MINUTES

FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

City Hall, Room 604

Immediately following Personnel which meets at 5:30 p.m.
or 5:45, whichever occurs first

MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman John VanderLeest, Tony Theisen, Tom Weber, and Steven Deneys

MEMBERS EXCUSED: None

OTHERS PRESENT: Doug Daul, Dawn Foeller, Jerry Hanson, Chief VanSchyndle, Rick Jurkanis, Bill Bongle, Linda Dupuis, Recording Secretary Ginny Mamrosh, and others

1. Roll Call.

Chairman John VanderLeest called the meeting to order at 5:50 p.m. Roll call was taken, and all were present.

2. Approval of the Agenda.

A motion was made by Ald. Deneys and seconded by Ald. Theisen to approve the agenda with the additions of Items # 7b and 8. Motion carried.

3. Approval of the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of September 26, 2006.

A motion was made by Ald. Weber and seconded by Ald. Deneys to approve the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of September 26, 2006. Motion carried.

4. Request by the City Attorney to submit the quarterly report of the Claims Committee.

City Attorney Jerry Hanson said payment of claims this quarter was relatively light. He distributed copies of a Risk Management memo sent to drivers for the City asking them to make an effort to reduce vehicular accidents and subsequent claims filed against the City. This benefits everyone, especially since the City is self-insured. Atty Hanson had recently attended a CVMIC conference and will explore ways of passing along safe driving tips and techniques that were discussed at the seminar.

A motion was made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald. Deneys and carried to receive and place on file the quarterly report of the Claims Committee.

5. Request by the Chief of Police to amend the cleaning services portion of the Communications Center contract.

Chief VanSchyndle said the loss of a Police Department maintenance person in 2003 resulted in a shortage of personnel to cover custodial duties at the East and West Side Community Centers, Police Department facilities, and Municipal Court. Brown County rents space in the Communications Center from the City and part of their payment covers cleaning of the facility. Chief VanSchyndle said they have heard complaints about maintenance in the Communication Center since early 2003, in spite of the fact he believes this position was fully covered and inspectors had given them a clean bill of health when issues were raised about air quality. The department tried to address the issues over the years by adjusting schedules, but ended up bringing in personnel on weekends to satisfy the complaints.

The City and County mutually agreed the best solution would be to have Brown County bring in its own personnel to clean the Communication Center. Police Business Manager Rick Jurkanis said the financial implication would be $750 per month, or $9,000 yearly that would be deducted from the rent paid to the City, but added that costs for one City employee would amount to more than $13,000 yearly in salary alone. He said the three hours this person spends cleaning the communications center could be well spent in other areas, and should result in less overtime being expended.

Chief VanSchyndle agreed that this would be the best solution. Although some revenue would be lost, complaints would stop, and three hours daily would be gained back from department custodians. There are only two persons to clean more than 80,000 square feet of space. Chief VanSchyndle said Police officers have even helped by mowing the grass and shoveling snow at the West Side Community Center when custodians haven’t had time to perform these tasks.

Ald. VanderLeest remarked that, unrelated to this agenda item, the County still owes payments to the City from services provided by Drug Task Force officers in 2003 and 2004. He asked for an update on this issue. Some City Council members also serve on the County Board, and he hoped they could help resolve the matter. Mr. Jurkanis said the County does not allocate enough funds in its budget to cover this cost despite the City making the amount known well in advance. They then pay only what they had budgeted for. Chief VanSchyndle said there is confusion over whether funding for this reimbursement comes from the Burns Grant or the County Sheriff’s budget. Funding for the Burns Grant has been cut, and the County has reimbursed less to the City. Ald. VanderLeest said the Committee could approve this request, but he suggested also sending the message that we are seeking payment for the previous Burns Grant monies that were not paid in the last two years. He asked to have an update at the Finance meeting to be held before the Joint Finance/Personnel Budget meeting on Nov. 1, along with a possible resolution from the City Council.

Ald. Weber asked if “custodial services” in the lease also includes maintenance of the equipment, and Mr. Jurkanis said the department does maintain the equipment, but this request is for the portion referring to cleaning duties only.

A motion was made by Ald. Weber and seconded by Ald. Deneys to approve the request by the Chief of Police to amend the cleaning services portion of the Communications Center contract.

Ald. Weber asked if there should be an “out” for the City, as the Lessor, to revert back to the old agreement if any of their actions should affect our equipment, but Mr. Jurkanis said the duties outlined in the agreement do not include working around any high ticket equipment, except that they do clean the cold air return vents in the ceiling. Chief VanSchyndle said the contract does contain a default clause.

Ald. Theisen suggested that the Dept. of Public Works or the Parks Dept. should mow the grass at the West Side center if they are working on a nearby park or right-of-way and asked Chief VanSchyndle to look into this. He also asked that the City look into the possibility of realigning and assigning to those departments the mowing of all properties throughout the City.

A vote was taken, and the motion carried.

6. Request by the City Assessor to transfer funds between accounts within the Assessor’s 2006 budget.

Finance Director Doug Daul said the Assessor is asking to reimburse his travel account for the trips he has made to Madison regarding the Newark case. This recycling issue has huge implications for the City, and Atty. Hanson has asked him to continue attending these meetings. The request is for a transfer of $420 from the car reimbursement fund to the travel account.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Deneys and carried to approve the request by the City Assessor to transfer funds between accounts within the Assessor’s 2006 budget.

Mr. Daul asked the Committee take Item #8 next so as to extend a courtesy to the Water Dept.’s representative who had driven from Milwaukee to address the item.

A motion was made by Ald. Weber and seconded by Ald. Deneys to suspend the rules to take Item #8 out of order. Motion carried.

Item #8 was taken next.

7. Report of the Purchasing Agent:

a. Selection and contract award of the City of Green Bay’s financial auditor firm.

Purchasing Agent Linda Dupuis said the City has had the same firm do its financial auditing for many years, and had not competitively shopped during that time. The Finance Department requested that an RFP be issued, and she and Comptroller Dawn Foeller developed the specifications. The RFP was issued, publicly offered, and advertised. Ten vendors were contacted, and three companies submitted proposals. Evaluation of the proposals has been ongoing since the opening, and Ms. Dupuis explained that the evaluation alone was not sufficient to determine a clear winner to bring to Committee tonight. She asked permission to hold direct interviews with the two companies submitting proposals that were close and recommended delaying the award while staff determines which of the top two firms would best suit the City’s needs.

Mr. Daul said this is the recommendation unless the Committee has a strong feeling one way or another about staying with the same firm they have used for years, or thinking it may be time for a change. Ald. Weber felt there is value in allegiance and said there must be a clear, convincing difference in cost or service to give up that continuity. Ald. VanderLeest said the Executive Committee at the County had changed its auditor because of several issues but the change ended up costing more in time and dollars when data had to be converted to conform to different equipment being used.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Weber and carried to hold selection and contract award of the City of Green Bay’s financial audit firm until staff has a final recommendation.

b. Review of the Animal Impound RFP.

Pursuant to Section 19.85(1)(e) Wis. Stats., the committee may go into closed session for competitive and bargaining reasons to deliberate the investing of public funds, or the committee’s negotiation strategy as it relates to the animal impound RFP. Pursuant to Section 19.85(2) Wis. Stats., the committee may thereafter reconvene in open session.

Ms. Dupuis asked to introduce this review in open session. State statutes require that the City pick up stray animals within City limits. She said the City has a long-standing two-part agreement with the Bay Area Humane Society and that the current contract, previously overseen by the Mayor’s assistant, will end December 31. The first part of the agreement is for animal impound, where animals are picked up by the Police Department and impounded by the Humane Society. The second part is for animal pick-up services by the Humane Society. The new contract will be for impound service only, since the Council recently gave approval for the Police Department to hire interns to pick up strays starting next year. Ms. Dupuis said the City spends approximately $120,000-$122,000 total per year for these impound and pick-up services. This new contract will be overseen by the Police Department. Ald. Weber asked for a breakdown of costs, and Ms. Dupuis said the financial information is being broken down at this point, but a rough estimate would be about $10,000 for the pickup portion.

The Bay Area Humane Society had submitted a proposal and Roger Messick, Executive Director, was present but did not wish to comment on the issue.

A motion was made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald. Theisen, and carried to enter into closed session pursuant to Section 19.85(1)(e) Wis Stats., as read previously.

Closed Session followed.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Weber and carried to return to open session.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Weber, and carried to reject the one animal impound proposal received and authorize the Purchasing Agent to negotiate with any and all providers for animal impound services.

8. Request by the Water Department to refinance the Water System Revenue Bonds Series 2004.

Mr. David Noack of Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. said he had worked on the original financing of a new Water Utility project in 2004, and that Council passed a resolution about a year ago allowing his firm to proceed with the refinancing as long as at least $1 Million in savings was realized. Rates shot up the next day, and the refinancing was not carried out. Mr. Noack said rates have come down over the last couple of weeks, and, as of last Thursday, approximately $1.3 M in total savings, or $818,000 in present value terms, would be realized. Last Thursday’s interest rate was 4.32%, as opposed to the present 5.10%. Federal statute says the entire amount cannot be refinanced because part of the 2004 refinancing was in itself a refunding.

The prospectus being prepared by Foley & Lardner, Water Utility bond counsel, should be available Monday, and, hopefully, Moody’s credit rating; the resolution passed previously is still in order. Rates could be locked in as early as Monday and given final approval at the next Council meeting. Mr. Noack said rates bumped up slightly on Friday and Tuesday, and he ran new numbers that still show savings of about $1.2 Million instead of $1.3 Million. He said it is possible that rates could jump up even more between now and Monday and that locking in Monday or Tuesday would mean approving it at the next Council meeting. If rates are good on Wednesday, he can lock in, with final Council approval coming at the November meeting.

Mr. Daul said this will be brought to the Council on Tuesday, but pulled if rates rise again and would be brought back in November.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Deneys, and carried to approve the request by the Water Department to refinance the Water System Revenue Bonds Series 2004.

Item 7a was taken next.

Chairman VanderLeest said the Oct. 24 Personnel and Finance meetings will be cancelled, but that they will meet before the Joint Finance/Personnel budget meeting to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 1^st.

A motion to adjourn was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Weber, and carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

2006 CONTINGENCY FUND

$180,778.00