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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, March 29, 2010 Page 4 Ayes: Roe; Pust; Ihlan; Johnson; and Klausing. Nays: None. 8. Consider Items Removed from Consent a. Approve 2010 Conference Attendance (former Consent Item 7.e) At the request of Mayor Klausing, Acting City Manager Chris Miller reviewed the Request for Council Action dated March 29, 2010. Mr. Miller noted that some of the items were coming up soon, and early registration had already been missed on several conferences. A bench handout was provided, representing an e- mail from Mr. Miller dated March 29, 2010, listing specific examples of new ideas or innovations implemented as a result of employees attending conferences. Councilmember Ihlan requested future discussion on the 2011 budget of a policy placing restrictions on out-of--town or out-of--state travel, similar to that restriction used by other businesses; and requested this type of detail from staff during that budget discussion. Councilmember Ihlan sought clarification if any carryover funds were applied to the next budget cycle, or if that next budget built on top of that carryover money. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the City needed to take advantage of local opportunities in order to save costs on overnight stays wherev- er possible. Councilmember Pust sought clarification that the City Manager had already done a first screening of the items listed. Acting City Manager Miller advised that the items listed are included in the 2010 budget in the total amount of $28,000 and represented an exhaustive list for 2010; however, noted that depending on the schedule of topics and staff availability, and some unknowns at this time, all of those items listed may not be attended by staff, which would represent savings from the total amount, which would be carried over for appropriation to the following year to reduce costs for that budget cycle in applicable funds. Councilmember Roe noted the differentiation between training and conferences, noting that this list was exclusive to conferences; and questioned where other training was indicated. Mr. Miller confirmed that this list only discussed conferences, noting that training was now only attended when mandatory, as per City Council direction, and that City employees were not sent to discretionary training unless for mandatory OSHA or licensing requirements. Discussion ensued related to training versus conferences, with staff defining a conference as more of a retreat or a multiple-day event with a more comprehen- sive agenda, and training more of a '/2 day event.