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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/22/1993 City Council0 U b 0 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON November 22, 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 22nd 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 Absent Joel Marks, Mayor Pro-tern Present and with six present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. CONSIDERATION OF NOMINATION FOR MEMBERSHIP ON THE DENTON CENTRAL APPRAISAL REVIEW BOARD Mayor Manning asked if anyone had contacted staff or council to express a desire to be nominated to serve on the board. Since there had been no one interested in serving, ~'~ no action was taken on this item. 2. CONSIDERATION OF AUTHORIZING REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF A GOLF DRIVING RANGE Bill Hall stated that this item is a result of council action last week to terminate negotiations with P.H.G.A. Development for a golf driving range. Mr. Hall said three developers have expressed an interest in this project. He went on to state that the proposals will require the successful proposer to provide a financial statement, confirmation of insurability and projection of revenues prior to the acceptance of the proposals. Mr. Hall asked if council had any input before the proposals are prepared. Councilman Lynch asked that a schedule be included in proposal. Discussion regarding the zoning in place on the property. Mr. Hall advised if any other options besides the driving range are proposed, there will probably have to be an amendment to the zoning. Councilman Lynch said options should be left out of the proposal for easier comparison. Mr. Hall said all proposers will have to address the basic project, but they may wish to give additional options. Councilman Pollard asked about circulation of the ad and suggested putting it in the Golf Digest. Councilman Bogan said it takes about 2 months to get something in this publication. Brief discussion followed. Council also discussed including a 9 hole golf course as in the original plan. Councilman Marks said that may be in competition to the Wynnewood Golf Course being ~-~ 2 built. Mr. Hall said the Wynnewood golf course developer is in favor of the driving range, and noted there is not enough room on the property for a 9 hole course. Motion to authorize Requests for Proposals for a golf driving range, which will include those items recommended by staff- Agnew; second - Bogan, carried with a unanimous roll call vote. 3. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF THE 1994-95 BUDGET PROCEDURE Mayor Manning asked Councilman Pollard to proceed. Councilman Pollard asked if any members of council had any goals and since none were proffered, the Mayor asked Councilman Pollard to continue. Councilman Pollard said as a result of the last work session, council was to have come up with goals regarding the budget that are achievable, tangible and usable. Continuing, Councilman Pollard referenced the Goals and Objectives Document adopted by council earlier in the year, noting that this document outlines expenditures for infrastructure but not a balanced budget. He named four goals, along with his reasons for deeming those goals important: 1. Balanced Budget in 1994-95 2. Budget placed on magnetic media for council to use during the budget process 3. Provide cushions adequate for funding future infrastructure investment 4. Provide sufficient cash reserves through investment earnings for major capital projects, i.e., wastewater treatment plant Councilman Pollard said that tonight he would like to see the council reach a consensus on goals and a concrete plan to accomplish those goals. Mayor Manning said all these goals sound great but that he is not sure how they can be achieved, and went on to ask Councilman Pollard what he means by a balanced budget. Councilman Pollard said when we spend more than we take in then the budget is not balanced. Mayor Manning reminded him (Pollard) that the council starts the year with best estimates on revenues and expenditures and that perhaps one goal might be to have a better handle on projected revenues and expenditures, which might help achieve a balanced budget. Mayor Manning said he thought the budget is already on magnetic media. James England agreed and stated that was provided to Councilman Pollard during the budget process this year. Councilman Pollard stated the budget he received only had line items for each department and that he would like to have more detailed information. Councilman Pollard explained the format of the Carrollton budget process which included demand, efficiency, and effectiveness indicators as a premise for budget decision making policy. Mayor Manning indicated his preference that any increase in forms or other paperwork be substantive and worthwhile and not just created for work sake. Councilman Pollard went on to explain that the performance parameters envisioned in the Carrollton process were designed for just such a purpose in that they provide the type of feedback to the council with respect to how well the budget aims are achieved and do so in an objective and quantifiable manner. Councilman Pollard said this type of budget causes each department to justify every expenditure and would allow the council to make a more informed decision. Councilman Bogan said it comes down to terminology, stating all council wants a ~ balanced budget, and that he too has seen some things in the budget that need to be addressed. He said we really need a better plan on certain large dollar items and that we need to use cost justification (how to get our money back) on some items. Councilman Bogan said that is not usually done in city government because there are some expenditures that simply cannot be cost justified. Councilman Pollard agreed that some types of government services defy the usual cost-payback rationale for justification but went on to clarify that the proposed regime utilizes several very different types of performance indicators. One of those was the demand indicator, which measures the past, current and potential future public demand or desire for a particular government service. This indicator was applied hypothetically to the example posed by Mr. Bogan and used to illustrate that there were other valid means to quantify and thereby justify that particular government service. He also mentioned that staff would be responsible, subject to council approval, for the formulation of various criteria unique to each budget activity. Councilman Agnew said it is imperative we try to balance the budget and that we need some type of program to help quantify city services. He said there are costs in implementing software of this nature, but that he would like to see that done in the next two years. Councilman Agnew said some cities put windfall money into certain funds to be spent on particular purchases. He also said, referring to goal number four, that he doesn't think it is right to burden the tax payers with higher taxes while there are large sums of money in the reserves. Mayor Manning said he would like to get away from multi year financing of capital .'"'"' purchases. Councilman Lynch said a good goal would be to get to a point where we are ' only funding 50% of our capitals with investment income. He also suggested reducing the number of line items (combining), simplifying the budget document. He said if a department saves money, at least a portion of the savings should be kept in that department for the following year. Councilman Pollard said after the goals are set, we need to set a policy on how to achieve them. Councilman Pollard explained that certain policies should be considered by the Council in conjunction with the budget reform process. The first policy mentioned followed along the lines of Mr. Lynch's statements moments earlier in that Pollard suggested setting up a program of compensation for cost-saving ideas generated at the staff level whereby the savings (if they are long term or somewhat permanent in scope) should be attributed to the person or persons responsible in some agreed set percentage to encourage participation in the process. The other policy mentioned by Councilman Pollard was that when savings are achieved in a particular budget area by the staff responsible for the favorable variance, that the budget for that particular government good or service not be penalized in the next budget cycle by pinching away the savings. The savings might be carried over for service increase or capital purchasing in the next cycle as much as possible. Bill Hall agreed with the incentive program to encourage savings, mentioned by Councilman Lynch. Councilman Marks said we always talk about balancing the budget and have even talked about passing a resolution to that end. He said it comes down to philosophy. Bill Hall said everyone has a different philosophy and if this council passes a resolution or an .---" ordinance, then the following year it may not be valid, due to the philosophy of the next council. Councilman Bogan reminded the council that such policies by handled very carefully in that some people might figure out means to get around the incentive policies with a view to profit and gave an example. Councilman Pollard referred back to the performance parameters which he hopes will provide a backstop to prevent abuse. He explained that it will be difficult to disguise cuts in delivery of government goods and services as a cost savings if the indicators are correctly written and monitored. He agreed that the area would have to be carefully considered and suggested that a standing committee might be necessary to implement the policies. Councilman Bogan suggested that all councilmembers prepare their own definition of a balanced budget before the next work session. Mayor Manning agreed and asked Councilman Pollard to get with James England regarding the type of information referenced on the City of Carrollton budget forms and called the next work session for the 94-95 budget for January 10, 1994 at 7:00 p.m. Councilman Pollard asked if a specific agenda could be set and Mayor Manning told him to get with Mr. Hall, Mr. England and Ms. Hicks regarding that before time for posting of the agenda. Mr. Hall said the 93-94 budget has not been received from the printer but staff has prepared an abbreviated version of the budget for council review this evening. 8:30 p.m. 4. EXECUTIVE SESSION AS AUTHORIZED BY SECTION 551.074 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE REGARDING PERSONNEL, TO-WIT: A. QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THE CITY MANAGER B. QUARTERLY REVIEW OF THE CITY SECRETARY/DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES 9:35 p.m. 5. CONSIDERATION OF ANY APPROPRIATE ACTION TO BE TAKEN AS A RESULT OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion to accept the resignation of Bill Hall, City Manager submitted 22, November, 1993 to be effective 31, December, 1993 - Lynch. Councilman Agnew said the motion needs to be corrected from resignation to retirement. Motion changed - we accept his letter of resignation to go into retirement into the private sector. - Lynch; second - Agnew. Motion carried with a unanimous roll call vote. Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at 9:37 p.m. APPROVED: William W. Manning, Mayor ATTEST: Patti A. Hicks,TRMC, CMC/AAE City Secretary 6