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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2011-01-24 Special 1/24/2011 3479 � STATE OF TEXAS )( CITY OF FRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( JANUARY 24, 2011 )( MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011, AT 6:30 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR DAVID SMITH (arrived at 6:45 PM) MAYOR PRO-TEM JIM HILL COUNCILMEMBER MIKE BARKER COUNCILMEMBER PAT MCGINNIS COUNCILMEMBER DEIRDRE BROWN CITY ATTORNEY BILL OLSON CITY MANAGER ROGER ROECKER DEPUTY CITY SECRETARY MICHELLE PEREZ Councilmember Barr and Councilmember Holbert were absent from the meeting. 6:30 PM—SPECIAL SESSION Mayor Pro-Tem Hill cailed the meeting to order. "`�` A discussion was held to review the Multi-Year Financial Plan with Becky Brooks, financial consultant and President and Chief Executive Officer of Government Resource Association, LLC and also the Executive Director of the Finance Officers Association of Texas. City Manager Roger Roecker stated he has worked with Becky Brooks since 2005 when she introduced the Multi-Year Financial Planning model and she works with Staff each year to update it. He stated the plan started as a 20 year projection and now it is a five year financial model. He recognized Staff and stated they work hard to make the plan the best they can make it. Staff would like to provide Council with information that will help them make decisions in the future with budget and hopefully establish a tax rate policy and to examine the use of the City's undesignated fund balance or reserves. Staff provides excellent City services very efficiently and continues to be good stewards of the citizen's money. The State is going through a difficult budget process and the cuts for school funding are alarming. Since the City of Friendswood does not get any State funding he asked the representatives to leave Friendswood alone to let local control take place and to let locally elected officials and citizens get what they desire in following the City's mission statement which is to provide the highest level of service to citizens at the greatest value. The City Manager stated the average monthly bill for general government services is equivalent to what he pays for cable each month without any of the premium movie channels. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge introduced Financial Consultant Becky Brooks by stating that Ms. Brooks is the one who developed the Multi-Year Financial Plan the City currently uses. City Staff monitors and updates the plan and Ms. Brooks acts in an oversight capacity. Becky Brooks stated she began in public finance in 1983 and has owned a consulting practice since 1994, and prior to this she was the City Auditor with the City of Arlington, Texas. She stated she currently serves as the Executive Director for the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas which is an affiliate of the Texas Municipal League. She stated her most recent work was to wrap up her third budget ,,� year with the City of Fort Worth, Texas, which has a similar process as the City of Friendswood. 1/24/2011 3480 ,...� Cindy Edge gave a PowerPoint Presentation on the Multi Year Financial Plan General and the Tax Debt Service Funds. She explained the types of planning are comprehensive, strategic, operational/tactical, and ad-hoc. Tonight's work session objectives are to provide context for a Financial Plan, to outline critical assumptions and planning factors, and to generate future dialogue and input for maintaining current service levels. She explained a Financial Plan considers the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Vision 2020, and add or align the Capital Programs and the Departmental Plans and the cumulative result is the Multi-Year Financial Plan. The plan identifies funding needs, creates an annual operating budget, and is used as a resource allocation tool. The revenue planning data includes planning and economic development, finance, departmental input, and alternative revenue options. Some of the drivers that help to create the projections are external and internal. External is the economy, instability in the market, unknown impacts of future decisions like NASA, actions of State legislators, competing resources such as cooperative agreements. Internal are actions taken that have limited growth and policy decisions. Ms. Edge stated that the General Fund situation is positive stating the Fund balance level has been sufficient to meet or exceed the 90 day goal, the Fiscal Year 2012 tax rate ratio is good, 89 percent operating and maintenance and 11 percent debt service debt capacity ratios are good, supported by bond ratings of AA- the biggest key revenues are in property values but the growth in residential tax values is for new construction only. There is a one percent overall decline in base commercial values for 2010 and 2013 plus the value of new commercial construction. The key baseline expenditures are personnel services and operations and maintenance. The City has maintained the Fund Balance target of 90 days. Cindy Edge continued by showing a tax rate example, discussed anticipated commercial growth for tax year 2011, and stated the tax rate assumptions are maintaining a stable approach to Operations and Maintenance and Interest and Sinking rates will be critical. The Plan reflects a flat rate based on the tax rate for Fiscal Year 2012 ($.5851), the projected the same tax rate for Fiscal Year 2013 thru Fiscal Year 2016, this is different from previous years where the rate was based on the effective tax rate. The debt service tax rate is also called the Interest and Sinking rate and is levied to meet debt service obligations. "'"' The plan reflects estimated Interest and Sinking tax rate for Fiscal Year 2011 of $0.0653, the plan maintains a rate of.065 to .070 for Fiscal Year 2012 thru Fiscal Year 2015. There is a modest draw down of fund balance to stabilize the rate. She explained a PowerPoint slide that expressed the tax rated for Galveston and Harris Counties from 1999 to present, discussion also on a various revenue streams such as property tax recap, sales tax, franchise tax, fines and forfeiture, charges for service, general, baseline. Baseline revenues versus baseline expenditures were shown to explain the projected fund balance, operating only. Councilmember Brown asked why the presentation shows that Fiscal Year 2011 expenditures exceed revenues. Cindy Edge stated it was the use of fund balance for one time amounts. She continued the PowerPoint presentation by explaining that when the budget is presented to Council Staff starts with a baseline budget from the previous year, Staff then goes through the Decision Packages and decides what packages are eligible for budget, some are ongoing for operations and others are one time purchases. The schedule shows Fiscal Year 2012 through Fiscal Year 2016. She stated in Fiscal Year 2012 the City is still holding 90 days in reserve with a balance of $5.1 million and the undesignated fund balance or what is available for Capital Improvement Projects is a little over$940,000. It is anticipated that the audit from last September is projected to be a little over$1,000,017,000 for this year's starting budget, and that includes holding $1 million for Mud Gulley and $1.7 million is net of that, the undesignated fund balance in planning Fiscal year 2013 is $780,000; for planning Fiscal Year 2015 is $450,000 so there will not be a fund balance sufficient to fund operations. Councilmember Brown asked if the undesignated fund balance is $1,000,017,000 or$1,700,000,000 and Cindy Edge clarified that it is $1,000,017,000. Councilmember Brown asked for a breakdown on the amounts that have been drawn but not paid from the fund balance and City Edge stated she will provide '""�" that breakdown. 1/24/2011 3481 � Cindy Edge stated incremental decision packages average about $2.2 million annually over the next five years, approximately 75 percent is expected to be needed to meet existing service levels as the City grows and the other 25 percent is anticipated new programs, personnel and equipment. She explained if the baseline revenues are taken as baseline expenditures and added it in the decision packages then that shows where the City needs to be to fund those expenditures that are in the decision packages, there will be a shortage of funds which will eventually erode the 90 day reserves. Mayor Smith asked Cindy Edge to give an example of a Decision Package and she used the example of Parks Operations purchasing a tractor to replace one that has reached its life and is no longer cost efficient to maintain, Community Services Director James Toney would have to justify the purchase of the tractor within the Decision Package. The Decision Package is first presented to Staff for consideration and then to Council. City Manager Roger Roecker stated that an example of a personnel Decision Package would be the addition of police that are required to maintain the staffing levels that Council has approved or it could be personnel in other departments depending on the level of growth. Cindy Edge stated Staff would like Council's guidance to see what could be added as alternative revenue options, some options are an optional sales tax, billing for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) service calls, drainage utility fees, and telecommunications sales tax repeal. She stated some cities are collecting that tax and if Council is interested Staff will pursue it. Adding the proposed revenue options will narrow but not close the gap between funding the Decision Packages and the deficit amount needed to fund them. Decisions that are made in this process affect the City's future condition. The plan indicates that the current revenues are not sufficient to support existing service levels and the plan does not provide any revenue for funding capital equipment or improvements, can fund the baseline operation � with no decision packages until Fiscal Year 2012-2013, but Fiscal Year 2014-2015 will begin to get into the 90 day reserve. If Decision Packages are included, by 2011-2012, there is insufficient fund balance to maintain the 90 day operating reserve. She stated Staff is asking direction on how Council would like to manage the tax rate, there have been no increases in the non-personnel operations in the last two years, asked how to continue to provide essential services if Decision Packages are not funded, and which if any of the alternative revenues is Council interested in investigating. She stated the Multi-Year Financial Plan is the basis for the Fiscal Year 2012 budget and direction from Council is invaluable to Staff because input is needed on assumptions, debt levels and tax rates, built into the plan is an incremental increase to three percent by 2016, reminded that Forces at Work have not been addressed. The City Manager asked Becky Brooks if she had any comments or observations about Cindy Edge's presentation or the City's condition. Becky Brooks stated all cities are going through the same struggles to balance the revenue stream with the provided services, everything is on the table for discussion. Mayor Smith asked if there were any inherent clarification questions first. Councilmember Hill asked for an explanation of the telecommunications sales tax repeal. Assistant to the City Manager Nick Haby responded that by default the State's statute does not give cities sales tax money for land line and cell phones. The City would have to enact an ordinance that repeals that exemption and give it to the comptroller who can relinquish the sales tax to the City. He explained that in order to receive it the City must take action on this fairly simple process. Mayor Smith clarified that consumers are already paying this tax but it will stay with the State by default unless it is requested by the City. 1/24/2011 3482 «.. Councilmember Brown asked for Council to get a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and get a comparison of the cell phone tax from other cities in the area in order to contrast fees, asked what is included in the current water fees and Cindy Edge stated the water rates are based on operational costs, debt service for revenue and other bonds and working capital that can go for Capital Improvement Projects. Councilmember Brown asked how to account on what is being reimbursed by the home owners directly for garbage pick up. How much does it cost the City and is the City being totally reimbursed for that cost and Cindy Edge stated the garbage fee that is charged to citizens pays for IESI and for an administrative fee of eight percent to the City. Counci�member McGinnis asked if the City is really as efficient with essential services as possible. He asked if there are things that should be changed to a fee rather than a tax. He stated there was a big jump in health insurance for City employees and there might be a cost savings available for a different type of insurance, some cities have begun outsourcing to a greater level, if the State is getting money that the citizens are already paying he supports retrieving that, would be hesitant to charge for EMS calls. Councilmember Barker stated charging for EMS calls opens up a can of worms, a sales tax is a viable option but does not know if it will pass in this economy. Mayor Smith stated that based on experience his opinion is that base assumptions are being made on the sales tax and there is not a lot of tweaking that can be done internally because there is not a lot of room. A $2 million shortfall will not be made up over the next five years by tweaking what is already a lean running organization. There may be better alternatives to improving in-house efficiency, but they may save only a little here and there, the next place to go for revenue is the sales tax because it is a consumption tax and the only tax that can be retrieved from people who live outside of Friendswood. He stated he is very interested in studying the possibility of what a sales tax can do, would rather see the City move in that direction than to see a rise in property tax. "'""" Councilmember Hill stated when he goes to Baybrook Mall he does not consider the small difference added to the cost of the product. The small additional fee could make a large difference to the City of Friendswood, as Mayor Smith stated it is very hard to sell a tax increase but maybe people can be educated to understand that when the tax rate is raised one half cent the generated funds are actually very small, there would have to be a ten cent tax rate to make the up the shortfall, however, the sales tax could be significant to the City. Councilmember Brown stated she believes the lack of a sales tax could be a selling point in commercial development, does not think a sales tax is going to shift the burden to those from out of town, the sales tax revenue is miniscule compared to other revenue, is at a loss as to how to try to charge some fees to people while holding fees such as EMS sacrosanct, believes the EMS personnel should be worked with to make sure there is a workable result, a workshop with the Friendswood Volunteer Fire Department (FVFD)and the EMS would be helpful because fees have been discussed for years but still nothing is done and other cities are charging the fees. She stated that better cooperative agreements with other towns are a good way to outsource. It may take some control away but there will be a cost savings, would like to see voluntary contributions on the tax or water bill for animal control facilities and parks, needs more information on the sales tax repeal. One thing not on the short list but was previously discussed is the homestead exemption and asked if it should be revisited. If the homestead exemption is going to be offered it must be marketed. If the City is not charging certain fees then that needs to be marketed. Mayor Smith stated he would like to see what it would take to make up the small gap and the Decision Packages gap with the current revenue streams. What changes would have to take place over the next few years. People need to understand how Decision Packages are created and why it becomes contentious at the Council level because the average person does not see all of the work that has been '"""""" done into the outcome. He stated it is important to focus on the big picture which is the gap and what is represented by that $2 million. Capital improvements such as road and street are bond issues, is a matter of laying it out, having a plan and explaining it to the public. 1/24/2011 3483 � Cindy Edge stated an additionai sales tax of%2 cent would generate$1.2 million by up to 2016. Mayor Smith stated it is difficult to determine how many people come into Friendswood but the best information he can come up with is that 50 percent of business is from outside of the City, which is based on an informal survey that has come from grocery stores, liquor stores, restaurants, and hardware stores. He stated at the end of the day the funds must come from somewhere and the sales tax is the only way to get it from someone other than Friendswood taxpayers. He stated talking to the EMS personnel will help to identify the can of worms. EMS personnel feel very strongly about the services they provide and is going to be difficult to provide them the money they need without the revenue coming from somewhere else. He thinks the volunteer donations are a great idea on the website, and stated there are children out there raising money for the Animal Control Facility and are waiting to donate. Councilmember Brown stated some cities are considering accident fees, which are accrued when an accident occurs by a non-resident, the person is responsible for the cost of services provided to them by the City. She stated a workshop with EMS and the Friendswood Volunteer Fire Department (FVFD) would be helpful to clarify concerns. Mayor Smith stated there is not enough time to have a workshop for every issue so he encouraged Councilmember Brown to meet with the management, EMS and FVFD to find out that they are well aware of the pros and cons of charging for their services. Councilmember McGinnis asked Ms. Brooks if she knew of any cities that have created an endowment to fund services that benefit the citizens, and asked if such exists on a municipal level. Ms. Brooks stated that Arlington, Texas, has something called a "Tomorrow Fund" which is funded through oil and gas � revenue and organizations apply for that funding but is not sure if it is technically an endowment. Councilmember Brown stated there are a lot of cities that have non-profit organizations that work in conjunction with the city such as Galveston's parks and Friendswood's Historical Foundation. Ms. Brooks stated it is important to keep in mind from a policy standpoint that although a separate board would be created that would be responsible for spending the City's money, would still be the City's money and pool of resources. Councilmember McGinnis stated he got mail from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) that asked to be considered for the City Staff health plan and that might be an option. Mayor Smith stated he is sure that Councilmember McGinnis did not mean to imply that people send their money to the government and it will be taken care of when he was speaking of an endowment. He stated that he understands Councilmember McGinnis' thoughts to be that this is more a philosophy of user fees and if something is important there should be a choice as to where a person can place their money. Councilmember McGinnis stated he was thinking more of an endowment or charitable organization but did not know if other cities used that model, such as an endowment for the arts, believes many people would enjoy donating to these types of organizations and perhaps his words will inspire someone to set up something like that. Mayor Smith stated the Veterans Memorial and the library were examples of such endowments. For the City, the tax dollar contributions already being used will not make up the gap the City has. For example, the arts will be outside the Council's purview and would be run on their own. He stated there is about seven years of pent up need that has to be made up and there has been inflation during that seven years, ,,,�, now it is seen that no growth means that there is money into savings and the City will begin to go in the opposite direction. He stated pushing this on to the next Council and the next Council, will be more difficult to affect these changes. 1/24/2011 3484 ..., Councilmember Brown stated the best example in the community that shows how a foundation can work is the Friendswood Independent School District Foundation which can be seen on the website. She asked if Staff could research if there is a barrier to donations being placed on the website, and asked if it is possible to do that in the short term. Mayor Smith stated in order for Council to affect something it needs to be placed on an agenda. Councilmember Barker stated the numbers presented by Staff tonight could be very conservative. If the City's budget is not currently being affected by inflation then it is approaching rapidly. The gap is on the verge of infiation issues reminiscent of the 1970's. Councilmember Hill stated his wife's cousin passed away and family members asked that donations be made to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SCPA) and she wants to give it to Friendswood Animal Control, and asked the procedure for that. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated it can be designated as a donation through Utility Billing at City Hail and will be brought before Council as an amendment to appropriate the funds. Councilmember Hill suggested that it be placed on the website for those interested in donating. Councilmember Brown asked if there is any reason why no donations can be taken online, is interested in exploring the EMS fees in a public setting so that the public understands what issues EMS has, would like more information on the drainage utility fees and the telecommunications sales tax, would like a comparison of the other local municipalities and what fees they are charging compared to the fees Friendswood is charging. Mayor Smith asked Councilmember Brown if she is interested in the tax rate comparison and what it would take to make up the gap using property taxes. '""'�" Councilmember Brown stated there is no guarantee that there will be a gap at the end of 2016 so she is more concerned about how to project out and where those revenue sources are and how they will affect the population rather than how to fix a gap of some sort. Mayor Smith asked Councilmember McGinnis if there are issues he would or would not like to take up. Councilmember McGinnis stated that no decisions are to be made tonight and would like to look at any analysis Staff can present. Councilmember Hill agreed with Councilmember McGinnis. Councilmember Barker stated right now everything is on the table. Mayor Smith asked City Manager Roger Roecker to look into online donations and bond issues. All of Council agreed that bonds should be researched. Councilmember Brown stated she is very supportive about possible bond issues being on the table and each department highlighting what infrastructure they believe will be critical in the next two to three years, and is also interested in coordinated efforts with other governments to decrease costs. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated that the projections presented tonight are based on a flat tax rate so if property values decrease there will be less revenue than presented and if values increase there will be additionat revenue. She stated previous projections were based on an effective tax rate which would give what is available this year plus the growth. Mayor Smith stated it is difficult to focus on finite numbers and likes to operate in a range to see worst- case scenario such as nobody buying another house in town and the economy continues to worsen then the gap widens, would also like to see the opposite such as if West Ranch booms and there is no inflation, helps to look at things that would help such as does the tax base need to be taken from home owners, is difficult just to look at the graph. Council and Staff agreed with his observation. �.,� 1/24/2011 3485 � Councilmember Barker stated that the State is going through the process of cutting their budget right now and asked if those cuts will filter down and affect Friendswood, and would like to know if the City is in jeopardy. Cindy Edge stated there is a discussion that the State will change the percentage of the money they keep when retailers send the money to the State. The City's Municipal Court sends court costs to the State and this will affect Friendswood's revenue. Mayor Smith stated that Texas Municipal League has been a watchdog about these issues and it might be worth finding out if they have any publications that address some of these issues. The City Manager stated that updates are provided and encouraged Council to take advantage of them, has spoken with Texas Legislative Members and asked that they leave Friendswood alone. A discussion was held regarding the Capital Improvement Program. Community Development Director Morad Kabiri passed out information for discussion to each Councilmember. Referring to the document, he stated that the first page is five-year projects that are currently under construction or soon to be under construction with the exception of the commitment for the MUD Gulley detention project owed to Galveston and Harris Counties. The second page is the beyond five-year general projects, as the first five years is nearing completion. Staff will look to Council for guidance on which projects they want to move into the next five-year window and bonds will need to be issued to complete them. He stated he will leave that information with Council to digest. Similar to the five-year projects are the five-year Capital Improvement water and sewer projects that are funded by revenue bonds issued by the City. The top half is the projects that are under construction and the bottom half are the remainder of the projects that need to be completed within the five-year window. Three of them on the list are out of the City of Friendswood's control; the City of Houston raw water system buy-in, the Blackhawk Wastewater "'�� Treatment Plant rehabilitation, and the forty-two inch water main replacement. City Manager Roger Roecker referred to the Blackhawk Wastewater Treatment Plant rehabilitation and stated Staff hopes to have a representative from the Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority at the next meeting to discuss some improvements they feel are needed at the plant. Community Services Director Morad Kabiri stated these projects are funded by water and sewer revenue bonds and not from the General Fund. The last page of the document is a list of the beyond five-year Capital Improvement Projects for water and sewer projects. Staff is not prepared to bring any of these projects into the five-year window but is just presented to keep Council apprised. Mayor Smith asked the percentage of the projects that are included in the gap discussed earlier with the Administrative Services Department and Morad Kabiri stated none are included, their portion of the Interest and Sinking tax rate will fund only about$1.2 million based on the current tax rate. Mayor Smith stated Council needs to consider this list also as they consider the gap and the funding mechanism considered to make up the differences because they are tied together. Morad Kabiri stated Staff does seek opportunities to work with other agencies as development occurs, half of the projects on the first five-year window were funded by outside sources. Councilmember Brown asked if the Brittany Bay Phase One will be developer funded and Morad Kabiri stated Staff assumes it is still developer funded unless they are told otherwise. Councilmember Brown stated that there is an estimate of $400,000 to $1 million approved for Lake Friendswood. During the workshop with the Parks Board there was discussion of estimates for different phases of opening the park and asked if there is anything south of$400,000 that could get it open and Morad Kabiri stated yes. ..-. Councilmember McGinnis addressed the information regarding Fire Station No. 5, and stated that fire department members are concerned with its age and room and utility and asked if this fire station is tied into the Capital Improvement Projects list. Morad Kabiri stated that discussions have included closing this facility and opening another larger one but nothing is finalized. There will still only be four fire stations. 1/24/2011 3486 ..� Councilmember Barker referred to the water and sewer projects and asked if the City is in good shape to complete them as needed without concerns, beyond five years are the projects good even if taxes need to be raised and Morad Kabiri stated he does not see any issues. Cindy Edge stated the City did a rate study two years ago and she will add in the obligations and determine what debt service is necessary to cover the obligations. Councilmember Barker asked if there is any merit to looking at this sooner rather than later and Morad Kabiri stated yes. Councilmember Barker asked to begin to look into it. Morad Kabiri stated sometimes it comes with the current rates and tax rates will need to be increased to tackle more projects. He stated as projects are completed they can take a closer look at completing some of the smaller ones. Councilmember Hill stated he thought the City paid for the raw water for the city of Houston until build-out in the 2009 bond issue and Public Works Director Kaz Hamidian stated that was for the purchase of the surface water expansion plan, the raw water was left to be paid at a later time. Councilmember Hill stated he remembers a conversation that made him think the City was done with that and Kaz Hamidian stated that was an agreement that former Mayor Ralph Lowe made for the water line that was laid on Beamer Road which saved the City money for a second source of water for Friendswood. Morad Kabiri stated the majority of Friendswood's water goes for irrigation and very little for consumption. Councilmember Hill stated he was at a meeting in which League City Staff attended and they are very close to having a water treatment system that will turn wastewater into potable water and that is the most efficient use of water there is. Mayor Smith stated there is a problem with that because when you take water out of the natural flow of the water that is supposed to end up in the bay it can affect the marine life. Texas A&M Health Science Center as well as the Coastal Conservation Society has made numerous presentations that make sure municipalities remember that they need to let the water flow through. He stated it is a great thought but it can have unintended consequences. Mayor Smith thanked Council and Staff for taking the time and ""` energies to help Council get ahead of the curve. He commended City Manager Roger Roecker for anticipating the City's direction. The City Manager stated Staff will be bringing the Capital Improvement Projects list back for further discussion and appreciates tonight's input. A discussion was held regarding the Texas Division of Emergency Management's "Texas Safe Shelter Initiative". Mayor Smith stated it was brought up because it needs to be brought before Council. Funds from the State have been made available to build a shelter in Friendswood. He stated there is a set plan that the package comes with so Council will not come up with the building plans but will be responsible for planning the interior. There is a short window of opportunity and it is a matching grant type of program with the State funding 75 percent of the build-out of the shell and the City funding 25 percent of same. He stated the City will have to make a decision both to participate and to determine a site by February. He stated he hopes it is a relatively easy decision, is a relatively large facility that can be used for other things besides a shelter such as arts, sports, community education, and meeting space. It is a significant monetary contribution and the decision will have to be made by February 4, 2011. Councilmembers gave a general consensus to reject the opportunity. Mayor Smith stated he does not like the idea of having a shelter south of the I-10 freeway because he does not want to encourage peopte to be sheltered in an area outside of the Gulf Coast, the attractiveness faded very quickly. He stated he tried not to be one-sided but did not do a good job at that. Fire Marshal Terry Byrd stated that before Fire Station No. 4 was built there was a study done of the fire station situation in Friendswood and Fire Station No. 5 was intended to replace Fire Station No. 1. He stated it was an arbitrary number chosen by the consulting firm which does not reflect the number of fire � stations in the City. 1/24/2011 3487 � City Manager Rocker Roecker assured Councilmember McGinnis that Staff does look for efficiencies and wili continue to do so. Mayor Smith thanked Staff for the work they do both at the meetings and before the meetings to prepare. The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM. or David J.H. S Attest: � FR�EN�s � ' litisL�� �O �O � O linda Welsh, TRMC V � City Secretary * * s ��T� OF ���P� � �