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Regular City Council Minutes - 8/18/03 Page 5 Councilmember Schroeder requested that Mr. Brokke and Public Works Director Schwartz continue to look at areas to improve efficiencies in both departments and sharing of the respective departments' expertise. Mr. Brokke assured Councilmembers that his department and the Public Works Department were continually seeking ways to work cooperatively. Due to technical difficulties, C-TV was experiencing lack of audio for the home audience during a portion of the meeting. Mayor Kysylyczyn requested that City Manager Neal Beets review his recommendations in response to advantages and disadvantages in making a reduction in the nature center's full-time staff person. City Manager Beets advised that his recommendation was for a reduction in custodial services at the RSC and Fairview Community Center, with staff performing more of their own maintenance of their immediate work areas. Mr. Beets recognized that the Parks and Recreation department had a very public function, but had asked all departments across the board to reduce their overtime by fifty percent (50%), which would have a dramatic impact, particularly in this department, when staff couldn't always predict when events would be ending. Mr. Beets and Mr. Brokke addressed the recommended elimination of city-sponsored fireworks; suspension of the bike patrol; elimination of the aggressive skate park and wading pool; reduction in the length of the OVAL's ice season; and introduction of an internal administrative support staffing pool for all departments where appropriate. Mr. Brokke acknowledged that while the department's programs, services and facilities were heavily used by the community and represented a quality of life issue as well, it was recognized that the Council had some hard choices