HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 12.01.2024 CC-SMinutes of the City Council
City of Georgetown, Texas
Friday, December 1, 2023
The Georgetown City Council met on Friday, December 1, 2023 at 8:00 AM at Community Room -
Georgetown City Hall, 808 Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Georgetown, TX 78626.
The City of Georgetown is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If
you require assistance in participating at a public meeting due to a disability, as defined under the ADA,
reasonable assistance, adaptations, or accommodations will be provided upon request. Please contact
the City Secretary's Office, at least three (3) days prior to the scheduled meeting date, at (512) 930-
3652 or City Hall at 808 Martin Luther King, Jr Street for additional information; TTY users route
through Relay Texas at 711.
City Council Goal Setting Session
The following Members were in attendance: Josh Schroeder, Amanda Parr, Shawn Hood, Mike Triggs,
Kevin Pitts, Jake French, Ron Garland, and Ben Stewart
1. Regular Session
1.a City Council Goal Setting
This is a special workshop of the Georgetown City Council.
This workshop will be for a discussion of Council governance, strategies and goals. The City
Council sets the vision for the City and adopts guiding principles and goals to reflect that
vision and guide decision -making at all levels of City government. The Council Visioning
process builds Council consensus on policies and projects that impact City residents,
businesses and the community as a whole. The City Management uses the City Council's
vision, principles, and goals to set priorities, direct work activities, and allocate staffing and
financial resources.
No official action will be taken at this meeting. Any official adoption of items discussed at this
workshop will be formally approved as an item on a later scheduled City Council Regular
meeting.
The following staff members were in attendance: David Morgan, City Manager, Laurie Brewer,
Assistant City Manager, Nick Woolery, Assistant City Manager, Wayne Nero, Assistant City
Manager, and Jessica Clarke, Assistant to the City Manager.
Mayor Schroeder called the meeting to order at 8:15 a.m. and Ron Cox with Ron Cox
Consulting led a review of the Governance Model including a review of vision, mission, values,
rule of Engagement, and discussion of Council expectations of each other, staff expectations
of Council and vice versa.
There was a break from 9:10 a.m. to 9:20 a.m.
Cox then led the review status of Existing Strategic Plan with priority actions completed in
2023, CMO "Most Important Work" Project List, and a review of strategic goals added at last
year's retreat. Councilmembers begin to review master list of goals and propose new goals for
2024.
There was a break from12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. for lunch.
Once resumed Cox led the group in prioritizing goals for 2024 pulling from master list, 2023
list, and new goals. A "Red Dot" Exercise was used to vote on list of 39 strategic goals for
2024.
Throughout the work session the following were general topics of discussion: Council speaks
as a body; many cities do not have a Governance Policy; staff helps Council make decisions
by providing technical information; helps to see the big picture around an issue before
deciding, with a great example being uses in proximity for zoning cases and subarea reviews;
Council priorities and timing; The CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) shows Council the trade-
offs of reprioritization including how you can have it all, just not all at once; prioritization is very
important and Council can move 3 rocks one mile, or 30 rocks one inch; Council should
compare the existing list of goals to the developing list; staff doesn't push Council in any
particular direction, but it is staffs responsibility to tell Council potential repercussions
downstream; how most Councilmembers have day jobs and all are very busy;
Councilmembers cannot have a singular view; trust is important, with very limited bandwidth,
Council can't afford mistrust given fast pace and have to believe staff; water meters transition
and 311 process; how Sofia Nelson, Planning Director, encourages people to watch Council
meetings, and effectively tells the public the why behind a project; the need for
Councilmembers to tell why they did what they did as a Councilmember; plan and
communicate to Council to ensure bandwidth; Council values staff opinion, but staff does not
tell Council what to do; Council is driving the bus, staff doesn't drive the bus, but staff should
warn Council of any cliffs ahead; if Council has given direction, staff has to go with that; trust
between CMO (City Manager's Office)/staff and Council is a lot higher than it was in 2015; 2%
budget reduction was difficult; 2014 there were no one on one meetings between the City
Manager and Council; current trust is fragile, have to earn it daily; budget ready for approval
because there are so many budget workshops well in advance of the actual budget vote; staff
should get Council input on the front end; quick decision from the outside no one knows how
much work there was leading up to the final decisions; Hutto Mayor was amazed that the
FMP, Comp Plan/FLU, UDC all approved in one Council meeting; important to include public
input slides so folks know work leading up to decision; this Council isn't grandstanding or
giving speeches to undercut each other; work on being proactive as opposed to reactive;
ideas for future Quarterly Work Sessions including mental health unit, regionalism, water,
downtown, executive housing, special funding mechanism, and ETJ (Extra Territorial
Jurisdiction); Council needs to tell their story better; it will be a tight budget next year;
Economic Development Strategic Plan will provide more goals related to redevelopment,
reprioritize, implementation, and Council will check Economic Development goals against the
plan; Downtown Master Plan will provide more goals; for next year, identify the goals on the
master list that have already been accomplished or that will be ongoing; Georgetown
presented to the Fast Growth Cities Consortium about public engagement; Public Safety
might need a strategic area; Southwest TIRZ development; bond election campaign lessons
learned including the need for a longer campaign period; and Councilmember Garland
focused on housing, water, schools, ETJ, the economy, and sales tax.
Mayor Schroeder adjourned the meeting at 3:00 p.m.
Adjournment
These minute w re approved at the meeting of &Y' und(A � t
Mayor Attest