03-24-14 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION March 3, 2014 DRAFT 179 7. Council /Charter Commission Joint Meeting with Facilitator — Administrator 180 Karlson explained that WSB, the city's contract engineering firm, has a new employee 181 brought on to deal specifically with risk management and strategic analysis. It's been 182 suggested that this new service provided by Philip Barnes would be a good fit for the 183 council's work with the Charter Commission. A facilitated meeting could serve to 184 establish a vision for success on which a working relationship could be built. The 185 services are being offered at a nominal cost because it is a new service. 186 187 City Engineer Wedel explained Mr. Barnes' background, having worked successfully 188 with MnDOT facilitating discussions with citizens. 189 190 Council Member Kusterman expressed interest noting that it is a good value because it is 191 a new service for them so WSB is making it a good opportunity for the city. 192 193 The council would like to schedule a joint meeting as soon as possible and they discussed 194 possible dates within the next two weeks. Mr. Karlson will check on Mr. Barnes' 195 schedule and contact the Commission chair about their availability for a special meeting. 196 197 8. Monthly Progress Report — Administrator Karlson updated the council, highlighting 198 the following: 199 - Digital Scanning Project — covered on regular council meeting 200 - Labor Negotiations — The proposal for the police officers for three years has 201 been forwarded to the union with no word back yet. Mr. Karlson will be bringing 202 forward proposals to the council for the 2014 contract with AFSCME and the 49ers. 203 - ECFE Building — the loan for the day care center facility is moving forward but 204 slowly. There should be a proposal for a lease agreement possibly in a few weeks. 205 - Fire Department Analysis — the council had a conference call with Dave 206 Unmacht and the consultant who would lead an analysis. Mr. Karlson is assisting them 207 in any way he can as they prepare for their work. An official approval of their services 208 will be on the council agenda. The mayor asked staff to stay on the alert for grant funding 209 that is available for fire departments; Chief Streich should have knowledge of the system. 210 211 9. Schedule Meeting with Advisory Boards — Mayor Reinert remarked that he'd like 212 to schedule a meeting with all the advisory boards at one time — an agenda would be 213 established but mostly he sees it as a get to know each other session and a listening 214 session for the council. He suggests scheduling that sometime during the spring season. 215 216 10. 2015 Budget- Administrator Karlson noted that the management team is already 217 thinking about the budget. They are discussing a five -year financial plan. The mayor 218 remarked that it's been most difficult to do that plan under economic stress — now that 219 things are moving in a better direction that type of planning becomes more possible. Mr. 220 Karlson noted that based on the assessor's projections, property values are moving up. 221 Mayor Reinert remarked that it will be an important time for restraint but the news is 222 good. Finance Director Rolek added that the best reason to do a five year plan is 5