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Session 1722, Budget Study Minutes <br />May II, 1998 <br /> <br />He said this figure was for U City in Bloom. They received $7,000 this year, and <br />they have written a letter requesting $10,000 for the next year, which has been <br />placed in the budget. A copy of their budget will be given to the Council before <br />they get paid. Mr. Schoomer asked if we could get grant money for their I-170 <br />and Delmar landscaping project. Mr. Ollendorff responded that a grant was <br />received and that this money was our share. Mr. Munkel asked to increase <br />722.06 Travel Expense, to $15,000, because it did not seem like it was enough <br />money to cover this year. Mr. Wagner said that there is a travel guideline <br />which states that the travel budget will be one-half of one percent of the <br />budget. Mayor Adams said that it was a noble experiment, but it did not work <br />well. Mr. Schoomer thought that the extra dollars were well justified, since the <br />Council benefitted a great deal from the various conferences and conventions, <br />etc. The sense of Council was to look at the other variables and make a final <br />decision at the end of the budget process. Responding to Mayor Adams about <br />725.03, Mr. Norfleet said that the cost of telephones were figured per person <br />using a phone set, not on the total of numbers of sets - the formula has <br />changed. Mr. Wagner asked what the policy was on employee use of cell <br />phones. Mr. Ollendorff responded that they were to be used for business use <br />only. Personal use is discouraged, but it is done and must be reimbursed. <br />Responding to Mr. Wagner, Mr. Ollendorff said we had approximately forty cell <br />phones. Mr. Schoomer asked if the inspectors had cell phones. Mr. Ollendorff <br />said not presently, but they are getting some in this year's budget. Mayor <br />Adam's suggested getting a cell phone provider in the city to put in a tower and <br />then ask them for cell phones in return. Mr. Wagner does not want to read in <br />the paper that the City is abusing cell phones. Responding to Mr. Wagner, Mr. <br />Ollendorff said that the bills are looked at by the department director, Mr. <br />Norfleet and he looks at a few of them every now and then. Mayor Adams pays <br />for his cell phone and he does not charge the City. Mr. Lieberman asked if the <br />$75,000 budgeted for telephones includes everything or if it was just a basic <br />charge. Mr. Norfleet responded that it included everything. <br /> <br />Mr. Ollendorff wanted to report on attempting to identify other services to <br />provide to residents. The only thing he could come up with was to offer taking <br />over parts of private subdivisions, i.e. an island, one street, etc. Mr. Lieberman <br />asked about using city services and then reimbursing the city. Mr. Ollendorff <br />said that this could be done, but the problem is that we could not respond on a <br />timely basis, the priority is city work and thirdly, it would cause advanced wear <br />and tear on the city's specialized equipment. Mr. Lieberman said that the <br />private subdivisions pay a good part of the City's property taxes and keep their <br />subdivisions in pretty good shape, but they do want to remain private. Mr. <br /> <br /> <br />