HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-02-02 Finance and Safety MinutesFINANCE AND SAFETY COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
City Council Finance and Safety Committee
February 2, 2016 - 5:30 p.m. - Foster Conference Room, 6300 Building
Councilmembers: Verna Seal, Chair; Dennis Robertson, Kate Kruller
Staff: David Cline, Bob Giberson, Peggy McCarthy, Rachel Bianchi, Chris Flores, Mike
Villa, Gail Labanara, Sandy Garrett, Vicky Carlsen, Leon Richardson, Laurel
Humphrey
CALL TO ORDER: Committee Chair Seal called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
I. PRESENTATIONS
II. BUSINESSAGENDA
Chair Seal announced that item 2e pertaining to Facilities and RFA will be held to a future date.
A. Police Department Purchase: Mobile on Q
Staff is seeking Committee approval to purchase a Mobile on Q evidence device for $5,695 and
a five -year warranty for $350. This is a mobile device that will allow users to inventory, transfer
and check out items from any location, syncing remotely with the evidence database. This will
improve efficiency and is a timely companion to the Police Department's new evidence facility.
Funding for the device and warranty will be divided between the departmental office supplies
and evidence supplies budgets.
UNANIMOUS APPROVAL.
B. Resolution: Surplus 1994 Darley Fire Truck
Staff is seeking Council approval of a resolution that would surplus the 1994 Darley Fire Truck
and authorize the sale of the truck to Bates Technical College for $5,950. This fire engine is no
longer in service and is at the end of its life cycle. It will be useful to Bates Technical College to
train upcoming firefighters because it has modern features that don't currently exist in their
training inventory. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. FORWARD TO FEBRUARY 16, 2016 REGULAR
CONSENTAGENDA.
C. Ordinance and Resolution: Amending Title 5. "Business Licenses and Regulations"
Staff is seeking Council approval of an ordinance that would amend Title 5, "Business Licenses
and Regulations," with clarifying improvements and consistency with current practice. In
addition, the ordinance would remove the fee schedule, as the City has been gradually
removing various fee schedules from locations in the Code and adopting them by resolution
instead. Staff is also seeking Council approval of the resolution that would adopt the fee
schedule for business licenses. UNANIMOUS APPROVAL. FORWARD TO FEBRUARY 16, 2016
REGULAR CONSENT AGENDA.
Finance and Safety Committee Minutes ................................................................................ ............................... February2, 2016
D. Resolution: Adopting an n Expense Reimbursement Policy
Staff provided an overview of all the recent actions taken by the Finance Department in an
overarching project intended to streamline the procurement process. Existing policies and
practices were reviewed, bottlenecks were identified, and other departments were consulted,
resulting in several actions to improve and streamline processes as outlined in the memo. Staff
is seeking Council approval of a resolution that would adopt an expense reimbursement policy
for the City and replace existing policy 03 -06, Travel Expenses while On City Business. The
resolution would establish revised procedures for reimbursing employees, officials, chaplains,
and volunteers for reasonable expenses incurred in the course of City business. UNANIMOUS
APPROVAL. FORWARD TO FEBRUARY 16, 2016 REGULAR CONSENT AGENDA.
E. Facilities Plan Options: Annexation of Fire Department vs. Retention of Fire Department
Held as previously stated by the Chair.
F. Financial Planning Model - AttachmentA
Staff presented an updated Attachment to the Financial Planning Model that includes the 2015-
2016 mid - biennium budget amendments, 2015 final estimates, and formatting changes.
Committee members reviewed the document line by line. Councilmember Robertson
distributed two alternate representations of the information while noting the deficiencies of
the model due to unpredictabilityin the out years. He finds itdifficultto consider large financial
issues such as facility replacement or fire services without an accurate forecast.
Councilmember Kruller stated she has been researching priority -based budgeting strategies as
used in Longmont, Colorado, and would like the Council to consider transitioning to that style.
Chair Seal commented that Councilmembers are coming up with their own approaches based
on the budget amendments to police and fire but that the common theme is needing more
transparency and understanding more about service costs and departmental spending. The
Committee requested an updated debt service schedule. INFORMATION ONLY.
III. MISCELLANEOUS
Financial Policies
Committee members discussed how they would like to approach a greater understanding of
current financial policies as well as providing clear direction on new policies. The following
decisions /requests emerged:
The Committee would like to review existing policies.
• The Committee welcomes suggestions from staff.
• The Council Analyst will track suggestions from Councilmembers.
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RFA /Facilities
Chair Seal stated that she is collectinginformation and requests from other Councilmembersand
will report back regarding next steps. Councilmember Robertson suggested that City
Administrator Cline check in with Chief Schneider to address any timing concerns he may have
given the April ballot measure.
The Finance and Safety Committee Meeting adjourned at 7:56 p.m.
Next meeting: Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Committee ChairApproval
Minutes by LH