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CCM20051108 COMMON COUNCIL - CITY OF MUSKEGO Approved MINUTES OF MEETING HELD NOVEMBER 8, 2005 The meeting was called to order at 7:32 PM by Mayor Damaske. Present were Ald. Melcher, Borgman, Buckmaster, Madden, Patterson, Schroeder and Salentine, City Attorney Trindl, City Administrator Sheiffer, Clerk-Treasurer Moyer, Police Chief Johnson, Interim Finance Director Mueller and Deputy Clerk Blenski. Those present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The Clerk-Treasurer stated the meeting was noticed in accordance with the open meeting law. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Salentine moved for approval of the 10/25/2005 minutes. Borgman seconded; motion carried. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR’S OFFICE The Clerk-Treasurer read a Proclamation for GIS Day, November 16, 2005. Reso. #201-2005 - Recognition of 27 Years of Service - Janice Hughes. Borgman moved for adoption. Melcher seconded. Motion carried 7-0. ACCEPTANCE OF COMMITTEE REPORTS Salentine moved for acceptance of the 10/24/2005 Public Utilities Committee. Madden seconded; motion carried. Minutes of the 10/20/2005 Police and Fire Commission, 11/1/2005 Plan Commission. 10/26/2005 Library Board and 10/24/2005 Community Development Authority were received and placed on file. The Clerk-Treasurer read the notice of closed session. Salentine moved to convene into closed session pursuant to Wis. Stats. §19.85 (1)(g), Conferring with legal counsel for the governmental body who is rendering oral or written advice concerning strategy to be adopted by the body with respect to litigation in which it is or is likely to become involved, more specifically Separation Agreement and Release for Laura Becker. Madden seconded; motion carried. The City Attorney, interim Finance Director, Clerk- Treasurer and Deputy Clerk were not present for closed session. At 8:04 PM, the Council reconvened into open session. OLD BUSINESS Reso. #175-2005 - Approval of Settlement and Release Agreement between the City of Muskego and Laura Becker. On the floor, deferred 10/25/2005. Borgman moved to defer. Salentine seconded; motion carried. Ord. #1206 - An Ordinance to Establish Salaries for Certain Elected Officials. Second Reading. Buckmaster moved for adoption. Borgman seconded. Schroeder requested a more in depth study be done for the next term. Buckmaster requested a comparison using communities that have a population closer to ours. Melcher stated our population is unique. There is no other community in the 22,000 range within Waukesha County. Common Council Minutes Page 2 November 8, 2005 Patterson noted that the judge has not brought anything forward regarding the salary. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #202-2005 - Approval of 2006 General Fund Operating Budget. Salentine moved for adoption. Borgman seconded. Ms. Mueller clarified that the dollars removed from the Road Program were originally a reduction from reserve funds and not tax levy dollars. Second, the Council should be aware that after 2006, the City will no longer be eligible for the expenditure restraint program. The City could potentially lose $100,000 in 2007. Lastly, Ms. Mueller noted that with the levy limit in effect for 2007, further reductions could have a negative impact on future operations of the City. Ms. Mueller stated that pursuant to the direction of the Council following the public hearing, the following adjustments were made to the tax levy: $125,000 removed from the Road Program less $24,000 of estimated reductions in Transportation Aids for a net reduction of $101,000, $16,000 reduction made to the D.P.W. Vehicle Replacement line item per recommendation of the Engineering/Building Inspection Director, and the final adjustment was to add back $2,500 to the Parade Fund. The net total adjustment of $114, 500 would have an impact of reducing the city tax rate by an additional $.05. The tax rate would be $4.74/$1,000. The new tax levy for 2006 would be $10,748,546 or an increase of 1.86% over the prior year. This would leave the City $233,843 under the state levy limit. Buckmaster stated he spoke with the Public Works Superintendent. He removes his objection to purchase of the plow truck. Buckmaster moved to amend the budget by $114,500 as outlined by the interim Finance Director. He would like the parade funds to come off the tax base in the future. Salentine seconded. Mayor Damaske stated he has been invited by Jack Spoerl to attend the Festival Committee meeting in January to discuss the City’s concerns. Melcher expressed concern about cutting funding from the Road Program. Buckmaster stated that staff did not have a problem with the reduction. Schroeder noted that there is a $30,146 increase to the Transportation-Hwy. Allotment line item. Motion to amend carried 7-0. Schroeder also agrees that the D.P.W. vehicle should move forward. Reso. #202-2005, as amended, adopted 7-0. Reso. #207-2005 - Approval of Certified Survey Map - Kaebisch. Buckmaster moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #206-2005 - Resolution to Direct Staff to Prepare Contracts for Purchase of Phone System. Madden moved for adoption. Salentine seconded. Patterson stated he discussed the issue with staff and did not find a pressing need to replace the existing system. Madden stated there is a serious need regarding voicemail. Patterson said the voicemail could be addressed without changing the entire phone system. Madden said you can put a band-aid on anything. Mr. Sommers was present for this issue. His recommendation is to keep the existing phone system and purchase a voicemail system from CTI for $12,130. He outlined some of the reasons as follows: significant money will not be saved as there is a 5 to 7 year payback, the new system requires a large up front capital cost, additional burden of maintenance, the new system does have new features but they are not needed. In addition, Mr. Sommers noted that the City would still have to keep the existing phone system for the parks locations and fire departments. Having different systems makes administration more difficult. The budget amount of $65,000 is only sufficient to cover Police and City Hall. Now, four systems are proposed to cover four separate buildings requiring 7-digit dialing. It is not clear Common Council Minutes Page 3 November 8, 2005 how the new system would work with the dispatch center and what the cost would be. Currently, the phone system is automatically upgraded and maintained by the vendor. Madden stated what we have today is 240 systems because every single phone operates individually. To monitor and be able to justify disconnecting a single Centrex line is difficult. She does not support putting a band-aid on the voicemail system. Mr. Sommers stated the voicemail system being looked at is state of the art and he estimates it would have a 5 to 6 year life. Motion defeated 4-3 with Melcher, Buckmaster, Patterson and Schroeder voting no and Borgman, Madden, and Salentine voting yes. Reso. #203-2005 - Approval of 2006 Capital Budget ($801,664). Chief Johnson was present for the dispatch center project. He stated two estimates were received. One estimated was from Positron in the amount of $200,096 and the other from Waukesha County Radio Services in the amount of $226,397. A third estimate has also been requested. In addition to the cost of the electronic equipment, there will be additional project costs. The room itself has to be updated, including lighting, HVAC and carpeting. Contractors need to work under live conditions, which can be more costly. It is difficult to estimate those costs. Chief Johnson used the $200,000 estimate from Positron, plus a 10% contingency and $10,000 for the other project costs, which equals the $230,000 he is requesting to be budgeted. The final proposals will have to come back to the Council. Schroeder stated he is concerned with how long the dispatch center will be utilized. He would like to see the necessities put in but the extras maybe not. Patterson moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Buckmaster expressed concern about the excess capital dollars. Ms. Mueller stated the funds can be used for purchases other than those the money was originally allotted for. Buckmaster would like to eliminate the excess capital dollars by reducing the debt. Ms. Mueller stated $280,000 will be used in 2006. About $800,000 related to storm water projects will probably also be used in 2006. Buckmaster does not support using funds allocated to one project on another. He prefers that capital dollars not spent be repaid. Ms. Mueller stated within the next few years the fund balance will be utilized and the cost associated with reducing the debt would not outweigh the benefits of keeping the funds in place and utilizing them for future projects. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #204-2005 - Approval of 2006 Water Utility Budget and Rates. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #205-2005 - Approval of 2006 Sewer Utility Budget and Rates. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Schroeder stated the recommended increase for sewer was 15%. Borgman moved to defer to gather more information regarding MMSD. The issue will go back to the Public Utilities Committee. Madden seconded; motion carried. Reso. #208-2005 - Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to Approve Vouchers. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #209-2005 - Acceptance of Proposal for Ambulance Billing (National EMS Billing, Inc.). Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. It was noted that this resolution was linked to Reso. #210-2005. City Administrator Sheiffer stated what is proposed is based on the direction given by the Council to Clerk-Treasurer Moyer. The Common Council Minutes Page 4 November 8, 2005 Council was not comfortable as a group with auto attendant and placed money in the 2006 budget for two part-time positions. Madden stated if this is not approved tonight, an undue burden will be placed on the Clerk-Treasurer and her department. Patterson stated the issue should be addressed before tax collection time. The Clerk is doing what was asked of her. City Administrator Sheiffer noted $49,290 was in the 2006 budget for staffing. It is anticipated that $41,044 would be the maximum amount needed if both employees participated in family health insurance. So there could be a reduction of $8,246. The Clerk-Treasurer has revised the job description to remove the rescue billing duties. Each part-time employee would work 4.25 hours per day. Schroeder stated when the discussion took place regarding hiring two part-time employees; it was his understanding that health insurance would not be a benefit. He suggested the two part-time employees only work 19 hours per week and asked if existing staff could cover the remaining time. Ms. Moyer stated there is a chaotic atmosphere in her department. Everyone is running to answer the phone; there isn’t anyone just dedicated to “receptionist.” The atmosphere is disruptive because the staff is continually interrupted to answer the phone. In addition, the increased growth in the City increases the workload. Ms. Moyer prefers two part-time employees versus one full time because she believes better coverage will be provided. Madden and Melcher stated the fact that insurance was offered to the employees was a positive factor. Regarding the proposal for ambulance billing, Schroeder clarified that the fee was based on what was collected. Schroeder noted the proposed expenditure of two part- time employees and entering into an agreement for ambulance billing would cost about $61,000, which is more than the cost for the current employee. Ms. Sheiffer stated that the billing company will review the different fees charged for rescue services and will make a recommendation. There is the likelihood that we are not charging as much as we could be. Buckmaster asked if the option of having Tess Corners do the billing was looked at. He wants to make sure that the best decision is made. Ms. Moyer stated that option was presented to the Committee of the Whole (COW). Tess Corners did not approach her to do the billing. Melcher stated this issue is not brand new. We hired an administrator and need to put trust in her and the Clerk-Treasurer. At some point in time, we have to begin to trust the people in charge. Madden stated the service will also do the collection and it is anticipated that revenues will increase. She does not support turning the billing over to Tess Corners. Schroeder agrees with the caveat that the fees be reviewed to see if they can be increased. Schroeder stated the flavor at COW was to hire two part-time employees without benefits. He asked if the Floating Secy. could be used to cover the remaining hours if the part-time employees worked 19 hours each? Ms. Moyer responded that the secretary can get pulled when scheduled to work in her department. Borgman called for the question. Discussion took place if debate could continue. Motion carried 7-0. Reso. #210-2005 - Recommendation Regarding Customer Service/Specialty Clerk Duties. Salentine moved for adoption. Madden seconded. Schroeder moved to amend that that the two part-time employees work 19 hours per week (or cut off for not paying benefits) and the remaining 4 1/2 hours would be filled by using the Floating Secy. Patterson seconded. Patterson suggested trying this. Madden stated the City Administrator and Clerk have come up with the best solution. The Floater is already busy and if she is pulled for the 4 1/2 hours/week someone else will suffer. Approve what was brought forward. Schroeder disagreed. It is not potentially worth $15,000 a Common Council Minutes Page 5 November 8, 2005 year. Salentine agreed with Madden. If you want customer service with a smile, you have to pay for that. Schroeder noted the Clerk and City Administrator did not object to the option he presented. Motion defeated 4-3 with Melcher, Borgman, Madden and Salentine voting no and Buckmaster, Patterson and Schroeder voting yes. Reso. #210- 2005 adopted 6 in favor and Schroeder voting no. LICENSES Melcher moved for approval of the following operators’ licenses. New Pierro Collura Jill Stelmaszewski Renewal Sylvia Andrews Schroeder seconded; motion carried. VOUCHER APPROVAL Melcher moved for approval of payment of General Vouchers in the amount of $770,375.35. Schroeder seconded. Motion carried 7-0. Schroeder noted that the procedure regarding titling of fire department vehicles should be reviewed and possibly changed so that the titles are in the City’s name. Schroeder moved for approval of payment of Utility Vouchers in the amount of $322,457.47. Buckmaster seconded. Motion carried 7-0. COMMUNICATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS AS AUTHORIZED BY LAW Buckmaster noted that Section 2.17 of the City’s Municipal Code addresses terminating debate on an issue. Patterson noted that the Muskego High School Women’s Volleyball Team won the Division 1 State title and the Muskego High School Men’s Soccer Team came in second in their Division 1 title. He requested recognition for both teams at the next Council meeting. ADJOURNMENT Borgman moved to adjourn at 10:26 PM. Madden seconded; motion carried. (Minutes taken and transcribed by J. Blenski.) Respectfully submitted, Janice Moyer, CMC, CMTW Clerk-Treasurer