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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP September 24, 1985 CITY of ANDOVER SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 24, 1985 7:00 P.I1. Closed meeting with attorneys. 8:00 P.I1. Budget l1eeting 9:00 P.M. Coon Creek Watershed, if action required Adjournment. ~ 01 ANDOVER SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING - SEPTEMBER 24, 1985 MINUTES A Special Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Jerry Windschitl on September 24, 1985,8:18 p¡m.,at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Andover, Minnesota, for the purpose of discussing the City Clerk/A. Administrator letter of resignation and the 1986 Proposed Budget. Councilmen present: Elling, Knight, Lachinski, Orttel Councilmen absent: None Also present: City Engineer, James Schrantz CITY CLERK/A. ADMINISTRATOR/LETTER OF RESIGNATION The Council discussed the letter of resignation received from Patricia Lindquist. Mayor Windschitl stated he has discussed this with her and thought it may be possible to reach an agreement if the Council wishes to do so. Councilman Elling stated since the last meeting he talked with the State regarding the points to be assigned to the positions for the comparable worth study. He was told the City could assign whatever points they wanted to to any position if it feels there is justification for doing so, that the specifiè points listed in the Hayes report do not need to be followed exactly. Council discussed what they thought may have been reasons for the Clerk's resignation, but they were reluctant to make any offer at this time as they were not sure what would be acceptable to her. They discussed the point system as determined at the special meeting on September 18, but did not make any adjustments to it at this time. They also discussed just what would be advertised for assuming Ms. Lindquist's resignation would be accepted -- a Clerk/Treasurer, an Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer, a City Manager. No decisions were made at this time. Though it was agreed the Council would need to write up a specific description as to what the job consists of prior to hiring someone for the position. Council was reluctant to accept the resignation as this time, generally preferring that Ms. Lindquist remain with the City. They first wanted to better understand the grievances expressed by the Clerk in her letter. They also wanted time to negotiate with her, realizing any possible settlement would need to be to the mutual satisfaction of both the City Council and Ms. Lindquist. It was agreed the members of the Personnel Committee, Councilmen Elling and Knight, would attempt to discuss the situation with Ms. Lindquist prior to the regular meeting on October 1. A decision on this matter will be made at that time. Council recessed at 9:27; reconvened at 9:35 p.m. 1986 PROPOSED BUDGET Fire Chief Bob Palmer, several firefighters, and Public Works Supervisor Frank Stone were present to discuss the 1986 budget. Revenues Page R-2, 32210 - Building Permits: Council agreed to increase the number of permits from 125 to 175. This line item would read $70,000. Page R-4, 33420 - InsurQnce Premium TQx - Fire: Should read $14,766, noting that is the actual amount that will be received. - --' Special City Council Meeting September 24, 1985 Page 2 (1986 Budget, Continued) Expenditures Page E-22, Fire Protection: Chief Palmer presented a revised budget for Fire Protection items for a total of $161,683. Council reviewed several of the items with the firefighters and agreed with the overall proposal except for the following changes. 100 Salaries - Chief/Volunteers: Firefighter Tom Miller reviewed the proposals for salaries and fire call points, totaling $45,500, noting they removed the position of Fire Marshall altogether. They are now proposing the Fire Marshall remain a volunteer with a compensation of $100 per month. The proposal also consists of an increase in compensation for the Fire Chief, Assistant Fire Chief, the addition of compensation for a Training Coordinator, the addition of adding an extra point for firefighters who remain on a fire scene more than two hours, and an increase in point value from $5.75 to $6 per point. Mr. Miller explained the increase in point value is a 4.3 percent increase. Because the number of fire calls in 1985 was considerably higher than projected, he calculated the budget on the same number of fire calls for 1986, 154 calls, with an average of 18 members responding to a call. That is up from 15 members responding that was projected in 19S5 because of an increase in members in the Department. Mr. Miller also explained the difficulty in projecting the expenses for fire calls because there is no way of controlling how many calls there will be and the number of personnel who will respond. Council discussed the salaries portion of the Fire Protection budget as it relates to the overall budget and was especially concerned that it has more than doubled in a two-year period of time. Chief Palmer felt those expenses will be leveling off now, that the Department has established itself to where it will remain in the future. It was suggested this item be established at $41,971, which is about a 15 percent increase over 1985 and that the Fire Department determine their priorities and how that will be distributed over the various items. 125 Relief Association: It was determined the actual amount for this item will be $21,500. 1311 Physicals: Members of the Fire Department explained the OSHA requirements of a physical, noting they have determined the cost of each will be about $230. They estimated having 22 of the physicals completed under the 1985 budget, then estimated about 13 will remain, plus any new personnel. Council agreed to budget for 15 physicals at $230 each, for a total of $3,450. 530, 603, 6I3 - Capital Outlay Equipment, Debt Service and Interest: Chief Palmer estimated the equipment van would cost between $30,000 and $40,000, though they do not have firm quotes at this time. They proposed acquiring the van with a five-year equipment bond. Council was concerned with balancing the overall budget and questioned the expenditure of a van at this time. There was also some concern raised about always bonding for equipment, which just raises the taxes of the residents through the overlevy rather than through the General Fund. Special City Council Meeting September 24, 1985 Page 3 (1986 Budget, Continued) For now the members of the Fire Department were asked to have more specific prices for the Tuesday, October 1, meeting and agreed to add $3,500 to Item 613, Debt Service - Interest, the estimated amount of the interest payment for 1986 assuming the van is purchased with equipment bonds. Public Works Pagê 16, 580 Capital Outlay - Equipment: Council did not want to provide the service for disposing waste oil. They also suggested a total plan be devised for the heating and fan system in the Public Works Building rather than piecemealing fans, vents, etc. For now the Council agreed to leave in only $1,500 for the service bay and $3,200 for the welding fan, totalling $4,700 for this item. Page E-28, 202 Salaries: It was determined the $42,149 included an additional half-time employee and for now it was agreed to leave the numbers as proposed by the Administrative Recommendation. Page E-20, 580 Capital Outlay - Equipment: Council agreed to take out the purchase of a tire changer. Mr. Schrantz noted that means a total of $4,750 needs to be taken out of the budget from the following line items: $1,500 from Streets and Highways; $1,500 from Snow Removal; $250 from Storm Sewers; and $1,500 from Park and Recreation. For now it was agreed to leave this item per the Administrative Recommendation at $4,865. Park and Recreation Page E-37, 530 Capital Outlay - Improvements: Council again discussed the request by the Park Board of $60,000 for capital improvements, which has been calculated in their three-year park improvement plan, versus the $20,000 now in thisitemin an attempt to balance the budget. There was some sentiment that the Council hadpromised the Park Board this amount of money each year for three years, that it was more of an implied agreement, not a formal motion. Others argued that by budgeting the $60,000, plus the bond issue, it amounts to about a 2-mill increase for park purposes, that it is becoming a major expenditure percentage wise in a budget of this size. And no additional maintenance has yet been budgeted to maintain the improved parks. Plus the Park Board has requested the $12,500 in matching funds for the water improvement projects in Crooked Lake be over and above the $60,000. At this point, the Council felt it would not be possible to find an additional $12,500 for the Crooked Lake proejct in the budget and that it would have to come out of the Park Board budget or out of park dedication fees. No final decision was made on this item, though for now it was left at $60,000. Council then discussed the overall budget, acknowledging that at this point it does not balance; It was pointed out there is an overall 8 percent budget increase in the 1986 budget and the cost of living has gone up by only 3.3 percent. Many department requests were higher than that, though it was realized the insurance premiums have increased by about 400 percent. It was also noted that nothing has been budgeted for the litigation against the Coon Creek Watershed, nor is there any funding for the newly formed Rum River Water Management Board. ~ . -- Special City Council Meeting September 24, 1985 Page 4 (1986 Budget, Continued) Council also noted the levy limit of $656,930, and the overlevy of $62,449. The Recording Secretary was asked to provide a recap of the changes made over the last two budget meetings at her regular hourly rate for Council consideration at the October 1 regular meeting. Council agreed to set the levy at that time. MOTION by Orttel, Seconded by Elling, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 12:02 a.m. Respectfully submitted, \)\Cv~ C~:~:~'0L Marcella A. Peach Recording Secretary --