06-27-22 Special City Council MinutesOTSEGO CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2022
5:30 PM
OTSEGO PRAIRIE CENTER
Call to Order.
Mayor Stockamp called the meeting to order at 5:31 PM.
Roll Call:
Mayor Jessica Stockamp; Councilmembers: Tina Goede, Brittany Moores, and Jeff Dahl. City Staff: City
Administrator/Finance Director Adam Flaherty; Human Resources/Assistant City Administrator Sabrina
Hille; City Planner Dan Licht; and City Clerk Audra Etzel. CM Darkenwald arrived at 5:41 PM.
1. Progress Report: Emergency Services Study.
Jerry Streich with Capstone Public Sector Solutions reviewed the emergency services evaluation
slideshow presentation as included in the packet.
Mayor Stockamp would like administrative impacts and start-up costs added as cons for the professional
services agreement slides to be consistent between the two scenarios.
Mayor Stockamp asked how the FDID would impact grants with the three contracts currently in place?
Mr. Streich said the City would need one to apply for FEMA funding and the City would need to work
with the State Fire Marshal's office to obtain one.
Mayor Stockamp asked about recruitment, retention, and if firefighters ever change departments. Mr.
Streich discussed the difficulty of staffing in the fire department environment and noted that cities are
having to be creative and flexible in their efforts to recruit and retain. Mr. Streich mentioned that
firefighters do switch departments, but there are individual factors to those decisions.
City Administrator/Finance Director Flaherty presented an additional slide that included a cost illustration
for personnel, supplies, operations, debt service and capital reserves. The illustration compared current
costs with paid -on-call and duty crew staffing models.
Mr. Streich asked the City Council if there was any more information need to move forward to the next
step? There was discussion by Staff and Council that the next step would be to develop a Study
Report/ Executive Summary. The Council concurred that a recommendation from Jerry be included within
this report for presentation to the Council at a later date.
The City Council appreciated all the information.
CM Darkenwald at 6:55 PM motioned to continue this special meeting following the 7 PM
City Council meeting, seconded by CM Goede. All in favor. Motion carried 5-0.
Mayor Stockamp motioned to reopen this special meeting at 8:08 PM, seconded by CM
Darkenwald. All in favor. Motion carried 5-0.
2. 2023 Budget, Tax Levy and Capital Improvement Plan Review.
City Administrator/Finance Director Flaherty presented the budget meeting #3 materials as included in
the packet. The City Council was presented with source and use cash flow projections for each of the 13
capital project funds. City Administrator/Finance Director Flaherty reviewed the respective 2023 tax levy
impacts of these funds, and summarized the tax levy review to date, noting the General Fund is the only
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MINUTES OF THE CITY OF OTSEGO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
JUNE 27, 2022
tax levy component that has not yet been discussed. The City Council concurred with the information as
presented.
City Administrator/Finance Director Flaherty reviewed the 2023-2027 draft staffing plan as included in
the packet. The 2023 staffing requests will be discussed in further detail during the budget process. CM
Darkenwald would be interested seeing previous years staffing additions.
City Administrator/Finance Director Flaherty is looking for a starting number for the COLA calculation.
Mayor Stockamp asked Mayors in the surrounding cities what they were using for COLAs and 3-3.5% is
what she has been hearing. City Council agreed to start with a 3.5% COLA for budgeting purposes.
City Administrator/Finance Director Flaherty reviewed the Fund Balance Policy - Calculation of Transfer;
he stated the policy outlines that any balance more than the defined 45% minimum can be transferred
to a capital reserve fund at the Council's discretion. The City Council concurred that the transfer will be
evaluated later once the full budget has been reviewed and discussed.
Future budget meetings are scheduled for: August 8th, August 22nd, and August 29th. The Council would
adopt the Preliminary Tax Levy for Taxes Payable at the September 12th meeting.
3. Adjournment.
CM Darkenwald motioned to adjourn at 9:22 PM, seconded by CM Goede. All in favor.
Motion carried 5-0.
dam,
ATTEST:
Audra Etzel, City Clerk
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