12/1 Meeting- WWTP Mess
At the meeting the Council adopted an ordinance that should not be published and should be subsequently repealed. The ordinance as submitted was modified by the Council with good intentions but they caused a problem with the 2006 budget by changing the date from 2005 to 2006. The ordinance is viewable by clicking on the posting’s title. Please review the Purpose and Explanation in the staff recommendation and Section one in the ordinance.
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The $704,000 to finish the construction of the treatment plant is already budgeted for 2006. By changing the date in Section 1 of the ordinance to 2006, the appropriation has been doubled even though the actual funds do not exist. The $1.3 million also in the section will consume all but $400,000 of the total set aside for all sewer projects in 2006. Furthermore, the addition of the effluent line constitutes a new project not in the 2005 or 2006 capital improvement budget. And finally, the staff wants to give the present treatment plant contractor, Glacier Construction, and additional project WITHOUT going out for bids.
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At the meeting staff defended their proposal in part by admitting that a recommendation on the effluent line and a subsequent decision by the Council will be forth coming in January. What was really happening with the proposed ordinance is more sinister. The Manager wanted to fund the final payment on the treatment plant construction out of the 2005 fund balance; thereby freeing the already existing appropriation up for other purposes. The reason for asking for the appropriation on the effluent line out of the 2005 fund balance is even more deceptive. By obtaining the fiscal authority from the Council at this time, the existing contractor could be rewarded by the staff with and extra $1.3 million without the “nuisance” of competitors, and the 2006 budget would not be impacted.
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The Mayor and Council are partially responsible for this mess because of a long time procedure that assumes an adversarial relationship among the members. In this instance Council Member Lindsey followed the procedure by agreeing to a staff request that he sponsor the ordinance. The sponsorship of items on the agenda works only if the staff is being honest with the members of the Council. Other members have been burnt by this staff but that is another subject.
-
The $704,000 to finish the construction of the treatment plant is already budgeted for 2006. By changing the date in Section 1 of the ordinance to 2006, the appropriation has been doubled even though the actual funds do not exist. The $1.3 million also in the section will consume all but $400,000 of the total set aside for all sewer projects in 2006. Furthermore, the addition of the effluent line constitutes a new project not in the 2005 or 2006 capital improvement budget. And finally, the staff wants to give the present treatment plant contractor, Glacier Construction, and additional project WITHOUT going out for bids.
-
At the meeting staff defended their proposal in part by admitting that a recommendation on the effluent line and a subsequent decision by the Council will be forth coming in January. What was really happening with the proposed ordinance is more sinister. The Manager wanted to fund the final payment on the treatment plant construction out of the 2005 fund balance; thereby freeing the already existing appropriation up for other purposes. The reason for asking for the appropriation on the effluent line out of the 2005 fund balance is even more deceptive. By obtaining the fiscal authority from the Council at this time, the existing contractor could be rewarded by the staff with and extra $1.3 million without the “nuisance” of competitors, and the 2006 budget would not be impacted.
-
The Mayor and Council are partially responsible for this mess because of a long time procedure that assumes an adversarial relationship among the members. In this instance Council Member Lindsey followed the procedure by agreeing to a staff request that he sponsor the ordinance. The sponsorship of items on the agenda works only if the staff is being honest with the members of the Council. Other members have been burnt by this staff but that is another subject.
posted by Gene Wieneke at
3:53 PM
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