City Council Minutes 2020 10 20 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes October 20, 2020 Page 6 of 9 Mayor Pro Tern Maloney noted the Recreation Fund is likely to be greatly impacted by the pandemic. We are currently looking at the worst case scenario and it will require an additional $350,000 transfer from the General Fund for 2021. Mayor Stolzmann asked if staff will be incorporating the water utility changes the Utility Committee has been discussing into this proposal prior to adoption or if that would be a budget amendment in the spring. Director Watson stated staff will incorporate those changes for final adoption. Members agreed they were comfortable with that approach. Mayor Pro Tern Maloney stated he would like further discussion on the middle mile projects. He noted there are projects on the list that are considered crucial for our fiber infrastructure and others that are public Wi-Fi amenities. He suggested the fiber projects be kept in the proposed budget and the others be deferred to later years. Councilmember Lipton agreed with Mayor Pro Tern Maloney that the priority should be solidifying the City's technology infrastructure rather than the public Wi-Fi which would be nice but is not critical to the City's functioning. Councilmember Dickinson would like the public Wi-Fi to be completed to allow people free access to the internet particularly during COVID, but he agrees the infrastructure should be a priority. Mayor Stolzmann and Councilmember Fahey would like to keep the public Wi-Fi in; if the costs change it can be removed when we have more information. Councilmember Lipton and Mayor Pro Tern Maloney would like more information on the Wi-Fi project before including it in the budget. City Manager Balser stated a CIP sheet for the Wi-Fi can be left in the budget as a place holder for now and if the project changes significantly staff can come back to Council for further direction. The consensus was that the City fiber projects and the public Wi-Fi will be separated into two CIP projects. The fiber projects will be prioritized. The Wi-Fi project will be a part of the 2021 work plan. Staff will continue to get better cost information and there will be further discussion with Council on the details before work begins. Councilmember Lipton reminded Councilmembers to keep an eye on the turnback as it can heavily impact the budget process and revenues. Members discussed the best target for operational turnback and decided to leave it as proposed. Councilmember Brown stated he would like the Council to look again at renewable energy for all residents when it is possible.