Minutes - Council Work Session - 10/10/2006

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Councilmember Olson asked what fund would be utilized for these expenditures. Finance Officer Lund replied this could be included as part of the Contingency Fund with a certain dollar amount allocated. Councilmember Strommen noted some of these expenditures are imbedded in other departments. Mayor Gamec asked how the annual employee breakfast is currently being handled. Assistant City Administrator Nelson replied this is included in the Council 6249 budget line item. There was a $450 allocation in 2006 for employee appreciation events; this amount was increased in 2007 because there are more employees. Consensus of the Council was to continue including the annual employee breakfast as part of the budget. Finance Officer Lund advised this is a policy for public purpose expenditures, not just discretionary expenditures. Training is included, as it is beneficial t,o the City. Councilmember Strommen expressed concern regarding item 3.b (special events). She indicated she would like the process spelled out to include a limit and who would attend. She stressed the need to question the public purpose of attending the events. If the purpose is networking it should be considered whether there are other opportunities that better meet that purpose without the expense of the golf and other activities. There was discussion of special events, such as seminars, golf tournaments and the Crestview gala that is held once per year. Consensus of the Council regarding item 3.b (special events) of the draft policy was that the special events will be brought to the Council for approval with a list of who should attend prior to the golf season and the gala season, and that no expenditures will be made for spouses or friends of employees attending the events. Councilmember Strommen indicated she has additional notes regarding the policy that she will be forwarding to Finance Officer Lund. Finance Officer Lund requested direction from the Council regarding the topic of consultant contracts and authorization of payments. She reviewed that Council had discussed that there should be a policy in place to ensure that consultants are aware of the process required to receive authorization prior to proceeding with work beyond the amount authorized by Council. Councilmember Jeffrey noted there should be a staff person assigned to authorize changes to consultant contracts at some level. This is done with Public Works project. City Council Work Session / October 10, 2006 Page 4 of 6