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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 05.26.2015 CC-WNotice of a Meeting of the rl Goverifing Body of the City of G'eoi,getowii, Texas Ttiesday, Nklay 26, 201i The Georgetown City Council will meet on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 3:00 PM at the Council Chambers, at|0E. 7'h St., Georgetown,Tesun The city ufGeorgetown iocommitted tucompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you require assistance buparticipating atupublic meeting due 0modisability, oadefioedunder tile ADA, reasonable assistance,adaptations, uraccommodations will bcprovided upon request. Please contact the City 0ecr� ��y`m Office, at least four (4)days prior to the scheduled meeting date, at (5|2)y3O-3652or City Hall at il3East Dm Street for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas ut7l\- Policy Developm0eitt/RevieivWodishop—Call to o0der at 3:00 PM A Overview of2015Appraisal Values for Georgetown and Williamson CoAlvin Lankford, Chief Appraiser, Williamson Central Appraisal District and Mick Rundell, Chief Financial Officer Mayor called the meeting toorder od3:OOP/W. Gonzalez, Heaserabsent. Rundell introduced Lankford tmthe City With oPowerpoin1Presentation, Lankford provided Council with updates and services providednnthe Williamson Central Ap ro|ao|Diahiot'*(VCA[)webnhe.Hereviewedthe WCAD annual report for the Council. He said the entire report is also available on their website. He spoke about their customer service surveys and how they have had a lot of success with them. He spoke aboutwdueaend showed the Council a graph of the City of Georgetown total market value over the past five years. He said, in 2D15,the total market value iu$7.83billion. Hespoke about the city's real property value and 7Ombyvalue property is residential. He showed Council a chart showing the average residential home value and how it has risenthe past ten He saidth rise in property values is hndirect relation to demand. ke about the number of new improvements for the City of Georgetown. He said there were up to 701 new homes in Georgetown for 2015. He spoke about homesteaded properties and the capped amounts. Brainard asked and Lankford spoke about the bills that are going through the legislature that would modify the homestead exemption law. Lankford showed Council graphs of the city of Georgetown multi -family values as well as commercial values. He spoke about the commercial value by category including service, office, entertainment, industrial and retail. There was much discussion regarding related bills that may be going to the legislature. Lankford showed Council a graph of the commercial new improvements over the past five years. He said the 2015 total taxable value (before freeze) is $6.06 billion, which is up from the 2014 total of $5.3 billion. Mayor asked if there is any way to extract the data to accurately determine by category the opportunity costs for each one of the exemptions. Lankford confirmed that would be easy to do. Brainard asked and Lankford clarified the definition of business - personal property. Lankford spoke about how they go about determining the value for those types of properties. Jonrowe asked and Lankford spoke about how the district determines values at the Georgetown Airport. He spoke about how they have tools for airplane valuations as well. Jonrowe asked and Lankford spoke about the process they go through when they feel something is undervalued. There was much discussion B Budget — Signature Destination (All Areas) -- Laurie Brewer, Assistant City Manager With a PowerPoint Presentation, Brewer summarized the council focus area of "signature destination" as part of the budget review process. She reviewed the focus area and how council defined "signature destination." She said many staff and various boards and commissions have helped thteb|iuh business plansfo their projects. She said there are also many nonprofits that play a key role. She summarized the various city departments/areas that are involved with this focus area. She showed Council where this iointhe organizational structure. She showed council the "bubble chart" of the groups, staff and organization that contribute to this area. She reviewed the various signature destination objectives for the council. She summarized the many accomplishments of 2015, including Garey Park operations and maintenance, playscape replacement, San Gabriel Park master plan, splash pad at San Jose Park, Village Park upgrades, VFW park design and Westside Park planning. She reviewed some of the other accomplishments in the downtown area. Gonzalez arrived atthe dais. She said some of the other accomplishments include the Cultural District designation, Texas Downtown Association Award, Public Relations firm selection, hiring convention service support staff, won the TDA award for "Best Marketing Progam", website redesign, hiring a multi -media specialist and the 100% renewable announcement. She continued to review some of the accomplishments under the preservation programs, workforce housing and facilities and services. Brewer reviewed what is in store for the next year under the parks development and recreational focus. She spoke about upcoming projects under the downtown development and master plan including Downtown West Civic Center, the wayfinding signage/parking signage, sidewalk improvements, traffic signal/protected pedestrian crossing at Austin and 5 , Grace Heritage Center renovation, begin marketing city facilities on the square for repurposing and move the visitor center to a larger location. She spoke about some of the goals and projects for the coming year under the arts, culture, entertainment; food and lodging categories. She said some of these include increase library staffing, promote and support the Sheraton Georgetown Conference Center, feasibility study for 8th Street Courtyard, secure source of holiday lighting funding and funding for Breakfast Bites. She said, under marketing and promotion, the city plans to increase marketing to recognize designation as a Cultural District from the Texas Commission on the Arts and increase paid staffing for visitors center coverage. She said, under public information and communication, they pian to increase the use of video and other methods to encourage citizen participation and increase citizen education, research innovative ways to engage citizens in the government process and conduct a citizen survey to use in budgeting and planning processes. She spoke about some of the preservation program initiatives and said that would include historic landmark incentives, complete a historic resource survey, historic home fair and implement Old Town residential infill guidelines. She spoke about Workforce Housing and said the Housing Advisory Board has an aggressive plan moving forward. She said they plan to conduct public meetings and survey the workforce and senior households to collect trend data and housing needs to create a strategic plan to provide workforce housing in the community. She spoke about the plan for the public facilities and services including the concept design and programming for the Downtown West Civic Center and the planned public areas. Eric Lashley spoke about the operational impacts on the Library. He said the return on investment last year was $12,022,995 and added the city of Georgetown is a very literate community. He spoke about the bookmobile and teen programs offered by the library. He said they have hit a problem that they just can't get their books out on time. He said the city has 4,888 items on reserve. He said there are approximately 2,400 items in the back of his library that are uncatalogued. He noted the work load is getting too high. He said 20-25% of the circulation comes from new items. He said, currently, 16% of the check outs are new items. He said they will be requesting a full time cataloguing employee to keep up with demand. He provided impacts to the Arts and Culture including marketing the cultural district. Kimberly Garrett reviewed the operational impacts of parks, recreation and facilities. She reviewed some of the budget requests and said they are asking for a Parks and Recreation software replacement. She said they also have a request for ball field maintenance which related to the city's sports tourism. She said there is also a need for additional administrative support for programs. She said the last administrative addition was in 2010 and, since then, rentals increased 25% and invoice transactions increased 110%. She said inquiries about the cemetery have also doubled. Brewer summarized and spoke about the other operational impacts of these projects and budget requests. Jonrowe thanked them for the presentation and said a lot of this is very exciting. She asked about the Rivery shuttle and Brewer confirmed the developer will be partnering with the city for that service. Brewer said the city will be requesting the project out of the hotel occupancy tax funds. Jonrowe said she is happy to see the citizen survey back on there and said the city cannot afford to skip that project. She asked about the Animal Shelter Master Plan and Brewer said they have been working with the Police Department and they have been working closely with them. Jonrowe thanked Lashley for the great information about the needs of the library. Fought spoke about how he appreciates the theme of "signature destination" and how that should be a joint venture between the city, non -profits, commercial organizations and citizens. He questioned the full funding of the holiday lights and said he would have a hard time supporting it because he thinks non -profits and other organizations should be involved. He said he cannot support the city funding the whole thing. Fought spoke about the 8'h Street alley project and how it is important that all business owners have skin in the game. Gonzalez spoke about how the city keeps driving businesses downtown and asked when the city will start demanding normal retail hours in the downtown area. Gonzalez spoke about how the stores are not open at normal hours. He said there needs to be a broader discussion about that issue and said there has to be more responsiveness from local retailers. Brainard asked and Brewer said the Citizens Memorial cemetery is open for more business. Brainard asked and Brewer spoke about the proposed expansion of the Downtown TIRZ. Brainard asked and Lashley said the cost of an online copy of a book is about 3-4 times as much as a hardback book. Lashley said they buy each book in multiple formats. Brainard asked and Brewer confirmed we have enough funding for San Gabriel renovatons. Brainard asked and Brewer said they are suggesting reconfiguring the existing ball fields to encourage more use. Gipson said he has complimented the downtown area and the recent growth that has occurred. He said he wants to make sure to not discourage the groups that are participating in being open later hours. He said he is glad to see Georgetown putting more attention to the parks and said it an economic driver. Mayor asked and Brewer described the eligible projects for the downtown funds. Jonrowe spoke about the downtown retailers being open later and said she has seen vastimprovements in that area. She said she has noticed a lot more places staying open later, on the weekends and on Sunday. She said it is happening, albeit a little slower than requested. $@— to I I I ISM i gopKer;NNIF1 I gQ16*11011111INT. =.I qlm�y♦ 11 of "I I&ENJIr.1*1161 With a Powerpoint Presentation, Briggs reviewed the Georgetown Utility Systems Focus Area: Utility Budget and CIP. He summarized the 2015 accomplishments for the Council, including the CTSUD acquisition and integration, a major reorganization and customer care/control center/field operations integration. He spoke about the accomplishments as they related to the business improvement program and business improvement projects. He said other accomplishments include the execution of the solar PRA, Jonah Water Swap and infrastructure planning. He spoke about how the impact fee presentation will be coming back to council later this summer. He showed Council a map of the development pipeline and the growth that has occurred over the past two years. Mayor asked if it is possible to use these statistics as a forecasting tool. Gonzalez spoke about how looking at the growth numbers is eye-popping. Briggs showed Council a graph of the ten year water and wastewater utility growth. He reviewed the focus areas for water, electric and conservation. Brainard asked and Briggs said he is going to be careful about the possibility of raising rates. He spoke about the solid waste focus area and how there is no rate increase planned for that area. There was much discussion. Wright introduced the water/wastewater capital improvement plan section of the presentation. He spoke about the projects planned under water services for next year. He described the water pumping and storage expansion. He spoke about how the western district is being treated separately this year. He spoke about projects in the Western District including miscellaneous line extensions, Pastor Pump Station connection, CR 200 and CR 255. He spoke about the wastewater services projects including EARZ projects, street projects, Pecan Branch interceptor and Berry Creek interceptor. He said there are no proposed improvements to the irrigation system. Brainard asked and Briggs spoke about Leander wastewater and how theirs might be slightly better because they have to meet additional guidelines. Jonrowe asked and Briggs said the city has developed infrastructure based on where development will occur as well as where the city wants development to occur. There was much discussion about this process. D Overview of the 2015/2016 Transportation Services Business Plan, Operation and Capital Budgets -- Edward G. Polasek, AICD and Wesley Wright, P.E., Systems Engineering Director This item was pulled by the Mayor. Meeting recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.074 and 551.086 of the Local Government Code at 501 PM Execudve Sessioii 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 - Litigation Update- Spencer EEOC Claim -Williams Drive Project- Claim Settlement 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 Sec. 551.086: Competitive Matters - Forwarded from the Georgetown Utility Systems Advisory Board (GUS): Presentation and discussion on the 2015-16 Electric Capital Improvement Plan —Wesley Wright, Systems Engineering Director AdJouj-nnieiit — 6:00P'NI Dale IZ5�ss, Mayor At) City Secretary