Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/24/1994 City Council005802 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON August 24, 1994 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 6:45 p.m. on the 24th day of August, 1994 at City Hall with the following Council roll call: William Manning, Mayor Present Mike Lynch, Mayor Pro-Tern Present Toby Pollard, Councilman Present Kay Hardin, Councilman Present Rob Burchard, Councilman Present John Dillard, Councilman Absent Lynda Tare, Councilman Present and with six present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: Johnny Smith advised council that due to the postponing of proposed developments presented by Dui-Mac and Cencor at the Planning and Zoning meeting on August 23, 1994, Planning and Zoning Chairman has requested a joint work session with the Council to be held August 29, 1994 at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Smith said this would mean postponing the scheduled budget work session for that evening. He went on to advise that action on the developments was postponed until August 30, 1994 which means the budget work session set for that evening would need to be postponed also. All the council stated the development issues should take priority and agreed to postpone the budget work sessions to September 6 and 7, 1994. 1. REVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF DEPARTMENTAL BUDGETS FOR THE PROPOSED MUNICIPAL BUDGET FY 1994-95 FIRE DEPARTMENT Chief Van Morrison began discussion regarding the line items in his department. Councilman Lynch asked why the overtime was increasing so much and why people are out so much. He noted the amount budgeted for overtime would almost hire two full time fire fighters. Chief Morrison explained that it is necessary to have at least 3 people on a shift and if someone is out sick or on vacation or at school, then another person has to come in and cover for them. Johnny Smith said the Fire Department scheduling is unique because of their shift work. Councilman Lynch asked if a part time fire fighter could be hired to fill in and Chief Morrison said that could be done, but he doubted anyone would want the job. Councilman Pollard asked about volunteers taking up the slack, and Chief Morrison said that volunteers have regular jobs and they cannot always be there when needed. Chief Morrison was directed to investigate possible ways to cut the overtime. Councilman Burchard asked if we are going to have to hire more people next year and Mr. Smith stated he felt we would have no choice but to add 6 fire fighters next year. Chief Morrison discussed the current staffing and noted that with 6 more people, it would not be necessary to call anyone in on overtime, except in unusual circumstances. He did state that with 6 more people, fire station 2 could be opened but if anyone was off for sickness or vacation, etc. then the station would have to be closed for that time. Chief Morrison said he thinks it would be better to have to close the station from time to time than to go without the additional people. He did remind the council that opening station 2 will be a problem because Public Works personnel moved into that location last year and now there is not room for additional fire fighters. Mr. Smith said we need to start planning now to phase in new people as needed within the next budget year. Councilman Lynch asked if we had every looked at having the ambulance and fire engine respond from different stations and also suggested cross training between police and fire. Chief Morrison said the idea of responding from different stations is not a new one and it may be a good alternative. He also indicated that he and Chief Stewart have discussed the cross training, noting there are two police officers now who are interested in becoming volunteers for the Fire Department. Chief Morrison said he and Chief Stewart will be getting with Mr. Smith in the very near future to discuss this matter. Mr. Smith went on to advise that the city is going to have to start looking at expanding all facilities, not just police and fire. He suggested a public safety building for both police and fire, which would free up the current police department for badly needed City Hall expansion. Mr. Smith stated that moving the fire personnel out of station one would leave that building for other uses as well. Chief Morrison stated that regionalized fire and EMS is a definite possibility in the future. Further discussion included questions from Councilman Pollard regarding Medical expenses, copier rental and vehicle maintenance. Chief Morrison explained that originally, the budget was prepared in anticipation of high maintenance costs for the old engine, but since the new engine has been purchased, that projection can be decreased from $30,000 to $15,000. The Chief also noted that fire prevention has been increased by $1000.00 because prevention is to be stressed more next year. Councilman Lynch asked if the need for more or new equipment would decrease if large buildings and apartments are required to install sprinklers. Chief Morrison said he is not sure, however, Mr. Smith said we will still need to add equipment to ensure the best at all times. He did say that our ordinances need to be amended to require sprinklers before apartments are buih in the city. Chief Morrison did say the key rate will be affected by such a requirement. The personnel request for 6 fire fighters was discussed briefly. Johnny Smith advised the council that Inspections has been actively enk)rcing the tree ordinance because there are trees all over the city with limbs hanging out into the street. He noted the fire engines cannot get down some of the streets without hitting the limbs and that LISD has complained that the busses have a hard time getting down some of the streets. Council discussed various options for handling the problem of trimming the trees. Mr. Smith then suggested that a source of revenue for equipment might be for the 3 005804 volunteer fire fighters to pursue getting bingo legalized in The Colony. He said the proceeds could go to the volunteers, a non-profit group, and be designated for equipment. FINANCE DEPARTMENT James England went over the line item budget for his department, pointing out changes. He said printing had been reduced to $1500.00 and office supplies by $200.00. Mr. England explained that Office Equipment Maintenance has been increased by $5000.00 to accommodate the service on the network computer system at City Hall. Councilman Lynch asked why postage had increased by $220.00 and Mr. England said postage has been increased by 20% to offset any increase in postage in the next year. Councilman Pollard asked why Office Equipment Maintenance had increased and Mr. England again stated this is due to service for the network computer system at City Hall. Councilman Pollard said it appears that departments keep upgrading software each year at great expense and said that we need to get a handle on this. He stated staff has said they are working toward getting the computer systems centralized but we just keep buying more software. Mayor Manning said that software will continue to have to be upgraded so the departments have the most recent programs. Johnny Smith said that per council direction at the retreat in 1993, a committee of staff members was established to review the overall technology needs of the city. He said they have done about as much as they can do and that it is probably time to get one person who is capable of handling this task. Mr. Smith said it is time to get the staff back to doing their jobs instead of spending so much time on this project. Councilman Pollard said his point is that if revenue goes up 3.3% we cannot allow expenditures to go up 5% or even 20%. Mayor Manning asked if it would be possible to create an artificial department called Computer Services in which all computer expenditures could be placed, so the whole picture can be seen. Mr. England said that would be possible. Councilman Pollard asked if the auditing services increased because they are doing more work for us or just because rates had gone up. Mr. England said the scope of the audit has been expanded and the cost has gone up due to that. Mayor Manning reminded everyone of the meeting at 7:00 p.m. on August 29, 1994 and with no further business to address, adjourned the meeting at 8:20 p.m. A/~OVED: A William . anning, Mayor -~, Patti A. Hicks,TRMC, City Secretary 4