My Meeting Summary 5.20.25

At the last meeting, there were not any Action Items or Public Hearings, however there was a closed session that did not have reportable items.  In addition, there was supposed to be a presentation by ConFire, however a representative was not able to attend.  The City will attempt to reschedule.

Upcoming Meeting 5.20.25

At our next meeting, there are no significant items on the agenda.   There are several consent items and recognitions occurring including Unsung Heroes and Do the Right Thing and the quarterly ConFire district update.  We will also be having a closed session to discuss real property negotiations.

If you have thoughts or questions on the above, please let me know.

My Meeting Summary 5.6.25

On Tuesday, the Council met to discuss several significant items:

- We received a report from our independent auditors for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2024.  The opinion was unmodified, or a clean opinion.  In prior years, auditors identified material weaknesses in internal controls, which essentially means that there was a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the financial statements will not be prevented, or detected and corrected, on a timely basis.  I am glad to see that due to people, process, and technology improvements there were no material weaknesses identified in the audit year.

- We discussed the creation of a new position of City Engineer.  Currently this role is contracted out.  Based on analysis from staff, the City believes that bringing this role in house has the potential to make operations more efficient and be more economical.  While staff estimated the appropriate salary scales, the City will have to test the market to determine if we are able to attract qualified candidates.

Because this is a Department Head level role, we discussed whether it would be appropriate to increase the salary scales of other department heads, effectively tying the compensation of one department head to another.  Council did not feel that was necessary at this time and decided to move forward with only creating the new role of City Engineer.

- We had a budget workshop where the projected FY26 and FY27 budgets were presented for discussion.  Based on information presented, the budget for FY26 and FY27 show a deficit of approximately $650K and $800K respectively.  

There were a number of questions and the next draft will be discussed at an upcoming Budget & Audit Committee meeting.  I will write in more detail about this in a separate post.

Upcoming Meeting 5.6.25

*The next meeting will start early at 4:30pm.

At our next meeting, we will discuss several significant items:

- We will receive a presentation on the City's audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).  This was continued from our prior meeting due to a scheduling conflict.

- A resolution to add a role for full time City Engineer / Public Works Director.  Currently these functions are performed by a consultant as has been the case for many years.  The City is exploring the potential of bringing these functions in house in an effort to streamline activities and save money.  The agenda item also calls for updating the salary schedule for the role of Police Chief to have parity with the new City Engineer role.

- We will have a discussion on the proposed FY26 and FY27 budget.  This year we are proposing adopting a two year budget.  The current proposed budget for FY26 and FY27 anticipates general fund deficits of approximately $650K and $850K, respectively.

If you have any thoughts or questions on the above, please let me know.

My 4.15.25 Meeting Summary

On Tuesday the Council met to discuss the results of the annual audit for fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.  Unfortunately there was a scheduling miscommunication and the City's auditor was not in attendance.  As a result, we tabled the discussion to a future meeting.

There was also a closed session with no reportable items.

Upcoming Meeting 4.15.25

At our next meeting we will be discussing one significant item:

- The City's audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) will be presented and discussed.

If you have thoughts or questions on the above, please let me know.

My 4.1.25 Meeting Summary

On Tuesday the Council met and discussed several significant items:

- We received a report from the Financial Sustainability Committee.  While the Committee did not approve of the report given by its chair, it did share information regarding the activities of the Committee.  Ultimately a request was made of the Council to clarify the purpose of the Committee.  Council referred back to the original formation goals of the Committee.  For example - to identify areas of additional evaluation for financial savings or revenue generation.  Identifying areas however, is not the same as performing detailed analysis in place of City staff.  

The Council recommended that the Committee participate in the budget process that will occur over the next couple of months, provide any recommendations they may have, and report out both to the Budget and Audit Committee and to the public.  After this budget cycle, the Council will evaluate whether there is a need to continue this Committee.

- We received a report from HdL, the service provider that assists the City's business license processing and administration.  When we first engaged HdL (discussed at our 9.19.23 meeting), City staff represented that the City had approximately 1100 active businesses in the City.  Extrapolating from there, HdL estimated that through their efforts they could discover an additional 900 businesses and therefore expand the pool of licensed businesses.  If this were possible, it would increase City revenues.  

After review, it turns out the information that prior City leadership (no longer employed with the City) overstated the actual number of businesses in the City.  The actual number is closer to 500.  HdL gave a presentation on their work in processing renewals, and the effort to discover any additional businesses that may be operating within the City that would need a license.

- We approved the annual report on military equipment use.  There have been no new acquisitions of military equipment, no use of military equipment, and no complaints regarding military equipment in the annual reporting period.  This report is required annually.

- We approved the streets selected for the 2026 Clayton Neighborhood Street Rehabilitation project.  After much discussion, the Council decided to prioritize streets that were in poor condition, and also certain streets that were higher use areas.  In addition, the Council after receiving lower cost projections for Mountaire Pkwy including approval of grant funding, decided to include that section of street that we previously discussed at our 2.4.25 meeting.  The streets included in the 2026 project are: Main St., Mountaire Pkwy, Marsh Creek Rd., Herriman Dr., N. Mitchell Canyon Rd., Eagle Peak Ave., and El Portal Dr.

The GHAD Board also met to discuss the level of outreach desired by the Board regarding the upcoming mail ballot to GHAD residents asking to increase assessments.  The Board determined that one recorded virtual presentation and Q&A, an informational packet to be included with the ballot, and posting information on the GHAD's website hosted by the City was sufficient.