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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/08/1993 City Council0(}498° MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON November 8, 1993 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 7:00 p.m. on the 8th day of November, 1993 at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William Manning, Mayor Present Mike Lynch, Councilman Present Toby Pollard, Councilman Present Joe Agnew, Councilman Present Tom Bogan, Councilman Present John Dillard, Councilman Present Joel Marks, Mayor Pro-tem Present The following members of the Library Board were present: Ken Wood, Chairman, Members Dorian Barton, Diana Kruzich, and Jay --]~¢~0-i0. Dalbo, James Althaus, Morris Seay and with seven councilmembers and four Library Board members present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: :'"~ 1. DISCUSSION OF OPERATING HOURS 2. DISCUSSION OF COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT The above items were discussed together. Chairman Wood opened the discussion by stating the Library Board (Board) wanted to meet with the council to get a better understanding of their (council) goals and objectives for the Library. Chairman Wood said the board also wants to be sure they understand the council's intent with respect to the budget, and to get a general idea of the direction in which the council would like to see the Library go. Joan Sveinsson, Library Director then gave an overview of the staff and duties at the Library: There are two staff designations in the Library, Circulation and Librarian. Circulation tracks materials and there are two full time people and one part time person in that area. The Circulation supervisor works with Court regarding severe cases involving materials that have not been returned, which is very time consuming. It takes about one hour to prepare for opening of the Library and about 1/2 hour after the Library closes for personnel to be able to leave. Ms. Sveinsson noted that when there is an eleven hour day, the 2 and 1/2 people are stretched very thin. There are four librarians on staff: Reference, Technical Services, Youth Services and the Library Director. Ms. Sveinsson listed the many and varied duties these persons handle. 2 There is also a part time page which is an entry level position which is usually filled by a student. This person does the re-shelving of materials, a duty which is also performed by volunteers. Ms. Sveinsson said all staff members pitch in and help in all areas when needed. Mayor Manning asked when cases are turned over to court. Discussion followed regarding the process followed prior to filing with Municipal Court. Ms. Sveinsson said the only reason cases go to court is to retrieve the materials. Chairman Wood said the Board has discussed this at length and has decided to follow procedures instead of asking the staff to make a value judgement on each case. If the materials are mass market paperbacks, cases are not filed in Court. Mayor Manning also asked what criteria is used to select books. Ms. Sveinsson said they are very selective due to the budget constraints, but there are three criteria followed: 1. Will it get used in our collection, based on staff experience with patrons. 2. Follow a selection policy. 3. What materials need to be replaced or what area needs to be built up. Councilman Bogan asked what the primary age group of patrons is and Ms. Sveinsson said primarily elementary and middle school students with some college students. She noted there is a heavy emphasis on those needs and also on business materials. Discussion followed regarding Denton County funding and the effect that will have on our Library when that funding is discontinued. Councilman Bogan complimented the Library for what they accomplish with the number of staff and the amount of funds they have. General discussion regarding what areas we need to address in the future. Lists are kept so staff knows what materials need to be purchased. In 10 years, Ms. Sveinsson said if the community continues to grow, the building will have to be expanded, noting they are already crowded at times. She would love to see hours expanded to a 7 day week but that would mean an increase in staffing of at least 4 persons and that would still be only minimum requirements. With regard to operating hours, the survey in 1989 showed that evenings, Saturdays and Sundays were very popular. Ms. Sveinsson said Sunday opening is not possible with current staffing and noted the Library is open the hours that best serve the needs of the patrons. Ms. Sveinsson said at least 2 full time people would be needed to add Sunday hours. She said that in the past they had always asked for the minimum staff just to maintain current services so the employees would not be so stretched. Going on, however, she said often when they get staff then services are added and employees are stretched again. Councilman Marks said council needs to know if 2 people will really help and Ms. Sveinsson said 2 full time persons would help but to open on Sunday, they really need 3 full time people, including a librarian, noting there are lots of services the library doesn't provide. Councilman Lynch asked that council be told what it would take, time-wise, to incorporate some of these additional services and how many people it would take. He also asked what impact the secretary is having. 0(J493u Council requested the maximum, not minimum cost of circulation personnel, librarians, and the time involved in additional services. 3. DISCUSSION OF EXEMPTION OF ANNUAL PARK PASSES FOR SPECIAL EVENTS AT STEWART CREEK PARK Mayor Manning said this was added so the council could have the opportunity to discuss the item freely without the confines of a regular council meeting. He said according to Ms. Brantley's memo the permits can be printed with or without a date. Mayor Manning said he believes the council needs to decide if they want to support activities in the city, and to leave Sail Fair out of that decision. The Mayor said if we do support one then we need to support all and said he is going to work with the City Secretary in preparing a resolution setting out some criteria including the following: 1. No city assets will be used unless the event has been officially sanctioned by the City Council. 2. The City recognizes the following special events as being sanctioned and supported by the City Council. (events to be named) 3. The City will require the organization sponsoring the special event to provide an audited financial report within 90 days of the event. Mayor Manning said he is in favor of allowing the free use of Stewart Creek Park by any event that promotes the City. Councilman Bogan said the special events should probably be limited to a certain number. Councilman Marks noted that if we limit the number and another big event wants to come then we will not be able to allow them to use the park. ' Councilman Agnew said he is concerned about the number, but that he doesn't want to box the city in by limiting the number. He said also if an event charges, then the entry booth needs to be beyond the boat ramp. Councilman Agnew said the park is an asset to the city and events sometimes can't succeed if they can't make money. He said they may not bring businesses into the city, but they open the city to the rest of the area. Councilman Dillard asked what revenue is expected to be received by Sail Fair when they charge an admission. Mayor Manning said he can't really answer that, noting he is not a part of Sail Fair anymore. Brief discussion followed regarding the proposed entry fee to the park for Sail Fair next year. Councilman Pollard said the park is a fee paid park so really this would just mean fees are not waived for that day(s). Councilman Bogan said actually this would mean annual passes are not valid on that day. Councilman Agnew said we need to allow flexibility for events to either waive the fees or charge to get in and asked Mr. Hall if he felt the Corps of Engineers would approve the wording on the permits the way Ms. Brantley's memo proposed it, which is "NOT VALID FOR SPECIAL EVENTS". Mr. Hall said he does and stated that we would need to tell people when they purchase the permits what events that will include, suggesting the council needs to make that decision. Mayor Manning agreed we need to tell what events we know of, but then tell them if something else big comes up that event may also be included. Mr. Hall stated that annual passes are really a good deal, 4 because the purchaser is receiving $1095.00 worth of daily entry fees for the cost of $18.00. He went on to say that he does not think having 2 or 3 days a year exempted will cause a big problem. Councilman Lynch said he doesn't want to see anything printed on the passes, stating the Fees Committee still has to meet on this and make a recommendation. He asked if we (council) are trying to go around the Fees Committee. He said if we start this we will have to define special events. Mayor Manning asked if Councilman Lynch supports special events that promote the City and Councilman Lynch stated that he does. Councilman Lynch said he doesn't want to give up city revenue on a park that is not part of the general budget. He said he thinks the council should go along with the vote taken at the last meeting and allow the Fees Committee to make a recommendation, however, he reiterated that he does not think anything needs to be printed on the permits now or at all. Councilman Agnew said we need to take action and let the Fees Committee go ahead and make their recommendation. Councilman Dillard asked if this could cause a problem with the Corps of Engineers regarding revenues back into the park. Mr. Hall said when an event makes money a portion of that is to cover the cost of putting on the event and that anything over and above may be put back into the park. Councilman Dillard said that could cripple money making events. Mayor Manning disagreed and Mr. Hall said for instance the proposed golf course is on a Corps park, however, a portion of the revenue will go into the general fund, not back to the park. Councilman Pollard said annual permits are the main support of Stewart Creek Park and that charging those pass holders to get in is not fair. He said we should not penalize pass holders to favor any one event. Councilman Pollard went on to suggest adding perforated tickets to the annual park pass that the purchaser may buy at a cost of $1.00 each if they so choose. Those tickets would then allow them into the special events and would give some seed money up front. Mayor Manning said he does not see the difference between charging one dollar at the time the permit is purchased or at the time the event takes place. 9:55 p.m. Councilman Bogan excused himself from the meeting. Councilman Lynch asked Mr. Hall to provide the estimated costs vs revenue for the Chili-Cook Off. Discussion regarding asking the organizations to provide an audited financial statement, with Councilman Pollard suggesting that may be too costly for some. Councilman Dillard noted that could limit the number of special events. He went on to say that the City could ask for a percentage of the revenues to be reimbursed and the City will probably come out ahead. Councilman Agnew agreed and said a special event requires the exclusive use of the park noting that the Chili Cook-off may not be a special event since it does not really require exclusive use of the park. Councilman Lynch said he had not looked at this from the perspective that the city will get a percentage of the fees. He then went on to say he thinks the Fees Committee should set the charge for special events and all of that money will go to that event, but that 5 499 the pass holders should be left alone. Mayor Manning suggested that the Fees Committee meet soon and then advised he will not be at the November 15, 1993 meeting and asked that action on this item be postponed to the December 6, 1993 meeting instead. With no further business to address, Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at 10:18 p.m. APPROVED: William W. Manning, Mayor ATTEST: Patti A. Hicks,TRMC, City Secretary