PonceInletFL - 08/03/2009 Town Council Minutes

5. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 09/10. Mayor Goudie recapped the last budget meeting for those residents in attendance. Vice-Mayor Davis made mention that the Special Events survey was on the website. Mayor Goudie pointed out that the Legislative cost center had the line items regarding donations and requests for donations such as the Art Show and Halifax Urban Ministries. A survey was posted which asks residents if they support Town funding of Special Events. Mr. Joulani discussed the operating budget for the Building and Code Enforcement Department, 524 and that is was less than last year. He stated that Quentin Hampton was contracted to do work when Mr. Marks was unavailable. Mr. Joulani discussed that restructuring could be done since the part-time inspector retired and his position wouldn’t be filled and was essentially eliminated. Mayor Goudie questioned that this department’s budget was 12% less than last year which was confirmed by Mr. Joulani. Councilmember Derr again questioned the efficiency of hiring Quentin Hampton to do inspections and wanted to know when this area was last looked into. Mr. Joulani answered the questions regarding this matter and suggested a re-bid or hiring another employee to do this if the Council so desired. He also discussed the pros of using Quentin Hampton. Councilmember Derr asked about hiring a person to do both building inspections, plan reviews and code enforcement which was answered by Mr. Joulani. Questions were raised about the cost of cell phones within the 524 cost center and Mr. Joulani discussed were necessary for effective communications and are not a new budget item. Mr. Joulani talked about the job responsibilities of Mr. Marks to further support the use of an outside inspector. Mr. Marks discussed that a few years back that there was part-time person on the payroll. The cost benefit of hiring an outside source versus a town employee was discussed. Mr. Sturno thought a part-time as needed person could be hired. Vice-Mayor Davis suggested that there might be a person who was trained to do fire inspections as well as code enforcement and building inspections. She also commented about the need for new vehicles and why vehicles couldn’t be consolidated as well as other resources. Mr. Joulani responded to all questions posed by the Vice-Mayor. Further discussion ensued and Mr. Joulani was directed to look into a person who had all the necessary licenses required to do all types of inspections. The vehicles in disrepair were discussed. Ron Kramer wanted to know if revenues from permits and licenses needed to used for administration and if this was policy or philosophy. Mr. Joulani was that fees were to fund the activities of the departments. Glenn Pryor, 4737 South Atlantic, stated that he was a retired building inspector and had previously offered his services to the town on a per diem basis. Mr. Joulani explained which employees were in the Building Department and what their jobs entailed. He also explained the Planning and Zoning Department and Code Enforcement areas as well. Mr. McCormick wanted further scrutiny on these departments. Vice-Mayor wanted to look at the use Administrative Assistants and if they could be consolidated and better used as a way to save money. Mr. Joulani states he will look at restructuring and not costing the town any further money. Mayor Goudie discussed the dental benefits because backup documents showed that other communities offered this benefit to their employees. He also directed Ms. Clauss to look into consolidation of positions without jeopardizing a employee’s current job responsibilities. The budget pie charts were discussed. Councilmember Sturno commented about how an employee could carry over 480 hours a year and wanted to further discuss this. Mayor Goudie directed Ms. Clauss to provide a summary of all employees personal leave time for the next meeting. The Council further discussed personal leave time and ways to reduce the amount of carry-over hours. The Council directed Ms. Clauss to add this topic to the next regularly scheduled town meeting. Pat Drum, 57 Ocean View Avenue, felt they should look at the staff numbers for communities of our size. Mr. Joulani handed over the summery of the Public Works Department to Keith Gunter, Public Works Manager. Vice-Mayor questioned line items 538. Mr. Gunter explained that these were gas tax revenues. He went on explain the different line item classifications. Vice-Mayor Davis wanted to discuss the memo and the items listed on it which Mr. Gunter explained in detail. Vice-Mayor wanted to look into the Cook Shack. 539.6200 for updated lighting in Building B were also discussed as well as 539.6300, tennis resurfacing. These items on the memo were discussed by the Council. These items on the memo are not included in the budget and Vice-Mayor is asking for them re-include some of these items. Vice-Mayor Davis stated her observations Building and Code Enforcement Department regarding the actual costs of the Corvette Show as well as other Special Event costs. Mr. Gunter explained the vehicles and pumps as requested by Vice-Mayor Davis and there were further discussions with the Council. Ms. Clauss suggested that they now determine individually on each item from the memo to determine what to add back into the budget. Of the seventeen items listed on Mr. Gunter’s memo, Council only authorized the public works sign to be added back into the budget but at a more economical price. Mr. Gunter explained the job responsibilities of Peg Hunt, Administrative Specialist for Public Work and the Council discussed this is further detail. The gas tax funds were also discussed.