HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-11-2016 Council Work Session MinutesCITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
APPROVED
July 1192016
1 CITY OF LINO LAKES
2 MINUTES
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4 DATE July 11, 2016
5 TIME STARTED 7:45 p.m.
6 TIME ENDED 9610 P.M.
7 MEMBERS PRESENT Councilmember Rafferty, Kusterman,
8 Maher, Manthey and Mayor Reinert
9 MEMBERS ABSENT None
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12 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Finance Director Sarah Cotton;
13 Community Development Director Michael Grochala; Public Services Director Rick
14 DeGardner; Public Safety Director John Swenson; City Clerk Julie Bartell
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16 1. 2017 Draft Budget- Finance Director Cotton reviewed the written staff report
17 outlining the first draft of the 2017 Budget and Tax Levy, as developed by department
18 directors and reviewed by the City Administrator. It is based on resources needed to
19 continue city services at their current levels and also incorporates the priorities and
20 initiatives already identified by the City Council.
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22 Mayor Reinert remarked that there appears to be a request to raise taxes. He polled the
23 council on their desire to do so. Council Member Maher remarked that it would have to
24 be a very good reason to raise taxes.
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26 Mayor Reinert also noted that last year there were some obvious additional expenses
27 required and he suspects that would not be as clear this year. His goal is not to raise taxes
28 and accept the higher valuation without changing the tax rate.
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30 The mayor said that there should be a time to go through money not spent and see if there
31 are funds available that way first. The council discussed the timing — a preliminary
32 budget is due in September that can go down but not up.
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34 The council called for discussion about equipment replacement. Council Member
35 Rafferty suggested that the council would benefit from a quarterly report on departmental
36 needs in that area. Administrator Karlson confirmed that the council would like to
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7 handle that as a regular work session item. The mayor asked what percentage of the
38 budget is related to the Public Safety Department and staff suggested approximately 44
39 percent. He concurs with the concept of having a quarterly discussion about what is and
40 what will be. Director Swenson recommended that the meeting be televised to reach as
41 many people as possible. The mayor recommended that be presented as a summary for
42 the public.
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44 Council Member Manthey said he wasn't able to go through the entire packet so he'd
45 appreciate a review.
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
APPROVED
July 1192016
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47 Director Cotton suggested that individual council member go through the department
48 level budgets and then contact her with any questions. After that there is a capital
49 replacement schedule for review. She noted that the replacement of five rather than four
50 police cars is possible because one unit would be an unmarked vehicle at a lower cost.
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52 Council Member Rafferty asked about the number of vehicles overall for the Public
53 Safety Department. He discussed the number of vehicles active on a given day —
54 Director Swenson reviewed that schedule and promised a fleet report providing more
55 detail. Council Member Rafferty asked about where vehicles are kept; Director Swenson
56 promised an inventory sheet with more detail; staff will put together a detailed fleet
57 inventory report for the next full work session.
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59 Director Cotton noted the final pages of the report that includes a memo from the Fire
60 Division including equipment recommendations. She worked with the Public Safety
61 Director Swenson on a possible equipment replacement schedule. Council Member
62 Rafferty suggested that some equipment replacement was previously scheduled further
63 out. Director Swenson indicated that fire personnel will also report on their
64 recommendation at that upcoming work session discussion.
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66 Mayor Reinert suggested that the pension contribution seems high compared to history
67 and what was anticipated.
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69 Director Swenson remarked on the need for an aerial truck that will better serve the
70 higher buildings in the city.
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72 Council Member Rafferty wondered why the cost of the boat is proposed to increase so
73 much from the $20,000 spent on the current one. Director Swenson replied that he
74 would have to speak with Deputy Director D'Allier on that matter.
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76 Dale Stoesz, 306 Linda Lane, remarked that security cameras are being requested and he
77 wonders if those would be appropriate at the Public Works facility also. Director
78 DeGardner suggested that this would really be a phase one and other facilities could be
79 covered in the future as that program moves ahead. Council Member Kusterman asked if
80 the city is behind the curve on that type of security and Mr. DeGardner said yes, adding
81 that staff is required to work with Metro lNet on scheduling their assistance.
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83 Council Member Rafferty noted a police division staffing study within the proposed
84 budget and asked for more information. Director Swenson explained that would involve
85 bringing someone in from the outside to look ahead at staffing as the city grows.
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87 Council Member Rafferty asked about the proposal for playground equipment and
88 Director DeGardner explained that there is a need for replacement of some equipment and
89 he wants to keep that on the council's radar. The city's Park Board has prioritized
90 projects and will keep that updated in order to provide that advice to the council. Council
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CITE' COUNCIL WORK SESSION July 11, 2016
APPROVED
91 Member Rafferty suggested that staff include pictures/visual information as discussion
92 about those type of improvements continue.
93
94 Mayor Reinert asked about the Public Safety Department item on Travel/Tuition.
95 Director Swenson noted the billing system for Century College (for training firefighters).
96 The mayor suggested that those costs are for training new people only but Director
97 Swenson explained that there is in-house ongoing training but there are additional levels
98 of training that is occurring. Mayor Reinert noted a 33 percent increase in that line item
99 for 2017 and Director Swenson explained the budget in more detail. The mayor
100 suggested that the line item be broken into education and travel as two separate items.
101 He also noted that the budget for uniforms is doubling? Director Swenson suggested that
102 some of this stems from last year's action of moving some funds to contingency. There
103 was a discussion about turn out gear — when someone leaves, it isn't normally useful to
104 the next person because of the personal nature/size. Council Member Manthey recalled
105 his experience with the Centennial Fire District; he received his formal gear after one year
106 of training. Director Swenson explained the borrowing of equipment through training
107 and the need to provide formal gear upon completion of training.
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109 Mayor Reinert asked, in 2014 how many sworn officers did the city employ? Director
110 Swenson said 25. Mayor Reinert said there are now 27 but revenue offsets one of those
111 positions. With that said, Mayor Reinert said he sees an increase of $650,000 in
112 personnel costs (that would be minus $110,000 for the revenue position). Director
113 Swenson explained that there are negotiated salary, benefits and 85% of the
114 Administrative Assistant, as well as addition of one part-time CSO tied to ACE revenues.
115 Mayor Reinert indicated he would still have questions about that line item. Council
116 Member Kusterman observed, regarding the comparison of 2014 to 2016, that the COLA
117 increases represent a substantial amount, and to that you would add market rate increases
118 as well as additional stipends for cross training. In that light, he isn't as concerned about
119 the figures presented.
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121 Mayor Reinert urged the council to spend some time reviewing the budget before the next
122 discussion.
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124 The meeting was adjourned at 9:10 p.m.
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126 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on
127 July 25, 2016.
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132 '"-J-rxlfan�e Bartell, City Cleik�-
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