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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—DECEMBER 9, 2013 12 Councilmember Holden understood that the interns were not only working in the Finance Department but also in Administrative Services. She recommended that a .5 FTE intern be approved for the Finance Department. AMENDMENT: Councilmember Holden moved and Mayor Grant seconded a motion to approve a .5 FTE intern for the Finance and Administrative Services Department at an expense of$13,000. Councilmember Holmes questioned why the Council was proposing to reduce the FTE's from 1.5 to .5. Councilmember Holden explained that the budget had already reduced the position to a .5 permanent part-time position. Councilmember Holmes did not understand why the Council was punishing the Finance Department by reducing their staffing level. Councilmember Holden asked when was the last time the Finance Department actually used the 1.5 FTE's in interns. Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson stated that it had been in 2012. She indicated that consultants were used last year for assistance. Mayor Grant called the question. The amendment failed (2-3) (McClung, Werner and Mayor Grant opposed). Councilmember Holmes commented that the Finance Department would have no interns at this time. AMENDMENT: Councilmember McClung moved to remove the following items from the 2014 budget: Finance and Administration Tuition Reimbursement for $3,100; Finance and Administration Training and Conferences for $2,000; Planning and Zoning National Conference for $1,200; TCAAP Professional Consultants for $10,000; Park Maintenance Training Conferences for $500; and Street Maintenance Training Conferences for$500. The motion failed for lack of a second. AMENDMENT: Councilmember McClung moved to direct the City Administrator to find savings of $83,000 in the General Fund Budget. The motion failed for lack of a second. Councilmember Holden understood the last motions, but she believes training and conferences are valuable to the City's employees. She believes the budgeted amounts to be reasonable. She requested further information on the expense budgeted for the professional consultants.