MINUTES

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 9, 2009
City Hall, Room 604

Immediately following Personnel which begins at 5:30 p.m.

 

 

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

 

OTHERS PRESENT:  Dawn Foeller, Julie Van Oss, Jeff Roemer

 

1.    Roll Call. 

 

Roll call was taken and all were present.

 

2.    Approval of the Agenda.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Weber, and carried to approve the agenda.

 

3.    Approval of the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of May 19, 2009.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald. Weber, and carried to approve the minutes of the Finance Committee meeting of May 19, 2009.

 

4.   Request by the Fire Chief to purchase a new engine for Ladder 421 at a cost not to exceed $32,000.  Funding for this expense will come out of the Fire Department’s maintenance account.

 

Fire Chief Jeff Roemer explained the details behind the purchase.  The 1992 truck blew an engine and needs replacing.  This is the busiest front line ladder the department has.  Its engine was rebuilt in 1997 and again in 2003.  Since that time metal has been appearing in the oil pan, so there are still issues. 

 

The lowest quote to replace the engine was $27,345 from Peterbilt.  A new ladder costs $1M, so this is a reasonable alternative at this time to put it back in front line service for a few more years and then move it to a backup thereafter.

 

Ald. Deneys asked if it was common for the engine to be rebuilt every 5-7 years.  Mr. Roemer explained that it was not common, that this is a bad engine.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Weber, and carried to approve the purchase of a new engine for Ladder 421 from Peterbilt at $27,345.

 

5.   Report of the Purchasing Agent:

 

       a.   Request approval to award 1500 feet of replacement fire hose to 5 Alarm for the amount of $11,637.90.  Purchase was competitively bid using a cooperative group effort combining nine area fire departments, led by De Pere.

 

Purchasing Agent Julie Van Oss went through the details.  The City piggybacked off of

De Pere’s contract for this purchase from 5 Alarm, which met all specifications at the lowest bid.  Fire Chief Jeff Roemer emphasized that this was a very good price.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Theisen, seconded by Ald. Deneys, and carried to approve the award of 1500 feet of replacement fire hose to 5 Alarm for the amount of $11,637.90.

 

6.    Request by the Finance Director to add additional depositories for the City of Green

       Bay.

 

Finance Director Dawn Foeller added another financial institution, Pennant Management.  It offers government backed securities that the City could use to diversify its investment portfolio.  Brown County also uses this investment manager.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald. Theisen, and carried to approve the addition of Pennant Management as a depository for the City of Green Bay.

 

7.    Report by the Finance Director on overtime report through First Quarter 2009.

 

Finance Director Dawn Foeller explained that the City is currently on task for its budget for overtime through the month of March.  Ms. Foeller will be bringing this report to Committee quarterly, rather than monthly.

 

The Department of Public Works is a little over budget, but this is not of concern at this time and will continue to be monitored.  Overall, the City is on budget.

 

Ms. Foeller pointed out that the 2007-2008 Police contract was recently settled and that all the back pay and overtime was paid out in May.  The City did accrue for those expenses for 2007 and 2008.  However, the back pay issued for 2009 will affect the Police current budget for May 2009.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald. Theisen, to receive and place on file the overtime report through First Quarter 2009.

 

8.    Report by the Finance Director on budget status report through April 2009.

 

Finance Director Dawn Foeller reviewed the budget status report and reported that, overall, the City is on task with its budget.  However, she did draw the Committee’s attention to a couple things.  The first is that interest rates on investments are lower than she had budgeted for.  It is predicted these rates will remain at all time record lows for some time. A possible increase in interest may not happen until late third or fourth quarter of this year.

 

A second point of discussion was in regards to an increase in tipping fees come July 1, 2009, which will affect the 2009 Budget.  A tentative impact of the State increasing tipping fees is around $75,000.

 

Another concern is the pricing the City recently received for road salt.  The price per ton is up over $22 from last year and will affect the 2009 budget, weather dependent.  Ald. Weber expressed an interest in converting to a more affordable liquid, beet juice-and-salt product.  Ms. Foeller will research this alternative.

 

Ms. Foeller also drew attention to the discussion of the waiver of residential permits, which would result in a reduction of the City’s permit fees by approximately $40,000 for 2009.

 

Ald. VanderLeest requested that a resolution opposing the increase in tipping fees be drafted and added to the Common Council agenda for the Committee of the Whole.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald. Deneys, and carried to approve a motion to have a resolution drafted explaining the City’s opposition to the budget increase in tipping fees and placed on the Common Council agenda for the Committee of the Whole on June 23, 2009.

 

 

9.    Report of the Comptroller

 

       a.   Update on the competitive purchase of fuel

 

A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald. Theisen, and carried to receive and place on file the update on the competitive purchase of fuel.

 

       b.   2010 Budget discussion

 

Finance Director Dawn Foeller handed out a tentative agenda.  She discussed a few ways in which the State budget is affecting the City’s budget and advised that the City be mindful of these and any upcoming items.  One such item is a cut in the City’s shared revenue of approximately $500,000.  Another is an increase in tipping fees that could result in an additional expense of $200,000.  The increase in salt prices could also have an increase of $240,000 if the City uses the same tonnage it has in the past. 

 

Ald. VanderLeest asked that resolutions be drafted to represent the City’s concerns at the State level.  Specifically, Finance requested three resolutions be drafted regarding the State budget to be considered by the Committee of the Whole on June 23, 2009  at the Common Council meeting.  The three resolutions will address the following:

 

1.    Shared revenue cut

2.    Tipping fees

3.    Change in liability insurance

 

A motion was made by Ald. Weber, seconded by Ald. Theisen, and carried to approve the drafting of the three abovementioned resolutions to be considered by the Committee of the Whole on June 23, 2009 at the Common Council.

 

A motion was made by Ald. Deneys, seconded by Ald. Theisen, and carried to adjourn.  The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.

 

Additional Business – Finance Committee Summer Schedule

 

Finance Committee will meet on the following dates:

 

July 14

August 11

 

 

RECORDING SECRETARY

Andrea Canadeo

 

 

2009 Contingency Fund

$74,130.00

 

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.