Money cut from Urban Forestry budget

With no urban forester to sit in on budget talks, the city?s Building and Grounds Committee recently reviewed the proposed budget with Public Works director Bill Brock. Brock has been asked to assist with the department until a new urban forester can be found.

Because of this, this meeting might have been one of the easiest budget talks in McMinnville history.

Before talks even began, Brock informed the committee he has reviewed the budget made by the last urban forester, Nick Kuhn, before he left and he has already made a few changes.

?There were things I was unsure of,? said Brock, ?but I?m willing to cut them right now.?

Of the items that he would be willing to cut, Brock questioned the need for $5,000 in overtime pay for permanent employees, saying the department is now on a 40-hour work week five days a week instead of four days a week, which should cut out a lot of the overtime.

?I think the overtime will come to a screeching halt,? said Brock. ?One guy took off one day during the week and then worked on Saturday getting time and a half. If you want to do that, it won?t be overtime.?

The estimated overtime budget for the upcoming fiscal period was set at $3,500.

The need for $10,000 for trees and shrubs was also under scrutiny, as Brock has questioned the department?s habit of stockpiling trees and shrubs. He also questioned how many of the plants survived until planting.

For trees and shrubs, the committee allowed $3,000.

The outcome came as a relief to committee member Patti Nunley, who has objected to the large amount every year.

?I understood that he started with nothing,? said Nunley referring to when Kuhn?s department was first established, ?but $10,000 for trees and shrubs. If you run out of trees, I?ll go get you some, I promise.?

Being without an urban forester also had its complications as two items were unknown to Brock and the committee. Under contractual services, gas was estimated as $350 and other repair and maintenance services were $5,000.

?The gas has to be a utility somewhere,? said Brock. ?Maybe it?s some type of natural gas. I?m willing to strike that out right now. I have no idea what the repair and maintenance services were spent on.?

The committee decided to leave the items in until an investigation could determine exactly what they are.

Brock upheld the department?s need for a one-ton truck. Brock said the original budget asked for two trucks, which he reduced to one. The committee agreed to allow the department to keep the request for a $28,000 one-ton truck in the budget.