City Council Workshop

10801 Town Square Dr. City of Blaine Blaine MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes - Final City Council Workshop *While this is a public meeting where interested persons are welcome to attend, it is a work session for Council and staff to discuss issues before them. It is not for the purpose of receiving public input. Thursday, August 7, 2014 6:30 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A Meeting Number 14-40 NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING 1 Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ryan at 6:30 p.m. 2 Roll Call Quorum Present. ALSO PRESENT: Clark Arneson, City Manager, Patrick Sweeney, City Attorney; Bryan Schafer, Planning and Community Development Director; Bob Therres, Public Services Manager; Joe Huss, Finance Director; Bonnie Friedrich, Accounting Supervisor; Jean Keely, City Engineer; Chris Olson, Police Chief/Safety Services Manager; Roark Haver, Communications Technician; Al Thorp, Senior Engineering Technician; Catherine Sorensen, City Clerk and Recording Secretary Linda Dahlquist. Present: 7 - Mayor Ryan, Councilmember Hovland, Councilmember Swanson, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember Bourke, Councilmember Kolb, and Councilmember Herbst 3 New Business City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final August 7, 2014 3-1 WS 14-34 2013 CAFR/AUDIT REVIEW Sponsors: Huss Attachments: Redpath & Co Audit Presentation Finance Director Huss introduced Peggy Moeller, of Redpath and Company, to present the City’s 2013 CAFR, audit process, internal controls and new auditing standards. Peggy Moeller, Redpath and Company, gave an overview of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), State Legal Compliance Report, Report on Internal Control, and Communication with Those Charged with Governance. She noted the City’s 2013 audit of financial statements received a clean opinion and the City received the 2012 GFOA Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting Award. Ms. Moeller stated the City had one internal control finding on audit adjustment and one compliance finding. She noted there were two uncashed checks in the senior housing that were not reported. She commented there were slight delays in receiving audit information. She noted that a new GASB No. 68 Financial Reporting for Pensions will be implemented in 2015. Councilmember Clark asked about an unbudgeted transfer of funds from the General Fund. Ms. Moeller replied there was a large dollar amount that was transferred from the General Fund, which was not budgeted, but was Council approved. Finance Director Huss replied that unrestricted reserve funds were used to purchase capital equipment for which the City did not bond. Discussed 3-2 WS 14-35 FLOWERFIELD ROAD EAST OF LEXINGTON AVENUE Sponsors: Therres Attachments: Flowerfield Rd Aerial.pdf City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final August 7, 2014 3-3 WS 14-36 PUBLIC SAFETY DATA SYSTEM/SYSTEM MANAGER Sponsors: City Council Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Olson stated Anoka County Joint Law Enforcement Council (JLEC) and Anoka County Fire Protection Council (FPC) are in the implementation phase of the Anoka County Public Safety Data System (PSDS) and expects the PSDS to come on-line in November 2014. Councilmember Hovland arrived at 6:50 p.m. Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Olson stated on-going system management is key to the success of the project and a system manager will be responsible for the management of the PSDS. He stated the joint power agreement entities of JLEC and FPC are not equipped to hire employees. He stated the JLEC suggested a member agency be responsible for hiring and the Human Resource responsibilities of the PSDS system manager. He noted that the member agency taking on this responsibility would not incur any additional direct costs. Councilmember Swanson stated he is concerned about supervising a remote employee. Councilmember Clark asked why Blaine was chosen to hire an employee. Police Chief Olson replied a request was made and he agreed to bring it to Blaine’s Council. He noted that Coon Rapids had not come forward yet. Councilmember Herbst asked how this employee would benefit the City. Police Chief Olson replied the employee would protect the City’s interest in the system. Councilmember Kolb stated the Sherriff is an elected position and she trusts Police Chief Olson. Councilmember Clark suggested rotating the employee. Police Chief Olson replied a rotation schedule could be included in the Joint Powers Agreement. Councilmember Clark asked about payroll complexities for this employee. Finance Director Huss replied it would not be any different than regular employee. Councilmember Herbst asked who would do the hiring. Police Chief Olson replied a subcommittee of the Governance Committee has identified a position description and is willing to work with any agency’s HR department. City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final August 7, 2014 Councilmember Clark asked about reimbursement for administrative tasks. Police Chief Olson replied reimbursements were not discussed. Councilmember Swanson asked who would back up the employee. Police Chief Olson replied other staff would back up the employee. Councilmember Bourke asked about a one-year hire to get the project started. Councilmember Kolb suggested three years. Councilmember Bourke commented the City should not accrue any extra administrative costs. Councilmember Kolb stated Police Chief Olson has been the leader of this project and the Council should support him with this project. Councilmember Swanson commented he is not in favor of the City hiring a system manager. Councilmember Herbst stated he would support the project if the Joint Powers Agreement states a three-year rotation and a payback of all administrative costs. City Manager Arneson summarized that staff will inform JLEC that Blaine will hire a system manager for a three-year period, bill back all administrative costs, and address supervisory issues. Discussed OTHER BUSINESS None. ADJOURN The Workshop adjourned at 7:15 p.m. Adjourned City of Blaine Page 4