Finance, Taxes and Insurance

FINANCE COMMITTEE May 11, 2015 – Official 5:00 p.m. Members Present: Brian, Lauer, Gil Amborn, Jim Schneider, Ron Kluth and Tom Roanhouse Also Present: Lori Peternell, Stephanie Charapata, Jeff Dolezal, Barb Messick and Howard Bryant Lauer called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Motion made by Kluth, seconded by Amborn to approve the April 13, 2015 Regular Meeting Minutes. Motion carried unanimously. Motion made by Amborn, seconded by Schneider to approve the April 21, 2015 Joint Finance and Village Board Meeting Minutes. Motion carried unanimously. Motion made by Kluth, seconded by Schneider to recommend Village Board approval of Resolution #774 - A Resolution To Adopt New Water Rates. Motion carried unanimously. The Committee reviewed the draft Water Simplified Rate Case (SRC) Policy. At the Joint Finance and Village Board meeting on April 21st, the Board approved moving forward with a 3% water rate increase effective September 1, 2015. Peternell stated the policy will be utilized for future simplified rate cases. Motion made by Schneider, seconded by Amborn to recommend Village Board approval of the Water Simplified Rate Case (SRC) Policy. Motion carried unanimously. Discussion was held regarding the 2015 website maintenance fees. Peternell stated that the purchase requisition for the new website indicated the first 2 years of maintenance fees (2014-2015) totaling $18,058.04 would be paid from the community relations capital account and the remaining 2 years of maintenance fees (2016-2017) would be included in the general government operational budget. A payment was processed in April 2014 that only included 2014 of maintenance fees. The second year was missed for inclusion in the 2015 budget and the funds were reallocated within the nonrecurring capital budget. The League of Wisconsin Municipalities has indicated that they project in 2015 municipalities will receive dividends similar to what was received in 2014; the Village received a dividend of $8,996. The Village is also receiving cable franchise fees from TDS for the new fiber optic service that were not included in the 2015 budget as there was not an adequate way to anticipate the revenue from the new service. Staff recommends utilizing the League dividend and franchise fees to cover the cost of the 2015 website maintenance fee of $9,029.02. Motion made by Amborn, seconded by Roanhouse to recommend Village Board approval of utilizing the League dividend and franchise fees to cover the cost of the 2015 website maintenance fee of $9,029.02. Motion carried unanimously. Dolezal was present to discuss the purchase requisition for geotechnical survey for STH 83-20. The geo-technical work is necessary to move forward with the utilities design for 83/20. Dolezal stated that they were able to use some of the soil bearing testing that R.A. Smith did for the DOT83-20 reconstruction project. The geo-technical work for the retaining wall in 10 Club Park was added to the proposal to save money on mobilization and other fees associated with this type of work. Dolezal stated that the purchase requisition is for a total of $6,683; however it will most likely be less because the amount of soil boring tests has been reduced since receiving the proposal. Motion made by Roanhouse, seconded by Amborn to approve purchase requisition for geotechnical survey provided by PSI for STH 83-20 to not exceed $6,683. Motion carried unanimously. Messick and Bryant presented the Committee with a purchase requisition on a new phone system and discussed phone carrier services. Messick stated that our current phone and internet service is seriously affecting staff’s ability to perform daily work. Staff is experiencing major internet delays which affect productivity and response to citizen requests. Staff in remote locations cannot access and download documents from the shared computer server at Village Hall. Citizens and staff located outside Village Hall have found the phone system ineffective, citing the inability to reach staff members after dialing the noted extensions and staff not being able to transfer calls to extensions internally. Incoming calls cannot be forwarded from Village Hall to remote locations. The system is old and new replacement parts are not readily available. There is also no vendor that provides a contract to support the dated system, only vendors that will assist in addressing issues on a time and material basis when requested by Village staff. The Village released a Request for Proposals for a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone system. VoIP is new technology, providing easy programming features, portability, mobility, and flexibility. The team of Rebecca Ewald, Barb Messick, and Howard Bryant reviewed four proposals that were provided in response to our RFP. All four firms participated in the mandatory walk-through of four locations (Village Hall, Fire Station #1, Fire Station #2 and Public Works & Utilities).Two of the four firms were invited for demonstration and interviews. One firm offers a hosted service with monthly billing, and the service is provided through a central office. The other firm offers a system in which we purchase the equipment, and the controlling hardware is installed at Village Hall. Both alternatives require an upgrade to our internet connection speed. The team recommends purchasing the equipment rather than going with the hosted system, based upon significant cost savings, and excellent recommendations from existing customers. The cost comparison showed that the hosted system included monthly payments of $1,738 for 60 months, including phone and internet access. The purchased system has a purchase price of $24,349 amortized over 60 months for comparison is $406 and an estimated cost of internet access of $800, for a total of $1,206 per month. The Village allocated $30,000 in the 2015 capital budget for updating the phone system. Staff is recommending the purchase of a new phone system and receiving quotes from the two internet providers available to provide service and then implementing the most cost effective service for the system. This may require early termination of our existing telephone and internet service with our current provider requiring payment of penalties until January 2016. Even with the penalties that may be imposed, the recommended purchase of equipment continues to be the most cost effective option for the Village. Motion made by Schneider, seconded by Roanhouse to recommend Village Board approval of the purchase requisition for a new phone system from Digicorp at a cost of $24,349. Motion carried unanimously. Discussion was held regarding property and liability insurance renewal. The Committee reviewed the renewal information from the League of Wisconsin Municipal Mutual Insurer (LWMMI) and review conducted by T.E. Brennan. As discussed earlier this year, the Finance Committee will be reviewing whether to proceed with requesting proposals for insurance later in July of 2015 for the 2016 renewal cycle and if so, what lines of coverage they desire to include. There were no proposed changes in our 2015 renewal and no substantial changes, with the exception of the increased cost worker’s compensation insurance which was a state wide imposed increase. Motion made by Amborn, seconded by Kluth, to recommend to the Village Board approval of Village prepaid invoices in the amount of $50,799.10. Motion carried unanimously. Motion made by Kluth, seconded by Schneider to recommend to the Village Board approval of Village unpaid invoices in the amount of $214,359.37. Motion carried unanimously. Upon motion made by Roanhouse, seconded by Schneider, the meeting adjourned at 6:05 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Submitted by, Lori Peternell, CMTW Village Treasurer 2