City Council Workshop

10801 Town Square Drive 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, July 16, 2015 6:30 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A 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: City Manager Clark Arneson (arrived at 7:30 p.m.); City Attorney Patrick Sweeney; Planning and Community Development Director Bryan Schafer; Public Services Manager Bob Therres; Finance Director Joe Huss; Financial Analyst Ward Brown; Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Chris Olson; Information Services Director Dennis Peters; Communications Technician Roark Haver; Senior Engineering Technician Al Thorp; City Clerk Catherine Sorensen; and Recording Secretary Linda Dahlquist. Present: 5 - Mayor Ryan, Councilmember Swanson, Councilmember Bourke, Councilmember Herbst, and Councilmember King Absent: 2 - Councilmember Hovland, and Councilmember Clark 3 New Business 3-1 WS 15-34 OUTSOURCING INFORMATION SERVICES Finance Director Huss gave an overview of the City’s current state of IS operations including systems, software, staff support and delivery, and cost of IT services. He stated the IS department has six FTEs, reports to Finance, and operates as a support function. He gave an overview of the benefits of outsourcing IS which included cost reductions, risk transfer, and upgrade in service along with seven other benefits. He gave an overview of the challenges of outsourcing IS which included erosion of accountability and transparency along with eight other benefits. He commented the city of Minneapolis (population over 25,000) had fully outsourced IS in 2003; although it is not fully outsourced today. He gave an overview of the existing models of outsourcing IS which included internal delivery, shared services, City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final July 16, 2015 full outsourcing, joint venture, best-of-breed consortium, selective outsourcing, prime contractor. He gave an overview of the City’s hardware, which includes 33 servers, 2 routers, 13 switches, firewall, network optimization device, 133 desktops/workstations, 51 laptops, 29 squad car PD notebooks, and 5 tablets. He stated in-house services include hardware installation, hardware maintenance/support, software installation and upgrades and maintenance. He stated the City does utilize out-source service providers for network wiring, phone system, printer/copier maintenance, New World (FMS) software, police video, utilities AMR system and collaborated services for PD dictation server, state crime database and document imaging software. He noted that no RFP model exists and more research/exploration would be needed. Councilmember Bourke asked about department workflows. Information Services Director Peters stated the workflow process is informal and depends on what is being asked for and is based on response to phone calls or e-mails. He commented he also meets with vendors to match needs with services/equipment. Councilmember Bourke stated he foresees the model of having a combination of one onsite director and sublet the rest out. Finance Director Huss replied onsite staff will always be needed with troubleshooting hardware and software issues. Councilmember Bourke asked if the City would need the same amount of staff. Finance Director Huss replied he did not see where the number of staff could be reduced and if outsourced, the contractor would have assigned staff onsite. Councilmember Swanson stated continuity of staff and security are issues with having contractors. Councilmember King asked about hardware costs. Finance Director Huss replied hardware is under a separate budget. Councilmember King commented maybe there are areas that could be outsourced for better efficiencies. Finance Director Huss stated an audit could be done by a contractor and give recommendations. Councilmember Bourke requested a listing of functions and what are the functions of the individual IS staff members and the workflow. Finance Director Huss suggested a work-plan be brought forward for Council review. Councilmembers Bourke and Swanson concurred. Councilmember King suggested an RFP for contractors of IS services. City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final July 16, 2015 Councilmember Bourke commented that the City already has contractual services. Finance Director Huss stated it is not uncommon for a smaller city to outsource IS. Councilmember Swanson stated he is most concerned with service and cost. Council consensus for Information Services Director Peters to present a work-plan and how things currently operate and work flows of the department at a future Workshop. Discussed 3-2 WS 15-35 2016 BUDGET UPDATE - DEPARTMENTAL REQUESTS Finance Director Huss gave an overview of departmental budget requests for programs and activities needed to carry out responsibilities and the estimated costs of the resources required to achieve goals. He stated the updated County data shows an overall increase in taxable market value is averaged at 3.0% with residential 3.5%, commercial 1.0%, and other .5%. He noted the overall levy estimate has dropped from the earlier estimate by $35,250. He suggested the Council consider two options: use the same rate as 2015, which is 35.824%, or use the same rate plus 1%, which is 36.824%, and would provide an additional $544,750. He gave an overview of the guiding principles, process, objectives, summary budget, and 2016 preliminary funding gap. He commented adjustments still need to be made to the budget. He noted the 2016 election is projected to cost the City $93,600. Councilmember Bourke asked about the retirement fund. Finance Director Huss replied the retirement systems are required to be fully funded and the City is close to being fully funded. He stated the City’s policy is to fund retirement to a specific level. He noted the liability has to be reported. Councilmember Herbst stated the City has $2 million in the fund. Finance Director Huss replied the fund shows as an unfunded liability and the reporting is required by GASB. He noted all cities have to report this information. He suggested a fund balance the council is comfortable with keeping an aggregate deductible. Finance Director Huss gave an overview of 2016 staffing requests, which include five FTEs and one part time to full time. Councilmember Swanson asked if a joint option is available for a crime analyst. Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Olson replied a joint crime analyst is being researched. Finance Director Huss gave an overview of the remaining budget calendar. He asked the Council if the two levy scenarios are workable. City of Blaine Page 3 City Council Workshop Minutes - Final July 16, 2015 Councilmember Herbst asked about the unrestricted funds. Finance Director Huss replied the City has had a good first half of 2015 due in part to the mild winter. Council consensus for moving forward with the two proposed levy scenarios. Finance Director Huss stated the new Walmart will be realized on the tax rolls at full value in 2017. City Manager Arneson suggested scheduling an offsite Workshop on August 13, 2015 for the Council to review budgets. Council concurred. Discussed and Forwarded to the City Council due back on 8/13/2015 OTHER BUSINESS ADJOURN The Workshop adjourned at 7:45 p.m. City of Blaine Page 4