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Minutes for the March 15, 2007, Finance Committee meeting.
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Finance & Administration Committee Minutes
Thursday, March 15, 2007
4:00 p.m.
Members present were: Darrel Dover, Judy Furr, Jim Hargis, John Street and Ann Williams. Councilman Perrin was unable to attend. Mayor Formon and Mr. Tony Thomas from the Mayor’s Office were also in attendance.
MINUTES
Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilman Hargis, to approve the minutes for the February 20, 2007, special meeting as written. All voted aye. Copies were provided to all those in attendance.
MAYOR’S OFFICE
Resolution for the tax back program for Alberto-Culver: Mr. Tony Thomas explained the resolution would be at no cost to the City and was received from the Chamber of Commerce. Councilwoman Williams motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to place the resolution on the April 3rd Council agenda. All voted aye.
Chief Engineer/Assistant Engineer positions: Mayor Formon stated the money that was budgeted for the engineering positions would not be enough to hire qualified individuals. Human Resources Director Suzanne Hackney explained they spoke with Condrey and were provided salary ranges for each of the positions. She noted Condrey indicated the salaries should not be based on city population or other local factors, rather the salary is based on a universal market hire. Discussion was held regarding the salary ranges each position would be set at. It was suggested to put the Chief Engineer salary at Grade 25, ranging between Step 11 and Step 14. It was suggested to put the Assistant Chief Engineer salary at Grade 24, ranging between Step 8 and Step 13. It was also suggested to put the third engineer’s salary at Grade 23, ranging between Step 5 and Step 12. It was asked for Mayor Formon to present a resolution reflecting those salary ranges at the special meeting to be scheduled for next week.
Public Works Director position: Mayor Formon stated they have found a local man to fill the position of Public Works Director. He added the individual met the job ad requirements and they will negotiate a salary with him. Councilman Street questioned whether the individual is a certified engineer. Mayor Formon stated the individual is not an engineer, but has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and has worked closely with an engineer. It was asked for Mayor Formon to present a resolution concerning the Public Works Director position’s salary at the special meeting to be scheduled for next week.
Status of resolution to purchase property for detention ponds: Councilman Street discussed the new resolution that has been drafted to cover purchasing property. He noted closing costs would be separate from the allowed 10% above appraisal expense. Discussion was then held regarding what would be done with the resolution passed last month concerning purchasing property, which is currently under reconsideration by the City Council. City Attorney Phillip Crego explained the resolution that was passed last month would have to be repealed and the proposed resolution would need to be adopted. Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to bring up the proposed resolution under New Business at the March 20th City Council meeting. All voted aye.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Ordinance to waive competitive bidding for parking tickets: Information Systems Director Alan Young stated they are not ready to move forward with the ordinance yet.
STREETS
Ordinance amending the 2007 budget by upgrading a position: Chairman Dover questioned whether the ordinance would be needed since line item changes no longer need to be approved. He questioned whether the position change could be addressed at the end of the year. Mr. Crego recommended approving the ordinance since a new position is being created. Street Superintendent Teddy Hooton noted he does not think additional money will be needed to fund the position because his salary account had approximately $72,000 leftover at the end of last year. Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Furr, to place the ordinance on the April 3rd Council agenda. All voted aye.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Status of salary plan review: Ms. Hackney stated the surveys are almost complete with one city left to finish. She explained Councilman Perrin is compiling the information. Chairman Dover stated Councilman Perrin asked to schedule a special meeting next week so the salary plan can be discussed. It was decided to schedule a special meeting on Thursday, March 22, 2007, at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the salary plan and present the resolutions for the engineer and Public Works Director positions.
Abuse of power ordinance: Ms. Hackney explained she and Mr. Crego reviewed Mr. Alec Farmer’s proposed abuse of power ordinance. She further explained they had a problem with the statement concerning accusations of violations of the policy would be investigated by the department head and director of HR. She stated the City already has a policy in place to take care of those types of situations. She proposed a resolution that would add to the Standards of Conduct section of the Employee Handbook to cover abuse of power. Mr. Crego recommended the resolution since it followed the process already in place. He added the ordinance would set up a new process, but both the resolution and ordinance would have the same ending result. Councilwoman Furr suggested distributing both the ordinance and resolution to the full Council for review and comments before making a decision as to which one the committee would recommend. She expressed concern over the proposed resolution questioning whether it would actually take care of the problem. She stated she would like to have some time to review both the ordinance and resolution before making a choice as to which should be recommended. It was asked for the Mayor’s Office to send the resolution and ordinance to the full Council and for any comments to be sent to the committee. It was also decided the committee would further discuss the ordinance and resolution at the April regular meeting.
Mayor Formon noted there was a misprint in the 2007 budget. He explained the Contracts position that was recommended by Mr. Mike Cameron was listed in the wrong part of the budget. He further explained they are going to put job ads out for the position and wanted to make the committee aware of the misprint.
Councilwoman Furr recommended looking over the Animal Control budget later this year because the department is in need of supplies. It was recommended the department purchase the items they need and they will take care of the cost at the end of the year.
Chairman Dover questioned how they will decide the figure for the new animal shelter. Police Chief Michael Yates stated they have found another option that might save the City some money. He added they would like to explore the other options before moving forward with anything.
FINANCE
Finance Director Don Ray presented the committee with the monthly financial report and discussed the additions and changes he has made. He expressed concern over the Springbrook software, stating the software cost quarter of a million dollars but does not make financial statements. He added he has to make the reports by himself. He stated it was indicated to him the reports he makes can be linked to in the software, but he does not know if that can be done. Discussion was held regarding the software. Mr. Young stated they can either adjust the software so it can make the reports or they can pay the company to create the custom reports. Mr. Ray stated he does not have the knowledge to adjust the software. Mr. Young stated he does not have time to work on the software. He added if he and Mr. Ray can get together to discuss what Mr. Ray wants out of the software then they might be able to make it work. Councilman Hargis questioned how many trips Mr. Young has taken concerning the software. Mr. Young stated he has taken two trips.
OTHER
Councilwoman Furr questioned when the committee is going to do something about setting up a retirement account for Mr. Crego. Mr. Crego noted he drafted an ordinance that would set up retirement for him and sent it out, but has not heard anything back. Discussion was held regarding the ordinance. Mr. Crego stated he would bring the ordinance back to the committee at the April meeting because he needs to add a provision to the ordinance.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Williams, to adjourn. All voted aye.