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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday, February 24, 2020 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> have a minor effect on the overall budget. Ung displayed documents showing the top ten vendors used in <br /> the fourth quarter of 2019 and also the top ten vendors used in 2019, indicating these vendors also make <br /> up 50 percent of payments during 2019. She noted new investments were added during the fourth quarter <br /> of 2019. Rates were rising at the beginning of 2019; in the second half of the year,the Feds cut the rate <br /> three times. In the upcoming months it is expected the Feds will cut rates again. Interest received at the <br /> end of 2019 totaled$285,000. <br /> Walsh asked how the numbers compared to what was expected. <br /> Olson said they thought they would do a little better since interest rates were rising, but it came in about <br /> $15,000 less than last year on basically the same amount of principal. They have not done the mark to <br /> market exercise.As interest rates dropped at the end of the year,the City gets a positive bump. <br /> Walsh indicated things are looking good. <br /> Crosby said there would be more money for roads. <br /> Walsh stated all road work can get done and extra money can be put aside for a bigger project such as the <br /> public works facility or the park trails. They are starting to have an actual funding mechanism in place for <br /> the Park Commission because they are on board for 5-10,000 a year.Now that the parks are up and <br /> running, the City needs to keep them that way, so they will probably need 100-150,000 a year in their <br /> budget. It would be a good year to start talking about that in addition to bringing the roads up some more. <br /> The goal is to have them self-sustaining. The City is in a good place right now. <br /> MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT <br /> Crosby acknowledged Dwayne Gluh's 33 years of service on the Long Lake Fire Department.He worked <br /> with Dwayne for almost 11 years in the department,and he was outstanding. <br /> Johnson noted he had an unwanted interaction with the fire department and Orono Police Department <br /> when his sister was involved in a car accident.He should have thanked the fire department chief;they did <br /> a great job. He said he would like to be more in tune with how often the City is having code enforcement <br /> issues being sent off for prosecution for non-compliance. He put in a request but has not gotten a reply <br /> from anybody. He suggested getting a breakdown of where code enforcement is going. He said it wasn't <br /> too long ago when numbers couldn't be pulled so progress is being made in the right direction, but he <br /> thinks the process needs to be fine-tuned. Otherwise,the Council doesn't know what the issues are to have <br /> a good judgment. <br /> Council members suggested incorporating the code enforcement information in the weekly updates and <br /> that if there are any questions, Barnhart could be contacted. <br /> Walsh said he met with a few people that are interested in buying developments and there is a lot of <br /> activity going on in the City. He stated several years ago when they brought fees down from$750 to <br /> whatever it costs currently, about $235, he was told the City would lose about $30,000 in revenue.His <br /> comment was that it would be an incentive for people to have more stuff done. He believes it's happened <br /> tenfold over that. <br /> Page 13 of 15 <br />