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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 01-09-03 l ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Chairman Buck Malick St. Croix County Board FROM: Ralph Swenson, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Thursday, January 9 2003 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Room 1281, Government Center, Hudson CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: February 13, 2003 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES: December 10, 2002 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. Maintenance Department Report 3. 9:00 a.m. Joint Meeting with Public Protection Committee and Building Committee re: Huber Facility Issues 4. Computer Services Department Report a. 2002 Year End Projects Status Report 5. Risk Management Report a. Umbrella Liability Coverage Options 6. Corporation Counsel Report 7. Treasurer's Report 8. County Clerk Report 9. Finance Department Report a. 2003 Debt Financing Options b. Fund Reserve Policies 10. Administrative Coordinator Report a. Building Space Issues re: Clerk of Court File Expansion b. County Funds Investment Policies c. Request from Planning, Zoning & Parks Committee to move Parks Offices to Ag Center in Baldwin d. Architect Agreement for Huber Facility Pending County Board Action 11. Performance Evaluations - Closed Session pursuant to Wis. Stats. Sec. 19.85(1) (C) - considering performance evaluation data of County employees under the committee's oversight a. Maintenance Director b. Computer Services Director c. Finance Director d. Corporation Counsel e. Administrative Coordinator CORRESPONDENCE: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) Date: December 26, 2002 COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board County Departments * *ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS FINANCE MEETING Regular Meeting January 9, 2003 Meeting called to order by Chair Swenson at 8:30 a.m. Present: Ralph Swenson, Clarence Malick, Daryl Standafer, Esther Wentz. Excused: Stan Krueger. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Rich Loney, Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman, and County Clerk Cindy Campbell. Others present: Supr. Mark Erickson and Judy Wiff, media. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Standafer to adopt the agenda. Next meeting is February 6, 2003. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to approve the minutes of December 10, 2002 with the following corrections: The Huber Steer-in-gBuilding Committee was appointed by Board Chair Malick. The committee members are Suprs. Mark Erickson, Esther Wentz, Denise Gunderson (Dan Raebel, alternate) and ex officio staff, Chuck Whiting and Ralph Robole. The Finance Committee requested the Huber Steering Building Committee to report to the County Board in January or no later then March. Public Protection is to provide operational costs of the Huber facility. The Emergency Management and Communications Committee was requested to proceed on the same time frame described above. The Springsted report indicated that $179,131 would be saved after refinancing Government Center Bonds. Carried. 1. Vouchers: Vouchers were not reviewed this month. Malick will review on January 10, 2003 and place on the February Finance Committee agenda. 2. Maintenance Department Report: Facilities Manager Ralph Robole presented a proposal to install prototype diffusers in each jail cell. The diffusers were built by the Maintenance Department. State law requires fresh air to run through each cellblock. Robole indicated during winter months cells located on outside walls become extremely cold. The diffusers were designed to be installed over the vents and to force the air along the walls rather than forcing air through the cells and over inmates' beds. The diffusers were approved by the jail inspector. The approximate cost for 43 diffusers is $2,100. Motion by Malick, 2°d by Wentz to approve installation of the diffusers, subject to concurrence of the Public Protection Committee and funds to cover the costs come from the Jail Assessment Fund. Carried. Robole reported due to a recall notification from Central Sprinkler Co., the fire sprinkler heads have all been replaced in the Administrative Building and some in the Jail. Finance Committee January 9, 2003 Page 2 Swenson thanked Robole for keeping many repair and replacement costs in-house rather than hiring outside assistance. 3. 9:00 a.m. Joint Meeting with Public Protection Committee and Building Committee re: Huber Facility Issues. Public Protection Committee: Suprs. Julie Speer, Charles Mehls, Mary Louise Olson, Denise Gunderson, Dan Raebel. Huber Building Committee: Suprs. Mark Erickson, Esther Wentz, Denise Gunderson (Dan Raebel, alternate) and ex officio staff, Chuck Whiting and Ralph Robole. Brian Larson, Ayres Associates a. Discussion regarding Resolution Endorsing Huber Facility Expansion and Directing Development of Final Plans for Huber Facility Expansion based on Project Concept Report. Whiting explained the purpose of the resolution. He indicated the County is not in the construction stage as of yet and the resolution will start this process. The building project and funding will need County Board approval. Sheriff Hillstead reported on the number of persons waiting to get into the Huber facility. He indicated the number is higher than the resolution states. Public Protection Chair Speer reported she received a letter from the St. Croix County Judges indicating they would welcome the opportunity to meet with the Finance, Public Protection and Huber Building committees to discuss this matter. The Judges also noted sentencing has been delayed because individuals being sentenced cannot get in the Huber program within sixty days. Swenson suggested several wordage changes in the resolution. Noted by Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman. Discussion regarding operating costs, Huber Facility costs and current inmates. Jail Captain Karen Humphrey distributed a Huber Facility Costs Report. The new Huber Facility will provide a net increase of 48 beds for a total of 80 beds. Hillstead explained how the staffing would take place. One additional Huber officer was in the budget for 2003. If numbers decrease for Huber inmates, the space would be rented out. Currently, Huber inmates are charged $19.00 per day. The rates are set by the State of Wisconsin and the Public Protection Committee. Jail inmates cost $58.00 per day per inmate. Hillstead explained the danger to the public when a person who is convicted cannot start serving immediately. There should be a responsibility of the County that these people should be serving their sentence as soon as possible. Brian Larson stated the Judges want to have the option of a Huber facility rather than electronic monitoring or daily reporting. Many inmates have financial obligations. St. Croix County's location and good job market could assist the Huber inmates in Finance Committee January 9, 2003 Page 3 meeting their financial obligations. Discussion ensued on who should negotiate the architect's agreement, Finance or Huber Building committees. It was decided the Huber Building Committee should negotiate the contract and Finance Committee should approve how it will be funded. Brian Larson reported on the time line for the project. January 21, 2003 should be the authorization by the County Board, with bids going out in May and substantial completion by December 2003. Supr. Erickson requested an operational cash flow statement be put together for the County Board. The Public Protection Committee and Ralph Robole will provide this. Project financing was discussed. Finance Chair Swenson asked if the Huber financing package could be ready for County Board approval in May. Whiting reminded the committees that the County is also looking into long-term financing packages to include the Microwave project and Government Center building refinancing. Motion to adjourn the joint meeting by Wentz, 2°d by Gunderson at 10:30 a.m. Finance Committee reconvened at 10:45 a.m. 4. Computer Services Department Report: a. 2002 Year End Projects Status Report. Director of Computer Services Tom Boron reported the New Richmond facility software program to keep a history of children has been installed and complete. The Echo Software program is installed and is used for scheduling therapists. Echo's billing module is in final stages of testing. Carolyn Krieger sent a letter of non-compliance regarding Horizon Healthcare program. Boron indicated they forced the County to move from the DOS based software to the Windows version. Boron is looking into another program similar to Horizon. One option may be American Data. The County continues to work out issues with the Visions Software program used in the Sheriff's Department. Boron reported there is an outstanding balance due to Visions in the approximate amount of $100,000. Boron continues to work with the company to settle this account and is waiting for modules to be fixed. He indicated further payment to Visions would be held until the necessary module repair is completed. The Register of Deeds software installation went well. Boron reported his department is still proceeding with the Time and Attendance program. He provided a demonstration at the December Department Head meeting. There were some internal network problems but they have been resolved and the system is being tested. He is hopeful to have this program in place sometime the first quarter of 2003. Finance Committee January 9, 2003 Page 4 Department of Aging Sam's 2002 software does not work. A server was purchased to run the program and a new version of the program was installed. The program continues to be problematic and Boron proposed to dispose of this program if latest version does not work. Discussion regarding software contracts. Wentz noted that Corporation Counsel should review all software contracts and report to the Information Services Committee. Brief discussion regarding employee participation in direct deposit the County offers and how to get more employees involved. Whiting will look into this. 5. Risk Management Report: Dawn Budrow reported the total payment made for worker compensation through December 31, 2002 was $422,569.85. This amount is higher than it has been for the last few years. This figure includes four large settlements paid in 2003. Below is a breakdown of YTD payments by department: General County: $70,384.36 16.6% Highway Department: $127,909.16 30.3% Human Services: $26,112.04 6.2% Law Enforcement: $55,046.24 13.2% Nursing Home: $143,118.05 33.9% Total number of YTD claims reported for 2002 were 93, down from 114 claims reported in 2001. Discussion regarding accommodating County employees with light duty work. Budrow will research what other counties do with respect to light duty work. Budrow is gathering information to put into a spreadsheet that provides a listing of all coverages in effect in the County. She has reviewed surety bond crime coverage renewals for elected officials. She reported the current carrier has the best coverage and price for the County. This coverage will remain the same. After review of the various policies, she discovered the County had three crime policies. One of the policies covered what all three policies covered and therefore canceled two of the policies. Umbrella Liability Coverage Options. Budrow checked with Pete Boss, Executive Director of WMMIC. Boss reported he knows of no other WMMIC entities that have any kind of umbrella policy above and beyond the $5,000,000 limit. Based on Boss' recommendation Budrow inquired if she should investigate other options. WMMIC currently has 14 members. Malick asked Whiting to query his State or Administrator organization on others' umbrella coverage. Budrow will explore the rate issue and report back to the Finance Committee in February or March. Finance Committee January 9, 2003 Page 5 Mission Statement for Risk Management & Security Committee. Budrow distributed copies of the latest version of the mission statement. Swenson asked Budrow to add a reporting mechanism for so-called significant incidents added to the statement. Budrow announced a security incident reporting form for Government Center employees is in place for use to report incidents for tracking purposes. Standafer made an editorial comment about mission statements in general. He stated they should be brief and to the point. Standafer suggested dropping the point regarding recommending to the Finance Committee safety and security measures that exceed the committee's approved budget. Budrow noted the Security Committee now has a budget. If expenses are within their budget, do they need to bring them to the Finance Committee? The Committee agreed the Security Committee should use discretionary authority to do things within budget and anything over and above the budget must be approved by the Finance Committee. Item two regarding "Keeping up to date on incidents that occur..." will read as "Reviewing incidents that occur in and around the Government Center and report to Government authorities." Motion by Malick, 2"d by Standafer to approve the mission statement with the changes noted. Carried. 6. Corporation Counsel Report: Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman commented on the space issue in the Administration Suite. He indicated the Personnel Department proposes to alter the storage room to make an office for the new Personnel staff person. The storage area would be moved to the area originally designed as the reception area in the Administration Suite. He floated the idea to the Finance Committee to move the Corporation Counsel office into the former lunchroom to allow more suite space for the Finance Department. 7. Treasurer's Report: County Treasurer Cheryl Slind reported collecting taxes was going well. She thanked her staff for their fine work. Total collections as of December 2002 were $8,615,816.03. The St. Croix County Treasurer's office currently collects taxes for thirteen municipalities. It's believed the County collects $.55 per parcel from the municipalities for which it collects taxes. This may be too low. Standafer commented he had heard some complaints regarding being closed the afternoon of December 31St. Cheryl indicated there is a drop box available for payments. 8. County Clerk Report: County Clerk Cindy Campbell announced this was her fourth official day as County Clerk. She thanked the Finance Committee for allowing her to record the meeting, as this will be helpful in preparing the minutes. She also thanked the Finance Committee for approving extension of Sue Nelson's employment with the County for training purposes. There will be a statewide Spring Primary on February 18th for Justice of the Supreme Court. Campbell read a thank you note from Sue Nelson to the Finance Committee. Standafer questioned why the County Clerk prepares the minutes for the Finance Committee and if someone else were to do this, who would it be? Campbell is unsure as to why the County Clerk Finance Committee January 9, 2003 Page 6 does this and asked who would the Committee propose to delegate this responsibility to. Campbell will review the County Clerk's job description. 9. Finance Department Report: Finance Director Rich Loney reported the following balances as of December 31, 2002: Cash $21,652,527.34; Contingency Fund $224,115.50. Nursing Home excess of revenues over expenses stands at $384,617.13. The Finance Department will accept vouchers for 2002 expenses until the end of January. Loney reported he should know how the General Funds ends up for 2002 by the end of March. Loney reported a problem with the first payroll checks issued on January 2 as a result of the change from Wells Fargo Bank to the First National Bank of Hudson. The checks issued on January 2 contained a transposition of numbers. The account and routing numbers located at the bottom of the checks were reversed. He indicated the First National Bank of Hudson was very cooperative. The Finance Department contacted approximately fifty banks. One-half of the checks had been cleared by January 7, none have been returned and twenty checks were reissued. Director of Computer Services Tom Boron explained the software program contained an error that caused the numbers to be reversed on the checks. He has placed a service request to the software program. The checks printed on January 2, 2003 were the only checks that contained the error. Checks printed on January 3 and after were correct. a. 2003 Debt Financing Options - no report b. Fund Reserve Policies - hold discussion for future meeting 10. Administrative Coordinator Report - Chuck Whiting a. Building Space Issues regarding Clerk of Court File Expansion. Attending were Clerk of Court Lori Meyer, District Attorney Eric Johnson and Facilities Manager Ralph Robole. Drawings were distributed providing three proposals for use of the current Law Library space prepared by Robole. Whiting indicated computers which currently get "farmed out" after their useful life could get placed in the conference rooms located outside the court rooms, for controlled internet use so only proper legal related websites could be accessed. This would generate some additional working space in the Law Library space. Standafer questioned Meyer if the files, for which she is requesting additional space, were active files or were files to be archived. Meyer indicated the files are active and need to be readily available to the court. Johnson and Meyer provided their viewpoints on each drawing. Both agreed to Plan 4, which provides extra file expansion for the Clerk of Court office and an easily accessible office for the new Assistant District Attorney. Further discussion regarding funds to cover the remodeling expenses. Meyer indicated her 2003 budget included $2,000 for remodeling expenses. Robole indicated some additions or changes would need to be made to the sprinkler system and Finance Committee January 9, 2003 Page 7 estimated the remodeling expenses to be approximately $5,000. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Standafer to approve remodeling using Plan 4 in concept, with the details to be finalized between the parties as to where the lines will be absolutely drawn and fund out of the Contingency Fund approximately $3,000 of unbudgeted expenses associated with this project. Whiting reminded the District Attorney to maintain proper protocol with the additional money needed for this project to be okayed by the Public Protection Committee. Carried. b. County Funds Investment Policies - No Report C. Request from Planning, Zoning and Parks Committee to move Parks Offices to Ag Center in Baldwin. County Conservationist Bob Heise and Planning, Zoning and Parks Committee Chair Art Jensen appeared with a request to move the Glen Hills parks office, currently located in Glenwood to the Ag Center in Baldwin. Heise reported there is room available in the Baldwin office and believes the operating costs for phones, computers and mail service would not increase significantly. He indicated the current Glen Hills office would remain open as a registration station. Reservations would run through the Baldwin office and the reservation data would transfer to Glen Hills via the internet. PZP is not requesting funds for this move. Whiting expressed he felt this was a good fit. Jensen indicated this move would fit in with the parks reorganization. Motion by Malick, 2°a by Standafer to approved the request for the move of the Glen Hills parks office to the Ag Center in Baldwin. Carried d. Architect Agreement for Huber Facility Pending County Board Action. Huber Building Committee Member Mark Erickson indicated the Ayres Associates Architect Agreement set forth an "hourly, not to exceed amount". The Huber Building Committee talked about basic methods of payment, one being a fixed sum amount, the other being hourly with an amount not to exceed. He indicated the Huber Building Committee proposes the Finance Committee approve the hourly, with a not to exceed amount. Providing everything goes smoothly, the County would be paying less and Ayres is protected on the other end because the number would be basically the same number as if the County went with the Percentage Contract. Erickson asked consideration be given to credit the County with the payment the County has made to Ayres for the concept portion. Some of the previous work done by Brian Larson was market research. Malick asked when the payment would be needed. Approximately 80% of the architect's cost would be due to Ayres before construction begins. Whiting explained incurring obligations and how it is paid back. He suggested we take the funds from an existing account and create a new account and incur a deficit then reimburse this account when the County borrows the funds. Malick suggested that, in terms of accountability, a separate account be set up so the Huber Building Committee can get accounting reports. Brian Larson explained the proposed payment contracts. The lump sum contract, which was in the original amount of approximately $94,200, is used more commonly when there is a good project definition. He indicated the percentage contract is not used as much any more. The hourly contract is more commonly used when there is not a good project definition. The hourly s Finance Committee January 9, 2003 Page 8 not to exceed amount is approximately $98,000. Larson indicated the charge is approximately $10,000 for the original study done on this project. The study included the sheriff's garage, various programming, etc. Malick clarified the Huber Building Committee would make the decisions with respect to the Huber building and the Finance Committee will pay the bills. Erickson agreed. Motion by Malick, 2nd by Wentz to authorize Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting and Finance Director Rich Loney to select an appropriate account to fund the agreement the Huber Building Committee will reach with Ayres for the interim work until such time as the total finance package is agreed to. Carried. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Malick to approve the agreement the Huber Building Committee has tentatively agreed with Ayres for hourly rate not to exceed $98,000 less an appropriate credit estimated to be $5,000 for work all ready done. Whiting noted this is all contingent upon the County Board passing the resolution on January 21". Carried. e. Building Space Issues re: Personnel Department. The Personnel Department was granted a part-time person for 2003. Discussion regarding placing this person in the current office, which is used for storage. The storage area would move to the area directly across from this office. The Administration Suite would need to have a door and wall installed to enclose the storage area. The cost estimate collected by Robole is $2,126 for a wall of plastic laminate and an oak finish door and wall assembly; or a wall without a door in the amount of $1,462. Discussion regarding splitting the office currently used by the Assistant Personnel Director, Eileen Graham. Discussion also held regarding the addition of staff without consideration of where the staff will sit and the costs of remodeling. Whiting requested Robole report to the Finance Committee when County departments begin discussions regarding remodeling projects. Potential remodeling projects should be reported to this committee monthly. Motion by Wentz, 2nd by Malick to table discussion regarding this move until the Personnel Committee reports to the Finance Committee. Carried. 11. Performance Evaluations - Closed Session pursuant to Wis. Stats. Sec. 19.85(1)(c) - considering performance evaluation data of County employees under the committee's oversight. Performance evaluations for Maintenance Director, Computer Services Director, Finance Director, Corporation Counsel and Administrative Coordinator. Motion to move into closed session by Malick, 2nd by Standafer. Roll call vote: 4 yes, 0 no. Carried. (1:15 p.m.) Motion to move out of closed session by Standafer, 2nd by Wentz. Carried. Adjournment: Motion by Malick to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 4:10 p.m. Esther Wentz, Secretary