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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07.23.12 Work Session Minutes Council Workshop Minutes July 23, 2012 Mayor Larson called the workshop to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: Larson, Bartholomay, Donnelly, Fogarty, May(arrived 6:38 p.m.) Also Present: David McKnight, City Administrator;Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director;Jeremy Pire, Building Maintenance Supervisor;Kellee Omlid, Recreation Programmer; Missie Kohlbeck, Senior Center Coordinator MOTION by Fogarty, second by Donnelly to approve the agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. 431 Third Street Property Parks and Recreation Director Distad presented quotes obtained for abating the asbestos in the building. The low quote was from Mayo Systems for$42,998. Also the shingles on the roof are bad and need to be replaced. The estimated cost for roofing materials is$10,000 and does not include labor. There is no money budgeted for these improvements. City Administrator McKnight reminded Council, staff was directed to get the asbestos abated and put the building up for sale. Staff recalled the market value was$185,000. Any proceeds from the sale of the building would cover the improvement costs. Councilmember Fogarty asked staff to look into grants to offset some of the costs. Mayor Larson was hesitant to put any money towards the building. Councilmember Fogarty suggested we are at the point where would a vacant lot be more valuable than the building. Mayor Larson wanted staff to try to sell the building as is. Parks and Recreation Director Distad recalled the quote to do abatement if demolishing the building was$33,000-$35,000. (Councilmember May arrived). There is approximately$7,000 savings in abatement if we demolish the building. Councilmember May wanted to spend the money to fix up the building. Mayor Larson was concerned with spending the money and then the building still sits empty. Councilmember May felt there would be interest in the building. We have dragged out feet and it has been sitting there for four years. If we want retail, we should get it ready for that. Councilmember Fogarty asked if it would sell better as is or as a vacant lot. Councilmember May noted we already have the vacant Riste lot. Councilmember Fogarty and Mayor Larson stated if we can find grant money we should fix it up. Councilmember Donnelly stated we turned down the as is offer because it would not be on the tax rolls. He felt we should fix it and put it on the market. Looking for a grant could take another year or two. Councilmember May felt we should start marketing the building right now while we are fixing it. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated staff will research grants and whether finding a grant or not,we will proceed with the improvements. City Administrator McKnight stated we will look at grants and contact a contractor. 9 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 2 Parks and Recreation Department 2013/2014 Budget Discussion Parks and Recreation Director Distad focused on the Rambling River Center and recreation programs first. Councilmember Bartholomay noted currently membership fees are at$15,403. He asked why are we setting revenues for 2013 and 2014 at $13,850. Parks and Recreation Director Distad explained earlier this year the membership dollars were separated out from membership fees. The number for 2013 is budgeting 410 members at$25/each, which is $10,250. They are also budgeting 60 fitness memberships at$60/each,which is$3,600 which totals $13,850. In 2011 there were 430 members; in 2012 there are 403. Mayor Larson asked about membership drives. Senior Center Coordinator Kohlbeck explained the membership drive is held December—January. To attract members,there is marketing through the website,the newsletter,the City News and Recreation Guide, open houses, waffle breakfast open house, staff held a coffee at Trinity and another is planned for the fall, and members performed at the Farmers' Market. Councilmember Bartholomay stated when the Center was under special revenue we used to transfer$100,000 and$20,000 for an interfund loan. So we went from $120,000 and put it into the general fund and increased the budget to $165,000. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated the budget has been increased by$7,000 from the 2012 budget. We no longer have the transfer because it is under the general fund and being paid from the tax levy besides revenue from fees and charges. The expense side has gone up$6,000 from 2012 to 2013. The general fund did help pay for operating costs through the transfer. Now we don't have the transfer, but it is still being covered through the general fund. Councilmember Bartholomay wanted staff to look at ways to be innovative, especially when the revenue projections are going down. He suggested looking at moving the senior center to the second floor of City Hall. Staff noted we would still have the same costs;the only savings would be in heating and cooling the building. Councilmember Bartholomay stated we could sell the current building. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated it would be a shame to sell it after spending all that time and money to fix it up. Councilmember May agreed we made the decision to fix the building, so it comes down to labor. It comes down to whether we want to spend$80,000 in labor for the seniors. We are spending a large amount of money on a small segment of the population. They are wonderful people, but do we have another segment where we are spending$165,000. That is the fundamental question. The building is there and the community is willing to support it, but are we going to staff it. Are we going to manage programs or do we let them do that? That is still far and above what we are doing for any other segment. When we agreed to renovate the building, she was hoping it would be a senior/teen center and it is not. We have to think about the amount of money we want to spend on 400 people. She was not knocking the people, but it is a lot of money. Senior Center Coordinator Kohlbeck stated it is not 400 people; it is 400 members. People use the building who are not members. We have businesses that sponsor events in the building and our building is a community center. There are many programs offering a community service that are held in that building. The people that run the programs are not members. People receive a community service by a group that sponsors that service. Councilmember May stated we could use City Hall for those purposes. She was not against what is done there. She was looking at the bottom number. We have to ask ourselves if we are okay with continuing to spend that kind of money budgeted to the Rambling River Center. 10 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 3 Councilmember Donnelly did not want to see the Center move. We put a lot of work into it. You have rooms named after businesses, people, etc. Regarding staffmg,he has always been a supporter and will continue to support whatever it takes to man the building. If we move the programs here,we still need staff. We have to watch it and manage it, but if we don't staff it, will it continue to exist. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated that is why it was brought under the City because it was not able to make it as a self-supporting organization when it was formed. It is a philosophical question about how much of the cost to run the building and have staff there do you want to recover through fees and charges for rentals. Right now we cover 20% of the overall budget through fees and charges, so 80% is covered through the tax levy. Councilmember May suggested maybe our staff is better utilized in other areas and spread the costs over a broader spectrum. Councilmember Bartholomay agreed with the teen center. Senior Center Coordinator Kohlbeck stated when this was discussed, we said we would need to budget some money for it if that is what Council wants. The Library has asked several times to do programs with the City, but they will not charge for programs so there is no revenue generated. It will be another program that will not recoup its costs. That is for Council to decide. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated the Library receives legacy grant funding so will not charge for their teen programs. Mayor Larson stated the teen center was brought up during a business visit as a way to bring people south rather than going north. It would provide something for the kids to do. He would be in favor of that,but we would have to be willing to fund it. Councilmember May did not think they have been shown any numbers for utilizing the building more. Councilmember Fogarty stated the idea of it being a senior/teen center was where we were heading. She was frustrated we were not there yet and would like to see some creative ways where it does not cost us much more money, but involves our youth. If we can open the center for$5,000/year in staffmg costs and the Library will do programming for free, now we have doubled the number of people using the center. She would be very open to that. The idea that we are not able to attract new members is frustrating. If what we are doing is not working,we need to do something else. We have a brand new building, yet membership is decreasing. She uses the building many times and it is a fantastic building. This should be attracting more members. Senior Center Coordinator Kohlbeck explained it is different members than what we had two years ago. The members now are more active and younger. We are not retaining the 85-90 year old people because they will not pay$20 for a building they don't come to very often. While the number stays the same,the people coming are different. We did talk about staffmg costs related to the teen center when we talked about a building attendant to keep it open nights and weekends. It has been a few years since those numbers were brought to Council. Councilmember Fogarty suggested going to the FBA for a sponsorship type night and one of the things they do to sponsor it is to have an attendant. They are the ones who want the business downtown. Staff noted the FBA also struggles to get people to set up and tear down for events. Recreation Programmer Omlid stated we need to budget money for some toys for them;we only have a TV, a Wii, and a ping pong table. Mayor Larson agreed we spent a lot of money on the building and wants to keep it there. The seniors are an important part of Farmington. He was 100% in favor of the senior center, but he 11 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 4 doesn't want to see the budget keep increasing. He would like to see the budgeted number remain constant,rather than creeping up. Some of the budgeted items could be fundraising items. Missie Kohlbeck stated they do have a priority list for fundraising. Mayor Larson asked to see the list. Somehow we have to increase the revenues and decrease the spending. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated the staff at the Center is very resourceful. We utilize many volunteers. There are 4,000 hours of volunteer time which is equivalent to two fulltime staff. We are doing our best to keep costs down by utilizing the members. The next discussion was on recreation programs. The numbers for 2013 have not changed from 2012. In 2011 we had$96,036 in revenues and$77,189 in expenses. So revenues exceeded expenses by$20,000. Councilmember May stated for the program expenses for the Rambling River Center it is $13,000 and our Rambling River Center program fees are$10,000. She asked if those two are related. Parks and Recreation Director Distad explained the Rambling River Center program fees are fees collected for programs at the Rambling River Center and are separate from any recreation programs. Recreation programs include youth and adult sports, camps, clinics, summer playground program, anything not offered at the Rambling River Center. Councilmember May stated under program expenses we are budgeting that the expenses are greater than the program fee revenue. City Administrator McKnight stated the numbers for the Rambling River Center are correct. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated in the past the membership and program fees were lumped together. We moved some of the money to professional services. There are some services we provide where we do not charge a fee. Councilmember May stated if we could just hold the line. If we lose track of what the revenues are versus expenses for these programs and they get out of line,this budget will continue to grow. Staff has said if we don't break even, we don't hold the program. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated there are some programs where we provide a service and don't charge. He will provide a list of those programs to Council. There are no personnel costs in the programming expenses. Councilmember May moved on to the recreation programs. Staff stated we have budgeted $103,675 in revenues for 2011 and brought in$96,000, which is$7,000 under what we estimated. In 2012 we kept the same numbers. In 2013 we have reduced the revenues to $100,000. Councilmember May stated we are spending close to $50,000 on labor for something that generates$100,000,and we are spending$80,000 on the Rambling River Center that generates$10,000. Why are we allocating more labor time to the Rambling River Center than we are to rec programs? Parks and Recreation Director Distad explained 50%of the Senior Center Coordinator's time is allocated to the Rambling River Center and 50%to Park and Rec Administration to do programs throughout the year. Councilmember May asked why it isn't under rec programs. Staff replied it is under Park and Rec Administration. We do not charge any administrative time to the rec programs. Time for the Parks and Recreation Director, Recreation Programmer, and Senior Center Coordinator is under Park and Rec Administration. When the Senior Center Coordinator works on Rambling River Center programs, her time is charged to the Rambling River Center. Councilmember May asked why that is done for the Rambling River Center and not for rec programs. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated even for the Rambling River Center her time is charged to the overall budget, but not to the 12 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 5 programs;same as for rec programs. City Administrator McKnight stated we can change how we do it, but it won't change the bottom line. Staff noted in addition to the Senior Center Coordinator,there is a 20-hour position as a building attendant, and for summer rec programs we hire seasonal staff. Staff gave examples of the types of programs supervised by seasonal staff Councilmember May asked if the 20-hour attendant was for the teen center at night. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated staff had asked for an additional position at the Rambling River Center through CDBG funding, but that was not approved. The idea was to hire an additional person for nights and weekends to not only supervise activities, but for set up and tear down for rentals. The building attendant covers the building while the Senior Center Coordinator is working rec programs. She also handles memberships, reservations, set up and tear downs, etc. Councilmember May would like staff to think about that,because we are using a highly skilled, highly paid employee to do things that could be done by someone else and maybe her skills could be better utilized to grow rec programs. Staff stated she also plans programs and special events at the Rambling River Center with the Senior Center Coordinator. Councilmember May was referring to the Senior Center Coordinator. Councilmember Bartholomay stated the rec program revenues are at$100,000,but total expenditures are at$118,110 for 2013. It looks like we are upside down with programs. Staff explained with program expenses in professional services,those are directly tied to the program. If we don't have enough revenue to cover the cost,then we will not hold the program. We have to have the money in the budget in order to pay for them. Mayor Larson asked if programs were growing. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted a few years ago we lost a big program with youth basketball which was$30,000 in revenue. The revenues have stabilized. We can offer more programs, but we don't have extra staff to do that. We have to gauge how much time our staff has to run programs. We do offer different programs than the surrounding area. City Administrator McKnight asked about the softball future with the Empire complex and how will it affect us? Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated our teams will stay because of the relationship built with staff. Our fields are in great shape. Councilmember May would like to see us work more with Community Ed and somehow do our advertising together. We are talking about the same pocket in trying to provide programs for our community. It is a shame we don't work together. She heard the timing of the program guide is different, but felt those things can be worked out. Recreation Programmer Omlid stated we do cross advertising in our brochures. City Hall budget—Building maintenance falls under Parks and Recreation. Councilmember May asked why. Staff explained a lot of the expenses in City Hall are building maintenance. It was under Parks and Rec for many years,then when we moved to the new City Hall it was under Administration, and when that person left it was moved back to Park and Rec. It has always been the building maintenance staff doing the work. Councilmember May stated this is part of the organizational picture she keeps bringing up. We need to look at the whole picture of how we run the City. Councilmember Donnelly stated it has to be somewhere;we can't make it go away. Councilmember May stated time and talent has to be used in the right places. City 13 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 6 Administrator McKnight asked where it should be. Councilmember Fogarty stated there isn't a better place. Councilmember May stated maybe it is called renaming and reorganizing. Shouldn't it be under a public works person? Staff noted usually it is its own department. Public works does street maintenance. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated we already manage three buildings,the pool, arena, and Rambling River Center so it makes sense to put City Hall under this department also. Building maintenance also does some work at the Maintenance Facility, Fire Stations, and Police Station. Councilmember Bartholomay asked if we use the state purchasing program for City Hall supplies. Building Supervisor Pire stated for some supplies we use the state bid, but we started with Staples and receive a discount based on the amount purchased. Paper products are purchased from Pellicci's. Councilmember Bartholomay noted professional services went from$36,700 to $61,100. Staff was not sure where the$36,700 came from for 2012, because in 2011 we spent$60,000. This year staff has detailed where the money goes for professional services. This covers technical and professional people hired to work on the HVAC system,the elevator,testing the fire suppression system, exterior window cleaning, etc. Councilmember Bartholomay asked about the fuel going from zero to $2,700. Staff explained we are charging fuel back on building maintenance staff for fuel used to travel to different buildings. It is spread over all the buildings where work is done. Councilmember Bartholomay asked about carpet cleaning and who makes sure what they are cleaning and not cleaning. He noted they cleaned the expansion area upstairs and it is hardly used. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated all the carpeting was included in the bid;we did not pay extra for that. It does collect dust even though it is not used.Councilmember Fogarty suggested not doing that every year. Staff noted it is preventative maintenance. The cleaning contract is a three-year contract and is up in 2014. Councilmember Bartholomay stated we were at $70,000,then went down to $30,000, and now we are creeping up again. Councilmember May stated we need to fill the building. Councilmember May urged staff to continue to use Pellicci's when possible. She noted we still have many trips to Pellicci's every month and realized we cannot stock a lot, but we are spending a lot of staff time picking up small items. Park Maintenance—Councilmember Fogarty asked about the banners. Staff explained we purchased new Farmington banners this year and need to purchase new patriotic banners. The idea is to have three different sets of banners. Councilmember Donnelly noted there is an increase in seal coating trails. Staff obtained a quote for doing a mile section of trail. For one mile of seal coating and crack sealing it will cost$5,200. We will do both sides of Pilot Knob from 190th Street to the Lakeville border and it will cost$10,400,which is two miles out of the 45 miles of trails to be done this year. We will also replace a small section of trail by the arena that goes to the bridge. That is the$15,000 that will be spent this year. Our trails are on 20 year cycles which is not good. If we have to replace a mile of trail, it is$90,000. We have 3.5 inches of asphalt. A trail mill and overlay costs$30,000. There are some trails that need an overlay or actual replacement. Rambling River Park is one. Councilmember Fogarty stated before we do that we need to talk about the fact that it is under water for weeks at a time. Staff agreed we need to fix that first. It might involve rerouting the trail in some sections. Councilmember Bartholomay was concerned with the$55,000 increase from 2012 to 2013. Councilmember Fogarty suggested looking for funding because of the trout stream. 14 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 7 Mayor Larson asked if everyone has Nextel's. Staff noted full time staff does and also seasonal summer staff. Mayor Larson asked if it would be cheaper to go away from Nextel's and go to a regular plan without the push-to-talk for City employees other than the Police department. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted his staff relies on the radio portion. Mayor Larson noted in his former job they also used the radio, but they switched, adapted to the change, and saved a lot of money. Everyone is on speed dial. Staff stated the cell phones are purchased on a State contract, so they will check on it. Councilmember May stated your given a job to do, so why do you need a phone. Parks and Recreation Director Distad explained for emergencies,to move someone around to another job, we have different crews working in different areas of the City. Councilmember May stated the City is not that big, so can't a supervisor oversee more than one crew. Building Maintenance Supervisor Pire felt the phones are very helpful. To drive around to tell staff to go to another area would take a lot of time. Mayor Larson felt phones are needed, just look at a different way to use them. Staff heard Nextel is eliminating the push-to-talk network so we may be looking other options. Councilmember May felt the maintenance budget is something we have to do. She did not have a problem with the number, but more with efficiencies. Maybe we could start seasonal staff later so they can get with the supervisors before they start. Last year staff asked for$14,000 to weed certain areas in the City, and felt that was part of the job. There are a lot of areas in the City that are looking scruffy. The Second Street parking lot has weeds all over and also the area by 187th Street looks terrible. There should be certain areas on a list that have to be done to keep things looking decent. She heard that you can't mow until a certain time, so seasonal staff was standing around, so start them later. We have a big labor number. It is more reliance on the supervisor to make sure people are doing the work. We can't keep seeing increases so we have to look for efficiencies in doing our job better. Parks and Recreation Administration—Councilmember Bartholomay noted with training,times are tough and we need to limit training to local and in state training only and not national. He realized Park and Rec wanted to attend the NRPA national conference in October,but it would open the door for everyone to go to national conferences. Most of what occurs could be read in the magazine. Councilmember Fogarty disagreed;you cannot read what a conference contains. Councilmember Bartholomay asked if they have web conferencing. Councilmember Fogarty asked about the meaning of partial funding. Staff explained that cost has been spread throughout park maintenance, outdoor pool, etc. The cost for the conference is$390 plus airfare and hotel, which can amount to $1300 for one person. Councilmember Fogarty noted the Minnesota conference for 2014 is for more than one person which is why that is higher. Councilmember Bartholomay asked what staff would learn this year that wasn't there last year. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted the same topics are not presented every year. There are new trends, new management styles, etc. Currently he pays for it himself. Councilmember May felt the City should pay for the director to go. City Administrator McKnight suggested maybe not every year. Councilmember Bartholomay asked if Council was okay with other departments going to national conferences;they all have them. City Administrator McKnight believes in training staff and making them better. Parks and Recreation Director Distad has continued to attend national conferences at his own expense. Councilmember Fogarty agreed with sending staff to a national conference every other year. Currently the policy is for department heads to 15 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 8 attend every year with approval from the City Administrator and Council. So going every other year would be a policy change. It would still have to be in the budget. Councilmember May asked for an explanation on what is included in Parks Administration. This includes time for the Parks and Recreation Director devoted to administrative things, Recreation Programmer, and 50%of the Senior Center Coordinator's time. For the Recreation Programmer and Senior Center Coordinator it relates to the recreation programs and events they do for their administration time, such as meetings, planning, overseeing programs,tracking financials, going to conferences, etc. Councilmember Donnelly asked about the time spent overseeing the liquor store and if it was charged to the liquor store. Staff stated it did not get changed in the budget for this year or last year and was charged to the Park and Rec budget. City Administrator McKnight felt his work was covered under the transfer. Councilmember May asked where the liquor store will be charged going forward. City Administrator McKnight stated it will be under Administration and Council will see that in September with the non-levy related budgets. Councilmember May recalled they asked to have the rec programs pulled out, but it seems disjointed. She asked if we could keep thinking about the park admin and rec programs and Rambling River Center. City Administrator McKnight asked if Council wanted a summary of revenues and expenses. Councilmember May stated $240,000 is part of the rec programs. Mayor Larson stated staff pulled the numbers out,so do you want them back in? Councilmember May stated it is not the actual costs, because their time is not included in the rec programs. Mayor Larson stated they had to pull the staff costs out to see the actual cost of the rec programs. Councilmember May noted the majority of our expenses are labor. Outdoor pool—Councilmember Fogarty asked why are full time salaries doubling. City Administrator McKnight stated that is moving people around to match up where they actually work. Some has been moved from the arena to the pool. There is 60%of staff time spent at the arena and 40%time spent at the pool. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted building maintenance changed because they hired a full time building maintenance person where before time for two employees was split between the pool and building maintenance. As of last year we have one person dedicated full time to building maintenance. Councilmember Bartholomay stated the pool revenue is $63,500 and we are spending$152,000. It will never cover its own costs, but we need to look at the pool, arena, and Rambling River Center in the same way and see if we are being as efficient as possible,that salaries are coded correctly, and if there are new things we can bring to the table. Councilmember Fogarty stated it is old and over the next few years we have to spend time updating things or replace the pool. Staff stated 12,000— 15,000 people use the pool every year. The master plan calls for a splash pad at the current location and the pool would move to Fairhill. Councilmember Fogarty suggested talking about the long term vision of the pool with the CIP. Staff noted the pool deck is cracking and staff has been caulking it,the pool bottom surface is rough, and we have been replacing mechanical parts every year. We do need to replace the roof on the bathhouse which is in the 2013 budget. Arena—Councilmember Bartholomay noted cost of goods is$1,400 and revenues are$800. Either we are not selling product at the right price, or we should be accounting for the inventory. Staff stated a lot of the expenses are stones for the skate sharpener which goes under cost of goods sold. The revenue for it goes under skate sharpening. Mayor Larson wondered if it 16 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 9 should go under cost of goods sold. Councilmember Bartholomay suggested putting it under equipment supplies. Staff will review where it should go with the new Finance Director. Staff does inventory at the end of the year. Councilmember Bartholomay wanted to make sure we are accounting for it and have it included in the budget. Councilmember Donnelly asked about the admissions and recalled we approved a new contract. Staff explained in 2012 it should have been zero. Councilmember Donnelly stated personnel costs should have gone down also, because the school provides staff Councilmember May asked if the City handles concessions now. Staff stated we have an agreement with youth hockey through 2017. Councilmember May asked if the skate club had concessions and what happened to them. Staff noted they sold concessions during skate lessons and the skate show. Now youth hockey does concessions for them. Councilmember May asked about program expense and why isn't it under rec programs. Parks and Recreation Director Distad explained this pertains to skating lessons. There are also program expenses in the pool for swim lessons. The skating lessons are run through the arena. Councilmember May asked why it wouldn't be handled through the rec program. Staff stated because it is in the arena building. It is additional revenue we receive in the arena. The rec supervisor used to supervise skating programs, but when that position was eliminated it was placed under the arena supervisor. Councilmember May stated that comes back to the issue of are we using skilled labor where it should be. Staff stated we hire a skating supervisor that does the actual program and they hire the instructors. The building supervisor supervises the skating supervisor. It works out well because of reserving the building. Councilmember May did not agree. She felt open skating and instruction could be a rec program. Councilmember Donnelly noted in 2011 we lost almost $15,000. Staff stated we are increasing the rates$5/hour and we also have the FYHA contribution which is$5,000 for operating expenses and$5,000 for capital. Administration Legislative Control—Includes Council salaries. City Administrator McKnight included$3,000 for Ipad costs just in case. Councilmember Bartholomay asked if we can purchase them from the cable fund. Staff will make the change and determine the amount in the fund. Administration—The miscellaneous line item has been reduced to $100. Elections—We do have to purchase new equipment in 2013 for 2014. In the past this budget has gone from 100% funded to zero. Because of the new equipment purchase,the budget will stay even. Human Resources—We are eliminating a position with a retirement. We do have a significant increase in professional services for drug testing we have to do each year. This is for commercial driver's license, police officers, new staff, and random testing. Communications—We have re-arranged who pays IT services for all budgets. We did not change the total,we changed the pie. This budget is also responsible for the website. Councilmember May stated not for 2013, but it seems we need more personnel in IT as we have a significant overtime number. With the continual change in technology,how does one employee do it? City Administrator McKnight did not recall a significant amount of overtime. 17 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 10 With how much we do technology wise, that cost will continue to increase. Councilmember May would rather be staffed in that area, instead of catching up. Risk management—This is property casualty insurance costs. City Administrator McKnight increased it a little, and more definite numbers will be available later this year. Community Development—This position was eliminated early this year, so those costs are down significantly. Councilmember May believed the Farmers' Market is a big success, but we need to figure out how the City will not run it. Mayor Larson noted on the business visit, each place thanked us for the Farmers' Market. On Thursday afternoons,there is a definite increase in foot traffic. Councilmember May felt it is a positive event, but it shouldn't be run by the City. It should be run by a private person. City Administrator McKnight stated staff will continue to work on the budget. In August, Council will see Engineering and Municipal Services. Council will have seen every budget in the general fund by the time you set the preliminary levy. He will continue to work to keep the numbers down. Councilmember Donnelly asked when Council will see the police budget again. That will be brought back at the August work session at the latest. Councilmember May had a little fear we are doing the same thing we did last year,where we meet with departments and everything they say makes sense, and in another month we see the big number. City Administrator McKnight stated Council will see another draft budget in August which will be significantly lower than the last draft. Councilmember May noted all the departments are talking about increases so what is the point of the department meetings? City Administrator McKnight stated if Council wants to set a target, he will get us there. Councilmember Fogarty liked the department meetings so all questions are answered at once. Councilmember May stated when 85%of the budget is labor, and we never talk about making changes on the labor side, we are not doing much. Mayor Larson felt we have made a lot of changes in the last few years and are down a lot of people. City Administrator McKnight stated right now next year's budget is down two fulltime and two part time staff, and that does not include Police. Mayor Larson was fine with department meetings. Staff wanted Council to see the full department requests so Council can see how the budget moves. Mayor Larson stated unfortunately we have a discrepancy with human resource numbers and our revenues aren't there. Councilmember Bartholomay asked if all department heads work five days and if we can look at having all of them working five days a week. He feels it causes morale issues and if there are questions for a department head and they are only there four days a week it can cause delays in getting things done. It could be viewed as preferential treatment. City Administrator McKnight noted there are many staff who work four-day work weeks, especially in the summer that are full time. Councilmember Fogarty would defer those decisions to the City Administrator. It is his job to manage his staff and he is not putting the City at risk. City Administrator Update A downtown business has requested some short term parking be placed in front of their business. They have talked to their neighbors. Their business is dependent on dropping things off and leaving. They are not having any luck working with their neighbors. Staff surveyed the business 18 Council Workshop Minutes July 23,2012 Page 11 owners and it was half and half. Staff suggests 30 min. parking. We do have some in front of the post office. City Administrator McKnight suggested trying it with two or three spots on Oak Street. Councilmember Fogarty did not mind trying. If you have an employee that is parking in front of your business, perhaps you should be making other choices about where your employees are parking. For downtown businesses parking in front of their businesses all day long, she does have a problem with that. Several businesses may benefit from not parking in front all day. Staff will try it. MOTION by Fogarty, second by May to adjourn at 9:10 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 19