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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/27/1990 City Council g0 72i MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON A~.JGUST 27,-1990 The Regular Session of the City Cm'uncil of the City of The Colony, Texas was called t.o order at. ?:00 p.m. on the 2?th day of August, 1990 at City Hall with the following Council to1] call: Bill Manning, Mayor Present Steve Withers, Councilman Present Mike Alianell, Councilman Arrived 7:15 p.m. Rob Burchard, Councilman Present Lou Gomez, Councilman Present Joel Marks, Councilman Present and with five present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. WATER AND SEWER RATE Mayor Manning opened the floor for corrrnents and quest, ions from the audience. The following persons addressed the Council regarding various aspects of the recent water and sewer increase: Ken Wood, 50 00 N. Colony - concerned over the disproportionate sewer increase. Has worked on a theory but hasn't, come up with a valid reason. Randy Seymore, 5600 Tyler - his bill went. down from 25,000 last month to 10,000 this month and it. will stay low because he will not water. He is suffering and if not changed, The Colony will lose a citizen. Lorraine Thompson, 4225 Iola, consumption from 4,000 in February to 25,000 in July, then back to 7,000. Impossible for her to use 25,000 gallons. Mayor Manning stated that he did not believe his consumption either, but paid a $175.00 water bill last month. Jerry Rooney, 5301 Sagers - said he has the same problem and he believes the problem is with the sewer rate. Councilman Burchard said he had the same problem. Joe Aglund - said he understands the adjustment, in the rates is necessary, but he doesn't see how the rates were set. He said there seemed to be too many anomalies and is concerned that the usage appears to have gone up too much. He said the city needs to be sure the employees are doing their jobs. Bill Hall said we are still tagging some meters each mont. h for a check system, noting that he is sure that are some errors made, but there is a program to ensure as few errors as possible. 7:15 p.m. Councilman Alianell arrived at this time. Ken Wood said the committee members had been concerned in errors regarding the meter readings because those are the figures used to base the rates. Lorraine Thompson said if her bill had not been so high, she 2 00372 would not have complained and that it had never been that high before. Mayor Manning directed Mr. Hall to run a history of Ms. Thompson's water bill and go over that with her. Thelma Elam, 5117 Arbor Glen - (a 15 year residents) said he is encouraged to see citizens getting involved, that she does not feel the rates are right and that good things have come from these last, few Council meetings and if the Council will listen they will know the citizens of The Colony want a better way of life. She complimented Councilman Marks on how he always listens t,o his constituents. Bob Poynter, 5008 N. Colony - his water bill is always consistent except one time when his meter read 92,000~ ga'lions. The meters are no infallible. Bill Hall agreed with Mr. Poynter and said he had run a history of Mike Lynch's account as well as other accounts over which concern had been expressed. Out, of 9 accounts researched, only 2 could not be,explained. Mr.., :Hall said wate~ bills have consistently jumped, going to say he had also researched sewer bills and found some bills jumped as much as 150%, which he understands is hard to take. He noted that everyone cut, down on their water use and still the sewer bills are high. Mr. Hall said he feels there needs to be an adjustment in the sewer rate and that he will have a recommendation. Asa Fletcher, 4705 Strickland - said a lot. of yards were frozen last. winter and people watered a lot. in June to bring them back, but that he had t. he impression the increase was needed to meet. a short fall and asked if the charge on the bill is more than it needs to be. Bill Hall explained the $600,000. depreciation aspect, and how this figure is an auditing figure, that there is no money set aside to replace the infrastructure in the city, which is estimated at $600,000. Mr. Hall said the City must plan for depreciation, stating we would like to have that money set aside, but. we can never reach the figure, because it goes up each year. Mr. Hall said we must. begin making an effort, in case of a catastrophe. Mr. Hall named some of the major capital projects which will be needed in the very near future, as well as other cost increases; Above Ground Storage Tank, St. rickland Drainage Ditch, 8% increase in Dallas Water. Mr. Hall said the committee considered all these costs when establishing the rates. He did state that the sewer rates have nothing to do with the State Revolving Fund Loan for improvements in t. he Eastvale subdivision. Mr. Hall also explained how remaining construction~bond funds from M.U.D. ,had been in a escrow account and that the former Councils had opt. ed to use that money to prevent, any increase in taxes, rates or fees, going on to say that money is gone and t. his year the City has to address these needs. There was a discussion regarding the amount, of money brought. in these last two months, and the fact. that staff knew this was going to happen and why nothing was done earlier. Mayor Manning 3 reminded everyone that staff makes recormne~dations, but it, is up to the Council to make the decisions. Mayor Manning went, on to sav ~hat it, is not his philosophy to live off savings because someday you have to pay the piper and went on to say now is that time. He said we should pay as we go. Mark Warner asked if the revenue could be used only for the Utility Fund and not t, he General Fund and Mr. Hall said the money does go into the Utility Fund. There was another lengthy explanation of the $600,000 depreciation. Mayor Manning said in defense of prior councils, they opted to use the savings instead of raising taxes or rates and still maintain the level of service. Cathy Wood, 4909 Avery - asked about, the Eastvale sewer project and how it is to be paid for. Mr. Hall explained the cost, of $1,080,000, could have been paid for in several ways, but, that t. here w~re, no, grants availab:le. He said the best Opt'ion was to borrow, the: moneN from the State Revolving Fund at '5% :~iniere'St, stating the ten.tative plan for pay back is to spread it;OVer 700:0 residents by,adding approximately.,$1.10 per month on the sewer bill. Ms. Wood said that is not was told to the citizens at the time of conso:l,~at,~on. ' Mayor Manning ~said at the t,ime of !consolidation, the"si[t.i'ng: councfl believed this could be done without, taxing ail the citizens of The Colony, but now we see t, hat is not possible and this problem must, be addressed or the E.P.A. will com~ down on us hard. Mayor Manning said the individuals will have to'pay' for their own hook-up. There was a brief discussion regarding the Eastvale sewer project, the requirement to assess the entire city, not just one area and that a user based fee had to be established t,o qualify for the loan. Councilman Marks said we (Council) are here so Mr. Seymore won't have to move. He said he is concerned with the drastic increase in consumption and that the people in his district, are tired of footing the bill everytime the city needs money. Councilman Marks said we need to establish a more reasonable amount for depreciation and raise it, each year, going on to say he would like t,o see no increase in the budget and a decrease in the water rates, stating everyone will have to be happy with services as they are. Bill Hall said one of his proposals is to place cap on the sewer bill at, 9000 gallons. Councilman Withers said he would rather see a cut, than a cap, because that would cause the low end, users to subsidize the high end users. Ken Wood said to. decide on a~ reasonable rate or reasonable revenue and live with it, suggesting $12-13 minimum then $.50 or $1.00 per gallon. Councilman Burc:hard said with a,9000 gallon 'cap'~ most, citizens would see no relief. Councilman marks said to figure out the revenue needed, divide ,per number of households and find the user based 'fee necessary, 4 00372 Mayor Manning said it is difficult to make changes to a system when we don't know how each change will effect that. system. Councilman Withers said the increase should be based on the actual costs in the Utility Fund. Councilman Gomez moved to revert to the old rate until the budget, process is finished and then increase the rates later. Mayor Manning said he is not. sure that is a sound business idea, that he would prefer to reduce the rates some ~specific amount, but that we need to be cautious and find a median rate.. There was no second on the motion, the motion died. Brent Le.dbetter, 5644 Tucker - agreed t~hat the rates, need t.o be reduced tonight and asked if 15% would be too much. Mayor Manning said all rates are different and that may not be right for everyone.; Terry Alexander, 5201 Bartlett. - said everyone knows the city needs the money and if there are 6800 meters, then raise the rates $9.00 a month, to earn $100.00 a year per household for a total of $680,000.00. Jim Wallace asked what. we are trying to raise. There followed a lengthy discussion regarding how the rates were raised, the amount of money needed, the depreciation no accounted for, bond ratings, and cutting services. James England said we need 6-8 hundred thousand to meet the Utility Bond Payment, which is 2.6 million annually. There were several other comments from other citizens including Joyce Fulco, 4712 Clover Valley who questioned whether we needed PUC approval to raise rates, what. IBM is going to do and why all the shopping centers are becoming vacant.. Mr. Hall explained again where the 2 million construction funds went., noting that all water and sewer money cannot be transferred into the General Fund, but. that it can be used for repayment of services of the General Fund for the Utility Fund. Mr. Davison, 5204 Sherman, said if the city raised taxes, at least it. would be deductible at the end of the year. Another citizen suggested increasing user fees so that persons using the various facilities would pay for them. After several more comments from citizens regarding raising taxes, Councilman Marks said he felt it would be a bad idea to raise taxes. : Carol Ball, a member of the water committee cautioned the Council not to cut. the rates all the way back, that she does not just want the city to get by, but would like to get more services. There followed a lengthy discussion regarding taxes, roll back taxes from IBM and F & J, suggest:ions for changing the rates, and many other options. There was a mixed feeling on the Council regarding the proposal to set. a cap on the sewer rate. Mr. Rooney said he left a proposal last week for Council. Ms. Hicks said she failed to pass it on and did provide a copy to the Council at this meeting. Mr. Aglund said this month's bill is just about, right and maybe the council have the right numbers and just don't know it. 5 More discussion regarding the rates, the upcoming budget, services and user fees, with a few proposals being offered. Mayor Manning said he wants to know the direction of the Council. Mr. Hall clarified that. the budget was prepared before the water and sewer increase was in effect and that it does not have to be in effect to make this year's budget work, however, something has to be done, and it was proposed now so that there would 16 months additional revenue to go towards next. year's budget... Mayor Manning asked that several proposals be brought: back to Council for action. After another lengt, hy discussion Councilman Gomez said we aren't getting anywhere and that more data is needed. Councilman Gomez then moved again to revert to the old rate and do an analysis to determine what the rate should be. Mayor Manning advised him he could 'not. make that: mot. ion again. It. was determined that nothing could be accomplished tonight and that another work session should be set. for September 4, 1990 at 7:00 p.m. 2. ANY APPROPRIATE ACTION TO BE TAKEN AS A RESULT OF THE WORK SESSION Councilman Alianell moved to table any action, but. it. was determined that it was not. necessary to table· Councilman Alianell withdrew his motion and then moved to adjourn the meeting. Councilman Burchard seconded the motion which carried with all members voting aye. Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at. 10:25 p.m. APPROVED: ~~~-'~ATTEST: P~ti A. Hic City Secretary [SEALI