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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 10.14.2014 CC-WNotice of a Meethig of the Zn Governing Body of the City of Gere getown,71'exas Tuesday, October 14,2014 The Georgetown City Council will meet on Tuesday, October 14, 2014 at 2:00 PM at the Council Chambers, at 101 11 - E. 7th 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 113 East 8th Street for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. Policy Development/Review Workshop — Call to orderat 2:00 PM Mayor called the meeting to order at 2:OOPM and took up Item D first. A Discussion and Status Report on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) listing of the Georgetown Salamander and proposed 4(d) special Rule, as well as the adopted Water Quality Regulations (Ordinance No. 2013-59) — Paul E. Brandenburg, City Attorney and Andreina Davilla-Quintero, Project Coordinator Brandenburg described the item for Council. He said there are still a lot of questions regarding this issue. He noted the city wants to make this very user friendly for our customers. He introduced Andreina Davila -Quintero who will be presenting the item to Council. He also introduced Valerie Covey, County Commissioner. Commissioner Covey thanked City staff and said the County has been involved in this project since the beginning. She said, with the isolation of the Georgetown salamander, it was important for them to stay involved. He thanked Brandenburg and Chapman for their hard work. She said staff wants to give Council an update on the status of this issue. She provided the Council a timeline of Water Quality Regulations for the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone (EARZ) as a result of the discovery of the Georgetown salamander. She said the City adopted Ordinance 2013-59 on December 20, 2013. She said USFWS listed the Georgetown Salamander as a threatened species with a 4(d) special rule in February 2014. She spoke about the meetings and discussions that have taken place since then. She said they are heading in the right direction and are waiting on approval and the signature process. She said, in the meantime, developers are coming into town and are ready to work. She noted they are working on a plan for how to approach developers that come in and help them through this process. Covey said she would like the Council to move this from an Ordinance to a Unified Development Code amendment in order to accomplish this goal. Davila -Quintero spoke about what the development community should be doing right now on the salamander issue. She showed the Council a flow chart of the Regulations Development Process Overview and she reviewed the entire process for the Council. She reviewed the next steps in the process. She said the next step is to codify this ordinance by making it part of the Unified Development Code. She said this will provide consistency of the applicability of this process. She said, as part of the UDC amendment process, staff plans to have a meeting with the development community, Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on November 1, City Council 1st reading on November 25 and 2nd reading on December 9. Mayor asked and Davila -Quintero said this is something that has been in the works and added this is just a status update. She said she is here to take direction and answer questions from Council. Gonzalez said it seems like we are in a game of chicken. He asked if there is a way to sit at a table and try to come to an agreement. Covey said they have had that discussion. She said they have spoken to the service and have been very upfront with them. She said the trust factor is always building. She said the service always has the hammer and that is why we want to stay on track with what we are doing. Eason said there have been many years of coordination that has been a win-win situation for everybody. She said moving this Ordinance to the UDC only enhances our economic development and its relationship with the species. Jonrowe asked what it would take for the salamander to be delisted. Covey said that is a difficult one because it has just been listed. She said this is going to show that we can live together and the City can continue to develop alongside this species. Covey said the city has a better chance of the delisting by tackling the threats. There was much discussion. B Overview and direction regarding the General Government and Finance rd, the Planning and Zoning Commission, the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Building Standards Commission, the Georgetown 00dy System Advisory Board, and the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board —Bridget Chapman, City Attorney and Jessica Brett|e.City Secretary Chapman introduced thitem for Council. She spoke about the General Government and Finance Advisory Board and reviewed the membership, purpose and eligibility requirements for that board. She said the current residency requirement is that the members be either in the City or ETJ. She said there are no staff recommended changes to this board. Gonzalez spoke about residency requirements and said every board should have the requirement of residing in the City. Gonzalez asked and Chapman said some boards require only the City and others City/ETJ. She said it really depends on the board and if they discuss issues related to the ETJ as well as the City. Chapman suggested that it is better for GGAF to also include members who live in the ETJ. Mayor said you do not have to be a resident here to also be a stakeholder. Someone who owns a business in Georgetown have a piece in the community. Gonzalez agreed and withdrew his questions. Jonrowe asked if the Council member membership should say three "maximum" members instead of "minimum" members. Brainard suggested staff just strikes the word minimum. Jonmwe oohed and Chapman confirmed there are items that 3o to BGAF that also go to other boards with Council members aswell, depending onthe topic. Eason said, Yfitionot one ofthe corporations, the city needs tobevery cognizant cfhow many Council mmb navoteonaniVembefonaitoomeatotheChYCounci| members. Brainard said hethinks the 8GAF pmoemo is working well. Hesaid his understanding, ihough, is that the budget does not go to GGAF. He suggested that staff change that nomenclature from city budget to ^6omd mottem.^Eason agreed. Chapman introduced the Planning and Zoning Commission and said it is established by the City Charter. She described the section mfthe Charter pertaining bnthe Commission. She also reviewed the Planning and Zoning Ondinance, purpose, membership and eligibility requirements, She spoke about the Zoning Board of Adjustment, its purpose, membership and eligibility requirements. She said the Zoning Board of Adjustmentdoeenot meet often inthe City ofGeorgetown. She spoke about the Zucker report and how it was determined that Planning and Zoning can also serve at the Zoning Board. She noted staffs recommendation is to keep the Zoning Board in place but it can be Mayor's prerogative to have shared membership on both boards. She said Planning and Zoning Commission memb could be |iib| to serve onth Zoning Board. Eason askedifthis would be conflict in case items from Planning and Zoning go to the Zoning Board. Spurgin said the UDC was changed a few years ago and the Zoning Board now rarely meets. He said nothing that Planning and Zoning does will be taken to the Zoning Board for subsequent action. Spurgin said, administratively, it would be easy for the Planning and Zoning Board to convene as the Zoning Board. Gonzalez said he thinks it would make sense not to disband the ZBA but to appoint the same members to that board. Fought said, as long as there is not a conflict, he is fine with this change. Chapman reviewed the Building Standards Commimsion, the purpose and membership eligibility requirements. There were nochanges made tothis Commission. She reviewed the Georgetown Utility Systems (GUS)Advisory Board as well. Eason said the Ordinance should change to remove the word "minimum" from the Council member membership. Chapman reviewed said this the Mayor spoke about how the airport is important and it is a stretch to think it is in line with other transportation modes in Georgetown. He said the airport is a huge asset to the City. Fought said he agrees and running an airport is entirely different ball game than other transportation issues, He said there are things that are simply not understood by a generic transportation board. He said he does understand that the previous organization proved to be dysfunctional but the airport needs to be separated out and managed accordingly. He said it would be good to establish this subcommittee but that committee would work to give birth to the full advisory board. Brainard said he agrees with Fought's statements. Chapman asked the Council when staff should start preparing to create an Airport board. Fought said he cannot see it taking more than six months to form a new board. There was much discussion on how the Board application process would correspond to the creation of a new Airport Board. Hammerlun asked and Chapman spoke about when staff thinks the Airport Manager would be coming on board. He said he does think a new Board should be created after a new Airport Manager is in place. Brettle spoke about how recruitment can take place outside of the normal application process if need be. Briggs spoke about the Airport Manager hiring process and how aBoard can beestablished later. Jonmwesaid dkaimportant to establish this board inmvery measured way. Hesser said hewould be against forming an Airport Board at this time. There was more discussion on whether or not a subcommittee is necessary at this time. C EmployeeBenefitoUpdate—TaddPhiUipa.HummnReaourceDimdor With a Powerpointpneeenbat|on.Phi|lipmpmvided'maummaq/oftheemp|pyeabene5ts.Heeppkeabou1me|f- inaummqe.endhmmiYheabeensucceosfu||yimp|emented`Hemaidihenaareso|id projectionsbyFinanoeetaffwith assistance from Gallagher. He noted the city is projected to finish the first nine months with a positive balance. He continued to speak about self-insurance and how that plan works. He showed Council claims expense on employees from 2013 and 2014. He spoke about the Compass program and how it is a new program for the employees. Eason asked and Phillips said the Compass program is open to employees and retirees alike. He said the plans were reviewed at GGAF on October 7 and the Employee Benefits Committee has met twice to review the U as discusses emergingtrends. He spoke aboutm 14-15 Plans d said, withth 10Y& increase in employer funding per approved budget, there should not additional fees to the employees. He said the city will also get to stay with the current plans and noted it is a net premium to the employees. He said the plan is to hold things solid with an annual contribution level to Health Savings Account of $1,000. He said the City has four retirees on the plan and noted they will see a 10% increase. There was much discussion about the city's benefits program. Hmreviewed the planned next steps nfthe project. Hesaid inlate October 2O14.staff will hold employee meetings about the benefits and open enrollment will begin. Hesaid the new plan year begins January 1.2O15. getting this resolved and move on. He spoke about the "worst case scenarid' of what they feel is the anticipated future costs for the project. He provided a current status of the contingency accounts minus anticipated future costs. He said it seems the city will have a firm savings of $100,000. managers with regard to this project. He said the city's team would include the council, program managers who represent the city, the design team and the legal department. Fought said moving ahead, he thinks the city made the right decision hiring this firm as the program manager. He said one of the lessons learned is to start right on projects of this size. Fought spoke about how he needs to know what happened between when the city's original project manager left and the new management firm was hired. He wants to make sure that things like this don't happen again. Code — 4.05PM 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. 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 Sec. 551.074: Personnel Matters - City Manager, City Attorney, City Secretary and Municipal Judge: Consideration of the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer or employee as allowed under Tex. Gov. Code Section 551.074 Personnel Matters Adjournment — Meeting returned to Open Session and attiourned — 6:05PM 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. 8`h 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 Dale Ross, Mayor -2�vI : City Sec etary