City Council

MANISTEE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF DECEMBER 9, 2014 The Manistee City Council met in a work session on Tuesday, December 9, 2014 at 7 p.m., Council Chambers, City Hall, 70 Maple Street, Manistee, Michigan 49660. MEMBERS PRESENT: Colleen Kenny, Ed Cote, Roger Zielinski, Robert Goodspeed, James Smith, Mark Wittlieff MEMBERS ABSENT: Eric Gustad OTHERS PRESENT: Department Directors, City Attorney, City Engineer, Media and Public Public Comments. Bob Grabowski — Does not support second meter Ready to Serve charge. Believes it should be removed. Discussion on Ready to Serve Utility Fee. Discussed memo from the Finance Director. DPW Director Jeff Mikula went over the rationale for having a Ready to Serve charge and why it was included in the Utility Rate Study. Council discussed the second meter ready to serve charge. Majority of Council would like to eliminate the Ready to Serve charge on second sprinkling meters beginning January 1, 2015; or as soon as possible. CONSENSUS: City Council gave direction to staff to put this item on the December 16 agenda; to eliminate the Ready to Serve charge on second sprinkling meter. Mayor Kenny requested some additional information on the present day value of$ 40, 000, how this would impact the revenue stream and what projects would need to be removed if the revenue is not made up through a 15 cent water rate increase. Place question to remove the Ready to Serve charge on the December 16, 2014 agenda. Discussion on Recycling Contract. City Manager Mitch Deisch and DPW Director Jeff Mikula provided Council an update on recent discussions with Republic Services and Manistee County about recycling options. Recycling is currently a portion of the contract with Republic Services that is set to expire on June 30, 2015. Todd Harland from Republic Waste offered to negotiate an extension on the current five year refuse removal agreement that expires July 1, 2015 to include recycling. Possibility to also do a neighborhood test on curbside recycling with 96 gallon totes. Mayor Kenny expressed the position of maintaining the status quo and evaluating curbside vs. drop off recycling. Keep the cost down for residents. Council Work Session - December 9, 2014 Page 1  Staff discussed the need to relocate the current drop off location outside of the DPW Garage yard. CONSENSUS: City Council gave direction to staff to negotiate a contract extension with Republic Waste that includes status quo for drop off recycling and voluntary curbside collection. Work with Republic Waste to establish a curbside trial project in the City. Staff will explore alternate locations for a drop off recycling containers. Discussion Assessing Services. City Manager Mitch Deisch provided a PowerPoint on presentation to Council at their December 2, 2014 meeting. There were no conclusions at the end of that discussion as Council requested additional to review and discuss this evening. Mayor Pro- Tern Jim Smith believes assessing should be done in house. Would like to advertise for an in-house Level II assessor. In House: Jim Smith and Mark Wittlieff Contracted: Mayor Colleen Kenny and Eric Gustad( via email communication) Review cost comparison between Contracted and Level II: Ed Cote, Robert Goodspeed and Roger Zielinski. CONSENSUS: City Council provided direction for staff to research the salary range / total cost for hiring a Level II assessor compared to the current cost for the current Level III assessor. This will be compared to the cost for contracting out assessing ( independent contractor / Manistee County Equalization Department). At this point for budgeting purposes staff will prepare the budget assuming status quo. Council also agreed to honor the Separation Agreement between the City of Manistee and Julie Beardslee independent upon which organizational model is selected. Adjourned at 9: 00 p. m. 4)( XA/j---- A- 6( Mitchell D. Deisch, City Manager MDD: cl Council Work Session - December 9, 2014 Page 2