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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/30/1981 City Council 000922 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY HELD ON JULY 30, 1981 A SPECIAL BUDGET WORK SESSION of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 7:30 p.m. with the following members present: Richard Turner Mayor Norman Adeler Councilman Gary Shipman Councilman Charles Dodds Councilman and with Councilmen Scott North and Freeman Upchurch absent; however, a quorum was established. 1. REVIEW OF PROPOSED BUDGET At this time, Mr. Savage, City Manager, presented to the Council in written form revisions that had been made to the budget. These revisions did allow additional monies for the inclusion of the following items. 1. Longevity pay for all employees in the amount of $2,400. Mr. Savage stated that, in accordance with state statutes, when a city's population is over 10,000, the city is required to pay policemen and firemen longevity pay in the amount of $4.00 per month per year of service up to 25 years. 2. The library package presented by the Friends of The Library in the amount of $17,000. Mr. Savage advised the Council that he did recommend leasing the former primary care facility for a period of one year with no fee but utility payments for its use. He advised Mayor Turner that the foundation must be checked to see if it would support the weight of the books and that he did see no alternative structure that could be used. Councilman Shipman thought that perhaps he could explore with Fox & Jacobs the use of the stucco model home; however, Mr. Savage felt that this would be a conflict and that there would not be an adequate parking space in that area. In further discussion, Mr. Savage did advise the Council that general administration did include funds for the utili- ties on this building and that the park and recreation offices would also be in this area. Mr. Savage recommended $15,000 to be included in this budget for a proposed master land use plan. He did advise the Council that he bad raised this package from the initially-proposed $10,000. Councilman Shipman agreed, and stated that it was important that the city prepare a complete set of demographics for the area. Mr. Savage did add $12,500 to community development for street repair equipment that could be used by the two men requested in community development's only additional package. To acquire the funds for the inclusion of these items, Mr. Savage stated that the ambulance package had been lowered by $7,500. He felt comfortable with this in that he did not expect the actual delivery of the ambulance until April 1, 1982. He also cut the park and recreation department pickup to $4,000. This will necessitate either the purchase of a used pickup or a new pickup on a lease-purchase plan. Mr. Savage then reviewed by each department the line items that were lowered in the 1980-81 budget and in the 1981-82 budget. For the 1981-82 budget, the carryover balance was increased by $5,600, the base budget requests were reduced by $18,107 and the proposed packages were reduced by $22,800. After review of these items, the Council did discuss the compensation for volunteer firemen. Chief Gothard stated that he had recommended the purchase of uniforms, badges and emblems for the volunteers. The idea of an annual picnic was discussed, pay for the individual calls made by volunteer firemen and pay in accordance with training. Although no final decision was made, -1- 000923 the Council did concur that money should be available for this and some sort of equitable compensation should be decided upon in the next budget year. In the discussion of revenue, Mr. Savage advised the Council that after a meeting with Fox & Jacobs, he did learn that in their last physical year, 50% of their housing was Todays and Today II. This could represent a loss in revenue to the city of approximately 250 permits or $62,500. He also stated that he had ranked the packages for the Council to consider as follows: 1. Fire Personnel $80,904 2. Ambulance 7,500 3. Community Development Personnel 26,527 4. Street Material 12,500 5. Fire & Medical Equipment 8,421 6. Master Plan 15,000 7. Library 17,000 8. Parks Maintenance Personnel 5,120 9. Community Development Compound 15,000 10. VOE 4,683 11. Police Rank 3,739 12. Park Pickup 4,191 13. Police Recorder 5,946 He stated if the revenue from building permits was cut 50%, then one option would be to draw a line between package No. 4 and package No. 5. He did clarify, of course, that the Council could also reduce line item accounts. Mr. Savage was also told by Fox & Jacobs that they did plan to request 130 permits in the 1980-81 budget year. This is 80 more permits than anticipated by the city and does represent an additional $20,000 in revenue. Mayor Turner asked what percentage of those permits were cottages. Seventy percent of these permits were for the new cottage line, he advised. The Council, being concerned with building permit revenue, discussed at length the impact to the budget that a minimum square footage requirement of 1200 would have. Councilman Shipman requested that staff survey other cities regarding their requirements on square footage and enclosed garages. After further discussion of this item, Mr. Savage did remind the Council that the budget Public Hearing would be held August 3 and reviewed the process for this hearing. There being no further action to be taken by the Council, Councilman Dodds moved that the meeting be adjourned. Seconded by Councilman Shipman, the motion was passed by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Ail members present voted aye Noes: None Mayor Turner adjourned the meeting at 9 p.m. ATTEST.:~-~ CA OLL, SECRETARY //