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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 04.27.2009 CC-WThe City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Regular Session on the above date with Mayor George Garver presiding. Council resent: Council sent: Keith Brainard, Gabe Sansing, Dale Ross, Ben Bill Sattler Oliver, Pat Berryman, Patty Eason Staff Present: Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Patricia E. Carls, City Attorney; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Jessica Hamilton, City Secretary; Kimberly Garrett, Director of Parks and Recreation; Randy Morrow, Community Services Director; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations; Laurie Brewer, Assistant Finance Director; Lorie Lankford, Accounting; Eric Lashley, Library Services Director; Elizabeth Cook, Acting Community Development Director; Keith Hutchinson, Public Information Officer; A Consideration and possible direction to staff on continuing to investigate the possibilities of a long term lease with the US Army Corp of Engineers at Lake Georgetown -- Kent Buikema, Chair of Parks and Recreation Advisory Board; Kimberly Garrett, Director of Parks and Recreation and Randy Morrow, Director of Community Services With a Powerpoint Presentation, Garrett recognized Parks Board members as well as staff members who worked on this presentation and research. She also introduced Doug Cox and Carey Weber from the Corp of Engineers. She said this presentation is a response back to Council regarding a presentation that was done last August. She said the City received a visit from the Corps of Engineers and added they were interested in a possible partnership in hopes that the City could manage one or all of the lakes in Georgetown. She said they do this with other lakes around Texas including Lake Grapevine and Lake Louisville. She said, after the City received the charge to gather more information, City staff organized a trip to Lake Grapevine to gain firsthand knowledge on this type of endeavor. She described the site visit. She said, at Lake Grapevine, staff met Joe Moore, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation and the Manager of the Lake Park Division at Lake Grapevine. She noted Lake Grapevine is a lot larger than Lake Georgetown. She said it is 6,000 to 7,000 acres, whereas Lake Georgetown is around 1,300 acres. She said Georgetown is different because they have expanses of land to develop around the lake and Grapevine only has 300 acres of City -owned land to use for development around their lake. Garrett continued to describe Lake Grapevine and its lease with the Corps of Engineers. She spoke about some of Lake Grapevine's success and noted the lease with the Corps was included in their 1990 Parks Master Plan. She said, in 2005, Grapevine's vision became a reality. She said they started with four six-month leases to see what it was like to operate a campground. Garrett siad there were a lot of things that needed to be brought up to standard. She noted, at the onset, Grapevine did a feasability study which cost $250,000. She said Grapevine issued a Certificate of Obligation bond for improvements and they paid it back using revenue from the campgrounds. She listed the many amenities that were added to the grounds. She said they set up the Lake Management Division as an enterprise fund so they could track their own revenue and expense accounts. She said the lake is its own entity apart from the City. She noted they contract out everything including litter City Council Meeting Minutes/April 27, 2009 Page 1 of 4 Pages pickup, mowing, linen service, and cabin cleaning. She noted someone has to manage those contracts. She said they have a great marketing and advertising plan and noted they advertise with TACO, the Texas Association of Campground Officials. She said they have a huge spread in their magazine every month to get people to stay at the lake. She said they spend about $25,000 a year on marketing. She showed Council pictures of the cabins at Lake Grapevine and said Georgetown staff was told that the cabins, which cost about $35,000, paid for themselves within three years. She said they are looking to add about three or four more cabins and added this is where HOT Tax could be an option to fund the cabins. She said they use a reservation system for the cabins. Garrett said the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board has been involved in this process. She reviewed past Parks Board meetings and actions taken on this subject. She said Joe Moore, of City of Grapevine Parks and Recreation, visited Lake Georgetown and did a quick assessment of the local lake parks. She said staff looked at the amenities and camp sites and Moore noted he was impressed and things were in great shape. Garrett listed the suggestions for improvements brought forward by Moore. She said there is an opportunity for three large parks, Russell Park, Jim Hogg Park, and Cedar Breaks Park. Garrett showed Council a map of Lake Georgetown and described the three parks and the area around them. She noted each park has different opportunities and said Russell Park has the beach, Jim Hogg Park is mainly used for camping, and Cedar Breaks is a big day use park which is easily accessible. She said one of the big drawbacks is there is no direct access to the water from the ledge of Lake Georgetown. Sansing asked and Garrett said there are other parks that are primitive. Sansing said primitive camping is an interest as well. Garrett listed off possible activities that could occur at the Lake including camping, boating, fishing swimming, picnic areas, and the hike and bike trail. She noted, after evaluating, there were a couple of cons. She said Moore noted many upgrades are needed for the electricity, shelters, floating docks and a sewer system for longer stays. She also mentioned the need for longer pull areas for the larger motorhomes. Garrett said one of the other challenges is the low water levels at the Lake. She noted Russell Park is now closed because the water levels are so low. She said the City could go in and reconstruct the beach, but it would take money and time. She said Russell Park is a big revenue maker and she sees that as a problem. She noted the longest lease with the Corps is about 25 years. Garrett said another con is staff would suggest doing a feasibility study at a cost of $300,000. She listed other suggested improvements including playgrounds. She noted the biggest con is taking over all the maintenance and oversight. Garrett listed off the pros saying this project was included in the 2009 Parks Master Plan. She added this gives the City more long term control of what happens at the Lake. She noted this would increase the tourism and added rental and HOT tax funds would be gained. She said the City could market the Lake parks for camping and hiking. She noted the trail from Lake Georgetown leads all the way to downtown. She said there are other opportunities/facilities including a rowing club, boat storage rental, boat, bicycle and kayak rental, a camp store, special events, and the possibiltiies of a westside regional park. She said another pro is that the City would be able to increase fees to cover costs. She noted the City currently has a great relationship with the Corps of Engineers and it has a 25 year lease at Booty's Road Park for the Challenge Course and the hike and bike trail. Garrett said the staff recommendation is to bring in an outside consultant from the Texas Association of Campground Operators (TACO) to evaluate the park and obtain more information. She noted his cost is $11000- $1,500. She said the other recommendation is to research other municipal Corps park agreements. She added staff could report back to Council within six months. She reviewed the next steps in the process. Eason asked and Garrett said staff went into the bathhouses and they were in very good shape. Oliver asked about what the City should expect to gain by paying $1,500 to the TACO representatives. Bill Mateja, Chair of the Parks and Recreation Board, said this would be one of the four steps of the preliminary process. He said they expect the TACO representatives to be here for one or two days to let the City know whether or not it is feasible to go forward. Berryman asked and Weber said the Corps is talking to the Brazos River Authority and it is going to take a survey to determine how the City would achieve the needed elevations for beaches. Ross thanked Council for their excellent presentation. Sansing asked about the wilderness parks and whether or not a person can camp in those areas. Weber said that area is low on their list of priorities but the Corps is operating those parks at a lower level compared to the others. He noted the primitive areas are usually full on holiday weekends. Sansing said he sees great potential in the primitive areas. Sansing asked about shelters and noted it is a good idea for there to be boat docks. Weber said it would be possible to set up those courtesy docks. Mayor asked and Weber said the potential land for expansion amounts to about 4,020 acres. Mayor asked and Garrett said the population of Grapevine is about 50,000 and it is very comparable to Georgetown. Mayor asked and Weber said they could talk about who takes over the responsibility of controlling the deer population in the area. Motion by Brainard, second by Berryman to hire a TACO representative to evaluate the parks at the Lake with the authority to spend up to $1,500. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent) City Council Meeting Minutes/April 27, 2009 Page 2 of 4 Pages B Update of the City's 2008/09 Buget Contigency Plan and preliminary forecast for the upcoming 2009/2010 budget -- Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer and Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager With a Powerpoint presentation, Rundell gave Council a mid -year budget contingency update. She said projections are currently being updated. She said the year end revenues for this year may be as much as $2.3 million less than what was originally budgeted. She noted staff is prepared for this shortfall. She said there are currently "frozen" positions and other reductions that result in $1.8 million worth of savings. She said property tax collections have been strong and steady but noted sales tax is a little bit down. She reviewed sales tax statistics over the past five months. She showed Council a graph of the sales tax trend analysis and noted it is more in line with fiscal year 2006/2007. She said development related revenues are still down 33°% through March. She added development applications are down 31 %. She showed Council a graph of the building permit trends and gave a comparison of Georgetown with surrounding cities. She said, for the month of March, Georgetown was less than everyone else but noted it depends on what is going on in Sun City. She noted court fines are down 17% from last year though they have picked up over the last month. She reviewed other revenues which are down. She showed Council a graph of the City's court case load. She said there are some revenue exceptions including parks and recreation revenue, Recreation Center memberships and ROI/Franchise Fees. She said there was an increase in franchise revenue from ATMOs. She showed Council a graph of Recreation Center memberships. She noted the City's general fund expeditures are being looked at very closely and said there is personnel cost savings due to the hiring freeze and operational savings of $330,000. She said the total expense reductions are about $1.88 million. She said, at this point, staff is predicting a 2008/09 policy compliance shortfall of about $430,000. She said the estimated 08/09 ending balance is $1.6 million to be used for one time cost. She said the conclusion for the current year is that revenues continue to lag, but they are better than what was anticipated. She noted it looks like sales tax will level out and added expenses are being monitored very closely. Sansing asked and Garrett said the chart represents monthly Recreation Center membership sales. Rundell noted the numbers this month include a lot of renewals. Rundell reviewed the revenue from utility funds and said the wastewater revenue is on budget with water 6.9% higher because of the drought. She noted summer weather will always affect revenues. She showed Council a utility revenue comparison over the past five years. She said utility expenses are lower than what was originally budgeted and there have been salary savings due to the freeze. She reviewed other funds such as airport and tourism and showed Council a graph of the City's Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) revenue. Rundell moved on to the 2009/10 financial forecast. She said the General Fund will maintain policy compliance and will be self-supporting. She noted this is one of the City's major policy issues. She said the estimated assessed valuation will be over $4.4 billion. She said this would mean a $365,000 increase in the City's General Fund. She said she would like for Council to remember that, as the sales tax decreases, it impacts property tax relief. She noted sales tax is expected to be flat, which results in $800,000 less revenue than what the City had last year. She said development related revenue is expected to flatten out. She said they anticipate the City will still have 400 permits. She said the City expects a health insurance increase of 15% as well as a Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) increase. She said the City will have lower Internal Service Fund (ISF) costs. She noted fuel costs are expected to be lower. Brainard asked and Rundell confirmed she is projecting that, in the next fiscal year, the City will be at a $1 million shortfall if all frozen positions are filled. Brainard asked and Rundell said the surplus will remain for one time projects and the $1 million just applies to policy compliance. Brainard asked and Rundell said these results assume no purchase of the items on the priority survey. Rundell said many of the things on the priority survey are one time funding. Brandenburg said he told staff that it is going to be a status quo budget over the next fiscal year. Ross asked and Rundell said the percentage change in TMRS would result in a $500,000-$600,000 change. Ross asked and Rundell said she thinks the City will pay a percentage rate of more than 15%. There were many questions. Ross said this would not be sustainable over time if the rate as well as the number of employees continue to increase. Rundell said she believes the rate is at the level it is because it has not been funded properly in prior years. Ross asked about a strategy to address this because he sees it getting worse before it gets better. He said the City needs to have a strategy in the budget season to address this problem. Rundell said the City will have money for one time programs estimated at $1.5 million. She reviewed the utility funds forecast and said there are costs savings in purchased power and said there is minimal growth in staffing for utility needs. She noted the development related revenues are down in both the General Fund and utility fund. She noted the CIS/AMR project is underway and said the City is trying to apply for stimulus money to pay for up to half of the cost. She said staff will continue to review rates to ensure accurate cost recovery. She said, in conclusion, the number one goal is to maintain service levels. She said it is a "tight" budget year and the City needs to maintain "status quo" and do more with less. Rundell reviewed the 2009/10 budget process. She said City Council Meeting Minutes/April 27, 2009 Page 3 of 4 Pages the Council Workshops to review the City Manager's budget are scheduled for July 13 and July 14. She reviewed the rest of the scheduled budget meetings. Brainard commended Rundell and her staff for their good work. Mayor asked and Rundell the goal is to have no tax rate or utility rate increases and added it is important to remember that not all utility rate payers are tax payers. C Review and possible direction to staff regarding the results of the 2009/10 Budget Priority Ranking process -- Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer and Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager Rundell provided Council with a weighted average for their rankings of the 2009/2010 budget priorities. She said the number one item is the Northwest Boulevard Bridge design and engineering and number two is that there be no increase in property tax burden. Brandenburg said what the City can do is pretty limited especially if a top priority is no tax burden. He noted just balancing the budget can be a task in itself and said the window to complete these priorities has probably increased from a two year window to about a three to five year window. Mayor asked and Rundell confirmed the purpose of this presentation is to show Council their priority listing of what staff will be working with as they move forward with the budget. She said there are probably a lot of creative ways to use money to fund some of the projects on the listing including stimulus money or grant funding. She noted there is not a lot of money to work with this year. Rundell and Brandenburg said staff is looking for innovative ways to do some of the items on the priority ranking. Brainard asked and Rundell said many items are debt funded. She reviewed how each project would be funded. Brainard asked and Rundell said all of the items are general fund related with the exception of the CIS/AMI project which is utility fund related. Berryman said she had trouble with the process this year and noted she struggled with prioritizing. She noted it would be good to have more information on each item on the survey. Mayor said, even though the budget is tight, there are opportunities for flexibility given the fact that some of these will be funded by one time expenses. Council recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.072, and 551.074 -- 5:23 p.m. Council resumed to Open Session and adjourned -- 7:02 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 07:02 PM. e ayor G City Council Meeting Minutes/April 27, 2009 Page 4 of 4 Pages