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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 09.13.2011 CC-WMinutes of the of the City Tuesday, The City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Regular Session on the above date with Mayor George Garver presiding. Council Present: Danny Meigs, Bill Sattler, Tommy Gonzalez, Troy Hellmann, Rachael Jonrowe Council Absent: Patty Eason, Pat Berryman Staff Present: Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City Secretary; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Robyn Rye, Records Coordinator, Rachel Saucier, Assistant City Secretary; Cari Miller, Tourism Director; Keith Hutchinson, Public Communications Director; Kathy Ragsdale, Environmental and Conservation Services Director Minutes '• !� •• 111 •t• 1111 111111 • • •-iiii 1 1 ' A Presentation to update City Council on City Links Project, the City's Advanced Metering Infrastructure -- Kathy Ragsdale, Environmental & Conservation Services Director and Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager Eason, Berryman, Gonzalez absent. Zavala introduced herself and said she is the project liaison for the advanced metering initiative (AMI) replacement project. She introduced the other staff leads for this project. She spoke about City Links and said it is the name of the advanced metering initiative that is being implemented by the City. She described an AMI and said it means advanced metering infrastructure. She said it is a two-way communication through wireless technology that collects interval meter data. She said the city will be collecting consumption meter data at 15 minute intervals for electric and every hour for water. She said many people refer to AMI as a second generation AMR system. She noted, with this new program, a staff person will not be going to people's homes to collect readings. She said the three primary components of the AMI is an advanced meter, the two way communication network and a processing center. She said it has a meter data management system that houses all of the data. She said they are changing and upgrading the existing AMR system because it has been in place since 1998. She said Georgetown was one of the first cities that went to that type of technology. She said the communications network for the current system is technologically obsolete and the City can not expand the system any longer. She said staff felt they would gain more functionality at the same cost. She summarized the benefits of this program for both and city and customers. She said, for customers, they will be able to access daily water and electric usage and account information over the internet. She said it will enable a wider range of rate options and will provide expanded services, like leak monitoring. She said it also allows the flexibility in the future to let the customer pick their own billing cycle. She said there are a lot of things that will allow the City to utilize this new technology to better serve the customers. Ragsdale spoke about the communication plan for the project and why staff felt that it is needed. She said they started the plan internally and came up with a team that was going to handle the majority of this portion of the City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 1 of 4 Pages project. She said staff educated the city workers on the project in case they receive questions while out in the field. She said everyone has gotten at least three letters in phase one of the project to keep customers updated on the installation of the new meters. She said this communication method will be used in phase two as well. She said the City has created a web page for the project and she described its contents for the Council. She showed Council the implementation schedule Phase 1 map so citizens can see if they are included in this upgrade. She said there is also an archive of all letters that have been sent out. Sattler asked what Council should do if someone does not want to participate in the program. Ragsdale said there is no option for someone to opt out of the upgrade. Sattler asked what the City tells someone who thinks we are spying on them. Ragsdale said the City is not spying on anyone and, to operate the appliances from a remote site would require a certain software in the meter that is compatible with a chip in the appliance. She said, right now, that software is not being put in the meter. She noted, at this point, you can't even do this. Mayor asked what we are doing with the old meters and if there is opportunity for resale. Koopman spoke about resale opportunities for the meters. There was much discussion. B Records Management Update -- Robyn Rye, Records Coordinator Mayor introduced the item and defined what records management means and how it affects the City. With a Powerpoint presentation, Rye said records management is the practice of properly disposing of files when they need to be disposed of. She said the City does not have the ability to keep all types of record files. She spoke about Records Management and why it is important to the City. She said the Texas State Library lays out the legal responsibilities, improves efficiency, is environmentally responsible and there is also a cost savings. She said there is also less staff time spent looking for items if there is an efficient records management system in place. She said the private sector is not required by law to retain documents for any particular period of time, but noted cities and other public entities are under strict law because they are under legal obligation to maintain records according to the Texas State Library. She said the City has documents that date back to the creation of the City in 1848. She said the City Secretary's Office is tasked with keeping all permanent records from 1848 forward including charters, ordinances and resolutions. She showed Council a picture of what the City's historical notebooks look like now and what staff hopes them to look like in the future. She spoke about how the City's historic records need preservation. She said preserving the past helps the present and future by allowing the City to learn from the past and also bring up recurring issues. She described some interesting finds from historic records. She spoke about the evolution of Records Management in the City. She said the City has recently restarted the Records Management Committee. She said they tasked the committee with preparing basic records inventories of each of the city departments. She said they also wanted to know where those documents were located in the City facilities. She said she scheduled a Texas State Library (TSL) training for all City employees to discuss all aspects of records management in order to make the employees aware of the importance of this concept. She described the current Records Management projects that are happening throughout the City. She spoke about Iron Mountain and how it is the City's off sight storage facility. She described the types of records at that facility and the process for the destruction of those records. She described for Council the incorporation of the new Texas State Library Retention Schedules and how the City will be using these new schedules going forward. She said the new TSL schedules will be released in April of this year. She said currently the City has eleven schedules on file at TSL and that number will be reduced it to six. She spoke about the future and the implementation of a new electronic records management software. She said the City will be receiving a Laserfiche Pilot Program, which will allow the City to standardized processes for open records requests, destruction requests and litigation holds. She continued to describe the electronic records management program. Gonzalez arrived at the dais. She said this software will allow the to classify documents based on type. She spoke of the ultimate goals of the new program. She said the next steps for the city's Records Management Program is to implement the digitization software as well as the implementation of signature pads to minimize the paper we create with those type of signatures. Mayor asked and Rye described how the City keeps old Charters if a new Charter is passed. Mayor asked and Rye reviewed the pros and cons of the City's compliance with the Texas State Library retention schedules. Mayor asked and Rye described how the City maintains paper records versus electronic records. There was much discussion regarding the storage and preservation of the City's historic records. Brandenburg said records management is not glamorous, but it is important as it's required by law. He spoke briefly about the complexity of records management. C Presentation regarding the Georgetown Cycling Challenge-- Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Cari Miller, Tourism Director and Keith Hutchinson, Public Communications Director Brandenburg spoke about the Cycling Challenge and how it would be a good event that would be held downtown. He said this is an event the City is looking at for May of 2012. He spoke about the amount of people City Council Meeting Minutes( Page 2 of 4 Pages that would come to Georgetown to watch the event. He said the City would like to keep the route downtown around the square. He spoke about AirFest and how it is comparable to this event in the amount of people it would attract to the City. He said there is a resolution on the regular agenda to designate this as a major city sponsored event. Hutchinson spoke about how he is a cycling fan and added why it would be beneficial to have a cycling event downtown. He said his department looked at what it would take to have a cycling event downtown. He said they think they could get on the state cycling calendar on May 19 and 20, 2012 with this event. He spoke about the different rides included in the "Cycling Challenge." He spoke about how they are also looking at a mountain biking race around Lake Georgetown. He said Billy Kurtz, who works with Council member Troy Hellmann, is a former pro bike racer. He said Kurtz connected the City with Andrew Willis from Holland Racing, a company that stages bike races around the country. He said Holland Racing holds races in Austin, they know what they are doing and they hold great events. He introduced Chrissy Baker, who spoke about what the proposed criterium race may look like. Baker thanked Council and said Holland Cycling has done 136 events and counting throughout the country. She said they would like to have a competitive bicycle racing event in Georgetown from May 19-20, 2012 called the Georgetown Cycling Challenge. She said it would be a "criterium" race around the Georgetown Square. She spoke about a criterium race and described how it is a fast race and could be considered the F1 of cycling. She said they plan to have about 500 competitors and, with those competitors, come their families and friends. She said, generally, it would attract 2,000 people or more. She said one of the things they found with their events is as the event gets established, it would introduce Georgetown to the cycling community and each event would grow quickly each year. She said the plan is to start out as a state event and then grow into a regional or national event. She said a national calendar event is a huge event where buses of people come to a town to race. She showed Council the proposed course for the race. She described the proposed schedule for the event with a packet pick up on Friday, the race on Saturday and then another set of races on Sunday. She said participants will spend the night and will each spend about $350 while in Georgetown. She said they will need enforcement from the City Council including road closures along with police, fire/EMS and Public Works. She said, just to get this event off the ground, they would like to apply for Conventions and Visitors Bureau Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) funds for assistance. Jonrowe asked and Baker said the figures given to Council is for the Georgetown Cycling Challenge, which is the Criterium race. Jonrowe spoke about implementing a mountain biking and racing event as well. Jonrowe asked and Baker said mountain biking courses would be easy to put on. Meigs asked and Baker said Holland Racing started in 2008. She said they have a weekly event on a Thursday night in Austin which attracts over 300 competitors. She spoke about to her weekend events that vary depending on where they are located. Mayor asked about liability and Baker said the nature of these races is that they are sanctioned by USA cycling. She said USA cycling is the insurer but they also approve the course before they insure it. She said each competitor is required to sign a waiver before starting a race and that is essentially the waiver of liability. Jonrowe asked and Baker said there are several different categories for each criterium race. She spoke about the different types of races that would be included in the Georgetown Cycling Challenge. Mayor asked and Baker said in the Tour of Austin, they had a 60 + age range race. Baker asked that Council ring the cow bells that were just given to them and said that is a tradition within the bike racing world. There was much discussion of the event. Mayor asked and Hutchinson said, on the Resolution tonight, there will be a financial impact of about $15,000 to be given to the cycling event. Cari Miller said they currently have about $20,000 in their fund for CVB co-op grants. Meeting recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.0743 551.087 -- 4:10 PM Meeting returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:03 PM City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 3 of 4 Pages Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 06:03 PM. Secretary Jdssica Brettle City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 4 of 4 Pages