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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,July 17, 2017 Page 5 Councilmember Etten also agreed with the need for the city to take care of its ex- isting assets and buildings. Specific to employee compensation, Councilmember Etten noted that he and Councilmember McGehee had lost the vote on a policy for non-union staff; but continued to agree that splitting compensation levels for un- ion and non-union staff and becoming further out of comparison with other sub- urbs would have long-term impacts for the City of Roseville. Councilmember Etten noted that some of these funding initiatives were connected with the goals adopted last week in the Polity Priority Plan (PPP), including new ways to operate that may be addressed in GARE initiatives. Councilmember Et- ten opined that he considered that a great spot to apply one-time money since it was a year-long program, and may result in additional savings if changes were in- dicated for some operations. Councilmember Etten spoke in support of continu- ing parks programming to target less represented residents, including the Police Department's community outreach efforts and with other agencies (e.g. Northeast Youth&Family Services) as not large but important city-wide efforts. On that topic, Councilmember McGehee spoke in support of the city's support to create a community police substation in SE Roseville, opining that she found that location an excellent place and supported those forces and other communities and agencies coming together to have a presence there and share expenses to do so. On the operating fund side of the budget, Councilmember Willmus noted that the Community Development Department (CDD) operating fund had really bal- looned. Councilmember Willmus asked what if any restrictions were involved in the use of the dollars raised through permits, fees and other department revenue. Finance Director Miller responded that, generally speaking, that money was used to regulate certain activities: with Building Permit revenue used to pay inspectors and any planning and zoning efforts done that are related to new building activi- ties and/or redevelopment, as well as code compliance for residential and com- mercial properties, with some used for economic development efforts. Mr. Miller advised that, with few exceptions, anything outside that area would draw atten- tion. Also, Mr. Miller noted that the fund balances are used during good years to balance out those years with less building activities but remained unknown from one year to the next at some points. Mr. Miller agreed that he was not sure if, during his tenure, CDD reserve levels had even been higher, even though he reit- erated that they remained cyclical. Councilmember Willmus noted that with creation of an Economic Development Authority (EDA) and past heavy focus on housing aspects, he would like to see the city get more involved in kick-starting the commercial side. Specific to the CDD reserves, City Manager Trudgeon added that in 2007, those funds were close to $1 million, but with the recession following shortly thereafter, the balance had diminished considerably, and not only alternative funding sources