12/23/1974 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ ~- - -- . __.___.n.._..~,__.~._ BB. Appeal, Covenant Park PUD Final Plan Approval - Manager explained that hearing I \~\ scheduled for December 23 Council meeting on appeal of final plan approval py: i Planning Commission (November 25, 1974) had been cancelled. Circuit court de- , :cision upholding preliminary plan approval of the Covenant Park PUD'was appealed Corom ito a higher courf so it will be necessa~y to delay the hearing process on the pile final plan approval appeal until a decision is received in the court case. 12/1B/74 ,- .,~- ~ -~ .- CC. , Introduction, Dave Jordan - Replacing Jack Guthrie in the Manager's office as Comm \\ ,"flak catcher." Mr. Jordon comes from the police d~partment and will be taking I File '1' ,a turn at working as public relations officer for the next several months. 12/IB/74 DD! Environmental Impact Statement, 30th Avenue and Hilyard Intersection Improvement _! (\)":J . Di s tr ibu ted, indicating hearing on the project scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Corom r January 22, 1975 in the Council Chamber, information session the same day from File 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. I 12/lB/74 EE. '1973-74 Audit-- Copies of the audit were previously distributed to Council members. l' 'd-' Letter to management from auditors, Coopers & Lybrand, were distributed to Council \ ,with this agenda commenting on items they felt would offer cost-saving or peiformance- effectiveness opportunities. Manager said development of a two- or three-page sum- ,mary of the budget was under discussion to make it possible to more easily compare ibudget allocations and expenditures. He said the accounting procedure used in the ,audit made the audit report difficult to follow. With regard to comments on court ifunds, business license monitoring, and purchasing practices, Manager said Council !cou1d be assured that management was independently making an effort to respond to ,,-. ,those items. Finance Director Sherm Flogstad added that the accrual system of ac- .counting used was based on recognized national governmental accounting practices. I In response to Councilman Williams, Assistant Manager Martin explained that organiza- Q tiona1 changes were contemplated in the court which were anticipated to make possible , the daily transmittal of funds to the finance, department.. It was decided to employ ! , a court administrator to work on the total problem befoi~~ 'gain'?! "to ~utomat1.on' Eo" ',: J deal with the problem more effectively. Manager added that the administrative role of the court had been unclear because of Charter-provision for appointment i of the judge by the Council leaving doubt about city administration authority in ! , the court's operation. However, he felt that in working with the judge seeking , i a solution they had arrived at an agreed upon plan which would help solve the , I problems. Comm File , Councilman McDonald was not clear on action required since he had not received his 12/1B/74 , agenda in time to review the management letter. ~ayor Anderson indicated no action was needed at this time, that any changes desired could be brought to the formal Council meeting on DecenJber 23. - Mayor Anderson aksed if there had been any thought given to expanding the internal auditing procedures. Assistant Manager answered that they had been expanded sub- stantially. Most of the audit was now prepared in the finance department with re- '-- view only by the auditing firm. Finance Director added that personnel was not available for auditing departments other than finance and some checking of prop- erties in the policy department and petty cash. Manager said staff would be more comfortable with internal auditing expanded to cover other departments, particularly where monies are handled and where monies are distributed to social service oganiza- ti ons . At the conclusion of the discussion, Richard Flomer, auditor, commented that existing internal auditing was the very.best that could be done with existing personnel. He said addition of another person in that capacity would merit considera- tion if funds were available. I Councilwoman Campbell recalled a study at one time by League 'of Women Voters con- I c1uding that the municipal court was unnecessary. She wondered if staff fJ.ad ever I I considered a recommendation to the CouncL1 in that regard. Assistant Manager , answered that that particular proposal would be before the Legislature at the next session. But he felt if the municipal court were abolished, it would only trans- fer the problems to the district court.because of their already overloaded dockets. He was not sure outright apolition of the municipal court would solve anything since there would still be violations of some kind requiring judgment at the municipal le~el. Mayor Anderson, when queried by Councilman McDonald about his reason for asking the question about internal auditing, said his affiliation with businesses and I associations concerned with internal auditing made him curious about the city's -:. approach. ':) ~ . '. 12/23/74 - 10 .. 429