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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 03.09.2009 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: Keith Brainard, Dale Ross, Gabe Sansing, Ben All Council Present Oliver, Pat Berryman, Bill Sattler, Patty Eason Staff Present: Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Patricia E. Carls, City Attorney; Jessica Hamilton, Assistant City Secretary; Micki Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration; Jim Briggs, Assitant City Manager for Utility Operations; Minutes Council recessed to Executive Session under Sec 551.074 Personnel Matters -- 4:14pm Council returned to Open Session -- 5:10pm A Presentation and discussion regarding the 2011 Redistricting Process -- Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager Brandenburg introduced David Mendez of law firm Bickerstaff, Heath, Delgado, Acosta which will be helping the City with the 2011 redistricting process. With a Powerpoint presentation, Mendez introduced himself and spoke briefly about the firm. He said the purpose of his presentation is to give Council a time frame for the redistricting process. He said the City's planning department is ahead of other cities in terms of redistricting. Eason asked how the City obtains the Census numbers and added she wants to make sure every person in Georgetown is accurately counted. Mendez said the major problem the Census Bureau has is that the geography in the year 2000 shows that a lot of Central Texas was vacant land. He said there have been extensive developments in those areas. He said it is critical for those new roads and homes to be accurately reflected on the map. He said it is important for a City to consistently update their mapping. He noted the City is taking this step through the planning department by submitting their annexations and updating their maps. Eason asked about the historically undercounted populations that live in housing complexes. Mendez explained the undercounted population is usually transient, minorities, and have lower income status. He said those people usually move from apartment to apartment, may be in jail, or may be living in a place that is not their home. He told Eason there are ways to coordinate with the Census Bureau to point out transient or undercounted populations. Eason said and Mendez agreed accurate counting depends on coordination between the City and the Census Bureau. Eason said her concern is that, even though some people are not citizens, the City has the responsibility to show that those people live in the community. Mendez reviewed the four redistricting obligations of the City including the one person -one vote requirement, requirements under Voting Rights Act of 1965, requirements under the fourteenth amendment of the United States constitution, and the requirements under Texas law. Mendez said, under State law, the local governments can not recognize the Census until after the State has received a report from the Federal Government. He said that is not likely to happen until Spring of 2011. Mendez referred Council to a timeline for the 2011 Redistricting process and subsequent General Election. He said the next step is the collect and City Council Meeting Minutes/March 9, 2009 Page 1 of 4 Pages develop the latest boundaries for the City of Georgetown. He noted the City's planning department is already taking those steps. Berryman asked and Mendez said the ETJ is not counted in the Census. He spoke about the steps which need to be taken in 2011. He said the Census data will not count until April 2011 and he noted he understands there will be a May General Election. There was much discussion. Berryman asked and Mendez affirmed, during the public hearing process, outside groups can come in with other plans. Mendez noted it is important for the City to draw up a rigid set of criteria for those plans to follow. He said this process is different from the 2000 Census. He noted, during the last Census, the City Council approached this process with a citizen's committee which met over a dozen times. Mendez said it is the Council's responsibility to adopt a plan. He spoke about what happens after the City adopts a plan. He noted the City has to set its Districts and needs to be ready to call its May Election. Sattler asked what would happen to the Councilmembers once redistricting occurs and a district gets split into two or three districts. Mendez said the Councilmembers would just serve out their term. He explained that process. Berryman asked and Mendez said the Councilmembers terms are staggered and will continue to be staggered throughout the redistricting process. Berryman asked and Mendez said each District must contain 1/7 of the population. He added, normally, the City wants to try and keep the incumbents in their current District. Oliver said and Mendez agreed, if the district is moves away from where a Councilmember is living, that member will still represent the district until the end of his or her term. Sattler asked and Mendez said the districts are divided according to people and not solely on voters. There were many questions. Sansing asked if it is possible to combine two minority groups into one District. Mendez said it is important to find out where the minority groups are and see if there is a sufficient amount of that population to actually draw districts around them. Sansing asked and Mendez reviewed the standard for creating a minority district. Mendez noted a District could be challenged in court. Mendez summarized the redistricting process. B Transportation Project Presentation and Update for GTAB nad GTEC Projects: 2008 Street Rehabilitation Project, Rock Street Extension, College Street Bridge, Wlliams Drive Widening, Maple Street Realignment, Maple Street Drainage, Oak Tree Drive Bridge, Lakeway Drive Overpass, Southeast Arterial 1, Wolf Ranch Parkway Extension (TIP #14A), Southwest Boulevard (TIP #14B), GTEC Project Update & Status Report -- Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations With a Powerpoint Presentation, Benz gave Council a brief update on the City's current transportation projects. He spoke about the road impact fee and said a road impact fee committee will be formed. He listed the bond program projects that were passed. He said GTAB reviewed the funding of these projects and noted Rundell will bring the funding details back to Council. Sattler asked about the DB Wood expansion and whether it will be done at the same time as the expansion of Williams Drive. Benz said the goal of the City is to have these projects done simultaneously. Sattler asked and Rundell said this project can not be done without selling bonds. Benz gave a short summary of the current GTAB projects including the 2008 Street Rehabilition Project, Southeast Arterial 1, Rock Street Extension, College Street Bridge, Williams Drive widening, Maple Street from 29th to 7th Street, Maple Street Drainage, and Oak Tree Drive Bridge. He spoke about the GTEC projects including the Lakeway Drive Overpass, Southeast Arterial 1, Wolf Ranch Parkway Extension, Southwest Bypass, and Northwest Boulevard Overpass. Sattler asked and Benz explained the funding for the Northwest Boulevard project. C Overview of Recent Annexations, Annexation Policy and Annexation Infrastructure Requirements -- Edward Polasek, AICP, Principal Planner and Elizabeth Cook, Acting Director of Community Development Polasek said this is a Council requested Workshop discussion. He said the Texas Legislature is in session and all laws given to Council can change at any moment. He noted the City has gone through the annexation process three times in 2005, 2006, and 2008. He listed the recent annexations in Georgetown and mentioned the involuntary annexation process. He said the City is allowed to annex up to 9600 acres in a year. He reviewed the 2005 annexation process and said 10 total areas were annexed. He spoke about some of the developments occurring within the 2005 annexed areas. He listed the 2006 annexations. He said there were 53 possible annexation areas and noted 20 total areas were annexed with a general capital cost estimate of around $5.6 million. He spoke about the annexation of 17 areas in 2008. He said the total area annexed was around 811 acres. Benz gave Council a Water and Wastewater summary, which he noted is the greatest cost to the City. He gave Council an update on costs for the 2005 annexations. He said the City was able to take advantage of development in that area. He reviewed the road conditions scores in 2005, 2006, and 2008. He noted the City expects to spend $193,000 on the 2005 annexation roads, mostly for preventative maintenance. He spoke about the cost to serve water in the areas included in this annexation process. He gave Counci the updated costs on the 2006 annexation including program management, preliminary engineering costs, estimated water and wastewater. He said the expected maintenance costs over the next 5 years is $20,000. He said the pavement City Council Meeting Minutes/March 9, 2009 Page 2 of 4 Pages score for 2006 annexation was 89.1 which is a little below the citywide average. He noted the City has not started any utility work on the areas annexed in 2008. Brainard asked and Benz noted all of the land that was just annexed will be included in the redistricting. D Presentation and possible direction to staff regarding acquiring and implementing a new Customer Information System (CIS) and Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) to replace the current systems, which are outdated and unreliable -- Micki Rundell, Director Finance & Administration and Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations Rundell said this same presentation went to the GUS Board and staff received positive results. With a Powerpoint presentation, Rundell spoke about the Automated Meter Reading (AMR) System. She said the current AMR system was purchase in 1995 and was operational in 1998. She said at the time, all of the costs associated with the program were debt funded. She said the AMR system can not be expanded because tthe technology is obsolete. Se noted 50% of the City's meters are at the end of their life cycle. She spoke about the Customer Information System (CIS) and noted the City uses INCODE Billing System which has been in place since 1994 when there was less than 10,000 customers. She said there have been many updates and upgrades and the current system is Cobalt based, which means it can not talk to the newer systems. She said the current customer count is over 24,000. She noted the City has outgrown the current system and listed other problems that have been occurring with this system. She showed a graph of the current utility customer growth. She said, with CIS, there is a large growing customer demand. She said customers a demanding more "real time" information on their usage and data. She said the current system interfaces to the accounting/financial modules, utility billing, building inspections, permiting, and municipal court. She spoke about the additional modules needed including a work order system and an asset management system. Briggs spoke about how the City has developed a plan for this program and process. He said the City began with the process of defining a timeline and the first step is the CIS replacement. He noted all things hinge on the CIS replacement. He gave the Council a proposed plan. He said Step 1 is to migrate to second generation CIS which has an estimated cost of $1.2 million. He said step 2 is to migrate to second generation AMI at a cost of up to $10 million. He said this is 40,000 meters at up to $200 a piece. He said funding for step 2 will be phased over 3 years. Briggs provided Council with a project timeline. He said the City has started the RFP process for a project coordinator and quite a few applications have been received. He said the procurement of CIS will be the first quarter of 2010, and procurement of AMI will be the second quarter of 2010 and will run paralell with CIS acquisition. He noted target completion is around the first quarter of 2010. He said, both CIS and AMR must be replaced and added it will not carry the City into the future. He said the demand for services has increased and customers want more information to become stewards of their own use. He said regulatory demands are increasing and spoke about the variations in rates. Briggs mentioned ways the City can lower costs. He said the project was recommended by GUS in January of 2009. He reviewed the next steps which are to approve a project manager and begin the selection process funded through bonds between electric and water. Sattler asked and Briggs said staff can find out the cost increase of this project to the consumer. Rundell said this information will be determined at a later date. E Overview of the City's current outstanding and proposed debt obligations -- Micki Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration With a Powerpoint Presentation, Rundell gave the Council a Debt Overview. She spoke about the current amount of GO/CO debt outstanding as of September 30, 2008. She said $54,293,528 is tax supported and $20,661,472 is self supporting. She explained the difference between these two types of debt. Rundell showed Council a graph of the City's outstanding debt. She said the City's general debt capacity continues to be very low. Brainard said and Rundell agreed the total amount of debt allowed by law is not a realistic figure to consider. Rundell showed Council a graph showing tax supported and self supported debt outstanding. She said it has increased significantly on the tax supported side. She spoke about the current capital lease for the voice over IP system. She reviewed the revenue bonds and listed the outstanding balances for the electric and water/wastewater bonds. She spoke about utility revenue bond coverage and said it continues to be very healthy. She showed Council a chart demonstrating the increase in revenue debt. She spoke about the current City debt conditions and said the City has a good bond rating. She said the City is only one of two in the State who has a AA- rating. She showed Council the population growth of the City. She spoke about the total tax -guaranteed debt per capita. She noted the self-supporting debt numbers are much less. She added the City's assessed valuation continues to grow. She described the total tax supported debt compared to general sales tax revenue growth. She noted the City's net of related debt continues to increase. She added the water and electric service assets are very healthy against the water and electric service debts. She spoke about the upcoming debt issues. She noted the total net proceeds are estimated at $14,630,000. She said the City is estimating $8.1 million of revenue bonds for 2008. Sattler asked and Rundell said there will not be a rate increase for the upcoming bonds. She described the next steps in the debt issuance process. City Council Meeting Minutes/March 9, 2009 Page 3 of 4 Pages Council recessed into Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.072, 551.074 --- 6:38pm Council returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 7:05pm The meeting was adjourned at 07:05 PM. Gefge Garver ON Secretk-A essica Hamilton City Council Meeting Minutes/March 9, 2009 Page 4 of 4 Pages