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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 01.14.2014 CC-WNotice of Meetingf the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas Tuesday, January 1 , l)1 The Georgetown City Council will meet on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at 3:30 PM at the Council Chambers, at 1.01 E. 7t1' St., Georgetown, Texas The city of Georgetown is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you require assistance in participating at a public meeting due to a disability, as defined under the ADA, reasonable assistance, adaptations, or accommodations will be provided upon request. Please contact the City Secretary's Office, at least four (4) days prior to the scheduled meeting date, at (512) 930-3652 or City Hall at 11.3 East 8th Street for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. Policy Development/Review Workshop — Call to order at 3:30 PM A Presentation and discussion regarding Brazos River Authority's (BRAs) strategic water supply planning, resource management and regionalization services -- Glenn Dishong, Utility Director Mayor called the meeting to order at 3:32PM. All members of the City Council were present. He introduced the members of the Brazos Rivery Authority (BRA) to the Council. Dishong introduced the item and spoke about why they are bringing this presentation forward for discussion. Briggs introduced Phil Ford, General Manager/CEO of the Brazos River Authority. Ford introduced his staff members in attendance. He provided the Council with an overview of BRA and spoke about their mission statement. He should Council a map of their eleven reservoirs in Texas and spoke about how those water supply reservoirs works. He showed Council the water levels for each of the reservoirs. He showed a chart demonstration how off the charts the summer of 2011 was. John Hoffman spoke about the top 10 water customers in 2012. He said Georgetown is at number 6 of the top 10 customers. He said half of their usage comes from municipal usage and the rest from commercial usage. He said Georgetown and Chisholm are ranked at number 8 in terms of usage. He showed Council a chart of the history of their water usage going back to 1950. He reviewed the current BRA rights for the City Council and he showed Council a map of the state of Texas and the different water planning regions. He described BRA's numerous water supply projects in great detail. He said they are not out of the reservoirs business and said existing reservoirs are the backbone of their current water supply. He said they have not seen major new reservoirs in the past 20 years though there are some possible sites for reservoirs. He noted building a new reservoir would be much more difficult nowadays. He spoke about the new off -channel reservoir project and why that is a new and popular idea. He spoke about the Allens Creek reservoir project. He spoke about the Littler River off -channel reservoir. He described their conceptual plan for the bel -house connector between Stillhouse Lake and Lake Belton. He showed Council a map of some potential conjunctive groundwater use. He spoke about conservation in Georgetown and some of the options BRA proposes to its users regarding conservation. He showed the Council the project surplus or shortage for each of the municipalities. He spoke about what needs to be considered moving forward regarding drought issues and water conservation. There was much discussion. Briggs spoke about why this presentation was brought forward to the City Council. He said the City works with the Brazos River Authority and their system and the city felt it was important to know what is going on with the system. Gonzalez said this was a great presentation and he noted the real question he has is if there anything we can do to capture water when there is overflow and save it for those days we do not have that. Hoffmann said this would have happened if they had the Allens Creek reservoir project done. He said reservoirs are built for the express duty of mitigating floods. Gonzalez and Hoffman spoke about off channel reservoir projects and how they could bring those to the forefront of their project schedule. There was much discussion about this. Jonrowe thanked the group for presenting today. She asked if BRA have any tools they can use to encourage conservation. Hoffman said they sell water on a take or pay basis. He said, historically wholesale companies felt they did not want to tell their customers how they should use their water. He said those attitudes are changing and they are seeing more of a collaboration between them and their municipal use customers. He said they see themselves as transitioning into more of a facilitator role. Hammerlun asked that the City Council receive a hard copy of this presentation. Hammerlun asked and Hoffman spoke about the definitive usage of the 2 billion dollars in their budget. Hammerlun asked and Hoffmann spoke about the status of the bel -house connector project as well as the trinity project. Hammerlun asked and Hoffmann spoke about the conjunctive use program. Fought thanked them for the presentation and spoke of the importance of conservation. Fought asked and Hoffmann spoke about how exactly they get money for projects. Hesser asked and Briggs spoke about conservation efforts. He said, in October 2011, when they had issues with pumps the City went on an emergency period of time where all outdoor use of water was prohibited. He spoke about how many gallons of day are used during an extreme period and how much that usage drops when they impose the outdoor usage. He said the amount of water used externally during a drought period is huge. Brainard asked about the variation of residential water usage between communities. Hoffmann spoke about how the more affluent areas and how they will use more water. Brainard asked and Hoffmann spoke about the other factors that can play into the water usage. There was discussion regarding the opinions people have about water usage and water rights. Brainard asked and Hoffmann spoke about residential versus commercial usage. Brainard asked and Hoffmann confirmed they do have nuclear power plants. Eason thanked them and said this is always very informative. She said it is interesting to see some of the changes that have occurred since she served on the BRA Board of Directors in 1990. She said she has seen a slow admission by people that Texas does have a water problem and that something needs to be done to address that issue. She spoke about the boom and the fast growth in Texas has changed how the area has responded to water usage. Mayor asked and Hoffmann spoke about the status of the pumps at Stillhouse Hallow. B Overview of 2014/15 Budget and Planning Process and Calendar -- Susan Morgan, Finance Director With a Powerpoint Presentation, Morgan reviewed the proposed 2014/15 budget process and calendar. She provided a brief background of the process. She said the first thing she did was to gather feedback regarding the current process. She reviewed the feedback she received from the Council and said they want more discussion and deliberation of the tax rate implications. She said one common theme they received from all levels was better communication. She said, on the Executive/Management level, they need continued direction, clarification and affirmation from Council. She said they want more team deliberation and communication. She spoke about how things have changed drastically in the past two years. She showed Council the budget/planning process model including what will occur at the governance level, executive level and management level. She spoke about the proposal to set a process to better segregate and recognize the roles at the governance, executive and management tasks/roles. She spoke about adding two citizen sessions for feedback as well. She continued to review the proposal and said there is a five year review and strategy process at the executive level. She showed Council the budget timeline. She said, internally, staff has a detailed calendar. She noted there is also a summer adoption schedule for the City Council. She said the key points are to add Council and community input and the addition of internal communication and discussion. Brandenburg said the key is to try and have the Council involved earlier in the budget process. He noted the thought was to also get out into the public a bit. He spoke about the strategy for that process. Gonzalez spoke about the possibility of breaking costs into different departments and what those funds mean for each department. He said he would like greater detail at the departmental level. Morgan confirmed this is something staff can prepare for the Council. Meeting recessed to Executive Session under Section 551.071 of the Local Government Code — 5:02PM 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. C Sec. 551.071: Consultation with Attorney - Advice from attorney about pending or contemplated litigation and other matters on which the attorney has a duty to advise the City Council, including agenda items - Consideration of settlement of Cause No. 10 -0104 -CCI pending in the County Court At Law No. 1 of Williamson County Texas with Roger E. Caluette and Patricia A. Caluette for acquisition of property for the Southeast Arterial One Project. — Terri Glasby Calhoun, Real Estate Services Coordinator - Litigation Update: Hoskins v. City, et al - Litigation Update: Longhorn Junction, et al v. Garver - Litigation Update: Georgetown Jet Bankruptcy - Discussion concerning the Asset Transfer Agreement between the City and the Chisholm Trail Special Utility District — Jim Briggs, General Manager of Utilities and Bridget Chapman, City Attorney Meeting returned to Open Session and adjourned — 6:15PM Certificate of Posting 1, Jessica Brettle, City Secretary for the City of Georgetown, Texas, do hereby certify that this Notice of Meeting was posted at City Hall, 113 E. 8h Street, a place readily accessible to the general public at all times, on the day of 2014, at _, and remained so posted for at least 72 hours preceding the scheduled time of said meeting. Jessica Brettle, City Secretary /'.7 Approved: Mayor George Garver f Atrs . City Secretary