Crookston Ways and Means met Monday night following the City Council meeting in the council chambers. The agenda for Monday’s Ways and Means was a planning session for the City Administrator for the upcoming year.
Mayor Stainbrook opened up the meeting, asking the council members to discuss what items they would like to see City Administrator Shoobridge take on in the next year. There was some good discussion, and Shoobridge explained that the council did have things they would like to see him do. “We have getting our comp plan completed, quarterly budget meetings, looking at a focus in child care, places for families, and an understanding of amenities that the residents use or would like,” says Shoobridge. “We talked about parks, their equipment, possibly reducing some mowing requirements with some wildflower gardens and areas that we can discontinue or charge with our mowing because our parks department does over 400 acres of mowing every week in the summer months.”
The Ways and Means Committee discussed how they are going to approach next year’s budget season with regard to the city’s cash reserve balance or lack thereof. Shoobridge made it very clear that putting money into the reserve is a top priority that needs to be taken very seriously. Council members also asked that Shoobridge be more descriptive on budget line items and that he provide the council with financials so that they know when the city is nearing budget or over budget on any budget items.
