THINKING ABOUT VETERANS
AS STEVE RETURNS TO WORK IN VICTORIA
"I'm wondering if some type of workshop could be put together on return-ing veterans who have served in danger-ous situations," said Mayor Mary Thun on July 12^th, "while we've all been here in the safety of our homes."
"There's been much research on re-turning soldiers," continued the mayor.  "Staff needs to know some of these things.  A third of our staff has turned over while Steve has been gone."
City Administrator Steve Sarvi will soon be returning to his job in Victoria after an extended tour of duty in Iraq. 
Mayor Thun suggested that veterans Richard Tieden, Tim Amundsen, and Dave Urbia be part of spearheading and organizing such a workshop.  Said Tim, "It's true that you kind of learn what adversity means.  Little things won't weigh in as much.  But the majority of these guys come back just fine."
Said Richard, "Steve is very strong and very capable but thank you, Mary, for your concern."
"You guys do whatever you think is best," she said, and left it at that.

SUMMER ICE IN VICTORIA
WHO APPROVED IT AND WHO'S PAYING?
Councilmembers directed staff on June 28^th to conduct a thorough investiga-tion of the summertime ice program at the Victoria Field House and report on the findings as soon as possible.
In response to questions from Coun-cilmember Kim Roden, Finance Director Jylan Johnson said that the City of Vic-toria currently anticipates $41,000 in revenue for summer ice and that it costs approximately $45,000 per month to operate summer ice. 
Said Councilmember Roden, "Can we justify keeping it open? ... There are never any financials put in front of the council ... I'm hopeful we'll review the demand.  I believe it requires a recom-mendation from the Finance Committee."
Said Councilmember Tim Amund-sen, "We need to get a better handle on this.  We don't need to operate it ineffi-ciently.  A cost analysis has to be avail-able."
Councilmember Richard Tieden re-called that when Jude Boulianne was the Director at the Field House, there was a demand for ice.  "We haven't captured that demand since he left a couple years ago.  We haven't replaced him."
Asked Councilmember Jim Paulsen, "Can anybody recollect who made a deci-sion to put in summer ice?" 
At the same time, councilmembers approved the hiring of a three-month sum-mer rink attendant at $10/hour - with the contingency that distinct "bullet point" job descriptions be identified.  Council also directed staff to resume monthly reports regarding Field House operations in general.
On the evening of July 12^th, Council-member Roden made a motion directing City Finance Director Jylan Johnson to make a "detailed financial recommenda-tion" in January 2008 about the purchase of ice for that following summer. 
This motion passed 4-1.  Said Coun-cilmember Tieden, "I don't agree with this.  Our biggest problem is making a commitment to the Field House.  Drop dead dates aren't the answer."  He said a full time director like Jude could make it work.  "It's worked in the past," he said.

MAJORITY 3-2 VOTE CONTINUES
FOR VICTORIA CREAMERY LLC
As in past motions related to the Vic-toria Creamery project, councilmembers voiced a split 3-2 vote on June 28^th to approve the next step in development of that downtown project as proposed by Victoria Creamery LLC.
The three approving votes are cast by Councilmembers Richard Tieden, Tim Amundsen, and Jim Paulsen.  The two dissenting votes are cast by Mayor Mary Thun and Councilmember Kim Roden.
The majority vote on May 8th authorized the Tax Increment Financing Plan for the project whereby the Creamery project will provide 50 public parking spaces in downtown Victoria.  In return, the Creamery project will receive the in-crement in property taxes it pays due to increased property valuation, for the next 18 years. 
The majority vote on June 14^th exe-cuted the development agreement between the Victoria's Economic Development Authority and Victoria Creamery LL.
The majority vote on June 28^th auth-orized an administrative budget amend-ment to the TIF Plan whereby line items were re-allocated to reflect more accurate costs.  Total amount of public costs will not be increased.  Construction of the underground public parking is estimated at $2.3 million.
Explained Shannon Sweeney, the city's TIF consultant with David Drown Associates, "This is a formality to adjust line items with regard to the State Auditor's office to meet recording requirements."
"We need to report to the State the amount of increment paid to the develop-er," said Mr. Sweeney.  "The original numbers had nothing to do with the pro-ject but with the TIF District when it was created five years ago."
The original number quoted in June pointed to $1.75 million to help provide the public parking.
Recognizing that Mr. Sweeney is hired by the City of Victoria to give ad-vice and financial information, Council-member Roden declared that her vote was not directed against him but that she has been "consistently against" this project.

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