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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 09.27.2011 CC-Wi n util ig Body IS The 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, Danny Meigs, BHI Sattler, Pat All Council Present. Berryman, Tommy Gonzalez, Rachael Jonrowe, Troy Hellmann Staff Present: Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City Secretary; Wayne Nero, Police Chief, Jackie Carey, Animal Services Manager; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Jordan Maddox, Principal Planner; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager 1t1ueS A Workshop with Animal Shelter Advisory Board regarding updates at the Animal Shelter -- Wayne Nero, Police Chief and Jackie Carey, Animal Services Manager Berryman absent. Police Chief Wayne Nero introduced Jackie Carey, the Animal Shelter Manager, to the City Council. He said it is unique having the Animal Shelter under the Police Department. With a Powerpoint Presentation, Carey said she has been with the City for 16 years. She said she has been with the City for all of those years and noted she has seen a lot of change. She said she welcomes everyone to come out and see the shelter and get a tour of the facility. She provided Council with a photo of the animal shelter as well as the mission of the animal shelter. She read the mission statement for the City Council. She said it is not always easy serving with compassion but when you look at how many animals come into our City and why a nice animal shelter is such an asset to the City, it makes it all worth it. She said there is between 9,000 and 19,000 pets in the City of Georgetown. She spoke about how passionate people can be about their animals and the care for their animals. She said they moved into a new facility in Spring of 2005. She provided Council with statistics on intake, euthanasia, adoptions and return to owner. She said they are transparent so, if anyone wants to see their statistics, they are happy to report them at any time. She noted they take in about 1,400 animals per year and they adopt out between 500-600. She noted they euthanize between 20-30%, with cats being more than dogs. She said in 2006, it became law that a Microchip must be installed for all animals leaving the shelter. She said in 2009, they acquired an in-house veterinarian to perform spay/neuter procedures and rabies shots. She said they have a very active volunteer program with between 500-600 volunteer hours per month. She showed Council a photo of one of their vets and vet tech. She spoke about some of their accomplishments and noted in 2011, they created the Friends of the Georgetown Animal Shelter. She showed Council the logo and the Facebook site for the Friends of the Animal Shelter. She spoke of the five major fundraising events including Paws for Mardis Gras, SAFER testing, a garage sale and Art for Animals- A Chocolate Affair. She said they have a partnership with other shelters and said they have formed an organization called No Kill WILCO, which is an alliance with the other Williamson County shelter. She spoke briefly about what it is to be a no -kill shelter. She said a no kill shelter is an animal shelter where animals are only euthanized if they are too sick to be treated or too aggressive to be adopted. She noted a no kill shelter rejects the idea of euthanizing for population City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 1 of 4 Pages control. She said she also sends out a monthly newsletter. Carey introduced Animal Shelter Board member Chris Albanese to the Council. Albanese spoke about the new retractable shade canopies. She also described the improved play yards and agility equipment at the shelter, which was built as part of an eagle scout project. She spoke of the new medical room that was built last year, built because of donations from Mr. and Mrs. Evans. She said they have an improved surgery room that came to fruition thanks to donations from the Friends of the Animal Shelter. She showed Council a picture of the new cat room playroom. She spoke about their new misting system purchased from donations. She also spoke about their brand new washer and dryer. Carey introduced Animal Shelter Board member Mary Treuter. Treuter said she is glad to be here. She said their major goal is to decrease the intake of animals through public education programs in schools and through the website. She spoke about their public education strategies. She noted they also attend meetings of local non-profit groups. She noted they are very interested in the cat population as it multiplies a lot quicker than other animals. She said they will offer four free spay/neuter clinics for cats this Spring as well as feral cat colony support. Carey introduced Board member Laura Hobgood-Oster to the City Council. Hobgood spoke about some of their opportunities and said they are trying to decrease their intake of animals as well as increase their percentage of animal placements. She spoke about how they are going to accomplish this. She noted they are working with rescue groups to assist with this process. She spoke about the promotions the do, including free cats on Fridays, Super Senior Sundays as well as a senior to senior program. She spoke about some of the dog trainings they are doing at the animal shelter to prepare them for going into a home. She described the barn cat program and spoke about how it has been an incredibly effective program. She said they have partnerships with local businesses and noted they are always out on the square during large City events. Carey introduced Chairman of the Board, Mike Simpson, to the Council. He spoke about the challenges with the Animal Shelter. He said the budget has been tight, but doable, thanks to the many hard workers as well as the dedicated volunteers. He described the professional challenges with staff and spoke about how important it is to invest in some training for the staff at the shelter. He spoke about the chameleon software that is used to manage the flows within the shelter. He noted Jackie Carey and her staff offered to host a regional meeting to train shelters throughout Texas on this program. He noted the City received free training for offering to host the training for that software. He said another challenge is growth in medical expenses for a growing animal shelter and space. He said the pet population will grow as the City grows. He said another major area they need to concentrate on is public relations. He thanked Council and said they appreciate their support. Berryman arrived at the dais. Jonrowe thanked Carey and said they do a remarkable job. Jonrowe asked and Carey said it would be possible to expand the property they have and said they would probably like to add another wing of dog kennels. Sattler said Carey does a great job. Sattler asked and Carey said they do not provide specialized training and added the training is only for pets so it makes them more adoptable. Gonzalez spoke about the increase in cat intake. He asked and Carey agreed it is becoming a problem. Carey said there is really no explanation for the large increase in cat intake. Carey said it seems like all of the animal shelters in the Central Texas area have had a great increase in population. She spoke about why that increase in cat population could have occurred. Eason said, when Gabe Sansing retired from the Board, she took his plan. She said she would like to see some before pictures of the shelter and noted it has come a long way. B Discussion and possible direction to staff on funding the 2011/12 General Capital Projects -- Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer With a Powerpoint Presentation, Rundell spoke about budgeted debt funded projects. She described the, originally, the budget included some debt planned for May 2012. She said they budgeted $1.38 million worth of Certificates of Obligation to fund the police and public safety vehicles and equipment. She said there is also in the budget about $2.59 million worth of General Obligation bonds from the 2010 authorization for the public safety facility. She noted these GO bonds will be discussed at a separate meeting. She spoke about options to defer CO bond issue. She said they could delay the fire apparatus until 2012/12. She said another option is to replace fewer police patrol vehicles and extend the "useful' life of those vehicles to 5.5 years. She noted non -patrol vehicles have an eight year life. She spoke about the tough books for each police vehicle. She said they are specialized and expensive and must be replaced every three to four years. She summarized the option and said it would be to delay the purchase of the fire apparatus and only purchase eight police vehicles. She said, if Council chooses to do this, next year becomes a little complex. She said total cost City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 2 of 4 Pages for police cars would be over $750,000. She said the total for fire will be $900,000 next year because they will need to replace two apparatuses. She noted the tax impact for this would be about $1.6 million or two-thirds of a cent. She spoke about future debt funded projects including facility renovations. She noted the final payment for Williams Drive is still looming as well. She said staff is requesting direction from Council to either move forward with the 2012 CO bond issue or to take the city's option to reduce public safety vehicles, not issue bonds and understand the impact of that for next year. She said the main question relates to how the City will fund Bel Aire Drive. She spoke about the ways the City will try to fund that project. Brandenburg clarified that the Bel Aire improvements is the Shell Road improvement near the new McCoy Elementary. Mayor asked and Rundell described the costs for these improvements and what is included in the improvements. Polasek said the money in the contract was the Bel Aire intersection improvements with Shell Road. He noted those improvements will need to be extended down to the intersection at Sycamore as well. He noted the City is only funding and working on improvements at Bel Aire. Berryman asked and Brandenburg said the school district is not helping the funding for that project. Rundell said the City's hope is the school district will participate when improvements need to be made to the second intersection. Gonzalez said his concern with the budget options is that public safety is paramount. He said issues with our public safety need to be dealt with as needed when they come up. He said the City has a lot of things pending in the future but noted the City should deal with police vehicles and apparatus now. Rundell said, ten years ago, the decision was made to utilize debt for the City's public safety vehicles for rate stabilization. She noted, without those voter approved bonds, the City can maintain its tax rate. She said what throws the City is when GO bonds need to be issued. She said her hope is to either go forward with the CO or wait. She noted she wanted to give the Council that option. Garver spoke about a budget summary showing budgets going out 3, 4 or 5 years out. Brandenburg said that information will be brought to Council at separate workshops in the future. Meigs said that is very important to start looking at those three to five year budget plans. He asked and Rundell spoke about the last time the public safety vehicles were purchased. Meigs asked and Rundell said we will still be able to purchase eight police vehicles. Meigs asked and Rundell said the Chiefs were very cooperative with her on this option. She said they just want to make sure the vehicles are there and maintained. Brandenburg said it is important to remember that 70,000 to 90,000 miles on a police vehicle is different than that many miles on a regular car. Eason said she has a concern regarding the safety of the officers in those vehicles which are under tremendous strain. She noted, in order to plan thoughtfully, she would like to look at opportunities for income as well as cutting expenses. She said she has a problem with this type of short term Band-Aid. Mayor asked and Rundell showed Council the two options Council is being asked to consider. Gonzalez said, as stated before, he wants to stop Council from pushing things forward and noted these are things that have to get done. He said he would rather purchase these items in the years they are supposed to be done. He said he is in favor for option number one. Jonrowe agreed and said she is also in favor of option one. Berryman said she needs to think about this a little more. Sattler said he does not want to see us compromise our public safety and health but noted he needs to think about it. Meigs said he is leaning toward option one but noted he would like to reserve his right to change his opinion. Hellmann asked and Rundell noted vehicles are purchased each year. Rundell said the City does not factor in assessed valuation growth and added, if there is growth, it will help this issue. Hellmann said he supports option one. Eason agreed that she also supports.option one. Rundell said the bond resolution is on the regular agenda for Council's vote at a later time. C Discussion on the 2011 Annexation Process -- Jordan Maddox, Principal Planner Maddox said the reason for this item is due to the fact that staff has received a lot of feedback on the annexations and it is expected that there will be a crowd at the Public Hearings next month. He said this is just to prepare the Council for what will happen on both of those nights. He spoke about the meeting process and said a public hearing is required for each area. He said staff will give an overview of each area, a public hearing for each area, a large crowd is expected, the service plans for each area will be available and staff will be in the room to answer any necessary questions. He said there will be one item at the end of each public hearing to direct staff to remove any area or alter the boundary of any area. He noted staff has received requests for proposed zoning districts. He said Council is not able to add new areas at this time. Mayor asked and Maddox described what is required from the City with an involuntary annexation, including fire and public safety, library services, community center and utilities. Mayor asked and Maddox described the difference between voluntary and involuntary annexations. Maddox said voluntary annexations typically occur with a development, so there are not as much capital costs associated with those type of areas. He noted there are a lot of costs associated with these areas, particularly those along Shell Road and Westinghouse Road. Maddox spoke about annexations that could be placed under an agricultural exemption and what that means for the property. Jonrowe asked how it is determined which district the new properties will be in once annexed. Maddox said there will be districts proposed by staff and noted they look at contiguity as well as population projections. He said they do consider population of the areas and how it will affect the populations of the districts. City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 3 of 4 Pages Meeting recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.074 and 551.087 -- 5:07 PM Meeting returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:02 PM Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 06:02 PM. AT d : Y Attest: Mayor rg Garver (Xio Secretary essica Brettle City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 4 of 4 Pages