Minutes - Council Work Session - 05/12/2015

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Councilmember Kuzma supported retaining the Park Maintenance Fund and keeping it as a reserve. Councilmember Johns stated she appreciates the benefit of consolidating funds but agrees it is nice to have this `safety net' because in lean years those funds would be available to make a needed repair. She supported the language revisions as suggested by Finance Director Lund. Councilmember Shryock agreed and noted lean times may hit and there are always opportunities that come up. She noted the City is developing a State and regional draw to its parks so having such a fund available will benefit the community in multiple ways. Councilmember Williams questioned how many times there will be a situation where these funds would be used for large capital improvements that would not allow the use of another fund for parks or where placing restrictions on this Fund may be the only source available. City Administrator Ulrich stated it is fairly unlikely the City could not identify another source but this would be a likely source to use for a building repair or an unbudgeted item. He stated some repairs can be budgeted in a subsequent year but there could be an unbudgeted emergency repair that is needed. He supported using the Park Maintenance Fund for extraordinary purposes and not capital maintenance, with a focus on keeping buildings, facilities, and equipment in good shape so they last. Finance Director Lund stated this Fund was used to refurbish three tennis courts as the bid came in much higher than budgeted. Mayor Strommen noted the more things the City builds, the more maintenance dollars will be needed. She supported looking at this not only for today but also long-term to assure maintenance and operation funds are available. Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood suggested the Council direct staff to finalize the language. He stated he thinks it would be problematic to set a cap at $500,000 because the City has looming future maintenance demands. Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood stated next week the Public Works Committee will be considering an agenda item relative to the Trail Maintenance Policy, a similar situation to street maintenance. Councilmember Williams agreed the City is building beautiful parks and recreational systems and as part of that, it is essential to plan for maintenance in the future. However, if this Fund is to capture all that future maintenance, then she did not support creating a small fund for special uses. Instead, she preferred to address all maintenance needs and determine how to manage those facilities in a broader sense. Mr. Elvig stated residents highly use trails so they need to be maintained. Originally, he had advocated to capture 30-40% of excess revenue into the Park Maintenance Fund to be sure the City's facilities are maintained. Mr. Elvig stated that is what drove the notion to hold those extra dollars to address long-term park maintenance needs. City Council Work Session / May 12, 2015 Page 9 of 11