1996-11-04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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190 STAFF REPORT: NEW TELEPHONE NUMBERS FOR CITY OFFICES Mr. Tom Hatch, Director of Information Services, explained that all City telephone numbers will change on December 7th in order to accommodate increased demands from faxes and computer modems. The changes are being advertised throughout the community. Councilors recommended that notice of the telephone number changes be made on voice mail, public access, community calendar, and on the agenda when it appears in the paper. STAFF REPORT: BUDGET STRATEGIES AND CALENDAR Mr. O'Connell presented Councilors with previous budget strategies and a proposed budget meeting calendar, and proposed that Council's new priority areas of emphasis be included in the strategies after Council's work session. Ms. Slaughter asked Councilors to think more about what they would like to see in the budget and suggested that the matter be talked more about at the work session. CONSENT AGENDA Responding to a question from Ms. Richards about the Juvenile Detention Study, Ms. Linda Peacock, Budget Administrator, said that a partial design is available as a result of the programmatic needs assessment. Ms. Richards expressed concern that the study is proposed to be done by a firm that could compete for the project which could represent a conflict of interest and could have an influence on their evaluation. Responding to a question from Mr. Cox ab°ut the next step in the study, Ms. Peacock said that the results of the study will go back to Council and the Board of Supervisors for their decision about whether to submit the project to the Juvenile Justice Board and to request funding from the General Assembly. Mr. Cox expressed concern that voting for the study means voting to approve the project. Ms. Slaughter said that the study will provide Council with additional information about the need for a juvenile facility and then Council can decide what to do. Ms. Daugherty said that it is clear that what is currently being done with juvenile offenders is not good and possibly harmful, and said she feels the issue is worth studying further. Ms. Richards asked if the position being funded by the COPS MORE grant will eventually need to be funded out of the general fund, and Police Chief John Wolford replied that it will if the position is found to be necessary. With regard to the CDBG ordinance, Mr. O'Connell said that between now and next May a process will be put together for evaluating the procedures. Mr. Cox said that he has received feedback that the CDBG process needs re-evaluation. On motion by Mr. Toscano, seconded by Ms. Daugherty, the following consent agenda items were approved, with Mr. Cox voting against the Juvenile Detention Study appropriation.