09/01/1998 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 9/1/98 help, he does not plan to spend or borrow more than we are reducing the debt. As long as x.„ we continue that philosophy and policy, we will be in good shape. We will provide and make sure that we do have the funds available for the Crocker-Stearns extension. Mr. Limpert commented on Mr. Bouman's remarks concerning the contract with Mr. Krynak for traffic signal repair services. We have looked at alternatives. Other companies that do this sort of work generally charge over twice the amount that Mr. Krynak is receiving. The 1,000 hours is an estimate; he will be paid for actual hours worked. In addition, other companies charge for travel time. Mr. Krynak lives in the city and is available on short notice. Mr. Bouman's remarks were valid, but we already have looked at alternatives. We are basically going to save 50% off of what other communities pay for similar services. Also, the contract provides that Mr. Krynak will not serve under PERS, which will save the city additional costs. Service Director Bohlmann agreed that we do have a contract with Mr. Krynak for $29 an hour for every hour worked and that he would be exempt from PERS participation and insurance. The contract was prepared by the Law Director. To elaborate on what Mr. Limpert said, we did check other contractors and found the costs to be $38 an hour with a minimum charge of two hours--$29 an hour is much better than $76. Mr. Krynak retired from our police force as a captain, and he has been doing traffic signalization work for a minimum of a dozen years. He was on the ground floor of the traffiic signalization project, and we put him through various schools for computer literacy. He is probably the most familiar person, next to Mr. Griffith, with the current traffic signalization system. We are fortunate to have a person of his caliber and his quality to do the trafTic signal work, to say nothing about his availability on the weekends and week nights. We cannot go wrong with this kind of a situation. Mr. O'Grady said he wanted to assure Mr. Bouman and everyone that the city is doing everything in its power to very aggressively address the debt, and we are succeeding. Certainly it is not the position of this Council, nor of the administration, that we should stop spending as a way of reducing the city's debt. That is not our job. We are not a corporation whose job it is to post profits. We are an organization whose job it is to serve the people. The city committed to the Crocker-Stearns project years ago. We would be remiss if we were not to meet our financial obligation. We will continue to aggressively pursue the debt, but we will not do that at the expense of the people of this city. Regarding Mr. Bouman's comments that he may be a law breaker because of the weeds he is growing in his yard, at this point he is a law breaker. The proposed legislation does not impose penalties that are not there, rather it softens them. It gives an individual, Like Mr. Bouman who is probably growing something that is not in the current Codified Ordinance definition of weed, an opportunity to appeal their case to the Service Director. Further, it adds a degree of common sense because we do not want people to take away weeds and vines when their property abuts the Metroparks or I-480--these issues are addressed in the legislation. Also, this legislation addresses the size of the parcel which the current ordinance does not. Large parcels over one acre meant for future development that are ' not an imposition to the average homeowner are exempt. 9 _.: ,. .. .~...... ~wW'_u~~al5 .::.._......n..,: ... ~.. ..c-:,wrwagA•~..,.,.: .,,-; :,r+. -«.,_. ... ~.. ~. .~ ,:.. F ,.. -