CITY OF LENOX

A regular meeting of the Lenox City Council was called to order by Mayor Douglas on November 12, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall with the following council members answering roll call: Tull, Nelson and Cruz; Hodges and Peterson were absent. Staff present was City Administrator, Allison Kitzman and City Clerk, Dawne Bowman, with visitors, Colleen Larimer and Jeff Tull.

Tull made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried. Nelson made a motion to approve 10/25/24 meeting minutes, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried. Tull made a motion to approve payment of the bills, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried. Tull made a motion to approval October 2024 Clerk Treasurer Report, seconded by Nelson, all ayes, motion carried.

There was a discussion on Phase 3 Walking Trail Project. Kitzman met with the Finance Committee to discuss the potential LOST Funds, what are projected to come in and the expenses in the upcoming year.

Jeff Tull entered the meeting at 5:35 PM.

Nelson made a motion to approve an additional $40,000 from LOST Funds for Phase 3 Walking Trail Project, seconded by Tull, all ayes, motion carried. Kitzman stated this contribution shows the City's support of the project.

Tull made a motion to approve FY24 Annual Financial Report, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried.

Kitzman discussed Fund Accounting/Payroll/Utility Billing Software. We are currently utilizing Banyon Fund Accounting and Payroll and there are absolutely no issues with that software. We are utilizing GWorks for Utility Billing and they are mandating everyone move to their cloudbased software called Front Desk by December 2025. According to several other cities, there are a lot of issues with this, as the customer service is subpar, sometimes waiting months for a return call, with no solution. Due to this being so new to them, we don't feel this would be a smooth transition. GWorks was not much of an upgrade from their current system that we are using. We also contacted Tyler Technologies and had a demo presentation, in which proved to be a definite upgrade and more user friendly for the City, as well as the customer. They have been cloud based since 2000 and according to other cities, they are very satisfied with Tyler Tech and if there is an issue, it is fixed immediately. Kitzman mentioned that LMU is also discussing the change in software at their upcoming meeting. Kitzman also stated that the 5- year goal would be that the City of Lenox and LMU are both using the same software for Fund Accounting/Payroll/Utility Billing. This makes it easy if help is needed, we are all familiar with each other's system. Kitzman also discussed the new cellular gas meters that we are going to be installing, as there is a 9 to 10 month lead time on Tyler Tech and we don't want to do the switch in the winter during high usage months; therefore, it would be completed in the summer. The price for Tyler Tech Utility Billing is $36,994 for the conversion, with an annual fee of $4,750 for 3 years. Tull made a motion to approve Tyler Technologies for Utility Billing, seconded by Cruz, all ayes, motion carried.

Nelson made a motion to approve Resolution 24- 46 Adopting Employee Handbook Version 2024- 02, seconded by Tull, all ayes, motion carried. Kitzman added this is for a couple of changes to the Lenox Neighborhood Center. They removed the Assistant Director position, there is now a Director and an employee. The other change was the same vacation/sick time accrual for all employees.

Tull motioned to adjourn the meeting, Cruz seconded, all ayes, motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:10 PM.