County Board Notes-July 24, 2012

A part of the OACCT's Public Policy efforts for 2012 is for volunteers from the Public Policy committee attend both City and County meetings and report back on items that are of interest/concern to business.

City Council Notes-July 17, 2012

A part of the OACCT's Public Policy efforts for 2012 is for volunteers from the Public Policy committee attend both City and County meetings and report back on items that are of interest/concern to business.

-Proclamation of “Night to Unite” by Tom Kuntz Aug. 7, 2012
-Fin. Report – Bills read to be paid ….council approval…  no unusual bills read normal expenses
-Fire department reports no new business.
-Permits were issued to the following organizations for raffle and street closures Elk’s, Lakeside Foods, Crazy Days, Truth Hardware Employee Club
-Renewal or the SEMCAC lease as in past years
-Street improvements Permits Variance for Food & Fuel on 401 – North Cedar sign to be approved
-Discussion on the side walk improvements in the City of Owatonna by Troy Klecker representative of the city
-He described the plan to improve the sidewalks. Council requested a plan as to what sidewalks will be replaced and the residents will be informed of the improvements
-Kris Busse reported that the city will hold a public hearing on the Charter Cable contract on July 31, 2012 in the City Council Chamber
-Filing for City Council positions and mayoral seats are open until the 14th of August, 2012
-Council input: Ray Trulson requested  step-up enforcement on the intersection of Bridge and Moser Ave. a lot of close calls at that intersection

County Board Notes-July 10, 2012

A part of the OACCT's Public Policy efforts for 2012 is for volunteers from the Public Policy committee attend both City and County meetings and report back on items that are of interest/concern to business.

1. Human Services-Fleet Vehicles.Charity Floen presented the request for two minivans. The court is ordering family visits and home assessments with increasing frequency. Human Services needs access to vehicles that accommodate multiple children and their various child safety seats. Tom recommends purchasing the vehicles over leasing them due to the access to various reimbursement programs. The federal programs are based on a percentage of the IRS allowable millage rate. The percentage depends on the specific purpose of the use. 
   Nina asked if the “fleet tracking” system that the Highway Department is considering would be of use with tracking the mileage of these vehicles for the federal reimbursement. Tom mentioned that given the vans may be used by other departments the tracking is especially important and that several “Crown Vics” should be included in the initial fleet tracking. Anita stated the tracking software is on the plan for 2013. 
   The general consensus is that the vehicle purchase was a good idea and the tracking is important but the hours required to input the mileage should not be the burden of any one department.
    
2. Bixby Sewer ImprovementThe preliminary hearings will be tonight. Bids will be taken the 24th. The county is still working towards grants of 75% of “eligible costs”.
   
3. Award of Bid SAP 74-599-29
4. Out of five bidders the low bid is from Fitzgerald Excavating of Goodhue, MN. After additional research it was decided to award the bid to Fitzgerald.
    
5. Strategic Plan DirectionTom stated that the board had the 1995 Strategic Plan to review as well as the notes from the consultant hired last year. The general consensus of the board is that the county should proceed with a new plan but that the committee be composed of representatives from the staff, the board, and the administration. Doug and Nina will represent the board. Laura Ihrke (?) and Dan McIntosh (?) will represent the staff. Tom and Anita will represent the administration. This committee will report to the Committee of the Whole on a regular basis. 

County Board Notes-June 26, 2012

A part of the OACCT's Public Policy efforts for 2012 is for volunteers from the Public Policy committee attend both City and County meetings and report back on items that are of interest/concern to business.

Anita Benson presented the board with rough numbers associated with reductions to the plan. She made it clear that these reductions were not recommendations. She referred to the spreadsheet for details.

The largest reductions include the elimination of the administration and training areas. There will be an additional reduction in paving requirements because there will be fewer people parking there. Anita said there will need to be some office space for the crews but this space can be outfitted with the furnishings from the temporary location.

The reduction of a wash bay and some of the equipment storage will be partially offset by the additional gravel needed for outside parking.

Anita has a concern that the reduction of the contingency to 1% may be too severe. She said again that the Facility Committee is not recommending these reductions because each has a real operational cost associated with it. She said that they have not taken the time to calculate these costs.

Anita said that spring 2013 is the earliest that any project would start and that they have already contacted the landlord about this.

Anita stated that the committee is looking for direction from the board. FEMA is still an uncertainty but maybe there will be more information available in the fall. She proposed that the same amount of thought needs to go into this revised plan as went into the original plan.

Corky expressed that his opinions are well documented in the minutes. He wants the engineering offices to be part of the plan.  Other questions /concerns of the board include:

• Will a change in the roofline impact the construction costs?
• What are the actual costs associated with the reductions? Specifically what is the cost of losing the operational efficiency of the administration office portion of the project?
• What about shortened equipment life…etc. How much of the equipment will be stored outside in the new plan vs. the original plan and what is the value of that equipment? 
• How can in-house crews be used to lower construction costs? 
• What is CPU’s plan to provide service to the new facility? 
• If the plan is to construct the facility in phases, there needs to be a real schedule of these phases and not another “Highway 14” scenario.

The general consensus of the board is that July 10th is an unrealistic time frame. It is agreed that the county needs a building and they want to take the time to “do the homework” on the revised proposal prior to setting a date for a public hearing.

Members Question Dept. of Revenue-Sales Tax

OACCT members give examples of difficulties following sales tax laws,
as well as encounters with state auditors.
Commissioner Frans and his team plan to respond to the
suggestions and examples later this summer.

Commissioner Frans, Asst. Commissioner for Business Taxes Mansun and Sales Tax Director Pam Evans listen to Owatonna Chamber members concerns about audits.

Some suggestions for improvement: Make it easier!  The system is very complex and difficult to businesses to follow the rules; communicate with businesses a change on similarly themed items found during an audit--share those findings with like businesses in that industry; time frame for audits drag out for months-it's unacceptable since audits demand lots of time and resources.

Commissioner Frans plans to report back the findings in a summary.

County Updates Chamber on Tracked Issues

Thanks to Administrator Shea for attending today's Chamber Public Policy committee meeting to give us updates on a couple items the Chamber is tracking at the county level this year: 1) streaming/broadcasting board meetings; 2) user-friendly budget available online and the county budget process.

Shea reported that the broadcasting of board meetings has been put on the back burner due to other issues.  The budget is available online, but not in it's entirety.  He expects by the end of this budget cycle that a compilation of the budget will be available.

He also outlined a general timeline of the county's budget process: departments have already started reviewing their budgets; by August/September the board will get involved to review with committees the departments' budgets; the final number will be set by December, although the board will have a good idea by September (truth in taxation deadline).

To track these issues or to follow other issues the Chamber is watching, go to www.voiceforowatonna.org.

Reps share session wrap up highlights with members

Senator Parry and Representative Kath shared the last session highlights with members from OACCT.

Click here to view a video highlight of the event.