HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/19/1996City Council Work Session
February 19, 1996
5:00 p.m.
Large Conference Room
Members present: Mayor Rooff, Murphy, Getty, Krizek, Anders,
Jordan, Mollenhoff, Collier.
Also present: School board members Tom Wells, Dave Juon, Pam
Miller and School Superintendent Arlis Shwartzendruber.
It was moved by Murphy, seconded by Jordan to approve the agenda as
proposed. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried.
Mayor Rooff explained that the purpose of the meeting was to allow
the school board and city council members to interact on items of
interest which they had in common. Superintendent Shwartzendruber
introduced the schools newly prepared five year financial plan.
After facing the financial crisis when he took the superintendent's
position the school board has been looking deeply at their
financial position. The focus has been to look at all areas for
potential of privatization. Custodian management has been
privatized and the board is considering proposals on privatization
of transportation. The school board is faced with a situation next
year where ten school buses approved for use this year will be
declared road unworthy. With no physical plant levy and their
aging fleet of buses it is a very conducive environment to
privatization. The proposals received have indicated an overall
savings of $500,000 over the next five years by contracting to
another party and saving the cost on capital equipment purchases.
Mayor Rooff explained that the cities of Waterloo and Cedar Falls
have been contact by MET about increasing the transit levy next
year to cover the shortfall lost from federal funding. Waterloo's
transit levy currently provides $180,000 in tax revenue to MET and
they have indicated that an additional $100,000 will be needed to
cover lost funding. Shwartzendruber indicated that one of the
vendors being considered has provided school transportation and
city transportation for the city of St. Louis. It was discussed
that this idea of privatization should be extended to MET for
consideration. Mayor Rooff asked that if the board approves a
privatization contract that a contact person be identified for MET.
Business manager Jack Fitzgerald agreed to assist with contacting
the vendor and Mayor Rooff.
Dr. Shwartzendruber stated that the school board is interested in
accessing knowledge of population shifts for enrollment projections
and a facility use review that is underway. Polk County has a
system which provides an aerial view which can be extrapolated into
demographics. City Planner Don Temeyer explained that there is no
current software which the city utilizes for that type of tool.
The last indicator for demographics was the 1990 census. Temeyer
proposed that the city and school jointly contact INRCOG to
coordinate getting a system which identifies demographics for local
government agencies.
Mayor Rooff asked the City Clerk Sue Fangman to review the current
collaborative efforts that the schools and city have undertaken.
Fangman indicated that areas of collaboration include joint
purchasing of employee benefit programs, school providing printing
services to the city, coordination of grounds and parks mowing,
school parking lot repairs, snow storage, forestry and pesticide
application, and maintenance of driver's education vehicles by the
city garage. Recreation Director Tom Reardon emphasized the long
term successful relationship that the school and city has shared
regarding facility usage. Many recreation programs are stationed
in school buildings at no cost and city programs are conversely
made available to the school district. The DARE program is jointly
funded by each agency and benefits the tax payers as a whole.
Opportunities for further cooperation include garbage pickup from
the schools by the city's sanitation department, vehicle
maintenance, central office supply purchasing and combined
Council Work Session
February 19, 1996
Page 2
recycling efforts.
Administrative Director Bob Stevenson shared information on the
"Rebuild America" program that has been proposed by the Iowa
Department of Natural Resources. The city could assist in
developing a community program to implement energy savings
improvements in Waterloo buildings. This could allow the school
district to make improvements to buildings and repay the advanced
funding out of energy savings dollars. The city has received
funding through the Iowa Energy Bank and is repaying that funding
from energy savings. Dr. Shwartzendruber indicated the board's
reluctance to incur additional debt at this time but promised to
review the proposal with the full board to get their reaction.
The need to explore combining efforts on summer programming for
youth in Waterloo was discussed. The Mayor's Youth Initiative
program provides education, jobs training and recreation
opportunities during the summer. The school district has received
funding to provide a summer school program which will focus on
enrichment and exploratory learning in grades K-8. The district is
seeking funding for a tutorial program at the high school level.
Norm Fellom was introduced as the coordinator from the school and
city staff was directed to work with Fellom on coordinating school
use, interfacing transportation and free lunch programs.
Dr. Shwartzendruber expressed his satisfaction with the willingness
of our community efforts to create a positive vision for the city
and school district. The Leap to the Future efforts will help to
set a community plan for economic development, quality of life and
progressive government issues. The city will be sharing its five
year financial plan along with it five year philosophy with the
school district after a final review is endorsed by the Mayor and
council.
Michelle Temeyer with Partners in Education invited the city
council members to join the school board in painting with Governor
Branstad on March 19th at Roosevelt School. A paint-a-thon will be
taking place on March 18th and 19th at Lincoln, Logan and Roosevelt
schools starting at 8:30 a.m. Mayor Rooff asked the school board
to initiate the next joint meeting to take place at the school
district.
With no further business before the council and school board it was
moved by Mollenhoff, seconded by Jordan to adjourn the meeting at
6:24 p.m. Ayes: Seven. Motion carried.
Susan Fangman
City Clerk