City Council Regular Meeting

Minutes of City Council Regular Meeting The City Council City of Richwood A City Council Regular Meeting of the City Council of City of Richwood was held Monday, November 6, 2017, beginning at 6:00 PM in the Richwood City Hall, 1800 N. Brazosport Blvd. Richwood, Texas. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Guthrie called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm INVOCATION Michael Coon led the invocation. PLEDGES OF ALLEGIANCE Pledge of Allegiance & Texas Pledge ROLE CALL OF MEMBERS Mark Guthrie, Mayor Lauren LaCount, Mayor Pro Tem Frank Blanks, Council member Sarah Reed, Council member Chris Hardison, Council member - ABSENT Mark Brown, Council member Others present: Michael Coon – City Manager; Giani Cantu – City Secretary/Finance Director; Clif Custer – Public Works Director DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS Discuss and consider authorizing the city to enter into a contract with a certified public accounting firm to review the bank reconciliations and general ledger accounts for FY16-17 Mayor Pro Tem LaCount asked why this was not being done in house. Mr. Coon reported there is a time constraint and it is better practice to have a third party when staff is finding inconsistencies. Council member Brown asked for clarification that no one on staff is a certified accountant. Mr. Coon stated that is correct. Council member Brown asked how far back are the discrepancies. Mr. Coon advised they could go back twenty years. Council member Brown asked why this was not corrected in previous years. Further discussion was held with ?? Sanderson of Sanderson and Scheffer Public Accountant on the timeline needed, auditing processes and training provided. Mayor Guthrie stated he wanted to clarify that there is no visible malicious intent and/or discrepancies at this time. Council member Brown asked if the accounting software being used is dated and if it was the best software for current staff. Sanderson advise he would look around a bit at other softwares. Mayor Guthrie asked Mr. Sanderson to describe what his day to day processes would be. Mr. Sanderson stated he will create a giant download that will be easily reconcilable from both sides, then reconcile to each other and lastly create an audit trail. Council member Brown asked if the current system had an audit trail. Mr. Sandersen advised to his understanding the current system did not create an audit trail or record of changes made throughout the system. Council member Brown asked how many staff members would be working on this. Mr. Sanderson advised it would be himself and possibly one other staff member. Council member Brown asked if the City was only bound by hours actually worked. Mr. Sandersen stated only hours worked would be billed. Lauren LaCount made a motion to accept and authorize the city to enter into an agreement with Sanderson and Scheffer Public Accountant to reconcile the fiscal year 16-17 general ledger in an amount not to exceed $14,250. Sarah Reed seconded. Council member Brown asked what is the anticipated completion and deliver date. Mr. Sanderson stated it would be dependant on what is found during the reconciliation. With all present members voting “aye”, the agreement with Sanderson and Scheffer Public Accountant to reconcile the fiscal year 16-17 general ledger in an amount not to exceed $14,250 is approved. REPORTS Reports that require no action. CITY MANAGER’S REPORT Mr. Coon reported the debris pickup is in its final week and the two temporary employees provided by the Texas Workforce Commission will start Wednesday. PUBLIC COMMENTS All public comments will be subject to the following rules: all speakers will be permitted to speak no longer than 3 minutes; all speakers will only be permitted to speak once; speakers cannot defer their 3 minutes to another speaker. There were no public comments. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Lauren LaCount asked to have review of the chicken ordinance, home based business ordinance, and porch light ordinance on the next agenda. COMMITTEE REPORTS The Flood Advisory Committee met and created a plan of action. Their next meeting will be November 22 and they have requested a council liaison. This will be on the next agenda. COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS & REPORTS Council member LaCount reported the Trunk or Treat was great and there was a good turnout. She invited the public to volunteer and/or send volunteers to the City to assist with those types of events. MAYOR’S REPORT No report was given. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 6:34 p.m. These minutes were read and approved on this day of , 20 . Mark Guthrie, Mayor Attest: Giani Cantu, City Secretary