Minutes; Finance: February 2011

City of Evansville
Finance & Labor Relations Committee

Regular Meeting
Thursday, February 3, 2011, 5:30 pm
City Hall, 31 S. Madison St., Evansville, Wisconsin

MINUTES

I. Call to Order. The meeting was called to order at 5:40 pm by Chair Mason Braunschweig. Present: Alderpersons Mason Braunschweig, Diane Roberts and Jim Brooks. Also present: Mayor Sandy Decker, Finance Director Lisa Novinska and City Administrator Dan Wietecha.

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

III. Minutes of January 6, 2011. Roberts made a motion, seconded by Brooks, to waive the reading of and to approve the minutes as presented. Motion approved unanimously.

IV. Citizen Appearances. None.

V. Water & Light Bills. Roberts made a motion, seconded by Brooks, to accept the Water & Light bills in the amount of $612,363.68. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

VI. City Bills. Roberts made a motion, seconded by Brooks, to accept the City bills in the amount of $2,762,345.30. FLR questioned the Economic Development Committee’s decision to pay $1,000 to the Chamber of Commerce for business park identification. Under current budget and purchasing policies, it is within the EDC’s discretion to support business park identification rather than publication of the business directory. FLR noted that it hopes the business directory would still be published despite losing the city’s financial support. FLR noted its displeasure at paying the Chamber to hire its president for the work; if done by a city board, this would likely violate conflict of interest laws. FLR noted that it expects EDC to not divert moneys budgeted for the business inventory database. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

VII. Unfinished Business:
a. Contingency Budget. Wietecha noted a September-October 2009 article from Public Management magazine regarding financial policies and procedures. FLR agreed that the city already does much of the recommended policies, but some areas could be improved. The article will likely be distributed prior to a future Committee of the Whole meeting.

b. Assistant Aquatics Director. Wietecha explained that the recommendation from Park Board and the Aquatics Director was to essentially make the position an adult and have the senior staff rotate through it. FLR particularly appreciated the idea of having all senior staff rotate through the position during the season. FLR asked that the proposed changes be made to the written position description and brought back for consideration March 3.

VIII. New Business:
a. Sewer Connection Fees. Brooks and Braunschweig agreed to sponsor Ordinance 2011-02, Affirming Sewer Connection Fees. First reading will occur at the Common Council meeting on February 7.

b. Budget Amendments. Brooks made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to recommend to Common Council approval of Resolution 2011-01, Approving Year-End Amendments to the 2010 Budget and New-Year Amendments to the 2011 Budget. Wietecha reviewed the recommended amendments, including changes related to grants and fundraising, computer replacement, and training part-time police officers. The amendments are meant to recognize specific issues that should be reflected in the budget, not to true-up variances in the department budgets. Novinska noted that preliminary year-end financial statements would be distributed within the next week. Decker said the remodeling and construction of the Police Station and Police/EMS Garage still has an outstanding budget amendment from 2009. FLR agreed the Police/EMS project should be completed and asked that a final budget amendment be on the March agenda. Motion approved unanimously on a roll call vote.

c. Donations and Fundraising Policy. Wietecha noted some inconsistency in how and when departments are allowed to fundraise or take donations. Several budget amendments were needed to accommodate fundraising activities. For fairness to the departments and understanding by the public, he recommended a donations and fundraising policy. FLR said that fundraising may be appropriate for “outside the budget” activities but not for normal operations. FLR asked that best practices from other communities be researched.

d. Business Sponsorship of Baseball Program. Wietecha gave an overview of a proposed business advertising sponsorship for the youth baseball program. Sponsorships around $100 to $150 per team would allow registration fees to be reduced and provide funding for equipment replacement. It also plays to a “keep it local” sentiment. Words such as “saloon” or “tavern” would be prohibited since it is a youth program. Updated pricing for shirts is needed before completing the budget for the program, including calculations of sponsorship levels and registration fees. Park Board was favorable when the proposal was shared with them. FLR agreed the business sponsorship should proceed.

e. Youth Baseball Coordinator. Brooks made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to approve filling the Youth Baseball Coordinator position. Motion approved unanimously.

f. 535 East Main Street (former police station). FLR asked that the question of re-listing the former police station be held until the March meeting.

g. AP Accounting Class Project. Wietecha explained that Eric Busse had approached him about having the AP Accounting Class do a financial overview of the city similar to what they did last year for the school district. FLR indicated it could be a good learning experience for the students.

IX. Adjournment. Brooks made a motion, seconded by Braunschweig, to adjourn the meeting. Motion approved unanimously at 7:05 pm.