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City Council <br />Meeting Minutes <br />September 21, 2015 <br />Page 6 of 17 <br />Fund is still available. <br />Council member Stolzmann noted operating costs have drawn down the fund balance. <br />There is a need to address the entire issue, not just the reserves. <br />Council member Lipton felt there needed to be a focused discussion and analysis and <br />didn't want to draft policy on the fly to get the budget done. He asked to spend more <br />time on policy issues in the future. <br />Mayor Muckle supported Council member Stolzmann's position. He felt staff did a good <br />job of sorting out where the money in the Open Space & Parks Fund was spent. He <br />stated the Council must decide if they would maintain an acquisition reserve for 2016 or <br />not. <br />Council member Lipton stated his understanding of the question as follows: Should <br />General Fund reserves be transferred to the Open Space & Parks Fund or should <br />General Fund reserves remain in the General Fund or should there not be any transfers <br />at all until next year because there is not any pressure to purchase property. <br />Council member Loo noted she was initially okay with having the open space <br />acquisition dollars in the General Fund. She thought the policy was drafted to address <br />residents' concern. She supported open space acquisition funds in the General Fund, <br />but felt a policy should be in place concerning having available funds when open space <br />properties become available. <br />Mayor Muckle noted this was a recently crafted policy. Will we spend below minimum <br />reserves if there are not enough dollars for an acquisition in the General Fund or would <br />it create a policy to maintain acquisition money in the General Fund, in which case it <br />might as well remain in the Open Space & Parks Fund? <br />Council member Leh commented the Open Space & Parks Fund is there because we <br />have taxed ourselves to have those funds and are we doing what is required by the <br />ballot issue. <br />Council member Loo felt citizens perceived there was too much money from the Open <br />Space & Parks Fund being spent on maintenance of park land and not on acquisition of <br />open space. <br />Mayor Muckle noted there were three top properties listed for future acquisition, but that <br />didn't mean the City should be not be pursuing other properties on the list. He <br />supported the idea of having money in the Open Space & Parks Fund for one <br />acquisition. <br />Council member Stolzmann felt the discussion should start on the operating <br />expenditures and how those should be funded. Is it appropriate to fund 100% of the <br />