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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Minutes 2011-06-20 Special 06/20111 3607 STATE OF TEXAS )( - CITY OF PRIENDSWOOD )( COUNTIES OF GALVESTON/HARRIS )( JUNE 20, 2011 )( MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE FRIENDSWOOD CITY COUNCIL THAT WAS HELD ON MONDAY, JUNE 20, 2011, AT 6:00 PM AND A REGULAR MEETING AT 7:00 PM AT FRIENDSWOOD CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 910 S. FRIENDSWOOD DRIVE, FRIENDSWOOD, TEXAS, WITH THE FOLLOWING PRESENT CONSTITUTING A QUORUM: MAYOR DAVID SMITH MAYOR PRO-TEM JIM HILL COUNCILMEMBER PAT MCGINNIS COUNCILMEMBER JOHN SCOTI' COUNCILMEMBER DEIRDRE BROWN CITY ATTORNEY ARNOLD POLANCO CITY MANAGER ROGER ROECKER CITY SECRETARY MELINDA WELSH Councilmembers Barker and Enochs were absent from the meeting. SPECIAL SESSION Mayor Smith called the meeting to order and asked if anyone would like to speak regarding the proposed Fiscal Year 2011-2012 General Operating Budget. No one spoke. Mayor Smith opened the discussion between Council and Staff regarding the proposed Fiscal Year 2011- 2012 General Operating Budget for the City of Friendswood. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge explained the budget process, and emphasized that this plan and this discussion is for the General Fund and the tax debt, the water and sewer are separate operations. She stated the plan is developed to keep the existing service Ievels where they are with no new programs or items. She presented a PowerPoint presentation beginning with critical assumptions and planning factors which are revenue projections, expenditure projections, and Decision Packages layered through the plan. Revenue projections are driven by what drives the numbers such as new commercial properties, new home starts, and population. She stated Decision Packages only occur if funds are available. The revenue planning data is acquired by the Administrative Services Departme�t working closely with the Community Development DepaRment and Economic Development Coordinator Karen Capps to determine the projected residential and commercial growth and current trends are also considered. City depaAments are asked for input on revenue as it relates to fee adjustments, grant opportunities or new fees in order to define the tax base. Fiscal policies are used as guidelines for acceptable practice. The revenue forecasting suggests a modest growth in the tax rate which does not stem from existing properties but from new home construction because existing properties currently show declining value. Personnel is 68 percent of the budget and there is an increase of 2.5 percent for existing overall personnei in the multi- year expenditure pian. The City will maintain 90 days of operating reserves which is$5.1 miliion and use ' the fund balance of$720,000 for capital projects. City Manager Roger Roecker stated the City is service I oriented so personnel is key, have been conservative in adding Staff by only adding two positions and one of the positions was part time to full time. Cindy Edge stated 84 percent of the General Fund Revenue is tax based so the majority of the time is spent on that portion of the budget. She further explained each point of the presentation and discussion took place between Mayor Smith and Council. Cindy Edge stated Staff is at a point in the budget process where they need direction from Council to move forward, are currently using the effective tax rete which means the properties from last year's tax rolls are being used for the tax rate. Revenue growth comes from new construction or new businesses. Mayor Smith stated there are rules associated with the effective tax rate and asked Cindy Edge to explain them. She stated new revenue has to be disclosed so with an effective tax rate the only revenue would be from new construction. The City must meet publication dates and the effective tax rates have more freedom in those dates. ( I I 06/20/11 3608 Counciimember Brown asked if the effective tax rate will increase due to the declining values, and Cindy I Edge stated yes if the effective rate is chosen. Mayor Smith stated it is easy to get the terms confused, , and further stated that the definition of the formula to keep the rate the same, the tax rate changes in � order to keep the formula the same. Councilmember Brown stated that some people will have an increase while others will have a decrease. Councilmember Hill stated the difference between the effective tax rate and the tax rate,for the City to have the same income some will pay more and some will pay less but hopefully it is fair to everybody. Mayor Smith stated the trend in the past years has been that the lower value homes have held or increased their value as opposed to the more expensive homes and it takes a greater slice of the timeline to get a better overview. City Manager Roger Roecker stated that until a couple of years ago aIl of the property values in Friendswood were assessed by the Galveston Central Appraisal District and now the Harris County Central Appraisai District assesses the Harris County properties so the valuations may be different. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge discussed the Debt Service Tax Rate and points. City Manager Roger Roecker stated 68 percent of a neighboring City's tax revenue goes to the tax debt service and Councilmember McGinnis asked how long is the City obligated to the debt service and Cindy Edge stated that 58 percent of the debt will be paid off in the next ten years and 95 percent will be paid off in the next twenty years. Councilmember McGinnis asked if there is an advantage to try to pay the debt sooner and Cindy Edge stated aIl of the bonds may not be able to be refinanced and the whole picture would need to be reviewed. She showed the historical properry tax rates and stated that overall the generai plan looks good. The City still has the 90 day operating reserve and believes will still have it in Fiscal Year 2012. The debt capacity ratios are good, and the bond rating is AA-. She explained how the base budget is created, begins with the budget from last year, Forces at Work are added, then Decision Packages are considered but none are added if funds are not available, then whatever necessary measures are taken to balance the budget. Staff is currenlly analyzing and reviewing the Forces at Work for the proposed budget in order to move to the next step but a big piece they need is direction from Council on the tax rate. She stated within the next 30 days Staff will be refining and fijing it down to bring a proposed balanced budget to Council by August 01,2011. i , City Manager Roger Roecker stated Staff normally works through the five year financial plan in order to � create long range planning; however, this process is based on one year. Staff has been conservative in the work done on the budget so far. The number of Decision Packages is small and the number presented to Council will be very small. He stated Staff is dealing with the contract for the Friendswood Volunteer Fire Department and will have a list of Decision Packages that wili be on the list. The budget is a balancing act but the process has served the City well. Mayor Smith stated he would Iike to propose something for Council to think about. They saw a chart earlier that showed the history of the tax rate and by and large the rate has gone down. He stated past Council's have counteracted the increased appraised value by the reduction of the City's property tax rates and kept the effective rates the same and therefore not increasing revenue, so no significant revenue increases have occurred in almost seven years. During this time the cost of doing business, or the Municipal Cost Index (MCI}, has continued to creep up. In order to change there has to be a decrease in cost or an increase in the amount of revenue. One additional way to impact is to hold fast to the 90 day reserve fund impact rule which has�5.1 million in it, is needed for the ability to borrow money, the City's bond rating and getting through Hurricane Ike; however the reduction of the fund balance requirement frees up cash for capital projects during this or next year. These are the only "big picture" items that give Council any leeway given the financial perimeters that are given. Staff already does a good job of"gnawing on the bone". He stated Council can change the policy to require less reserve fund but he would want to know the impact this would have on borrowing and on the bond rating, also the reserve is the only way the City is abie to borrow funds without question. He is not asking Council to ' make a decision but is asking for consideration. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge stated that$1 million is already set aside for Mud Gulley. Mayor Smith thanked City Manager Roger Roecker for the presentation and the work that has been done. � � 06/20/11 3609 REGULAR SESSION Mayor Smith called the meeting to order. The invocation was given by Public Works Director Kaz Hamidian. Mayor Smith Ied the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and to the State of Texas. SPECIAL RECOGNITION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS City Manager Roger Roecker introduced Jim Cooksey, President of the Gulf Coast Finance Officers Association, who presented Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge, Administrative Services Deputy Director/Fiscal Operations Katina Hampton, and Budget Manager Jennifer Walker with the eighth Distinguished Budget Award for excellence in budget preparation. Mayor Smith thanked Staff for the great job they have done over the past eight years, and many hours are put in. The City has a great team and appreciates Jim Cooksey for coming to present the award. Mr. Cooksey stated that among the Government Finance Officers Associations the City of Friendswood is held in high regard because it is well run and the department is well run with great ieadership over a number of years. ' RECONVENED PUBLIC HEARING Mayor Smith reconvened the public hearing to order to receive comments from the public, both oral and written regarding the zone classification change for a Single Family Residential (SFR)to a Business Park (BP) on two tracts of land east of W. Parkwood Avenue(FM528), south of Lundy Lane: Tract 1: 46.3823 acres being par of Lot 8 and all of Lots 9-12 of the Von Pelt subdivision; and Tract 2`2,346 square feet of land and being part of the Louie W. Lundy and Mary Kathryn Tract. (International Soccer Development Center) Evelyn Timmons, 15-year Friendswood resident, stated she thought someone asked about the appropriateness of the proposed zoning, thought it was looked at logically and was surprised to hear the Planning and Zoning Commission approved it as Business Park, does not understand why Business Park is better, has no idea what will happen tomorrow or what Business Park entails, understands the land is not bought yet,and is concerned with some of the details on this proposed rezoning. Mayor Smith asked if anyone else would like to speak and no one spoke. Hearing no further comments, Mayor Smith closed the Public Hearing. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC Benny Baker, Friendswood resident, addressed Councii and stated he would like to invite Mayor Smith, Council, and City Staff to The Gathering on Saturday, July 02, 2011, introduced committee members Pauietta Jeter and Ann Whitaker who helped collect money for this event, and stated it was harder to do this year. Mayor Smith asked Benny Baker to give a background on The Gathering. Mr. Baker stated that it started when the original 20 citizens of Friendswood got together on July 03 for barbeque to celebrate the Fourth of July. it continued to grow and when Friendswood grew to a City of about 2,000 in popuiation they had � to limit. Mr. Kline would call the ladies and tell them what kind of pie to bring to the building at the Old i City Park, and everything was free. It became so large it was impossible to feed everyone for free, so Ralph Lowe came up with the idea of°The Gathering" and put�2,500 in the bank and stated it could be paid back or not and they paid it back the second year. Mr. Baker has been involved for 30 years and they need younger members for the committee. Mayor Smith stated employees and volunteers are invited. Mr. Baker stated that Iast year they started recognizing a person who has helped build the City i up and on the day of The Gathering they will announce the recipient of that honor. � 06/20/11 3610 CITY MANAGER'S REPORT � I City Manager Roger Roecker reported that the Fourth of July Steering Committee and City Staff are � quickly preparing for the 116th annual Fourth of July Celebration scheduled for Monday, July 04, 2011, and the theme for the 2011 celebration is"One Nation, United We Stand". The day begins with the Grand Parade down Friendswood Drive beginning at 10 AM that includes 50-plus entries currently with another 20-25 expected before the deadline. City Council will be riding together with their families in a large vehicle. The day program at Stevenson Park will begin with opening ceremonies at 11:30 AM, Iaunching into a fun-filled day of games, rides, arts and crafts, food, and over 50 booths of fun to explore. The evening program takes place at Centennial Park and will feature the band Radiostar, a group voted one of the best performing bands in Austin by the 2008-2009 Ausfin Chronicle music polls. Radiostar will take you back in time by playing the biggest hits from the 80's. The evening will conclude with a fantastic fireworks extravaganza that will light up the sky beginning at approximately 9:20 PM. Please remember that parking will not be allowed at Centennial Park or the newjunior high schooL Free parking and a free shuttle service will begin running at 6:30 PM from Clear Brook High School on FM 2351 and Friendswood Community Church on FM 528. The shuttles will begin making return trips after the fireworks eMravaganza ends. This event is considered one of the longest running, consecutive Fourth of July Celebrations in the State of Texas. On behalf of the City staff and the Fourth of July Steering Committee, we hope you will all come out for a really spectacular Independence Day celebration. The City Manager reported that City Staff has completed in-house engineering pians and is preparing to solicit bids for a new parking Iot at Centennial Park and the new junior high school. The new facility Is intended to serve both the City's and school districPs needs during events held by either entity. Council approved an amendment to their License Agreement with Friendswood Independent School District for the parking lot this past April. Within the agreement, the school district agrees to fund up to $150K toward the cost of the new facility and any costs over�150K will be negotiated between both parties. ACTION ITEMS � '*Councilmember Brown moved to develop a Request for Proposals for solid waste and recycling with the , revised scope of service to include the recommendations from the Recycling Committee. I Seconded by Councilmember Scolt. ' Community Services Director James Toney introduced the members of the Recycling Committee and others involved which are Paul Marx, Susan Decambre, Tierni Sager, Penelope Burke, Rueben Garza, Kevin Harris, Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge, Community Services Director James Toney, former Councilmember Jim Barr, and Community Services Administrative Secretary Kimberly Ramirez. James Toney gave an explanation of the commiltee and presented a PowerPoint presentation. The following items were presented with the first regarding garbage pick up, the cart will be picked up by an automated truck with an automated lift which will eliminate the need for persons to lift the garbage onto the truck, the cart color would be gray and there will be two cart sizes of 35 or 65 gallons, and there will be one pick up per week. The next item was regarding residentiai recycling, the carts will be picked up by an automated truck, the cart will be green and the cart size will be larger than a garbage cart,there will be one pick up per week with additional pick ups during the Christmas holidays. The next item was regarding commercial recycling,there is no program for commercial recycling but it will be considered at a later date. The next item was regarding City facility recycling. City parks should be included, and there will be a recycling cart with each trash can but carts must be conveniently located. The next item was regarding green waste,will be picked up in paper bags or plastic containers marked as green waste, both or either supplied by the resident, there will be one pick up per week based on seasonal activity, less in winter months, more in fall and spring. The next item was regarding bulk pick up. The customer will call for a pick up to be scheduled on next pick up day. The monthly cost for service curbside with recycling is $11.81, the monthly administrative fee (City revenue) is $1.18, which totals $12.99 per month, per household. �I ( 06/20/11 3611 Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge discussed comparison rates with other cities. The City of ' Pearland has a contract with Waste Management until 2016 and their monthly rate is $13.82. League '. City has a contract with Ameriwaste until 2013, and their monthly rate is$10.44. Alvin has a contract with IESI until 2015 and their rate is$11.98. She stated there has been some discussion regarding combining efforts between cities so the contract expiration dates with the �eighboring cities are important to consider. She stated on or before August 01, 2011, there needs to be notification by either party of a desire to discontinue service. IESI also has the right to go before Council at this time for a request for rate changes. Staff is requesting direction from Council to either continue the current contract for one more year, negotiate with IESI with a proposed new program, go out for bid with using current program, or go out for bid with a proposed program similar to the Recycling Committee's recommendation. Mayor Smith suggested going out for bid with both options in order to get a comparison for prices. Administrative Services Director Cindy Edge thanked the Recycling Committee's commitment to the City and for doing the research for the residents. Councilmember Brown stated she appreciates the comparison rates, and Iooked at the rate when the contract with IESI began and now and it has gone up quite a bit since 2002, is not opposed to Mayor Smith's suggestion to go out for bids with the current Ievel of service and an alternate, there needs to be feedback from residents regarding service levels, she will modify her motion if there is a consensus to do so. Councilmember Scott stated he supports Mayor Smith's recommendation. Councilmember Hill stated IESI worked with the Recycling Committee and asked if there was any ' indication that going to one day a week pick up would save money and IESI District Manager Royce Gray I answered tliat there will be a cost savings to go to once a week for trash and the second pick up be for recycling, and there will be a significant investment for IESI for new equipment. He stated Friendswood does a great job with recycling. Councilmember McGinnis asked the turnaround time for a Request for Proposals and Cindy Edge stated 120 days. Councilmember McGinnis stated he supports the full Request for Proposals and to have it tiered for various options, and is concerned about trash pick up going to one day a week. Mayor Smith asked if bulk is a heavy trash day and Community Services Director James Toney stated yes. Mayor Smith clarified that a heavy pick up will need to be scheduled rather than just having one pick up a week be heavy trash day and that would save money and James Toney stated yes. Mayor Smith stated there has been talk about phasing in commercial recycling and wonders if anyone with the school district who was on the committee addressed that and James Toney stated they were excited to be a part of the discussions but they will have to set up their own program and their own contract with the vendor but are interested in piggybacking with the City in recycling. Cindy Edge stated the members from the school district felt strongly that there needs to be an education process to the citizens. Mayor Smith stated this is an ad hoc Recycling Committee that he appointed, typically the ad hoc committee dissolves when the recommendations are made to Council; however, if they are interested in continuing to be a part of the education process they should continue as a committee for a short time longer. James Toney stated the Recycling Committee is asking to continue through the education process. Mayor Smith stated he appreciates the work they have done and their enthusiasm and would iike to continue to see the work through. He thanked the committee members,former Councilmember Jim Barr, and IESI. Counciimember Hiii stated he supports going out for Requests for Proposals and suggested having the vendor put their telephone number for customer service on the carts in order to have it handy for the citizens and to reduce calls to the City. I � 06/20/11 3612 ***Councilmember Brown amended the main motion to develop a Request for Proposals for solid waste and recycling with the current scope of services to include two alternates; the first alternate being to develop a Request for Proposals for solid waste and recycling with a revised scope of services to include the recommendations of the Recycling Committee, the second alternative would be to include the recommendations of the Recycling Committee except to allow for two days of pick up for regufar trash. Seconded by Councilmember Scott. The amended motion was approved 5-0. **'*The main motion, as amended,was approved. Mayor Smith stated this motion has three potential responses that may be elicited from vendors. Councilmember McGinnis asked if the Request for Proposals would be presented in a tiered format to include commercial recycling, parks recycling, green waste, and bulk and Councilmember Brown stated that is the format of the current contract and that is the recommendation of the Recycling Committee. Councilmember McGinnis asked if there is a way to work in a contingency to cooperate with the other cities as their contract dates come for renewal and Mayor Smith stated contracts are typically five years because of the investment involved so the soonest available time to potentially co-op would be with the City of Peadand in 2016. "*Councilmember Brown moVed to approve the disposition of RFP No. 2010-11, authorizing the Mayor to execute a contract with Ross, Banks, May, Cron&Cavin, P.C. Seconded by Counciimember Hill. The motion was approved 5-0. No discussion was held regarding transition details for the new City Attorney. '*Councilmember Brown moved to approve that the City adopt a policy that it shouid have an updated IT Strategic Plan. Seconded by Councilmember McGinnis. The motion failed 3-2 with Mayor Smith and Councilmember Scott opposed. ORDINANCES •*Councilmember Brown moved to table the First Reading of Ordinance T2011-20 — An Ordinance amending appendix C of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Friendswood, Texas, Appendix C being the Zoning Ordinance of the City, by changing the zoning classification of two t�acts of land located Southeast of W. Parkwood Avenue (FM 528) at Lundy Lane (A 46.3824 acre tract of land being part of Lot 8 and all Lots 9-12 on the Von Pelt subdivision with a 60'wide access easement as describe in a map under File No. 1002070886 of the Galveston County and an adjacent 2,346 square feet tract described at Volume 1891, Page 689 of the Galveston deed records)from Single Family residential (SFR)to Business Park(BP); providing for amendment of the City's official zoning map; providing a penalty in an amount not to exceed$2,000 for each day of violation of any provision hereof; and providing for severability. Seconded by Counciimember McGinnis. The motion to table was approved 5-0. Lengthy discussion took place between Mayor, Council, City Attorney, City Staff and representatives of the applicant for rezoning. *'Councilmember Hill moved to approve the First Reading of Ordinance T2011-21 — An Ordinance altering the prima facie speed limits established for vehicles under the provisions of §545.356, Texas Transportation Code, upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, upon certain streets and highways, of parts thereof, within the corporate limits of the City of Friendswood as set out in this ordinance;and providing a penalty of a fine not to exceed�v200 for the violation of this ordinance. Seconded by Councilmember Brown. The motion was approved 5-0. I 06/20/11 3613 '*Councilmember Hill moved to approve the First and Final Reading of Ordinance 2011-22 — An Ordinance amending City of Friendswood, Texas, Ordinance No. 2010-25, passed an approved October , 4, 2010, same being an ordinance approving and adopting the City's General Budget for Fiscal Year 2010-2017 by approving "BUdget Amendment IX" to the "Originai General Budget of the City of Friendswood, Texas, for the Fiscai Year 2010-2011"; providing for supplemental appropriation and/or transfer of certain funds; providing for severabiliry'and providing other matters related to the subject. Seconded by Councilmember McGinnis. The motion was approved 5-0. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR AND COUNCILMEMBERS Councilmember McGinnis reported on Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership's Annual Trip to Washington, D.C, in which he participated. He stated a group of 88 people from around the country spent two days on Capitol Hill visiting offices showing support for human space exploration. They made it to over 300 Congressional offices and most are supportive of NASA and space exploration but there is a debt crisis and kept hearing that every program is going to have to take a cut, was pleased to represent Friendswood. He stated tomorrow night is the Library Board meeting and they are in the process of coming up with a strategic plan. He stated he was able to take the three hour course for Texas Emergency Management and many there gave kudos to Fire MarshallEmergency Management Coordinator Terry Byrd. Councilmember Scott stated he had no report. Councilmember Brown reported that the next Homeowner's Association pianning meeting will be June 25, 2011. She stated she wouid like to congratulate the Laura Recovery Center for winning a car from the Toyota give-away, is an exampfe of citizens reaching out to non-profit opportunities and working with the community to win a car for a very worthy organization. Councilmember Hill reported at the last Clear Creek Steering Committee meeting he asked the two representatives from Harris County Fiood Control about a construction date for the Mud Gulley project and they stated it will be about a year as they are doing the engineering phase now. Mayor Smith reported on the upcoming Fourth of July events. There will be fireworks this year in spite of the drought conditions and will begin around 9:00 PM. He further stated he would like to thank the Fourth of July Committee volunteers and the City Staff who work so hard to get it all together and reminded that the shuttles will run to Centennial Park. City Manager Roger Roecker stated in the past they have had complaints from offsite locations when the fireworks did not begin as quickly as they thought they should and that is usually because the band plays longer than scheduled due to requests. CONSENT AGENDA '*Councilmember Hill moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented with the exception of Item A — Authorizing Council to invoke Rule 1(A) of the Rules of Procedure to Schedule the July regular City Council meetings for July 11, and July (18 or 25), 2001, due to the Independence Day Holiday. B. Approve excusing the absence of Counciimember Billy Enochs from the June 20, 2011, Council Meeting. C.Approving the Minutes of the May 16, May 23, and May 26, 2011, Council Meetings. Seconded by Counciimember Scott. The motion was approved 4-1 with Councilmember Brown opposed. **Councilmember Hill moved to approve Item A—Authorizing Council to invoke Rule 1(A) of the Rules of f Procedure to Schedule the July regular City Council meetings for July 11, and July(18 or 25), 2001, due to the Independence Day Holiday. Seconded by Councilmember Scott. Counciimember McGinnis stated he will be unavailable July 09, 2011,through July 22, 2011,for Air Force duties. � � 06/20l11 3614 "'Councilmember Hili amended the motion to schedule the meetings July 11, 2011, and July 25,2011. i Seconded by Councilmember Scott. The amended motion was approved 5-0. ""*The main motion,as amended,was approved. The meeting was adjourned at 9:09 PM. Mayor Da id J . ith Attest: < _1 l�'�-� o� FR'��o`s� Melinda Welsh,TRMC � p City Secretary u o � � s�, Py qT� OF .�E'� � ' i ; i