WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26, 2000 AT 7:00 PM

COUNCIL CHAMBERS - NOVI CIVIC CENTER – 45175 W. TEN MILE ROAD

The Mayor called the meeting to order at 7:08 PM.

ROLL CALL: Mayor Clark, Mayor ProTem Lorenzo, Council Members Bononi, Crawford, Csordas, DeRoche and Kramer.

Ms. Antuna showed Council the Novi clip of the S.W.O.C.C. Annual Video Report as an example of the non-linear editing machine. Mr. Klaver said Council had been provided with the reports on the number of productions and revenue estimates. This report would be on Channel 13 for May programming.

Mr. Klaver said the Water and Sewer Fund was originally listed for tonight but Mr. Nowicki would not be able to attend. He asked that it be held over for the April 27^th meeting and Mr. Jerome would be present to discuss the other budgets as well.

Ms. Smith-Roy said the Capital Improvement Fund Balance Sheet should be included with the wrap up tools received earlier in their packet. The balance in that fund was $300,000. Secondly, she would like to cover the monthly financial report for the ice arena tonight.

Ms. Smith-Roy said there are a couple of maintenance agreements that were not in the budget last year. They are for voter equipment and the imaging software package. The office equipment included was for new voting equipment and there was nothing for additional personnel.

Mr. Saven said his budget dealt with legislation that passed December 29, 1999 which brought in a new Michigan State Construction Code. This meant forms had to be changed, all policies and procedures had to be updated according to the new budget. Then in December, 2000 it world all be done again because they would have one uniform international code throughout the country and world. These changes are mandated by law.

Mr. Saven said they received an ISO rating and it indicated they had the ability to reduce home insurance in the City based on their professionalism. They also took on the Community Rating System (CRS) that dealt with FEMA involving flood plains. The FEMA representative came in and evaluated them; it was constructive and they want to maintain this program.

Member Bononi asked what the mileage was on vehicles to be replaced? Mr. Saven said the mileage was 63,676, 62,346 and 48,347.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked what the $15,000 building improvements were? Mr. Saven said they wanted to restructure the layout of the office area to make it more effective and efficient.

Mayor Clark asked if his department could handle the additional responsibilities, at the present staff levels, if a rental ordinance was adopted?

Mr. Saven said no. The code changes that are taking place now are horrendous. They were trying to develop another housing law that would be consistent with the Property Maintenance Code. They would be going to the 2000 Property Maintenance Code in December 2000. He did not want to touch anything until there was consistent stabilization to the Codes once they were adopted. They are supposed to be on line by December. His department would have to go through the changing of the codes and the ordinances to adopt these specific requirements.

There was a lot of issues regarding a rental ordinance that needed to be looked at. Once the program was established and goals set then he would know what it would take to achieve that.

Mayor Clark said it would be premature in Ordinance Review to try to enact something before the end of the year because it would be impacted by the changes that are happening in December.

Mr. Saven said Ordinance Enforcement was dealing with these same issues. They need one replacement vehicle.

Marilyn Troshak had handouts for Council regarding the Coalition and from a Parks and Recreation perspective a fourth year projection on how the budget would look for the after school program alone. There was information on what other entities were doing, projected fund raising projects with specific dollar amounts and the second attachment was the after school component for the fourth year. Dhe was projecting fund raising at $33,000 and some of the projects would roll over into next year because of the need for planning the event.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked about D.A.R.E. Ms. Smith-Roy said there was $187,500 being federally funded of the $275,000. She questioned the teacher for D.A.R.E and Ms. Troshak said she included the classroom hours that are dedicated by the teachers during that hour that the D.A.R.E. Officers were there. Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if the D.A.R.E. trained teachers could teach the program? Ms. Troshak thought their training was to compliment the D.A.R.E. Officer in the classroom but she would check it out.

Building & Grounds

Mr. Davis said this function is the operations and functions of the operations of the Civic Center on site. There are two funded full time positions. Those positions are supplemented with staffing on weekends and when extra support personnel are needed. This also includes the outside perimeter of the building, which included grass cutting. It included utility accounts, heating, electrical, water service, etc. The largest increase was in Other Services and

Charges, which had been increased over the last couple of years in the area of building maintenance. The building is 12 years old and starting to show wear and tear.

Member Kramer asked why telephones were up significantly. Mr. Davis said there had been a phone service change over and the equipment had been expanded, phones were added and there were maintenance issues. This also included issues like fax machines, Internet and a lot of other issues.

Member Kramer asked for a detailed breakdown of building maintenance and an opinion whether any of this maintenance could be postponed. Mr. Davis said he had a breakdown and would leave it for Council.

Mr. Davis said there are electrical and plumbing issues, carpeting, wall covering, upholstering of furniture, indoor/outdoor atrium foliage, tables, chairs, supplemental heat system, conference room tables, etc.

Member Bononi asked when they would look at the Fuerst Farm item? Ms. Smith-Roy said Ms. Conley would not have the details of that line item until they meet so that was just a number proposed for the budget process. Mayor Clark said the meeting was this month.

Member Csordas asked what the correct number was for carpet? Mr. Davis said the $50,000 was the most current number. They went through the billing and found the worst areas and assigned a $20.00 per sq. yd. cost. The most noticeable areas are the public areas, meeting rooms in the Sixth Gate Conference area and Council Chambers. He said it would be well over $130,000 in total cost but they had chosen to look at the worst areas first which is the $50,000.

Mr. Davis said this was broken down into four areas of division responsibilities; Administration, Recreation Services, Senior Division Services and Park Maintenance. There were no new personnel or Capital included. The C.I.P. outlined the Capital items they had requested and he had provided a memo on April 7^th that summarized priorities of items that were deleted.

Administration included the responsibility of the Director, four clerical staff, Deputy Director positions and the general overall function of the department. Included in that was the cost of operations such as office supplies equipment, etc. This is a status quo budget.

Two coordinators who are recreation professionals administer the Recreation Division. One of the coordinators was leaving her position so that position would be replaced. In Personnel and Other Services and Charges the budget remained status quo from the 1999-2000 budget.

In the Senior Division there was one full time Special Recreation Coordinator, Kathy Crawford, who administered that aspect and it was supported by the OLSHA Senior Center Manager position which is a contractual position that was shared with the Oakland Livingston Human Services Department. The position was funded through the Community Development Block Grant and it provided additional support. There are part time senior van drivers that are part of the program budget.

In the Park Maintenance Division there is one supervisor and four laborer type positions that are responsible for the support of the recreation programming and they work with the programmers to support the activities they provide. They are responsible for the ten park sites that total up to 700 acres of park system acreage. Power Park, Community Sports Park and the 11 Mile and Wixom School site are very active sites and have a level of maintenance that is different than a vacant piece of property. In addition they provide services for the Civic Center Complex and the Police Station grounds.

His main concerns were in the park maintenance area for Capital Outlay. There was $39,000 that was removed for replacement items, riding mower-$14,000, utility vehicle-$8,000, replacement of a 15 year old airifying unit for the athletic fields for $11,000 and an infield groomer for $6,000.

On the Park Development side in the Capital Improvement process they requested $965,000 for a variety of park locations.

Community Sports Park – This was the number one priority. It needs a maintenance building and fencing bids will be before Council on May 1^st. . Also included was additional play equipment and signage.

Power Park - They budgeted $145,000 and it included replacement of playground equipment, fencing and supplemental restroom. They felt it was important to look at all of the restroom facilities at all park locations.

North Novi Park - They had embarked on an effort with the community to solicit comments as to how that site would be Master Planned. They have received good feedback and eventually they would need an update of the 1995 and 96 plans, which would be refined down into cost estimates to define what would be done on the site. They would need architectural design work and $50,000 had been budgeted for that.

Eleven Mile City School Site – They have been able to get some park development here working jointly with the Novi Schools. The Soccer fields are in use but there are no comfort stations set up and there was $125,000 requested to address those issues along with signage and interior pedestrian walkways throughout the site.

Rotary Park - $155,000 was requested. This site needed restroom facilities, expanded play equipment and an expansion of trail networks throughout by bridging over the Rouge River. This request provided for that.

Meadowbrook Commons Senior Citizens Housing Development - There was no money set aside for any type of facilities, equipment or benches. When opening up that site they wanted to have some outside complementary type uses and facilities for the seniors living there and the community in a community neighborhood type concept.

Lakeshore Park – They have requested $165,000 and would like to erect a new picnic shelter towards the front end where the tents are set up. They would be looking at parking lot issues and signage as well. It was an area that would potentially have the availability of Community Development Block Grant Funds. He met with the H.C.D. Committee and they evaluated that

and they potentially have some dollars and would recommend to Council reprogramming that could take care of that $165,000 item.

Brook Farm Park – A 7-acre neighborhood park, which they have requested $5,000 for a pedestrian bridge that would link that park with the Village Oaks Elementary School site. They have an open space area for soccer, T-ball, softball and a tennis court. The School District had playground equipment on their property and they have worked together but they do need a bridge and signage.

Spirit of ’76 Park – They requested $25,000 for signage and pedestrian walkway linking from the school site into the park. This is at Eleven Mile and Taft Roads and there is no off road parking areas so they would like to use the school parking lots.

He felt the first five of these were very important and needed to be implemented as soon as possible.

Member Csordas asked why it would cost $50,000 for the North Novi Park Master Plan?

Mr. Davis said originally there was a general Master Plan done for the site, what would fit and a site analysis that gave them base information. What zones could be developed for what purposes, where the wetland and woodland were and things of that nature. The next step was a different scale of mapping that would get into how many linear feet of pedestrian bridging would be needed from point to point. How big of an area would be developable for an active site such as picnicking, etc. and what would some of the elements of the development be. How large of a picnic shelter and what would that cost be? We are dealing with preliminary information from 95 and 96 and it is somewhat outdated and needed to be brought up to date. There have been some adjustments in the property. When the Master Plan was done they included the 59 acre parcel that was purchased with road monies and used as a mitigation site. When the Master Plan was done they looked at all City property ownership there to develop a site analysis and now that there was current information that needed to be refined.

Another thing was West Park Drive was an actual roadway and needed to be identified in a new plan, which would be, refine into a more usable document. He envisioned it to be a phase in type of development scheme.

Mr. Davis said it would be for profession service and it would go out for qualifications and bids to seek who would be the best for this type of development. The current City Consultants would also be involved with base information.

Member DeRoche said none of these items made it into the budget. It seemed to him if we had to eke out monies there should be simple common sense things to use the money for such as bathrooms, signage, make shift parking etc. to make it a little better until there was a long term solution.

Mr. Davis went back to the original thought process when the Commission and staff were developing the C.I.P. They knew the money was not there and that it would come down to the prioritizing of items and what level of service within the park system they wanted. They felt the bar should be raised on the quality and make sure they had the proper playground equipment. Some of the playground equipment was 15 to 20 years old and was outdated. Improvements had been made to make sure it complied with the ADA compliance issues but we are pushing

the envelope there. Mr. Davis said he could look at how the limited dollars could be maximized for the benefit of the residents. He would push off the signage but would want a restroom in a heavily used park, upgrade the playground equipment that was questionable and decide whether or not it should be in service.

Member DeRoche said Mr. Davis did not necessarily need an architect or planner telling him what to do. If he were given money he would find an effective way to spend it. Mr. Davis agreed.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said the Spirit of ’76 Park was Item #9 on his priority list and two years ago on his Capital Improvement Plan it was projected for the 2000-2001 Budget parking area for $10,000 and Playground equipment for $20,000. She noticed that he did not have either of those items in this budget and asked him to explain why?

Mr. Davis said each year the Capital Improvement Budget Plan was re-evaluated. He said based on trends, changes of use and re-prioritizing. A couple of years ago the parking lot issue made sense. However, we have gone over it in the last couple of years and asked ourselves how it could be better address without doing curb cuts at that corner, how do we get people in to use the park in a safe way but without that cost. Priorities and uses change on a trend basis. A parking area had been exchanged for a pedestrian walkway to link to the school’s parking.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said a resident came forward and said some children had fallen because playground equipment had not been maintained. She asked if the playground equipment had been maintained or replaced?

He said the equipment itself was fine the issue was the drop zones around it and it had been addressed and was at current safety standards. Again, it was a priority of use and where the heavy uses were. This is a priority and the maintenance department would make sure these were checked and major issues were addressed.

She said in the 99-2000 Budget $50,000 was allocated for sidewalks in Community Sports Park. She asked if they had been installed?

Mr. Davis said no because Napier Road was being paved from Eight Mile to Nine Mile and it was funded by the development going in at Nine Mile and Napier. They are establishing the areas of R.O.W. and roadway areas and once that was done they would be able to identify where linkages would be needed. She asked if it had been funded? Mr. Davis said when they went out for the Sports Park buildings, because of the cost of those buildings, they up fronted those with additional dollars for the $50,000. He said out of all the items that were funded or recommended for funding in this year’s budget project #1 was the buildings, #2 was landscaping, #3 was the ball field fencing, #4 was sidewalks and #5 was parking lot lights. They are in the process of accomplishing or have accomplished the first three. He and Ms. Smith-Roy would be reviewing total dollars spent and would determine if they could go on to items #4 and #5. He was not optimistic but they would look at it. He said they were close to closing out on the buildings, the trees have been planted and they had some retainage that they held back that would be on their books until November 1^st per the contract, which was 5 or 10%. A bid would be before Council on May 1^st for the three priorities that had been identified

and they would have an idea what the final number was. If short, they would bring it back to Council and try to come up with some alternatives for Council consideration.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if the shelter and restroom proposed for Community Sports Park was the second one? Mr. Davis said it was and it was Master Planned and would be a combination shelter/restroom building near Eight Mile where the Tim Pope Play Structure is. There are hundreds and hundreds of children and families that are using it on a daily basis. They were also looking at working with some local service organization to actually build on a community wide basis something like that out.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo had asked about the Senior Van for Walled Lake and he had mentioned that the van drivers were paid out of the senior part of the budget. She asked if he had the additional information? In the contract it indicated that "the City of Novi will be responsible for acquiring, operating, dispatching, maintaining and insuring the van."

Mr. Davis did not have the handouts but had reviewed that statement with Mr. Nowicki and the direction they were moving in was that it was going to be a funded out of the construction contract for that water main extension. It would be a line item that would be purchased through that project.

She asked how that project was being funded? Mr. Davis was not sure. She asked about the operating, etc. and Mr. Davis said it was a limited operation two days a week and would be billable back for payment from Walled Lake. He had worked out arrangements with them and they would be providing funding for all operations associated with that vans service. It was projected to be about $32,000 a year and included staffing, maintenance, insurance and administrative payback arrangement for the cost overhead.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked what the cost of the van was? Mr. Davis said about $32,000. She said from the Water and Sewer Fund? He said yes. Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said the $30,575 paid in two equal installments would pay for the operating, etc. He said that was correct and he would provide communication and a breakdown on that and it would be in the contract. This would be reviewed on an annual basis.

Ms. Smith-Roy said it would not be funded out of Water and Sewer. She would research this further because the Water and Sewer Fund statement was an error.

Mr. Klaver discussed this with Mr. Nowicki. He had sat in on a meeting with Walled Lake and Commerce Township and it was something they had looked at as an offset for part of the negotiations on the water and sewer. It was not going to come out of that fund; it was in lieu of another payment. He would talk with Mr. Nowicki and give Council an update at the April 27^th meeting.

Member Crawford was not optimistic that money would be found for the parks in this budget

because it was a bare bones budget and if found it would be at the expense of another item or department. Has your staff or commission talked about a Charter Millage? Right now they have a half a mil and levy 4/10ths or less and he felt they needed to get in the que sometime. It needed to be brought forward.

Mr. Davis said it had come up in discussions as the C.I.P. was being developed. The Commission was well aware of this and the other issues created a situation where it was a pecking order. The priorities and needs were well documented and it was really a question to Council and the Community of what the priorities were and where Parks and Recreation fit in. He felt they needed to look at that and what the community would embrace. He was hearing from the community they wanted quality but was not sure he was hearing they were willing to raise millage or taxes to provide it.

Member Crawford encouraged Mr. Davis to bring it forward soon because he was hearing that people did want better services and they might be willing to pay for it but the question had to be presented to find out.

Mr. Davis stated they had gone a long way with the passage of the 93 Bond Issue in purchasing property. Now another step needed to be taken for the park development side of it and then the operational components of this. We have a level of service for the parks that needed to be maintained so the operational components on the back end of their long-term financing needs would be an issue also.

Member Kramer agreed strongly with Member Crawford. He felt this was a quality of life thing that supported family enjoyment. He questioned the $28,000 contingency item in the Parks and Recreation budget and asked if it was still in the budget? Mr. Davis said it was still in there and it was for all four divisions of operation. They carried it forward for all of their full time personnel and instead of projecting rate increases they budget in a contingency line item to address those issues.

Member Kramer asked what the $900,000 for salary contingencies for the City was? Ms.

Smith-Roy advised there was a contingency in the Parks and Recreation Fund because it was a separate fund from the General Fund. Therefore, the City contingency does not cover Parks and Recreation because it had separate support. Member Kramer would support whatever citizen oriented effort that could be put together.

Member Bononi agreed with Member Kramer but did not think they had done a good enough job and felt people were telling them that loud and clear. It was disturbing to her that several projects were started but were not completed and they wanted to move on to new ones and she felt the projects started should be finished first. They should be facilities of which we can be proud. She was not proud of a facility that did not have a bathroom for children to use.

She asked in regard to Rotary Park was there any coordination with the coordinator of the Storm Water General Permit with regard to the high ecoli strep rates at Monitoring Station #9 just north of the park?

Mr. Davis said they have not had any contact with them to coordinate anything at this point. She hoped he would do so.

Mr. Davis was very pleased with the turnaround that had taken place since Suburban had taken over management of the arena but cautioned it had only been six months. It is the operation of an $8 ½ million building with over $600,000 a year principal on interest debt service payment. The actual budget was close to $2 million. It is a revenue producing facility but any type of "hiccup" in the operation had a dramatic effect on the bottom line. They had those "hiccups" with the previous management company and a slow start when first opened but now they have seen very good progress.

Ms. Smith-Roy advised Council they had the latest financial statements for March 31^st. Essentially, Mr. Anastos was right on track with where they projected they would be for the current year. The most impressive area was the revenue and they had been able to hold close to what their projections were. The true test would be the next six months when it was the slow time and they would get a feel for the first time what type of revenue and expenses would be incurred during that time period. They have returned for investment purposes $200,000, which they are offsetting the due to General Fund that was previously in the fund. They would continue to bring those funds. She cautioned Council that on June 1^st there was another debt service payment due. However, they were asked to return those funds to the General Fund. They had charged a small interest charge to the Ice Arena from the General Fund and they had now backed that off. Administratively she did not think it made sense but would work at the direction of Council on how they wanted the issue addressed. The statements now show an interest free loan from the General Fund.

The budget presented showed a loss of $189,000. She had a projection handout and a brief summary to show what the true cash loss was versus the financial loss. What was included in the financial report and what was included in the budget was an item for depreciation. When the depreciation amount was added back and the principal portion on the loan subtracted the projected cash needed from the General Fund would be about $24,000. They believed workstations were essential for them to operate. Also, a frozen beverage machine was something that would generate enough income to pay for itself in a short period of time, floor scrubbers related to maintenance and the auto fry were also things they thought might pay for themselves over time. These items are not in the budget right now but they were looking for approval for those items. However, because this is a proprietary fund or enterprise fund it did not go through the normal procedure of the other funds. The primary reason they were having a cash shortage was because of the debt service. A comparison was made with two other arenas in the area with two surfaces and analyzed their financial statements and our debt service was significantly higher then either one of those arenas. One operates at a loss continuously and the other one just barely breaks even every year.

Member DeRoche asked if there was a benefit or detriment to the City regarding the handling of the interest on the arena or was it something that just appeared on paper? She said it would be a policy issue and Council would determine whether the ice arena would be repaying interest to the General Fund for the use of the money. Member DeRoche thought that was the initial policy. She said in revisiting this it just did not make sense. She had high hopes that there might be some cash left over to start repaying the debt. We sat down with them several times and next year the principal that would be due on the debt was $25,000 greater then it was this year. Utilities were financed and it was something that was not factored when they came to do their presentation.

Member DeRoche thought to keep things square the interest should be continued and at least have a record of everything that the ice arena was doing to the budget.

Member Bononi agreed that any viable business plan should indicate the numbers as they are and she wanted to see them retained in the same way with regard to interest.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if Suburban returned the cash with the assumption that it would be for investment purposes and it was instead repaid to the General Fund?

Ms. Smith-Roy said no. They have an account set up with Comerica Bank and use it as an operating fund. We have asked them, as they have excess funds during the year, to pay that back to the City account where it could be put into the short term investment fund to offset this negative loan balance carried on the books.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo asked if it was all in the General Fund? Ms. Smith-Roy said yes it was but on June 1^st a debt service payment was due. Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said then we are robbing Peter to pay Paul with the numbers. Ms. Smith-Roy said no. If that money was left in Comerica it earned nothing. If transferred to us it helped offset the General Fund, which allowed it to be invested at short term investment rates.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said then we might make a little money on the $200,00 before it went back to the ice arena but we would give it back. Ms. Smith-Roy said that was correct. Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo said then the number that was reflective of $447,897 would soon be $647,000. Ms. Smith-Roy said right, it would be somewhere between $600,000 and $700,000.

Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo thought Suburban had made great strides and it was certainly no reflection on them but it appeared to her the ice arena was a loser. It would be a drain on the City and we should get out as quickly as possible before investing anymore General Fund dollars. It was projected already that cash needed in the next fiscal year was $24,398 and that was without the "hiccups" that Mr. Davis referred to. She said programs could not be funded because they had to dump $700,000 into the ice arena. She felt that the ice arena should be put up for sale.

Member Crawford asked Mr. Davis to respond to what was said. Mr. Davis said if looking at it on a cash basis Mayor Pro Tem Lorenzo was correct and Council had to ask if that $24,000 was a worthy investment for the operation of the facility for the benefit it provided for the community. To put it into a comparison term a lot of things done departmentally in Parks and Recreation are subsidy items like Lakeshore Beach, which is a wonderful facility for the community. However, to provide services such as lifeguards, operation and maintenance of it the City pays, out of the General Fund, $25,000 to $30,000 annually to support it. A variety of Senior Citizens activities such as the van operation are subsidized through the General Fund. Historically, some services require subsidies that provide benefits back to the community.

If sold, what would it bring when there is an $8.5 million debt service generating principal and interest of over $600,000 a year that we are obligated to for the next 21 years. We would still have that obligation to pay for. Would it be a benefit to the community to attempt to sell the facility dollar for dollar of what was invested into it and at the end of that where are we? Member Crawford said we have not even had a year of present management under this new company. It looked like it was going in the right direction over the last six months. He thought

the second year of their management might very well be a revenue generating facility or at least breaking even and paying all the bills.

Mr. Davis said Mr. Anastos proposed a two-year budget. The first year he projected a ten-month budget and was not in and operating for one additional month so it was actually 9 months. He projected $1.3 million worth of revenue and was close to target. After five months of operation they were over a million dollars. He has a good firm understanding of the business was delivering on what he had said. He felt it was important to listen to what Mr. Anastos had to say. Regarding the Capital items he had requested two of them are revenue-producing items. Do you fund those with the idea it would return dollars back on a positive side to increase revenue? Would it be done in one year? Obviously, an auto fryer and a frozen beverage machine have a life expectancy of more than one year. So would we expect the money spent on them to come back in one year or would we forecast it out and say it would be $15,000 in today’s dollar but it would be a revenue source for us for the next 5 or 10 years.

Member Crawford thought it would make the arena a much nicer place to be because there might be spin-offs and offsets of additional rentals. He felt these requests should be looked at.

Mayor Clark thought the management was very competent and was willing to give it some time. In fairness to the present management he felt it had to be given a year or two at most. If it appeared that it was on a positive track it would be a whole different picture. However, if with Mr. Anastos’ best efforts it does not happen he would be the first one to say it should go on the block. He thought the ice arena could make it but the question was how soon.

Ms. Smith-Roy asked Council if there was any information they would like for wrap up to let her know.

Member Kramer asked if there was a page in the budget that showed what the millage was, overtime and what the statutory limit on millage was etc. Ms. Smith-Roy said it was in the revenue section. Member Kramer stated Council still had to discuss whether they wanted to create a legal defense fund and where that money would come from, which could be discussed April 27^th.

Mayor Clark suggested as new projects come on line, especially Commercial, Council might want to consider taking a percentage of that money and put it into a liability account that would be a trust account.

Member Kramer asked if there was anything in their budget process that had to be addressed or was this something that could be handled as an ongoing discussion.

Member DeRoche had thought a lot about that and thought it needed to be considered. If we, as a government, have money collected from tax revenues and were not intending to spend it this year then he felt it would be better off left in checkbooks of residents until the time when we are actually called on to make the payment.

Mayor Clark said the other side of the coin was if it was put in the General Fund it would be spent. Then when it was needed and the residents were asked to pay a higher tax they would

say you had all that money and why wasn’t it put aside so that our taxes did not have to be raised.

Mayor Clark asked that budget sheets be used for next year’s budget. Instead of loose sheets a page could be added as 50A or replaced entirely.

____________________________ ___________________________

Richard J. Clark, Mayor Maryanne Cornelius, City Clerk

Transcribed by: _________________________

Charlene Mc Lean

Date approved: May 15, 2000