HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 04.09.2013 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, Danny Meigs, Bill Sattler, Tommy All Council Present.
Gonzalez, Rachael Jonrowe, Troy Hellmann, Jerry
Hammerlun
Staff Present:
Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City
Secretary; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Jim Briggs, General Manager of Utilities; Laurie Brewer,'
Assistant City Manager;
Minutes
A "City of Excellence" Business Plans, integration of the 2012 Citizen Survey into the process, and strategic goals
planning for the 2014 Annual Budget -- Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial
Officer
Gonzalez absent.
Mayor provided a brief overview of this item. With a Powerpoint Presentation, Briggs said this will be a
continuance of the discussions regarding the "City of Excellence." He said staff will cover about ten areas of
strategic goals and business plans. He said all of these are included in the booklet provided to the Council. He
said an addendum to the workbook is the citizen survey.
Rundell said this vision started over a year ago and goes back to a request made to staff to develop a five year
model. She said they worked through the City of Excellence last year at the two visioning sessions held with
Council. She said she included a copy of the rating agency presentation to Council as well. She said the
definition of City of Excellence as determined by the Council is "one that maximizes the citizens' quality of life."
She reviewed the results of the Citizen Survey. She spoke about what people like most about Georgetown She
described some of the community assets, including good caring people, natural beauty and location. She
noted, when you look at the quality of life questions, the survey showed 98% of residents think it is excellent.
She described some potential impacts of quality of life . She spoke about what the community felt were the top
issues facing Georgetown. She said staff is addressing issues to include sustaining unique community
character, focusing efforts on specific areas and planning for the future. She spoke about "what if in five years
all of these have been completed?" She said, in order to do this, substantial tax rate increases would be
necessary. She said the City of Excellence Focus Areas is to develop a fiscally responsible plan with policies to
support the Focus Ares while alleviating and reducing future tax impacts. She spoke about the goals and vision
under the Economic Development Department. She described the goals under the signature destination
heading. She spoke about the positive reaction received regarding the city's community events via the citizens
surrey. She spoke about public safety and how the public feels safe in Georgetown. She spoke briefly of the
quality of the local streets and added only 12% of the City responders said that the streets do not meet their
expectations. Rundell said Council needs to consider revising the annexation policy and continue to improve the
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development process. She said the City needs to make sure to insure cost recovery for services. She said the
City also needs to make sure to improve customer service throughout the City of Georgetown. She added the
goal is to continue to provide quality service and value to the residents of Georgetown. She said the importance
of this is illustrated in the survey.
With a Powerpoint Presentation, Chris Foster provided Council with the city's economic forecast and the
property tax projections. He showed Council many graphs demonstrating the economy of Georgetown into the
future. He spoke about the recent population growth in the area. He described the sales tax numbers in the City
and how the Wolf Ranch Center has been keeping up with the sales tax growth in Georgetown. He showed
Council a table of the economic segment in Georgetown and noted general merchandise is the top segment.
He said the concern in the drop in the construction segment. He provided Council with the national outlook of
the economy as well.
Thomas spoke about the Council vision and business plan for Economic Development. He said the first
objective is to grow the City's tax base. He said the other value is quality over pure quantity. He said it is
important to recognize the value of owning and operating city utilities as a business through long-range planning
and competent effective operations. He spoke about why the CityGroup development is a "win" for Georgetown.
He said the way you do economic development is the recruitment of new businesses, the retention of existing
businesses, redevelopment of vacant and blighted areas, creating and retaining jobs, increase property taxes,
increase sales tax, encourage capital investment, expands economic options for retail and commercial uses and
produce goods and services for local consumption or exportation. He listed some of the targeted economic
sectors in the community, including data centers/high tech, corporate headquarters, medical care and services
as well as Biosciences. He spoke about the fruits of the City's labor in the downtown area and how vibrant it has
become. He spoke about how his department is responding to the council direction that came out of the
visioning session meetings.
Brewer spoke about the downtown and community services department and how it is related to creating and
nurturing the image of the City of Excellence. She said there are up to six City Boards that work on the concept
of "signature destination" and she listed those Boards for the City Council. She defined "signature destination"
for the Council and added she said they want to make sure they are creating an authentic experience in
Georgetown. She said the signature areas include the downtown square, arts and culture and the natural
community. She said they are continuing to promote "the most beautiful town square in Texas." She spoke
about the Convention and Visitors Bureau's plan and how they are working toward the City of Excellence. She
spoke about arts, entertainment, food and wine in the community. She said they are also including more
projects regarding accessibility and walkability of the downtown area. She said they are going to continue to
expand the current programs as well as perform a survey of the City's visitors. She spoke about how they are
expanding the use of public art as well as the development of an amphitheater in the downtown area. She said
staff is working toward obtaining a "cultural district" designation. She spoke about main street board and their
strategic plan. She spoke about parks and some of their goals, including marketing and promoting sports
activities, enhancing Blue Hole Park's connectivity to increase usability. She said they will be working to develop
a master plan for the West Side Park as well as Garey Park. She said they will also be developing a plan for the
area of San Gabriel Park affected by roadway alignments. She spoke about the possible creating of a
"Downtown Development Board" as well as an incentive program for downtown businesses. She finished the
discussion and said they think the City needs an area for musical events. There was much discussion regarding
how the City staff and Board will work toward making Georgetown a "Signature Destination"
Tchida spoke about the public safety department and how it will be working toward becoming a City of
Excellence. He spoke about how positive the citizen survey was relating to safety in the community. He said he
is competitive and he said he thinks there are 4% of people in the community they need to reach out to. He said
the is not satisfied with being third in the state. He briefly described the Police Department "strategic plan." He
said one of the goal of the police are to enhance public safety, reduce crime, reduce and abate fear of crime,
improve traffic safety and enhance crime prevention and public education. He spoke about trying to reduce the
burglary of vehicles in the community. He spoke about organizational development in the police department and
how they are working to improve those. He said they are working to enhance training within the department,
recruiting and retaining the very best and developing and implementing training in three critical areas:
knowledge, interpersonal skills and weapons and tactics. He spoke about resource management and how they
want to strengthen accountability for crime rate, performance, conduct and resources. He said they are currently
doing the lateral entry program and are in the process of hiring a crime analyst. He thanked Council for the
public safety compensation plan that was approved last year and described how it has helped and improved
staffing in the department. He spoke about the police website and how it is coming soon and will be very
dynamic. He spoke about how the police department has taken over code enforcement over the past couple of
years. He spoke about why it is a good fit. He described how they are working with code enforcement to be
more proactive in the handling of code issues. There was much discussion.
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Sullivan spoke about the goals and priorities of the Fire Department. He said, according to the survey, safety is
a big issue for constituents. He spoke about safety and trust between the department and both the internal and
external partners. He said he likes to work backwards to develop a vision. He spoke about the changing
healthcare environment and how it will effect the department. He said one goal of the fire department is to
review and develop an effective Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Program. He said they are working to
resolve the Williamson County Emergency Service District (ESD) #8 contract renewal as well. He spoke about
how they will continue to provide premier training as well as all hazard training and proactive community
education. He said they are moving toward continuing to provide competitive pay. He said they talk about
establishing a benchmark/peer group to minimize attrition as well as reduce compression between ranks and
evaluate competitiveness on a routine basis. He spoke about their caring hearts program. He spoke about their
equipment and facilities and noted Station 5 is a beautiful facility. He said the Station 2 remodel is another
success. He said they are also trying to look into building efficiencies within the current system. He noted they
are about to do a Fire Department study and audit.
Polasek spoke about the transportation department goals under the City of Excellence plan. He said they have
four topic areas, including completing the loop, street maintenance, airport maintenance, complete FM 1460 to
Round Rock, prepare for the Northwest Boulevard Bridge and work with Williamson County to develop a bond
list. He spoke about the bond program for transportation and said it is not a laundry list of bid project. He said
they are small projects that can be on the ground fast in order to build confidence for voters for future larger
projects. He spoke about the plan for citywide sidewalk improvements. He said moving to a fixed route transit
plan will only happen if federal funds are available. He briefly touched on the city's current pavement condition
index and how it is slipping due to the annexation of new roads. He spoke about their goals for the airport into
the future.
Briggs spoke about Georgetown Utility Systems City of Excellence plan and the business process model. He
said their goal is to ensure cost effective and reliable utility services throughout the community. He spoke about
expansion opportunities and said they are in the process of a merger with Chisholm Trail Special Utility District.
He described long term utility planning, including expanding conservation efforts. He said they are recognizing
the value of owning and operating the utility. He said the business process model they have created includes
many departments and divisions. He spoke about how the utility interacts and relies on other departments. He
showed Council a map of the development pipeline, present and future development, and how the merger with
Chisholm Trail relates to this. He said staff will be updating this on a quality basis and will be using it as a
strategic planning tool. He said they are working to manage and expand their customer care, enhance the
customer service experience and implement asset management software. He spoke about the merger with
CTSUD and how new policies will have to be developed if that goes through. He spoke about obtaining
contracts for future power supply to prepare for the future. He said they will revisit rates and cost of service
through this year's budget. He described the utility's conservation efforts for the City Council. He said there will
be some wastewater plant improvements and wastewater expansion due to growth in the community.
Rundell concluded and said staff will enhance some of the tools to make a lot of what is seen today more
palatable and affordable going forward. She said the last thing she wanted to talk about is the list of things the
City will work on in the coming year. She said most of the items have been discussed in this meeting. She listed
the target areas for each of the departments. There was much discussion. Eason asked and Brewer said she
met with the chiefs to speak about the bed and breakfast issue and vacation homes in Georgetown. She spoke
about the possibility of a boutique hotel in the downtown area. Eason spoke about the poor lighting downtown
and how that is in issue in terms of people feeling safe downtown and giving the appearance of businesses
being shut down. Brewer said that is something that is encouraged in the downtown master plan. She said the
best way to encourage this is to encourage businesses to stay open during late hours. She spoke about how the
planter boxes have lights on the west side of the square. She spoke about business owners and how staff is
encouraging this to put awnings and lights. Eason spoke about educating the public on safety issues and
thinking of some way to have help to people who can not do what they need to do to secure their homes relating
to fire. Sullivan said there are similar programs available to active adults. He said many of the smoke detectors
put in homes have a shelf life of about ten years, so they are looking into partnerships in replacing those. Eason
thanked all of the staff and said this has been a fantastic presentation. She said it was helpful for her to see it
ahead of planning for the budget. Hellmann echoed Eason's statements and said thanks. Meigs said he
appreciates this and said it is a valuable exercise. He said he had a couple of quick questions and asked how
often the sales tax is measured in the downtown area. Foster said the downtown sales tax data can be updated
each month. Meigs asked and Brewer said there are six different boards that work on revitalizing downtown.
Meigs said having a downtown development board would be a great idea. Sattler said one thing that really stuck
with him was the economic development issues and noted that is a very important way for the City to grow. He
also spoke about the importance of specialized training for EMTs and the emergency responders. Hammerlun
said he is overwhelmed by the level of leadership the City has in its hands. He said he would ask that the
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annexation policy comes back for further discussion. Hammerlun asked and Thomas spoke of the importance of
the economic development department working together with the other city departments. Hammerlun asked
Brewer if tit would be good to have Council members on some of the boards governing downtown. Brewer said
what may be more efficient use of time would be to have representatives from each group on the downtown
development corporation and then ask a Council member to sit on that board as well. She said, however, having
a Council member on the parks board would be helpful. Jonrowe said she thinks the Council and staff has
developed a wonderful model. She said she likes to hear about how the police department is trying to engage
the school district. She spoke to Sullivan and said she is glad that are working on recruitment within the
community. She said there is a wonderful opportunity there. She said Briggs has a forward thinking visions and
him and Rundell make a good team. She complimented Thomas and how it is good he stresses quality over
quantity. She asked about the process for the master plan for sidewalks. Polasek said we have a draft plan and
they have identified gaps. He noted prioritizing the projects will be the largest issue. Jonrowe said she wants to
make sure citizens have the opportunity to make their case to staff regarding their ideas for sidewalk
improvements. Rundell summarized the discussion and said the next step is to move forward with the budget.
B Publiic Safety Operations and Training Complex Update -- Cory Tchida, Assistant Chief of Police
With a Powerpoint Presentation, Seery introduced himself and said he is capital projects coordinator for the
City. He introduced Ian Reeves who summarized the update on the public safety facility.
Gonzalez arrived at the dais.
Reeves said the City is currently on schedule and noted they have saved a lot of money and it has come at no
costs. He provided Council a listing and summary of the design status update. He said they are going to walk
through every sheet of the drawing package and make sure that every decision is right on target for the project.
He said that will help them nail down the pricing for the GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price). He said they would
like to get the documents ready, prepared and on the street by May 22, 2013. He said they have a variance for
parking conditions scheduled for April 16 and they believe that should pass. He said they are scheduled to
submit for permit on May 23. He said they are anticipating the GMP issuances on June 25. He said they hope
to start construction on July 15 and complete the construction by September 5, 2014. He said the goal is to
have building commissioning completed by November 5, 2014. He said Barlett Cocke would like to host a local
subcontractor outreach program. He said this would maximize local subcontractor participation in this project.
He said they will conduct a workshop for interested bidders to outline the project scope. He spoke about the
development cost summary and said the authorized development budget (bond funding) is $29,286,472 and the
subtotal is $25,345,298 with a running balance of $3,941,174. He continued to run through the cost of the
project. He spoke about the extra cost of the City-wide data center and how the cost of that is $800,000. He said
they were not aware of this cost coming out of their budget. He said, now, the running balance is at $-359,000.
He said they have accrued over $500,000 worth of value management savings. He continued to describe how
they will make up that deficit by finding additional savings. He showed Council a map of the updated site
development concept. He walked Council through some of the renderings that were developed.
Eason thanked him for the great presentation. Hellmann asked and Reeves said these are all solid numbers.
Meigs thanked him for keeping it on budget. Jonrowe spoke about the natural lighting in the building and how it
will reach the lower level. Gonzalez said he encouraged them to keep looking for the cost savings. Reeves said
there is potentially $450,000 in savings they are currently looking at. Mayor asked and Reeves briefly described
what a data center means in this context.
C Police Department Crime Reports -- Cory Tchida, Assistant Chief of Police
With a Powerpoint presentation, Tchida provided Council with an introduction to the new Police Department
online crime reports system. He said the purpose of crime reports is to raise community awareness,
confidence, and participation. He said it empowers the public through real time reporting and crime maps. He
said it improves workflow by giving the public and the media immediate access to crime related data throughout
the community. He spoke about the City Connect cell phone app. He said this gives people anonymity in order
to post crime tips that they would otherwise not report. He spoke about crimereports.com and the kind of data
citizens can see. He showed Council a snapshot of the crime in the downtown area and how the program looks.
He spoke about the crime analysis portion of the program, which is the portion he will be using as a police
officer. He showed Council the part of the application called trendcaster and how it is a summary of the traffic
accidents in the City over the past year. He spoke about how the department will be promoting this new
program.
Council recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.072 and 551.074 of the Local
Governement Code -- 4:49PM
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Approved
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Council returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:20PM
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 06:20 PK
t:
ity Secretary VJessica Bretttle