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Minutes for the Finance Committee meeting on February 19, 2004.
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Finance & Administration Committee Minutes
Thursday, February 19, 2004
5:00 p.m. - Huntington Building
Members Present: Alec Farmer, Darrel Dover, Jim Hargis, Ann Williams and Harold Perrin. Members Absent: Dave Young. Others present were: Keith Inman, Jonesboro Sun, Donna Jackson, City Clerk, Finance Director Larry Flowers, and Mayor’s Assistant Aubrey Scott.
MINUTES
Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Dover for approval of the minutes for January 22, 2004. All voted aye. Copies were made available to those in attendance.
CHANGE DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next Finance Committee meeting was rescheduled for March 25, 2004 at 4:00 p.m.
POLICE DOG
Discussion was held regarding the replacement of R.C. the drug dog that died due to pneumonia. Councilwoman Furr explained the Public Services Committee had approved the purchase and referred it to the Finance Committee. It was explained that donations have been collected in the amount of $1,150.00, but it would cost $8,000.00 for the dog and training. It was decided the bids would have to be waived, but Mr. Flowers stated the money would not have to be appropriated because the cost could be absorbed through the Police Department Budget. Councilman Dover questioned how many dogs were needed and he was told they had 2, but six were needed. Councilman Dover suggested having a plan in place to purchase so many dogs per year. Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Dover to approve the purchase of the dog and the required training. All voted aye.
COMPENSATION TIME REVISION REGARDING SRO’S
Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Dover recommending to the full council a resolution amending Resolution No. 2004:09 to include the following additional language, “This compensatory time policy shall not apply to employees that may be assigned to outside agencies, including, but not limited to School Resource Officers. Said employees will adhere to policies and procedures in place at the agency to which they are assigned. All voted aye.
CRAIGHEAD FOREST PARK WELL APPROPRIATION
The Jonesboro City Council had adopted an ordinance appropriating funds for the CFP well project, contingent on approval by the Finance Committee. Councilman Dover moved, seconded by Councilman Hargis approving the appropriation. All voted aye.
PARKS LONG-RANGE PLANNING
Mr. Wilkie presented a resolution adopting a long-range plan for the Parks and Recreation Department, for the Finance Committee’s review. Mr. Wilkie was asked to be prepared to present the plan to the full council on March 1st , with questions to follow at the March 15th council meeting. He explained the Advisory Committee wants to develop a subcommittee to make recommendations on how to fund the plan. Councilman Farmer questioned if each year of the plan had been prioritized, and Mr. Wilkie explained it had not been arranged by priority within each year. Councilman Perrin requested information on the number of parks, the acreage, and an operating statement. It was explained this was just a plan that is needed in order to apply for grants, but just because the plan calls for a project to be completed in year two does not necessarily mean it will be completed in year two.
EXISTING PARKS AND PARKS UTILIZATION
Mr. Wilkie provided a parks inventory list which showed the following parks which are funded by State Parks and Tourism Outdoor Recreation Grants: Craighead Forest Park, Dearl Burrow Memorial Baseball Park, Joe Mack Campbell Athletic Complex, a portion of Allen Park, and Earl Bell Community Center. The following parks are funded by CDBG funds: Fairview Park, Parker Park, Miles Park, A portion of Allen Park, Julian James Memorial Park, North Main Park, William Evan’s Memorial Park, Stotts Park. Mr. Wilkie explained that parks using Parks and Tourism funds must be maintained in perpetuity, while parks using CDBG funds can not be sold as long as the project remains on the property. Questions were asked regarding utilization of parks, pertaining to quantity verses quality. Mr. Wilkie was asked what the strategy was for developing the parks and was it better to maintain fewer parks making them more user friendly, or have more parks that are not being utilized. Mr. Wilkie stated the Advisory Committee is recommending the development of regional parks, making them major centers of recreation, rather than developing a lot of pocket parks.
ALLEN PARK
Mr. Wilkie reported he would provide a letter from Ms. Susan Clifford, with Parks and Tourism stating the portion of land to be sold did not fall under the regulations for the sale of property to CWL. Questions had risen regarding the proper procedure for selling the property and if regulations of Parks and Tourism Grant funds would have to be followed. Mr. Wilkie stated the property was divided in to four sections and the portion being sold had not utilized Parks and Tourism funding.
BID FOR CONCRETE WORK AT ALLEN PARK
Mr. Wilkie explained there was no standardized contract but he and Mr. Flowers were meeting with the City Attorney and would place the item on the agenda after checking with ADA, Engineering and Finance.
NORTH MAIN PARK
A replat had been recommended by the Planning Office and the City Attorney’s Office prior to it coming to Council and Mr. Wilkie explained a certified copy of the replat would be provided with the resolution when placed on the agenda.
CEMETERIES - AUDIT
Mr. Wilkie informed the committee that the cemetery sexton had been terminated and requested an audit be done in order to protect the citizens of Jonesboro. Mr. Flowers suggested an external audit by BKD, while Councilman Perrin suggested the audit be done internally, due to an immediate need. Councilman Farmer explained there is an immediate need as well as developing a procedure for the future. It was explained a decision would have to be made regarding proceeding with additional audits which was part of the agreement with BKD. The decision was made to have City Collector, Becky Sharp and City Auditor David Eagle to review the procedures and present them to the committee members at the next committee meeting in order to make a decision regarding using BKD for a more extensive audit.
Mr. Wilkie provided a proposed ordinance to amend Ordinance No. 2123 for the purpose of permitting St. Bernard’s to do landscaping work at the city cemetery.
PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL
Mr. Flowers reported Principal Financial would be increasing their proprietary mutual funds fees effective April 1st and would be at the March meeting to answer any questions. He explained the mutual fund fees are not posted to the statement and recommended asking Principal Financial to disclose the dollar amount.
FINANCIAL SOFTWARE
Mr. Alan Young, Information Systems provided an outline of city employees needs for financial software. He explained they would be updating procedures, giving the example of the elimination of paper, and asked the question how much change the city can accept. Councilman Perrin asked committee members to review the material and stated he wanted to schedule a field trip to visit other areas that use the financial software. City Clerk, Donna Jackson explained that Ms. Betty Shaw who chairs the Records Management Advisory Committee had expressed an interest in going with the group on the field trip as a representative of the Records Management Advisory Committee. Councilman Perrin concurred it would be a good idea to include her.
MAYOR’S CAR ALLOWANCE
Mr. Flowers presented a proposed resolution at the request of Mayor Brodell establishing a car allowance of $750.00 per month beginning March 1, 2004 for the purpose of compensating use of the Mayor’s personal vehicle for local and out of town travel for official city business. Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Hargis to recommend the resolution to the full council. All voted aye.
AHTD - HWY 18 / HWY 351 SIGNALIZATION - JOB 100584
Mr. Flowers stated he had the Mayor’s recommendation to appropriate a matching share of $10,014.80 for signalization at Hwy 18 and Hwy 351. There was confusion as to where the property was located, and Mr. Scott was asked to get with Mayor Brodell for further details.
GRANTS
Councilman Hargis presented a professional services list on behalf of Mr. Jim McKinnon, Grants Coordinator who wanted direction on the selection of Professional Services for an engineer and architect. It was determined Mayor Brodell should come back to the committee with a recommendation of the top three for an engineer and the top three for an architect.
Councilman Hargis reading from Mr. McKinnon’s report stated the bids for Parker Park have been rebid and would be open March 2nd at 2:00 p.m.; offer for bids would be out in the next two weeks on the sprayground for Allen Park; the 2004 CDBG program should be approved by HUD in March or April.
CITY PROPERTY & DEEDS
Mr. Flowers stated he believed they had accumulated enough of a listing of city property to satisfy the written comments made in the 2002 audit findings. Mr. Flowers asked if Mayor Brodell was still working on acquiring deeds for city owned property, and Mr. Flowers responded saying Mayor Brodell had indicated that Purchasing Agent, Steve Kent and the Mayor’s Assistant Aubrey Scott would go to the county offices to work through the assessment forms. Mr. Scott was informed that Councilwoman Furr had been working with the assessment records as well and her services were available if they needed her. Councilwoman Furr explained the process she had gone through.
CODIFICATION OF ORDINANCES
City Clerk Donna Jackson provided information regarding the status of codification of city ordinances. She had received an email which stated there had been a delay due to the special session of the legislature in Little Rock, but Attorney Mark Hays would be reviewing them in the near future.
POLICY FOR ELECTRONIC RECORDS
Allen Young submitted a policy for electronic records for the Finance Committee’s review. He asked for their input.
ADJOURNMENT
With no further business Councilman Perrin moved, seconded by Councilman Dover to adjourn. All voted aye.