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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFinance 07-10-01 ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF C'OMMITTRE MF.F,TINCT TO: Chairman Thomas Dorsey St. Croix County Board FROM: Tom O'Connell, Chair COMMITTEE TITLE: Finance DATE: Tuesday, July 10, 2001 8:30 A.M. LOCATION: Government Center CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: August 10, 2001 8:30 A.M. ACTION ON PREVIOUS NIINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NEW BUSINESS: 1. Review of Vouchers 2. Hudson Property Requests - 8:45 a.m. 3. Building Maintenance Report 4. Information Services Report 5. Finance Report 6. Corporation Counsel Report a. LTE Legal Clerical Position Update b. Position Description c. *New Richmond landfill remediation 7. Clerk's Report a. Room Rental Request from City of Hudson b. Library Funding Meeting c. Permission to exceed standard room rate d. Apple River property 8. Administrative Coordinator's Report a. VOCA Grant Match Funding 9. Departmental Capital Outlay Plans a. Clerk b. Administrative Coordinator c. Maintenance d. Computer Services e. *Clerk of Court f. *Treasurer 10.2002 Budget Objectives CORRESPONDENCE: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) Date: COPIES TO: County Board Office News Media/Notice Board County Clerk County Board ~arr~c~ G~ FINANCE MINUTES Regular Meeting July 10, 2001 Meeting called to order by Chair O'Connell at 8:30 a.m. Members present: Tom O'Connell, Tom Dorsey, Stan Krueger and Ralph Swenson. Nancy Bieraugel absent and excused. Staff present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting, Finance Director Rich Loney, Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman and County Clerk Sue Nelson. Others present: Hudson City Clerk Pat Dotseth, Bob Stephens, Ralph Robole, Tom Boron, Dave Fodroczi and Judy Wiff, media. Next meeting is August 10 at 8:30 a.m. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Dorsey to adopt the agenda. Carried. Motion by Dorsey, 2nd by Swenson to approve the June minutes. Carried. Vouchers: Dorsey had reviewed the bills and found no problems. Motion by Dorsey, 2nd by Krueger to pay the vouchers. Carried. Hudson Property Requests: O'Connell indicated Bethel Lutheran Church, the YMCA and the Hudson School District were interested in purchasing Government Center property. He introduced Dr. Ron Bernth, Hudson School Administrator. Dr. Bernth referred to the property study by Brian Larson of Ayres which indicated the NW and SE quadrant of the property most likely would not be needed for government expansion. The school board is planning to use the present middle school for grades 8 and 9 and build a new building for grades 6 and 7 along the UU corridor. The City of Hudson would determine access points. Bernth said the school district is interested in purchasing 30 acres in the NW quadrant and would offer a fair price. If the County is interested in selling the land to the school, this issue would be on the School Referendum planned for October 2na O'Connell said we are at the stage to have the County Board determine if they wish to sell any county property and if they do, have it appraised and advertised for bids. Bernth said the school district can't compete in a bidding war and this site offers the benefits of sewer and water and good road access. Swenson commented in addition to price, the County needs to consider the land use and type of neighbor we want. O'Connell said Bethel Church indicated interest in 20 acres of land but no one was present from this group or the YMCA. 1 i Room Rental to City of Hudson: City Clerk Pat Dotseth requested the rental of the Community Room for City of Hudson elections. Space and parking at City Hall is limited for large elections. They would plan to have two or four districts vote here. Voting booths would be transported the night before the elections. Ms. Dotseth said this is a good site because it is handicapped accessible, easy to find and has parking available. The City could supply a certificate of insurance. There are usually two to four elections per year. County Clerk Nelson suggested a rate of $100 per day plus any cleaning charges above normal use. Dorsey requested checking with the Sheriff and Jail staff in regard to the Tuesday visiting night and any problems that may cause. Committee will address the request in August. 2002 Budget Request: Health and Human Services Board Chair Stephens reported the five member Nursing Home Study Committee is working well and it probably should not sunset in October but rather meet into 2002. Stephens said this committee should have its own budget and consist of County Board Supervisors. The decision on the Nursing Home is complicated and not easy to simplify. Stephens also asked County Board Chair Dorsey for a special meeting in October only to discuss the future of the Nursing Home. Swenson said the three options for the Home are 1) keep the status quo, 2) sell or close the home or 3) operate per current industry standards. Whiting said money should be set aside for any of the options. Building Maintenance Report: Facilities Manager Ralph Robole attended an Xcel Energy seminar and was told a 3% fuel surcharge will be added to the electric bill on July 1, 2001. This will cost the County $2400 a year. Robole projects a $31,000 budget shortfall for gas in 2001. He also noted computers have raised electrical demand 12 to 15%. Stephens credited Robole for his efforts to put in propane gas tanks at the Health Center as an alternate fuel source that can be pre-bought at a lower price. Swenson thanked Robole for keeping the gas costs overrun as low as it is. VOCA Grant Matching Fund: Victim Witness Coordinator Ann Gustafson requested $67.20 for a matching grant. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by Swenson to approve $67.20 from the Contingency Fund. Carried. 2 New Richmond Landfill: Corporation Counsel Timmerman said a landfill near the Health Center owned by the City of New Richmond has been declared contaminated by the DNR. The landfill was opened in 1975 and closed in 1982. Timmerman attended a meeting for all parties who used the landfill. If the County deposited industrial cleaning agents, we would be responsible for part of the clean up costs. Stephens said nearby Towns used the landfill early on but backed out when an upgrade was needed. It has mostly been used by the City of New Richmond. Timmerman concluded there is no evidence the County placed contaminates in this landfill. If there is no proof to the contrary, the County is not involved. Computer Services: Director Tom Boron reported the ECHO contract for the Health Center is being finalized. There will be an upgrade to the Dispatch computers during which time their computers will be down for several hours. This will not affect 911 services; only researching records. Boron is working on the PTO issue with Whiting, Loney and Personnel Director Deb Kathan. He has requested $18,000 to $25,000 for capital outlay for an electronic time sheet recording system. Finance Director: Loney presented the monthly financial reports. Discussion on Nursing Home fund balance and the -$217,385 excess of expenses over revenues. The 2000 audit is underway. Swenson asked Loney to add the cash balance for the Nursing Home report and thanked Loney for the financial information. Corporation Counsel: Timmerman said the LTE position in his department is now a permanent part time at 30 hours per week. The increased wages of $667 will be covered in his present budget. He will budget this position for a full time 40 hour per week in 2002. Timmerman's request to change his position description will be addressed at the August meeting. Swenson requested he add a percentage of time spent on different aspects of his position. County Clerk: Capital Outlay - Sue Nelson explained the request for Ballot on Demand and a printer that would be used to print smaller amounts of ballots during election time. Hudson City Clerk Pat Dotseth supported this request and said it is difficult to estimate how many people are going to vote in any election. The last Presidential election surprised many with the high voter turn out. The City of Hudson was 50 ballots short in the April 3 2001 election and Ballot on Demand could have taken care of the shortfall as well as for other municipalities who ran out. Motion by Swenson, 2nd by Krueger the Ballot on Demand for $10,000 and the Minolta printer for $4,000 be included in the Elections capital outlay plan which inclusion does not constitute final budget approval. Carried. Motion by Swenson, 2nd by Dorsey to approve inclusion of FAX machine, PC's and a copy machine (check on leasing vs purchase) in the years 2002 and 2003 capital outlay plan but does not guarantee final approval. Carried. Library Meeting - Clerk Nelson attended an IFLS library meeting along with area County Clerks and Board Chairmen. The topic for discussion was payment to out of county libraries providing rural circulation to other counties' residents. Some Counties have agreed to pay out of county libraries; others have not. Consensus of the meeting was counties work this out between each other. Another suggestion was to contact Legislators to clarify Act 150 with a statement regarding whether or not out of county libraries should be paid. Dorsey suggested St. Croix County leave the payment as is for county libraries only. Room Rate: Motion by Dorsey, 2nd by Krueger to approve exceeding the approved room rate of $62 to $79 for Nelson attending County Clerk's conference in Racine. Carried. Apple River Property - A request has been received to purchase one of the tax deeded parcels along the Apple River. Timmerman advised the statutes call for an appraisal and not selling for less than the appraised values. Motion by Krueger, 2nd by O'Connell to advertise to the general public the landlocked parcels adjacent to the Apple River. Whiting will arrange for the appraisal. Carried. Capital Outlay Plans: County Clerk: Listed under her report. Administrative Coordinator: Whiting introduced Dawn Budrow, the new Work Comp/Risk Management Coordinator. Whiting said Vierbicher Associates is working with the City of New Richmond on development of a Land Use Plan. New Richmond has requested the County ride along with the plan to include the County Farm. Cost would be $2600. Committee would like Vierbicher to address the Finance committee. Whiting has abandoned the idea of working with UW-River Falls Professor Hillard on a Personnel Evaluation plan. Springsted 4 i offers a program to evaluate the resources we do put into personnel and could develop something similar to the Outlay plan to determine future personnel needs. Cost for this is estimated at $43,000. Clerk of Court: Lori Meyer Frascht explained how video conference equipment would save the Sheriff's Dept. $20,000 to $30,000 per year for costs in transporting inmates to hearings. The Courts would also save money by using live video for expert testimony of Doctors and not paying airfare, hotel and meals for out of state witnesses. She is also requesting a Kwik Filing system and Scanning Inventory of Documents. Computer Services: Tom Boron has included CAT 5 wiring in the Government Center over a 3 year period and Optical Imaging equipment and software to be shared by departments. Treasurer: Mary Jean Livermore was not available. She has included an Internet Query of Land Records. Maintenance: Ralph Robole was not available so capital outlay requests will be done later. 2002 Budget Objectives: Swenson asked if money taken from the General Fund for additional Perch Lake costs of $85,000 would be placed in the 2002 Parks budget and would the $66,000 for the Nursing Home Consultant be in the 2002 budget to levy the funds. Also is the $80,000 for ECHO software in the Health and Human Services 2002 budget. This was the intent for all three items. Whiting noted since the Contingency Fund lapses back to the General Fund, this could cover the Nursing Home Study and Perch Lake expenses. Discussion on the cash overdraft of about $400,000 for the Nursing Home which basically means the fund balance is less than the net long-term assets. Fifteen new positions have been requested for 2002. Swenson questioned the timetable for approving new positions because he has no idea where the budget stands. Dorsey said consideration should be given to need for the position; not how much money we have. Chair O'Connell said after Personnel approves new positions, they are referred to Finance to see if money is available to fund the 5 position. He also said the rule on banking positions (holding a vacant position open for indefinite period of time) needs to be changed. Correspondence: Clerk Nelson distributed the Public Protection minutes of July 9th. Committee members were asked to note the action taken on the dog license fund and study for Huber facility. Motion to adjourn by O'Connell, 2nd by Swenson. Meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m. Stan Krueger, Secretary 6