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Minutes from the Finance Committee meeting on September 14, 2006.
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Finance & Administration Committee Minutes
Thursday, September 14, 2006
3:00 p.m.
Members Present were: Darrel Dover, Alec Farmer, Jim Hargis and John Street. Councilman Perrin and Councilwoman Williams were unable to attend. Councilman Dover left at 4:40 p.m. Mayor Formon and Mr. Tony Thomas, from the Mayor’s Office, were also in attendance.
MINUTES
Chairman Farmer asked the minutes for August 17th be amended to read “Mr. Vance explained the budget would be $1.150 million…” concerning the talks with the animal shelter. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, for the approval of the minutes for the August 17, 2006, regular meeting with the amendment. All voted aye. Copies were provided to all those in attendance.
ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS
Ordinance creating two new lieutenant positions in the Police Department: Police Chief Michael Yates explained two sergeant positions would be upgraded to lieutenant and the two sergeant positions would be eliminated. He further explained one position would be for an administrative lieutenant and the other would be a lieutenant in the drug task force. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to approve the ordinance and place it on the agenda for the full Council on September 19th. All voted aye. Ms. Suzanne Hackney noted the ordinance still had to be presented and passed by the Public Safety Committee at their next meeting before going to Council.
Ordinance adding the position of Senior Inspector to the 2006 budget: Ms. Hackney explained the Senior Inspector position will help guide the direction in the department and will also be in charge when the Chief Building Inspector is not in the office. She added the ordinance also has to be presented and approved by the Public Safety Committee before going to Council. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to approve the ordinance and place it on the agenda for the full Council on September 19th. All voted aye.
Resolution moving the position of Finance Director from Grade 24 to Grade 25 in the City Pay Plan: Ms. Suzanne Hackney explained the Fire and Police Chief positions are both Grade 25 and, when comparing responsibilities, the Finance Director should also be in Grade 25. Councilman Dover motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to approve the resolution and place it on the agenda for the full Council on September 19th. All voted aye.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Finance Director position: Mayor Formon informed the committee he offered the job to Mr. Don Ray, who has nine years of experience with legislative audit. He also noted Mr. Ray is currently under contract to teach at Arkansas Northeastern College until December, so he will only be working at the City part of the day on Tuesdays, Thursdays and then all day on Fridays. Ms. Hackney added Mr. Ray is a CPA and also holds a Master’s degree.
Air Evac memberships as employee supplemental benefit: Ms. Hackney explained insurance agents would like to come in and talk with city employees to see if they’re interested in purchasing the air evac supplemental benefit. She expressed concern about the impact of allowing all the other supplemental insurance agents in town to also come in and talk with the city employees. Ms. Hackney noted the supplemental insurance would be a good benefit since being air lifted is costly and Blue Cross will only pay $300. It was asked for Mayor Formon and Ms. Hackney to come up with a workable recommendation for allowing the air evac insurance agents to talk with City employees and present it at the next meeting. PENDING
Update on BC/BS negotiations: Ms. Hackney explained she will be meeting again with Blue Cross the week after next. She noted the City has not had a good year concerning medical costs and pharmacy drugs, but added there are things that can be done. PENDING
Councilman Dover questioned the status of looking into the City’s liability insurance with APERMA. Mayor Formon explained they have been so busy with other projects lately that they have not looked at the liability insurance recently. He added they will start working on it. PENDING
FINANCE & AUDIT
Financial report: Mr. Herb Davis presented the committee with a written financial report. Chairman Farmer noted on the financial report the sales tax misconstrues the view of the financial report. Mr. Davis stated he explained the situation to Mr. Ray, who indicated he would address the issue after he started work. PENDING
Mid-year budget adjustments: Mr. Davis explained the adjustments would likely be towards the end of the year. PENDING
2007 budget status: Mr. Davis explained he’s trying to get the budget set up so Mayor Formon and the new Finance Director will have something to work with. He added his revenue projections are not what the City is used to. He further explained requests for expenditures are higher than he had projected. He noted he’s still working on it. Councilman Dover questioned when something would be presented to the committee. Mayor Formon stated he hopes to have something to present at the next Finance meeting. PENDING
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Phone system: Mr. Alan Young explained the system is up and running in the Huntington Building. He added the next building is the Earl Bell Community Center and they’re working on it as time permits. PENDING
Mr. Young announced he has scheduled a presentation for Wednesday, September 20, at 6 p.m. with Mr. Vic Young and Mr. Harlan from the county assessor’s office. He explained the presentation will be concerning parcel development project and showing everyone the applications. He added anyone who can come is welcome to attend. Chairman Farmer expressed concerns about holding the presentation on a Wednesday night, noting the Council has in the past tried to not hold anything on Wednesday night since that is church night. Chairman Farmer and Councilman Street stated they would not be able to attend the presentation and questioned whether it could be rescheduled because they did not want to miss the presentation. Mr. Young explained they scheduled it for the 20th because that was a convenient day for him, Mr. Young and Mr. Harlan. Mayor Formon also suggested rescheduling the presentation for another night. Mr. Young stated the next available date would likely be in October. It was asked for Mr. Young to reschedule the presentation and give everyone as much notice as possible.
ADMINISTRATION & GRANTS
Grants audit: Mayor Formon stated the grants audit is over with and they should have a final report soon. PENDING
CITY ATTORNEY
Retirement plan for City Attorney: Mayor Formon explained City Attorney Phillip Crego is the only person working for the City that does not have a retirement plan. Chairman Farmer questioned whether the state legislature passed something earlier this year regarding retirement plans for city attorneys. He added the City Council may have to take some sort of action for a retirement plan. It was asked for Ms. Hackney to check on whether any legislation was passed. PENDING
CITY COUNCIL INTERNAL AUDITOR
Status of Fisher-Arnold contracts: Ms. Misty Micenhamer discussed the Fisher & Arnold contracts. She recommended Mayor Formon appoint a project manager to make sure the progress is continuing on the project. She added the project manager should report back to the Mayor and/or Council. She explained the project manager would be in charge of making sure what is being paid for has been done. It was questioned whether having a project manager was standard practice. Mr. Tony Thomas stated an engineer comes into his office and updates him on the sidewalk project, giving him percentage updates on what work has been done before he signs off on payment. Mr. Thomas added the engineer is a contracted engineer for that project. Chairman Farmer questioned who decides at what points in the project the contractor gets paid. Mr. Mike Cameron explained the contractor makes a request for pay and states how much work has been done so they can get paid for what they’ve done. Ms. Micenhamer added the City has paid $92,010.17 of the $111,228.97 contract. She also explained Fisher & Arnold is still in the design phase and dirt has not been turned yet. Ms. Micenhamer then discussed the storm water program compliance contracts. She noted Mr. Claude Martin informed her they have received the NPDES permit and year 3 compliance has been started. Ms. Micenhamer explained Fisher & Arnold has produced and delivered the product they were contracted to do, but the City has some decisions to make concerning the functionality and enabling the functionality. She discussed the Access Online web site and the changes and updates that would need to be made. She reiterated Fisher & Arnold has completed what they were contracted for, but what’s left is what the City has to approve and add to the web site. Ms. Micenhamer stated the web site is currently out on the Internet for everyone to see. Chairman Farmer questioned whether special software is needed to see the maps. Mr. Young explained users will need to add the AutoDesk MapGuide Viewer to see everything. Chairman Farmer questioned whether there was a link to the software on the Access Online web site. Mr. Young explained there is not a link to the AutoDesk software yet. Ms. Micenhamer and Mr. Young demonstrated the functions of the Access Online web site. Mr. Cameron questioned whether there was anything on the web site at present showing parcels. Ms. Micenhamer explained the parcels are not shown at this time. Mr. Cameron then questioned if there is anything showing zoning. Ms. Micenhamer further explained there is nothing on the web site showing zoning at present. She added parcels and zoning are the two things Fisher & Arnold are currently working on with their November, 2005, contract. Mr. Cameron questioned where the utilities are on the map. Mr. Young explained there are no utilities on the web site. He added City Water and Light decided not to participate in the parcel development because they don’t want the information out there in case the information isn’t exactly precise. Mr. Cameron questioned whether the parcels will show the dimensions and the location of easements. Mr. Young stated the dimensions will be included, but won’t be survey grade. He added he doesn’t think the easements will be included. Mr. Young then stated they have current zoning maps, but they are not on the web site. Mr. Cameron questioned why the zoning maps are not on the web site. Mr. Young stated the zoning maps are not relevant to storm water. He added they could put the maps out there, but they might be hard to interpret by some users. Mr. Cameron questioned what the parcel development project will produce that will be superior to the old maps. Mr. Young explained the parcel development project will show the assessor’s data and be able to query who owns what, as well as the zoning on the property. Ms. Micenhamer added the web site will show the utilities that are on the property, but just not where they are located. Mr. Young stated they have utility maps from CWL, but they are not survey grade. Mr. Cameron expressed concerns about the web site not showing enough information for contractors to find useful. Mr. Young stated the web site is supposed to be a storm water information web site because that’s what it was contracted as. He added the only contracts that related to the web site were the 2003 and the current parcel development contracts. Mr. Cameron questioned what the pre-2003 contracts dealt with if they didn’t have to do with the web site. Mr. Young stated they have the information produced from the pre-2003 contracts and use it extensively, but the information is not on the web site. He explained the information is the address, streets, etc. Chairman Farmer questioned whether they are confident those addresses are current with 911. Mr. Young stated they are constantly working on the addresses, but they are confident the addresses are accurate. Mr. Cameron explained the engineers on the current drainage projects were told they would be given information, but the engineers are having to go to the courthouse and CWL themselves because the City cannot provide them with the information they were promised. He then noted Jonesboro’s web site is short of what is displayed on the DeSoto County web site that Fisher & Arnold used as an example of what the City would get. Councilman Dover questioned if the information is there and just not being used. Mr. Young stated the information is there, but it’s just limited on the web. Councilman Dover then questioned if the information isn’t on the web because the City can’t get it out there. Mr. Young stated the information isn’t out there because the decision hasn’t been made to put it out there since it would involve time and money. He noted the Access Online web site was made by a subcontractor under the Fisher & Arnold contract and is the same with the parcel development. Councilman Dover questioned whether the information could be put out on the web by the Information Systems Department if they had time. Mr. Young stated they could probably put the information out there. Councilman Dover stated someone will need to make the administrative decision to put the information out there. Mr. Cameron stated the flood plain maps should be on the web site. Ms. Micenhamer stated the flood maps are the 1991 maps without any revisions. She explained Mr. Martin indicated to her that he didn’t want the maps on the web site because he didn’t want anyone to use them and think they are exact. She suggested the maps could be put out there with a disclaimer stating they’re not survey grade. She then discussed her recommendations for the City and Council regarding the storm water and parcel developments contracts. Mr. Young added if a developer comes into his office, they will give the developer a copy of the data to use. Chairman Farmer questioned how many people are in the I.S. Department. Mr. Young stated there are six or seven people in his department. Chairman Farmer then questioned if anyone is dedicated to the web site. Mr. Young explained one person deals with the web site, among his other duties. Councilman Dover clarified Fisher & Arnold gave the City the data, but the contract did not go far enough to have them put it on the web site; rather, the City is responsible for putting the information out on the web site. Discussion was held regarding the different Fisher & Arnold contracts. Mr. Young showed the committee the maps from the 2001 contracts that showed the CWL lots that were stretched to fit the map. He explained the maps showed limited information because that was all the City was willing to pay for in 2001. Mr. Young added that decision was made by his predecessor and Mayor Formon’s predecessor. Councilman Dover suggested making a report of what can be put on the Internet and then make choices as to what will be put out there. Mayor Formon questioned if the issue is putting the information on the web site or if the big concern is updating and maintaining the information. Mr. Young explained the main issues are deciding what should go out there and the time and personnel to put the information on the Internet. It was also suggested to put the CWL information on the map with a disclaimer telling people to check before doing anything. Chairman Farmer also suggested linking to the FEMA web site so users can access the FEMA information easily. Fire Chief Aaron Keller added CWL indicated another reason they didn’t want their information on the web site was due to concerns with Homeland Security, especially where drinking water is concerned. Councilman Street motioned, seconded by Councilman Dover, to approve Ms. Micenhamer’s recommendations and forward them to Mayor Formon. All voted aye. It was also asked for City Attorney Phillip Crego to review the Fisher & Arnold contracts for his interpretation.
Construction manager presentation: Ms. Micenhamer held a presentation concerning the three types of construction management and their advantages and disadvantages. Chairman Farmer stated when the general contractor also serves as the construction manager there could be a conflict of interest. Ms. Micenhamer explained it goes back to the owner having the final say over the project. She noted a construction manger will try to bring the project in under the guaranteed maximum price because anything over will come out of his pocket in his performance bond. Councilman Street questioned what the difference is between the guaranteed maximum price with a construction manager and a contract with a general contractor that stated the maximum price. He stated the only thing he’s seen a contract manager do better is possibly get the project done faster. Mr. Cameron stated when someone allows a construction manager to select subcontractors there could be a lot of pitfalls. Councilman Street noted with construction managers the owner has to be careful of the contract because construction managers can charge for various fees that a general contractor wouldn’t necessarily charge.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business, Councilman Hargis motioned, seconded by Councilman Street, to adjourn. All voted aye.