title
Minutes for the Finance Committee meeting on August 17, 2006.
body
Finance & Administration Committee Minutes
Thursday, August 17, 2006
4:00 p.m.
Members Present were: Darrel Dover, Alec Farmer, Jim Hargis, John Street and Ann Williams. Councilman Perrin was unable to attend. Councilman Dover left at 5:40 p.m. Mr. Tony Thomas from the Mayor’s Office was also in attendance.
MINUTES
Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilman Hargis, for the approval of the minutes for the July 20, 2006, regular meeting as written. All voted aye. Copies were provided to all those in attendance.
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
Resolution for STD/LTD premium: Ms. Suzanne Hackney explained the premium for the short and long-term disability coverage did not increase from last year. She recommended extending the contract with Unum Provident for another year. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to approve the resolution and recommend it to the full Council. All voted aye.
USAble Life Insurance policy: Ms. Hackney stated the USAble life insurance premium did not increase and recommended extending the contract for another year. Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilman Hargis, to approve the contract and recommend it to full Council, pending a resolution being drafted. All voted aye.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Finance Director position: Ms. Hackney informed the committee they have scheduled appointments for interviews next week. PENDING
Self-insured vs. fully-insured: Ms. Hackney explained she spoke with Mr. Bill Brown from Blue Cross concerning the City possibly being self-insured. She added she would like Mr. Brown to meet with the committee and speak with them. She noted Mr. Brown can’t be at the next Finance meeting. It was decided a special Finance meeting would be held to hear the presentation from Mr. Brown. Ms. Hackney stated she would get a date and contact the committee. PENDING
FINANCE & AUDIT
Financial report: Mr. Herb Davis stated he hasn’t been able to analyze some of the reports like he’s like, but he has noticed some of the line items are close to or over budget. He added they are up to May, 2006, in correcting mistakes and should be complete in two weeks barring any surprises.
Mid-year budget adjustments: Mr. Davis stated some of the corrections that have been made were from 2005 expenses from the 2005 budget that were not paid until 2006. He added they have a way to fix that, but would like to bring a whole list of the corrections at one time during the mid-year adjustments. He further explained the adjustments would be more along the lines of third-quarter adjustments. PENDING
2007 budget status: Mr. Davis noted Mayor Formon has requested the department heads have their 2007 budget requests and justifications turned in by August 28th. He added he hopes to have a revenue estimate done by late September. Chairman Farmer suggested the department heads to start turning in 5-year capital improvements plans with their budgets every year. PENDING
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Phone system update: Mr. Alan Young explained the phone system is up in the central fire station. He added they expect to have the system in the Huntington Building next month. PENDING
It was questioned when the added services to the City’s web site would be up and running. Mr. Tony Thomas explained CGI hasn’t taped the video yet, but they are in the process of finalizing the script. Mr. Young also stated the preliminary data from the parcel development project should be up in a couple of months.
ADMINISTRATION
JETS new employee request: Mr. Joel Gardner explained Ordinance No. 3614 creating JETS listed the personnel that will be in the department. He questioned what he will have to do if he wanted to hire another employee. It was suggested he should repeal Section Five, subset B that listed the personnel so that he would not have to keep amending the ordinance whenever they changed personnel. Mr. Davis also explained the budget ordinance would supersede Ordinance 3614. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to amend Ordinance 3614 by removing Section Five, subsection B subject to City Attorney Phillip Crego’s approval. All voted aye.
Downtown parking: Police Chief Michael Yates discussed the change to the Downtown Parking ordinance that they would like to make. He also explained they would like to adopt a budget for Parking Enforcement. He noted some of the expenses can be reimbursed by the Parking Meter Fund. Sergeant Steve McDaniel explained he spoke with ASU regarding their parking enforcement and received recommendations from them. It was questioned whether the Segway would be needed now since the area that would be policed is not that big. Chief Yates stated the Segway is not important now, but would be needed in the future. He also explained they could likely absorb the salary of the employee for the rest of the year in their budget. Mr. Davis questioned whether the budget would be administrated by the Police Department. It was suggested to have the Police Department charge the Parking Fund for the expenses, so the funds could be kept separate. Ms. Misty Micenhamer agreed the Police Department should be reimbursed by the Parking Fund for the Parking budget. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to recommend amending the 2006 budget and allow the Parking Fund to reimburse the Police Department for expenses for the Parking budget. All voted aye. It was explained the Segway and the salary would be taken out of the budget for this year and considered in the budget for 2007. Chief Yates also asked for direction concerning updating the downtown parking ordinance. It was suggested for Chief Yates to have Mayor Formon recommend the ordinance changes to the Council.
Animal Shelter: Councilman Hargis explained Mayor Formon and the Public Services Committee recommended going with the base budget and alternate #1 for the animal shelter. Mr. Gene Vance discussed the proposed animal shelter. He noted the proposed budget does not include the parking lot or the exterior sidewalk. Mr. Vance explained the budget would be $1.150 or so after adding the parking lot. Chairman Farmer questioned whether the driveway would need to become a city street because the driveway is also used by the Humane Society. Councilman Street said the driveway would need to become a street. Chairman Farmer then questioned whether the Animal Control Department has changed their policy so they can keep animals longer. Ms. Glen Gossett explained the department has not changed their policy, but the new shelter would allow for a more humane way to hold the animals. Councilman Street asked what the building will be made out of. Mr. Vance stated the building will be a pre-engineered, metal building that will be galvanized around the kennel area. Councilman Dover noted there is potential to house animals longer so they can be adopted. Councilwoman Furr suggested the City start setting aside money every year for future expansion to the animal shelter. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to recommend to Council to proceed with architectural work. All voted aye.
Fire Department station plan: Fire Chief Aaron Keller stated he would like to send ISO a letter stating the City’s intent with the fire station project. He added Phase I would need to be completed by September of 2007 for the City to keep its Class 3 rating. Councilman Dover noted the price of the fire station project does not include the money the City will make from selling the property the fire stations are currently located on. Mr. Vance stated the price for the fire station plan does not include the architectural and engineering fees. Chairman Farmer suggested starting Station 7 now and waiting to include Station 3 in the 2007 budget. Councilman Dover recommended the City look into purchasing the land now for the fire stations to ensure there will be a place to build the stations when the time comes. Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilman Dover, to authorize Mayor Formon to start the process for Station 7 and address the Station 3 new location in the 2007 budget. All voted aye.
Discussion was held regarding the Capital Improvement Fund and Capital Improvement projects for the next 5 years. Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilman Dover, for department heads to turn in 5-year capital improvement plans with their budget every year. All voted aye.
CDBG
Sewer project: Ms. Gayle Vickers explained the Patrick Street sewer project came in $25,000 over budget. She added she would like to add a 15% contingency, which would mean she would have to reallocate $40,000 from another project to finish Phase I of the sewer project. She stated she is planning to take the money out of the fire station pumper truck project since there are no funds available and the station will be relocated. Ms. Vickers further explained she needs to transfer $365 out of the 2004 demolition project and into the sewer project for Phase II. She added there is a correction that is needed for Amendment 10. Mr. Thomas noted Mayor Formon recommended the changes. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to approve the amendments Amendment #11. All voted aye.
Councilman Hargis questioned if CDBG is behind on spending for the year. Ms. Vickers stated they are behind because they’re waiting to get their financial situation settled, which they expect to be done by October 1st. She noted they have received the money, but they have not spent it yet.
Ms. Vickers asked for to approval for the contract with the low bidder, R&R Construction, for the sewer project. She explained it’s already been approved in her action plan. Mr. Crego noted he has reviewed what was submitted to him. Chairman Farmer explained as long as it’s the low bid and the project list has been approved, then committee approval is not needed.
Councilman Street explained he spoke with Sister Elaine Willett from HSCI. Sister Elaine indicated to him that they had $70,000 approved for HSCI by the committee for a building they were thinking of buying, but now they’ve been eliminated from receiving the money. Councilman Street noted HSCI already went out and borrowed the money, but now they don’t have an income source to pay for it. Ms. Vickers stated CDBG gave them $24,300 and $5,000 from Continuum of Care. She further explained they will receive the $24,300 before October 1st after they figure out the money situation, but HSCI already have the $5,000 from Continuum of Care. Ms. Vickers stated they were promised things by her predecessor that she could not follow through with due to federal regulations.
Chairman Farmer asked when the Continuum of Care meetings are held. Ms. Vickers explained the meetings are held every 4th Tuesday of every month at 1:00 p.m. in the Mayor’s office. She added there are 8 regular groups participating right now.
Mr. Mike Cameron quoted City Council minutes where Mr. Teddy Hooton had stated the reason to go with a construction manager process was so you wouldn’t have to go through the formal bidding process. Mr. Cameron noted that would be a good way to get done with the drainage process. Mr. Vance stated bids are taken in the construction manager process, but they will not have to go through a lot of the formality. He added construction management allows the client to select on many different qualifications as well as low price. He explained construction management gives you the opportunity to go to the second or third lowest bidder and talk to them about doing the project for the lowest bid. He further explained you can accept portions of a bid, as opposed to accepting the whole bid. Councilman Hargis questioned whether Mr. Vance’s company can bid on any parts of the animal shelter project. Mr. Vance explained his company can bid on portions, but the bid can’t be used unless it’s the low bid or unless the low bid is not qualified according to the committee or Council. Councilman Hargis questioned how the subcontractors are paid. Mr. Vance stated the subcontractors are paid through the construction manager.
INTERNAL AUDITOR
Work session & risk assessment: Ms. Misty Micenhamer presented the committee with a risk assessment of the City departments. She also discussed the recent fraud training session she held for the department heads.
Master Audit Schedule: Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Williams, to approve the audit schedule. All voted aye.
Special Audit Projects: It was asked for Ms. Micenhamer to look into all the contracts the City has with Fisher & Arnold and find out what the status is of all the projects. It was also suggested for Ms. Micenhamer to look into the construction management process. Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilwoman Williams, to approve the audit projects. All voted aye.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Councilman Hargis motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to adjourn. All voted aye.