HomeMy WebLinkAbout10132017 City Council Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes
October 13, 2017 Volume 40, Page 287
CALL TO ORDER
The October 13, 2017 special meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at
12:00 p.m. by Mayor Jean Bardarson
OPENING CEREMONY
Council Member Erik Slater led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.
ROLL CALL
There were present:
Jean Bardarson presiding and
Marianna Keil Ristine Casagranda
Sue McClure Dave Squires
Erik Slater
comprising a quorum of the Council; and
Brenda Ballou, Acting City Clerk
Absent—Altermatt
CITIZEN COMMENTS ON ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR
PUBLIC HEARING—None
APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA
Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda
Motion Passed Unanimous
SPECIAL ORDERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS—None
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Motion (Keil/Casagranda) Go into executive session to discuss City
Clerk contract negotiations.
Motion Passed Unanimous
II Council went into Executive Session at 12:03 p.m.
Council came out of Executive Session at 12:50 p.m.
City of Seward, Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes
October 13, 2017 Volume 40, Page 288
Council came to an agreement with Acting City Clerk Brenda Ballou and would forward the draft
contract to the City Attorney for review. This would appear on the October 23, 2017 City Council
agenda for consideration and approval.
COUNCIL COMMENTS—None
CITIZEN COMMENTS
Carol Griswold was wishing to follow up from the October 9, 2017 council meeting by
finding the post office contact information on the city's website, but was dismayed that that
information would not be made available until the following week. She thought the city manager's
travel information should be made available as it related to personal versus professional absence,and
if traveling for professional reasons,the purpose. Griswold requested that if council intended to cut
any positions, please wait and do it through attrition; it was heartbreaking to hear from Matt and
Dave Nelson at the last meeting about what the impact would be to lose their jobs.
COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CITIZEN COMMENTS
Keil said she looked at the janitor jobs as an opportunity to start their own business;although
she added that said she would appreciate more specific input from the citizens about where they were
willing to see cuts made when the budget had to be tightened. She believed the city manager was in
Maine currently to obtain his port certification.
Squires said he made a personal promise to Matt Nelson at the last meeting that he would
look into the budget,and Squires reported he had identified over$40,000 that potentially could be
used towards saving the janitorial positions.In the past,council had been asked to see what positions
could be outsourced, and the janitor positions had been targeted two years ago; although Squires
didn't feel that outsourcing those positions would result in the same level of service,he understood it
was not his decision to make alone.
Casagranda thanked Griswold for coming,and thanked her for speaking out.She agreed that
cutting positions should be a very last resort to balancing a budget, and was willing to cut back on
other services to save money. She believed that not making the $98,000 motor pool loan payment
from SMIC to the General Fund would help. As far as obtaining a custodial contract, if the Nelson
brothers went into business on their own, Casagranda felt they would have too much competition
from other local established businesses to win the contract.
Council suspended the rules to allow Griswold to speak.
Griswold reiterated she was in favor of waiting for attrition to cut those positions. She had
noticed that the Parks& Recreation Department was advertising for a snow plow position, and she
wondered why that wasn't being handled by the current staff as it had always been done in the past.
Griswold continued to be sad about the campgrounds and referred to them as trailer parks; the
campgrounds closed on September 30th and the vacationers were supposed to move down to the
Iditarod Campground,but instead there were still a number of long-term campers in the Waterfront
City of Sewarct Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes
October 13, 2017 Volume 40, Page 289
Campground.Griswold said the Assembly of God bus had been parked in the campground for over a
year,as well as a white van with the blue stripes.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 p.m.
/1 / el deg,frt, ,d1,261/4/2,41.ok‘i
•
r
B -nda J. Ballou, MC Jan Bardarson
Acting City Clerk Mayor
6•' OF
' ppl'^plppp
(Ci j--"-ke`e •^I� '�
.¶e (
11�.It ♦ "a
A
se`g tOF 11/41) ..`,,,,.'4`'k