HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/22/2017 - City Council - City Council Meeting Minutes - Nick Gerde, Finance Director1
Council Workshop Meeting Minutes
Thursday, June 22, 2017, 5:30 PM
Location: City Hall Council Chambers
Attendees included: Mayor Steve Lacy; Councilmembers Jerrilea
Crawford, Wayne Barnhart and Harry Raab; and City Staff Lori Barnett,
Community Development Director, Ray Coble, Assistant Police Chief, Greg
Pezoldt, City Engineer, and Nick Gerde, Finance Director.
The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM. The agenda was distributed
and the discussion followed the order of the agenda, as follows:
Agenda #1: Discuss the need for a meeting moderator for Council
Workshops.
Mayor Lacy stated that conduct and timing of Council Workshops might be
more expeditious and on-point if a Councilperson were selected as a
meeting moderator. After brief discussion, the Councilmembers present
reached an affirmative consensus and Councilmember Barnhart
volunteered to moderate tonight’s meeting.
Agenda #2: Council Compensation Increase Proposal requested for
consideration at the June 27th Council Meeting – potential City-wide
consequences that should be discussed and/or considered.
Mayor Lacy stated his desire for Councilmembers to be aware that an
increase percentage by Council on their own compensation may be viewed
by employee groups as a guideline or minimum basis for future employee
compensation. Consensus among the three Councilmembers present was
that current compensation is adequate and generally higher than their
comparative counterparts in other cities that East Wenatchee uses to
compare employee compensation.
NICK A. GERDE, FINANCE DIRECTOR
271 9TH STREET NE • EAST WENATCHEE, WA 98802
PHONE (509) 886-4507 • FAX (509) 886-6109
Agenda #3: Budget Issues: The following three items A, B and C were not
discussed because Council has already considered and approved them.
A. Increase Transportation Benefit District 2017 residential paving
project costs from $114,075 to $184,567 (City Engineer report
and proposal approved by Council)
B. Add $6,854 GIS spending for Storm Water (existing revenue is
adequate) (City Engineer report and proposal)
C. Add $4,000 to the Municipal Court Capital Budget for IT
components to comply with upgrade requirements of the State
wide court operating system (request thru Mayor Lacy)
Agenda #3D and #4: Future projects that may/will be considered soon:
1) Security for City Hall and training for emergencies such as an
active shooter situation.
Mayor Lacy provided some background on some of the history of the
court’s experience of security issues and the discussions with staff related
to the easy access to enter City Hall without any intervention to help insure
that they had a purpose/reason to be there. Councilmember Crawford
indicated that there is not plan for where to go to exit an active shooter
situation or any other related emergency. After some discussion, the
Councilmember consensus was for staff to seek out a security consultant
for developing alternatives the City could employ for better physical
security, and make a recommendation to the Council for funding. Assistant
Chief Coble noted that the camera security project is scheduled to
installation in August 2017. Councilmember Barnhart noted that we should
talk to our commercial insurance carrier for opportunities for safety training
in this regard.
2) Necessity to consider acquisition/installation of a common
telephone system for City Hall to replace the failing systems in
the administrative and police departments.
Assistant Police Chief Coble stated that the phone system in the police
department was failing and becoming unreliable, and was no longer
supportable by an equipment provider. Mayor Lacy noted that the phone
system in City Hall is similar and that finding replacement headsets are not
easily available. Councilmember consensus was for staff to acquire the
suitability, availability and cost of a replacement phone system, and provide
a recommendation to the Council.
Agenda Item #5: Utility Assumption status (East Wenatchee Water District
and Douglas County Sewer District)
Mayor Lacy restated his position that consolidating the Water and Sewer
Districts under the City’s umbrella would provide the best organizational
setting for urban development and growth planning. He went on to say that
he was not pressing the issue any farther currently since it looked like the
Sewer District was taking steps to be more proactive with extensions of
service. Councilmember Barnhart wanted status of spending the 2017
professional services budget in the Legislative area, and was informed that
no spending had occurred. Discussion followed.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:20 PM.
Respectively submitted:
Nick Gerde
Finance Director