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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/20/1994 City Council0052 0 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON August 20, 1994 The Special Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order on the 20th day of August, 1994 at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William Manning, Mayor Absent(Arrived 1:40) Mike Lynch, Mayor Pro-Tem Present Toby Pollard, Councilman Present Kay Hardin, Councilman Present Rob Burchard, Councilman Absent(Arrived 1:15) John Dillard, Councilman Present Lynda Tate, Councilman Present and with five present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 2. CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SUPPORT OF THE PROGRAMS IDENTIFIED IN A GRANT PROPOSAL FOR USED OIL RECYCLING WITH THE TEXAS NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION COMMISSION Johnny Smith advised that the City is applying for a grant with the TNRCC regarding used oil recycling and the time for submitting the grant is before the next regular session of Council. Mr. Smith said since the application requires a resolution, it is necessary for the council to act today to meet the time frame. Motion to approve the resolution as written - Pollard; second - Dillard, carried with a unanimous roll call vote. 3. CONSIDERATION OF AUTHORIZING THE CITY MANAGER TO CONTRACT WITH A CONSULTANT FOR DEVELOPMENTAL PLAN REVIEWS Johnny Smith said this item was placed on the agenda as a result of Council action at the August 15, 1994 meeting. Mr. Smith said he has spoken with two firms, J.T. Dunldn and Robert Reeves, Inc. and explained to them the short term project of reviewing the Dal- Mac and Cencor developments as well as the ultimate goal of preparing a Master Comprehensive Plan. He said he has sent them the Planning and Zoning packet for their review and that he thinks both are qualified and can do the job. Councilman Pollard said Mr. Reeves quoted $4800.00 for the short term project but that Mr. Dunkin had only provided an hourly rate. Mr. Smith said he had not asked them to provide an estimate of costs because he did not really know what the scope of their work would be. Councilman Pollard said, "It appears like Mr. Reeves has worked with more of 2 00529i our larger neighbors like Plano, Carrollton, Farmers Branch, Dallas, Arlington, some of the larger cities and Mr. Dunkin has also worked with several cities, but they tend to be just a little smaller cities than what Mr. Reeves has worked for and if what you are is a motion .... Motion to accept Robert Reeves, Inc. as a consultant to go over the Dal-Mac and Cencor development proposals - Pollard.~ Councilman Dillard asked what the consultant is expected to do and Mr. Smith said they are already reviewing the P & Z packet and they will be asked to work with the P & Z to ensure the City's best interests are addressed. Councilman Dillard said asking the advice of a consultant is acceptable, but that it is the City Council's and City Manager's job to deal with the developers. Mr. Smith agreed. Second - Hardin. Councilman Lynch said he has no problem if Mr. Dunkin wants to come and observe the meeting also. Mr. Smith said he doesn't think Mr. Dunkin would do that due to professional courtesy. Mr. Smith continued, stating that he thinks Mr. Dunkin would do a better job for the long term project. Councilman Burchard agreed, noting that Mr. Reeves does not really outline what he has done and it does appear that Mr. Dunkin is more in line with our needs and he states what he has done. Mr. Smith said Mr. Reeves' expertise is in planning and zoning and city planning, noting that neither party was given much time to respond with a formal proposal. Again, Mr. Smith said he thinks Mr. Dunkin would do a better job on the Master Plan because his background is in that area. He went on to say that either could do the short term project satisfactorily. Councilman Burchard asked Councilman Pollard if he expects a long range or short range project from the consultant and Councilman Pollard said he wants both. He wants them to review the immediate zoning issues and to prepare a master plan for the city. He expects the consultant to give us a snap shot of the best use based on their experience in dealing with developers in the metroplex. Councilman Pollard said Jan Hart highly recommended Mr. Reeves. Motion carried with a unanimous roll call vote. 1. CONSIDERATION OF ACTION REGARDING THE ACQUISITION OF AN AMB~CE FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT Johnny Smith said the questions of council regarding this item have been addressed and this item has been placed on this agenda for action. Councilman Dillard said we need to decide if we want a re-mount or a new ambulance. Mr. Smith said we can have them delivered in about the same time frame and the new ambulance would be about $15,000 more and if we buy a new one then we need to place the re-mount in the budget for next year. Mr. Smith went on to say that we can make this purchase through HGAC legally. Councilman Lynch said since we can get a loaner with the re-mount and we would receive it a little sooner, it seemed more practical to go with the re-mount. Discussion followed 3 005292 regarding price, options and the 1% administration fee to HGAC. The price for the new ambulance is quoted at $75,407 and the re-mount is priced at $53,000. Chief Morrison noted that we will be receiving a 1995 chassis and the cost will be $3000.00 more. Mr. Smith said that would make the difference between the re-mount and the new ambulance $18,000.00 and he recommended postponing action for further negotiations, suggesting that due to this addition we go ahead with the re-mount. Motion to continue with the re-mount project - Dillard. Mayor Manning stated the re-mount has already been approved so a motion is not necessary. Motion withdrawn - Dillard Councilman Lynch said to be sure we will have a loaner the entire time our ambulance is out of service. Mr. Smith said a letter will be requested stating that everything is still as planned. 4. DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION OF ACTION REGARDING WASTEWATER TREATMENT EXPANSION Mayor Manning said he is concerned about the proposed expansion of the wastewater treatment plant and handed out graphs and other information based on data he had gleaned from the monthly departmental reports which indicate The Colony's population will max out at 42,000 around the year 2010. He said based on this information he is not sure the city needs to move as quickly as we have planned to with the expansion. Mayor Manning recommended requesting that the en~neer stop action pending the report and recommendation being prepared by North Texas Municipal Water District. He said according to preliminary information it appears we can save half of what we have proposed to spend. Councilman Lynch noted that in order to act on something that was addressed by council, it requires the signature of 4 councilmembers to bring it back to the council. Mayor Manning agreed and said that will be done if necessary, and went on to say if we can meet the needs for 1/2 the cost, the council would be foolish to do otherwise. Councilman Burchard asked about provisions to get out of the contract if we find we have made an error and Mr. Smith said there is a 45 day termination clause in the contract, going on to say however, that he is not sure we will want to terminate the contract, but we may want to amend the direction of the contract. Mr. Smith said we will still need an engineer and unless he (Glenn Briesch) refuses to review the NTMWD report and insists on designing the 5 mgd plant, then he would recommend retaining his service. Mayor Manning noted there are things to be designed which would be common to either the boat system or renovation of the current system, and the engineer could concentrate on those items until the city has made a decision regarding direction. Mr. Smith said he believes the Mayor's concern is with the very high, up from costs 4 00529 to be incurred during the first few months of the contract and if those costs are based on something the city doesn't need, then the money will be wasted. Councilman Burchard said he is concerned with continuing to use the existing plant because of the longevity of the current technology with regard to EPA requirements, etc. Councilman Pollard agreed, stating we may save money up front but may have to spend more in the future. Councilman Lynch said we have asked NTMWD to give us an alternate proposal and that this is the third time we have done this (ask for alternates). He said based on their report, if the city feels the contract needs to be amended, then it should be brought back for formal council action. Mayor Manning said his biggest concern is that per the data it will be a long time before we will need the capadty we are going to design, which will cost around $12,000,000.00. The Mayor said there is a substantial difference between those figures and the numbers NTMWD has estimated. He advised NTMWD has indicated we can get 6.8 mgd from our existing plant by spending about 5.5 million dollars. Mayor Manning said he doesn't want us pay for designing something that we may not need. Councilman Lynch said that per the contract the council needs to designate Johnny Smith as the owner's representative and then he can give the engineer instructions. After brief discussion, there was a consensus that Mr. Smith should be designated as the owner's representative and that he should instruct Wasteline Engineering to continue working on those items which would be common to either the boat system or the renovation of the current system until a final decision is made by council. 2:25 p.m. Councilman Tate excused herself from the meeting. 2:30 p.m. Recess 2:45 p.m. Reconvene WORK SESSION AGENDA: 1. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURES IN THE PROPOSED MUNICIPAL BUDGET FY 1994-95 2. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF CAPITAL PROJECTS IN THE PROPOSED MUNICIPAL BUDGET FY 1994-95 Both agenda items were combined and discussed at the same time for the following departments. 5 005294 PARKS & RECREATION/AQUATIC PARK- CAPITAL EXPENDITURES AND ~ CAPITAL PROJECTS Ms. Pam Nelson opened discussion by noting several deletions and/or changes in the capital requests. Deletions: 1 ton dump truck, 1 utility vehicle track/boom sprayer, 1 landscape rake, 1 tractor mount auger, 1 small roto tiller. Changes: Front end loader increased from $28,000 to $30,000. Replacement fencing should be moved from Capital requests to Capital projects. Network Computer System w/printers and Rec-trac Software Package: Pam Nelson and Elise Knox fielded questions regarding the proposed computer system, where it will be placed and who will use it. It was noted the ultimate goal is to connect all city buildings by computer. Discussion as to whether 5 or six work stations will be needed. Ms. Nelson recommended adding a golf cart type Utility Vehicle which could be used for many off-road projects. This vehicle can be equipped with several different attachments to accomplish many different tasks. Proposed amount of $8000.00 was increased to $12,000.00 to accommodate attachments which the department will determine. Councilman Pollard stated the computer should make the department more efficient, and said he would like to see how much money will be saved in the line items by it's purchase. Ms. Nelson said it will save time and overtime. Mr. Smith noted it might reduce the need for additional personnel. INSPECTIONS - CAPITAL EXPENDITURES AND CAPITAL PROJECTS Council discussed the proposed software and it was recommended staff check into making the Inspections Department computer system compatible with the new Utility Administration system to be purchased in the near future. Mr. Tom Cravens said all the items listed are a priority one. FIRE - CAPITAL EXPENDITURES AND CAPITAL PROJECTS Chief Van Morrison advised that the 800 mHz radio has been deleted. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the proposal of 22 pagers for the volunteers. Chief Morrison said these are to replace pagers that are 15-17 years old. It was recommended that the $600.00 allotted for the purchase of a FAX machine be increased to accommodate the purchase of a plain paper FAX. Chief Morrison noted that all the MSA equipment has been deleted since the purchase of the new fire engine. The $375,000.00 which had been allotted for the purchase of an engine and an ambulance was decreased to $85,000.00 for the ambulance only. Council discussed purchasing a smaller number of the firefighter mm out equipment sets at a time and buy them over the next few years. Chief Morrison suggested going with 6 005295 only 10 this year to replace 10 that are in very bad condition. Chief Morrison said the lap top computer requested is to do field reports primarily by the Fire Marshal. Mayor Manning advised there will be another work session on Monday, August 22, and on Wednesday August 24, 1994. With no further business to address, Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at 5:00 p.m. APPROVED: William W ~Ianning, Mayor ¢~x,x ATrEST: Patti A. Hicks,TRM~ v City Secretary 7