Finance Committee
December 10, 2007, 7:15 P.M.
Lincoln Center, 1519 Water St.

Present: Alderpersons Molski, Moore, Stroik and Hanson

Excused: Alderperson Walther

Also Present: Mayor Halverson; C/T Schlice; City Attorney Molepske; Clerk Moe; Directors Gardner, Schrader, Halverson; Assessor Siebers; Fire Chief Barnes; Deputy C/T Freeberg; Mayoral Asst. Pazdernik; Ald. Wiza; Slowinski, Trzebiatowski, Heart, Myers, Brooks; Gene Kemmeter

Index of these minutes:

1. Assessor's Report.
2. Moses Creek Watershed Agreement.
3. Request for LTE - City Clerks Office.
4. Reconsideration of sale of land - corner of Michigan and Maria.
5. Consideration of claim - Julie Horan.
6. Consideration of changing to a paperless agenda.
7. Computer/Software pricing.
8. 2008 A & B Short-term Borrowing.
9. Purchase 1000 Third Street (Old Eagle Plumbing).
10. Request to hire consultant for preparation of Relocation Plan TIF 6.
11. Lighting project - Willett Arena.
12. Approval of payment of claims.
13. Adjournment.

1. ASSESSOR'S REPORT.

Motion made by Ald. Moore, seconded by Ald. Hanson to accept the report of the Assessor and place it on file.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

2. MOSES CREEK WATERSHED AGREEMENT.

C/T Schlice stated there is no cost for the City, we are just a conduit for the grant application.

Motion made by Ald. Molski, seconded by Ald. Hanson to approve the agreement for the Moses Creek Watershed.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

3. REQUEST FOR LTE - CITY CLERKS OFFICE.

No action due to Council action.

4. RECONSIDERATION OF SALE OF LAND - CORNER OF MICHIGAN AND MARIA.

C/T Schlice stated he included the minutes from the February meeting when the Council agreed to sell it to the University. The City Attorney has some concerns based on the deed from the previous sale.

City Attorney Molepske stated that when we bought the property, between 10-20 years ago, there was a right to repurchase, which was maintained by the original owner. The original owner has resold that property to the Village Apartments and they have no objections. He wrote a letter to the University advising them of the problem. He did not want to transfer it over to the University and then give notice to the original purchaser . As a result, he indicated to the University that we would lease it to them until the statute runs out. Since he is not sure if the original owner wants the property back for a dollar he is not comfortable selling it at this time. He left it with the University after explaining the problem.

C/T Schlice stated that we do have maintenance costs for that area and the reason it is on the agenda is because it is the end of the year and the auditors will be going through all the Finance minutes and they would come back and ask why was not done. Since the City Attorney had some concerns, he wanted those brought back to Committee for determination on whether we still wanted to sell it, lease it, or whatever.

City Attorney Molepske suggested that we lease it to the University until the statutory time on that right expires, then quit claim deed it to the University.

Ald. Molski questioned how long of a period that it.

City Attorney Molepske stated 30 years and he stated there is about 12 - 14 years left on it.

Ald. Molski questioned if the University is interested in leasing it from us and maintaining it.

City Attorney Molepske stated that about four months ago they were not.

Motion made by Ald. Hanson, seconded by Ald. Molski to table the discussion until the University makes a decision on the sale of the land on the corner of Michigan and Maria.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

5. CONSIDERATION OF CLAIM - JULIE HORAN.

Motion made by Ald. Stroik, seconded by Ald. Moore to deny the consideration of claim for Julie Horan.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

6. CONSIDERATION OF CHANGING TO A PAPERLESS AGENDA.

C/T Schlice stated that this is something that needs to be looked at based on how much paper we go through. He suggested a change from the recommendation to not purchase the software at this time. We are looking at replacing the laptops from the squads which could be used for the Council members so we could initially give this a try at no additional cost to the City. He has talked to Ald. Wiza and he has connections for helping with the programming needs. The goal would be to get the attachments on the website for the general public to be able to look at it and see what is going on in the City relatively easy from the comfort of their own homes. He suggested even starting with a disk, just so that we could start the process.

Ald. Wiza commented that as Alderpersons they get volumes of paperwork every month and when you have been on awhile, the paperwork really piles up. He thinks this is a good opportunity after reviewing it because it is not costing us anything. We would, for the most part, just be scanning in the documents and putting them into a pdf file, which you can get free software to do that. He believes this is something that we can support.

Ald. Stroik stated he is concerned about using Adobe. He stated that a lot of times there is flipping between pages and Adobe is cumbersome.

Ald. Wiza stated that we do not have to use Adobe, he would recommend using something on the order of Open Office. He agrees that it may be cumbersome, but he does not think it is going to be a problem.

Ald. Stroik stated he hopes that it is not the City's goal to make the Alderpersons use their own paper and toner to print items.

Ald. Molski stated the price is right to proceed with the conversion.

Ald. Hanson stated it is something that we should pursue.

Ald. Heart stated that it is a good idea and avoid the $300.00 a month charge. She stated that the pictures would be much better on the laptop than the current printed copies they get.

Mayor Halverson asked Clerk Moe's opinion on this idea.

Clerk Moe stated he and C/T Schlice have been mulling around ideas and he thinks we have to look at it. He is in favor of it and stated now is probably the best time to do it. We need to check to see what is out there.

C/T Schlice stated that we are still looking at records retention and Clerk Moe has been looking at a number of different venders to try and see what is the most cost effective way to get the work done.

Ald. Heart stated she knows they are not to communicate electronically and that everything needs to be in writing or sent as an official letter, but wanted to know if this would change that.

Clerk Moe stated that there is going to be some level of electronic communication, we just have to be very careful because we do not want to create walking quorum. All this is going to do is make the paperwork more convenient.

Motion made by Ald. Stroik, seconded by Ald. Moore to approve the continuation of researching the paperless agenda for future Council and Committee meetings.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion made.

7. COMPUTER/SOFTWARE PRICING.

C/T Schlice stated that we did come out a little less than what the projection was that he gave out about a month or so ago. It was a rough decision because both vendors were very competitive. The dollar amounts are virtually identical right off the top, with the exception of Specialized having a different size motherboard. He also stated that it does help to have a single vendor for repair and troubleshooting. They are both very good businesses and it was a difficult decision, but Specialized has added a few extras such as a higher speed for the wireless and same day warranty service, rather than next day, which is typical. They are both local vendors but we are very comfortable working with Specialized as they did the conversion five years ago and we have had good success with them, so he is recommending Specialized. The GIS was talked about before, but it is just shown as part of the plan. The tough books are moving to the GIS plan along with the docking stations and the software. We are looking at training for the new software of $10,000 and any funds that are left over would go against debt service. The $5,000 in contingency is just in case we are missing something with the conversion. The others are software upgrades and as indicated, the Clerks records search and retention we are still working on and we will bring the request at a later date, probably two to three months from now. We would take off the software for the paperless agenda. We are also looking at a scanner and two counter printers, which the amount listed would be the top number that we would pay, it could come in a little less. The counter printers are for his office and since we run through a ton of receipts and reports so they are getting old and need to be retired. We would be looking at a total of $473,000 for the borrowing, which is less than we projected. That should take us through the next five to six years.

Motion made by Ald. Molski, seconded by Ald. Hanson to approve the pricing for the computers and software as recommended.

Ald. Stroik questioned the bottom line difference between Milwaukee PC and Specialized is about $3,000 and we can spend more because the total bottom line services.

C/T Schlice stated this is a proposal and bids are not required because it is not a Public Works project, but Specialized has two things they added that are included in their prices, a controller on the servers, which will help troubleshoot and do a few more features. If you take the pricing for that off plus the increased size of the motherboards, which is $40 per unit, Specialized is a couple dollars under.

Ald. Stroik questioned if we need them or can we ask that they be taken off and use the same bid.

C/T Schlice stated we could use the same price and go under but in doing some research, Specialized is saying that if we go with a little bigger motherboard, it gives us more options in the future.

Ald. Wiza pointed out that Specialized is a locally owned and operated company, so they have a vested interest in the City already in addition to being about the same on the bottom line. He verified that we are taking out the software costs.

C/T Schlice stated that we are, it will be adjusted when we come back with the final borrowing amount.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

8. 2008 A & B SHORT-TERM BORROWING.

C/T Schlice stated that technology area will be reduced by the price of the paperless agenda software when we get to the actual borrowing. The Willett lighting project is $28,000, he had it reversed on the agenda. We will get a return on our money from the lighting project in 2.9 years. We have not got the bids yet for Fire Station 2, but the last number we got is suppose to be pretty close to the projected figure of $759,000. If there is any change on that, we will bring it back before the actual borrowing. Street Maintenance is about $1,000,000 per year. Therefore, we are looking at about 2.2 million dollars for 2008 A issue and $1.2 million for the 2008 B issue, which Director Halverson has stated she needs for about five years. C/T stated he is looking for authorization to go out and start the process for borrowing for the two issues and to incur the issuance costs.

Ald. Molski questioned if the work has begun on Fire Station 2.

C/T Schlice stated no, the bids have not even been approved.

Ald. Molski asked who is paying the rent for all this time, insurance is not going to pay it forever.

C/T Schlice stated no, the insurance was cut off about July or August. The actual accident was in February of 2007 and he is working with the insurance to see how much we can get. A lot of these months are going to be on our nickel. We have to get out of the temporary location by June 1, 2008 because the building has been sold. He has talked to the Fire Chief and the Director of Public Works to see that we expedite the project.

Motion made by Ald. Molski, seconded by Ald. Molski to authorize the 2008 A and 2008 B Borrowings.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

9. PURCHASE OF 1000 THIRD STREET (OLD EAGLE PLUMBING).

C/T Schlice stated that last month, the Committee authorized the Mayor and himself to go out and start acquiring property. They were offered, by Mr. Lepak, the opportunity to purchase the building at 1000 Third Street. He had an appraisal done a couple of years ago which substantiates the dollar amount we would be looking at $68,000 which would be paid to Mr. Lepak. We would pay the taxes and do all the paperwork at closing. We believe this is a fair figure for that building and it would help us continue on with the process since we already own the Portesi building. Once we get the relocation plan in place, we will start acquiring other pieces of property in that area.

Motion made by Ald. Moore, seconded by Ald. Hanson to approve the purchase of 1000 Third Street for $68,000.

Ald. Wiza questioned what the property at that location is assessed at.

Assessor Siebers replied he believes it is assessed at $55,000.

Ald. Stroik clarified there will not be any relocation costs on this because he came to us.

C/T Schlice stated that is correct, the only cost we will have is for demolition.

Director Gardner stated technically there is no relocation costs because it is vacant.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

10. REQUEST TO HIRE CONSULTANT FOR PREPARATION OF RELOCATION PLAN TIF 6

C/T Schlice stated there are a lot of technicalities when putting together a relocation plan and if we want to expedite starting to acquire these properties and get set to redevelop them, it would be to our advantage to hire a consultant to do that project for us. We will still use a lot of staff time putting it together, but we need somebody with the expertise to handle the fine points of it.

Motion made by Ald. Moore, seconded by Ald. Hanson to hire a consultant for preparation of relocation plan for TIF district 6 not to exceed $15,000.

Ald. Stroik questioned when the TIF was created downtown, did we hire the same service. He understands the reason for going outside, but questions why we need to hire this type of expertise when we have not done it in the past.

Director Gardner stated that we have not done a relocation plan since the mall was built many years ago. The ones we have done have only been for one or two properties. Once you get to three properties the long form has to be filed.

Mayor Halverson stated because of the aggressive nature of what happens and what needs to be done, not only legally, but in terms of the hours that Director Gardner would have to allow for it, this is something that we cannot do alone. If it was a minor relocation plan that we had to address, he would be all for doing it internally. The problem is knowing that we only have a staff of one or two and two very busy building inspectors, so this is not something we can handle at the moment in the time frame we need and want to continue the revitalization of downtown.

C/T Schlice stated this is a TIF eligible expenditure and not out of the regular operational budget.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

11. LIGHTING PROJECT - WILLETT ARENA.

Motion made by Ald. Hanson, seconded by Ald. Stroik to approve the lighting project at the Willett Arena.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

12. APPROVAL OF PAYMENT OF CLAIMS.

Motion made by Ald. Molski, seconded by Ald. Moore to approve the claims in the amount of $1,891,564.40.

Ayes: All Nays: None Motion carried.

Adjournment at 9:21 P.M.

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