06/15/2004 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 6/15/2004 with regazd to certain changes that needed to occur in the appropriations ordinance. One of the issues was a question that arose with committee members regarding $50,000 for fire equipment from HoteUMotel. The questions from the Council members included: had the police received their equipment distribution from Hotel/Motel or was that also overlooked in appropriations? What was the basis for the oversight and was it a procedural issue or had this issue been discussed? No one could at that point recall whether the issue of a transfer for fire equipment had been discussed. The committee voted to hold this in committee until those questions were answered, and the Finance Committee was to be scheduled for Tuesday, June 15, to discuss the responses to the questions. • Ordinance 2004-104, an ordinance amending Section 1 of Ordinance No. 2004-18 which provided for the Director of Law to retain the law firm of Johnson, Angelo & Colaluca, an outside counsel to assist the city in labor negotiations so as to authorize an additional expenditure of funds pursuant to the said cornract entered into between the city and the law firm previously. The Law Director explained that this is an amendment to the existing contract with Gary Johnson's firm. The collective bargaining issues with Mr. Johnson with the city began in-house with outside counsel being brought in at the fact finding stage. The first contract was for $30,000 and is found to be insufficient at this time for the following reasons: 1) There is an impasse at the Central Dispatch level which has moved to fact finding which required Mr. Johnson's attention. Also there has been unfair labor practices and grievances filed that aze related to the fact finding/collective bargaining process that have to also be addressed. That has caused the process to mushroom to some extent. Councilwoman Kasler suggested that the additional $30,000 cap be kept to $10,000 with the thought that, if $30,000 is available, then $30,000 will be spent. The Law Director, however, aptly responded when he said that he was following it closely and monitoring the billing. To this point in time, the billing is accurate and appropriate for the work performed. At the beginning of May, there was already an overage and the May bill itself was going to be in excess of the $30,000. The funding for the additional $30,000 will come from the money that Council allocated to be paid back to HoteUMotel. So it is a transfer from an amount that was going to put into a fund as a payback from last year's diversion of those funds. It won't take away from a program. The committee unanimously recommended approval of Ord. 2004-104. 2) The committee met again this evening to discuss Ordinance 2004-97, the transfer and appropriations ordinance. Present were Councilmen Gazeau, Limpert, Dailey, Kasler, Miller, Nashaz, McKay; President O'Grady; directors of Finance, Law, Planning, Human Resources, Personnel, Safety, Service; Mayor Musial and the Fire Chief. • The committee received some information from Mrs. Copfer that addressed concerns. As it turns out, the equipment purchase of $50,000 had not been discussed during appropriations, but it is an amount that is always appropriated to both fire and police, in different amounts as necessary, for fire and police equipment. The equipment purchases basically aze the uses of Hotel/Motel. This is done every year for different equipment. This evening, Chief Klecan explained the equipment for this year will be breathin a azatus for the turn-out geaz that is worn out and needs to be replaced and 8 PP 6