08-29-00 Personnel & Finance - Laserfiche WebLink

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Personnel and Finance Committee August 29,2000 Page 2 Center with easements yesterday in the Brownfield revitalization area. Council Member King inquired about the number of outside engineering firms used by the city such as Lawson-Fisher;Cole Associates, Troyer, Hercezg and Associates, etc. and the amount of monies spent for such services. Mr. Gilot stated that when he headed the Elkhart City Engineering Department he had seven (7) professional licensed engineers on staff. He hopes to have at least four (4) professional licensed engineers on staff by the end of the next budget year. Engineering firms and consultants provide multi-disciplinary needs which should be balance with the City's ability to attract and retain quality professional licensed engineers to work in-house. Council Member Aranowski requested that Mr. Gilot update the Council next Spring before he submits his preliminary 2002 Public Works budget to the. Administration since a great deal of planning in this area will be necessary. Council President Pfeifer inquired that in the process of preparing the Public Works budget,where did Mr. Gilot believe South Bend should be and what will it need to get us to a state of the art status in this area. Mr. Gilot noted that extra efforts need to be made in the drinking water area, and that the sewer system is the"300 pound gorilla". Basement flooding problems, combined sewer problems and the development of a Master Plan for Storm Water Drainage are all priorities. Mr. Gilot stated that worries on the horizon include what the State Legislature will do on local road and street funds (LRS) requested the help of the Council in addressing this topic. In response to a question raised by Council Member King, Mr. Gilot noted that the GIS project is a multi jurisdictional one including South Bend, Mishawaka and St. Joseph County. There have been contract problems and time has been lost, but progress is slowly being made. Mr. Gilot agreed to keep the Council apprised on the GIS project. Council Member Kelly stated that if the Council could be helpful in the GIS area that Mr. Gilot should so advise. Mr. Gilot noted that Elkhart had GIS capability, and that the base map should be ready in a few months but a firm schedule has not been provided In response to a question from Council President Pfeifer, Mr. Gilot noted that many technical issues and factual issues are involved in addition to the multi jurisdictional concerns. Mr. Gilot noted that the Central Garage operations stack up well overall. In response to a question raised by Dr. Varner, Mr. Gilot noted that since EPA is the funding source for various construction grant monies that it therefore has the ability to regulate set asides at current replacement costs. Mr. Gilot then turned the presentation over to his Division heads. ENGINEERINQ 1V SIONLENERAJJUND, # 101-0602) 2000 Total Expense Projection: $6,406,125 2001 Total Expense Projection: $6,474,115 $129,555 reflecting a 2.0 % increase excluding capital