CC_Minutes_2009_1207 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, December 07, 2009 Page 12 which would depend on the level of funding provided by the City Council, with spending adjusted accordingly. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the City Council was being asked to seta pro- posal without defining what to replace, and suggested that the City Council would want to look at that and determine what should be replaced, noting that there was $1 million in vehicle replacement for 2010. Finance Director Miller clarified that the City Council was not being asked to ap- prove the actual expenditure at this time, but that each purchase would come back before the City Council for approval. Councilmember Ihlan requested clarification on the number of Police squads and unmarked vehicles scheduled for replacement annually (six marked squads and two unmarked vehicles), and sought information on the actual number of each in the Police Department fleet. Acting Police Chief, Captain Rick Mathwig, advised that the current fleet in- cluded 17 marked vehicles and 7 unmarked; with the narcotics vehicle not in- cluded, as it was supplied by Ramsey County. Discussion included the minimum cars patrolling depending on shift schedules; replacement rationale based on 10 years of research and industry standards for law enforcement fleets on their resale value, maintenance needs after 75,000 miles; and their replacement or use as reserve units or training based on their maintenance history. Councilmember Roe noted on the 2010 CIP, it appeared that a new squad car was being added to the fleet. Acting Chief Mathwig advised that this was based on a cursory discussion at the Department Head level; but that subsequently the seventh squad would not be coming into position as an officer position would not be replaced with a traffic of- facer, negating the need for an additional squad. Chief Mathwig advised that this change was subsequent to the City Manager-recommended budget. Councilmember Pust noted that, following the BFO process, the City needed to review its CIP and prioritize it as well, similar to the ranking used for the 160 programs and services as identified; and including a discussion on best practices for consistently replacing Fire and Police Department commuting versus response vehicles. Councilmember Ihlan requested further discussion on overtime expenditures, not- ing that much of that overtime was for staff training; expressing concern about the amount spent for travel expenses (i.e., lodging, meals) and opined that she hoped