Town Council 11-16-2021 - Laserfiche WebLink

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OM Councilman Swinney stated he would like more involvement in the budgeting process to deepen his knowledge. Councilman Stanley believes it's a good idea but has no problem with the current process. Council President Warthen mentioned that he was invited to and attended budget workshop last year, where he was left as the only council member an hour and a half into the meeting: After suggesting rescheduling but was told to continue, and as a result, a balanced budget was written and adopted. This year the same process was followed, with the same people being invited, and the process is now being looked at as being wrong. He believes that it could expose the public to some of the actions that typically occur out of the public eye. He would like to see everyone involved in the budgeting process. Councilman Swinney asked about the budget workshop being a public meeting. It would be a special meeting that the Council would call following the state statute. Council President reiterated that the State sets rules on budgeting not by the Town, and there is a very good probability that this could lead to some problems when it comes to working out the details of a budget in a public setting. Councilman Cook believes that this would be a meeting that, while open to the public, would not be available to public comment until the public hearing during the budget approval process. Councilman Williams made the Motion to adopt Resolution 20 - 2021 pending the edits from the town attorney. Councilman Cook seconded. Motion carried 3-0-2. Councilman Swinney and Councilman Warthen opposed. Council President Warthen discussed his options for an immediate debt reduction plan and asked for Paige's input on whether the items he presented would need to wait for the capital improvement plan or if the reduction plan could be enacted immediately. Paige said that she would need a bit of time to run an analysis of the proposed plan. There was a consensus to allow Baker Tilly to run the numbers and reassess at the next meeting. Funding for Street Sweeper -There was some discussion about where funds could come from to purchase the street sweeper, including half from Food and Beverage and a half from the Stormwater Fund. This would pay for the street sweeper in full without having to have an additional appropriation. Councilman Swinney made a motion to fund the street sweeper out of appropriated funds from Food & Beverage and Stormwater. Seconded by Councilman Stanley. Motion carried 5-0 Police Canine - Chief Julian addressed some comments that were made at the previous meeting. Chief Julian was invited to a meeting that Councilman Williams also attended, and Councilman Cook was invited to participate in it. Chief Allan denied that a rookie officer in attendance made a statement about keeping the town board in check at the meeting. Councilman Cook refuted that statement and claimed that was the interpreted takeaway from that meeting. Chief Julian stated that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss funding for the canine program. He noted a question was raised why the town council has so much control over this and explained that this is not a line item in the budget. But an additional appropriation will need to be made by the Town Council. Councilman Cook voiced his displeasure that donations were still being accepted for the canine unit even though the Council is working on funding the unit. Chief Julian reiterated that he