The Meeting of the “Special” Common Council was called to order at 7:00
p.m. on Wednesday, March 21, 2007. It
was noted that the meeting had been announced and a notice posted at City Hall.
Roll call was taken, with the following members present: Mayor Jim Bialecki, Ald. Mike Giese, Ald.
Diane Oldani Wulf, Ald. Jim Olson, Ald. Kim Smith, and Ald. Clarence
Stellner.
Also in attendance: City Clerk
Cari Burmaster and Human Resource Specialist Elsa Kulig.
Ald. Gary Gonczy attended the meeting via conference call.
Item 2 - Approval of minutes from previous meeting.
Motion by Ald. Olson, second by Ald. Stellner, to approve the minutes
from the previous meeting as printed and on file in the City Clerk’s
Office. On voice vote, motion carried.
Item 3 - Resolution 21-2007 – to
amend the 2007 General Fund Operating Budget.
RESOLUTION
NO. 21-2007
A
RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE 2007 GENERAL FUND OPERATING
BUDGET
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND
COMMON COUNCIL OF THE
WHEREAS, the City of
City
Study/Wages/Compensation $18,205
WHEREAS, these funds are to be expended in 2007, and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City of
City
Hall – Wages Reg. 100-51600-111 $1,693
City
Hall – FICA 100-51600-151
130
City
Hall – WRS 100-51600-153
179
H/R
– Wage 100-51510-111
5,829
H/R
– FICA 100-51510-151
446
H/R
– WRS 100-51510-153
618
Planning
– Wages 100-56300-121
2,594
Planning
– FICA 100-56300-151
198
Planning
– WRS 100-56300-153
275
Recreation
– Wages 100-55300-111
3,772
Recreation
– FICA 100-55300-151
289
Recreation
– WRS 100-55300-153
400
City
Clerk – Wages 100-51920-111
1,507
City
Clerk – FICA 100-51920-151
115
City
Clerk – WRS 100-51920-153
160
Dated this 21st day
of March 2007.
CITY OF
Passed:
Approved: BY:
______________________________
Published: James
S. Bialecki, Mayor
______________________________
Caroline
Burmaster, City Clerk
Mayor Bialecki noted this coincides with the action taken for
compensation increases at the March 13 meeting which basically requires that if
this money has been originally budgeted for, and it has to come from a
different fund, this requires an amendment to the budget and approved with a ¾
vote.
The call was placed to include Ald. Gary Gonczy in the meeting.
Motion by Ald. Oldani Wulf, second by Ald. Smith, to approve Resolution 21-2007, to amend the 2007
General Fund Operating Budget as indicated above.
Ald. Giese indicated the resolution indicates an increase in the amount
of $18,205 and an amendment of the General Fund Operating Budget and questioned
where the amount of $18,205 will be coming from.
Mayor Bialecki said Finance Director Fred Buehler has indicated it will
come from an undesignated fund balance.
Ald. Giese quoted from Ordinance Section 31-4, Change in Budget, “Upon
written recommendations of the Finance & Personnel Committee, the Common
Council may, at any time, by 2/3 vote of the entire membership transfer any
portion of an unencumbered balance for an appropriation to any other purchase
or object”. Ald. Giese raised a
procedural question in regard to the afore-mentioned quote and questioned if
this will need to go to Finance & Personnel for their written recommendation
before it is considered by council.
Mayor Bialecki indicated that could be a point for consideration, but in
lieu of the bulk of the council being present, this could be considered
all-inclusive in regard to the recommendation.
Ald. Stellner noted that while the resolution was not voted on at the
last meeting, the expenditure items were approved.
Ald. Giese said, “The point that I’m raising is that it’s a transfer of
any portion of unencumbered balance needs to have that specific written
approval – at least the literal reading of the ordinances of the city”.
Mayor Bialecki stated that with the bulk of the council present, this
going to Finance & Personnel would be just a matter of procedure.
Once again, Ald. Giese indicated that he will be voting no on this
resolution because the objective has not been met of sharing and bringing into
place both internal and external equity.
Mayor Bialecki said, “My argument for that is it’s been 27 months now and
to me that’s probably 24 months longer than what it should. It’s been studied internally and it’s been studied
externally with a lot of this and a lot of that, and I think even up to and
including today, it’s caused a lot of internal dissention that was
unnecessary. We need to vote this on and
move on. And I also think, too, that
some of the internal matters have been clarified between staff and I see good
things coming there”.
On roll call vote: Ald. Jim Olson
– aye, Ald. Kim Smith – aye, Ald. Clarence Stellner – aye, Ald. Diane Oldani
Wulf – aye, Ald. Mike Giese – no, Ald. Gary Gonczy – aye. Resolution passes, 5 – aye, 1 – no.
Item 4 – Grant
Mayor Bialecki explained in December of last year a grant application for
the Fire Department was approved. There
were some changes that came up unexpectedly which required a signature and
which Mayor Bialecki provided. Mayor
Bialecki turned the item over to Chief Dominick for explanation.
Chief Dominick explained, “I did look through an agenda from F & P
dated December 6, 2006, where the award notification was Item 2 on the agenda,
and due to the fact that the grant that was approved through the assistance to Firefighters
Grant, which is through FEMA, there were some modifications that had to be
made. Briefly, in 2006 Chief Menches did
receive approval for this grant and three others to apply”.
Chief Dominick explained the grant was applied for on May 27, 2006, and
was specifically for radio communications – walkie talkie type and two way
radios. This grant was awarded and the
Fire Department has received large improvements over the radios which were
currently utilized.
These FEMA and the Assistance of Firefighters Grant were approved;
however, in December of 2006 it was determined that the grant should be
amended. At that point it was requested
to be pulled off the agenda for F & P to wait for approval of the
amendment.
Last Tuesday, representatives from Motorola met with City Staff to review
the radios they had in respect to the money received. At that time, representatives from Motorola
indicated that if the city purchased a portion of the radio equipment before
Thursday, that there were incentives from Motorola that would save the
community of Onalaska $7,000.
The Mayor authorized the amendment to insure the savings of $7,000.
Chief Dominick indicated the amendment was approved by FEMA and the Fire
Department received notification on March 6 and said, “The original amount for
the grant is $63,244 and with the formula utilized for the size of the
department and the number of residents served, we will be responsible to only
pay $3,162 in order to get the $63,244 worth of equipment”.
Because of this amendment, these meet the specifications for any
unforeseen changes that are on the books currently through the year 2013.
Motion by Ald. Stellner, second by Ald. Olson, to approve the Grant
Opportunity request of the Fire Department.
On voice vote, motion carried.
Item 5 – Tax Intercept Program Agreement – Municipal Court.
Mayor Bialecki explained this agreement has originally been approved in
approximately 1989 but has not been implemented. Amber Jolly has indicated she will be
proceeding with the implementation of this.
Mayor Bialecki said, “I thought just as a formality, just so everybody is
up to this that we just reaffirm her position and go for this program. Actually what it does in the court systems if
you have people that are delinquent in their fines, it does allow them to
intercept their tax refunds to get those fines satisfied”.
Motion by Ald. Stellner, second by Ald. Olson, to approve the Tax
Intercept Program Agreement for the Municipal Court.
On voice vote, motion carried.
Item 6 – Charter Communications Agreement.
Mayor Bialecki indicated this is for informational purposes and that he
had received a letter earlier this week from Charter making the city aware that
the agreement expires in November of 2009, and they would like to proceed with
a negotiating committee.
Presently, the city still has a tentative open temporary agreement with
CenturyTel. Mayor Bialecki noted at the
Reorg Meeting a special committee will be appointed that will begin the process
with Charter Communications and attempt to combine both Charter and CenturyTel
together so their language is all consistent.
Mayor Bialecki reminded that they will also need to keep avenues open
because there is legislation pending in
Item 7 – Library Facility Costs.
Mayor Bialecki turned the item over to Ald. Smith.
Ald. Smith explained, “I’m bringing these figures forward. Last Thursday, the Library Commission Sub
Committee completed the schematic design phase of the library, which we’ve been
working on for several months. This
finally got us to the point where the architect could meet with the cost
estimator and get some hard numbers for the first time in the project. We were disappointed. When I found we were having this meeting, I
asked the Mayor to put it on the agenda so we could address it as soon as
possible. As a committee we were
disappointed and the architect as well.
The cost did come in higher than we were expecting it to. The committee re-evaluated the project, and
the sub committee feels that a small amount could be shaved off, but in order
to reduce the total cost of the building significantly, we would lose what we
were trying to accomplish, so I wanted to bring these figures to the council”.
Mayor Bialecki suggested giving the members a little more time to study
this and also to consider if cutting back approximately $358,000 to make the
funding coincide, if this would be the best course of action.
Mayor Bialecki suggested, “If you’re going to undercut it now, I would
take the position to do it right the first time, but then there’s the fiscal
impact, too. And I’d like to have Fred
take a look at this to consider different options and maybe bring it back to F
& P and Public Works, because that originally came out of the capital
improvements budget”.
Ald. Smith explained this cost is in consideration of approximately
10,000 square foot addition, which was proposed at the beginning.
As contributing factors to the higher cost: New carpet and painting throughout and refurbishing
much of the existing furniture. New
furniture will only be purchased as necessary and the existing furniture would
be reupholstered. The project before
council members does not include updating the lighting in the existing
building.
Ald. Smith added the Library Commission feels this is what is necessary
to improve the library.
Item 8 – Assistant Police Chief.
Mayor Bialecki noted the Police & Fire Commission has gone through
the first round of interviews and is bringing this back with other
considerations.
A. Job Description.
Elsa explained the Police & Fire Commission met last night with the
following changes to the job description:
Elsa added this has been passed by the Police & Fire Commission and
reviewed by the City Attorney as well.
Ald. Giese asked, “The initial job description and the amended job
description do not have a job evaluation grade.
Has that been completed”?
Elsa said this has been completed and could be added to the job
description at council members’ request.
Motion by Ald. Olson, second by Ald. Stellner, to approve the job
description for the Assistant Police Chief.
Under discussion, Ald. Giese asked, “There are some major changes here
and if we see it as we sit down to discuss it, how do we have time to discern
any kind of criticism or looking for additions or corrections”?
Mayor Bialecki indicated the material involved with the above-listed
changes was not involved enough to require any long term perusal.
Ald. Giese said, “Jim I’ll vote for this to expedite the situation
because I have confidence in the Police & Fire Commission. The observation still stands, when you’re
handed something minutes before you’re asked to vote on it, there’s no way that
you can give it careful consideration and review”.
Mayor Bialecki replied, “They’re three simple things, though, they’re not
saying, for example, that I just gave you a letter of information on the cable
program. That’s obviously very
understandable that it’s going to take a lot of consideration, but I think
these are three simple changes that they want to get moving on with the process
here”.
On voice vote, motion carried.
B. Timeline.
Elsa reported the timeline the Police & Fire Commission indicated was
for the applicant to begin employment on June 12.
Motion by Ald. Smith, second by Ald. Olson, to approve the Timeline for
the Assistant Police Chief position.
On voice vote, motion carried.
C. Re-post and Advertise.
Motion by Ald. Olson, second by Ald. Stellner, to approve the Re-post and
Advertise for the Assistant Police Chief position.
In response to a question from Ald. Oldani Wulf, Elsa reminded the salary
amount decided on by the Police & Fire Commission is $60,000 to $63,000.
Mayor Bialecki requested that Elsa put a note in council member’s
mailboxes indicating the grade level for this position.
Elsa agreed.
In regard to future positions, Ald. Oldani Wulf suggested council members
be informed of the grades for these positions.
Elsa agreed.
Mayor Bialecki agreed, “A clearer picture of what’s been approved thus
far with the grade should probably be handed out that council members could
just keep that right in their budget book”.
On voice vote, motion carried.
Item 9 – Coulee Region Child Abuse Prevention Task Force.
Mayor Bialecki indicated members should have received an invitation to
the Coulee Region Child Abuse Prevention Task Force celebration which will be
here on Thursday, March 29, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the corridor. Everyone is invited to attend.
Another future event will be a table top exercise with the City of
Item 10 – Any other business that may come up subsequent to this notice.
No other business listed.
Item 11 - Closed Session - To consider a motion to convene in Closed
Session under Section 19.85 (1) (c) of the Wisconsin Statutes for the purpose
of considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation
data of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction
(Finance Department and Police Department).
If any action is required in Open Session, as a result of the Closed
Session, the Committee will convene in Open Session to take the necessary
action and/or continue on with the printed agenda.
Motion by Ald. Oldani Wulf, second by Ald. Olson, to convene in Closed
Session as is stated in the agenda. On
roll call vote: Ald. Jim Olson – aye,
Ald. Kim Smith – aye, Ald. Clarence Stellner - aye, Ald. Diane Oldani Wulf -
aye, Ald. Mike Giese - aye, motion carried to convene in Closed Session.
Motion by Ald. Stellner, second by Ald. Giese to adjourn from closed
session at 6:20 p.m. On roll call
vote: Ald. Smith-aye; Ald. Wulf-aye; Ald. Olson-aye; Ald. Giese-aye; Ald. Stellner-aye. Motion carried.
Recorded by:
Theresa Nau