Work Session
January 17, 2011
Present: Mayor Grenier and Councilors Remillard, Landry, McCue, Danderson, Evans and, Rozek. Councilors Cayer and Poulin were absent. Also present: Pat MacQueen, Andre Caron, Mike Perreault, Corinne Cascadden, Finance Director Elizabeth Domino, James Wagner, Bobby Haggart and the press.
Mayor Grenier opened the Work Session at 6:36 p.m. He announced that they would change the agenda line up a bit and begin with Mr. Wagner.
Support for Tri County Cap RD Grant for NFHP Research Building
Pat said this is a Rural Development Grant application. Max Makaitis came in and asked the City Manager to sign the community support letter. Once the City Manager signed the letter he realized it is for Council’s signature not the City Manager. Mr. MacQueen explained this is not a city grant but a Tri County Cap grant application but they need the community letter of support. Max said he had to submit the letter by Friday. Although the City Manager signed the letter, Council could still withdraw support if they choose to do so.
James Wagner went over the grant and said that the $45,000 cost for the elevator balance will be applied through grants. This grant is for an elevator for the southern part of the Visitor Center to reach the second floor. The Visitor Center is part of a long range plan along with the Riverwalk.
Councilor Evans asked if there was a cost to the City. The City Manager replied that there is no cost. It is only to show that the community supports their efforts.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor Evans to authorize the City Manager to sign the evidence of community support form for the grant application. So moved, the motion carried.
Finance Department Implementation Plan.
Mayor Grenier commended Betty for the extra work she has been doing. He noticed that she has been coming into work on Sundays and has gone over and above the call of duty. He wanted to let Betty know that someone knows and appreciates all her hard work.
Finance Director Betty Domino presented the Mayor and Council with a Finance Department Improvement Plan as they previously requested. She asked the Mayor and Council if they had any questions upon their initial review of the report. There being no questions at the moment, she proceeded to go through the report point by point.
- Supplemental spreadsheets. This is a matter of employees doing a refresher course. Betty estimates the cost to be roughly $4,000 and is something that can be done within 6 months from hiring of Assistant Comptroller but the process will be ongoing.
- Share software with schools. Betty talked to a vendor today but it is not the right mix yet. The problem is the schools write checks and we then have to balance with the schools and re-enter the checks. Betty suggests creating “zero balance” checking accounts for the school AP and payroll and they would have to balance it themselves.
Mayor Grenier asked how often we currently need to reconcile the school accounts. Betty replied it is done once a week.
Councilor Remillard remarked that we still have to input data. Betty said the problem is at year end with the 1099’s. We end up with two sets of vendors and then have to compare who we have. It is a lot of extra work once a year. She is still looking for compatible software and was expecting Tyler Technologies to come to Berlin but they cancelled out due to bad weather. She will have to get back to them.
Councilor McCue reiterated that his concern still is about who implements the software and in the later years will they still be around to troubleshoot or will that person be gone.
3. E-Services. Betty has contacted the Laconia, Citizens and Northway banks about on-line services. The Northway Bank would have their vendor call and the Laconia Bank is coming on the 27th. The Citizens Bank seems to be the most developed at this time and it would not cost anything since they will give scanners to use at the windows and stick a PC in the lobby and it would be good on the website too.
Councilor Remillard inquired about motor vehicles. Betty replied it would be a one-check system and the city would be responsible to go after the money if a check bounces. Right now, if a state check bounces, the state goes after them.
Councilor McCue asked if it would make a difference in the paperwork. Betty said it would not add to the workload since we would deposit the state money in their account through an electronic check. We would still have to balance at the end of the day.
According to Betty a VISA credit card cannot be used to pay property taxes. The solution might be to leave motor vehicles as cash/check and use credit/debit cards for payments due the city.
Councilor McCue asked about processing fees. Betty replied the customer will pay those fees. Up until two years ago, you couldn’t use a credit card but the state put in a convenience fee. The city mailed motor vehicle renewal notices in February to cut down on the number of people who call. Lots of people come to the window and want to use a credit card, now they can mail it as well. This should cut down on the number of people in the lobby. It should be implemented six months to a year from hiring an Assistant Comptroller.
4. Zero paper vouchers. Department Heads could mark their approval, account codes and PO numbers directly on the invoice. The use of a customized invoice stamp would insure that the necessary information is provided. This could be accomplished within one month.
5. PO Systems. The City Manager revised this in 2007 but they were not sure how to use it in MuniSmart. Betty figured out how to get the PO numbers now. They need to set up VPN for non-City Hall departments, retrain all employees in city purchasing and train them in the use of the MuniSmart PO process. Not everyone has access to our software and we need to create an avenue. This should take three to four months from hiring an Assistant Comptroller.
6. Centralize purchases. Ongoing process and currently it is a half and half system. Oil, gas, electric, are centralized but little else has been done since there is no purchasing agent to oversee the system.
Betty acknowledged that down-the-road they may come up with common items people buy and have a contract for x amount. Right now everyone buys their own office supplies and the school buys in June with the old budget. If the city part would be given advanced notice, they could piggyback with the schools to save money. They can put something together that might work.
7. Spreadsheets. From the school department have missing account numbers. This could be solved by implementing recommendation #2 and have the schools process their own payroll related checks. This could be done one month from hiring an Assistant Comptroller.
8. Electronic files. These files from banks and mortgage companies should be uploaded and posted to the property tax collection module. A report can be printed and reviewed for accuracy and make corrections if necessary. This will save manpower and can be implemented immediately.
9. Manual tax cards. Will get rid of immediately
10. Trust funds. As they come due Betty will combine them into one lump sum in a single investment vehicle such as the NH Public Deposit Investment Pool.
11. Payroll. Move payroll from weekly to biweekly. Betty will check to make sure it is not against contracts or labor laws. Implemented in three months from hiring Assistant Comptroller.
12. Departmental Payroll. Obtain remote entry software which would cost approximately $7,500 including training so departments can enter their own payroll but it does not include schools. We have to decide if schools and city should have just one accounting department. They currently have three people and we have two and that would have to be worked out down the road. This would take between one to three months from the hiring of an Assistant Comptroller.
Mayor Grenier asked about the $7500 and how much money and time it would be worth. It would not be in Councils best interest to pick and choose who would stay and who would be let go.
This would immediately free up two hours per week for the Payroll Clerk according to Betty’s calculations.
The City Manager explained that we can’t do it at all without the Assistant Comptroller position. We can do some of the recommendations on our own without a cost to the city.
Mayor Grenier agreed the whole point is to do it.
Councilor Remillard reasoned that it might not make up the $7500 in six months but if we are not efficient it is not good. Trying to be more efficient and use the program to its maximum potential and training staff to do so is the way we need to proceed.
13. Departments enter their own accounts payable and requisitions. This can be done between one to three months from hiring an Assistant Comptroller.
14. VPN Networks. Betty described the need to set up VPN networks that will have no additional costs as long as no more than five or six are on board at a time. It will come in over the internet on the server and departments can enter their info and this will free up the accounting department and this can be done immediately.
Mayor Grenier asserted that this detailed report was exactly what Council asked for. He thanked Councilor Poulin for bringing this to the table for review. The operational shortcomings have been determined in that department and he will support putting someone on board to put in these changes once the system is in place.
Councilor Rozek asked about a personal question about a transaction receipt for his property tax which was paid on time in November but due to an error in the system with the incorrect tax amount due, it now looks like a delinquent account and he received a tax lien letter for a couple of dollars owed. He asked what happened and how to rectify the matter.
Betty elaborated that they had a problem with the program which took the credit on some accounts twice. They mailed a second bill which should have taken care of the problem. She will look into the matter for Councilor Rozek. Councilor Rozek would have liked to get Councilor Poulin’s input on the report that Betty obviously put lots of hard work into.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Landry to allow the City Manager to hire an Assistant Comptroller per the recommendation plan. Councilors Evans and Rozek voted no. The motion carried.
Budget Permission to Fill Housing Coordinator Position.
City Manager MacQueen asked for Council permission to hire a new Housing Coordinator to replace Andre Caron who is resigning as of June 30 of this year. The City Manager elaborated how Andre carried out the job magnificently much better than foreseen. He deserves his R&R and without a doubt the city owes him a debt of gratitude for doing a great job. He reminded Council that they put in 2 months of overlap for May and June to have someone on board to train with Andre. They need to begin to advertise.
Councilor Danderson moved with a second by Councilor McCue to hire a replacement for the Housing Coordinator. Councilor Evans voted no. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Landry concurs Andre did a great job and what he does is vital. He asked what the forward plan is and how much will it cost to replace Andre. They figure $60,000 with benefits but 70% is paid by grants. Each grant has an administrative cost but it shows up as revenue line item. Councilor Landry asked Andre if he would consider staying on as a consultant part-time.
Andre replied the city has to keep the tax deeding process moving forward and the demolition process as well. There will be a big dent between now and June. Funding will change and we will be able to tap and rehab more. Demo money is hard to get but the DES trusts us now and gave $1.4 Million and we got CDBG funding as well. We are currently competing at the same level with Manchester and Nashua leveraging those negatives. He will finish up with the NSP and the Notre Dame project but he does not want a full time forty hour job. This was supposed to be a three year part-time job.
Councilor Danderson asked if grant writing was going to be part of the job requirement.
The City Manager anticipates it will take someone with project management skills and initiative.
Andre agreed and added that Pat and Pam are good at writing grants. Project management is indeed a strong point.
Pat admits that grants were not initially part of the job but grants were picked up along the way. It was not until the last couple of years that grants started coming through.
Sidewalk Snowplowing discussion
Mike Perreault, PWD Director’s intent tonight is to inform Council about a problem in school areas. The city sidewalk plows go out and do the work but then private plows come out and push the snow onto the sidewalk areas forcing pedestrians to walk in roads. Last year he tried to address violators and sent a letter with a copy of the ordinance out to all violators. Out of the eight letters he sent out, only one made an adjustment.
Councilor Remillard asked if a fine was involved. Mr. Perreault replied he does not enforce the ordinance that is up to the Police. He does however send a letter to is the property owner. The private snowplow guy that is hired to clear snow is only worried about clearing the driveway. Once that snow is packed, the sidewalk plow can’t do anything. The only thing the PWD can do is to let the Police Department know about the offenders. The sidewalk plan is mostly in the denser areas.
Mayor Grenier said with lots of complaints, the big thing is to keep sidewalks of all schools and churches open.
Councilor McCue got a couple of calls and thinks part of the problem is because schools were let out early.
Mr. Perreault reasoned that school was not let out early but they were hit hard at 10:00 am and got two inches of snow per hour. The city is divided into ten routes and it took them four hours to do a route. The cars and pedestrians slows the process down,
Councilor McCue inquired if they were still pre-treating the roads or not?
Mr. Perreault explained that they do it right away and use sand. He asserted that the foremen know what they are doing and the current snow policy is 3-5 inches before going out.
Councilor Landry asked how the snow removal team is dispatched and when do they decide it is time to remove snow.
Mr. Perreault replied that the Police call to report when the roads begin to get bad. Last year the schools were the first priority and then that policy was changed and now they are on a rotating schedule with Main Street.
Councilor Danderson understands they make brine but feels it is not always effective. He noticed an inch of slushy stuff and asked why they don’t scrape it down.
The snow policy is not black and if they hear there is a problem at intersections they will address it as soon as possible according to Mr. Perreault.
The City Manager is not sure but for the long storm we just had salt was not good due to timing.
Councilor Danderson heard from constituents who asked when the PWD crew goes from different sections the plow is up when going back to the garage, why don’t they plow on the way back to the garage. Mr. Perreault replied that is because the road has already been plowed and a plow on the ground costs more for gas.
Councilor Rozek stated the big problem is people plowing snow into sidewalks and is the City going to start fining them? Is this discussion to notify all that this will not be tolerated? Some plow trucks don’t have the power to windrow snow and is that part of the issue?
The City Manager contends that it goes beyond the power of the truck. The private plow operators don’t take the time to do it they are just in a hurry to get the job done.
Other.
Councilor McCue asked about what to do with the North Country Council surveys. The City Manager will collect and compile the information to send back to the NCC.
Councilor McCue asked about the letter about the policy for PCB contaminants that will come up at AVRRDD district meeting on 27th and requested it to be put on 24th work session agenda for discussion.
Mayor Grenier commented that they will be hard pressed to get the district to agree to that.
Adjourn. There being no further business in the Work Session at this time, Mayor Grenier declared the Work Session adjourned at approximately 7:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debra A. Patrick, CMC
City Clerk
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