Cityscape

Finance Department
This month I asked Finance Director Heather Ippoliti to share
some general information about the finance department. A brief
summary of finance activities follows.
The City’s finance department is responsible for the financial
management of all City funds and for providing central support
services to other City departments. Services provided include:
purchasing, risk management, payroll, accounts payable, utility
billing, revenue collections, budget development, treasury
management, grant administration, financial reporting, information
services, as well as, building and vehicle maintenance.
The department’s purchasing staff follows a local purchasing
preference with supply purchases, and when looking to contract for
needed services. Over the last 18 months, the department has
implemented two new programs intended to conserve City budget – the
recycling/reuse of office supplies whenever possible and the
disposition of surplus vehicles and equipment using City staff.
These programs have been very successful.
Finance is responsible for utility billing services including:
water, wastewater and electric; and the management of 6,100
resident and business utility customer accounts. Department staff
reads meters and bills customers monthly, maintains a payment
service counter and a drive-up payment drop box.
The finance department is also responsible for the planning,
deployment and maintenance of the City government’s technology
systems. Staff supports 150 desktop systems, three dozen laptop
units, thirty-two network servers, an interconnecting wide area
network, with fiber, T1s and wireless communications covering 10
locations and over 200 custom application configurations.
The department is responsible for the maintenance of all City
owned and leased properties, as well as the City’s 138 vehicles,
equipment and emergency generators – over 95 percent of the work is
done using department staff.
Major Department Goals Completed in Fiscal Year 2010-11
• Completed a citywide miscellaneous fee study
• Contracted for the printing and mailing of the utility
bills
• Competed a RDA Tax Allocation Bond Issue refunding the 1995
Tax Allocation Bonds and providing an additional $13.5 million for
infrastructure improvements
• Hired a new janitorial company
• Completed the Council Chambers Audit Visual Upgrade
• Completed a financial accounting system upgrade
• Completed a utility billing system upgrade
Post Office
You may have noticed changes in traffic striping on Grove
Street. These improvements were designed to provide a left turn
pocket onto Foss Creek Circle and mitigate increased traffic flows
due to the consolidation of post office services. Costs associated
with the improvements were shared by the Post Office and City.
Staff continues to meet with postal representatives to address
traffic, parking and circulation issues.
Foss Creek Pathway Landscaping
Parks staff has begun work on the Foss Creek Pathway Landscaping
project. To date, the site has been graded and tilled, with soil
conditioner incorporated into the planter areas. The installation
of irrigation infrastructure has been completed. Weed abatement
efforts will occur during February, after which Parks staff will
work with interested community groups to install the landscape
material on a volunteer basis. Weather permitting, the planting
phase will occur the first part of March. Working closely with
local volunteer groups, individuals, vendors and contractors the
Parks Division will implement the approved Conceptual Landscape
Plan developed pro-bono by Gardenworks Inc. The landscape plan
adheres to sustainable practices for landscapes in the Russian
River Watershed and will follow guidelines in the Russian
River-Friendly Landscape Guidelines, recently published by the
Russian River Watershed Association. The project is expected to be
completed by the end of March 2011.
Healdsburg Swim Center
The pool will reopen Monday, February 7 with limited weekday and
Saturday hours for adult lap swimming, water exercise and the
masters swim program. Weekday afternoons the pool will be rented by
the Healdsburg and Windsor High schools for swim team practice.
Electric Utility Update
During the holiday break electric line crews repaired over 150
streetlights. These repairs included the replacement of bulbs,
photocells and/or electronic ballast. The City’s electric
department maintains more than 1,300 streetlights throughout the
city limits. A damaged or burnt-out streetlight can be reported by
calling 431-3348 or emailing

st**********@ci.us












Max Machinery and the City’s Electric Department finalized the
interconnection of over 48,000 watts of solar power. This is the
largest solar installation connected to Healdsburg’s electric
system and is expected to produce over 65,000 kilowatt-hours
annually.
Marjie Pettus is the Healdsburg City Manager. To submit ideas or
questions for this column, email

ci*******@ci.us











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