2018 Budget

As we head into 2018 the city has accomplished one of its annual goals.  The goal was establishing its budget and certifying its levy of taxes for the upcoming year.  The budget process starts in July with a look at how things have gone for the first half of the year.  Operating expenses are reviewed to make sure we’re within budgetary compliance and whether or not the budget line item will meet the needs that it was intended for.  Sometimes the budget more than meets the need which is a testament to frugal spending or “over” budgeting.  In any event judgements are made as to what might be acceptable looking at the next budget cycle. 

The preliminary budget is required to be accomplished by the end of September for the following year.  This requires a preliminary levy is adopted by the council.  This levy is certified to the county to be used for the notice of the public budget meeting to be held in December.  The final levy is typically adopted at that meeting and can’t exceed the preliminary levy amount but can be reduced.  This year the city held its preliminary levy amount to be certified as the final levy. 

For 2018 the final levy for the city of Breezy Point is $1,963,482.  Of this amount $190,000 is to pay debt service.  The remaining funds support the remaining city obligations of running and maintaining the city and its operations.  We have 15 dedicated employees that provide these functions.  They include 6 police officers, two of which are paramedics. We also have a police administrative support person who manages the office at the Public Safety Building.  There are 5 public works employees.  These people address needs for the parks, streets, and sewer system along with a host of miscellaneous tasks.  We have 3 administration employees that serve as point persons, doing accounting, utility bills, addressing various office duties and working with the city council.   Assisting in specific areas are contractors providing planning, zoning and building inspection support. 

The city continues to grow at a slow but steady rate of about 12-16 single family units per year.  Changes and improvements are being made on an ongoing basis.  We’re giving greater attention to street improvements with seal coating and paving.  The city has not incurred any new debt and anticipates that trend to continue for some time.  Attention to future expenditures has its benefits in saving interest expense.  We headed into the new year in good shape financially.  The budget and levy are set.  It is hoped 2018 will be good and productive year in Breezy Point. 

Plowing Gravel Roads in Breezy Point

Breezy Point has some challenges when it comes to some of our roads.  We have paved roadways that in general require routine maintenance and plowing activities.  They are a little more difficult to deal with when it comes to ice early in the season but with salt and sand these difficulties can be overcome.  Plowing of paved roads occurs when snow accumulation is about 2 inches.

Breezy Point has used brine to pretreat roads for a number of years.  This works very well when the temperatures are right and you don’t have rain to wash it away.  We use salt and sand-salt when the conditions call for those approaches.  When the temperatures become extreme sand seems to be the only approach for traction on paved roads. 

Gravel roads on the other hand require different approaches.  The gravel surface is not as durable as a paved road and every effort is made to get them graded to an acceptable surface in the fall.  As winter starts to set in we get snow and rain which can soften the surface considerably.  With these conditions, unless the road bed freezes the surface can become uneven and stay that way all winter long.  Snow on the roadways helps fill in these uneven spots.  A small snow pack on the roadway creates a crust of snow. This crust is important for traction and facilitates freezing making the road more durable for plowing. 

Gravel roads are not typically plowed in early winter.  They see some plowing if the snow depth is too deep to travel however.  Gravel roadways need to freeze in order to hold up.  Plowing a gravel road that hasn’t frozen creates problems.  The gravel itself can easily get plowed away into the ditch.  This leaves the roadway without rocks providing no traction making the road more difficult for travel.  This also creates maintenance issues and expense later.  Plowing the snow off the road increases solar gain.  Unless we get extreme temperatures to provide for a freeze this makes the freeze-up more difficult as it creates extended freeze thaw problems. 

Every winter the conditions are somewhat different.  The public works crew is skilled at doing their jobs and understands these limitations.  They use the right tools and methods for the conditions that are given them.  Roadways in the winter in northern Minnesota are not handled the same way as roads in a metro area.  This is particularly true for gravel roads.  Unless you have experienced these dynamics it is difficult to understand there are methods to what may appear to be inattention or madness.  Public works does a great job managing our 61 miles of roads in the city, winter is just another challenge.

Carbide Grader Blade

There’s a new tool in the tool box for road maintenance.  This is a carbide tooth grader blade.  This will be used primarily for gravel roads but it can also be used in the winter to break up icy surfaces.  The blade has replaceable “teeth” that rotate. 

In the past year or so the city has been attempting to better the surfaces of gravel roads.  Rather than grading them flat we are trying to establish and maintain a crown in the center of the roadway.  This helps with drainage and to some extent limits some erosion of the roadway surface.  Water is able to shed to the side of the roadway rather than running down the road.  A packer was also acquired that mounts on the back of the grader.  With the packer downward pressure is applied on the newly graded surfaces to help it maintain the crown and stabilize it.  This change in approach has also helped minimize the need to grade as often as the surface seems to be more durable. 

Taking this to the next step is where the carbide tooth blade comes in.  With the tooth design gravel can be stirred up to create a “fresh” surface.  The fine materials that typically float on the surface can be incorporated into the gravel and a new surface is established using the existing road bed materials.  With replaceable rotating teeth resistance on the blade is minimized saving fuel and allowing for the breakup of larger rocks that may be part of the road materials.  With these new approaches being added we hope to further minimize the need for repeated grading becoming more efficient with road maintenance and resulting in better overall surfacing.

These changes to the roads will take some time to see the benefit.  Roadways were traditionally bladed somewhat flat so it will take some time to build the crowns and reclaim the surface.  All in good time improvements are being made to operations which will eventually translate to better roadway surfaces. 

As a side benefit to this new tool it gives us an option to break up ice covered roads.  Generally you think of salt to accomplish ice removal on roadways.  This is a traditional approach that works most of the time.  This doesn’t however work well when temperatures are below about 15 degrees. The sun can help but breaking up the surface somewhat with groves provides for better traction while weakening the icy surface.  Having this texture also allows for salt to stay on the roadway longer giving that time to work when temperatures rebound. 

We applaud the Public Works crew for constantly looking at new approaches to find solutions that better operations and performance of the roadways that serve the public.      

New City Administrator

I have given notice to the city that I intend on retiring on March 15, 2018.  The city has taken the step of hiring David Drown Associates to do an executive search for my replacement as City Administrator Clerk/Treasurer.  The council, at their November meeting, reviewed materials that will be available as part of the recruitment process.  A Position Profile was approved and dates were established for the selection of the finalists and interviews. 

Applications will be received until December 6, 2017.  Once received, they will be screened to select semifinalists.  These individuals will complete a questionnaire and accomplish a personality index.  With the selection of the semifinalists the city council will meet in a special meeting on January 4^th to select five or six candidates for interviews. 

All the finalists will then undergo a background check.  A criminal background check will be done at the county, state and national level.  The sex offender registry is checked.  Social Security number, employment and education are verified.  Finally there is also a Credit Check accomplished.  Prior to the interviews the finalists will also undergo an intellectual profile dealing with verbal, mathematical, logical and mental aptitudes and abilities.    

Interviews will be conducted by the city council on January 25^th at a special meeting which will likely start about noon and go until early evening.  It is hoped that a candidate can be selected at the conclusion of that meeting and an offer can be made to the selected person. 

It is anticipated that the selected person could start as early as February 26^th.  If they start then that will provide some time with an overlap to get up to speed on the activities and issues of importance with the city.