Pursuant to due call and proper notice, a special meeting of the City of Wolverton Council was held on April 20, 2017 in Council Chambers in the City of Wolverton, MN. The meeting was called to order by Nancy Olthoff at 6:15 P.M. Council members present: Lisa Pool, Chad Erickson, Eric Anderson and Geoff Zibell.
Also Present: Randy Schmidt
Presentation:
Minutes:
Bills & Claims:
Overdue Utilities:
Correspondence:
Engineer/Water/Sewer:
Fire Department:
Fire Board: Chad began the meeting by stating the history of the fire board thus far. The main purpose of creating a fire board was to help give the firemen more say in the financial matters and helping them to oversee expenses as well as to pursue a fire relief association, have involvement from the townships/cities we serve and to show more financial segregation between the city’s general fund and fire fund even though the funds have always been kept separately.
Up to this point the attorney helped us draw up the joint powers agreement and the fire protection contracts. Next step was to figure out the financial side.
Jessi then stated that in 2016 all fire income was put into the fire board account, however, because the budget wasn’t finalized with the fire board all expenses came from the general fund which resulted in parts of our financials showing a deficit. Also the accountant stated that fire aid funds from the State of MN cannot be transferred from the general fund to the Fire board. The city will continue to spend that on fire expenses.
Having this financial confusion has made us second guess the existence of a fire board as a relief association can exist with or without the board.
The fire relief association is managed by a board of trustees separate from the city and is also managed by PERA. Any fundraiser funds would go into a separate relief association account and would then be transferred to the city to purchase equipment.
In the future the fire department will be better about writing thank-you letters to donors and including how the funds were spent so that donators can see what their donation is doing for the fire department.
Ultimately our final question is: should we have a fire board? What are the pros and cons of having a fire board? Randy will ask a couple of guys to help us figure this out.
Chad will contact the townships and see how they feel about the commitment of a fire board and if they have a preference of having one or not. This also ties back to when the fire contract fees increase; will the townships want to be more involved with this process through the fire board?
Rescue: No Report
Parks: No Report
Streets: None
Mayor/City Clerk: No Report
Planning Commission: No Report.
Office of Tourism: No Report.
Municipal Business Development:
New Business:
Old Business:
Motion to Adjourn: on April 20, 2017 by Chad Erickson. It was seconded by Lisa and carried, all in favor. Mayor Nancy Olthoff declared the meeting adjourned. The next Wolverton City Council Meeting will be Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 6:15 pm.