Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/07/1999 City Council MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION OF COUNCIL HELD ON SEPTEMBER 7, 1999 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 7m day of September 1999, at City Hall, with the following roll call: Bill Manning, Mayor Present John Gordon, Councilmember Present Lewis Jue, Councilmember Present David Stanwick, Councilmember Present A1 Garcia, Councilmember Present John Dillard, Councilmember Absent (illness) Jeff Meyers, Councilmember Present A quorum was established and the following items were addressed: ITEM DESCRIPTION SOURCE STATUS 1.1 Consideration of ratifyin~g an emergency expenditure for the Lambert repair of a high service pu~mp at well site number 2 in the approximate amount of $25,000 Motion to authorize the emergency expenditure of $26,700 for .repairs to well site number 2 - Stanwick; second - Meyers. -. Councilman Stanwick asked why this was just now coming to the council in the form of an emergency when the repairs were made about a month ago. Mr. Lambert replied he had just gotten the invoices last week and wasn't sure how much the expenditure was until then. Councilman Stanwick said we should have known the amount before now and he was not sure it was necessary to bring to council as an emergency expenditure. Motion carried with all ayes. 1.2 Work Session to discuss the 1999-2000 municipal budget Council Mr. Lambert turned the presentation over to Tony Johnston to cover funds that have not already been discussed in previous budget meetings. Non-Departmental - General Fund There are no changes in line items. Mr. Johnston did advise that he placed $38.000 in 98-99 Building Maintenance for roof repairs. Mr. Dunlap was able to get warranty work done on the roofs so the money was not used for that purpose. He further stated he used about $25,000 of that line item for purchasing replacement computers. He also advised he had $10,000 in the 98-99 Finance Dept. budget to handle Y2K and that it is in the 99-00 budget also. The older computers will be put into the auction. Councilman Garcia suggested using these older computers at the Library forchildrens' games. Mayor Manning suggested using them for public Internet access. Mr. Johnston will talk to Joan Sveinsson regarding this. Non-departmental - Utility Fund The council discussed electrical service and Contractual Services. Mr. Johnston said $20,000 of Contractual Services goes to the Planning Dept. SPECIAL FUNDS Fleet Replacement Mr. Johnston said he has been building this fund and by next year all vehicles except fire engines will be purchased from this fund and there will be no impact on the budget. Council agreed that a program should be started in next year's budget for purchase of a fire engine since we know we will need one in 3 - 7 years. Emergency Equipment Discussion regarding whether or not to keep this fund active. Questions concerning whether it pays for itself and it we are losing money by offering the subscription service. Council directed the Fire Department to do an analysis of this fund. They discussed moving this money to the Fleet Replacement Fund. Reserve Fund (formerly Land Fund) Mr. Johnston advised that this fund should have a balance of $250,000. Fleet Services Fund/Fleet Allocation Mr. Johnston explained how expenses are allocated to each department for the appropriate amounts in an effort to make Fleet Services break even. He said that department doesn't have to break even, but that has been one of his goals in this budget. HoteFMotel Tax Council discussed how to use these funds. Mr. Johnston said the revenue has not been what was expected, but he believes it will grow with time. Possible uses for funds: irrigation and landscaping of entrances to the city; promotion of tourism, development of the new 80 acre park, Parks and Recreation events, i.e. tournaments; special events; renovation of the old Library building for a conference center. Council directed that this fund should be left as it is and in mid-year staff will come back with plans for using the funds. Mayor Manning asked the amount of the fund balance in the General Fund. Mr. Johnston responded it is $162,947, but noted that some of the revenues are coming in higher than he projected so it will be more. Mayor Manning asked how 00725 much the fund balance would be increased. Mr. Lambert addressed the council stating that he has some recommendations for this budget that are different from what has been presented. These will add money to the General Fund and they are as follows: · Don't transfer Tony Johnston from Utility Fund to General Fund - Add $75,000 · Don't allocate so much to the General Fund from Fleet Maintenance (let them break even next year) - Add $25,000 · Inspection Fees are projected too low- Add $25,000 · Sales Tax is projected too low - Add $75,000 Mr. Lambert said the council would have $200,000 to spend (for enhancements). He said revenues would be approximately $100,000 more than projected. Mr. Johnston reminded the council that there is the ability in this budget to borrow $5 million a year for streets or other projects. Mr. Lambert asked what the Personnel Committee is recommending. Mayor Manning advised the Committee needs to meet again before making a recommendation. He further stated they discussed adding the Administrative Services Clerk with the idea that the position would help not only the City Secretary, but also Finance and Planning. He said they would want it monitored to see just how much this position could handle. The City Secretary would be responsible for coordinating the workload. The Mayor said they also discussed adding the P.T. Library Clerk and subsidizing the 8% increase in dependent coverage for employees. Members of the committeesaid they need to meet again and need more information before they can make a final recommendation. Mr. Johnston went over the list of enhancements that he compiled from the 99-00 budget requests. He said most can be taken from the $850,000 tax note approve two weeks ago, but advised there are other funds available for some of these items. The Council told Mr. Johnston to cut the 7 lap top computers from the list ($17,500). They discussed cutting the painting of the ground storage tank in lieu of another more pressing enhancement. Mayor Manning asked if some of the Utility Fund items could be purchased from the Utility Fund excess, leaving more money for General Fund enhancements. Mr. Johnston said that could be done. Mr. Lambert said the council now needs to tell staff what they want to see done in this budget with regard to enhancements or other projects. Councilman Gordon said he couldn't state what he wants until he knows how much money there is to be used. 00725o Council discussed the amount of money in reserve --. (operating days) in both G.F. and U.F. They can lower the ~ number of days in reserve and add to the amount of money available. Council asked Mr. Johnston for a complete list of all city funds, the balance of those funds, the purpose of those funds and from where the money in those funds comes. Council will meet again on September 9 to discuss the budget with a final budget meeting on September 14, 1999. The budget will be on the September 20 agenda for adoption. Mayor Manning said the Personnel Committee needs to meet as soon as possible. Ms. Burkett will be asked to set up that meeting. Councilman Stanwick said he wants to add the large copier for Engineering to the list of enhancements, (perhaps replacing the painting of the storage tank). Mr. Lambert advised the council of the shortfall in the money for the renovation of the new city hall/library facility He said there are several items, which have not been included in the budget, that need to be addressed. He said the council could decide to stop the project where it is, going on to say there is enough money to f'mish the inside, but not the outside. Mr. Lambert said we could cut the porte-cochere and the landscaping to save money. Council asked how much money -- is needed. Mr. Lambert deferred to Ms. Hicks, who advised : that if we continue with the plan as presented and we include the myriad of items which were not included, but that are necessary to complete the building properly, the estimated amount of money needed is $250,000. Councilman Stanwick said perhaps we need to look at the whole plan, which includes reactivation of Fire Station Two, renovation of the old library building and renovation of the old city hall for police. Councilman Gordon asked if this would be on the next agenda and Mr. Lambert advised that it would be and that staff will provide a list of items to be considered. With no further business to be addressed, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. ~/I3'~R~OVED: ~ ~ Patti A. Hicks, TRMC/CCM/AAE -- City Secretary 4