Good afternoon, everyone. Please see below for this week’s update.
Key Meetings
-On Monday, I participated in a conference call with a representative from the St. Bernard Project, to identify some possible dates for disaster resilience training that they would like to offer to the Joplin community. SBP is working with other entities (university, school district, the Chamber) to identify dates and times to have the training, and once a schedule is complete we will share that with you and the public.
-Tuesday, I met with representatives from the Joplin Proud committee, which was formed to put together plans/events surrounding the five-year anniversary of the tornado. You can visit their website at www.joplinproud.org to learn more about the events being planned, but they have indicated a desire to make a presentation to the city council early next year. More information on that request will be forthcoming.
-On Wednesday, I participated in a conference call to plan our 2016 Missouri City/County Manager’s Association annual conference, which will take place next May.
Miscellaneous
-On Tuesday we received the final insurance settlement from the 2011 tornado, in the amount of $836,733.66. The proceeds will go back into the funds where the dollars were originally spent, so we’re looking at putting $782,862.67 back into the general fund, and $53,870.99 back into the parks fund. Director Haase has informed me that she is still working on the FEMA reimbursements, and hopes to have those completed by the end of January, 2016. The timetable for receipt of those proceeds is uncertain.
-Finance staff is nearing completion of entering the data needed to present the Center for Priority Based Budgeting’s Financial Health Diagnostic tool, which will give you and our citizens a clearer picture of our overall financial health, so that we can start having more meaningful conversations about our revenues and expenditures, and how those line up with the priorities for our community.
-Finally, Assistant to the City Manager Brian Kelly has been in contact with those organizations that receive city funding, including the museum, Wildcat Glades, the Joplin Sports Authority, and the Chamber of Commerce, to have them participate in the PBB process as well. Internally, most departments are now in the process of scoring their programs against certain attributes, which include:
* Whether the city is mandated to provide the program
* Reliance on the city/county to provide the program
* Cost recovery of the program
* Portion of community served by the program
* Change in demand for the program
Our departments are doing a fantastic job so far, and they should be commended for the amount of work they have put into this process. Similar to constructing a building, we are doing a lot of sub-surface work right now that you and the community cannot see, but it’s important that we have the right foundation to build upon, and we are doing just that.
In the Pipeline
-As previously indicated, staff is working on change orders to present to you on the public park project at the corner of 26th and McClelland, by no later than January 4th. At that meeting, or during a possible work session, I would also like to get your input on drafting our change order policy, which you will recall was an item of concern in the state audit. Most cities we have reached out to either don’t have a formal policy, or it merely sets the dollar limit or percentage before a change order would require the governing body’s approval. If you could give some thought to this topic prior to our next regular meeting, I would appreciate it. It will be an open discussion, and staff would welcome your comments and suggestions.
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