Finance Committee - September 25, 2023 Minutes
FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Regular Meeting Monday, September 25, 2023
The Regular Meeting of the Finance Committee of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held in the Meadowlark Room at City Hall at 10:00 a.m., Monday, September 25, 2023.
The Finance Committee Members present or absent were as follows:
Present: Timothy Mahoney, Dave Piepkorn, Michael Redlinger, Steve Sprague, Tanner Smedshammer, and Brenda Derrig.
Absent: Susan Thompson.
Others Present: Nancy Morris, Wyatt Papenfuss, Steve Dirksen, Dan Portlock, Ben Dow, Melissa Perala, Chandler Esslinger, Denise Kolpack, Arlette Preston, Gregg Schildberger and Jill Pagel.
Approval of Minutes
Mr. Piepkorn moved the minutes of the August 28, 2023 Finance Committee meeting be approved as presented. Second by Mr. Sprague. All Members present voted aye, and the motion was declared carried.
Consent Agenda
Departmental Requests Approved:
Six requests were considered.
Mr. Redlinger moved to approve, second by Mr. Smedshammer and all members present voted in favor.
Regular Agenda Sales Tax Analysis
Mr. Sprague reviewed the last month sales tax collection for Cass County and the City of Fargo and stated that taxes continue to slow down.
Budget Adjustment Approved:
Ms. Perela presented a notice of grant award amendment for additional funding for WIC. Due to the late arrival of the contract addendum from the State and with the contract end date of 9/30/23, the Mayor’s signature was obtained on 9/15/23 and returned to the State. The requested budget adjustment listed Revenue of $83,490 for WIC, and Expenses of $6,000 for Machinery/Equipment and $8,800 for Computer Equipment.
The remaining amount of the grant will go back to the salary/benefits fund.
Mr. Redlinger moved to approve, second by Ms. Derrig and all members present voted in favor.
Temporary/Early Hire Request Approved:
Mr. Dirksen informed the Committee that the Fire Department had received military orders for Firefighter Nicholas Kindelspire for 400 days. The department is planning to start a recruit on October 16 to replace three vacancies on the fire department.
Mr. Dirksen is requesting to hire a Temporary/Early hire to fill this long term vacancy. This would ensure that all three shifts would be at full strength on February 5, 2024. As part of the 2024 budget and planning for the staffing of Fire Station 8 we anticipate starting a recruit class of 6 on March 4, 2024. The original plan was for this to include 6 personnel for station 8. This Temporary/Early Hire is considered part of this hiring group and would transition to full-time status on March 4, 2024. The Fire Department also plans to have a second recruit class starting July 8, 2024. This class will conclude the necessary hiring to staff Fire Station 8. This final group is anticipated to complete the academy on October 25, 2024. The Fire Department plans to open Fire Station 8 on Monday, October 28, 2024.
It is estimated that FF Kindelspire would have received $18,030 in pay for the remainder of the year. The new employee will earn $8,452 for 2023. In 2024, FF Kindelspire would have received $15,265 for the first 5 pay periods and the new employee will receive $10,780 for the same pay periods.
Mr Redlinger moved to approve, Mr. Sprague made the second and all members present voted in favor.
Winter Warming Initiative:
Ms. Derrig shared a plan that best fit the options for winter months for the homeless. She explained that the plan would include utilizing the first floor of the Downtown Engagement Center for winter warming. The plan is to extend the current hours of operation from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm at the DEC to extend those hours to 8:00 pm and add a new shift from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am. This would not include bed for sleeping but just seating to come in and stay warm.
At the conclusion of the winter, they will come back to city commission to see how it worked and if seemed successful or did problems arise with staffing.
Mr Piepkorn asked if this would be 24/7 and expressed his disappointment of the money spent on the DEC.
The Mayor expressed concern of the number of people last year that experienced frost bite injuries.
No motion was necessary as this initiative will be funded with ARPA funds as designated by Commission as well as a new PHEP grant awarded to Health.
Other business:
The Mayor informed the committee that the next meeting will be held in the Commission Chambers for consistency in format like other meetings. He asked Mr. Schildberger to coordinate the change.
Adjourn
The time at adjournment was 10:11 a.m.