01-26-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION January 5, 2015 DRAFT irrigation solution using land that should be developed. In light, he suggests that the 91 drainage issues for the area need to be addressed. Mr. Grochala added that another 92 impacted developer, Mattamy, is facing a similar situation. If the watershed is 93 comfortable, that allows for a game plan to move forward. Mayor Reinert suggested 94 that the city needs to work with landowners and he’d like the council to be kept up to date 95 as information becomes available. 96 97 5. City Auditor Discussion- Finance Director Rolek indicated there is no written staff 98 report on this matter. He understands that the council is requesting information the city’s 99 contract for auditing services. He explained that the city’s current auditor, 100 CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, has been providing services to the city for 16 years. Three 101 years previous the city did issue an RFP and ended up staying with that company. He 102 suggests that it would be appropriate to do an RFP again, if the council wishes, but he 103 would advise waiting until after the 2014 audit is complete. As far as best practice for 104 audit services, the GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) calls for a contract 105 of at least five years because a level of continuity is important. 106 107 Mayor Reinert indicated that he and Council Member Stoesz requested this discussion. 108 They believe it is good to look at options once in a while. 109 110 Council Member Kusterman remarked that it’s really about relationships, method and 111 quality. He doesn’t think that a change is necessarily needed since there can be a cost 112 involved. When the mayor asked if there is ever a good reason to change, Council 113 Member Kusterman said that would probably be to get a better deal but you have to 114 weigh that with the possibility of losing people that you trust. Council Member Rafferty 115 recalled that when the city looked at RFPs for city engineering services, interested 116 companies actually came in and met with the council. Finance Director Rolek added that 117 staff’s perspective on the matter is that they don’t have a bias; while they have a good 118 relationship with the current provider, there is also no concern about looking at an RFP. 119 120 The council concurred that they’d like the city to have a policy on looking at outside 121 providers on a regular basis and that would be any professional contracts. The City 122 Administrator was directed to bring forward a policy for council consideration. 123 124 6. Charter Commission – 2014 Budget Request- Administrator Karlson reviewed his 125 staff report that outlines 2014 actions on the Commission’s budget and the current request 126 of the Commission for additional funds to pay an outstanding legal bill. He has reviewed 127 their budget and what they had to spend and suggested to them that they use their 2015 128 budget to cover the outstanding balance. The Mayor recalled that the council did 129 authorize additional funds for the Commission in 2014 but, in the end, didn’t get a 130 recommendation on the proposed amendments; he concurs that they should pay from their 131 2015 budget. Council Member Roeser expressed concern about the request and past 132 overspending. 133 134 There was no additional funding authorized for the Charter Commission. 135 3