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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 01.22.2007 CC-WThe City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Regular Session on the above date with Mayor Gary Nelon presiding. Council Present: Council Absent° Patty Eason, Gabe Sansing, Doug Smith, Henry All Council present Carr, Pat Berryman, Farley Snell, Ben Oliver Staff Present: Paul Brandenburg, City Manager; Tom Yantis, Assistant City Manager; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations; Patricia E. Carls, City Attorney; Sandra D. Lee, City Secretary; Cari Miller,'! Convention and Visitors Bureau Coordinator; Terry Jones, Support Services Construction Manager; Micki'! Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration; Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director; Randy Morrow, Director of Community Services; John Aldridge, Transportation Engineer; David Morgan, Police Chief; Clay Shell, Assistant Fire Chief; Mark Miller, Transportation Services Manager, Brent Schacherl, Police Lieutenant Policy Development/Review Workshop - Called to order at 4:00 PM by Mayor Nelon A Joint Meeting with Convention & Visitors' Bureau and Main Street Boards regarding Budget Priorities R. C. Lumpkin, told Council he is the Co-owner of Harper Chesser Historic Inn and Created for You Catering, and Secretary of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Board. He introduced CVB board members in attendance: Elizabeth Sensabaugh, Chris Dyer, and Ben Grimes. Gordon Baker, Chair, of the Main Street Advisory Board introduced Main Street members, Kirk Kriegel and Cindy Locke. Lumpkin explained it would be a joint presentation from the two boards in support of hiring a new staff position to support one of the two boards. He said staff member, Shelly Hargrove, is trying to take care of both positions, and there is a lot of activity to cover. He said there was a special meeting of the two boards to discuss a possibe merge to save energy and staff time, but it was discovered that the functions of the two boards are both distinctly important, so they decided instead to ask for an additional staff person. He said in previous years there were two managers, saying the cities of Plainview and Graham are the only other cities that have a combined position like in Georgetown. He said because of the growth in Georgetown, it is the opinion of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Board that another staff person is needed. He gave a brief presentation of CVB activities for making Georgetown a tourist destination. He said the focus is on: (1) local awareness and how CVB impacts tourism by granting hotel/motel tax (HOT) fund grants; (2) support of the Visitors' Center; advertisements; and the Visit Georgetown website; (3) capitalizing on shopping; and (4) developing a marketing plan. He said the board works in support of the Council's priorities, such as economic development. He said the CVB is self -sustained because of the hotel -motel funds, and said the Georgetown CVB receives about 10% of the overall tourism dollar in Texas, and they feel another staff position would put Georgetown in a better position to receive more of the tax dollars. Main Street Advisory Board Chair, Gordon Baker, said the boards are very different, but at the heart of both boards is economic development. He said Hargrove and her team have to focus outside of Georgetown in order City Council Meeting Minutes/January 22, 2007 Page 1 of 3 Pages to put "heads in beds." The focus of the Main Street Board is on the downtown businesses, in the downtown overlay, for business retention. He said the tool is the Facade Fund, He said Main Street played an integral part in the Downtown Overlay Plan and the Tax Increment Finance Fund project. He said the Main Street Board is asking for someone to focus on the Downtown Overlay Area and the businesses there. He mentioned how the $64,000 Facade Fund was spent, including the $10,000 reimbursement for roof restoration at the Milam Building, which has helped to save the buildings on either side. He said the "face" of downtown is about to change because of the car dealers moving out. He said the CVB supervisor would have a better chance of getting more of the tourism tax dollars if a new Main Street Director could build a network between the business owners, building owners, economic development, Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Georgetown Association. He said an inventory is needed of the downtown buildings, showing the age, structure size, availability, stability, etc. He said downtown merchants are saying this past Christmas was the best ever because Georgetown people are staying to shop in Georgetown, and downtown has become a "real" shopping place. He said the Main Street Board wants an integrated and strategic marketing plan and implementation. Smith asked why the Economic Development Department could not handle the promotion of downtown business. Baker said it's difficult for them when they're dealing with large companies such as Citicorp, compared to small shops. Brandenburg noted that in the City's not -so -distant past, the Economic Development Director handled Economic Development, CVB, and Main Street, and it was totally disfunctional. He said Economic Development and CVB should be separate. He said staff functions need to be reviewed, and said a request for another posiiton would be a part of the budget and would need to be looked at more closely. He said he feels several departments have close ties to Economic Development; for instance, the Economic Development Department does have a database of information about downtown buildings. He said tourism definitely helps economic development; and the parks and recreation activities help tourism by putting "heads in beds, " and so does the school district. He said he thinks Economic Development is getting busier everyday. He said Council will soon start setting budget priorities, and there will be associated dollar amounts. He noted that last budget year there were 70 requests for new positions, but only half were funded, and 16 were commitments made to public safety. He said the picture city-wide needs to be reviewed. Eason said this kind of position will bring a good return on investment. Smith said the decision needs to be made by the City Manager. Berryman said the person needed is a marketing person, which is different than economic development. B Workshop presentation, discussion and possible direction to staff regarding the Recreation Center Expansion project and related issues -- Micki Rundell, Director Finance & Administration Rundell noted that this is a follow-up to the workshop in July. She said an external third party has given them the estimate on what it will take to complete the expansion. She said the expansion was approved by voters in November of 2004, at $9,750,000 million, with construction originally scheduled for 2008109. She said the Council directed in July to go ahead and award the design contract and come back to Council once costs were known, and now there is a $3 million funding difference due to the rise in gas prices, and material cost increases due to the hurricanes. She said the total cost now is $14.6 million with a 15% project contingency. She listed the money available to apply to this project and noted a total shortfall of $3.8 million. She listed the options to be considered. There were comments and questions from Council. It was determined that prolonging the construction would cost more. Rundell explained that it was recommended that the General Obligation bonds be issued in phases to begin construction in October 2007 and complete the project by January of 2009. She said she would be bringing forward a bond reimbursement resolution at the next Council meeting. She asked for Council direction to move forward as originally planned with the RFQ for Construction Manager at Risk; to authorize $1 million in certificate of obligation bonds to be included in the April bond issue; and to determine project phasing, if needed. She said there is $9.4 million remaining to be issued in General Obligation bonds in phases: $3.4 million in Spring of 2007 and $7 million in Spring 2008; then a $1 million certificate of obligation bond issue in Spring 2007. She said the reason she is only recommending $1 million in CO bonds is because there may be revenue that can used and additional CO bonds could be issued as well. She told Council that the original 2004 bonds were estimated to creat a $0.0825 increase, but as of 2006 the impact has only been $0.0385, including the Library, Community Center and $600,000 of the Recreation Center. She said the remaining general obligation bonds of $9.4 million will have an estimated impact of $0.03 and the $1 million in CO bonds at $0.002, which is a total of around $0.07, which is lower than estimated. City Council Meeting Minutes/January 22, 2007 Page 2 of 3 Pages Oliver clarified that the phasing is not the way the funding is done, but will allow the flexibility of how much needs to be funded and when. Rundell noted that $2 million in CO bonds would get this accomplished without obligating a future Council. There was much more discussion by the Council. Motion by Snell, second by Sansing to direct staff to proceed with the Construction Management at Risk process; to issue the $9.4 million; and to issue the $2 million. Snell said he wants to go ahead and get the $2 million to keep from using year-end funds in perpetuity. Sansing suggested and Snell agreed to a friendly amendment that the negotiation for Management at Risk includes early completion rewards and punishment for being late. Motion by Smith, to defer Phase III, the outdoor elements. The motion died for lack of second. Oliver clarified that the Council is not guaranteeing that all the construction will be completed with this amount. Vote on the motion: Approved 7-0. C Traffic Calming Report -- Mark Miller, Transportation Services Manager; David Morgan, Police Chief; Anthony Lincoln, Fire Chief; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations; Paul Brandenburg, City Manager Briggs said the staff presenters have attended national meetings on this subject and have done a lot of investigation and study regarding this item. Miller said the City will work with the neighborhoods and do everything possible before putting out physical measures. With a slide presentation, Miller reviewed the studies on the issue, and the decision-making process to be made before traffic calming would be done. He said a staff Transportation Committee composed of Transportation Engineer John Aldridge, the Transportation Operations Manager, the Police Chief or designee, the Fire Chief or designee, and someone from Development Services (for new construction) will be formed to study the best way to deal with various locations. He listed the various tools of slowing traffic. There were questions and comments from the Council. It was discussed that there will be publicity regarding this program, and the design elements will be incorporated into the proposals for the Unified Development Code in March. 5:53 p.m. -- recessed to Executive Session Executive Session In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, the items listed below will be discussed in closed session and are subject to action in the regular session that follows. D Sec.551.071: Consultation with Attorney - Advice from attorney about pending or contemplated litigation and other matters on which the attorney has a duty to advise the City Council, including agenda items -Transamerican Underground vs. Arch Insurance Co., C.C. Carleton Industries, and Third Party Defendant the City of Georgetown, Cause No. 06-121-C277, District Court of Williamson County, 277th Judicial District - Henderson v. City of Georgetown and Bishop Gregory Aymond for the Dioceses of Austin , Cause No. A06CA082 SS; United States District Court, Western District of Texas - Stanford v. City of Georgetown , Cause No. 06-634-C26, filed in the 26th Judicial District of Williamson County, Texas - Williamson County MUD No. 19, request for sewer Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (Application No. 35375-C) (SOAH Docket No. 582-07-0786; TCEQ Docket No. 2006 - 1810 - UCR) - Proposed Sanitary Sewer Overflow Agreement with the TCEQ. - Discussion regarding the application of municipal zoning and development regulations to facilities owned by school districts and other political subdivisions. 6:06 p.m. -- returned to Open Session and adjourned City Council Meeting Minutes/January 22, 2007 Page 3 of 3 Pages Attest: City Secretary Sandra Lee