MINUTES
FINANCE COMMITTEE
MEMBERS
PRESENT: Vice
Chairman Tony Theisen, Tom Weber, and Steven Deneys
MEMBERS
TARDY: Chm. VanderLeest
OTHERS
PRESENT: Dawn Foeller, Allison Swanson,
Fred Geissler, Mark Delaski, Linda Dupuis, and Others
1. Roll Call.
Roll Call was taken and all were present except for
Ald. VanderLeest, who arrived at 5:40 p.m.
2. Approval of the Agenda.
A
motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald. Weber, and carried to approve the Agenda.
3. Approval of the minutes of the Finance
Committee meeting of August 26, 2008.
A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald.
Weber and carried to approve the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of
August 26, 2008.
Item #7 was considered next.
Chairman VanderLeest arrived at 5:40.
4. Request by Ald. Nicholson for an update on
TIF debt and general obligation debt at the time when Mayor Halloin left office
to the time Mayor Jadin left office, and current.
Ald. Nicholson was not present, and this item was put
on hold until the end of the meeting.
5. Request by Ald. VanderLeest for a summary of
all outside legal bills for the City for 2007 and year-to-date in 2008.
Comptroller Foeller distributed a revised summary of
outside legal bills.
Ald. VanderLeest explained that the Brown County
Executive Committee had requested an analysis of County outside legal expenses,
and he asked that the City also verify that its resources are being used
efficiently.
Attorney Swanson described types of claims and reasons
for these legal expenses and explained that Mayor Schmitt uses the Attorney’s
Office for any legal questions.
Ald. Weber agreed that retaining outside legal help was
necessary when certain levels of expertise are needed and stated we want to get
good value from money expended.
A motion was made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald.
Deneys and carried to receive and place on file a summary of all outside legal
bills for the City for 2007 and year-to-date in 2008.
6. Request by Ald. VanderLeest to determine the
date for the Joint Finance and Personnel Committee meeting and related City
budget meeting.
Mrs. Foeller said they are looking at Tuesday, November
11 to hold the Joint Finance/Personnel meeting, and the Common Council budget
meeting on November 18th.
The budget book should be released the last week of
October. It was decided to try to handle
travel requests, reclassifications, and changes to the Table of Organization at
the first meeting in October, so as to save time at the budget meeting.
A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald.
Theisen and carried to recommend that the meeting of the Joint Finance/Personnel
meeting be held on November 11, 2008 and the Council Budget meeting on November
18, 2008.
7. Resolution designating Voter Registration
Month.
Comptroller Dawn Foeller said this resolution,
referred by Brown County, would declare September 10, 2008 through October 10,
2008, as “Voter Registration Month in Brown County.” Ms. Foeller said its purpose is to register
as many of the estimated 20,000 eligible unregistered voters as possible before
Election Day.
A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald.
Weber and carried to approve the resolution designating September 10, 2008
through October 10, 2008, as “Voter Registration Month in Brown County.”
8. Report of the Purchasing Agent:
a. Purchase of evidence drying equipment
for the Police Dept. from Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories for $21,120.
Ald. VanderLeest officially recognized Purchasing
Manager Linda Dupuis for her work on behalf of the City of Green Bay over the
last nine years.
Ms. Foeller said $25,000 had been budgeted as
Carryover for this evidence drying equipment, and Ms. Dupuis said the Police
Department needs these units for the drying of evidence, and they are specially
designed for that purpose.
A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald.
Weber and carried to approve the purchase of evidence drying equipment for the
Police Dept. from Sirchie Fingerprint Laboratories for $21,120.
9. Review and action on financing for
City/County/MSD fiber optic project.
IT Director Mark Delaski explained that funding for
the project had been approved earlier, as a joint project with the County and
Sewage District. Those estimates were
based on the best Engineering knowledge at that time, and proposals went out in
April and May. The low bid costs for all
three entities were much higher than estimated -- $300,000 more than the City
had planned, $1M more than County plans, and $100,000 over Sewage District
expectations. Mr. Delaski said they re-scoped
the project and divided it into two parts in the hope that overall costs might
come in lower. It was rebid a second
time, and the results were much better, but still $100,000 over for the City. Much of the increases are due to equipment
costs for fuel and petroleum. They
looked at 2 legs to 2 separate fire stations that the City would pay solely. They were priced as separate items, and the County
did the same thing with some of their items.
One leg could be eliminated, if necessary.
Mrs. Foeller said the City would not bond the entire
project at once, doing $600,000 this year and the balance in 2009. Ald. Deneys asked if the costs would be
locked in and was told that many knowns have been documented, but there have
been some best estimates made, with a 5% contingency built in.
Ald. Weber asked if a 5% contingency in construction was
high enough, and Mrs. Foeller replied that shortages could be added to next
year’s bonding. Ald. VanderLeest asked
that any higher costs be brought back to Committee to justify.
A motion was made by Ald. Weber to give authority to
go to $1,420,737 for the entire joint fiber optics City/County/MSD project. It was seconded by Ald. Deneys and carried.
Ald. VanderLeest left to attend another meeting.
Item 4 was considered next.
At 6:15 the Committee paused the meeting to see if
Ald. Nicholson would come to the meeting for this item. He was not present, so the item was tabled.
A motion was made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald.
Deneys and carried to table until the next Finance meeting the update on TIF
debt and general obligation debt at the time when Mayor Halloin left office to
the time Mayor Jadin left office, and current.
A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald.
Weber and carried to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 6:20 p.m.
2008
CONTINGENCY FUND
$104,427.52
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.