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COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - MINUTES - 11/13/2003 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - CITY OF MUSKEGO Approved MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD NOVEMBER 13, 2003 Mayor Slocomb called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM. Present were Ald. Petfalski, Buckmaster, Damaske, Madden, Patterson, Schroeder and Clerk-Treasurer Marenda. Ald. Salentine was excused. Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The Clerk-Treasurer noted the meeting was noticed in accordance with the open meeting law. Ald. Madden moved for approval of minutes of meetings held 8/21/03, 9/4/03, 9/11/03, 9/18/03 and 9/30/03. Seconded by Ald. Patterson, motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Request from Roy Smart to Recreate Legal Lot Status Mayor reported that Mr. Smart met with him and advised he has a house on Little Muskego Lake that is made up of two combined lots. In 2000, the City had issues with combined lots that were smaller than lots allowed today, and the Council took action to eliminate all the legal lot status issues over a two-year period. Notice was given at that time that legal lot status could be granted during the two-year period without fees from the City, but at the end of the two-year period there would be no more legal lot status. Postcards were sent at about 6- month intervals during that period. Mr. Smart didn’t want to obtain legal lot status at that time. Now with trying to sell the house, he feels the large size of the lot may be affecting the sale. Mr. Smart said 47 lots in his area have combined status, and 43 of the 47 are 50 ft. lots. It seems that potential buyers are looking more to just get lake access, but don’t necessarily want a large lot. He recognized missing the deadline and he was aware of it. Mayor asked if the Committee wanted to make a recommendation to Council to repeal this ordinance. The Mayor provided the background and rational for adopting the ordinance in 2000. The Clerk- Treasurer noted Plan Commission would need to make a recommendation and a public hearing scheduled to be held to amend Chapter 18. Mayor offered to have copies of Plan Commission and Council minutes on this issue provided for review. Ald. Buckmaster stated the research might show what the affect would be on repealing the ordinance. Ald. Petfalski asked for the number of lots that were eligible for this before the sunset expired. Ald. Buckmaster noted the Parks and Recreation Board is looking at the request of Mr. Smart to move the pier on Idle Isle near his home. Discussion followed. Ald. Schroeder moved to defer. Ald. Petfalski seconded; motion carried. Discuss Procedure for Clerk-Treasurer Replacement and/or Department Reorganization upon Retirement Clerk-Treasurer Marenda reported that she discussed the reorganization of the department with the Mayor and Finance Director Gunderson. Clerk-Treasurer Marenda reported she, the Mayor and Finance Director Gunderson reviewed the operations of the department, talked to the City’s auditor Don Vilione, and talked to other communities about their organization. After this review, we are making the recommendation that the Treasurer function be under the Finance Department due to the difference in types of duties of the City Clerk. There are a lot of Clerk-Treasurers in the State, but for the most part they are smaller municipalities. With the retirement of the Clerk-Treasurer, the opportunity is there to put all the financial activities under the direction of the Finance Director. That would result in the position of Clerk-Treasurer being changed to City Clerk, and the Finance Director would take on the statutory responsibilities of Treasurer. Proposed organizational charts for the two departments were reviewed. Staffing would remain the same, except the Deputy Treasurer would report to the Finance Director, and Committee of the Whole Page 2 11/13/2003 staff support for collections, in addition to the current Cashier/Election Clerk who would report to the Clerk, would be from the Finance Department. Ald. Petfalski asked if this would free up a position, and Ms. Marenda stated the proposal includes no change in staffing levels. If there are internal shifts in positions, the Council could take a look at the affect of those shifts at that time. Ms. Gunderson noted a couple of concerns were addressed in the discussions – that of the day-to-day backup if needed from her staff, and the fact that the Finance Department has no visual contact with the counter area. She stated she could identify three of her staff to be available for that backup, and she and her accountant would have knowledge of the process if needed to step in. She would do the investments in the absence of the Deputy Treasurer. She said time was available to add these responsibilities as long as the current Deputy Treasurer is in the position and under the assumption the current Cashier/Election Clerk will continue to maintain the responsibility for the main backup to the Deputy. If required in the future to house a person in the front office to provide cashier backup on a daily basis, a change from part time to full time hours could be necessary in the Finance Department. Ald. Patterson questioned the additional costs involved to add the Treasurer duties to the Finance Director. Ms. Gunderson stated no additional costs are anticipated. Ms. Marenda noted with the removal of the Treasurer duties from the City Clerk position, the points will be re-evaluated, and it is assumed the points for the Clerk position will then be lower without the financial portion of the position. It won’t be a great loss of points, but certainly won’t result in an increase. Ms. Gunderson said there probably won’t be a change in her points as the responsibility of the Treasurer is no greater than other duties she is currently performing, and she already has some Treasurer duties now as they relate to investments. There is no anticipated change in the ratings of support staff, as they are at similar levels to current backup staff, and are already performing financial duties. Ms. Marenda asked that the Council take a look at the Deputy Treasurer position, as the Deputy will have more responsibilities as some of the functions currently performed by the Treasurer could be done by the Deputy. It also should be considered if the Deputy should become a non-represented employee. Ms. Marenda noted the support needed for cashiering is not on a daily basis. It’s only during quarterly utility bill collections, tax collection installment periods, and vacation or sick time. Ald. Buckmaster asked if the positions of Finance Director and Treasurer are combined would there be an issue of conflicts or audit trail for the Council. Ms. Gunderson stated that was our main purpose of contacting our independent auditing firm if see if this is a workable situation. Ald. Buckmaster said it was his understanding that the Council now has the duties of the Comptroller. Ms. Marenda responded that the Charter Ordinance gave the duties of the Comptroller to the Council, a study was done and then the Council hired the Finance Director and turned over those duties to the Finance Director. Ald. Buckmaster asked where the audit trail was if one person is the comptroller, finance director and treasurer. Mayor noted that is why an annual audit is done. Ms. Gunderson noted there is segregation of duties now, with different people posting journal entries, doing cash reconciliation, bank deposits and managing the general ledger system, and that will continue. Ald. Buckmaster still expressed concern about all the people doing these duties reporting to the Finance Director directly. Ms. Marenda noted that Finance Directors in other municipalities that she is aware of are also the Treasurer. She also noted that the comptroller is the finance director – it’s just a different title for the same job. Ald. Buckmaster said his concern is to protect the integrity of the taxpayer dollars. Ms. Gunderson explained the annual audit procedure. If there are any concerns, they bring those Committee of the Whole Page 3 11/13/2003 forward to the Council in the annual Management Letter. As a larger community we have enough staff to segregate the duties and to assure checks and balances exist. Ald. Buckmaster noted the position of Clerk-Treasurer was combined by Charter Ordinance #14 after a special election was held, and asked if we would be looking at an election to change it. Ms. Marenda reported the Treasurer was retiring in 1996 and the Aldermen at that time were interested in eliminating the elected position of Treasurer and combining it with the elected position of Clerk, also eliminating the elected position of Clerk/Comptroller, and because these were elected positions, a special election was held. The Clerk-Treasurer position was combined and elected in 1996. That position changed from elected to appointed in 1998, as well as the position of Assessor. Ald. Damaske asked if separated, would the City Clerk have enough duties. Ms. Marenda stated that position administers the elections, issues licenses, and manages the paperwork for the Common Council, and most of the work done by the Clerk-Treasurer is Clerk work. The Deputy Treasurer currently is doing the day-to-day treasury activities, and the Deputy Clerk is needed to assist with the work of the Clerk on a full-time basis. Ald. Petfalski asked due to the finances of the City, would it be wise not to fill whatever position opens up if positions are filled internally. Ms. Marenda stated because it isn’t known how the positions will be filled that decision can’t be made now. Ms. Gunderson agreed that we don’t know where a vacant position will end up, and the only known thing is there has to be a City Clerk. It is unknown if any position will be filled internally. Ald. Petfalski agreed it might be wise to take it one step at a time. Ms. Marenda stated what we’re looking for is action on the reorganization because if it is the intent to split the Clerk and Treasurer a charter ordinance needs to be introduced at the next Council meeting. Ald. Petfalski moved to recommend to Council to proceed with the Charter Ordinance. Ald. Madden seconded. Ald. Schroeder asked about the timeline. Ms. Marenda stated if the ordinance is not introduced next week and the timeline not followed, it will be to late for the April election in the event a petition for referendum is submitted. If we proceed with the timeline as proposed and the ordinance is adopted, you still won’t know until February 17, 2004 if someone is going to submit a petition, and you can’t offer the position to anyone because you won’t know if it will be Clerk-Treasurer or City Clerk. Ald. Buckmaster asked how to get this off a charter ordinance. Ms. Marenda said it has to be by charter, because the Clerk is an officer of the municipality, and it takes a change in the charter to change the makeup of the municipality. In addition, because the position was combined by charter ordinance, it takes a charter ordinance to separate it. Ald. Schroeder indicated he is in agreement with the proposal at this time. He said that it seems there are six employees involved, and after all changes are made in duties and department changes, that come April the points may be shifted among the employees, but they should still come out the same as now. Ms. Marenda noted she did mention a potential change to Deputy Treasurer as she would take on more duties with the Finance Director as Treasurer, but agreed that the City Clerk’s points would go down. Ms. Gunderson noted any changes to job descriptions will ultimately come through Finance Committee. Committee of the Whole Page 4 11/13/2003 Ald. Damaske asked how a City Administrator position would affect the proposed charter ordinance. Ms. Marenda said statutorily you still need a City Clerk, but that position could be combined with another. It will depend on how that position is created. Motion carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Discuss Consideration to Refill Vacancy of Plan Director Position and Department Organization Ald. Buckmaster advised his questions were answered at the special COW meeting on 11/10/03. Mayor noted the position of Community Development Director is currently being advertised for, and a copy of the ad will be e-mailed to the Aldermen and posted to the website. Ald. Petfalski asked about the cross-training proposal in Building and Planning. Ms. Gunderson stated the $17-18,000 discussed at budget time was to bring two full time employees to the level of the Planning secretary and one part time employee to the Building Clerk level. Ald. Petfalski questioned why they needed to be brought up to that level. The only purpose is for any employee serving the counter can help the customer regardless if its Planning or Building. They all don’t need to take Plan Commission minutes. Mayor said the proposal was to get the three building clerical staff to be able to provide counter service, where currently only Kellie does that now. Ald. Petfalski felt they could all be cross-trained to serve the counter without a financial impact. Mayor noted the people in Building have not been trained to give the advice and support that the Planning people do, and the Planning people are not trained to do what the Building people do. Ald. Petfalski said they don’t need to site codes and violations, just want basic counter help such as handing out the right application, what fees are and so forth. Ald. Buckmaster said the issue with counter help is that it’s nice to have everyone have the sensitivity to help anyone who approaches the counter. If you’re asking them all to do that and they all have different pay levels it will create a situation where they should get step-up pay or their job description should be changed. Ald. Petfalski said he’s not asking they all do the same, but he’s asking they all do the same basic counter work, and then their other duties might all be at a different level. Ms. Marenda said she doesn’t know that her counter work is all that different as there are two distinct functions being served there – the Clerk and the Treasurer. Each employee can assist the customers, and even if it’s not their area of responsibility, they can at least get the customer started with a particular procedure, pull the proper forms and provide basic information. Ald. Buckmaster reiterated it should be listed in their job description and be compensated for. Mayor said he will find out what the departments mean by “basic counter work” and the level of service desired. Ald. Madden said sometimes just being acknowledged is enough. Ms. Gunderson stated as jobs are valued and given points, the value and responsibilities of the jobs are what determines the points, and there were reasons why the Building Secretary was scored lower than the Planning Secretary or the Parks and Recreation Secretary. You have to look at the value associated with giving customer service counter work and does that take it to the same level of what is expected of the Planning Secretary, or is it valued the same as some of their existing duties. The same applies to the Finance Department employees who are proposed to support the cashier function. It’s a different function, but it’s no more complicated or complex, but just a different learning requirement, and it doesn’t assign more value to that job – it’s equal function. Recessed at 9:15 PM. Committee of the Whole Page 5 11/13/2003 NEW BUSINESS Conservation of Agrarian Landmarks Ald. Buckmaster stated Brian Turk has done work on zoning for agrarian landmarks in an attempt to preserve these barns, etc. and the Mayor’s Task Force wants to make sure this remains. Mayor noted a rustic structures ordinance was developed which allows you to keep a part of the original agrarian theme. A person petitions to keep the structure, and an inspection is made to see if the structure fits within it so you don’t have to have all the acres to support that use. The developer has a right to get rid of a structure, as we don’t restrict that. If you feel the rustic structure ordinance is inadequate, we can discuss further. Ald. Buckmaster asked that the matter be left on the agenda so we can compare the rustic structure ordinance before we approve our economic development plan. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Discuss Status of Old Muskego Settlement Centre (Lease) Draft of amended lease not submitted yet. Discuss Status of Old Muskego Settlement Centre (Renovation) Mayor reported the only thing we are doing now is to make sure it is weather-tight to avoid degradation of the Old Town Hall. The aldermen agreed. Mayor advised the drainage, grading, culvert and parking lot was worked on with the $10,000 recently spent. He added that the application for the grant was given to Kathy Chiaverotti as a member of the Historical Society to work with Ron Peters. Discuss Streetscape – Gateways to City of Muskego Nothing will occur for some time. This matter can be removed from future agendas. Continued Discussion on Durham Drive – McShane to OO Nothing new to report. Mr. McMullen will be in Madison on 11/25/03 to try to qualify for more money. The only money in the 2004 budget is to do engineering work. Janesville Road Signs Item to be removed from future agendas. Continue Discussion of Future Goals of the Council Ald. Petfalski requested the Future Goals list be e-mailed to all aldermen for review at the next meeting to update the list and add action taken. Miscellaneous Business Ald. Petfalski stated he had been contacted by MVFC to review a new proposal for the proposed fire truck. He requested the aldermen to e-mail him with their ideas of what they’re looking for. Ald. Buckmaster moved to adjourn at 9:37 PM. Ald. Madden seconded; motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Jean K. Marenda, CMC Clerk-Treasurer