03/22/2005 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Special Council Minutes of 3/22/20(15 consulting services have been reduced, and other areas noted in the report have been reduced to arrive at the adjusted figure. All efforts are being made to avoid a sewer rate increase, with a study to be conducted this year with regard to that issue. Also up for discussion is the refund program that is in place for lesser users. • In the Service Department, the seasonal employees are in fact being charged to appropriate and respective funds, thereby relieving the General Fund of approximately $26,000. • The request for an 11 man minimum at the Fire Department was once again discussed. In terms of the budget, the Mayor was unable to respond to the committee's question as to the cost of funding this minimum. Safety Director Jesse disagreed with the recommendation and stated that the Staffing Committee should be on-going and not make small changes, but wait until the committee has come to a final recommendation. As members of the committee, Councilman Miller and Mrs. Kasler refuted his recollection of the results of the staffing meeting in which, Mrs. Kasler and Mr. Miller contend, it was agreed upon that the first step in changing staffing would be to recommend 2 new firefighters and an 11 man minimum in this year's budget. It is their contention that no one objected to this idea at the meeting, including Mr. Jesse. He disagrees. Notes from that meeting reflect that Mrs. Kasler and Mr. Miller are correct, however no tape recording was made of the meeting. This topic remains open for further discussion, but is not reflected in the budget at this time Councilman Limpert suggested that we remain at a 10 man minimum but call in 11 men. No decision was made at this time. • Health care costs and appropriations were discussed. The Director of Personnel recommended that the equivalent of three months worth of claims, or $600,000, remain appropriated, over and above the actual estimated cost of health care to the city, in case of catastrophic changes to the claims each year. She agrees with the carryovers that have occurred over the past three years. The Finance Director was of the same opinion, but did state that last year's $800,000 was probably excessive. The firefighters' contention is that this over appropriation could be better utilized in other areas of the budget, increasing safety services to the city. After much discussion, it was agreed that this issue will be revisited in about three months when open enrollment is completed and claims from NOMBL have been finalized. • After a presentation from the Safety Director with regard to the cost of property maintenance seasonal inspector programs in other cities, and after a disagreement by the Safety Director that this is the time to employ such a person, committee members who have fought for this position for the past three years, as a starting point for improving residential maintenance in the city, located funding for such a project in the amount of $15,000. Once any possible labor issues have been resolved with regard to this position, legislation should follow to hire this seasonal employee for this year for property maintenance to assist our current property maintenance officer. ® At the point of that discussion, a recommendation was made and by a unanimous vote the committee recommended the budget as amended. 2 f~ .