05-23-2016 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION May 2, 2016 DRAFT 7 number of times it can be uses yearly. He explained that he has been trained in this 269 process but it hasn’t been as widely used as anticipated. It’s been most popular with 270 school projects but is also used by the City of Roseville. He provided a sample bid 271 evaluation form and bid report that was done using this process. When asked why the 272 city wouldn’t want to do it, Mr. Bourassa said it could result in a more expensive project. 273 Where it’s being used, it is seen as valuable. 274 275 Mr. Grochala suggested that it would add more complexity to the bid process and 276 therefore could add cost since it requires more from the contractors. Mayor Reinert said 277 he likes the idea that it would be optional. Council Member Kusterman suggested this 278 would be good for the projects where the city doesn’t have confidence or enough 279 information without it. Mayor Reinert said it raises the bar. Mr. Grochala suggested that 280 the city could tend to use this on a more complicated project and he doesn’t necessarily 281 see that the project with problems would have been one of those. Mr. Bourassa suggested 282 that criteria could be tied to areas that need the most attention in the city’s estimation. 283 284 Mayor Reinert suggested that it’s always good to have options and he thinks this is a good 285 tool to have available. Mr. Bourassa explained that the concept could be implemented 286 when the city sees a project that calls for it; they can do research with contractors in the 287 meantime to see how they react to the concept. 288 289 7. 2017 Budget Priorities – Mayor Reinert noted the two new council members and 290 their introduction to the city’s budget process. He reviewed some city budget history – 291 last year there was no valuation increase and in years previous there were some drops in 292 valuation. All that resulted in trimming the budget. He’d like to have a goal of lowering 293 the levy percentage this year. He reviewed some of the 2016 budget, including use of 294 fund reserve, closed bond funds and debt service. He noted that there are two years left 295 on debt service for the city hall complex and that was a consideration in the two year plan 296 on paying for the fire service. Looking ahead to this year, the startup costs should 297 disappear but there will be debt service on the fire station. He thinks there will be some 298 influx to the closed bond fund from the city hall debt service also. Looking at the 2017 299 budget, the council may be looking at a possible gap but he sees positives. He discussed 300 capital equipment costs and the need to have a balanced approach; he’d like a discussion 301 about an appropriate annual contribution for fire equipment. He feels the city is in good 302 shape and there is possibility of a reduction in the levy. He noted that he sees the Public 303 Services budget bouncing up and he’d like to have that discussion as well as keeping an 304 eye on the public works facility and how that will be maintained and if there should be a 305 plan for replacement in the future. 306 307