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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 01.12.2009 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: Patty Eason, Gabe Sansing, Keith Brainard, Dale Bill Sattler, Pat Berryman Ross, Ben Oliver Staff Present, Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Patricia E. Carls, City Attorney; Jessica Hamilton, Assistant City Secretary; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations; Micki Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration; Elizabeth Cook, Director of Planning and Development; Marsha Iwers, Purchasing Manager; Edward G Polasek, Principal Planner; Tom Benz, Systems Engineer; Leticia Zavala, Controller; Jordan Maddox, Planner 111; Mark Thomas, Director of Economic Development; Mark Miller, Transportation Services Director 2M 11111111111111 Ir 1 111111 11111� A Workshop Presentation on Comprehensive Planning and Local Government Decision Making -- Elizabeth Cook, Director of Planning and Development and Edward G. Polasek, AICP, Principal Planner With a PowerPoint presentation, Polasek reviewed Comprehensive Planning and how the City uses it for local government decision making. He defined planning for a local government as a reference point for policy making. He added the goal should never be planning but decision making. He noted the City avoids "analysis paralysis" because of the budget and timelines. He said a long term comprehensive plan gives communities a better edge at maintaining what they value. He explained the benefits of planning to the community as well as the hidden costs of failing to plan. Polasek said a Comprehensive Plan is a set of policy and analytic documents and maps for the guidance of land use and development, sometimes called a general plan or a master plan. He said a real Comprehensive Plan covers all elements of fiscal development of the area. He noted a Comprehensive Plan defines how a City would like to grow according to vision statements and goals. He said a Comprehensive Plan is a long range plan covering 20 to 30 years and it is used as a guideline for making decisions. He spoke more about comprehensive planning and how it is defined today. Polasek reviewed strategic plans, action plans, special area, and limited area plans. Polasek said the City Charter requires the City of Georgetown to have a Comprehensive Plan along with certain required elements. He said the City tries to achieve those elements each year during the budgeting process. He listed the next steps for the City and the planning process including the annual update process, a summary of current and future elements presented to Council, and the 2010 Census. He said the local Census office has asked that the City form a Complete Count Committee to help implement a 2010 Census Awareness Campaign. Mayor said the Census Bureau's Regional Office for this area is in Georgetown and there will be an open house sometime in the future. B Workshop Presentation on City of Georgetown Purchasing Policies -- Marsha Iwers, Purchasing Manager and Micki Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration With a Powerpoint Presentation, Iwers reviewed the purchasing procedures for the City of Georgetown. She reviewed State laws and the City's purchasing and change order policies. She said the goals of the purchasing City Council Meeting Minutes/January 12, 2009 Page 1 of 4 Pages department is to comply with state and federal laws as well as City Ordinances. She said the department is there to procure the highest quality material and services at the best value for the citizens. She said they are part of the finance and administration division and she listed staff in the department. She said the City has two warehouses: electric and main, which consists of over 2,000 items that are worth over $2.2 million dollars. Sansing asked and Iwers said the City is no longer storing any items for the school system. She said State purchasing law states that anything worth $50,000 or more needs to be formally bid. She said City purchasing policy follows all State laws for procurement. She said the City is actually more restrictive than state law, requiring that professional service contracts $15,000 or more come to Council for approval as well as any other purchases over $25,000. She spoke about the different price levels that need to be approved by Council, Department Heads, Division Director and the City Manager. She said the City has a contract manager who helps the departments draft their contracts and she identifies the contracts and keeps a log of them. Iwers listed the many duties of the contract manager. She reviewed the procedures for both informal and formal bids. She spoke about items that are exempt from competitive bidding. She said the City has a local vendor preference. Iwers reviewed the City's Change Order Policies and Procedures. She spoke about what occurs prior to commencement of a change order. She said project close-outs are included with the Quarterly Financial Report. She added this informs Council of the total project costs and not just the budget projections. Brainard said he thinks the people who are buying things should be organizationally separate from the people who are paying for them. Rundell said the finance and purchasing departments are organizationally separate within the finance division and they do not share any of the same duties. Rundell said the City has internal control documentation and processes. She noted all of this is reviewed by the auditors. She said they are a part of finance because they relate so closely to the budget. She said there is an audit trail that is reviewed to make sure only the correct people can get into the system. Sansing asked and Brandenburg said a door has always been open to the school system in order to enter into an agreement with them to store school district items in the City's warehouse. He added there has been lack of interest in this offer as of late. C Discussion and possible direction concerning an Interlocal Agreement with Williamson County for the Expansion of Williams Drive from DB Wood Drive to FM 3405 and for the maintenance of Williams Drive from the west ROW line of IH -35 Southbound Frontage Road to FM 3405 -- Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations and Micki Rundell, Director of Finance and Administration Briggs spoke about the agreement and said most of the elements have been completed. He said many favorable bids were received and the total projects costs are about $17 million and added the City's portion is about 65%. He said the successful contractor, JC Evans, will be working on the project. He said some of the key points of the agreement include a project committee that will review matters such as redesigns, bid tabulations, construction status of the projects, review change order requests, and recommend approval of invoices. He added the City transferred the Advance Funding Agreement to the County. He said this agreement included $8.8 million worth of funding from TXDOT and noted the project was originally estimated at as much as $22 million. He reviewed other key points of the contract with the County. He noted the largest issue to cover is how the City will complete its reimbursements to the County. He said the previous payment schedule was approved in April 2008 and there has been discussion about being able to pay back the County sooner than originally planned. He noted Rundell and Covey have discussed a proposed new payout plan. Rundell said the project, from the City's perspective, was supposed to cost a little over $8 million. She spoke about the City's original payment plan. She said she spoke to Commissioner Covey and noted there has been some concern in accelerating the pay out from 5 years to 3 years. She said this would impact the tax rate in the 2011-2012 budget by 0.0005. She noted the full cost of this project would not be seen until 2014-2015. She said the 4 year repayment is what has currently been approved, but the 3 year payout has been requested from the County. She noted the 3 year payout can be done with minimal fiscal impact. Sansing asked and Rundell said GTEC will be paid back from excess funds in the General Fund. Rundell noted the City can not issue additional bonds, but this will be treated as an operating expense in the General Fund. Sansing said he is concerned with how this is going to affect the taxpayer. Rundell noted the GTEC portion of the funding will be around $800,000 depending on the timing and structure of the project, and it will be paid back in cash increments. Oliver asked and Rundell confirmed the 0.0005 is the impact that would occur if the City agrees to move to a 3 year instead of a 4 year payout. Rundell said, regardless of the 4 year or 3 year payout, the City is required to pay back GTEC. She noted the difference in the tax impact will be minimal for the 3 year plan or the 4 year plan. Sansing said he thinks the City should stick with the 4 year plan and not take the risk. Ross asked and Rundell said moving to the 3 year agreement instead of 4 does not benefit the City and this is just a request that has been brought to the City by the County. Mayor said, if the County completes the project in 3 years, is it logical for them to ask if the City could finish paying them by that time. Ross asked and Mayor said the County has requested that agreement be moved from 4 years to 3 years because there were many City Council Meeting Minutes/January 12, 2009 Page 2 of 4 Pages competitive bids and the money is also needed in order to follow through with other projects on a timely basis. Sansing said, if the City was financing this on its own, it would treat the project as an asset that would be used for 20 years and the City would not finance it in three. He also mentioned the Council voted on the 4 year term last April. Speaker, Commissioner Valerie Covey, thanked Council and said this project is her top priority. She said, originally, the County thought the City's portion would be over $8 million. She said the City agreed with the County to wait until the bids came in to set up a timeline and now the City's portion is a little over $5 million. She said the project will be completed sometime in 2010. She added the third payment would not be due to the County until October of 2011, which is a year to a year and a half after the project is completed. She said she spoke to Rundell, and Rundell said it would be possible to split the second and third payment years evenly to $1.8 million instead of $1.5 million. Covey said that Rundell noted this would be easier on the City in regard to cash flow. Covey said her goal is to get paid back as quickly as possible because they do not bank roll other entities. She noted the County has moved money away from other projects in order to get started on this one. She said she would like to get paid back as soon as possible and be able to put money into other projects in the area. She spoke about other road issues in the Georgetown area. She reviewed the current issues going on with Williams Drive. She said, once construction starts, the traffic will be very bad but, after everything is finish, it will be much better. Sansing said, just because prices have come down, it doesn't mean Georgetown has to shorten its payback. He noted Georgetown should be able to enjoy the benefit of the pricing going down as well. Rundell said it would be possible to take the full amount and divide it over three years. Sansing asked and Rundell reminded him that GTEC only funds debt service. Brainard asked and Covey said the request is to either move the 4th year payment to the 3rd year or split that amount between the 2nd and 3rd year. Ross asked and Covey said it is easier to convince the other Commissioners of this agreement when she comes to them with a quicker payment plan. Brainard said this is a relatively small amount in question and the County and Commissioner Covey have been making great efforts to fix roads in the area. He added the City should agree with the change to the agreement. There was much discussion. Motion by Oliver, second by Sansing to direct Rundell and staff to research the options and come back to Council with the feasability of funding choices as well as the City -level commitment for this project in order to move the payout to the 3 year plan instead of the current 4 year plan. Sansing said he is concerned with how this affects the tax rate in year three. Brainard said he feels it is important to pay with cash as much as possible. Rundell spoke about excess funds they could be used to pay for this project. Vote on the motion: 5-0 (Berryman, Sattler absent) Carls said Charlie Crossfield has one addition to the Interlocal Agreement and it will be handed to Council at the meeting tomorrow night. She noted the addition will address the logistics of getting the money from TXDOT to the City and then to the County. Meeting Recessed to Closed Session -- 5:30pm Executive Session In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, the items listed below will be discussed in closed session and are subject to action in the regular session that follows. Sec.551.071: Consultation with Attorney 1. Advice from attorney about pending or contemplated litigation and other matters on which the attorney has a duty to advise the City Council, including this week's agenda items 2. Mark Shelton v. City of Georgetown, et al; Cause No. A07CA063; in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division 3. Lear v. Jimmy Lewis Fennell and City of Georgetown, Cause No. A08-CA-719LY, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Austin Division 4. First Citizens Bank & Trust Company v. City of Georgetown, Cause No. D -1 -GN -08-02325, 53rd Judicial District, Travis County, Texas 5. Discussion of legal issues related to payment obligations for the Public Utility Improvements under the "Development Agreement with Forestville Associates, a Maryland General Partnership, regarding development of Wolf Ranch" dated September 11, 2003 6. Berry Creek Partners v. City of Georgetown , Cause No. 08-767-C277, in the District Court of Williamson County, 277th Judicial District Sec 551.072: Deliberation about Real Property 1. Consideration and possible action concerning the acquisition of a 1.372 -acre tract, a 1.396 -acre tract, a 0.251 -acre tract and a 0.448 -acre tract of land for a 30' permanent wastewater utility easement and a 50' temporary construction easement adjacent thereto, from Southwestern University in connection with the SG3-A Wastewater Line Project -- Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations, and Terri Glasby Calhoun, GUS Sec.551.074 Personnel Matters 1. Discussion and possible action related to the duties and performance criteria of the City Manager City Council Meeting Minutes/January 12, 2009 Page 3 of 4 Pages Sec. 551.087: Deliberation Regarding Economic Development Negotiations - Discussions or deliberations regarding commercial or financial information that the governmental body has received from a business prospect that the City Council seeks to have locate, stay or expand in or near the territory of the City and with which the City Council is conducting economic development negotiations; or to deliberate the offer of a financial or other incentive to a business prospect that the City Council seeks to have locate, stay or expand in or near the territory of the City and with which the City Council is conducting economic development negotiations - Possible biotech project - old Fire Station Number ire Mayor Garver Meeting Returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:25pm The meeting was adjourned at 06:25 PM. City Council Meeting Minutes/January 12, 2009 Page 4 of 4 Pages