WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2009

BUDGET WORK SESSION

6:50 P.M.

1. CALL TO ORDER. Mr. Fix opened the Budget Work Session at 6:50 P.M., with roll call as follows: Mr. Sabatino, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fix, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Sanders, and Mr. Wisniewski were present. No members were absent. Others present were: Mayor O’Brien, Chief Taylor, Lynda Yartin, Linda Fersch, Chris Schornack, Ed Drobina, Greg Bachman, Eric Vannatta, Tony Barletta, and others.

Mr. Schornack stated prior to getting into the agenda, Mr. Vannatta had some information regarding questions at the last work session.

Mr. Vannatta stated at the last work session, the Committee had requested he obtain a quote for a technology assessment and he had received a quote from our current company of $3,876.01. He stated that would take approximately 16 man hours, and after compiling all the information they would provide us with their findings and recommendations. Mr. Smith inquired if that included infrastructure such as communication lines, etc., and Mr. Vannatta stated it did not. Mr. Vannatta stated the police department is looking at going to a network guardian plan which basically is a monthly service we have budgeted for. He stated his question would be if we want an assessment, what would we do with it when we get it. He stated the network guardian golden package proposal is basically all remote access, it would go through all the servers, all the work stations, unlimited call center usage, continuous network monitoring for detection, intrusion, and problems. Mr. Wisniewski clarified they would have remote access to our systems for updates, problems, etc. Mrs. Sanders ascertained the monthly service fee for the network guardian is $995 and they have a $1,000 fee to initially install the software. Mrs. Sanders further clarified the software was based on users, and the police department has 35 and we have 53. Mr. Fix stated he felt Council recognized that we are behind the times technologically and there is a great opportunity to improve our situation here. He stated he did not know if we had a full understanding of where we want to be and how we are going to get there. He stated he would suggest that perhaps a subcommittee of Finance be put together to take on our technology issues and ask those who are well versed in that, such as Mayor O’Brien and Brian Wisniewski to work with Eric to see where we are. Mr. Fix stated if we did the assessment if we would just be paying that company to figure out what they need to sell us. Mr. Wisniewski stated he felt some money should be left in the budget, and he agreed with Mr. Fix that we need to come up with an end plan, and he felt the subcommittee would be a good idea. Mr. Wisniewski stated he would recommend a minimum of $10,000 be left in the budget for this and Mr. Vannatta stated he has $15,000 in the budget for network upgrades and repairs. Mr. Wisniewski stated he would recommend that be left as it is and if necessary Finance can go back to it after they have looked at our systems. Mr. Fix requested Mrs. Yartin add the creation of a Technology Subcommittee to the next Finance Committee agenda.

Mr. Vannatta stated he has also been looking into the possibility of receiving grant funds for the defibrillators and he has found two sources. He stated both of these grant applications are due about mid-year in 2010. Mr. Vannatta stated he would like to clarify that the $8,000 in his budget next year to purchase defibrillators was cut to $4,000 and as he understood it he was to purchase two defibrillators out of funds he has remaining in this year’s budget and then pursue grants for next year. The Committee stated that was correct.

Mr. Vannatta stated he had also received a quote from Goodyear on a fleet maintenance contract. He stated he felt the prices provided were very competitive for all of our light duty vehicles, and we would receive a 15 percent discount off of parts and labor on anything. Mr. Fix inquired if we had received quotes from any of the other businesses in town and Mr. Vannatta stated he had called Firestone and they had provided a cost on oil changes that was higher than the one quoted by Goodyear. Chief Taylor stated he has received excellent service from Goodyear. Mr. Vannatta stated when we take a vehicle into Goodyear they will basically drop what they’re doing and do what is necessary to get our vehicle back on the road. Mr. Fix stated he thought it would be good to get proposals from other businesses, and Mayor O’Brien stated he agreed we should get other proposals. Mr. Fix questioned if it would be worthwhile to approach the Township as well to see if with their new garage if they would be interested in doing our fleet maintenance for us. Mr. Drobina stated he has had conversations about their doing the maintenance on our larger vehicles and they are going to get back with him on that. He stated he had not discussed doing the entire fleet, but he would do that.

2. SCHEDULED MATTERS:

A. Review and discussion of Debt Service Funds, Capital Project Fund, Trust and Agency Funds. Mr. Schornack stated he had provided a full version of the budget with revenues and expenditures to everyone, and he would like to point out that the General Fund ending balance is about $1.4 million which is generally where we wanted to be. Mr. Schornack stated this does include all of the modifications that were requested in prior work sessions. He stated he had also provided a listing showing the 2010 Budget Highlights so everyone could see where the funds were being spent. Mr. Fix inquired if there were any fund balances that Mr. Schornack was concerned about, and Mr. Schornack stated there were not. Mr. Schornack stated he would like to revisit the Urban Forestry Fund. He stated we are anticipating the retirement date of our Arborist on January 14, 2010, so in this budget he had included some funds to cover wages and the sick leave and vacation payout for that individual and that position is deleted from the Pay Play. Mr. Schornack stated he had also increased the contractual services amount to $40,000. Mr. Sauer stated if anything changed on this issue, he would like for Council to be notified.

Mr. Schornack stated with regard to Impact Fee Funds he had budgeted for 50 homes this next year, which is close to what we have this year.

Mr. Schornack stated he would also like to highlight that we are making an additional $350,000 in additional principal payments this year on our General Obligation Notes. He stated the only additional new borrowing we will have in 2010 will be the $2.2 million for the new water tower. Mr. Sabatino clarified the park land notes being paid off were on the parkland at Shawnee from the BIA settlement. Mr. Schornack ascertained there were no further questions on the debt service.

B. Review of proposed 2010 Budget reflecting all prior work session recommended modifications. Mr. Schornack stated in the unfunded budget list the Committee had set aside $40,000 for the memberships, dues, etc. Mr. Schornack stated he had kept the donation to the dog shelter at $2,000 as we have in the past and he did not include a donation for the Humane Society. Mrs. Sanders clarified we have never made that donation in the past and Mr. Sabatino stated they had never come to request a donation either. Mr. Schornack stated he had received a letter from them but they did not request a specific amount and they had not come to give a presentation. Mr. Schornack stated he had included funds for the 33 Alliance, the Municipal League, National League of Cities, $10,000 for the paratransit subsidy, Ohio Regional Planning, Fairfield Regional Planning, Ohio Municipal League dues, Pickerington Chamber membership and the $4,500 they had requested. Mr. Sauer inquired if any funds had been included for a follow-up retreat and Mrs. Yartin stated at the last work session the amount in Council’s budget for meeting expenses had been increased to $10,000 to cover that expense. Mr. Schornack clarified the paratransit donation was a separate item and was not included in the $40,000 amount that was set aside for memberships, etc. There were no further questions regarding this issue.

Mr. Schornack stated he would like to point out that in the budget figures provided the insurance was still at the 30 percent and he would provide replacement pages reducing those insurance costs so the fund balance should go up a little bit. Mayor O’Brien inquired how that would be spent and Mr. Fix inquired what amount that would be. Mr. Schornack stated spread among all funds it would be about $200,000. Mr. Sauer inquired if anyone would be willing to put that amount toward debt and Mr. Fix stated he thought we should wait and see what we’ve got. Mrs. Fersch stated putting it toward debt would have to be decided now because our debt is due in February and we would not be able to do any more on it until 2011.

Mr. Schornack stated he would request a Special Finance meeting just prior to Council on November 17^th, to move it to Council, and Council would then set the public hearing for December 1^st. Mr. Fix clarified that there would be a Special Finance Committee meeting at 7:15 P.M. on November 17^th. Mr. Sauer stated he would like to request that if there are savings a percentage of it can be used to pay down debt. Mr. Fix stated for discussion on that issue if Mr. Schornack would bring to the Committee what the savings would be, how it could be applied toward the debt, and that conversation can be added to the Special Meeting agenda. Mr. Fix stated in order to allow that conversation he would request the Special Finance Committee meeting be scheduled for 7:00 P.M., November 17, 2009.

3. ADJOURNMENT. There being nothing further, the work session closed at 7:35 P.M., November 11, 2009.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

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Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk