07/10/1995 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

148 COUNCIL MEETING JULY 10, 1995 This group was aware of the Cottage Homes senior citizen housing development. Acting Mayor Neal noted that the one recommendation was to have more volunteer firemen and police officers. He asked if this group was aware that all Centennial Fire Department firefighters are volunteers. Ms. Sullivan said that this group is aware of this. They had a very good discussion with Fire Chief Milo Bennett. They also feel that both the Fire District and the Police Department are operating very well and that they make very good use of citizen volunteers. However, the Growth Group wanted to stress continued use of citizen volunteers because when a citizen volunteers for the benefit of the community, they have more "ownership" in making sure that the government stays in good shape. One recommendation was that citizens should be more involved in doing things at City Hall. They recognize that additional residents in the City means additional work at City Hall. They would like to see citizen volunteers doing some of the additional work rather than hiring additional staff. Council Member Bergeson reminded the 20/20 Vision group of the difficulty of putting in place the things that require additional dollars. He felt that the City has a "bare bones" budget and do not fund a lot of things that should be funded. Any new items mean that either there will be a cut back in some other area or increased taxes. Council Member Bergeson said that the City Council would have difficulty finding an area to cut back. Ms. Sullivan explained that the citizens recognize this and that is why most of the recommendations are low cost or no cost. In a case where the City would not have funds to immediately start acting on the recommendation, the groups have offered information about grants that may be available and understand that this would take time in getting the grant and would take the time of a staff person to prepare the grant request. Ms. Sullivan felt that the Advisory Groups are looking more at shifts in spending and not cuts in the budget. The citizens want to see that the City staff is putting in a "good faith" effort and that there has been an evaluation of the recommendations and that everything is being done that can be done. Acting Mayor Neal explained that he works with several volunteer organizations and sees all too often "volunteers" who cannot come to a meeting because of other social commitments. Ms. Sullivan said she felt that the volunteer steering committee will be available and involved as long as they are needed. Mr. Schumacher noted that the steering committee will be considering job descriptions, budget summary and a business plan. He noted that the budget process is always a difficult issue and PAGE 3 1 1 1