MINUTES

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Tuesday, March 27, 2007
City Hall, Room 604

5:30 p.m.

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

MEMBERS EXCUSED: None

OTHERS PRESENT: Doug Daul, Jerry Hanson, Rob Strong, Tom Lesperance, Dan Kryzanek, Linda Dupuis, Ald. DeWane, Recording Secretary Ginny Mamrosh, and Others

1. Roll Call.

Chairman John VanderLeest called the meeting to order at 5:32 p.m.; all members were present.

2. Approval of the Agenda.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen and seconded by Ald. Deneys to approve the Agenda. Motion carried.

3. Approval of the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of March 13, 2007.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Deneys and carried to approve the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of March 13, 2007.

4. Request by the Interim Transit Director to transfer funds from its operating reserve to its capital reserve for the purchase of new buses.

Finance Director Doug Daul stated he had not received information on this item but knew Transit is looking to purchase several buses and needed permission to use funds from its Operating Reserve. The year-end balance closes to this reserve, and the department had been authorized to access these funds in recent years.

A motion was made by Ald. Weber and seconded by Ald. Deneys to hold until the next Finance meeting in April the request by the Interim Transit Director to transfer funds from its operating reserve to its capital reserve for the purchase of new buses, and to direct staff to contact the Interim Transit Director to appear before the Committee. Motion carried.

5. Request by Marion House and the Brown County Home Builders Association to waive all permitting fees for the proposed Marion House Apartments.

A motion was made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald. Deneys and carried to open the floor to allow interested parties to speak.

Monica Zindler, 1494 Leo St., is the current Executive Director of Marion House. This nonprofit organization is in its 13^th year of existence and is planning to build transitional living apartments for adolescent mothers and their babies. Graduates of Marion House would be housed in these apartments, along with others in similar situations who are struggling to make ends meet. The proposed building would also include an educational resource center to help the young women develop skills and offer the support they need to make it to the next step, and a day care center to care for their babies.

Ms. Zindler explained that the Brown County Homebuilders Association has made a huge commitment to this endeavor, and feels they can construct the project for about half of what it would otherwise cost. Charitable funding comprises all funding sources for the apartment, but Brown County will assist with the ongoing operating budget. The capital fund appeal has just begun, and a $150,000 pledge challenge from Mike Sherman has already been received, as well as donations from several churches.

Planning Director Rob Strong said the City has never waived inspection fees for nonprofit organizations in the past, although fees have been waived in cases where the project is located on Park property. He gave as an example the improvements being made to the Park facility that will be used by the new baseball team, but said that organization is paying for those improvements. The concern of the department is that if fees are waived for one organization, many more charities will expect the same consideration. Granting these requests would result in the loss of revenue used to help pay the salaries of staff performing those inspections, approximately $3,000 to $4,000 in this case. Inspection Superintendent Tom Lesperance agreed and noted that requests for waivers for Christmas in May projects had previously come before the Improvement & Services Committee and had been denied.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Deneys and carried to return to the regular order of business.

Ald. Weber said that, while understanding the request being made by Marion House, a goal of the City is to try to have departments be self-sustaining. In addition, taxpayers eventually end up paying the bill and may prefer to make voluntary donations.

Ald. Theisen agreed this is an excellent program but felt these requests should either be waived for all non-profits or for none. Everyone should be treated in the same manner.

Ald. Deneys also agreed, saying $3,000 to $4,000 may seem like a small amount, but waiving fees for the many organizations that would apply would add up to a sizable sum. As much as he’d like to say “yes,” he’d have to say “no.”

Mr. Strong said there are two options -- waiving of fees, and contributing to projects. His concern was with waiving the fees. Ald. Weber said he would not be in favor of direct contributions because they are levy dollars.

A motion was made by Ald. Weber and seconded by Ald. Deneys to open the floor to let interested parties speak. Motion carried.

Michael Miller, 1167 Canterbury Rd., President of the Brown County Homebuilders Association, said he is taking the lead on this project. Donations from subcontractors, vendors, and members of his Association already account for about 75% of the project needs at this point. Their goal is to get the apartments built as inexpensively as possible.

A motion to return to the regular order of business as made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald. Theisen, and carried.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen and seconded by Ald. Weber to deny the request by Marion House and the Brown County Home Builders Association to waive all permitting fees for the proposed Marion House Apartments. The motion carried.

6. Consideration and action on Inter-Governmental Cooperation Agreements for Weights & Measures Services.

Mr. Lesperance distributed a handout with a breakdown of estimated hours and fees involved in coming up with the Inter-Governmental Cooperation Agreements.

Mr. Strong said City Sealer Dan Kryzanek had gone to surrounding communities to determine service needs of each by taking an inventory of number of businesses, scales, registers, etc. An estimate of hours needed to perform the service was assigned to each community, and a fee of $47 per hour was determined. This is $3 per hour less than that charged by the State, and $13 of the $47 will cover overhead costs. The agreements shown reflect those numbers for each municipality. Not all communities have accepted this partnership, but there has been a lot of interest.

Mr. Lesperance said he had spoken to the Administrator of Suamico that morning. The Village is very excited about developing this agreement. Ledgeview is not required by State Statute to develop such a program at present, but would be interested at such time when it may be required. The Town of Scott has expressed interest, and, although not obligated, may accept our agreement. He said all communities included in the packet have expressed interest, and he is trying to contact Howard and Hobart.

Mr. Strong asked that the Committee approve the contract language and give them authorization to sign contracts with those communities, as well as permission to use that same format and same hourly rate with any new municipality requesting such a partnership.

Ald. VanderLeest said he viewed this as a positive item, and a revenue generator.

A motion was made by Ald. Deneys to approve the contract language for Inter-governmental Cooperation Agreements for Weights and Measures Services and to authorize staff to enter into agreements with communities in Brown County that are interested in partnering with Green Bay, using the reimbursement schedule provided. It was seconded by Ald. Theisen and carried.

7. Report of the Purchasing Agent:

a. Wheelchair lift rebuild units (6) to Gillig Corporation for $62,075 ($12,415 City funds).

Purchasing Agent Linda Dupuis said a formal bid had been issued, as required under Federal Transit Administration (FTA) regulations, and following Federal bid guidelines. The recommendation is to purchase six wheelchair lift units from Gillig Corporation for a total cost of $62,075. The purchase is for one new unit and five rebuilt units to minimize down time for the buses. Of this cost, $12,415 will be City funds.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Deneys, and carried to approve a: Wheelchair lift rebuild units (6) to Gillig Corporation for $62,075 ($12,415 City funds).

8. Finance Director’s Report:

b. Oneida Nation Service Agreement

c. Staff Update.

a.: Oneida Nation Service Agreement:

Brown County Supervisor Dan Haefs had sent a communication to Council asking the City to look at its Service Agreement with the Oneidas. Under this agreement, the City receives about $250,000 in payments for parcels held in trust, since tax is not collected on those properties. The service agreement had expired on December 31^st, but Mr. Daul informed the Committee that the entire payment for 2007 had already been received, and Assistant to the Mayor Chad Weininger is already working with the Oneida Tribe’s attorney on this agreement.

Ald. VanderLeest asked Mr. Daul to follow up with a memo to the Council informing them that we have received payment for 2007. He suggested having a formal agreement signed for going forward and asked that Atty. Hanson bring any inspection issues forward during negotiations, if possible.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen and seconded by Ald. Deneys to receive and place on file the Oneida Nation Service Agreement update. The motion carried.

b.: Staff Update:

Mr. Daul told the Committee he appreciated the support they have given to the Finance Department, and said Payroll continues to be an issue. It isn’t possible to find someone to step in and be able to do payroll temporarily, because it is too big a program. One idea Mr. Daul had was to request that Schenck provide greater assistance in preparing our 2006 financial audit to alleviate some pressure on the City Comptroller. Mr. Daul stated that he would keep the Committee apprised of the situation.

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen and seconded by Ald. Deneys to receive and place on file the Finance Director’s update on Department staffing. The motion carried.

Ald. VanderLeest said the Committee will meet once a month from May through August, with the second meeting in May being cancelled. Mr. Daul suggested designating either the first or second meeting of June, July, and August as the standard meeting date so departments have time to plan ahead. Ald. VanderLeest said firm dates can be set in April, but agreed it would be helpful to have a set schedule.

A motion to adjourn was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Weber, and carried. Meeting was adjourned at 6:10 p.m.

2007 CONTINGENCY FUND

$285,000

Any person wishing to attend who, because of a disability, requires special accommodation should contact the Mayor’s office at 448-3005 at least 24 hours before the scheduled meeting time so that arrangements can be made.

Please take notice that it is possible that additional members of the Council may attend this committee meeting, resulting in a majority or quorum of the Common Council. This may constitute a meeting of the Common Council for purposes of discussion and information gathering relative to this agenda.