VILLAGE OF NORTH AURORA
JOINT FINANCE/PUBLIC FACILITIES COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
JULY 23, 2012
CALL TO ORDER – 5:30 pm
Trustee Mancini called the meeting to order
ROLL CALL
In attendance: Trustee Laura Curtis, Trustee Ryan Lambert, Trustee Chris Faber, Trustee Vince Mancini, Water Superintendent Paul Young, Public Works Superintendent Mike Glock, Village Administrator Wes Kornowske, Finance Director Bill Hannah.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
1. Approval of Finance Committee Meeting Minutes dated June 11, 2012
Motion for approval made by Trustee Curtis and seconded by Trustee Faber. All in favor. Motion approved.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Review of Water Restrictions/Hours
Water Superintendent Paul Young stated that Staff has been in discussion regarding water regulation hours due to issues that have arisen over the past few years. On the operational side, the Village is not in a crisis situation, but does recognize an increase in watering between 5 pm & 10 pm. The suggestion is to change to an odd/even schedule, allowing watering from 6-9 am and 6-9 pm. Currently, the information for watering restrictions is on a shared sign with the 2-inch snow fall ordinance. New signs would need to be ordered. Forty (40) signs for each ordinance, resulting in a total of 80 new signs.
Trustee Mancini requested this not be implemented until next year.
Staff recommended the Village move forward with the proposed water plan.
Trustee Faber noted that there were two quotes on signs, and asked how necessary it is to have the reflective signs. Mike Glock said that all the road signs they order in the Village are of the reflective material. Trustee Mancini asked if the Village could use MFT funds. Bill Hannah said he would check into that as an option when the final costs are determined.
Wes Kornowske said this would be on the agenda for the August 6th Village Board meeting.
Trustee Lambert suggested implementing the new watering restrictions immediately and not writing tickets until next year. Kornowske said that the Village would receive the new signs in 30 days and signs could be installed by October/November. The Village would have a moratorium on writing tickets and just provide warnings.
2. Review of Water Meter Fees
Finance Director Hannah indicated that the Village code gives the Water Superintendent the authority to set the prices for the water meters. Over the last 8 years, the price for certain water meters was written into the code. Staff decided it makes sense to eliminate those references in the code for those water meter fees and rely on the water superintendent to make sure the Village is recuperating those costs when the Village sells the water meters to developers. The committee was in agreement to remove any reference to fees in the code.
3. Discussion on Alternate Water Bill/Email Notification Proposal
Bill Hannah informed the committee that based on prior Board feedback and decision Springbrook came back with a proposal which would allow the Village to only pay upfront costs, aside from annual maintenance costs and only offer on-line bill notification and access. As utilization of the module increases over time, the Village is recouping the implementation costs. The $5400 up front cost is a maximum ceiling in the proposal. Hannah said that the cost would be closer to $4000. Mancini said that the last proposal included credit card payment and online notification and the ongoing cost was closer to $10,000. Hannah said that included estimated merchant fees and $1.00 transaction fees. Mancini said that the cost for online access and email alerts would be a single lump sum cost of $8800. Hannah said was made up of the $5400 for implementation costs along with an annual maintenance fee of $3,400. Mancini asked if the annual maintenance fee would be affected by the credit card payments. Hannah said he did not know if that would affect the fee if that portion of the module was implemented in the future. Trustee Curtis noted that according to the report, the Village would start to see a savings in year 3. Curtis asked at what point this would become an asset to the Village. Hannah said that it would improve customer service immediately. The Village would see a savings in 3 to 4 years. Curtis said she did not agree with implementing something that the Village projects 8 – 22% of residents will use and only benefiting a certain number of people. Curtis added that there are so many other ways to pay bills and was unsure if the Village should spend the money. Trustee Lambert said he would like to see the credit card payment portion included in the proposal. Trustee Faber said that the previous model cost the Village more when more people used the system. With the new system, the Village can offer this to residents without it costing the Village anything over the long run. Hannah said that most of the costs from the original proposal were due to the credit card system. Faber said he liked the proposal and the ability to be paperless. Mancini said that there will be a greater utilization than originally anticipated. Curtis said she was not in favor. Trustee Lambert said he would like the credit card option included.
4. Discussion on Activity Center Financial Projections
Bill Hannah said that the Village is projecting revenues higher than budgeted. There are some maintenance issues long term but there have been no major issues recently. Mike Glock said that a major concern is the roof on the north end and over the gym. Both are over 30 years old. The north end could cost $40,000 and the gym $50,000. The only other issue is electric since the building was built when there were no computers or air conditioning.
Trustee Faber stated that there needs to be strategic planning regarding the Activity Center.
5. Discussion on Personnel Policy Manual Changes – Payroll Cycle/Process
Finance Director Hannah said that with the attached changes the payroll cycle would change from semi-monthly to 26 pay periods a year. If approved, the change would be effective with calendar year 2013. The last pay period on the current format would be 12/28/12 and the first paycheck on the new cycle would be 1/11/13. There would be two paychecks a year where employees would not have any applicable deductions (May and November of 2013 when three paychecks would be issues). There were no questions or concerns from the Committee.
OTHER INFORMATION – None
TRUSTEE COMMENTS – None
ADJOURNMENT
Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Faber and seconded by Trustee Curtis. All in favor. Motion approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori J. Murray
Village Clerk
