.......Office of the Managing Director .......Carl E. Geffken

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

I have a few updates to provide:

• Next Tuesday will mark the first meeting of a new inter-agency task force to implement a case-management system to address dangerous buildings in the City of Reading.  The work group, organized at my direction by our Business Analyst, is comprised of representatives of the Building & Trades Division, the Fire Marshal’s Office, the Property Maintenance Division, the Reading Police Department and the Blighted Property Review Committee.

• I am pleased to report that next week our new system for conducting rental property inspections will be in the field.  This will mark the transition from a paper-based inspection system to one that operates entirely on our Hansen information technology platform.  Inspectors will mark deficiencies using hand-held computers, capture acknowledgement signatures in the field electronically, and then, based on the owners’ choice, either e-mail or mail the inspection reports.  This will significantly improve the quality of our record-keeping, automatically schedule follow-up visits, and automate billing for inspections. This system is the first in the nation to run on Hansen, and was built entirely in-house at virtually no incremental development cost to the City. I congratulate the inter-departmental team for its success in bringing this year-long project to fruition.

• We continue to meet with municipal customers in our regional waste water treatment operations.  On Tuesday, February 21, we had a very productive meeting with officials from Muhlenberg to discuss plans for improving system operations.  These representatives were inquisitive and insightful, and are actively participative in this partnership. 

• We continue to prepare amendments to the Community Development 2012 Action Plan based on a 16.5% decrease in Community Development Block Grant funding and a 25.9% decrease in our annual HOME grant. We should have a draft to Council in the coming weeks.

• I want to commend our Property Maintenance and Building and Trades division for their quick intervention recently to resolve issues pertaining to a dangerous building on Lemon Street. They worked collaboratively with the property owner, who made arrangements for demolition work to be done with no further involvement by, or cost to, the City.

• At last week’s Finance Committee meeting, preliminary January 2012 financial report was provided to City Council. The report showed revenues of $2.94 million, expenses of $3.93 million, and an operating loss of approximately $991,082. This is principally attributable to the timing of the receipt of various tax revenues in the first month of our fiscal year. 
  
  
• The overall condition of the General Fund is significantly improved from a year ago, with an unencumbered cash balance of approximately $14 million. 
  
  
• This will be my last report as your Managing Director.  Please allow me to express my sincere gratitude for the opportunity to work with City Council, with Mayors McMahon and Spencer, and with leaders throughout this municipal government.  While you will continue to face significant challenges, I hope also your spirits will be brightened by the impact you can have in helping to make our City better, as evidenced by the significant progress we have achieved together these last few years.

That’s my report, and I wish you all the best.

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