06/17/2003 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes 6/17/2003 Finance Director Copfer: 1) On June 10, the Boazd of Control awarded the financial information system consultant contract to Barry Strock Consulting Associates. This is the firm that was unanimously recommended by the review committee, consisting of herself, the Assistant Finance Director, the Finance Administrative Assistant and the Data Processing Commissioner. The committee believed, and the Board of Control confirmed, that this firm had numerous years of directly related experience at the municipal, county and state levels of government. The references that she called on their behalf verified the extensive experience and expertise which will assist the department in working through the process in a proven methodology that cuts through a lot of the wasted time and energy in trying to determine a direction and a process. She received a draft of the contract today from the Law Dept., and intends on it being completed by the end of the week. The amount of the consulting agreement through the mailing of the RFP's is $24,800. 2) Along with the Personnel Director, she met with Cazeworks, who is the city's workers' compensation managed Gaze organization, to discuss the feasibility of participation in a shared-risk pool and if it would potentially achieve a premium savings for the next year. A follow-up meeting will be scheduled after meeting with representatives from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation. 3) RITA has changed the process for income tax collections and is now giving advances in the last week of the month and reconciling and closing the month at mid-month. Yeaz- to-date, we are down almost 1%, which is $47,000. The withholding is up $90,000. Individual tax filers are down by 24. Tax on net profits is down by $113,000. 4) She also greatly enjoyed the employee picnic and served as the grill supervisor. Thanks to the committee that organized and collected the donations from the employees, organized people bringing side dishes, shopped and cleaned up. Thanks also to the Service Dept. for their set-up and their tear-down. Thanks to Tim Conway for building the grill. It was a really great time, and it was a lot of fun. 5) The issues related to appropriations Ordinance 2003-88 were discussed in the Committee-of--the-Whole last week. The increases in the General Fund of $59,440 relate to the plans examination consultant potential expense of $35,000 for the remainder of the year and a building inspector charged with property maintenance responsibilities at $24,440 for the remaining portion of the year. The plans examination expense is offset by corresponding fees; hence, a review occurred for the first half of the year. Rates are being adjusted in Ordinance 2003-97. Additionally discussed in the committee meeting last week were apartment license fees, which have not been adjusted since 1969 when they were instituted. Those fees will be increased to help defray the inspector's costs. She has spoken with Chief Klecan regarding the annual fire inspections and asked for his opinion as to what should be chazged. He will be reseazching the topic and will hopefully have some information when Council returns from its recess. President O'Grady: 1) On Friday, June 13, he attended the NOACA Summit 2003. The Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency is an organization that is vital to different development projects that happen in the azea of northeastern Ohio. There were a number of speakers including Cleveland Mayor Campbell and County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones. Each of the counties made a presentation. Speaking for Cuyahoga County was County Engineer, Mr. Bob Klaiber. Of significance to the City of North Olmsted, one of the key projects that he sees for Cuyahoga County is the Crocker/Steams 5