Meeting of 2002-6-17 SPECIAL MEETING

Mayor Powell said for clarification, he would respond to the point about why Goodyear and Republic water rates were not discussed. He said last Thursday he asked Baker to talk to the lead officials from each company rather than having them read about this in the newspaper. He said he had always felt when you treat professional people in a professional manner that you get professional results and he was thankful Baker had contacted them. Mayor Powell said there are contracts with the firms and it will be handled in a more professional manner. He said the other question was why did Council vote on that proposal, which was a package, but it was $350,000 short because that money was projected to come from Goodyear and Republic so it was that much short, and that was item five on the memo.

Rick Endicott, Auditing Director, explained how the auditing function was separated from the accounting function by a previous City Manager at the recommendation of the external auditor and required that auditing report directly to the City Manager so it could operate independently. He said auditing must have the support of the Council and management to do an effective job and it cannot be done effectively with one person due to the size and complexity of the organization.

Endicott said the department acts as an advisor to the City Manager and Council about controls, policies and procedures, and provides consultation to directors and supervisors on operational and procedural issues. They have conducted many studies and provided input that have made changes in the organization. They have uncovered fraud, embezzlement and saved the City thousands of dollars.

Endicott said he believed he had direct influences on the department as director for interpreting goals of the City Manager and conducting audits to help management and Council make this a better organization. If the director is eliminated, it will eliminate the department. The audit function must operate as a department to do the job properly. He respectfully submitted that you would be doing a disservice to yourselves and the citizens by eliminating the Auditing Department.

Harold Thorne, Acting Police Chief, said one of the jobs scheduled for elimination was a police clerk which was added last year because they were not able to stay abreast of the tremendous volume of daily paperwork.. He asked that they be allowed to retain the position to allow for timely processing of paperwork from the 151 officers for District and Municipal Court. Thorne said they have eleven police clerk slots but it is a 24/7 operation and they must archive, enter data, perform matron duties for female prisoners and are responsible for the OLETS machine, making NCIC entries, and waiting on the public at the police station. Moeller asked if the clerks were on duty at night. Thorne said they have one or two on duty at night; most work during the day because that is when courts are in session and the most activity occurs.

Baker said Council was looking at a deficit of $350,000, and currently the budget includes once a week refuse service beginning October 1. Baker said Council had offered suggestions to decrease that $350,000 deficit by taking $55,000 from the hotel/motel tax to help fund the Museum and free-up money for the general fund, and the figures previously provided had a surplus of $54,943, so the deficit is now about $200,000. Ewing-Holmstrom asked if that included the $1 charge for refuse service. Mayor Powell said no, it is for once a week refuse collection. Moeller asked if the shortage is $240,000 and Baxter said yes.

Hanna asked if Council passed once a week refuse collection last Thursday. Mayor Powell said that is in the proposal. Hanna said he was totally against that, we went through this last summer and the ordinance was changed to allow residents to keep trash at the side of the homes for a month, but he and Neighborhood Services employees went to one home and found rats and maggots and it is a health problem. Hanna suggested keeping twice a week pick-ups and if rates need to be raised to do that, he would recommend that happen as he had received many calls in this regard because it would create health and sanitation problems.

Hanna said he did not want to see a fire station closed or any employees laid off; if we lay employees off, we are bringing the economy down instead of up, and if we give them a raise, they will spend their money in the economy, and it is killing the morale. He said he did not want to see the general employees have to pay the bill.

Hanna suggested twice a week refuse collection continue, not close any fire stations, to do away with the 22 positions the City Manager identified because half of them are vacant so do not fill them; raise the refuse bills by $1.25, or even $2 or $2.50 because people would rather pay the extra even though they are on a fixed income and keep twice a week service; if we do away with service, we do away with people and the economy will be back down and people may be on the street or on welfare and you will pay for it one way or another. Hanna said another $1 could be added to the water bill if needed, not counting the water study. He said he did not want to see anyone lose their job or the City workers to take the brunt of it. Hanna said he was not here to try to win a popularity contest but to try to make decisions that will effect the City and have a budget passed.

Baker said part of the direction he was given at the last meeting was to take two suggestions and work up something off of that, and he had worked up four options, and a fifth. He distributed the alternates and explained them as follows: Alternate #1 is two times a week garbage service, no packer truck purchased, across the board pay raise for all employees, add $1 per month to the refuse collection, increase water revenue by $175,000 for vacancy adjustments, and increase revenue by $25,000 for grass clipping bags; that gives $225,000 of revenue from those two sources and then bring proposals back to Council.

Hanna asked what was meant by grass clipping bags. Baker said it is a program which was reviewed a few years ago where the City would purchase bags, put the City seal on them and if you want extra garbage collected at your home you would have to buy these bags; you get three to four bags in the normal service or whatever the Council decides, and if you want to put 40 bags out, you would have to buy those bags and pay extra for the service.

Hanna said this was tried before and did not work; he asked who will handle the bags, will it be the people on the truck or will we have to hire extra people. Baker said Council will have to set a limit on the amount allowed and it could remain at the current 60 gallons. Baker said when this was reviewed before, there were retailers who agreed to keep the bags in stock and sell them after purchasing them from the City, so the City would get the revenue up front, so much per bag, and he thought it would work out if that is what Council wants to do. Baker said it is a way to equalize the service so the people who want to put 30 bags of grass out can still do it but they are going to have to pay for it.

Hanna asked what is allowed now or if we have such a thing. Baker said the Code allows 60 gallons, which is about three garbage cans. Hanna said people may not have transportation to buy the bags, such as the senior citizens, and said he was trying to play the devil's advocate because there will be problems that have to be worked out and it may involve hiring more people to handle all of it. Hanna asked how much of a strain it would put on the finance and accounting personnel to keep up with it.

Shanklin said they picked up 260 bags of grass clippings in Fields & Dunning last Thursday, and asked if anyone thought it was fair to their neighbors who put out one or two bags. Hanna asked if that was the whole area or one yard. Shanklin said one yard. Hanna said crews should not have picked it up, the resident should have been told he had to take it to the landfill. Shanklin said they were trying to get across that there is a limit, but we pick up everything that is put out and there is a great inequity between those people who live by themselves and those that put out 75 bags of grass clippings that ruins the waste stream at the landfill. Shanklin said we are trying to be fiduciarily responsible to the taxpayers and we are going to balance the budget not on the back of the employees but on the back of those with fixed incomes and he guessed it did not make any difference how you do it but one or the other will be offended. Shanklin said this has been studied and re-studied and it works every place else and they have one service per week, and those other places are much more affluent than this poor little old city here; everyone else in the State of Oklahoma has had to cut back but not Lawton, we are not going to cut back, we are going to balance this budget on the back of the poor people, so have at it.

Hanna said he agreed with the comments about 50 or 60 bags and those picking up the trash should call an inspector to tell the resident they have to take that to the landfill instead of getting it picked up because it sounds like someone is running a business out of their house.

Baker said the second alternate is the same as the first except it provides for once a week garbage pick up. The third alternate is two times a week garbage pick up, eliminate pay raises for all employees, and reinstate all deleted positions. The fourth alternate is one time a week garbage pick up, eliminate pay raises for all employee groups, reinstate deleted positions except solid waste collection and no increase in refuse fees. Alternate 1A is the same as Alternate 1, which is two times a week garbage collection, across the board pay raises and add $1.50 per month instead of $1, and it would generate a little bit toward the reserve for next year, almost $300,000 on that option.

Hanna said Alternate Three says to eliminate pay raises for all employee groups and he asked if the City would be required to enter into negotiations again with the fire union. Baker said there is a provision in their contract that if the City notifies them we do not have the funds to support the salary increase then we would open negotiations. Hanna said he did not want to do that.

Baxter said he did not understand why everyone should be charged an extra fifty cents when the budget can be balanced for $1, and asked if it was just to have $200,000 extra in the surplus category. Devine said he thought we needed to start looking ahead and building some surplus; the Council is in this position because there was no surplus to work with at all on anything.

Ewing-Holmstrom said she agreed with Baxter and was not for increases but we are already talking about the $2.10 increase to the water cost, and then add another $1.50. She said previous Councils made decisions that got us into this and tacking on another fifty cents is just being greedy; we need to do the bare minimum to get out of this and then figure out over the next couple of months to be sure we do not get in the same bind next year.

Mayor Powell said for clarification, there is a bag system in Alternate One A. Baker said yes. Mayor Powell asked what positions had been cut under Alternate One A. Baker said the positions that would be cut in addition to the ones originally presented in the preliminary budget are the Buyer in Financial Services, the Director in Building Development, the Kennel Assistant in Animal Welfare, the Computer Operator in MIS, a Chemist at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, a Utility Worker/Laborer in Water Distribution, the Director of Audit, the Admin Secretary in Planning, a Police Clerk, and reduce the part time at the Library by $25,000. The recreation supervisor was added back in after the last meeting and the department took out some additional 200 money instead.

Ewing-Holmstrom asked how we could function without a Director of the Auditing Department. Baker requested Council consider reinstating that position, it is important, and his position was he had to find funds to balance the budget, we have a very good staff auditor that is experienced in doing audits and his thought was to use her on the audits but he thought it would be to the City's advantage to retain the Auditing Director, and he needed to use him more than he ever had.

Baxter asked to change his motion; 1A shows a projected surplus of $294,000, so you can add the Auditor's position and decrease the surplus. He said when the six police cars were put back in, it took away $50,000 from the lakes grants, so that could be added back in and paid for by the surplus of 1A.

Shanklin said he thought he heard the remark that we have not planned for the future, and since ten years ago, wages have doubled and that is the reason the budget has grown to where it is and the reason why the water rates are escalating. Ewing-Holmstrom said we have a year to fix that.

2. Pursuant to Section 307B.4, Title 25, Oklahoma Statutes, consider convening in executive session to discuss the pending litigation of MJK CLEARING, INC. in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, regarding the City of Lawton, and if necessary, take appropriate action in open session. Exhibits: None. (See June 13 minutes for consideration of this item.)

3. Pursuant to Section 307B.2, Title 25, Oklahoma Statutes, consider convening in executive session to discuss negotiations for an Employment Agreement for FY 2002-2003 between IUPA, Local 24, and the City of Lawton, and take appropriate action in open session if necessary. Exhibits: None. (See June 13 minutes for consideration of this item.)

4. Pursuant to Section 307B.2, Title 25, Oklahoma Statutes, consider convening in executive session to discuss future negotiations concerning the Employment Agreement for FY 2000-2003 between IAFF, Local 1882, and the City of Lawton, and take appropriate action in open session if necessary. Exhibits: None. (This item was not considered.)

1. Consider a resolution adopting the Volume Charges in Table 17 of the Black & Veatch Corporation's Report on Revenue Requirements, Cost of Service and Rates for Water Service, and recommend adoption by the Lawton Water Authority. Exhibits: Resolution No. 02-____. (See June 13 minutes for consideration of this item.)

2. Consider a resolution amending Appendix A, Schedule of Fees and Charges, Lawton City Code, 1995, as amended, increasing the rate for Water Service and establishing an effective date and recommend adoption of these amendments and effective date by the Lawton Water Authority. Exhibits: Resolution No. 02-____. (See June 13 minutes for consideration of this item.)

A resolution of the governing body of the City of Lawton adopting, approving and promulgating an official budget for the City of Lawton for Fiscal Year 2002-2003 in accordance with the provisions of the Municipal Budget Act of the State of Oklahoma; approving the appropriations, estimate of revenues, and the planned expenditures contained in said budget for Fiscal Year 2002-2003; establishing and approving the Sinking Fund levies set forth in said budget for Fiscal Year 2002-2003; and directing that said budget be filed and published in accordance with State Law.