5.2. ERMUSR 07-12-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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among all Elk River Elk River Municipal Utilities employees and volunteers, and therefore helps the City Utility to fulfill its responsibilities efficiently and more cost effectively. 5. Public expenditures for food and refreshments associated with official Elk River Elk River Municipal Utilities functions serve a public purpose when the provision of food or refreshments is an integral part of an official Elk River Elk River Municipal Utilities function and the provision of food or refreshment is necessary to ensure meaningful participation by the participants. 6. Public expenditures for appropriate community and customer outreach and similar activities serve a public purpose when those expenditures are necessary for Elk River Elk River Municipal Utilities to ensure the efficient operation of its programs/services, promote the availability and use of City Utility resources, and promote coordinated, cooperative planning activities among and between the public and the private sectors. SPECIFIC PROGRAMS AND EXPENDITURES Every City of Elk River Elk River Municipal Utilities expenditure, must be valid based upon the public purpose for which it is expended. These line-items are approved annually by the City Council Utility Commission as a part of the overall budget approval process. which includes a public hearing on the proposed budget The following items are deemed to meet the Council Utility Commission definition of public purpose expenditures. Meetings: Food/Meals/Re. freslzments The City Council Elk River Municipal Utilities recognizes that situations in which City Utility business needs to be discussed can and do occur during meal hours (i.e. luncheon meetings). In addition, there are public and employee meetings and events in which reasonable refreshments may add to the success of the meeting and/or event and create a more productive workforce. Meals are allowed at training or meetings only when they are part of a meeting or training involving official c~ utility business and when it is the only practical time to meet. The following items are deemed to meet the Council's Utility Commission definition of public purpose expenditures in regards to food/meals/refreshments. a. Allowed at City Utility meetings and events that have the purpose of discussing City Utility issues. These meetings would normally have apre-planned agenda and would involve predominately non-cam utility employees. b. Allowed when they are part of the structured agenda for an offsite conference, workshop, seminar, training session, or meeting in which the City Administrator General Manager or a department head has authorized the employee to attend for training and development purposes. This does not include routine staff meetings. c. Allowed when they are part of a breakfast/lunch/dinner meeting for official c utility business when it is the only practical time to meet and when it involves non- c~ utility employee participants (i.e. business developers or business representatives). Payment for fees relating to a special event, such as a Chamber of Commerce event, may also be allowed when approved by the City Administrator 2