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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAdministration Committee 09-07-1999 j ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Tom Dorsey, Chairman St . Croix County Board FROM: Daryl Standafer COMMITTEE TITLE: Administration Committee DATE: Tuesday, September 7, 1999 TIME: 9 : 00 A.M. LOCATION: Government Center CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, October 5, 1999 ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 1 . Rules and By-Laws 2 . Statewide Legislative Issues 3 . Consideration of Redistricting Draft NEW BUSINESS: 1 . Supervisor' s Per Diem 2 . Consideration of WCA' s Involvement in Tobacco Litigation 3 . County Employees Serving as Voting Members on Committees 4 . Resolution Urging Passage of State Budget 5 . WCA Resolutions ANNOUCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) SUBMITTED BY: Daryl Standafer DATE: 8/26/99 COPIES TO: County Board Office County Clerk News Media/Notice Board Committee Members John Krizek, Tom Dorsey, Greg Timmerman and Lorin Sather *ADDITIONS/CHANGES/CORRECTIONS X 'OFFICIAL RECORD I. ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE September 7, 1999 Meeting called to order at 9: 10 a.m. by Chairman Standafer. Members Present: Standafer, Luckey, Bieraugel and Peterson. O'Connell excused. Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman and Supr. Jacobson were also in attendance. Adoption of Agenda: Motion by Peterson, 2nd by Luckey to adopt the agenda as published. Carried. Adoption of Minutes: Motion by Bieraugel, 2nd by Luckey to adopt the August 3, 1999 minutes with corrections . Carried. Change the comments of Bieraugel, first paragraph on page 2 to read: Supr. Bieraugel showed the Committee a copy of a lawsuit naming the City of Hudson filed by a lender. She asked a copy be given to Corporation Counsel and Chairman Standafer for their opinion. She is concerned about revolving loan programs in general . Next Meeting Date: Oct. 5, 1999 at 9 : 00 a.m. Bieraugel requested getting bids for hired services . Because of the huge increase in insurance premiums, she thinks we should look at other bids for insurance and the audit. This should be a future agenda item. It should be a policy issue; when we contract outside services we should be required to receive bids . Consideration of WCA' s Involvement in Tobacco Litigation: Discussion was held regarding the county seeking reimbursement for costs incurred by tobacco usage and what does St. Croix County have to gain in a lawsuit against the State or tobacco company? Timmerman feels we have no out of pocket costs, only expenses which are funded by other services . If the county could document the cost, we could probably recover some costs . The approximate cost of litigation would be one half of our existing membership fee which would be around $4250 . Peterson reported on the WCA meeting he attended. Focus of the meeting was : should WCA hire legal counsel against the State. Input should be coming from WCA as to progress on this issue. Timmerman reported he contacted Marathon County Corporation Counsel who attended the meeting. He reported the Law firm hired by WCA suggest we sue the tobacco companies first. He also said they will ask for 1/3 of WCA dues be paid towards the feasibility study. The law firm suggested 1/2 of dues will have to be paid every year. The law firm would agree to receive data from each county and come up with a formula for reimbursement . This litigation could go on for years . Timmerman' s recommendation would be to let the State recover and contact our legislatures to refund the counties their fair share . More information is needed and this will be a future agenda item. County Employees Serving as Voting Members on Committees: Question of the voting power by a County employee on a standing committee was discussed. Bieraugel would like this explained and if employees serving as committee members could vote on things that are not a fiscal matter. No employee serving on a standing committee has the right to vote according to the Rules and By- laws . Supervisor Jacobson advised the committee that the reason for this rule was an employee should not be part of the policy making decisions . Policy stands as written. Bieraugel was satisfied with the explanation. Resolution Urging the State to Adopt a Budget: Motion by Bieraugel/Luckey to adopt this resolution, which urges the State legislature and Governor Thompson to adopt and establish the biennial budget for 1999-2001 so that St. Croix County can complete its budget preparations on schedule . Carried. Consideration of Redistricting Draft: What is the recommendation as to the number each supervisor should represent. A memo has been drafted requesting a survey of how many districts should the county be divided into. Committee would like to know the feeling of the whole County Board regarding redistricting. The Committee will wait until we receive a response from each County Board member before making a decision. : Supervisor's Per Diem: Standafer presented an impact of change in per diem rate from Rich Loney. Maybe we could get comparables as to how much other counties pay. Consensus is to get per diem change without regard to size change . Market comparison would be valuable . Standafer will have Loney get data from other counties and come back to a future meeting with the impact for a whole year. WCA Resolutions: Discussion was held on the 1999 WCA resolutions . Motion by Luckey that we do not support resolution #34 as written and we recommend to vote in the negative on resolution #34 . Second by Bieraugel . Carried. It was the consensus of the committee to contact department heads and committee chairpersons regarding these resolutions . If they have strong feelings regarding a resolution, contact Dorsey or Jacobson who are going to the convention. A copy of the resolution packet will be sent to each department head or committee chair. We are looking for additional feed back. Motion by Bierguel/Peterson to adjourn at 11 : 30 a.m. Carried. Renee Carufel Recording Secretary ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE September, 7, 1999 !' Meeting called to order at 9: 10 a.m. by Chairman Standafer. Members Present: Standafer, Luckey, Bieraugel and Peterson. O'Connell excused. Corporation Counsel Greg Timmerman and Supr. Jacobson were also in attendance. .Adoption of Agenda: Motion by Peterson, 2nd by Luckey to adopt the agenda as published. Carried. Adoption of Minutes: Motion by Bieraugel, 2nd by Luckey. to adopt the August 3, 1999 minutes with corrections . Carried. Change the comments of Bieraugel, first paragraph on page 2 to read: Supr. Bieraugel showed the Committee a copy of a lawsuit naming the City of Hudson filed by a lender. She asked a copy be - given to Corporation Counsel and Chairman Standafer for their opinion. She is concerned about revolving loan programs in general. Next Meeting Date: Oct. 5, 1999 at 9 : 00 a.m. Bieraugel requested getting bids for hired services . Because of the huge increase in insurance premiums, she thinks we should look at other bids for insurance and the audit. This should be a future agenda item. It should be a policy issue; when we contract outside services we should be required to receive bids . Consideration of WCA's Involvement in Tobacco Litigation: - Discussion was held regarding the county seeking reimbursement for costs incurred by tobacco usage and what does St. Croix County have to gain in a lawsuit against the State or tobacco company? Timmerman feels we have no out of pocket costs, only expenses which are funded by other services. If the county could document the cost, we could probably recover some costs . The approximate cost of litigation would be one half of our existing membership fee which would be around $4250. Peterson reported on the WCA meeting he attended. Focus of the meeting was : should WCA hire legal counsel against the State. Input should be coming from WCA as to progress on this issue. Timmerman reported he contacted Marathon County Corporation Counsel who attended the meeting. He reported the Law firm hired by WCA suggest we sue the tobacco companies first . He also said they will ask for 1/3 of WCA dues be paid towards the feasibility study. The law firm suggested 1/2 of dues will have to be paid every year. The law firm would agree to receive data from each county and come up with a formula for reimbursement. This litigation could go on for years . Timmerman' s recommendation would be to let the State recover and contact our legislatures to refund the counties their fair share. More information is needed and this will be a future agenda item. County Employees Serving as Voting Members on Committees: Question of the voting power by a County employee on a standing committee was discussed. Bieraugel would like this explained and if employees serving as committee members could vote on things that are not a fiscal matter. No employee serving on a standing committee has the right to vote according to the Rules and By- laws . Supervisor Jacobson advised the committee that the reason for this rule was an employee should not be part of the policy making decisions . Policy stands as written. Bieraugel was satisfied with the explanation. Resolution Urging the State to Adopt a Budget: Motion by Bieraugel/Luckey to adopt this resolution, which urges the State legislature and Governor Thompson to adopt and establish the biennial budget for 1999-2001 so that St. Croix County can complete its budget preparations on schedule. Carried. Consideration of Redistricting Draft: What is the recommendation as to the number each supervisor should represent. A memo has been drafted requesting a survey of how many districts should the county be divided into. Committee would like to know the feeling of the whole County Board regarding redistricting. The Committee will wait until we receive a response from each County Board member before making a decision. Supervisor's Per Diem: Standafer presented an impact of change in per diem rate from Rich Loney. Maybe we could get comparables as to how much other counties pay. Consensus is to get per diem change without regard to size change. Market comparison would be valuable. Standafer will have Loney get data from other counties and come back to a future meeting with the impact for a whole year. WCA Resolutions: Discussion was held on the 1999 WCA resolutions . Motion by Luckey that we do not support resolution #34 as written and we recommend to vote in the negative on resolution #34 . Second by Bieraugel. Carried. It was the consensus of the committee to contact department heads and committee chairpersons regarding these resolutions . If they have strong feelings regarding a resolution, contact Dorsey or Jacobson who are going to the convention. A copy of the resolution packet will be sent to each department head or committee chair. We are looking for additional feed back. Motion by Bierguel/Peterson to adjourn at 11 :30 a.m. Carried. Renee Carufel Recording Secretary