eliminated. He feels it should be handled through SCALE and does not support the position. Cncl. Schurman doesn't support adding the position as a new one but to access the current staff and reorganize to incorporate the position into a position that is currently in place. She said she feels the same with the rest of the positions on the proposal. Cncl. Clay agrees that the position is needed and supports it. Cncl. Whiting agreed with Cncl. Clay and supports the position. Mayor Tabke asked who was in favor of adding a Recreation Facilities Maintenance Manager. After discussion, all agreed to eliminate the position from the budget. Mayor Tabke discussed the position of Human Resources Technician. Cncl. Schurman said that if the position is a need maybe discuss eliminating the front desk reception positions to free up dollars to support funding the Human Resources Technician. Mayor Tabke spoke in support of adding the position. Cncl. Lehman and Cncl. Schurman supported adding the position, if there can be a savings somewhere else. Mayor Tabke, Cncl. Clay and Cncl. Whiting were in favor of adding the position. Cncl. Lehman and Schurman opposed, but said that they would support the position if the front desk positions and the custodial position were eliminated. Mayor Tabke, Cncl. Whiting and Cncl. Clay are not in favor of automating the front desk. Mayor Tabke said that this could be discussed again in December prior to the final levy is adopted. Cncl. Schurman said that if the positions that are being added in during the workshop could be prioritized Mayor Tabke said that when Council gives direction on the overall levy, Council will have that opportunity. Mayor Tablke then brought forward the Natural Resources Technician position. Cncls. Lehman and Schurman were against adding the position. Mayor Tabke, Cncls. Whiting and Clay were in favor of adding the position. The last position discussed was to make the Communication Coordinator a full -time position. Mayor Tabke and Cncl. Whiting were in favor of making the position full -time. Cncls. Schurman, Clay and Lehman opposed. 6. Ms. Linnihan discussed the debt levy. She asked if Council if there is a commitment to funding the debt service. Mayor Tabke asked to discuss the Fire Referendum Bond. He said that the voters voted to commit $250,000 to the levy when Fire Station One was built but only $120,000 has been committed to that debt in 2012. Ms. Linnihan has recommended raising the levy by $30,000 for a total of $150,000. She said in the past council voted to reduce this levy to maintain a flat over all levy. Official Proceedings of the August 28, 2012 Shakopee City Council Page 5 Cncl. Lehman and Cncl. Schurman said that they couldn't support raising the fire referendum bond based, on the previous decisions to add staff. Cncl. Whiting, Mayor Tabke and Cncl. Clay agreed to add $30,000 to the fire building referendum bond. Ms. Linnihan discussed the Capital Improvement Fund (CIF) transfer of $500,000 to commit to transfer from the general fund to the CIF to start planning for the known planned infrastructure costs that are going to go into the CIF. Mayor Tabke, Cncl. Whiting and Cncl. Clay agreed to the transfer with Cncl. Schurman and Cncl. Lehman opposing. Ms. Linnihan asked if the Council wished to keep the EDA facade improvement loan of $150,000 that Council approved in the levy. All Council members agreed to leave it in. Ms. Linnihan asked if Council was interested in ranking any of the positions previously approved earlier in the meeting. Mayor Tabke said all the position discussed will stay in the preliminary budget. Ms. Linnihan said that she will bring back to the next Council meeting the preliminary budget, and levy resolution, and a resolution to cancel debt service levy for 2012/2013. The final levy, budget and debt will be brought forward to Council in December and then certified to the County after it's been approved. She reminded Council that the levy cannot be increased after September 15 but it can be decreased. Mayor Tabke asked the Council if the decisions made at this meeting constituted the final budget, and if the commitments made tonight for personnel, projects, and cuts would stand in December and in the final levy. Cncl. Schurman noted that Mr. Leek asked the Council about what they intended to be the role of the Economic Development Specialist. She stated that it seems that position is in question and would need to be worked out before a dollar commitment would be made. Cncl. Clay said he rejected the Mayor's question because what Council was doing was setting the preliminary budget -- the Mayor was asking if the preliminary budget would be the final budget. The Mayor said he was trying to give staff direction as to where Council would be in December. 7. Schurman/Clay moved to adjourn to Tuesday, September 4, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Motion carried 5 -0. Meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m. L J ie A. Linnihan 4:1A Finance Director /City Clerk Kim Weckman Recording Secretary