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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBudget Advisory Commission - 04/03/2008 APPROVED MINUTES BUDGET ADVISORY COMMISSION THURSDAY,APRIL 3, 2008 5:00 PM, CITY CENTER 8080 Mitchell Road, Eden Prairie, MN Heritage Room COMMISSION MEMBERS: Don Uram(Chair), Katherine Kardell (Vice Chair), Mark Kantor, Rick King, Jon Muilenburg, Richard Proops, Gwen Schultz CITY STAFF: Scott Neal (City Manager), Sue Kotchevar(Finance Manager), Tammy Wilson (Finance Supervisor/ Recorder) I. ROLL CALL/CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER Chair Uram called the meeting to order at 5:10 PM. Richard Proops was absent. II. MINUTES A. BAC MEETING HELD THURSDAY,AUGUST 9, 2007 MOTION: Kantor moved, seconded by King, to approve the minutes of the meeting held Thursday, August 9, 2007. Motion carried 6-0. III. DISCUSSION Uram made a brief statement on the Commission's responsibilities of reviewing the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The Commission has clear direction from the City Council. The BAC will focus on the five year update of the CIP. Uram emphasized that there are a large number of projects in the CIP but he would like to focus on the larger issues for example pavement management and infrastructure improvements. Uram would also like the opportunity to ask questions of the departments or the person's giving the presentation. He would like to keep the power point presentations to a minimum and hit on the high points. This will give the BAC more opportunity to discuss with department heads or their representatives the actual project itself. The BAC will meet once a month for two hours. Sue Kotchevar will be the staff liaison. She will be the main contact and will be in attendance at all meetings. Uram then turned the meeting over to Neal for a few comments. Following the 2007 BAC season Neal and Kotchevar debriefed with the commission. They received some important feedback from commissioner members, which were presented to the City Council at their 2008 planning session. Council considered the BAC's 2007 final report and recommendations; the debriefing report, and their own thoughts and ideas about the future of the BAC. In January Neal shared the Council's Eden Prairie Budget Advisory Commission April 3, 2008 Page 2 thoughts and directions with the BAC, which, in summary, was that the Council wants to keep the BAC active in 2008 with a specific directive to review the City's 2009-2013 Capital Improvement Plan. Neal stated this does not mean that any projects in 2008 or not in the CIP cannot be up for discussion. Neal also stated the staff is working on a status report on the various recommendations that were accepted by Council last year. This report will tell where we are at on each of the recommendations. Neal stated his role in the BAC process will be reduced this year. Sue Kotchevar's role will be about the same. The role of the chair and vice-chair will be enhanced as we begin to shape this commission along the same lines as our other citizen advisory commissions. Neal stated although his role at the commission will be reduced,his role in the budget process will be the same. In a Council-Manager Plan B form of government, he has statutory responsibilities to form and present financial plans to the elected city council. Neal also stated that one issue that seems to remain "up in the air" seems to be how the Commission will complete its work plan. Last year the Commission considered a proposal to assign individual departments and programs to individual commissioners for investigation and reporting or the option to do what was done last year where staff presents to commissioners all at one time. Staff preference is to do the latter, but will respect the desire of the Commission. Uram stated he had met with Proops. Proops would like to have the Commission adopt a department and better understand those projects. Uram then opened it up for discussion on how the members would like to proceed. After discussion, consensus was to look at the big ticket items and members will determine at the time if more information is needed. King brought up the idea of addressing the terms of the commission members. Kotchevar gave a power point presentation on the Capital Improvement Plan's history, philosophy, policy and schedule. The presentation also included the BAC's meeting format, the four critical questions, and information distribution. V. BAC SCHEDULE Kotchevar recommended a change for the July 22, 2008 BAC meeting to either July 81h or July 291h. The consensus was July 29"'. Uram also asked if they could get financial information from last year. VI. ADJOURNMENT The meeting ended at approximately 6:20 pm.