Minutes; Finance Committee; April 2009

City of Evansville
Finance & Labor Relations Committee

Regular Meeting
Thursday, April 9, 2009, 5:30 pm
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

I. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 5:30 pm by Chair Tom Cothard.

II. Roll Call. Present: Alderpersons Tom Cothard, Diane Roberts and Mason Braunschweig. Also present: Mayor Sandy Decker, City Administrator Dan Wietecha and Police Lieutenant Jay Koehler.

III. Approve Agenda. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to approve the agenda. Motion approved unanimously.

IV. Minutes of March 5, 2009 Meeting. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to waive the reading of and to approve the minutes as presented. Motion approved unanimously.

V. Citizen Appearances. None.

VI. Water & Light Bills. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to approve the Water and Light bills in the amount of $765,823.19 and authorize their payment. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

VII. City Bills. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to approve the City bills in the amount of $1,081,563.13 and authorize their payment. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

VIII. Unfinished Business:
a. Lake Leota Bond Sale. Wietecha explained that the sizing of the note anticipation notes had included $255,000 in contingencies. About $50,000 of the contingency has been needed. Since the project is not complete, he recommended keeping an additional $50,000 reserved in contingency. The remaining $155,000 would then be used to reduce the amount of the bond issue. The result would be a lesser impact on the tax rate and a shortened payment schedule; the interest would be about $116,000 less than had been projected over the life of the bonds. Terms have been negotiated with Banker’s Bank, partnering with several local banks, for the bond sale. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend to Common Council, approval of Resolution 2009-06, Authorizing the Issuance and Sale of $1,205,000 General Obligation Refunding Bonds, Series 2009. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

b. WWTP Clean Water Fund. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-07, Declaring Official Intent to Reimburse Expenditures for Clean Water Fund Project. Motion approved unanimously.

c. Main and Madison Finance.
i) CWF Representative. Wietecha said about $500,000 of the Main and Madison Street projects was eligible for financing at 2.7% through the Clean Water Fund. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-08, Authorized Representative to File Application for Financial Assistance from State of Wisconsin Clean Water Fund Program. Motion approved unanimously.

ii) Budget Amendment. Wietecha noted that the Madison Street project overall was about right on budget; however, individual portions of the project had great differences with some being well over their portions of the budget. He recommended reviewing the final costs with the Finance Director before bringing a budget amendment to clean up the differences.

d. Police Station Remodeling. Wietecha said that the original budget of $75,000 was unrealistically low and would need to be increased for the project to proceed. The Committee questioned the inaccuracy of the budget and encouraged better attention in future budgets. It was noted that although the plans included a detached garage it could be removed depending on the construction bids. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-10, Amendment to 2009 Capital Budget. Motion approved unanimously. The Committee directed Wietecha to prepare a memo for the Council outlining potential sources for the additional money.

IX. New Business:
a. CHRP Grant Application. Wietecha explained that the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) grant would pay the costs of an additional full-time officer for three years. Since the city would then be committed to that additional officer, the Common Council should be making an informed decision rather than just applying for the grant. To bring the matter before the Council, Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of application for COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) grant for additional full-time police officer. Motion approved unanimously.

b. Cemetery Fees. Wietecha noted that the Public Works Committee had proposed a number of revisions to the fee schedule for the Cemetery but a few of the existing fees had not been addressed. Braunschweig and Decker proposed filling in the blanks with fees that either kept the old rates or made increases consistent with the rest of the proposal. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Roberts, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-11, Amending the City of Evansville’s Fee Schedule, with additions. Motion approved unanimously.

c. TIF Interfund Loans. Wietecha said that formalizing the interest rate for interfund loans and advances to the tax increment funds had been recommended by the City’s auditor. Cothard made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2009-12, Memorializing Interest Rate for Interfund Loans and Advances to Tax Increment Funds. Motion approved unanimously.

X. Adjournment. Braunschweig made a motion, seconded by Roberts to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved unanimously at 6:00 pm.