The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About09/24/1984 Council Minutes1 1 001 Special Council Meeting September 24, 1984 A special meeting of the Lino Lakes City Council was called to order at 5:15 P.M., Monday, September 24, 1984 by Mayor Benson. Council members present: Kulaszewicz, Bohjanen, Marier, Reinert arrived approximately 5:25 P.M. Public Works Director, Don Volk, Chief of Police, Marvin Myhre, City Administrator, Randy Schumacher and Deputy Clerk, Marilyn Anderson were also present. Mr. Schumacher presented the preliminary budget first by explaining the Receipts part of the budget and then explaining the Disbursements and noting this is a balanced budget of $1,222,435. There were several questions about the Receipts portion of the budget and these questions were answered. The Disbursement portion of the budget was discussed by department. All changes in each department were explained on the summary sheets; - Mayor and Council - Increase due to increase in public liability insurance and increase in League of Minnesota Cities dues. Mr. Marier said there was a large increase in this budget in 1984. Mr. Schumacher explained it was due to the increase in the Council salaries. - Elections and Voters Registrations - Mayor Benson asked about next years elections. Mrs. Anderson explained one city election is budgeted and one Charter election is also budgeted. Also there is $1,000 in Capital Outlay for five (5) new votomatics with booths. - Administration - Mr. Marier asked how many part time typistsare in the Administration office. Mr. Schumacher explained there are two part time typists -one is on MEED who lays ber salary. MEED will be termin- ated at the end of 1984 and it is proposed to include the second typist in the regular budget for $6,500. Mr. Marier explained operating costs are up as well as salaries. Mrs. Anderson said this is due to increased telephone costs and liability insurance costs. Mayor Benson felt a second typist position should go through the Ways and Means Comm- ittee for their input. Mr. Reinert asked who the four authorized persons in Administration are: City Administrator, Bookkeeper, Deputy Clerk and Typist. Mayor Benson asked about the computer and Mr. Sch- umacher said he plans to purchase one before the end of 1984. - Assessor - Budget unchanged. - Legal Printing - Mayor Benson asked how two legal newspapers affected this years budget. Mrs. Anderson explained the cost was double but the City did not publish minutes as planned so this area will be within budget in 1984. Mayor Benson asked if there could be a savings if minutes were published in just one paper? It would be a savings of about $800.00. - Consultants - Mr. Schumacher explained each item on the worksheet. Important changes: - Attorney (municipal) 4% increase in rates, $5,000 for - Rehbein lawsuit. (criminal) Change in law, additional prosecutions. - Engineer (municipal) $3,000 traffic count MSA, 80th Street, $4,500 - Other Consultants - Comparable Worth Study,'$2,000, Vadnais Watershed - Economic Development Committee $3,000 District $1,200 - Salaries $30,000 Mayor Benson felt the $30,000 salary category was budgeted to a wrong budget. Mr. Schumacher will put this in a separate line item budget with a footnote. 002 Special Council Meeting September 24, 1984 Page -2- - Planning and Zoning Board - No change. - Government Buildings - Purchase of the Xerox Copier was discussed. Remodeling old council chambers, $28,000. It will take more but will do as much as possible in 1985 and balance in 1986. - Charter Commission - no change - Police Department - capital outlay; 3 radios, $1,700; 1 squad car, $12,000; office equipment $1,000. It was explained police radios could not be used to communicate with Public Works crews, therefore the request for 3 radios. - Fire Department - Mr. Schumacher explained he budgeted $62,000 for Lino Lakes portion of the Fire District. The present fire proposal is $99,000 and he explained he plans to meet with several others and get the budget down to something more realistic. Mayor Benson felt $50,000 would be all this Council would approve. Mr. Reinert asked for a detail budget sheet for the Fire Department. - Building Inspections - no change - Civil Defense - Mr. Marier asked why the operating expenses were higher. Mr. Schumacher explained there will be body and mechanical repair to the Civil Defense van. The $400 for advertising will be removed. There was discussion on the purpose of the Civil Defense Department. Chief Myhre felt it was a good standby unit. - Animal Control - 5% increase in contracted services - Public Works Department - 5 new street lights, entire 1985 proposed street program. - Weed Inspections - no change - Park Department - No park development in budget. Capital Outlay: $2,000, rotivator, $10,000 Country Lakes Park. Disease tree program $6,000, Oak Wilt very bad, Dutch Elm Disease will not be treated. $1,200 increase in benefits, health insurance for park employee. - Park Board Members - no change - Cable T V - no change Mayor Benson stressed need for a reserve. The Council had made an ob- jective for $115,000 reserve at the end of 1984. He is looking at a $150,000 reserve in 1985. The Mayor felt the Council had made a comm- ittment to build the reserve and not increase taxes and establish a three year pattern for the levy. He said he had several areas of the budget in mind that could be reduced for a total of $65,000. He would accept a $50,000 reduction to give a $50,000 reserve. The Mayor suggested the following cuts from the preliminary budget: - Eliminate 2nd typist in Administration $ 6,500 - Defer voters booths and votomatics 1,000 - Delay part of office remodeling 10,000 - Police budget 5,000 - Fire Contract 10,000 - Public Works Department 10,000 - Parks - delay $3,000 Country Lakes Park $1,000 disease tree program 4,000 - Consultants 4,000 - Salaries 5,000 - Government Buildings 10,000 Total $65,500 1 1 1 1 Special Council Meeting0 O 3 September 24, 1984 Page -3- Mr. Reinert noted that the City Assessor has indicated there will be tax relief in the Centennial School District. Chief Myhre said there will be a 10 -12 mil reduction in the school levy giving some tax relief in this particular school district. RESIGNATION OF CHIEF OF POLICE Mayor Benson wanted to take this time to discuss what the Council should do or where it should go with this position. He felt it should be divided into an interim solution and a long -term solution. It was decided not to have a closed door meeting since this was a policy decision. Mr. Kulaszewicz felt for the interim, it should be someone from the department for possibly three months. Mr. Bohjanen felt for present, a temporary person from the department would be alright, but felt the City should advertise for a qualified permanent person. Mr. Marier felt something needed to be done soon. Also, he wanted to meet with the Police Task Force to see what the alternatives are; the Task Force is looking into other alternatives for police coverage at this time. Mr. Reinert felt this was an Qpportunity to look into other possibil- ities as far as the police department - will we hire another Chief and maintain our own department, possibly of consolidated departments, county coverage, etc. Mayor Benson felt this was an opportunity to look at some things: do we want to hire a new Chief, maybe share a police Chief with another police department (not sure this would be possible), toss the matter back to the Task Force with some specific direction. Mr. Marier recommended that a letter be sent to each member of the Task Force immediately stating the recommendations: 1. Should we advertise for a new Chief? 2. Should we share a police Chief? 3. County proposal. 4. Officer pay scale starts too high - give incentives or bonuses. 5. Look at nature of the police Chief work (job description), make changes prior to advertising. Task Force should look at the job description, set a wage step plan for this position. 6. Look at what should be the steps in the police department; for instance, if we have a shared Chief, who in this department will be responsible for duty activity here. Mayor Benson felt the Task Force should have some recommendations for the Council to act on within the next two months. Special Council Meeting September 24, 1984 Page -4- Mr. Kulaszewicz felt an interim person should be named to supervise the police department. He said the names of Dave Zerwas and Mike Jensen were mentioned to him. Mr. Marier felt since Mr. Jensen is a part -time officer and Mr. Zerwas was Office of the Year two years in a row, he could handle the situ- ation. Mayor Benson felt Mr. Schumacher should be handling the preparation of the budget for the police department as well as the scheduling until a decision is made. Mayor Benson said that Officer Costa asked if he could be reinstated as a sargeant. Mr. Marier said the Task Force recommendation is not to appoint one at this time. Mr. Reinert said the interim person should have clear responsibilities. Mr. Schumacher asked if there will be a salary adjustment. Mr.Reinert suggested this person is also gaining experience and this has value in future job application. Maybe he would be willing to do this for little or nothing. Mr. Kulaszewicz asked if this will cause a problem with the union. Mr. Schumacher will check the contract. Mr. Marier moved to adjourn at 6:45 P.M. Mr. Kulaszewi cz seconded the motion. Aye. These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at a regular meeting of Council held on October 9, 1984. n(16„,t_0,, Marilyn G. Anderson, Deputy Clerk en j a n G :'enson , Mayor 1