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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/07/1994 City Council005338 MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON September 7, 1994 The Work Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas was called to order at 6:55 p.m. on the 7th day of September, 1994 at City Hall with the following Council roll call: -- William Manning, Mayor Present Mike Lynch, Mayor Pro-Tem Present Toby Pollard, Councilman Present Kay Hardin, Councilman Present Rob Burchard, Councilman Present John Dillard, Councilman Absent (arrived 7:15) Lynda Tate, Councilman Present and with six present, a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: 1. DISCUSSION AND REVIEW OF THE EXPANSION ALTERNATIVE REVIEW FROM NORTH TEXAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT REGARDING THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Johnny Smith said representatives from North Texas Municipal Water District were present and asked them to give their presentation. Councilman Lynch said that he understood that our design engineer would be given a copy of the report and asked for his comments before we discussed this with NTMWD. Councilman Lynch asked if Mr. Briesch has a copy and if he has his comments ready. Mr. Smith said he did not know the engineer would be making his comments on the report before the council discussed the report with NTMWD. Councilman Lynch said that it was his understanding the engineer would review and comment first so he did not have to come here twice. Mayor Manning said we should go ahead and let NTMWD make their presentation, Motion to postpone this item until the city engineer has had a chance to review the report - Lynch. Mayor Manning asked when Councilman Lynch knew this item was on the agenda. Councilman Lynch said he knew last week at the last council meeting. Mayor Manning asked if that was his recommendation, why he didn't bring it up at that time so these gentlemen didn't have to make a trip over here for nothing. Councilman Lynch said that's his recommendation. (to-postpone this item) Mayor Manning asked Councilman Lynch why he was being so rude to these gentlemen when he know this on the agenda and asked again why he did not bring it up earlier. Councilman Lynch asked why it was on the agenda when it was supposed to go to our engineer first and went on to say that's the way it is, and asked if our engineer is prepared to make comments on this report. Mayor Manning said he 2 005333 doubted it, since our engineer doesn't seem to be able to read FAXes that are sent to him or get mail that's sent to him. Councilman Lynch said there is a motion on the table to table. Mayor Manning asked if there was a second to the motion, there was none and declared motion failed for lack of a second. Councilman Pollard said he would second the motion. Mayor Manning said the motion had already failed due to a lack of a second and asked Councilman Lynch if he wished to make another motion. Motion to postpone this item until the city engineer has had a chance to review the report. Lynch; second - Pollard. Councilman Pollard asked Glen Briesch, (Wasteline En~neering) when he received a copy the NTMWD report and Mr. Briesch advised he received in on Friday. Mayor Manning said he would also like to know when Mr. Lynch went on the payroll for Wasteline Engineering. Councilman Lynch asked for a point of order and requested that the Chairman withdraw the last remark. Mayor Manning said for the jury to disregard what he just said, but that it will be made again later. Councilman Burchard asked how long it would take him to respond and Mr. Briesch advised that it took NTMWD 8 weeks to write it and it would take him several weeks to respond. Motion carried with the following roll call vote: Lynch - Aye; Pollard - Aye; Hardin - Aye; Burehard - No; Tate - Aye; Manning - No. 2. CONSIDERATION OF AUTHORIZING A CONTRACT WITH NORTH TEXAS MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT FOR OPERATION OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY Mayor Manning asked Carl Rheim to address the contract and Mr. Rheim advised the numbers have not really changed since it was first presented and they believe they can operate the plant as proposed. Mr. Rheim said of course there may have to some changes. He told the council he was not sure they (council) wanted NTMWD to operated the plant and that he is not really sure NTMWD wants to enter into a contract with The Colony. Mr. Rheim said NTMWD is a non-profit entity established to work with cities and that he is sorry if conflicts have occurred. Mr. Rheim said they would do their best for the city and that their recommendation is the same for The Colony as it would be for any other city. He said he believes the City has some concerns to be resolved first. Brief discussion followed regarding the terms of the contract and sludge removal. Councilman Burchard said the prime concern is what the city can save with this contract and Mr. Rheim said NTMWD shares costs with other cities and that's why the expenses to operate are lower. He said he can't guarantee the amounts will always stay the same, but he said they have many people on staff with expertise in various areas to provide services° Mr. Rheim said NTMWD has a lot to offer The Colony. Councilman Burchard stated there are two questions before the council, operation of the existing plant and whether or not to build a completely new plant. Councilman Burchard went on to ask how much money we will save if we keep the existing facility and 3 005340 contract with NTMWD for operations. Mr. Smith said the 1993-94 wastewater budget was $785,000 for operations. Continuing, Mr. Smith said the 1994-95 budget is projected at $443,800 for operations. He said the first year contract amount with NTMWD is approximately $495,000 which includes our $125,000 share of the purchase of a belt press. Mr. Smith said the actual cost for operations will be about $375,000, which means a savings annually of about $45,000. Councilman Burchard said the second question is whether to expand or not and asked what the maximum capacity will be and Mr. Smith said if there was 100% build out of everything in the city we would need 7.7 mgd, but that he does not think we will ever need more than 6.7 mgd and that he does not think we will exceed the 75% for another year and a half. Mr. Smith said contracting with NTMWD will save the city money whether we continue to use the existing plant or build an entirely new plant. Councilman Burchard asked if any council members have a problem with approving the operations contract tonight and Councilman Lynch asked if we had talked to any other companies about this type of contract. Mr. Smith said there are no other companies that meet the requirements, for the costs offered by NTMWD, and that can save us money. Councilman Lynch said our 1994-95 budget projection is less than the contract amount and Mr. Smith said if we do continue to operate the plant then it will cost us more because we will have to purchase a belt press and automatic filters. Motion to authorize the City Manager to draft a contract with NTMWD for operations - Burchard; second - Dillard. Councilman Lynch said he wants to look at other firms and Mr. Smith said this has been done, but we can do it again. Mr. Smith went on to say that NTMWD needs to have - this by September 15th so they can take it to their board on September 22nd or we will have to wail until October 27, 1994. Glenn Briesch, engineer for Wasteline Engineering, the firm with which the city has contract for design of the wastewater treatment expansion, said that in his opinion NTMWD can operate the plant for less money than the private sector and that this sounds like a good deal to him. Motion amended to authorize the City Manager to draft a contract with NTMWD for operations and bring it to the council for approval by September 12. Burchard; second - Dillard, carried with a unanimous roll call vote. 3. WORK SESSION TO REVIEW DEPARTMENTAL BUDGETS FOR THE PROPOSED MUNICIPAL BUDGET FY 1994-95 INSPECTIONS Line Items: Tom Cravens noted that Linn Dixon is being transferred back to Inspections from 005341 Wastewater as an Electrical Inspector. Councilman Tate asked if he could serve as code enforcer also. Mr. Smith agreed there needs to be more cross-training in the city and suggested that firefighters could be cross trained to do building inspections as the same time they do fire inspections. There was very little discussion on the other line items. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION Mr. Smith said he really needs some direction from Council before finalizing the General Administration budget, because many of the items included are Council related issues. He said he is preparing a budget for economic development which he anticipates will be around $50,000. Mr. Smith noted that he has interviewed an intern through NCTCOG who would be assigned to economic development. The cost for the intern will be less than what we were previously paying for a shared employee with the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Smith said this amount was previously budgeted in Parks and Recreation and he is moving it into General Administration. Councilman Pollard said we need to look at the big picture before we can say we can do all that we have talked about, stating that right now we are anticipating spending more than we take in. Councilman Tare asked if we will come to a consensus on what the council wants to be accomplished with this budget. Mr. Smith said staff will take all the information, using the base budget, adjustments in wastewater, the 4% increase, personnel requests, capital projects and expenditures and present a final recommendation to the council, from which they can choose which items should be approved. Councilman Tare said she is still unclear on the take home policy for police cars, referencing a letter council received from a police employee which seems to conflict with what the Chief had told council regarding this issue. Mr. Smith said he was unaware of that particular letter until today, and stated that the employees really should go through their supervisors with such information, not go directly to the elected officials. Councilman Pollard said there is a difference between take home and personal use. He said most of the complaints seem to be not about taking the cars home, but about using them for personal use. Discussion followed regarding the use of patrol vehicles and various options. Mr. Smith suggested inviting the Police Chief back to the meeting along with any employees who want to come. He said the Chief is working on a fleet policy now and that will be provided to the council. 005342 With no further business to address, Mayor Manning adjourned the meeting at 9:10 p.m. AP O, VED: William W. 1V~anni~g, Mayor ATEEST: Patti A. Hicks,TRMC City Secretary