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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-13-05 Minutes, Study CommissionMINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CITY OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA LOCAL GOVERNMENT STUDY COMMISSION December 13, 2005 The Study Commission met in regular session in the Commission Room, Municipal Building, at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 13, 2005. Present were Chair Loren Olsen, Marilou Turrentine, Brian Close, Bill Hayward, and John Trull. Also present was Secretary of the Study Commission Celeste Janssen. The meeting was called to order by Chair Loren Olsen at 7:05 pm. Minutes The minutes from December 6, 2005 will be postponed until the following meeting. Public comment No public was present to give comment. Debrief on Work Session with City Commission The Study Commission debriefed from the meeting with the City Commission on the previous night. Some good ideas came out of the Commission meeting, such as letting the public speak for an hour, and then go home and watch the remainder of the meeting on TV. Marilou Turrentine would like the idea on on the mayoral training period put in an editorial piece for the Chronicle. Brian Close heard that the City Commission was not directly opposed to much of what the Study Commission has been considering with five/seven commissioners and directly elected mayor. He noted that the Commission liked for the mayor to have a training period. An article in the Bozeman Chronicle ran on December 13, and it somewhat misrepresented the meeting. Loren Olsen clarified that the charter is written with the voters in mind. Mr. Olsen also mentioned that he is in a "Leads Group" with the Chamber of Commerce. He spoke to the group on the recent election's fifteen percent voter turnout and got different ideas regarding why. The most popular reason was the belief that the City Commission primarily listens to the "vocal minority" so it doesn't matter who is serving on the Commission. Brian Close explained his experience with making compromises while making a decision on a controversial issue. The Study Commission decided that they will return to the topic when they receive the minutes from Robin Sullivan, Clerk of the City Commission. Loren Olsen offered to ask Robin for the minutes as soon as possible. Section V of the Charter Bill Hayward began by stating that he has received tons of help from Anna Rosenberry and Jeff Krauss. Since the last meeting on Section V, Mr. Hayward examined the Local Budget Act from 2001. This document deals with the gap between the beginning of a fiscal year and the official budget. Mr. Hayward can't find a timeline for preparing the preliminary budget, but he did find dates for the official budget. State law also deals with amended budgets. 5.01 Brian Close suggested the clause "as set by state law" because some day the fiscal year might change. 5.02 Bill Hayward would like find better wording than "timely manner" and Brian Close agreed. 5.04 Bill Hayward said state law spells out everything. Brian Close suggested dropping the section or writing "Montana Local Government Budget act, as done in affect." Loren Olsen asked if the Study Commission should redo what was already written. Brian Close explained that Paul Luwe had Pagel of 3 answered no, but there might be a few reasons why the Study Commission would want to duplicate work (such as state law changing). 5.04 (b) is new, and Mr. Hayward believes that Jeff Krauss and Anna Rosenberry seemed okay with it. 5.05 will be changed to say Montana State Law. 5.05 (b) is a quote from Montana State law. Brian Close suggested adding "(c) and otherwise provided by law." Mr. Close had the same suggestion for 5.05 (c). Bill Hayward noted that he likes references, and Brian Close suggested adding them at the end. Mr. Hayward added something on websites. Bill Hayward noted that the City budgets were missing from the library. 5.06 is about how to get from a preliminary to a final budget, and also appropriations. The Study Commission had a brief discussion on how the mill level was set, and agreed to come back to this issue. 5.07 is on supplemental appropriations and Mr. Hayward noted that an amended budget might be required. (b) was in Montana law. (d) amended budget the city manager can move money around, wants to check on d (e) Bill Hayward couldn't yet comment on this section. 5.09 is on the capital program. Bill Hayward noted that Jeff Krauss suggested the December 15tn date. The word "fiscal" was added for clarification. The Study Commission discussed that "multi -year" could mean as little as two years. Bill Hayward was going to leave it in for flexibility. John Trull likes the flexibility. Brian Close suggested setting up something to ensure that the bigger picture is looked at, not just two year intervals. Loren Olsen said a big plan hasn't been done in the past, and therefore he would like some sort of medium and long-term framework for the Capital Improvement Plan. 5.10 Bill Hayward noted that the timeline might be too soon. 5.11 Bill Hayward shorted this section. He did pick out section b because of it's importance. John Trull agreed. Paul Luwe's suggestion for the Charter Paul Luwe's email regarding the charter was tabled until the next session issue. New business The Study Commission thought it would be nice to hold a holiday party, but decided instead to something nice when the charter is done. Confirm date for next meeting January 10, 2006 at 7 pm in the Conference Room of the Municipal Building. Adjournment at 8:14 pm There being no further business at this time, it was moved by Brian Close, seconded by John Trull, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried unanimously. LOREN OLSEN, Chair ATTEST: Page 2 of 3 CELESTE JANSSEN, Secretary of the Study Commission Page 3 of 3