10-05-2009 Council Minutes (2) - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 5,2009 DRAFT 46 system of imposing a tax to be used to promote visitors and tourism has been used very 47 effectively in other areas in the state. 48 49 Ms.Divine asked the council to think about who and how they will appoint a member to the 50 board. 51 52 The council discussed the advantage of bringing in expertise already present in the community 53 and recommended that the city set up a public process to reach out to the community for 54 interested and qualified candidates for this type of appointment(to this board and to others like 55 it). Ms.Divine noted that she will investigate whether or not the representative must be an 56 elected official and report back. 57 58 The remainder of the council agenda was reviewed briefly. 59 60 1. Centennial Fire District 2010 Budget -Centennial District Fire Chief Jerry Streich 61 reported. He first thanked Police Chief Pecchia and the Lino Lakes Police Department for their 62 work in dealing with the recent murder/suicide tragedy that involved a Centennial fire fighter. 63 He offered his thoughts and prayers to the survivors. 64 65 Chief Streich then presented the proposed 2010 budget for his department noting that the budget 66 has first been reviewed by the Centennial Fire District Steering Committee. Under the joint 67 powers agreement each of the three cities the district serves(and who contribute to the budget) 68 have until November 30,2009 to approve the proposed budget including fee charges. He 69 reminded the council that the funding formula is based on market value,population and a five 70 year average of calls. He has had the opportunity to compare the department's budget to others 71 in the area and can report that it is generally lower than in department's with comparable 72 services. He noted that charitable gambling revenue that had contributed somewhat to the budget 73 recently disappeared. There was originally a$27,000 increase proposed for the 2010 budget but 74 he has worked that down by looking at additional fees for services. When he looked at calls,he 75 saw that many calls could be handled by one individual so he has created a fire district duty 76 officer who responds to low priority calls rather than sending eight or more. He reviewed the 77 new required expenditures that were pushing the budget increase and explained how he is 78 covering them with fees that will actually decrease the Lino Lakes'contribution. Mr.Streich 79 noted the capital funds that are included in the budget each year and that are allowed to build up 80 for equipment purchases. He has reviewed that program and is confident that the appropriate 81 amount of capital is being contributed yearly to meet future purchase needs without requiring 82 bonding. Information on the department's response time is included in the staff report and was 83 pointed out by Mr.Streich. 84 85 2. Anoka County-Blaine Airport Advisory Commission—Acting Administrator Tesch 86 noted that the by-laws for the organization were recently changed to include a representative of 87 the City of Lino Lakes;the representative could be an elected or appointed person. 88 89 The council authorized staff to begin a community oriented process seeking interested 90 individuals.