Finance committee meeting to order on the 18th day of February 2026 at 1030 a.m.

Um roll call um to my left we have Alderman Thorpe present present um Harry Huntley is not here today and I am acting as the interim chair Karma O'Neal present um so we have a quorum can I get a motion to approve the agenda um Madam Chairman I recomm I I move that we postpone the agenda yes I move that we approve the agenda second all in favor say aye aye aye great approval of the agenda um next up on our agenda is approval of minutes from uh 2426 um can I have a motion to postpone approval of those minutes so moved all in favor say aye aye aye all right those minutes will be postponed approval of those minutes will be postponed until the next meeting um next up on our agenda we have um AP 1226 but I'm going to move that to the bottom of the agenda um because we have invited Mr.

Ross Arnett um who is looking to be appointed to the finance advisor advisory committee so I'd like to wait for him to arrive um so can we just um let's just go ahead and look at the supplementary appropriation and then we'll come back to that item that's all right um so next up on our agenda would be essay 1526 grant and Aronda County Senator Arnest Grant for fire and I believe we have Chief Romale here to talk about it only if you have any questions this was pretty simple it's uh during the budget process Doug Romaly Fire Chief this was pretty simple during the budget process uh we calculated a grant that was coming in we actually received and I don't have it in front of me but it's like 500 or 700 more and uh they just need that approval to add that to the the budget great we always like having more money so we do too 734 dollars and sixty cents more um are there any questions for Chief O'Neilly no questions all right I will entertain a motion to give a favorable recommendation for SA 1526 to the council I move that we give a favorable recommendation to AP 1526 to the council it's SA not AP what'd I say you said AP oh thank you um I'll second that all in favor say aye aye aye all right motion passes um still not seeing Mr.

Arnett we're gonna go to R 426 extending the public paddle craft rack pilot project and I believe we have deputy city manager guile here to talk about that yes Jackie Guile Deputy City Manager for Resilience and Sustainability so this excuse me is your microphone on yes okay I can't I just can't hear you oh okay Jackie Guile Deputy City Manager for Resilience and Sustainability Resolution 426 um is extending the existing public paddle craft rack pilot project which was authorized last year um but it was not um advertised and implemented until June so about halfway through the voting season um it could have been advertised better I think as well and publicized it was at Truxton Park so it wasn't very visible so it it did need better advertisement but so this uh resolution is requ requesting the extension of this project till the end of December um and we are also reducing the fee there were only two by the way there were only two um people that signed up for the um paddle rack we think that was not only just not advertising but it was because the fees were very high they were you know 300 just for a residential fee so this is reducing the fees as well to um 150 for resident and 300 for non-resident we think that'll make it more appealing um it's half the cost of that it was before for residents and non-residents that's the gist of the resolution all right are there any questions from the committee Alderman Thorpe.

Are there any questions from the committee?

Alderman Thorp.

I I just have one question, and that is the concern about the cost.

Do you have the are you empowered?

Do you have the ability if halfway through the season you still see that the cost is too high or or the number of people using it is not what you're hoping it to be that you can lower the cost even more?

Do you have that ability to do that?

Yes, we can.

We will come back to finance committee to do that.

I mean, we could provide you know the data of usage so far and try to find out you know if there's any uh feedback we can get if it's about the fee.

Um so yes, we can do that.

Okay, thank you.

You're welcome.

All right.

Thank you very much for that overview.

Um I'm hoping that with a little added marketing, um, it'll be a project that we see come to a little bit more use.

So thank you.

Okay.

I'm being told that the Office of Law has an amendment and an updated fiscal impact report.

All right.

Um would you like for us to wait for those two things before we give up your recommendation?

Okay.

All right.

We're going to wait.

Would it be appropriate for me to put this on the table and go back to the top of our agenda?

All right.

So we're going to table the discussion on R 426 for a few moments while we gather some more information.

And we are going to go back up to AP 1226, which is the appointment of Mr.

Ross Arnett to the Financial Advisory Committee.

Mr.

Ross is in the building.

And could we invite you to the center table and a microphone so that we can pepper you with questions?

I can throw these flights on the Did you bring an attorney with you to represent you as well?

I left them in the mayor's office.

Welcome.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My first question for you is why would you like to serve on the Financial Advisory Committee?

Well, um other than the fact that I helped form the Financial Advisory Commission and legislation, I think that it's uh an important body, but more importantly, the mayor asked me to serve and told me that he would really like to see a more vital interaction between the fact and the council.

And um I think I can help with that.

Great.

Thank you.

Questions, Alderman Thorpe?

Um yes, first of all, thank you for uh volunteering to continue to serve.

Um I I guess I want to follow up on the conversation that that you were a part of at the FAC at the last FAC.

Um just to get your thoughts here in front of the senior leadership of the staff, about what impact that you think that the FAC can have.

So um I think the FAC uh was developed to be a sort of the citizen arm to help advise the council, including the mayor on matters financial and it has been my observation over uh 18 years and nine months that the members of the council had varying degrees of paying attention to the facts advice.

Um, and I think we need to make that we need to understand why that, but make it more robust.

But also I think that the fact was designed to do more than it has been doing, um, including early participation in the budget formulation as an advisory role, but also um an outstanding issue has been fact involved in the union negotiations.

And I know that there's a lot of sensitivities there because of confidentiality issues, but about two years ago, the fact made um offer to be more intimately involved in that um is advisory and under highly confidential, and I think that'll that issue will come up again.

Um the acting city manager reacted at the last fact meeting about that.

It's it's a dicey situation, but um it was in fact part of the formulation of the fact that the there was an idea that they would be of service in that regard, and it's never happened.

Um thank you.

And uh second question I have uh again, something you and I have spoken about.

Um you as the former chairman of the audit committee and me and uh new member of the audit committee.

Um how do you see the FAC helping out partnering with the audit committee in order to get to the objectives that we've talked about concerning audit risk and measuring the performance of the plan?

So the FAC donated nominated uh Jim Cardillo to be on the audit committee.