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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations - 03/19/1997 OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES March 19, 1997 COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Jon Johnson-Committee Chair, Leona Orr, Tim Clark for Jim Bennett* STAFF PRESENT: Gary Gill, John Hodgson, Bob Hutchinson, Roger Lubovich, Brent McFall, May Miller, Marty Mulholland, Kelli O'Donnell, Ron Spang, Sue Viseth MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC: None The meeting was called to order at 4 37 p in by Chairperson Johnson A�vroval of 3/14/97 Vouchers Committeemember Orr moved to approve payment of the March 14 vouchers Johnson seconded the motion which passed 2-0 Vouchers in the amount of$1,523,072 23 were approved for payment (Acting Committeemember Clark concurred upon his arrival which made the approval unanimous) Building Inspection Service Levels/Staff Resources: Building Official Bob Hutchinson proposed that the building inspector position scheduled to be terininated at the completion of the Regional Justice Center project be retained and asked that the general fund 1997 budget be amended in the amount of$42,200 to cover the position for the rest of the year Hutchinson reviewed the history of the position with the comnuttee stating the non-RJC workload justifies the additional expense *(Council Member Tim Clark joined the Committee to substitute for Committee Member Jun Bennett) Hutchinson reviewed exhibits A and B with the committee and noted that there are aging permits without final inspection to follow up on since so many resources had been dedicated to the RIC inspection load Hutchmson noted that the funding required to cover the $42,000 expense for 1997 can be covered by the revenue from the increase in building permit fee activity which is up 143% He concluded that he is hoping to retain the incumbent which will help to continue service levels Committeemember Orr asked what would happen to the $68,000 that was over budget if the position was not filled Hutchinson replied it would go into the general fund Orr asked what the overtime was for the last year Hutchinson responded that in 1996 $14,000 was spent in overtime and $16,000 was allocated to overtime in 1997 although he did not have the current actuals for 1997 During further discussion Hutchinson noted that he anticipated half of the overtime budget was spent on the RJC with the remainder to be used for peak periods Orr moved to recommend to Council that one building inspector position be authorized, upon completion of the Regional Justice Center Project, and that the 1997 budget be amended by the addition of$42,000 to both Development Services expenditures and permit and plan review fee revenues New Permit Sxstem: Information Services Director Ron Spang reviewed the history of the current system stating that it was developed in-house but as the needs have grown and the divisions have grown it was determined that companies with expertise in permatting divisions have more cost effective solutions utilizing newer technology He noted that the bond issue of$10 5 million is expected this summer but due to the urgent need this is being brought forward now Spang noted that $72,000 would come from existing automation funds and that Don Wickstrom has allocated $60,000 from water, sewer, and drainage Hutchinson noted that the system was created in-house in 1993 to deal primarily with permits and additional uses had been added but it did not include interrelated work of other departments He noted that the proposed system would be useful in documenting all aspects of permitting and provide for improved cooperation and coordination He concluded that the city would be able to provide better service with this tool Systems Analyst Marty Mulholland added that by utilizing vendors with new technologies we will OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES, CONT. March 191, 1997 have the future ability of using a touch tone system as the phone system is upgraded and this vendor also has the capability for Internet access although this is not a part of the current plan City Engineer Gary Gill commented that Public Works has been active in the entire selection process and that the system will interface with the geographic information system(GIS) He concluded that Public Works is committed to this project Committeemember Orr asked if the new system would be compatible with the planned upgrades this summer Ron Spang responded that he was comfortable with the hardware although there may be some problems with the finance system He noted that the vendor has a reputation for vendor support and these issues will be worked through Orr asked how the permitting system would be financed if we do not do the rest of the planned upgrades May Miller responded that we do have enough in reserve to cover the expense but if the bond issue did not go through staff would look at other options and bring a proposal back to committee Acting Committeemember Clark moved to approve authorization for staff to create a Land and Permit Information System budget for$310,000, of which $60,000 is from water, sewer, and drainage, and $72,000 from existing automation funds, and the balance is from automation bonds to be sold later this year, and, authorize the Mayor to sign a contract for the KIVA Permitting and Land Information System, subject to contract approval by the Law Department Orr seconded the motion which passed with a vote of 3-0 PreliminarX Tamar Financial Report May Miller reviewed the Preliminary January Financial Report with the Committee during which she noted that sales revenue was reported at$291,000 over budget for January and the February revenue is $247,000 over budget Miller explained while reviewing the budget analysis that revenue is good and the fund balance will be higher than expected with$355,000 unallocated She added that with the additional revenues there will not be the need to transfer $1 million out of the capital projects facilities fund so it will be possible to proceed with the alternate projects May completed her review Committee Schedule - Future Meeting Dates Acting Committeemember Clark requested a preliminary policy on how to handle the Chinese exchange with students He recommended that administration bring a policy to the Operations Committee and requested that he be invited to the Committee meeting May Miller suggested that the Kaibara process could be used as a framework although they also were having problems finding students City Attorney Lubovich suggested that with the new Government Affairs Manager starting, Committeemember Clark may wish to meet to discuss his ideas for the program Clark agreed that he would like to meet with the new person Committeemember Orr stated that President Houser had noted at the Public Works Committee that there were quite a few city trucks parking in the permit only parking Orr requested an update on the vacancies at the Centennial Center and a report on the number of extra parking spaces in the garage for employees It was also noted that there have been a number of Police vehicles parking in the public lot Lubovich responded that he would request the information be brought back to the Committee After a discussion of possible meeting days and times, Committee Chair Johnson asked to have the April 2 Operations Committee meeting cancelled He noted that future meeting dates would be announced There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5 23 p in by Chairperson Johnson Page 2