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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10172022 City Council Special Meeting Minutes City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 17, 2022 Volume 42,Page 134 CALL TO ORDER The October 17,2022 special meeting of the Seward City Council was called to order at 5:30 p.m.by Vice Mayor McClure. OPENING CEREMONY Council Member Mike Calhoon led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. ROLL CALL There were present: presiding and Sue McClure(presiding) John Osenga Liz DeMoss Mike Calhoon Randy Wells comprising a quorum of the Council; and Janette Bower, City Manager Brenda Ballou, City Clerk Excused—Terry, Casagranda Absent—None CITIZEN COMMENTS ON-ANY SUBJECT EXCEPT THOSE ITEMS SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING Skip Reierson,inside the city,thanked the city staff for their work preparing the budget.He was grateful that the city tucked away relief funds received from COVID-19. APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND CONSENT AGENDA Motion (Osenga/DeMoss) Approval of Agenda and Consent Agenda Motion Passed Unanimous The clerk read the following approved consent agenda items: There were no consent agenda items. NEW BUSINESS Other New Business City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 17, 2022 Volume 42,Page 135 Committee of the Whole: 2023/2024 City of Seward Budget. Motion (Osenga/Calhoon) Go into Committee of the Whole to discuss the 2023/2024 City of Seward budget. Motion Passed Unanimous Council moved into Committee of the Whole at 5:35 p.m. Council came out of Committee of the Whole at 7:40 p.m. CITIZEN COMMENTS Kat Sorensen, inside the city, appreciated all the discussion tonight. She wondered if the animal shelter would have the space for a visiting veterinarian to do surgeries. Regarding the police trauma kits, she noticed the packs had a five-year shelf life, and wondered if the purchase of these kits would be staggered. Kevin Finch, inside the city, wondered how many calls the fire department responded to. Council suspended the rules to speak to Fire Chief Clinton Crites. Fire Chief Clinton Crites said the Fire Department responded to approximately 300-350 calls per year. Council went back on the rules. Skip Reierson,inside the city,appreciated that council was considering expenses from 2019 as a pre-COVID-19 baseline. He recalled a few years ago having budget discussions that involved potentially laying off a janitor position; he hoped things didn't go back to those levels again. He suggested that the capital budget be looked at to see if some of the IT purchases and other operating budget items should be moved into a capital budget.Regarding the fire department,he wondered if it would be possible to see a total roll up budget in order to calculate the net changes. COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATION COMMENTS & RESPONSES TO CITIZEN COMMENTS Wells appreciated all the citizen comments.He thanked the departments for speaking to their budgets. Calhoon echoed the thanks to the public for coming to the meeting. Osenga also thanked the citizens and department heads for speaking tonight. DeMoss appreciated the critical situation of the fire department,and she thanked Police Chief Nickell for addressing the needs of the animal shelter. She believed that revenue projections needed City of Seward,Alaska City Council Special Meeting Minutes October 17, 2022 Volume 42,Page 136 to be conservative in this budget cycle. McClure thanked the departments for presenting their budgets tonight,and the citizens for speaking tonight. She wondered if the city manager could possibly get an answer to the animal shelter surgery question, as well as the union contract question. Bower said the union contract prescribed a 2.5% increase in 2023 and a 1.5% increase in 2024. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 p.m. 4/ cNA1 . :14111V C re Brenda Ballou, M Sue McClure City Clerk Vice Mayor (City Se '� OF se ?ry'.. 10 O. ' = SEAL = . s., OF ALP",,..