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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations - 02/01/1990 OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES February 1, 1990 RECEIVED COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Christi Houser 'TH 15 1990 Paul Mann a CITY AD,. Jon Johnson "' 'TRATION STAFF PRESENT: Ed Chow Jim Hansen Tony McCarthy Sandra Driscoll Barney Wilson Helen Wickstrom Charlie Lindsey Tom Vetsch Becky Giles May Miller Sue Viseth Becky Fowler Teri Mertes GUESTS PRESENT: Mia Nosler, Citizen APPROVAL OF VOUCHERS All claims for the period ending December 33, 1989 in the amount of $419, 461. 30 and for January 31, 1990 in the amount of $1, 430, 110. 92 were approved for payment. The December 33 payments were for goods and services received in December which will be charged against the 1989 Budget. UTILITY CUSTOMER CONCERN Finance Director McCarthy recapped a dispute, which was discussed at the prior Operations Committee meeting, from a Utility Customer, Mrs. Nosler, who is the owner of property which includes a Beauty Shop, 2nd Hand Store and two apartments connected to the same water meter. The dispute is related to excessive water usage from June 17 to September 12 of 1989 totalling approximately $225. McCarthy commented that the city checked the meter in October 1989 and that no leak could be found. There is no documentation of what caused the high amount of water usage only speculations of possible reasons. McCarthy stated city policy which requires documentation of leak repair to allow adjustments to the account. The adjustment when it is determined to be an outside leak is 50 of the excess water usage and 100 of excess sewer usage since the water didn't go into the sewer. Mrs. Nosler's daughter Mia attended the meeting and stated they have been working on this problem with the city since September 1989. Mia said they received no notice of water problems from the tenants. Councilmember Johnson inquired if the city could run into legal problems if they reimburse this situation with no documentation as to a reason why. City Attorney Driscoll responded this could be a problem because the auditor will question the fact that the city doesn't have a valid reason for reimbursement. Also future inquiries by individuals in similar situations could be a problem. Finance Director McCarthy stated that the city has had past experience like this situation and will have more in the future. Councilmember Mann questioned that if the city makes an exception in this particular situation are we legally bound to follow this policy and could we be subject to legal problems. After some discussion back and forth about efforts to date to resolve the dispute Councilmember Johnson moved to split the bill 1/2 city, 1/2 customer and to have future incidents be reviewed on an individual basis. Councilmember Houser commented that if individuals care enough to come to the Committee than the Council Committee will hear the concern and make a decision. McCarthy responded that this could create many cases coming before the Committee. The Committee recommended Johnsons motion on a 2-1 vote, with Councilmember Mann voting no, costing the city $108 and the adjustment showing on the Nosler' s March bill. This item will be on the February 20 Council Agenda. In order to insure that many requests don't come directly to the Operations Committee Finance Director McCarthy will propose a process for review at the next Operations Committee meeting. TEAMSTER UNION CONTRACT APPROVAL Personnel Analyst Fowler presented the 3 year Teamster Union Contract agreement. Fowler discussed various aspect of the contract including a 4% salary increase, new military leave agreement and smoking, drug and management stipulations. She mentioned that this contract has already been ratified by the Teamster Union. The Committee recommended approval by a vote of 3-0. The item will be reviewed with the full Council at their February 6th meeting. SALARY CHANGE FOR FIRE CHIEF Personnel Analyst Viseth presented, as information only, 3 options in the salary change for the Fire Chief. 1-expand range, 2-create a new salary range, 3-put Fire Chief at Level 1 with City Administrator. Viseth mentioned that with the complexity of the Fire Chiefs job function that it is difficult to find comparable positions. Councilmember Johnson requested that interim Personnel Director Olson attend the next Operations Committee meeting and present options so the Committee can make a recommendation to Council . Johnson also suggested Olson be prepared to examine the other department head positions and the police department positions. OPEN SPACE BOND ISSUE BUDGET Parks Superintendent Wickstrom informed the Committee that King County will be selling the open space bonds in April 1990. The city can incur costs prior to the bond sale as long as the city follows the interim financing guidelines. Councilmember Houser inquired as to how the city knows it will get the money from King County. Wickstrom replied that the application was very vague and as long as we stay within guidelines of $840, 000 for Green River Corridor Trail and $850, 000 for Lake Fenwick Trail then we are performing according to application. Finance Director McCarthy advised setting up separate accounts for both projects and when bonds are sold get reimbursement from King County. To avoid arbitrage regulations King County will reimburse as the city spends the money and not as a lump sum when they issue bonds. The County says that the reimbursement will be within 2 or 3 days of certification of expenditure by the city. The Committee recommended on a 3-0 vote setting up a budget for these projects and approving the financing arrangement with the County. The item will be scheduled for the February 20, 1990 Council meeting. REQUEST FOR INPUT ON VENTURE FUND PROCESS Finance Director McCarthy explained that the original procedure for the venture fund process was to present requests to a Venture Fund Committee of 3 senior staff and two councilmembers. McCarthy then presented an alternative proposal having the IBC review the proposal with a recommendation to the Operations Committee eliminating a special committee process that may happen less than once a year. The Committee recommended that this new procedure be addressed at a future Operations Committee meeting. AQUATICS MANAGEMENT VENTURE FUND REQUEST Finance Director McCarthy requested $1, 144 from the venture fund budget of $10, 000 for a city employee to attend a national swimming pool & aquatic conference in Phoenix between March 1-7 . The request is a venture fund request because the city does not currently operate a swimming facility or offer swimming programs, but has over the years been requested by King County to consider a transfer to take over these programs. If such a transfer was to come about, it would be appropriate for city staff to have some knowledge of swimming pool operations. The IBC has recommended this expenditure from the venture fund. The Committee recommended the above request to Council by a vote of 3-0. PRIVATE SECURITY INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT Finance Director McCarthy informed the Committee that the private security interlocal agreement needs to be renewed. Currently the County is responsible for licensing security guards and running the program as opposed to individual cities which created a problem when a security guard worked in one city and was licensed in another. The Committee recommended this renewal to Council by a vote of 3-0. LID 300 PAYOFF Finance Director McCarthy reminded the Committee that at the end of 1989 LID 301 was paid off because the city CIP fund balance was higher than expected. At that time it was requested that in 1990 LID 300 be reviewed and if the CIP financial position looked favorable payoff the cities share totaling $162, 000. The 1990 budget shows an extra $359, 023 in the CIP and the payoff would save the city $49, 000 in future interest payments. The Committee recommended to Council by a vote of 3-0 the payoff of LID 300. Finance McCarthy stated that at the next Operations Committee meeting he will give a 1989 year end financial update. NEW MEETING DAYS AND TIME The Committee members decided that future Operations Committee meetings will be held on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at 4 :30pm. The next meeting will be February 13, 1990 at 4 : 30pm and the following meeting on February 27, 1990 at 4:30pm. These new dates will allow a week leeway before Council meetings avoiding awkward situations when staff assumes committee will approve issues. These set dates will also enable better public information standardization. Finance Director McCarthy suggested that fixed controls may need to be established to enable checks to be sent before approval by Council in association with current voucher time schedule.