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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/20/1976 Council MinutesJanuary 20, 1976 The special meeting of the Lino Lakes City Council was called to order at 8:00 P.M. January 20, 1976 by Mayor Bohjanen, Council members present; Karth, McLean, Schneider, Zelinka. Absent; None. Mayor Bohjanen said the purpose of this meeting was to discuss the letter of resign- ation submitted by Mrs. Oman at the January 12, 1976 Council meeting and the allegat- ions contained in that letter. The Clerk had prepared an answer to portions of the letter and she asked Mr. McLean to read her answer. Mr. Marier, from the audience, disagreed with the portion of the letter that dealt with the cutting of the Deputy Clerk's hours. He said that had not been a direct action by the Council. Mr. McLean said that no motion to that effect would be found in the records - just a general reference to the curtailing of expenses. Mr. Jaworski, from the audience, said it was just a curtailing of expenses, not a directive to cut the Deputy Clerk's hours. Mr. Zelinka reminded these men that two meetings had been held in 1975 with the suggestion that there was some needed 'over - seeing' in the Clerk's office to find a place where expenses could be cut. Mr. Schneider asked if there was a cut back in the Deputy Clerk's salary in the budget and Mayor Bohjanen said as he remembered, Yes. Mr. Jaworski, asked if any of the Council members had visited the office and checked an the allegations in Mrs. Oman's letter? Mr. Schneider asked if there was any investigations needed? Mr. Zelinka said he had talked with the auditor and his comment was, 'the books are in good condition.' Mr. Karth said that only three places can be checked - two are here and the third is in the books. The question of the $4.00 for dog licenses was discussed. The Clerk admitted there is no receipt. It was suggested the January receipts be checked against the bank statement. Mr. Zelinka said that if you are liable for someone else's money, you tend to be very careful - but when your own money is involved, people are careless. Mr. McLean felt that when personal funds of the Clerk are involved, they should be handled by someone else, such as the Mayor or Acting Mayor. Mr. Jaworski asked if any one had checked the deficiency in the Petty Cash fund? He felt that many of the slips do not have receipts. This is questionable and has no accountability. Mr. Schneider asked what has been done in the past to correct this and Mr. Marier said, nothing, just letting it slide. Mr. Schneider questioned the need for a Deputy Clerk, Mrs. Oman's letter had charged there was no need for a second person in that office. Mrs. Oman said there were days when there was absolutely nothing for either the Deputy Clerk or the Clerk to do. She felt that if the Clerk used her time efficiently January 20, 1976 she could handle all the work there was. There was discussion on the cash flow reports, with Mr. Al Ross, from the audience asking if the Auditor was giving any input as to how this cash flow should be handled. Mr. McLean said that he had been asked last Spring but he had nothing to offer at that time. Mr. Schneider said the cash flow needs to be totaled out and the Clerk said she would have it co mpleted by noon tomorrow. There was a comment that this problem goes back a few years and is not just a recent thing. Mr. Zelinka said that he knows the person presently doing the audit and had told him that the City must have a direct answer for this problem. Mr. Schneider said that he had met with Mr. Davis today and Mr. Davis had made several suggestions. He had also presented some possible changes in the procedure. Mr. Schneider had asked for a cost estimate for this work and Mr. Davis will provide this information. Mr. Schneider will report on this when he has the necessary information. Mr. Jaworski felt the discussion was getting off the track of what this meeting had been called for. Mr. Peter Scherer said that he had been in the office at various times and had never found the employees not working. Mayor Bohjanen said it is necessary to have someone partially trained to fill in in case of illness and at vacation time. Mr. Marier said the $4.00 should be found. Mr. Zelinka said Mrs. Oman's letter says 'dishonesty on the part of employees' - is there more than just the Clerk that she is accusing? Mrs. Oman said she doesn't have any documentated proof and that was why she didn't offer the incidents to the Council, but for an example one employee had washed her car while punched in and another had given her a fuse for her car from City stock. The matter of the building permit for the Blue Heron was discussed, with Mrs. Oman insisting the permit was issued without payment. Mr. McLean said that the procedure is that no permit is issued without payment. There is to be no exception. Mr. Schneider said there is no office procedure in writing. Something should be started, even if it is in long hand and just in a notebook. Mr. Marier, from the audience, said the office procedures are allin the handbook. Mr. Schneider has the office copy and will study it. Mr. Jaworski asked the Council to speak up, he couldn't hear. On the point of unrest among the employees, Mr. McLean felt this was directed at the Council and Mr. Zelinka agreed. Mrs. Oman was asked what she was referring to in this statement. She said the unrest is in all departments. Messages are never relayed. She cited several alleged instances of this. Mr. McLean asked where the break down was and Mrs. Oman said that the messages were never relayed. 1 1 1 January 20, 1976 Mr. Jaworski said that he would have to accept some of the responsibility for work not completed before the first of the year. He and the Mayor had met with the Clerk and the Councilhad met with the employees to discuss the problem and then had done nothing about it. The means of communications with the departments was questioned. Is there any official means for communications? Mr. Zelinka said through reading the minutes or attending the meetings. He asked if the employees are required to attend Council meetings and he said, No. Mr. Zelinka felt the method of communications are horrible - most of it is verbal. Department heads are notified of Council actions by the Council liaison or the Clerk. Mr. Karth said he talks to Mr. Volk at least three times per week. If there is an emergency, approval is obtained by phone polling of the Council. He plans to meet with Mr. Volk on the day of the Council meetings to discuss the needs of the depart- ment and what has been done in the past weeks. Mr. Cape, CD Director, said that if he has a problem he goes to the Mayor. He has excellent cooperation from the Clerk and any time he has asked for some work to be done for that department, it has been done. If he had any suggestions, he felt the Mayor would be the first one to talk to. Mr. McLean said he relayed his orders in a combination of typed memos that had been given over the phone and by verbal contact. He had checked the operations of the Parks physically at least once a month: This method had seemed to serve the purpose for him. Someone asked if there was good communications within the Council and Mr. McLean said, not necessarily. Mr. Zelinka said there had been no formal system of communications - just an informal method of communications that has loop holes but has been reasonably effective. Mr. Schneider said in the matter of the 'unrest' between the Clerk's office and the Police Department, he doesn't know what the answer is. Mr. McLean said the Council had held a hearing and all departments had spoken for themselves. , The departments were ordered to start communicating. The Council had attempted to deal with this. Mrs. Oman's opinion was that this hearing had only made things worse between those departments and she repeated her charges that messages were never relayed. Mr. Karth asked, If Mrs. Pankratz is not there, then does the Clerk's office take messages for the Police Department as well as all other departments? He was told, Yes. In the matter of the repair ticket being issued to the City vehicle, Mr. McLean felt this should be taken as constructive and not as critisilm. Mr. Schneider felt that if there are deficiencies in the Clerk's office, that perhaps the Council would need to ask for her resignation. Mr. Jaworski felt that the phone calls are time consuming - consider how long she is on the phone - one call does not take much time but multiply that by the number of calls_ received in a day and compute the time consumed by just this operation. 4 January 20, 1976 He felt that calls, especially from Council members should be kept at a minimum. Mr. Zelinka agreed. He felt this should be observed by all Council members and the Clerk Clerk to also conform to this procedure. Mr. McLean felt the efficiency, budget and bookkeeping areas are being dealt with at this time. Mr. Schneider said that he has been working on the cash flow. The need for better financial reporting, better bookkeeping, better liaison with the Auditor, these things have already been stated. He had met with the Auditor today. Mr. Schneider said he must have the current balance and budget figures for back -up and this takes time. Mr. McLean asked if there is a need for any directive from the Council. Mr. Zelinka said he would want to take this matter to the employees and find out what their porblems are. Mr. McLean asked if the personnel Commission can do this? Mr. Zelinka thought this would be the proper way to handle - have a meeting of all the employees. Mr. McLean thought the employees might be more candid on an indivi- dual basis. Mr. Zelinka said on the point of Ordinance enforcement, he agreed, especially in the enforcement of requiring dog to be licensed. He felt the 'avoidance of facing the problem' was a Council problem. There is a non - consistent policy in this area. Mr. Schneider asked for a list of things that are to be done this year. He suggested putting all items on the agenda until they are handled. Mayor Bohjanen said the revision of the dog ordinance is in the process. A Public Hearing had been scheduled but had to be cancelled due to bad weather. He has had several calls on this matter and a date for the public hearing will be set at the next Council meeting. Mr. McLean asked about the signs that are not paid for. The Clerk is to get a list of the signs for the Planning and Zoning Board for possible cancellation and removal Mrs. Oman charged that building permits were issued without plans. Mr. McLean said all permits must have plans - no exceptions. Mr. Jaworski asked if all the meters in the Country Lakes area are paid for and all homes have water deposits in and was told, Yes. The penalty date was set at the last Council meeting. The usuary law on the penalty was questioned - can this be limited to 8 %? Mr. Locher will be asked about this. As to accountability, Mr. Zelinka says this works both ways. There seems to be a lack of communications. Mr. Schneider said the Council should set forth some recommendations as how to handle some of these problems. He has only spent some 30 minutes in the office. Maybe a logging of the time spent doing the various operations of that office would be wise. This is to be done daily and by the hour. This way the time can be analyzed. If it is necessary to do work at home, this should also be added to the time. The Clerk was instructed to start this time log on her desk calendar and to start tomorrow, January 21, 1976. She is to also make a note of the number of phone calls received each day - not the time spent on each call - just the number of calls. The matter of petty cash was discussed, with the slips for postage that are not stamped 1 1 1 January 20, 1976 by the postoffice being off, ajor concern. Mrs. Peggy Trask, of Lexington, said that City had a proble9» ith postage meter and the problem had been solved. Mayor Bohjanen said this had been proposed to the Council but had been rejected. Mr. McLean moved that each expenditure of petty cash must have a receipt, no exceptions. Seconded by Mr. Karth. Motion carried. Mr. Zelinka recommended that the petty cash box be kept in a locked place. Mr. McLean moved that all personal business of the Clerk be referred to the Mayor or another person to handle her transactions. Seconded by Mr. Zelinka. Motion carried. The Personnel Commission will deal with the unrest. Mr. Schneider will continue with the financing. Mrs. Oman was thanked for her letter to the Council in bringing out some needed points. Mrs. Oman said she had felt this was the only way to bring these matters to the Council's attention. Mr. Zelinka asked if she was satisfied with the discussion and she said 'not entirely but she will bide her time and see what happens.' Mr. McLean suggested a time limit in which to react - possibly by the next Council meeting. Mrs. Pankratz asked, if the Personnel Commission does have a meeting for the employees, what will this accomplish ?' Mr. Zelinka asked for her opinion. Mrs. Pankratz said that Chief Myhre had submitted a letter last December and nothing was done about the charges in the letter. Mr. Karth thought the Council could not talk to each employee, it must go through Department heads, Mr. Schneider disagreed. He felt that the Council must communicate with the persons involved. The Council should deal with the problems on an individ- ual basis. Mr. Tom Smith, from the audience, felt that there had been no publication of job openings. He was assured that all job openings have been advertised. Mrs. Oman said that was how she became employed by this City - by answering an ad in the paper. Mrs. Pankratz asked if a Union employee could have a Union Representative present when they meet with the Personnel Commission? She said that usually the employee will go to the union and they in turn will go to the Personnel Commission. Mayor Bohjanen said we do not have a Union as yet, they are only representating the employees in negotiations. The City does not have a contract with any union. Mr. Zelinka said the Personnel Commission is only an advisory board. Action can only be done by Council action. These meetings are open to the public. Mr. Zelinka felt this could tend to stifle the communications of the employees. In other business, Mr. Karth reported to the Council the cable for the wing on the snow plow had broken. The estimated cost for a new cable is between $50.00 and $55.00. He asked for approval from the Council for this expenditure. Mr. McLean so moved. Seconded by Mr. Zelinka. Motion carried. Mr. McLean moved to adjourn at 10:30 P.M. Seconded by Mr. Karth, Aye. 6 January 20, 1976 These minutes were approved, with corrections on f 127- 1 CLERK - TREASURER 1 1