Finance Highlights May 6, 2025

44.04.25: The Creekside Infrastructure Development proposal has raised many concerns among council members and citizens who believe the plan is simply too big for the community and an overreach in many ways. Comments from councilors and citizens focused on the sheer size and scope of the project that will overwhelm the city in many ways. They point to elements like the tall hotel, massive tax incentive requests, heavy traffic impacts, and questions about whether the housing will truly serve students or just become regular apartments. Despite the applicant’s efforts to frame the plan as a community benefit, several council members feel it doesn’t align with what residents want or what the area can realistically support. This item was carried over until the next committee meeting May 19.

02.04.25: The city’s mid-year budget review delivered encouraging news to council members, with revenues exceeding expectations and spending staying right on track. City Manager Glen Adams, who presented the report, highlighted that capital projects, like police vehicles, were progressing as planned and that the city was ahead of its conservative revenue estimates. While the review covered only through February and final numbers will come later, council members asked for quarterly updates in the future to strengthen decision-making and stay ahead of potential issues.

23.04.25: Committee approved authorizing a contract with Whitehead Solutions for $24,000 to overhaul the city’s core network infrastructure. I.T. Director Brandon Sims explained the project will strengthen cybersecurity, add redundancy, and create better network segmentation, especially for protecting police department systems. Work is expected to start immediately and may finish by August, depending on complexity. Key staff will be fully involved with implementation and will be familiar with the new system. This item will now go before the full council for a vote at the next council meeting May 12, 2025 at 6:00pm.

43.04.25: Committee approved a request from City Manager Glen Adams to create a new Deputy Finance Director/Chief Accountant position. Current contractor’s workflow analysis confirmed there’s enough workload to justify the role, and the Jefferson County Personnel Board has preliminarily validated the position. While the role wasn’t in the original budget, funding would come from the general fund. There was concern about waiting until the next fiscal year to include it in the budget process, but committee members emphasized the urgent need now considering the workload and issues the previous director caused. This item will now go before the full council for a vote at the next council meeting May 12, 2025 at 6:00pm.

Agenda: https://bit.ly/4mle5Xp

Upcoming meeting schedules: https://bit.ly/3bvufcT 

Archived meetings: http://bit.ly/2UiSIaA 

Watch the full video above to learn more about all the items presented.