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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-12 Council MinutesDocument 5.a November 20, 2003 Agenda Prepared By: Sue Vergin, Administrator CITY OF CORCORAN COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP NOVEMBER 12, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\11.12.03 Budget Workshop.doc Mayor Guenthner opened the workshop at 6:03 p.m., on November 12, 2003, at City Hall in Corcoran, MN. The purpose of the workshop was to address the City’s 2004 preliminary budget. Present were Councilors Bucher, Gageby, Guenthner, Lymangood and Thomas, along with City Administrator Vergin and Police Chief Schutte. MOTION by Bucher, seconded by Lymangood and approved unanimously to approve the agenda with the addition of staffing policies. Chief Schutte provided an overview of his departments’ budget. Addressing staff assignments and responsibilities, community events, services provided and statistical data. Addressed external training versus internal training of the officers. If our officers are training others are there revenues from that service. Chief Schutte indicated that they try to share training through other departments. Addressed Firearms Safety and Snowmobile Safety classes. Current registration fees are restricted through the DNR. The fees collected by the city pay for the supplies; however manpower is not recovered through these fees. Suggestions were made to look into alternative funding sources, collaboration and coordination with other organizations, such as the snowmobile club, and perhaps subsidies from other communities from where the registrants are from. Staff was directed to analyze and provide additional information on these classes, such as actual cost per unit, actual time spent by staff, etc. Addressed whether it would be appropriate to have the Chief spend an allotted amount of time at the Mobile Home Park, making him self visible and available to the Park residents in an effort to address the various issues of that area. Making the residents aware of other resources available to them such as Northwest Hennepin Humans Services Council and North Hennepin Mediation Services. The Council requested that Planner Lindahl be consulted with on zoning matters related to mobile home parks. It was suggested that the Chief allocate one morning a month to the mobile home park. After a few months the Chief will report back to the council on the impacts that it has made. Then the council can evaluate the situation to determine if it should continue or possibly look into other options and/or controls for the Park. Addressed the statistics of the calls responded to by the City and those responded to by the County. Chief Schutte informed the council that he and other chiefs had met with Hennepin County Sheriff McGowan this past week. At that meeting they were informed that if the city has their own department then that department will be responsible for all of the non-emergency calls. If no one is on duty for the city, the non-emergency calls will be placed on hold until a city officer can respond. This will at sometimes take 24 + hours before an officer will be able to respond to the matter. There are concerns with what will be considered a non-emergency call and how calls will be placed on hold and not lost into the system. There are issues Called to Order Roll Call Agenda Approved Police Department Document 5.a November 20, 2003 Agenda Prepared By: Sue Vergin, Administrator CITY OF CORCORAN COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP NOVEMBER 12, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\11.12.03 Budget Workshop.doc that the County will need to address prior to implementing this. At this time no clear direction has been provided to the City by the Sheriff’s Department. Addressed other services provided by the Department. Will look into the current practice on non-sufficient fund checks. Community events are taking more time from the department as the number of events increase. The department needs to identify priorities and an effective management of staff time. Discussed the proposed facility expansion and agreed that long term planning to address fire service and the public works needs should also be addressed. Perhaps would be more efficient to look at shorter term changes to existing facility with longer term planning to address more overall needs of the city. Short term would be to utilize existing space, but address safety issues. The council summarized the discussion on the police department budget. The officer position can remain in the budget at this time; the CIP plan is appropriate with the Message Board being moved to 2005; have the facility committee meet and address facility needs, short term and long term. The council will review this prior to certifying the final levy. Councilor Lymangood suggested that the city look at policies that address budgets and staffing, that would take inflation and population increases into consideration. Administrator Vergin addressed the remaining matters on the agenda. Code Enforcement position. Noted that the enforcement of overweights is being addressed to ensure better enforcement. The department’s budget is proposed to increase by approximately 3%, which is largely based on the wage increase. The CIP plan has been reevaluated and determined that there will not be any capital expenditures anticipated for 2004 – 2005. If a vehicle replacement is needed a shift from either the public works department or the police department will be considered. Used file cabinets will be purchased as needed based on any excess monies remaining in the CIP. Fees are being evaluated by staff, with a final proposal for consideration to the council in December or January. Other budget matters: Snow removal - currently there is approximately $120,000 in the reserves designated for public works, these funds could be utilized for snow removal if the city incurred excessive costs. A press release will be prepared prior to the truth in taxation hearing to address the shifts in revenues and other impacts that have affected the City’s budget. These issues will also be addressed at the hearing. Mayor Guenthner recessed the budget workshop at 8:15 p.m. ____________________ ________ Susan Vergin, City Administrator Budget / Staffing Policy Code Enforcement Fees Miscellaneous Snow Removal Costs Truth in Taxation Hearing Document 5.a November 20, 2003 Agenda Prepared By: Sue Vergin, Administrator CITY OF CORCORAN COUNCIL BUDGET WORKSHOP NOVEMBER 12, 2003 H:\City Hall Information\CITY GOVERNMENT\Council, Commissions & Committees\Council Information\Council Minutes\Previous Years\2003 - Need to PDF\11.12.03 Budget Workshop.doc Recessed