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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, February 9, 2009 Page 16 other projects; and staff's intent to determine stipulations based on when the City authorized conduit funding and when the bond issuance was closed. b. Discuss an Alternative Budgeting Process for 2010-2011 Acting Mayor Roe noted discussions held by the City Council at their Strategic Planning meeting held last Saturday. Finance Director Miller advised that staff had yet to debrief comments received at that meeting; but that staff was continuing to get a sense of the City Council on how to proceed and how to evaluate alternative budget processes. Mr. Miller ad- vised that staff s intent in including this on tonight's agenda was to instill the sense of urgency to the City Council and the community that the current way re- sources were allocated was not sustainable in the long-term; and that how those resources have been historically allocated may not be in the City's best interest moving into the future. Mr. Miller noted that several years ago, staff had identi- fied analternative process to define desired outcomes and how to achieve those outcomes based on levels of funding; and that staff was seeking direction from the City Council for additional follow-up and formal City Council action on how staff should proceed. City Manager Malinen concurred with Mr. Miller's comments and observations; advising that he came away from Saturday's Strategic Planning meeting with the impression that while staff could identify the types of cost incurred internally, ex- ternal assistance was indicated in how best to proceed. Mr. Malinen advised that the Department Heads would be holding discussions on Tuesday morning, con- tinuing the concepts discussed. However, he noted the need, from a City Council perspective, on the preferred timeline and how to best accomplish those goals to solve structural financial issues. Acting Mayor Roe asked that staff alert the public to the rebroadcast schedule of Saturday's Strategic Planning Meeting. Acting Mayor Roe opened the discussion to public comment at this time. Public Comment Gary Grefenberg, 91 Mid Oaks Lane Mr. Grefenberg opined that he was interested and fascinated by the proposal out- lined by staff in their memorandum; and further opined that, based on his experi- ence in the budgeting process last year, he would suggest one additional compo- nent. Mr. Grefenberg asked that the City Council add a community engagement com- ponent as one of the goals to the proposed alternative budget process; allowing for transparent and accessible information, easily understood by the public. Mr. Gre-