The Pendergrass City Council on Oct. 28 voted to move its regular November meeting to Nov. 18 and its December meeting to Dec. 30, and council members discussed a recent bank alert about attempted fraudulent use of city check numbers and a range of purchasing controls for city departments.

The mayor told the council that the bank notified the city after someone attempted to cash checks and that about $25,000 in checks were identified by the bank as being in the process of being cashed. "It was, like, $25,000 of checks that were in the process of being processed by the bank," the mayor said. The bank closed the old account and the city opened a new checking account; the mayor said the city left approximately $25,000 in the old account to cover outstanding checks while the bank monitors activity.

Council members also discussed how the street department purchases fuel and small supplies. The council heard that the city had relied on a verbal account at North Jackson Food Mart for fuel and small items for street crews and that the receipts supplied in the meeting record did not always clearly itemize "gas." The council noted that the city has adopted p-cards (purchase cards) and that debit cards previously used were intended as a temporary step until p-cards were issued. Finance staff and department supervisors described a multi-step approval process for purchases and said the city is moving to formal WEX fuel-card accounts; the council was told two WEX cards for equipment are expected to arrive.

Street department signers for the merchant account were discussed; the street department staff named at the meeting as authorized signers were Dean, Dwayne, Casey and Corey. Councilmembers and staff said they want the accounting and vendor receipts to better track fuel versus other purchases and to reduce use of physical checks when possible.

The council also returned to the larger theme of procurement controls, noting that a formal purchasing policy is under development and that the council will review policy language and budget impacts at a Nov. 11 work session and the Nov. 18 meeting.

Votes at the meeting

The council approved a motion to change the November and December meeting dates to Nov. 18 and Dec. 30 (motion seconded; roll call produced three recorded "aye" responses). The council also approved agenda amendments that would place an executive-session discussion of personnel matters at the end of the meeting.

Ending

Council members said the new bank account is being monitored, additional paperwork on receipts and vendor invoices will be provided to council members before upcoming work sessions, and the council will consider new purchasing controls and fuel-card procedures at the Nov. 11 work session and Nov. 18 regular meeting.