MINUTES

LAWTON CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING

JULY 11, 2007 –  6:00 P.M.

WAYNE GILLEY CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBER

Mayor John Purcell, Jr.                        Also Present:

Presiding                        Larry Mitchell, City Manager

                            John Vincent, City Attorney

                            Traci Hushbeck, City Clerk

 

Mayor Purcell called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Notice of meeting and agenda were posted on the City Hall notice board as required by law.    

ROLL CALL

PRESENT:                Bill Shoemate, Ward One

James Hanna, Ward Two

Janice Drewry, Ward Three

                                                            Keith Jackson, Ward Four

Robert Shanklin, Ward Five

Jeff Patton, Ward Six

                    Stanley Haywood, Ward Seven

                    Randy Warren, Ward Eight

ABSENT:                None                        

        

BUSINESS ITEM:

1.    Discussion of Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce contract for economic development and tourism as financed by hotel/motel tax for FY 2007-2008. Exhibits: Proposed Hotel/Motel Budget for FY 2007-2008 from Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce.

Mayor Purcell welcomed all of the members of the Chamber of Commerce.  He stated he hoped they would all come to some agreement as to what the Council is looking for as far as the reports and budget.  There is no action that can be taken tonight, but he hopes that the Council will give guidance to the City Manager so they can get an agreement in place for the July 24 ^th City Council meeting.

Dr. Sylvia Burgess, Chairman of the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce, stated they asked the members of the Chamber to attend so that they may understand what the focus is and why they are in the partnership with the City Council.  She stated they are here with the most sincere partnership with the hotel/motel tax.  The City Council has entrusted those funds to the Chamber of Commerce and they understand the spirit of accountability and the need to ask and respond openly to questions and provide reports to the City Council so they may respond to constituents about the expenditure of public funds.  She stated they will open their books and respond quickly to any questions.  They hope to come away with what information the City Council is requesting and how to make that information easy to read and easy to understand.  She stated there will be several members speak about the different functions of the hotel/motel tax and how they use these dollars to build this community.  She introduced General Tony Strickland who will talk about governmental and legislative affairs.

General Tony Strickland, Vice Chair for Government and Military Affairs, stated he would like to discuss two programs in the Chamber that are funded by the hotel/motel tax.  Those programs are the Washington, D.C. annual trip and the legislative liaison trip to Oklahoma City every year.  There are tangible and intangible benefits to each program. He stated these trips provide the ability to network and communicate on capital hill and the pentagon.   He stated this community sets the standards on how each community across the country should support their military installations.  This has helped provide some insulation as these BRAC rounds come around.  The Oklahoma City reception gives them the opportunity to meet the chairs of the other committees and the leadership within the Senate and the House and tell them what types of legislation is important for us.  He stated the citizens spend their own money to go on these trips.  On average the Washington D.C. trip costs these citizens an average of $1,400 a piece with the staff cost a little over $4,000.  This is a good investment.  He stated they were successful in getting permission for the Spirit of Survival run in the wildlife refuge and also potential funding through HUD 108 loan for the downtown redevelopment.    He stated the frequent trips to Washington D.C. made a big impact in the BRAC issue.  The funding for these trips are a small amount of money compared to the return on that investment.

Mayor Purcell stated that if it had not been for General Strickland the results of BRAC might have been very different.

Roger Bank, Chairman of Tourism for the Chamber, stated he is here on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce and the Lawton hotel community.    He stated the last hotel/motel tax election was passed by the community by an 86% ratio.  He distributed a copy of the Smith Travel Report which is viewed as the bible of the industry which gives all of the statistics of the hotel in the community.  He stated the hotel revenue has tripled with the addition of three more hotels in town.  There has been a 13.4% increase in the occupancy rate since 2001.  There has been a $20 increase in the price of a room.  He stated there is a list included in the packet of conventions with more than 100 room nights at the Best Western Hotel.  Just the Best Western Hotel had 6,700 room nights for just convention groups at an average rate of $70.  He stated there are probably 100 smaller groups of 30 and 40.  He stated the annual hotel/motel tax paid by the Best Western for this coming year will be in excess of $150,000.   They all need to work together for a convention center in the city of Lawton.  He recommended that a committee be formed with a member of the Chamber, a hotel representative and a City Council member to take these studies and do what is best for a convention center because a venue is needed as soon as possible so they can book larger groups.

Shanklin questioned if they categorized the clientele as to why there are here.

Mr. Bank stated they do that as much as they can.

Shanklin questioned what percentage was Fort Sill related.

Mr. Bank stated he would estimate approximately 30% as an average year round, but he is probably closer to 40% right now.

Mitchell questioned if there any projections on new hotels.

Mr. Bank stated there are four hotels coming to town.

Shanklin questioned if they agreed with the numbers that there are going to be 4,000 children out of that 10,000 number shipped to Fort Sill.

Gen. Strickland stated he attended a meeting today at Fort Sill and those numbers were discussed.  He stated the total number that everyone agrees to is 10,000 new people as a result of BRAC.  He stated 4,000 is a representative number that is reasonably accurate.

John Hester, former chairman, stated their job is leading the entire city’ s economic development effort.  They are the place where thing first come in and final product goes out as it relates to proposals from businesses.  They work closed with Great Plains Technology Center.  When they go out on a prospect they do not go out as the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce, they go out as the Lawton Fort Sill Economic Development Team.   He stated they have worked very well over the years with City of Lawton staff when necessary.    He stated they want to convince companies that Lawton is a good place to do business and they want to help existing companies grow.  He stated the most important thing they can do is help increase per capita income in the Lawton Fort Sill area.  He stated the average wage per job is ranked as 7 ^th in the state.  The annual increase in average wage rate is over 5 ½ %.   We have successfully increased per capita wages in Comanche County.  He stated they are very cognizant of the wage rate before they start throwing out local incentives.  The last two companies that were announced did not qualify for local incentives.  All they do is to help facilitate their ability to get state incentives and help them with labor.  Unless a company has certain per capita wage, they do not look at incentives.  

Shanklin questioned what that number was regarding per capita wage.

Mr. Hester stated for this year it is $32,000.

Shanklin questioned what that was an hour.

Mr. Hester stated about $16 per hour.  He stated they say now that the average is $32,164. If a company does not qualify for the Quality Jobs Act, they want to be frugal with the incentive money.  He stated they need to keep their funnel full.  They have to have enough prospects coming in to keep a steady supply of deals closing all of the time.  That is the job of the economic development team.  He stated there are 2,500 deals per year being shopped around the United States with 25,000 organizations attempting to land those 2,500 projects.  It is critical that they have people out there on the streets and talking with site consultants and making visitations to keep closing deals.  He stated one of the big initiatives for 2007 is going to be going out to other parts of the country and selling Lawton as a place to live in communities where there are high unemployment rates and lay offs and convincing those people that there are jobs in Comanche County. He stated the most important aspect of the economic development plan is the targeted industry component of the plan.  Part of the plan identifies 50 companies in 4 industry classes.  He stated they can solicit those companies that they know have something to offer.  They can proactively sell companies that are good fits for Lawton.  He stated they cannot successfully conclude ED efforts without quality people.   Last year the City Council approved a staff addition of an economic development assistant.   This person took over research, mailing of advertising and marketing and working on ED pieces which allows the ED professional to get out and be more hands on with the projects and prospects.  The major initiative of the ED assistant over the next year will be to get all of the advertising and marketing information done and get the plan moving.    He stated the goal is to grow, diversify the economy and raise the per capita income.

Mayor Purcell questioned if the average salary was now $32,000 in Lawton.

Mr. Hester stated the average wage per job as of the end of 2005 is $32,164.

Mayor Purcell stated they have heard for years that the average wage is $18,000.

Dana Davis, President of the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce, stated the Mayor is referring to the per capita income.  In calculating per capita income, you take every person that lives in Comanche County from age 0 to whatever and divide the total income by that number.   The average wage per job is what the Oklahoma Department of Commerce looks at when they consider quality jobs.

Shanklin questioned how they hide the affluence of our streets, boulevards and store fronts from the people they bring in.

Mr. Hester stated they need to stay positive.  When they have people in they try to promote the positive in the community and minimize the negative.   He stated the beauty of the city could be upgraded.

Shanklin stated some businesses have lost their desire to keep their property clean and it becomes contagious.  He stated they need to get the city back.

Mr. Hester stated quality of life issues are critical to attracting companies.  He stated if people come in and staff is hospitable and they are putting forth an effort, they normally won’ t say anything negative.

Scott Hatch, Managing Partner for Hatch, Crook and Associates, stated they do all of the accounting for the Chamber including hotel/motel tax.  He stated based on the agreement with the City of Lawton, they draw down thirty days in advance and forty-five days in advance they submit an invoice to the City of Lawton.  He stated they do have a specific account set up for hotel/motel tax which is shown as a restrictive account on the books. Based on the budget they do a monthly allocation of those funds and the advanced draw is based on that estimate.  If they draw more than they spend for that month, the next month’ s draw is reduced by that overage.  If they spend more than the estimate, that excess is drawn down for the next month.  At the end, if the money is not spent by the 15 ^th the Chamber will submit a check and those funds will be remitted back to the City of Lawton.  A packet was distributed that shows each account that shows up on the summary financial report.  He stated for the most part there are direct costs in terms of salary and that percentage of their salary is charged to hotel/motel tax as is any benefits including health and life insurance and retirement.   There are direct expenses such as the Washington trip and the legislative reception.  Those types of items specific to economic development and tourism are charged directly to hotel/motel tax.  There are overhead items that are charged 40% to hotel/motel tax and 60% to dues.  Those are utilities, office supplies, etc.  That would only change if they came to the City Council with the budget and asked that the percentage be changed.  He stated they do provide a general ledger each month which may not give a description of what the invoice may be.  He stated this is public information and they will be happy to provide any detail or any transaction or expenditure at any point in time.

Drewry questioned if the hotel/motel money was kept in a separate account.

Mr. Hatch stated yes.  He stated if a bill needs to be split they will write a check out of hotel/motel for the 40% and another out of dues account for the 60%.

Shanklin questioned how that works with paying an employee.

Mr. Hatch stated that is the exception. They run one check through the dues account and compute the net income and when then they actually do get two checks, one out of hotel/motel and one out of dues.  They do not convolute the withholding tax.

Warren questioned when the Mayor reimburses the Chamber for the Washington trip, does that money go back into the hotel/motel fund.

Mr. Hatch stated yes.  

Mitchell questioned if there was an expense out of hotel/motel that generates revenue. Does that revenue go into the hotel/motel fund?

Mr. Hatch stated that the revenue would go into the hotel/motel fund.

Mayor Purcell suggested every month they receive the statement of revenue and expenditures and there is one line that causes some confusion.  He stated he is assuming they are lumping together on the one line “hotel/motel revenue” not only the revenue from the City, but also the money they generate.

Mr. Hatch stated no, it is just the revenue from the City.  Any additional expenditures will show up on the dues side and any revenue that offsets that will also show up on the dues side.  The only thing they see as far as revenue is the actual city funds remitted to the Chamber.

Mayor Purcell questioned if the entire expense of a softball tournament would show up on the expense side of the hotel/motel side.

Mr. Hatch stated that would show up as a negative expense.  They do this through the expense as opposed to the revenue.

Mayor Purcell stated they just reduce the expense by the revenue.

Jackson stated there has been the questioned asked to the Council regarding why the Council should be so involved in this hotel/motel question.  He stated he asked the City Attorney to put together the Attorney General’ s opinion and he wants to make sure that the public knows that according to state statute, they are responsible for the authority of the hotel/motel tax.  The municipality retains ultimate control over the expenditure of these funds.  He stated that those organizations that solicit these funds must file these itemized reports regularly.  He stated they are charged with the responsibility of paying attention to what goes on with the hotel/motel tax expenditures in the city of Lawton.  He stated it is important that the Council become educated on the issue.  He and Councilmember Shanklin were personally involved in a taxpayers lawsuit.  They can be held liable personally and cannot be defended by the City Attorney.  He feels it is their responsibility to pay attention to the hotel/motel tax money.

Mr. Hatch stated it is his firm’ s job to provide that information to the City Council.  

Dr. Burgess stated issues and questions about the reporting format have changed over the years.  They have modified the reporting format and will continue to work with the City Council to provide the best report which allows them to be accountable.  She stated they want to figure out a reporting format that will make sense ten years from now.  She stated the City Council is free to call and ask any questions of anything that the do not understand.  It needs to be full and complete disclosure and that is their intent.  She stated the bylaw changes requested by the City Council will happen.  The earliest they can be effective will be the end of August.  The Mayor will be a voting member of the board of directors and a designated person will be put on the executive committee.  That person will be the City Manager until the City Council directs otherwise.  She stated they would like to work out a situation where each member of the City Council serves as a member of one of those major committees of the Chamber.  She stated they would like the City Council to have a better understanding and appreciation of their activities and feel more included.  She hopes that the City Council recognizes the advantages of the partnership. She stated what they bring back to the table as far as volunteer hours putting those dollars to use is a good investment.  She requested that the City Council reconsider the past decision to allocate $400,000 and to increase that amount to $705,000 recognizing that there are some set asides that have already been committed and recognize that there is a $50,000 study that they have requested be set aside for purposes of study on a convention center.

Patton questioned if the $50,000 was included in the $705,000.

Dr. Burgess stated she is not sure.  There is some misunderstanding about some carry over and they need to wait and see the final figures.  They do not know what all the amounts are at this time.

Mayor Purcell stated the City Council approved in the budget for next year $810,000 to be allocated based on the estimate on how much they were going to collect in hotel/motel tax.  The Chamber assumed a carry over of a certain number.   He stated it appears that they will only collect $847,000 this year in hotel/motel tax.  They are paying the Chamber $765,000 which gives us a roll over of $82,000.  That is the reason they need to go back and look.  We do not have as much money available for allocation as the Chamber thought they had when they put the budget together.

Patton stated we anticipated raising $905,000 and we only are going to raise $847,000.

Shanklin questioned what happens if they don’ t get that money.  Are they behind on their bills?

Mr. Hatch stated on the last months draw down if it is not spent by June 30 ^th that money is remitted back to the City of Lawton by July 15^th.  They have always drawn down what is remaining on that contract.  

Mr. Davis stated the $227,000 was just the difference and that is the way they have billed. They look at the balance and that is the bill for June.  When they received the request from the City for additional information they went back and tried to calculate more specifically the total amount they would need and it ended up being $136,000.  He stated they realize they can only expend hotel/motel monies up to point that they are collected and the revenue is generated.  Often times there will be a project that they are looking at as a viable opportunity and they will wait until that last 45 days in order to make a commitment.  He stated they will see larger expenditures in the months of May and June because they are committing to their summer advertising and marketing campaign.

Vincent stated according to the municipal budget act, in order for the Chamber to send an invoice it has to be backed up by documentation to show that they need that money. Basically, they cannot take a draw down.

Mayor Purcell stated instead of getting the $227,000 and then sending part of it back on July 15 ^th, they just got what they needed.  

Vincent stated they need to work out a system in the contract against the advanced draws per month and work that out so that it is backed up by documentation to show they need the money.

Mr. Davis stated historically they have requested that draw down in August for September expenses and offset those based upon the actual invoices and statements.

Vincent stated they will have to work out a system to comply with state statute and meet the needs of the Chamber.  They will make the contract work.

Hanna stated he would like to see a report once a month that lets them know what’ s going on with interest from other companies.  That way they have an idea of what is going on behind closed doors.  

Mr. Davis stated that is a report that is provided to the City Council every month.

Warren questioned if they could get that information digitally.  He stated that is a lot of money to print up those reports.  He would much rather get it digitally.

Dr. Burgess stated the board receives it electronically and they could provide it that way.

Mr. Davis requested that the Council let him know how they would like to receive the report.

Mayor Purcell stated as they continue to partner with the Chamber, they have an obligation to let them know what they expect the Chamber to give them in the way of a report every month.  He stated they need to decide as a group what information they would like to see.

Drewry stated according to the Attorney General’ s opinion, once the Chamber submits an amount of money they need, the Council has to vote on it.  They will see where that money is going and for what purpose.

Vincent stated that is correct, but they handle expenditures as a consent item every two weeks.  He stated the Finance Director can furnish the back up information.

Mayor Purcell stated the City Council has been provided a draft agreement from the City Manager.

Shanklin questioned why the City Manager would have the agreement.

Mayor Purcell stated the City Manager put the draft agreement together and provided a copy to the City Council.

Mitchell stated he was asked by the Mayor and City Council to provide a rough draft to review.  He stated he sent a memo out to each Council member on July 2 ^nd and combined the current Chamber contract with one that was approved in 1996.  He stated the two agreements don’ t fit together correctly, but they did a good job of blending them together.  He stated in Section VI it deals with reporting.  He stated staff needs some direction on what specifically the Council is asking for and what they would like to see in the report.  In Section XI he added a line which states that under utilities and services the Chamber will provide all other miscellaneous services and expenses to support program activities.  He stated in Section XIII regarding the budget, two lines were added as a result of the vote that the Council passed during the budget review which indicated that the Council was going to allocate $400,000 to the Chamber and the balance was going to be held by the City.  He stated the City and Chamber will mutually discuss the allocation and use of the funds on a case by case basis to ensure that nay proposed improvement results in a new or expanding business or industrial development.  He stated he had a discussion with Dr. Burgess about a definition of what the word “provide” means and he stated they resolved that issue.

Dr. Burgess stated if the intent was that no hotel/motel funds are used to pay program expenses that are part of tourism and economic development that causes them huge concern.  But in their discussion she does not believe that is the intent of the City.  She understands that they incur the expense, but they document that expense and what they are using those funds for.  She stated they need to clarify what they are spending it for.

Mitchell stated he read it even broader in that the Chamber is the responsible party for hiring the staff to perform the functions under the contract.

Vincent stated that Mr. Hatch indicated that they allocate on a 40/60 basis and that is the way they have done this for years.  The problem is that the contract does not reflect that. It uses the word “provide” and “share costs” but it does not tell how it will be provided and what the factors are going to be.  That is what they need to work out on this contract. He stated there were a lot of assumptions made over the years.

Dr. Burgess stated if they can get some general guidance from the Council on what kind of reporting format they want and what is acceptable, then a group from the Chamber and city staff can sit down and work out a logical agreement.  She stated advance invoices are clearly not always possible put they can submit something that reflects an encumbrance of an expense.

Vincent stated he does not think they can write the contract sitting here tonight.

Mayor Purcell stated they need to address what kind of report the Council wants to see each month.  He stated everyone has received a piece of paper with the heading “Proposed Hotel/Motel Budget for FY 2008” and those are the categories that they have proposed in their budget.  He stated if they agree that those are the categories that they are going to fund in their budget, those would obviously be the way they ask them to report their budget versus actual each month.  He questioned if those were the categories they want to see.

Warren stated if they could make something like that available digitally to the City Manager and the Council members can call him and ask about specific expenditures.

Shanklin questioned if Council members have had concerns over the reporting procedures.

Drewry stated she feels that the City should handle the funding for LETA and the Museum.

Mayor Purcell stated that they are not included in the $705,000.  He stated they need to forget about the numbers for now, just talk about format.

Mr. Hatch stated they can provide whatever the Council requests.  They are given a general ledger and the only piece they won’ t have will be the detail explanation.  He stated this is extremely time consuming so his preference would be to not do this.  The general ledger will give them enough information 99% of the time.

Warren stated they could ask specific questions to the City Manager who could retrieve that specific information from the Chamber.

Rick Endicott, Finance Director, stated that he and Mr. Hatch could work out the details as far as how to process requisitions from the Chamber.  He stated each month we receive a requisition from the Chamber and if they get some details that information will always be available to the City Council.  His major concern is that they get an invoice for $60,000 and it is not supported by any documentation on what that $60,000 is for.

Mayor Purcell stated they are talking about what staff needs as far as legality and they can work that out, and they are also talking about what the City Council needs to see each month.  They wouldn’ t know what to do with a general ledger each month.

Endicott stated if the City Council would agree on the categories that they have in their budget then it would be very similar to what they do right now in our own budget.  They can make this as simple or as complicated as Council wants.

Mayor Purcell stated if they put in the same categories as is in the City budget, the Council will have a million questions.   That is why he suggested using what they proposed because this is the budget and it is already done.  Mr. Hatch would just have to put the actual against each one of these columns.  He stated that would not be too much extra work.  He questioned if the City Council could be satisfied with these categories. He stated if they want to know detail, they can go ask the Finance Director and he can give those details.

Jackson stated he just wants the right to ask the City Attorney or the Finance Director if he has questions.

Mayor Purcell questioned if they wanted to see the budget compared to the actual each month or do they want to see something different.

Jackson stated he hated to say definitely yes until he thinks about it.

Mayor Purcell stated they can put it in the contract this way and if they want to change it in two weeks they can do that.

Mr. Hatch stated if it is not in the contract and later the City Council decides to do it another way they will do that.

Haywood questioned how Mr. Hatch handles the airport.  Do they do it by month and by the year?

Mr. Hatch stated the difference in the airport and this is the five categories that are very descriptive and information, but that is not going to be a byproduct of their accounting system.  It will be something they have to generate manually on a spreadsheet after the fact.    He stated they have no issues with reporting however the Council would like to see it.  He stated the biggest issue is the method by which they draw down money.  There was a point in time when they got 1/12 every month and obviously that was not good.  Then it went to a reimbursement basis.  As they started committing more and more money it was not possible financially for the Chamber to front 30 days worth of hotel/motel expenses. In order to comply with the law he would like for there to be some way that they can attempt to satisfy the legal requirements with the reality of what the cash requirements are on the Chamber.  He stated if they need to provide invoices, by the time they get those invoices it is pretty much after the fact at that point.  They are usually due within 15 days and by the time they are able to generate the report, get it to the City and the invoice is processed, they have already had to pay those invoices.  He stated this will create a challenge as far as cash flow from the Chamber being able to pay those expenses prior to receiving the hotel/motel funds.  He stated he and the Finance Director can come to an agreement on what is realistic and what they can provide to the City within the time frame to process the invoice and comply with the law.  He stated in the contract, anything stating an invoice will be an issue.

Drewry stated they could provide a purchase order stating what they need the money for.

Mr. Hatch stated the Chamber does not operate under a purchase order system.  There would have to be major changes in the way they process transactions.

Shoemate questioned if they were penalized if they were late in making payments.

Mr. Hatch stated they have a responsibility as leaders in the business community to pay all their bills on time.

Shoemate stated he would like to see the advertising broken down and see the difference in where the ads are going, with whom and how much.

Mr. Hatch stated there is a page in the general ledger that will show every payment and amount.

Shanklin questioned if they still needed the $227,000 if they already had made their bills.

Mr. Hatch stated there was $100,000 that was transferred from the dues account to hotel/motel tax in order to pay the bills because that invoice was not processed.  He stated fortunately there was $100,000 in the dues account at the time.

Mayor Purcell clarified that the categories would be broken down between economic development, tourism, legislative and governmental affairs and administration.  He questioned if they wanted to see additional columns with the budget for the year, how much they spent that month and a year to date column.

Council agreed.

Mitchell stated he would a make any modifications to the draft contract that the Council wanted to see.

Mayor Purcell stated now that they have the format they need to discuss dollars.

Vincent stated he is still not satisfied with the format.  He has a problem with the blanket column called “administration”.  Under the statute, they can only pay these monies for a legitimate public purpose.  They are going to have to come up with a definition of what that expenditure is.  Just looking at it you can’ t tell that it meets a legitimate government purpose.

Mr. Hatch stated he cannot answer that.

Vincent stated they are going to have to come up with a definition so that if we get audited we will have to have a legal definition to show that it meets the public purpose test.  It is a matter of definition.

Jackson questioned who determined the 40/60 share.

Mr. Hatch stated at some time that was approved by the budget and the same process as they are going through now.  That percentage has never been changed.

Mayor Purcell stated they need to agree on some numbers.

Drewry stated they just got this information and they need some time to absorb it and determine what questions they have.

Mayor Purcell questioned if they needed another special meeting.

Vincent stated that staff and members from the Chamber can develop a contract the same time the Council is studying the budget.  Then they can merge the two together.  When the budget is approved it will become an exhibit to the contract and every year they would roll the contract and attach a new exhibit.

Mayor Purcell stated they need to have a budget in order to get some money to the Chamber.

Vincent stated the Council has allocated $400,000.  That is a pot of money from which the Chamber can develop a budget or they can ask the Council for more money.

Mitchell stated they could adopt this contract based on Council direction and they could always make an amendment to the contract so they could get them some money.

Vincent stated they could attach a blank piece of paper saying the budget was $400,000.

Mayor Purcell stated that would not make the Chamber very happy because they have commitments.  They cannot drag this out.  He suggested they have a special meeting to work out the budget.

Jackson stated the Council has approved a $400,000 budget and he is sure the contract will be amended, but today there is a budget.

Mayor Purcell questioned if they wanted to bring back the contract to approve on July 24 ^th with a budget of $400,000 and then work on a modification to that budget at some point in time.  He questioned if they wanted to have a meeting on Monday, July 23^rd to talk about the budget before they approve the contract.

Council agreed.

There being no further business to consider, the meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m. upon motion, second and roll call vote.

                            JOHN P. PURCELL, JR., MAYOR

ATTEST:

TRACI HUSHBECK, CITY CLERK