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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,January 27, 2014 Page 8 Finance Commission Councilmember Willmus stated that he was intrigued by that commission looking at development proposals for a cost benefit analysis, something touched on by he and Councilmember McGehee periodically over the last few years; and asked staff how that would work related to timing of proposals. City Manager Trudgeon opined that, his initial thoughts were that it would be similar to park dedication fees, and the developer approaching the Parks & Recre- ation Commission for feedback as part of the application process, but prior to their submission of the application to the Community Development Department and starting the 60-day formal review period. While that process worked under those limited situations, Mr. Trudgeon questioned the value of a cost benefit anal- ysis, as it was difficult to determine a working model, as evidenced in his work over several years with the University of MN and other communities in establish- ing such a format. Mr. Trudgeon opined that it would take a tremendous amount of time, and had not been accomplished to-date. To consider punching in num- bers for a cost benefit analysis, Mr. Trudgeon questioned how a commission would work on that, since it seemed to be more of a staff model to input data and provide a report, provided the data input and formula were accurate. Mr. Trudg- eon advised that he would need to hold further discussions with Finance Director Miller and his staff to determine if that was a workable option and could or should be part of the duties of the Finance Commission. Councilmember Willmus expressed his interest in more research and exploration on that and a future report. Regarding Item A, Councilmember Willmus expressed interest in the group func- tion equally on short-term issues and long-term planning. At the request of Mr. Trudgeon as to what he considered short-term, Coun- cilmember Willmus responded that he considered it to be the current budget cal- endar and process in any given year. At the request of Mr. Trudgeon regarding whether that meant their review of the steps in that process or their direct involvement, Councilmember Willmus re- sponded that he would like both included. Councilmember Willmus noted that there were some comments submitted on January 6, 2014 that had been omitted, specific to transparency in the process; with those items needed for inclusion in the duties and functions section. Community Engagement Commission