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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 03.08.2011 CC-WThe City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Regular Session on the above date with Mayor George Garver presiding. Council Present. Council Absent. Patty Eason, Gabe Sansing, Danny Meigs, Bill All Council Present Sattler, Pat Berryman, Dale Ross, Tommy Gonzalez Staff Present: Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Mark Sokolow, City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City Secretary; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Trina Bickford, Purchasing Manager; Laurie Brewer, Finance Director; Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director; Cad Miller, Tourism Manager; Eric Lashley Library Services Director; Randy Morrow, Director of Community Services; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager •i.pall-rITP11rum'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII III IF Fill III III -•1111111, 11111111111111111:1111III r • •- / / ' A Discussion regarding the Public Safety Operations and Training Facilities-- Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager With a Powerpoint Presentation, Brandenburg reviewed the item. He said the City adopted a facility plan back in 2003 and added, since 2007, there have been nine meetings on the issue of facilities. He noted City Council appointed a task force whose charge was to look at the facility plan and what a new public safety operations and training facility would look like. He described the task force and the staff that were involved in those task force meetings. He spoke about the task force and said they met and looked at the current public safety facility and then went over why a new facility is necessary. He said one of the biggest needs to come out of the task force meetings is the issue of training. He noted there are a lot of training resources that must be utilized in other cities to meet the training requirements. He said the size of the proposed facility is about 60,000 sq feet in order to plan for the future and serve growth in the community. He spoke about programming elements and the option of having some elements of the project being phased in. He said the old police station was brought up in the discussions and the question of what would happen with that building was considered. He noted the idea of using the old police station as an arts and culture facility. He continued to described the discussions that took place in the task force meetings. Brandenburg showed Council a site plan for the facility and he described its many components, including fire station five, the burn building, the tower, the training facility and the public safety complex. He said the other question for the task force was to look at either a May or November bond election for this project. He said there were a lot more cons in waiting until a November election. He said the thought was to move forward to the voters in the May election. He mentioned the cost of the project and turned the presentation over to the city's Finance Director, Micki Rundell. Rundell said the cost is $29.5 million and the City would have to issue debt. She added the city would issue the debt in three or four separate issues over the course of 24 months from start to finish. She said her question is related to the length of the issue. She spoke about the difference in the tax impact between a 20 year or a 25 year amortization. She noted, with a 20 year amortization, it would have a tax impact of about 5.3 cents. She added, with a 25 year amortization period, the tax impact would be below 5 cents. She said, right now, it is very City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 1 of 4 Pages reasonable to go to the market. She noted, right now, as long as the City stays below its $10 million threshold, it can get that money below 3.5% interest. She said the unknown on this project is the cost of building materials. Ross asked and Rundell said she does not know the difference in interest costs between 20 or 25 years, but she will calculate that total for the Council. Rundell said she would assume you could look at an extra 2 to 3 million difference in interest if you were to go with the 25 year note. Gonzalez asked and Rundell said the City could issue debt initially, but it does not have to be issued in its entirety as long as it is within three years from the start of construction. She said she would not recommend that the City do a contract with the voters in that there are too many things that are in flux. There was much discussion regarding how the City would fund this project. Brandenburg acknowledge the task force members in attendance. He noted he thinks they did an excellent job on this project. He said General Graham has a few words. Speaker, General Chuck Graham, said he was an army officer and spent many years training soldiers. He noted was called by the Mayor because this issue is all about training. He spoke about the importance of training the new officers. He said, if you don't train the rookies, you do not have an effective police or fire departments. He said this facility is desperately needed in that, right now, the City has to make the fire and police officers travel long distances to train. He said having officers travel is loss of time and money. He said he encourages Council to get behind this and get it built. Speaker, Joe Pondrum, said he agrees with General Graham but noted the thing that bothered him is what they saw when they walked through the current police station. He said, when he saw the facility, he was ashamed of the City. He said the city needs to get this done because the city is growing and it needs to look like it knows what it's doing. He added this is something the City needs in order to make it a superb city. Brandenburg said an item and full presentation will be on the regular agenda on this issue, but he is there for questions. He noted no action is required at this time. Ross said and Brandenburg agreed that there be only one option for the voters to vote on. Berryman said and Brandenburg confirmed the recommendation is to have the issue on the May ballot. Berryman referred to the options given to Council regarding ways to promote the City's message. Brandenburg said on the regular agenda, there is an item to dissolve the task force and then those people can be advocates of this process. He said his recommendation is to go with the $6,800 amount for promotions and he described what that amount included. Mayor thanked the task force for their help. B Consideration and possible action to recommend changes to the City's purchasing guidelines - Trina Bickford, Purchasing Manager, Laurie Brewer, Finance Director, and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer With a Powerpoint presentation, Bickford said the City was looking over the current purchasing process and found some changes that could be made to improve upon it. She spoke about the current requirements under Texas law. She said under state law, formal bidding as well as Council approval is required for expenditures $50,000 or more for goods and or services. She also mentioned the law regarding historically under-utilized businesses.She spoke about the possible changes resulting from the current legislative session. She said the new code also affects the public works and facilities construction departments. She noted it will also revise some of the alternative methods of procurement. She added there are also changes in allowable change orders, public posting requirements, local preference laws and HUB requirements. Bickford said the current city process has proven to be a little confusing and she described the process as it stands today. She said the city's dollar limits do not mesh very well.She said there are no competitive quotes required under $3,000, unless a credit card is used, then the limit is $1,000. She noted purchases are taken to Council with anything greater than $15,000. She noted the current process was leading to confusion and frustration as the various dollar limits do not mesh well. She said her department began to look at improvements that could be made to the process. She noted the first option they considered was to leave the process as it is. She said the next thing they considered was a moderate revision to procedures and she said this would restructure dollar limits to more closely follow the current guidelines for Board and Council approvals that are already in place. She said there would be no changes to smaller purchases, but informal quotes would be required for purchases from $3,000 to $25,000. She noted, for anything $25,000 or more, formal bids and council approval would be required. She said they tried to look at the pros and cons of doing these moderate revisions. She described those for the Council. She said this option would align what the city does with the processes of other cities in the area as well. She said one of the cons is staff would have to re-educate the divisions on these new processes. She said the final revision would be to make a more major revision, which would align the city's policy more to the local government code. She said, under the major revision, up to $3,000 there would be no change, between $3000.01 to $50,000 would be allowed to solicit informal bids, they would provide the summary information to purchasing and the HUB requirements apply exactly within this range. She said any purchase over $50,000 would become a formal solicitation and it would require board and council approval. She noted a quarterly report would be done and added it would be a good idea to consider the City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 2 of 4 Pages Consent Agenda as purchasing up to $100,000 instead of $50,000. She said, if major revisions are considered, there are pros and cons. She described those for the Council. Mayor said, in his opinion, the more Council knows the better. He said he would suggest that they not isolate the Council members from the decisions staff makes. Mayor asked and Rundell said General Government and Finance Subcommittee recommended the maximum changes with a 5-0 vote. She spoke about the option of providing better reporting to Council on the purchases that are made without Council's approval. She added anything over $10,000 dollars would require the City Manager's signature as well, which would provide another level of review. C Presentation on current projects and budget requests for Community Services Division -- Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director; Cari Miller, Tourism Manager; Eric Lashley, Library Services Director and Randy Morrow, Director of Community Services With a Powerpoint presentation, Morrow introduced the three staff persons who will be speaking tonight. Garrett said she will be giving the Council an update on the Parks and Recreation department. She said she will review the 2008 bond projects, a recreation center update, ADA programming requirements, park maintenance needs and recent projects. She said, in 2008, the citizens passed a bond worth $35 million to go toward park improvements. She noted, this year, there is money in the budget to start the design process of the amphitheater and festival area, for construction in 2012-2013. She noted, with that construction, they are looking to improve the picnic areas and restrooms as well. She said they recently took a trip to Houston to visit some amphitheaters and festival areas to see what the best options and strategies are for Georgetown. She also spoke about the money in this year's budget for the first phase of the hike and bike trail expansion, which was also included in the 2008 bond election. She described the areas of the trail that would be expanded. She said they will start design and hope to start construction on the first phase by the end of 2012. She mentioned Garey Park and said they have $10 million for that project. She said it is important to remember the city could start at any time to possibly design and develop that park. She spoke about the recreation center and said they have had a consistent membership base of 9,000. She said they have been certified as an arthritis facility through the Arthritis Foundation. She noted this is the second one in the Austin area. She said, this last year, the City has run a lot of swim meets. She noted the city is using the indoor pool a lot and the city has received many compliments on the facility. She said the recreation center will be reaching its three year anniversary. She noted the city has a three year lease on its cardio equipment. She said they would like to continue allocation of funds for the cardio equipment lease with replacement every three years. She said they have had some request to be open on Sundays, which would put them open seven days of week. She said there would increase administrative staff, janitorial staff and electric costs. She said one of their goals is to have access for all to the recreation facilities and programs. She said they have been approached many times to provide programming for special needs populations. She noted this is something that has not been done on a large scale. She said they need staff member that is trained as a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. She noted they have been collaborating with the Exceptional Georgetown Alliance over the past few years on a camp for special needs children. She noted the City is asked why they can not take over this program, but it is a cost because of increased staffing and specialists required to run such a program. Berryman asked and Garrett said the costs of starting these type of programs would be $25,000 initially. She said, the larger the City gets, the more of these requests the city receives. She said there are some new standards for accessible design passed in 2010 and added the city must have a plan to bring all Recreation Facilities into compliance with those requirements. She said there has been talk of hiring an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Specialist to work for the City. Sansing asked and Garrett said the ADA employee could be a position that could be contracted out. Sattler asked and Garrett said the summer program is for about 4 weeks. She said, right now, they utilize the high school because there is not enough room at the recreation center. There were many questions about that summer program. Berryman asked and Garrett said you can not charge a different rate for special needs camps than you would for a normal summer camp. Garrett spoke about the park maintenance needs. She said the city does a lot of maintenance in house and it would be good to have a skid loader to help with the maintenance. She said, with a skid loader, the City can conduct trail maintenance, it has multiple attachments, it is more functional than a large front end loader, you can get into small spaces easier and the City would not be able to contract out in order to clean debris. Sattler asked and Garrett said the city has heavy equipment operators that are training to use this machinery. She spoke about the recent projects in the City including a new playground at the Kay Crossing Park, at tree planting and flood repairs. She said the City has received the State Gold Medal award for the fourth time and she described that award for the Council. Sattler asked and Garrett said the City plants about 120 trees per year. Garrett said, in summary, they are looking at future funding needs for the amphitheater/festival area ($8 million City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 3 of 4 Pages in bond funds), continued weight equipment lease (3 year agreement for $30,000 a year), hire a certified therapeutic recreation specialist for special needs programs ($55,000 a year), purchase a skid loader ($50,000), continue the trail expansion along the San Gabriel Rivers ($1 million in bond funds), opening the recreation center on Sundays ($100,000 a year), funds to subsidize the special needs camp and programs ($25,000 a year). Ross said the Katy Crossing was great and added that the City should put in more money, about $20,000, for tree planting. Sattler spoke about the tree trimming as well and added he does not want to see the trees in the park fall because of lack of maintenance. Miller spoke about the Georgetown Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), what they have been doing over the past year and what they would like to happen in the future. She said the CVB is totally funded out of Hotel Occupancy Tax. She noted, in Georgetown, they get 7% of the tax. She said the Attorney General's office sets up some specific laws on how the City should use that money. She described the laws and the tests that are used to determine how the CVB must spend its money. She said they are a really small department and have three employees. She said the City just redid the visitors guide and she provided a copy for Council. She noted they print 60,000 per year and distribute them throughout the state. She said they also redid their website, visitgeorgetown.org. She noted they wrapped one of the city vans to be a new "rolling billboard" and added it goes around the state to many events associated with Georgetown. She describe the events scheduled for the Red Poppy Festival to be held from April 15-17, 2011. She spoke about the future needs of their department. She said their department is in support of the art center and added they desperately need more meeting space. She said they need to go get a needs assessment done and they would like to move the visitor center to the current municipal court location. She noted they would like to have public restrooms, which the municipal court building would provide, and she said she would also really like a visitor center on IH -35. Gonzalez said that is a million dollar idea because, if we can bring people in off of the interstate, it would solve a lot of the city's issues. She said her dream location for the new CVB would be at 1-35 and River Hills Drive. Lashley spoke about the library updates. He said they are working on a library application for the iPhone, Android or Blackberry mobile devices. He said they are now offering downloadable audio books and e -books. He described the Library Foundation group and the Friends of the Library group are merging to become one 501 c(3) organization . He said the big project the group is going for is to raise money for a bookmobile service. He said the target clients for the service is senior citizens, students and people with mobility issues. He noted they are applying for numerous grants to get the bookmobile service going. He said one of the other things is that the library are the staff liaisons with the arts and culture board. He said the board would like to continue with the sculpture tour and to continue with grants for the Palace Theatre, the symphony, the Museum and Georgetown Art Works. He mentioned having a future visual arts center at the old police station. He noted the Arts and Culture Board is recommending this. He spoke about how they would like to use the police station. He said the goal would be to make this an active space. Sattler asked and Lashley said the bookmobile would be $130,000 but added the cost does not come with the books. Lashley said the majority of the costs would be for the generator as well as the lift to load the books into the van. Ross asked and Lashley said the estimated useful life for the bookmobile would be over 15 years. Gonzalez asked and Lashley said there would be a core set of 2,000 books for the bookmobile and then the library would substitute copies with ones that they have in the library. He said the fundraising kickoff for the bookmobile will be April 3 from 2 PM -4 PM and he described the event. Mayor thanked the division for their presentation. Meeting recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.072, 551.086, 551.087 of the Local Government Code -- 4:10 pm Meeting returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:20 City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 4 of 4 Pages The meeting was adjourned at 06:20 PM. Secretary Jessica Brettle