INSIDE CITY HALL Here are a few...

INSIDE CITY HALL

Here are a few of the items the City Council considered at its

meeting Monday:

POLICE EQUIPMENT

The council approved spending about $57,000 to buy a digital voice

recorder for officers in the field. Most of the money, $51,036, would

come from a Local Law Enforcement Block Grant. The remaining $5,671

would come from the Citizens Option for Public Safety funds.

Police believe that the new equipment could be a powerful tool for

better policing. The recorder will be used to document conversations

between police officers and citizens, thereby helping prevent

unfounded lawsuits. The recorded conversations would be kept on file

in digital format.

WHAT HAPPENED

The council unanimously approved allocating the funds for the

recorder.

WHAT WAS SAID

“Anything that will help us to reduce liability is a good thing,”

said Councilman Allan Mansoor.

ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER

City Manager Allan Roeder could soon have some back-up. The

council decided to create a new position of assistant city manager

and to adjust the budget to set aside $90,433 for that person’s

salary.

WHAT HAPPENED

The council approved the new position 4 to 1, with Councilman

Allan Mansoor dissenting.

WHAT WAS SAID

“Allan Roeder definitely works very hard, and I’m very

appreciative of work he puts in, and I don’t doubt we can use an

assistant city manager,” Mansoor said. “I just felt that the City

Council has an obligation that if it’s going to add expenses, we have

to have some corresponding cuts somewhere, given the financial

situation of the city and the state. And I felt the responsible thing

to do was ID some of that prior to going forward with the new

position.”

TEWINKLE UPGRADES

A laundry list of possible upgrades to TeWinkle Park’s lakes was

narrowed down. Taking a cue from its recent study session, the

council endorsed some of the ideas for lake improvements and nixed

some others.

WHAT HAPPENED

The council voted to remove the improvements that would have:

* modified the falls from the upper lake to the lower lake, at a

cost of $70,000;

* modified the easterly portion of the lower lake by removing two

fingers of land that extend into the lake, thereby creating a wider

lake area, at a cost of $100,000; and

* installed a community-gathering area and bathroom facilities at

a cost of $300,000.

The council directed public and administrative services staff to

return to the council with information on annual maintenance costs

and funding options for:

* installing a fishing pier/future model boat launching facility,

at a cost of $50,000;

* regrading and replacing the landscaping and irrigation within

the vicinity of the lakes, at a cost of $315,000;

* installing low-laying ground cover and flowering plants in small

pockets throughout the lower lakeside area, at a cost of $50,000;

* installing a new walkway to link existing pathways around the

lakes, at a cost of $40,000;

* installing trash containers and benches, at a cost of $20,000;

and

* reconstructing the uplifted or damaged sidewalk between the two

lakes, at a cost of $95,000.