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Home My WebLink About07/16/2007 City Council " . . r::-o 'VVLJ ~ July 16,2007 MINUTES OF REGULAR SESSION OF COUNCIL HELD ON JULY 16, 2007 The Regular Session of the City Council of the City of The Colony, Texas, was called to order at 5:07 p.m. on the 16th day of July 2007, at The Tribute Golf Club, 1000 Boyd Road, The Colony, Texas, with the following roll call: John Dillard Allen Harris John Marshall Joe McCourry Kirk Mikulec Perry Schrag Joel Marks Mayor Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Councilmember Mayor Pro-tern Councilmember Present Absent Present Present Present Present Present City administration and department directors were in attendance as well. With six council members present a quorum was established and the following items were addressed: A. Citizen Input- None B. Discuss various issues related to the future ofthe city. Discussion may include, but not be limited to, comparisons with other cities, capital projects and equipment, city buildings and other facilities, debt issuances, personnel requests, survey results, vehicle replacement policy, budget and future planning. C. Provide direction the City Council deems appropriate related to items listed above. City Manager Dale Cheatham thanked the staff for the work involved to prepare for this meeting. He proceeded to review items included in the agenda packet by section starting with the city comparisons. He compared The Colony to Coppell, Duncanville, and Hurst on the following points: population, square miles, budget and total number employees. Dale pointed out two major differences between The Colony and the other cities- there is more development in progress here, and less is spent on capital improvement projects in The Colony. He also reviewed the public safety staffing differences, higher incidents of animal impounds, smaller library facility, the amount of park acres employees mow, and the fact that The Colony is the only city that operates a wastewater treatment plant. Additionally, he noted the size of The Colony's jail is significantly smaller than comparison cities'. In summary, Dale stated that The Colony employees do more than in other cities. If ,Hi 5 1 ~ July 16,2007 Dale then asked Fire Chief Mike Nolen and Police Chief Joe Clark to speak regarding their staffing needs and their projections for staffing, equipment and facility needs for the next five years. Chief Nolen explained a new promotion plan he has which, if approved, will add the position of Battalion Chief (1 for each shift). He elaborated on the need for additional personnel and described how they would be distributed at an incident. Discussion followed among council and staff regarding the pending new fire stations for Austin Ranch and Wynnewood Peninsula, and how soon the city needs to be prepared to build those. Chief Clark reviewed his request for additional personnel, stressing that his first priority is for four patrol officers dedicated to Wynnewood Peninsula. Dale reviewed personnel requests for several other departments, adding that he realized the city could not fund all. He opened the floor for directors to speak regarding their personnel requests. Library Director Joan Sveinsson stated her reasons for requesting an Electronic Resources Librarian. Mayor Dillard recessed the meeting at 5:45 p.m. for dinner and resumed at 6:15 p.m. Dale presented a proposed change to the criteria used to replace vehicles. He would like to increase the mileage for patrol cars from 80k to 1 OOk miles. Also the number of use hours would be tracked. Newer vehicles come equipped with a meter for this purpose. The repair costs of a vehicle will also be factor on when the vehicle would need to be replaced. Chief Clark voiced his concern over the proposed plan for patrol cars. Discussion of the take home vehicle policy followed with Councilmember McCourry suggesting that, as a mileage saving measure, it be modified to eliminate use of vehicles during the officers' off-duty time. It was noted that for officers qualifying for take home vehicles this is an added benefit and compensates somewhat in the area of salary comparisons. Capital projects were briefly reviewed which included utility, street and drainage projects. Dale added that the Memorial Drive underpass may not require city funding. It was noted that drainage for the Shoreline Trail was not included in the list. The need for the replacement and/or repair of several city buildings was presented by Dale with a proposal for a Public Services Building. He cited city code violations and over-crowding in his presentation. This building would house public works, fleet services, water distribution, parks maintenance, and facility maintenance. He estimated the cost at $6M with some being funded from the utility fund debt. The police and court building structm;al issues were named, and the animal shelter, city hall and library were listed as having over-crowded conditions. With the widening of F .M. 423 several parking spaces will be lost and therefore it will be difficult for the library to conduct its summer programs. Several options for the city hall/library were discussed. The city will also be required to build additional two fire stations in the coming years- Austin Ranch and Wynnewood Peninsula. The recreation center is another facility that is small for a city this size. Dale noted that the Community Development Corporation could pay for a portion of the building costs. Dale revisited the results of a survey of residents conducted in 2006. The results listed streets, the 2 ":' ~"'il ~.j ,) 0 0 ~ t ..L -2. July 16, 2007 city's appearance, bike trails, and maintenance issues as high priority. He then reviewed items for possible 2006-2007 Certificate of Obligation Debt Issuance and SIB Loan funds. Dale then discussed items not listed in the agenda packet material. He said beautification should be a high priority. He listed traffic signals, mail boxes, signage and gravel parking lots as important to address. He said more resources should be used for code enforcement. He also stressed that as F .M. 423 is widened the city should take the opportunity to focus on this major thoroughfare and make it as attractive as possible. He asked for council's opinion on a possible "round up" program on utility bills giving citizens the option to contribute to the beautification program. Dale then addressed city employees and salaries. He stated public safety positions are becoming harder to fill and discussed the possibility oflowering the city's standards for applicants. Salaries of public safety positions are below the minimum average, and some other positions citywide are underpaid. Medical insurance costs are increasing by 8 % this year which is a hardship on some families. Due to the heavy rainfall this year the Utility Fund will have a shortfall in water revenues. Dale asked for council direction regarding whether to reduce or keep the same the tax rate. He provided them an example of what it might mean for an average household per year to have a decrease in the rate. As part of this discussion he revisited the debt refinancing that was recently discussed, asking whether to keep it at 10 years or perhaps extending it to 15 years. He then asked council to review a list of 13 questions and verbally provide a response. Dale then turned the meeting over to Mayor Dillard who called a 10 minute recess at 8:00 p.m. Each council member provided a response to the list of questions. At the end Dale clarified with them that a majority ofthe council did not favor a decrease in the tax rate, and most agreed with the 10 year refinancing plan. And with no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. APPROVED: 9 J n Dillard, Mayor . y of The Colony ATTEST: fj LA,j.-J. !l--iJth~ ~stie Wilson, TRMC, City Secretary 3