December 12, 2017

REGULAR MEETING

December 12, 2017

CITY OF HURSTBOURNE

200 WHITTINGTON PARKWAY

LOUISVILLE, KY

Mayor Mary Schneider called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.

C.A.O. Leidgen conducted the roll call.  A quorum of the Commission was present.

Present: Mary Schneider, Mayor

Ben Jackson, Commissioner

Norb Hancock, Commissioner

Earl Hubbuch, Commissioner

Lois Wagner, Commissioner

Others

Present: John Singler, City Attorney

Chris Crumpton, City Engineer

Bill Bennett, City Treasurer

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Schneider.

Don Lawson, Jr., of Stephens & Lawson, Certified Public Accountants, presented highlights of the City audit for the fiscal year ended in June 30, 2017. As he presented the audit, he stated that the financial statements were given a clean opinion. He further stated that the property tax revenue increased, there was an increase in insurance premium tax and there were some operating grants and contributions. Assets, liabilities and net position in comparison years illustrated that the total assets verses liabilities ended in a very strong position. The largest liability is the unfunded pension for CERS. Under Excess of Revenue over Expenditures, the revenue exceeded the expenses. He added that fixed assets such as buildings and infrastructure also included the irrigation system, brick entrance markers, and paving. Budgeted expenses verses actual expenses showed no departments over budget. Finally, Mr. Lawson stated that regarding internal control over financial reporting, no deficiencies in internal control existed and he believes the City is doing a good job in being a good steward of the taxpayer’s money.

Commissioner Jackson recommended that the timing of a Commissioner’s arrival to a regular meeting be omitted from minutes. With that change, Commissioner Jackson made the motion that the minutes of the November 14, 2017 regular meeting be approved as distributed to the Commission.  His motion was seconded by Commissioner Hancock; motion carried unanimously.

Municipal Order 17-41 “Relating to Check Register Approvals for October, 2017” was distributed to the Commission. Commissioner Wagner made the motion to approve MO 17-41; her motion was seconded by Commissioner Jackson. The motion carried unanimously.

Commissioner Jackson presented bank account signature forms and other required documentation from Central Bank for the Commissioners to sign. C. A. O. Jim Leidgen stated that he will correct any address or additional changes on the forms and return to the bank.

There was no report regarding HSWAC.

City Attorney John Singler reported that the City road closures have not been filed; however, he will have an update at the January 2018 meeting.

Mayor Schneider reported that the City Landscaping & Planning Committee, which is comprised of Commissioner Lois Wagner, C. A. O. Jim Leidgen and herself, has met and their goal is to review all City landscaping plans for consistency and to meet certain standards. They met with Mr. Greg Bennett, a Landscape Designer, who has worked with Horticulturist Andrea Hanlon on the landscape designs at City Hall. Mr. Bennett would work with the City on an “as needed basis”.  In addition, a meeting was held with the Bramer Brothers and the topic of the benefits of utilizing a Horticulturist was discussed. Mayor Schneider emphasized that all plans will be brought before the Commission for approval.

Regarding City sidewalks, City Engineer Chris Crumpton reported that the sidewalk grinding by Precision Concrete has been completed. He further explained that Jean Henry, from Lawrence and Associates, has completed two-thirds of their contract and the other portion of the contract should be completed soon.

C. A. O. Jim Leidgen reported that a meeting between Mayor Schneider, himself and the owner of Talgrace, a local website design and hosting company took place. Mr. Leidgen stated that the presentation was very professional, positive and favorable overall. The City website design and it functionality were discussed at length. Additional meetings will be scheduled to gather proposals to upgrade the City website for comparative analysis and submission to the Commission for review and consideration.

Mayor Schneider stated that there will not be a second Commission meeting in December 2017. Commissioner Wagner then made a motion to cancel the Commission meeting on December 26, 2017 due to the holidays; her motion seconded by Commissioner Jackson.  The motion passed unanimously.

City Attorney John Singler spoke about the Charter Communication/Spectrum franchise which has expired in Jefferson County, Kentucky. A renewal agreement form was mailed to each city by the Jefferson County League of Cities.  Mr. Singler had a conference call with Charter Communications and asked how a city can approve a franchise without a bidding process?  Charter Communications stated that it is a renewal agreement and they will send legal authority papers to him to support their statement.

In addition, Mr. Singler discussed the Google Fiber initiative which claims to be the fastest internet server that will be installed in Jefferson County.  The installation process is called micro-trenching. It is a new technique that digs into the streets to bury the cable approximately two inches into the pavement. After much discussion about this process, Mr. Singler stated that he intends to gather more information about micro-trenching.

Commissioner Hancock reported that there had been mailbox theft reported in the City.

GENERAL GOVERNMENT REPORT – Commissioner Jackson

Commissioner Jackson reminded the Commissioners that it is time for the internal evaluation from the Commissioners for C. A. O. Jim Leidgen. He explained the evaluation scoring and he asked the Commissioners to scan their form to him or place them in his box. C. A. O. Leidgen also noted that the evaluation process also includes a “360 review” of each Commissioner to be conducted by the C.A.O.

Commissioner Jackson also reported that there is a service-oriented business interested in renting the remaining space upstairs at City Hall. The business requested if they could intermittently use a downstairs office or conference room to better assist any physically handicapped clients.  The office space would be used during the hours of 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and only on a pre-scheduled basis arranged through the staff. After some discussion, it was determined to speak with the potential client regarding their type of business and continue discussing the terms at a later Commission meeting.

Commissioner Wagner expressed her concerns regarding the loss of large Christmas wreaths that were in storage. She asked for an inventory to see if they can be discovered. After much discussion about the City’s Christmas decorations throughout various sections of the City, the Commission decided to have a meeting with County Squire Florist to discuss this year’s decorations and make adjustments

Commissioner Wagner also asked City Engineer Chris Crumpton about the newly proposed apartments located at the Oxmoor Farm and if it would beneficial for the City of Hurstbourne to request a traffic study. Mr. Crumpton stated he had reviewed a preliminary traffic study and it does not provide adequate information on the effects to the City. He requested a study that would provide the impact of any additional traffic in the City of Hurstbourne. Mr. Crumpton recommended that he contact Neel Schafer to review the Metro plans which would include the Hurstbourne traffic study. Commissioner Wagner made a motion to authorize Engineer Crumpton to seek out and acquire additional traffic study information, including professional analysis and recommendations, with expenditures for the project not to exceed two thousand dollars. Her motion was seconded by Mayor Mary Schneider; motion passed unanimously.

TREASURER’S REPORT – Treasurer Bennett

Mr. Bennett stated that the October financials were available tonight and the November financials will be provided at the January 2018 meeting.

C.A.O. Leidgen distributed a winter 2017 draft of the Hurstbourne Herald. Commissioner Jackson suggested the Commission may want to write a year-end letter to the citizens listing the calendar year accomplishments. Leidgen stated that he would attempt to include it in the issue if room was available. Space will be limited because Ordinances will be included as inserts in order to save money over publishing the Ordinances in the Courier Journal.

Mr. Leidgen finally presented the Davis Pro-2 Weather Station to the Commission. He illustrated the system and explained how the software works in conjunction with a camera. Commissioner Jackson added that he spoke with WAVE3 Meteorologist, Kevin Harned about the device and he concurred that this system is the preferred model for use by municipalities.

At 6:09 p.m. Commissioner Jackson made the motion to adjourn. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Wagner; motion carried unanimously.