HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 08.10.2009 CC-SThe 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:
Keith Brainard, Gabe Sansing, Dale Ross, Pat
Berryman, Bill Sattler, Patty Eason, Ben Oliver
Staff Present:
Jessica Hamilton, City Secretary; Shirley Rinn, Administrative Assistant to the City Manager
A Call to Order
Mayor called the meeting to order -- 4:01 p.m.
B Discussion and possible action regarding funding allocations for contracted social services and youth programs
for 2009/2010 budget year -- Mayor George Garver
Mayor reviewed the history of this item and summarized the application process for social service and youth
program funding.
Motion by Brainard, second by Ross to begin working with the alloted amount of $357,250 in the current year's
budget. Brainard asked and Rinn confirmed that is the total amount approved for the budget. Ross said,
because of the change in the policy, the allocated amount for both the social service and youth organizations
does not restrict Council to that number. Approved 4-2 (Sansing, Eason opposed) (Oliver away from dais)
Mayor said Council will go through the organizations alphabetically. Oliver returned to dais.
Berryman spoke of the Assistance League of Georgetown and said it seems to meet the social service
guidelines. Motion by Brainard, second by Ross to recommend $3,600 for the Assistance League of
Georgetown. Approved 6-1 (Sattler opposed)
Motion by Ross, second by Brainard to recommend $4,000 for Bluebonnet Trails. Approved 7-0
Motion by Sansing, second by Oliver to recommend $9,000 for the Capital Area Rural Transportation System.
Approved 7-0
Motion by Ross, second by Sansing to recommend $15,000 for Faith in Action Caregivers. Approved 7-0
Motion by Brainard, second by Ross to approve $10,000 for Family Eldercare. Oliver said there are six people
receiving support from this program. He said this is an excessive amount to fund services for six individuals.
Brainard withdrew his motion. He said he has concerns about Family Eldercare and raised the question of
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funding from the County. Ross withdrew his second. Motion by Berryman to withhold funding for this
organization. Motion died for lack of second. Sansing asked and Mayor said the decisions made at this
meeting will be the final decisions made for funding these organizations. Mayor suggested that Council come
back to organizations that Council has questions about at the end of the process. Sattler said the reason he
voted against the Assistance League of Georgetown is because he feels they need more money. Oliver said
these actions are preliminary in nature and there will be a final motion at the end.
Motion by Berryman, second by Eason to recommend $55,000 for the Caring Place. Sansing said he will have
to support the funding they received last year instead of the current year's request. He said, if he votes to
increase funding, it will have to be with the youth organizations. He said there needs to be accountability for the
organizations that are funded by the City. Berryman said the Caring Place has had a tremendous increase in
people asking for funding and housing assistance. She said they are in a unique situation and asking for $5,000
more than last year is worth it. Approved 6-1 (Sansing opposed)
Motion by Brainard, second by Berryman to recommend $10,000 for the Georgetown Project. Berryman said
the extra amount they are asking for will go toward training day care workers as well as parents who have lost
their children. She said this organization has recently lost their funding from United Way. Approved 7-0
Motion by Brainard, second by Oliver to recommend $24,000 for Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County.
Substitute Motion by Sattler, second by Sansing to recommend $35,000 for Habitat. Ross asked and Sattler
said Habitat does a lot of good for the community. Sattler added they are expanding to 15 houses this year.
Sansing said, if this organization helps keep money in the community, the City should offer them in kind services
in addition to cash funding. Berryman said, when she took the tour of this facility, this money will be going
toward purchasing new land. She said this money will not be going toward basic human need and noted she is
not sure she wants to approve this for the purchase of land. Brainard said Habitat was recently awarded
$150,000 from a Williamson County Community Development Block Grant. Ross asked and Sattler said Round
Rock will be helping to fund this organization as well. Brainard said all or most of the money from Round Rock
is not coming from their general fund but from CDBG funds. Brainard made an amendment to the original
motion to fund the program $24,000 in cash as well as in kind City services not to exceed $11,000. Sattler
accepted this amendment. Ross said he does not see how the Council can vote for somethig like that. Oliver
agreed and said he is hesitant to vote on this as a mandate. He said he would be more comfortable with voting
for the $24,000 and then asking staff to research the possibility of providing the $11,000 worth of in kind
services. Ross said he would be in favor with what Oliver said. Ross made a second amendment to the
original motion to recommend $24,000 in cash funding including having staff investigate providing an
additional $11,000 worth of in kind services. Vote on the original motion as amended twice: Approved 6-1
(Eason opposed) Eason said this program is essential to families in the City. She said this has been a huge
benefit to lower income citizens. She said this organization works to revitalize neighborhoods in the community.
Ross said the Literacy Council has been grandfathered by the Council in the past because they do not meet the
current guidelines. Motion by Ross, second by Sansing to recommend $3,500 for the Literacy Council.
Approved 7-0
Motion by Ross, second by Berryman to recommend $100,000 for Lone Star Circle of Care. Approved 7-0
Motion by Ross, second by Berryman to recommend $12,000 for Stonehaven Senior Center. Ross noted this
organization is also grandfathered by the Council. Sansing said he is not sure if this organization would be
considered grandfathered by the Council, but he does agree this fits the definition of a social service
organization as created by Council in the past. Eason read the wording for the City's definition of qualified social
service funding organizations. Approved 74
Motion by Sansing, second by Berryman to recommend $45,000 for the Williamson County Crisis Center.
Brainard said, in his opinion, there is no better place to put this money. Amended Motion by Brainard, second
by Berryman to recommend $45,000 with an additional $5,000 as a challenge grant. Approved 7-0
Motion by Sansing, second by Berryman to recommend $6,000 for Willamson Burnet County Opportunities.
Approved 7-0
Eason said she does not believe For the Love of Christi meets the City's guidelines. She said they are solely
requesting funding for counseling services and noted the Council funds transportation, health, food, and
physical needs of citizens. Mayor and Oliver agreed with Eason. No motion was made. Berryman said the
Council is now up to $292,100 and noted that is almost right on the mark of what was funded last year. Ross
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asked and Rinn reviewed the current total as compared to last year's total.
Motion by Sansing, second by Eason to recommend $34,780 for the Boys and Girls Club. Sattler asked and
Berryman said the extra money requested is to open up a second facility as well as the expansion of services to
other areas in the community. Brainard asked and Berryman said she is not sure how much of this will be one
time money. Sansing noted the organization actually reduced the original requested amount because of a grant
they received last year. Alternate Motion by Brainard, second by Ross to fund $25,000 for the program.
Sansing said he feels the Council should fund the youth programs as much as possible. He said he thinks they
need it more than anybody else. Eason said one of the reasons they are needing this increase is because their
current program has been so successful. She said they have kids there all of the time and noted the program
keeps the children out of trouble and off of the streets. She noted they are an effective organization. Berryman
said this program is doing a remarkable job of teaching life skills to kids who are left alone. She said she thinks
what they are doing is important. Vote on alternate motion: Failed 3-4 (Sansing, Eason, Sattler, Berryman
opposed) Vote on original motion: Approved 5-2 (Brainard, Ross opposed)
Motion by Sansing, second by Eason to recommend $3,000 for the Cultural Citizen Memorial Association.
Approved 7-0
Brainard spoke about the Palace Theatre and said he spoke with the Chair of the Arts and Culture Board,
Charles Aguillon. Brainard said Aguillon mentioned the Board has money set aside and is interested in funding
the Palace's scholarship program. Motion by Brainard, second by Berryman to suggest the Palace Theatre
contact the Arts and Culture Board in order to seek funding for their program. Berryman said she finds this
exciting because that was the original intention of the Arts and Culture Board. Approved 7-0
Brainard spoke about Partners in Education and said he is not sure if the City taxpayers should have to pay for a
school district purpose. He added he is not sure if this meets the youth funding parameters. Garver said there
are probably several organizations that applied who could speak with the school district for more participation
and funding. Oliver said school districts depends on other organizations to help support special aid for students.
He said he recognizes Brainard's concern, but he does not think the Council should leave it all up to the school
district to help support this program. Sansing said he supports the organizatin but does not think the City should
use taxpayer money to support it. Ross said he is not sure this program qualifies for funding. Brainard said,
since this request was made, the program was approved for an additional $15,000 from the Georgetown Health
Foundation. Eason said, in the guidelines for these requests, the Council may consider providing funding to
programs for children and youth who have little or no access to City programs. She read the specific guidelines.
She said she is viewing this organization as a service that the City can not provide for its citizens otherwise. She
noted she sees this as an educational service and said access is not affected by City funding. Motion by Oliver
to approve the funding at $7,000. Motion died for lack of second.
Motion by Sansing, second by Ross to recommend $11,000 for the Getsemani Community Center. Approved
7-0
Motion by Sansing, second by Brainard to recommend the current year's funding of $10,000 for the Georgetown
Project. Approved 7-0
Sansing said he believes the Exceptional Georgetown Alliance meets the criteria. Motion by Sansing, second
by Oliver to recommend $10,000 for the Exceptional Georgetown Alliance. Brainard said this service is an
unmet need in this community. He said he will heartily support this $10,000. He said he would like for staff to
also look into the possibility of having the City's Parks and Recreation Department help parents of children who
are autistic or mildly mentally retarded. Vote on the motion: Approved 7-0
Motion by Oliver, second by Sansing to confirm the total allocated amount for both the Social Service and Youth
Funding. Amended Motion by Sattler, second by Berryman to increase the funding for Assistance League of
Georgetown by $1,400 to $5,000. Vote on Amendment: Approved 6-1 (Oliver opposed) There was much
discussion.
Mayor asked and Rinn said the total is at $293,500 compared to $291,250 in last year's budget, which is a
difference of $2,250. Eason asked and Mayor reviewed the approved amount for Habitat for Humanity. He said
the Council voted to fund $24,000 in cash as well as a request to look into providing $11,000 worth of in kind
services. Rinn said there is a separate utility fund set up for in kind needs and payments. Brainard asked and
Rinn said that fund is completely separate from what is being discussed at this meeting. Mayor asked and Rinn
said the total amount approved to be spent does not include the $11,000. Mayor said it would make sense to
add $11,000 to the total in excess of the current budgeted amount bringing the total excess to $13,250. Ross
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said he is okay with being over the budgeted amount as it stands right now.
Amended Motion by Eason, second by Ross to fund the extra $11,000 originally approved for in kind services
to Habitat for Humanity in cash. Approved 7-0
Sattler asked and Rinn recapped the recommended amounts for the two funds. She said $357,250 was the
original budgeted amount and she noted the total is now $373,280. Rinn went through all of the allocated
amounts. She said the total Social Services allocations is $304,500 and Youth Services allocations is $68,780.
Brainard asked and Oliver said the Council has exceeded the total budget amount by $15,380. Mayor suggested
Council concentrate on the total amount. Motion by Brainard, second by Sansing to approve the total allocated
amount at $373,280. Approved 7-0
C Adjourn
Meeting adjourned -- 5:18 pm
Ad'ournment
The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 PM.
N•
Mayor George Garver
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