FINANCE-FIRE-RECREATION-ADMINISTRATION
COMMITTEE MINUTES
TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2005
The meeting of the Evendale Council Committee for Finance, Fire, Recreation and Administration was called to order at 6:00 pm. Councilmembers Albrinck (Chairman), and Vonderhaar were present. George Snyder, Village CFO and Assistant to the Mayor, Jack Cameron, were also present. Councilmember Carolyn Smiley-Robertson was absent.
Evendale Lodge (Tonesmeyer) Dave and Mike Tonesmeyer attended the meeting to discuss the response to some mailings they have made with regard to the potential viability of the Evendale Lodge. They indicated that they had 18 positive responses, 14 submitted green cards indicating an interest in actually signing up. Of the 14 green cards, 13 were residents. They also recently did a new mailing, sent out to residents 55 or older. Those cards are due back on May 10th, and they will let us know the new response. The Tonesmeyers did share with us that the new and projected total cost to simply open the doors would be $32,000,000 including land acquisition.
Fire Fire Chief John Vail was in attendance for the Fire Committee meeting only.
Chief Vail informed the Council Committee that they received one bid for the new breathing air compressor. The total was $42,777.00 with a $3,500.00 trade-in. The compressor was budgeted at $40,000.00 and therefore, the net cost is under budget. The Village will have to pay 10% of that cost. The Council Committee approved Chief Vail acceptance of the bid.
The eight-year old dishwasher broke and Chief Vail has purchased a new commercial dishwasher for $1,299.00. These funds will come out of his building maintenance fund.
Chief Vail has once again raised the personal leave issue requesting that it be increased from 16 hours to 24 hours. It was decided that we would wait for Carolyn Smiley-Robertson to return as she has been involved from the beginning on these discussions.
Recreation There was no Recreation Committee meeting; however, Stiney Vonderhaar did mention that had received complaints regarding the poor performance of the PA system. It was discussed that the Maintenance Department should address this issue and suggest any remedies.
Finance Proposed part-time salary ordinance. This is consistent with the proposed ordinance from last month. We agreed with the suggested modifications and the Council Committee endorsed placing this new ordinance on the agenda for May.
There were two investment updates. Mr. Snyder has placed 2.3 million dollars in short-term funds to maximize our investment capabilities. This should generate approximately an additional $9,000.00 per year without jeopardizing our liquidity.
Fixed Asset Policy. This policy was recommended by Mr. Snyder to formalize the inventory process for all fixed assets within the Village. After discussion, the Committee recommended that this policy be added to the ordinance list for the next Council Meeting.
OPERS problem. Mr. Snyder informed us that he has been informed by the Ohio PERS System that the Village will have to contribute an additional $1,148.04 due to a former Councilmember who originally opted out of the Public Employee Retirement System, choosing to buy back his time. Since the Village never contributed to the plan when he was on Council, we are required to make the contribution now. Fortunately, it does not appear that there was any interest added.
Local Government Funds for 2006. Mr. Snyder has been informed that there is going to be approximately a 10% cut in the State funds going to Villages. This will represent approximately $1,100.00 reduction for Evendale.
Rumpke fees. The State has eliminated funding for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, so we have been informed that municipalities will be responsible for covering this fee. The disposal fees are currently set at $1.50 per ton and Rumpke estimates that each household has approximately one ton of refuse per year. Based on 1,100 homes, the additional charge will be approximately $1,650.00. Mr. Snyder has informed Joe Wiehe that this amount will have to be budgeted for next year.
April Financials. Once again, we received a large check from General Electric representing a significant portion of over two million dollars in receipts in the month of April. Although income has exceeded expenditures over the first several months of 2005, it is still expected that we will be at the break-even point by the end of the year due to capital expenditures including property acquisition.
The State Auditor has notified Mr. Snyder that we will be receiving an unqualified opinion from our most recent audit due to our not using GAP accounting. We will get a statement from the auditor that we are still in compliance since our accounting policies meet the auditor guidelines.
Mr. Snyder indicated that he is working on developing a “drug-free workplace” policy in conjunction with the police department. By having a random drug test with all employees, we are able to see a reduction in our workers’ compensation costs.
Having no further items for discussion and on motion by Mr. Vonderhaar, seconded by Mr. Albrinck, the meeting adjourned.
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J Jeffrey Albrinck, Chairman
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