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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 01.24.2012 CC-WMinutes of the Meeting of the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas Tuesday, January 24, 2012 The 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, Pat Berryman absent. Berryman, Tommy Gonzalez, Rachael Jonrowe, Troy Hellmann Staff Present: Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City Secretary; Susan Morgan, Finance Director; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Rachel Saucier, Assistant City Secretary; Laurie Brewer, Deputy City Manager; Dave Hall, Director of Inspections; Robert Fite, Fire Chief Minutes Policy Development/Review Workshop - Call to order at 03:00 PM A Discussion regarding future charter amendments -- Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager and Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney Gonzalez, Berryman, Meigs absent from the dais. Mayor described the item and said that items have been placed on the docket for review. He said the City Manager and City Attorney have been working on this for the Council. Mayor spoke about how the Council is able to remove the items from the list for further study at the regular session agenda, but not add to that list. Brandenburg said at our last meeting, the Council reviewed the items being proposed for Charter amendments. He said based upon tonight's discussion, he thinks Council should forward the entire list to the committee and then at a later date when the committee comes back to the council, items can be removed as necessary. He said the items that are presented or brought forward are a combination of looking at both substance as well as items of clarification. He said a spreadsheet has been provided that describes who brought forward each amendment and why. He said the first page of the spreadsheet describes substantive policy changes, which were driven by Council and not by staff. He described the few items that were brought forward from staff. He said the second and third pages show changes for clarity and consistency, brought forward mostly by staff. He noted he wanted to make sure and clarify where each item came from. He said he as well as the City Attorney are available to answer any questions about these amendments. He noted his opinion is to allow the committee to knock out these items for review. Mayor asked and Brandenburg said the items are pretty self explanatory. He reviewed some of the items on the list in greater detail. Eason said she would like once again for the public to hear that the Council has not yet officially moved the election to November. She clarified what was done was that a Resolution was passed to put this option on the ballot for a possibility of moving it to November. Brandenburg agreed and said that was a resolution that passed with a vote of 4 to 3 that could be undone with an additional resolution. He said another item that was brought up by a council member is the banning of lobbying. He continued to review .the proposed amendments for the Council. He said on the regular agenda, the Council will need to define the charge for the City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 1 of 5 Pages committee and what they should discuss. He spoke about the Election Calendar and the deadlines for placing the amendments on the November 2012 ballot and said the first reading of the Ordinance needs to be done by July 24. He noted, therefore, the subcommittee's work should be brought back to Council by June. Mayor.asked about item 2.06 regarding the term of the Mayor Pro Tem. Chapman said that change is bring recommended by the legal department. She said the Charter does not actually state a term for the Mayor Pro Tem. Mayor asked and Brandenburg spoke about why they feel a term is necessary. He noted someone could argue that, when they are appointed a Mayor Pro Tem, they never have to leave that position. There was much discussion about this. Eason asked if it would be possible for a future Mayor or Council to elect somebody for two or three years instead of just one. She said that kind of situation could happen if the Charter does not spell out a term. Mayor agreed and said that could be possible. Chapman said the term just seemed ambiguous. Mayor asked about remuneration and what the recommended change is and how it differs from the current charter. Brandenburg said the current Charter allows for Council to vote themselves an increase each year. Brandenburg spoke about why this change is being recommended. Meigs arrived at the dais. Mayor reviewed the issue for Meigs, who just arrived at the dais. Meigs apologized for being late and said he does not have any comments or questions at this time. Hellmann said he is great with sending this to the committee and then discuss it at a later time or remove items. Jonrowe agreed and said she is find with sending this to the Committee as a whole as well. B Review of proposed changes to the City's investment policy -- Susan Morgan, Finance Director Morgan said this the annual update and review of the City's investment policy. She noted Finance has gone through this with the General Government and Finance (GGAF) subcommittee. With a Powerpoint Presentation, Morgan said when we look at our annual investment policy, there are some industry and operating changes where the current policy needs to be refined a bit. She said there are other regulatory changes that need to be monitored as well. She spoke about FIRREA which effects the depositories. She said the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) changes as well. She spoke about the Public Funds Investment Act (PFIA) and how it is the main piece of legislation that governs local government investment policies. She noted the investment policy must be approved by Council and reviewed annually. She spoke about the various PFIA requirements. She said the annual financial audit must make sure the City fellows all GASB policies. She spoke about the investment policy objectives and said they are safety, liquidity, public trust and yield. She said staff will be suggesting some language adjustments to the yield goat. She spoke about the City's authorized investments and noted the City has a plain vanilla portfolio, which is more restrictive than PFIA. She spoke about policy compliance and said the external auditor each year looks at the current policy and makes sure the City is up to date. She continued to describe what the auditor looks at each year. She said the City has taken this a step further and taken the to the Government Treasurer's Organization'of Texas. She spoke about the proposed changes to the policy. She said there are recommended updates for most recent legislative or regulatory actions including Section 2.3 timing of training , Section 4.1.4 SEC definition of "Weighted Average Maturity" guidelines, Section 4.2 credit rating review and Section 6.1 quarterly reporting. She said some of the other changes include updates for industry and operating changes. She said some of these include changes to Section 1.3. clarify yield objective, Section 2.1 c!arify investment officer prudence requirements and Section 5.5 to add FIRREA language to the collateralization section. She said there are some other minor clarifications and updates including Secton 2.3 title changes, the term "certificates of deposit" changed to "financial institution deposits," Section 5.3 quotes qualified for non security investments and other minor items. Mayor asked and Morgan said they walked the GGAF committee through each of the changes. Brandenburg said there is an action item on the Regular Agenda to approve these changes.Morgan spoke briefly about the City's investment strategy. She said they will continue to.maximize earnings while adhering to investment policy and objections. She noted financial institution deposits are still offering the best rates and they will continue to use bond reimbursements resolutions to reduce interest costs. Meigs asked and Morgan said corporate bondss are not allowed in the policy as well as the Public Funds Investment Act. Speaker, Susan Anderson of Valley View Consulting, said she has delivered to Council the monthly update on the economy. She said it is less dismal than what we have been used to. She showed council a chart showing the drop in the economy that occurred in 2007. She spoke about the "light at the end of the tunnel." She said she is hopeful that we are seeing the bottom of this trend. She said there is still a black cloud holding over.the European markets but the domestic issues are improving a bit. She said she is hopeful that things are getting better. She noted the bottom line is the whole domestic economy is determined by the consumer and how much people are spending. She said, as you will notice, over the past few months the country has been above the "no growth" line. She noted, last month, 200,000 jobs were created. She said, although that sounds like a City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 2 of 5 Pages stellar number, 250,000 jobs should be added for the economy to be in recovery mode. She noted housing is still trying to find the bottom of the valley. She said this is where the recession started. She noted they have recently started to see a little bit of a trend upward. She said housing starts and permits have started picking up again as well. She noted, in a recent housing survey, the results were the best in four years. She noted consumers are the key. She spoke about what Council should expect in the near future. Morgan said there are two items on the agenda related to these changes and she reviewed those for the Council. Mayor asked and Anderson said it is hard to know where interest rates will go for longer than a year in the future. Anderson said municipal rates have fallen, but not nearly as much as other rates. There was much discussion. C Discussion and possible direction to staff regarding Roberts Rules of Order and Parliamentary Procedures -- Rachel Saucier, Assistant City Secretary and Bridget Chapman, Acting City Attorney Chapman said back on October 25, Councilmember Sattler introduced a motion to adopt Roberts Rules of Order as the procedural guide for the Council. She noted, ultimately, the motion was withdrawn and Council asked for more information on this subject matter. She said this brief presentation will show Council the difference between what our current code says and what Roberts Rules states. She said Roberts Rules is in its tenth edition and added it is a guide to parliamentary procedure and designed to use as a reference during meetings when questions regarding parliamentary procedure arise. She said, essentially, for purposes of rules there is a ranking order of precedence. She described this for the Council and said first is federal or state law, then the Charter and then governing bylaws for any Boards or Commissions. She said the City should have an Ordinance to determine the rules and order of business. She spoke about Section 2.24 of the Code, which lays out the City Council meeting rules and procedures. She said parliamentary procedure is under Section 2.24.120. She showed Council the current chart for parliamentary procedure. She said a chart has been sent to Council showing what was adopted by Ordinance for the City and how it differs from Robert's Rules of Order. She said our Ordinance is what you would call a special rule and noted it is next in precedence to the charter. She said the rules set forth in the Ordinance is what governs the City's procedures. She spoke about how the Council could incorporate Robert's Rules if they adopt it as a reference guide to cover whatever the current rules do not cover. She said staff has looked at Round Rock and spoke about how they addressed this issue. She said Georgetown does not have a general reference that it follows. She said what the city does have is not comprehensive. She noted there is a chart that was provided with yellow highlighting that addressing other types of motion not addressed by the current Ordinance. She said if the Council would like to adopt Robe is Rules, staff would bring back an Ordinance to adopt the Rules as a reference guide and take the opportunity to amend the rest of the ordinance to accurately reflect what is done at meetings. Mayor said the city's existing ordinances contain an outline for the normal handling of business. Chapman agreed and showed the Council the current table in the Ordinance. She referenced and described the other procedures located throughout the Ordinance as well. She said there are rules and procedures that are throughout this chapter and the voting and motion are found in the table. She said the City could have a catch all provision that any items not addressed in the chapter will be referenced in Roberts Rules. Mayor spoke about how he thinks it is important to appoint a parliamentarian who would be able to answer any questions regarding procedures as they arise. Mayor asked and Sattler said the staff is heading in the right direction with the adoption of Robert's Rules as a reference guide. Mayor spoke about bringing this back to Council as an Ordinance. Meigs asked and Mayor said the Ordinance will include the issue of parliamentarian. Meigs said that is a good idea. She said, in working with the City Secretary's office, the plan would be to have the Ordinance ready and to have some meeting procedures training for Council in June. Eason mentioned Section 2.24.040 regarding the old deadline for agenda packets. She said and Chapman agreed that part of what staff will do is to look at the Ordinance and make sure it applies to what the City currently does. There was much discussion. D Residential Rental Property Registration and Inspections -- Laurie Brewer, Deputy City Manager; Dave Hall, Director of Inspections and Robert Fite, Fire Chief With a Powerpoint Presentation, Brewer spoke about initiating a residential rental properties registration and inspections program. She spoke about why the Council should consider a rental registration program. She spoke about the importance of considering this type of program including public safety, code enforcement and the fact that they have property owners of single family residential structures that do not provide information on how to contact them. She said the City has a property maintenance code but no way to inspect interior living conditions of developments to ensure safety. She said some major areas of concern are when there is no running water, bad wiring, blocked exit access and other debris and fire hazards. She provided some data on the number of units in Georgetown. She said the City, however, has no way of knowing how many homeowners are renting their property. She mentioned HB1158 and how there is new legislation requiring smoke detectors in every bedroom in rental property and how there is no way for the City to enforce this. She continued to speak City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 3 of 5 Pages about the benefits of a rental registration/inspection program. She said it allows City to be proactive with inspections and will produce pride in the tenants for the property they are living in. She spoke about the concerns over implementing a new program. She said doing a more proactive program would impact workload. She noted there could also be a perception of bureaucracy from the homeowners. She listed existing communities that have a registration program. She said Austin has been working on a program for over a year now. She noted they have not implemented it yet and is going through the education process right now. She said the programs vary due to the conditions in each city including the level of code violations, number of rental units, size of inspections staff and community support. She provided Council with some examples of registration programs in the state, including Frisco and Garland. She described the programs in each of those cities. Mayor asked and Hall said a City inspection is not required with the sale of a residential home. Mayor said most people buying a property requests inspections. Hall agreed. Mayor asked and Brwer said what they are looking at is for rentals and protecting the people who come in and rent the property and may or may not know they need a smoke detector in every bedroom or other inspection related items. Gonzalez arrived at the dais She spoke about the system used by the City of Arlington. She listed the options for consideration including whether or not a rental registration program is needed, inspections protocol, penalties for failed inspection and what type of publicity, education and input the city would want from the stakeholders. She spoke about the importance of doing outreach and education with the property owners. She spoke of the staff goals including promoting the health and safety of tenants, preserving and invigorating neighborhoods through property maintenance, provide code/fire inspections with enhance enforcement capabilities and enhance communication with property owners. She said the staff proposal is a mid level program with emphasis on education. She said the recommended program would require registration of all residential rental properties, no registration if a relative lives in the property, no fee to register, penalties for not registering and requiring property owner to attest to safety. She said they would do an exterior inspection at least biannually and spoke of requiring interior inspections if an exterior inspection fails. She said you can always bet that if they are not taking are of the outside of the property, there may be conditions inside that are not being taken care of. She spoke about education and implementation and said there will be stakeholder meetings to solicit input, finalize the plan with Council and do an educational program and outreach program. She staff is requesting feedback on this on whether to pursue development of this program as well as general direction on the level of inspections expected for this program. Mayor asked and Hall confirmed this applies to single family structures, including duplexes, triplexes, etc. Mayor asked and Hall said inspections are only done on new development. He said the City can not enter a property without the permission of the property manager. Sattler asked and Brewer said staff wanted to check with the Council first before going out and getting opinions from the property owners. She said staff will need to do that in order for this to be a successful program. Sattler asked and Brewer said speaking to the other communities , they had a number of community meetings and they had different options on a website that people can vote on. She said the City would anticipate quite a bit of resistance to any type of program. She wanted to make sure the Council will want this at all before going out and introducing this to the public. Hellmann asked and Hall said when the City does an inspection, it applies the property maintenance code. He provided an example of this for the Council. He spoke about smoke detectors and how it would be hard for older homes to apply to the current code to its structure. Hellmann asked and Hall described other provisions covered in the property maintenance code. Hellmann asked and Brewer said the amount and timing of the inspections for the property will be up to the Council to decide. Brewer said the current recommendation is to allow the City to go inside a property if the outdoor inspection is not compliant with regulations. She noted they are proposing a program that would work with the current staffing. Hellmann said there are specific state laws that deal with leasing and rental and the liabilities of the landlord. He said he is wondering if the City is duplicating those laws. Brandeburg asked about who is supposed to enforce those regulations and spoke about the genesis of this issue and how the City was having to clean up after tenants after they moved out. Hellmann said he is reluctant for an internal inspection process. He noted he likes the idea that there will not be a fee to register. He said however, given the state laws, he does not know if we have the capacity to handle this kind of inspection. Eason said she has been in this community for over 30 years and added this has been a problem for over 30 years. She said this has effected her personally. She said we have the ability in this community to do better at protecting the citizens that do not have power of a homeowner. She said we need to as much as we can as a City and community to protect people. She noted she is for requiring registration. She said one idea is to have a free registration and, if they don't register, the City issues a fee for failing to register. She noted the City needs to get a better handle on local rental properties. She said this is an issue she hears about all of the time. She said the Council needs to give our staff the power to protect people. She said we have to get started on this. She said she thought adopting the International Property Maintenance Code would help but noted it has not helped much at all. Hall said it is mainly for outdoor structures and open storage. He said it is a constant effort. City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 4 of 5 Pages Gonzalez said he feels if the City requires property owners to register their properties and businesses for rental, then the City should require all commercial property to register. Gonzalez said he wants more consistency on what we want to do. He said if it is about safety, people running a business out of their homes must follow the same rules as well. He noted we need to be careful as we move forward to consider if the City has time for this or the budget for this. He listed the many questions he has on this issue. He asked if this would be compliant driven and added the City needs to have a much more detailed proposal for this is idea. Meigs noted he can see where this can be an issue from a safety standpoint and added we need some mechanism for the City to be involved when there are complaints. He said he would favor a complaint driven process. He said high grass and the warning signs from the outside may warrant an internal inspection as well. He noted he is interested in moving forward to hear what staff has to say. Jonrowe said, when staff was going through the programs in the different cities, she said the staff proposal matched well with her thoughts of how the program should function.. She noted the proposal brought forward tonight is a good starting point. She said she likes the idea of having a free registration period. Mayor asked if Council would be amenable to have staff look at this further and bring back a more narrowly applied version of this concept. He said, right now, the City has no authority to inspect the interior without a warrant. Brewer agreed. Meigs said Council should allow staff to go back and get a better proposal ready based on Council's comments tonight. Brandenburg spoke about how this is just to gauge the interest of Council and then come back with a skeleton of the program for Council to discuss. Hellmann asked and Brandeburg spoke about how this would affect all structures and the interior of the facilities including wiring and space heaters Brandenburg said, if the outside starts looking in poor condition, then the inside will probably be in poor condition as well. He added there is a huge number of absentee landowners that have no idea about what is going on throughout a property. Gonzalez said as we pursue something like this, some people have chosen to live in non-HOA communities because they do not want these restrictions. He said now we are wanting to go into places where there is no HOA and enter homes for safety reasons. He said the research in how we are going to present a program like this needs to be a lot more detailed. Jonrowe said you can flip the coin and say the homeowner could say they are being neglected by the City as well. Gonzalez said if your landlord is not producing, you just don't pay the rent. Mayor summarized the discussion and asked staff to develop three different concepts for Council to consider. Hellmann said he is a dissenter and noted he will not like it. Brandenburg asked and Hellmann said he does not want to adopt anything that is too strict, too overreaching or something that the current code already covers. He said the City needs to be careful about saying it can go into someone's home. Eason said we have very specific examples of what the City is concerned about with this and added she would like staff to bring back those examples for Council consideration and discussion. Eason said we have proof that people's lives have been at stake and illegal activity has gone on inside buildings that the City could do nothing about. She noted Council needs to see examples of why the City needs to move forward with this program. Sattler said Meigs hit the nail on the head and noted it needs to be complaint driven. He said he has a big fear of the city becoming "Big Brother" and added that is his greatest concern. Jonrowe said she likes Mayor's idea of having three different choices brought back to Council for further discussion. Gonzalez said he is more in line with -what Sattler said with the caveat that all commercial property be treated the same, including multi -family residential development. Brewer said staff has heard what Council has to say and will bring back options for review and consideration. Council recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071 and 551.074 -- 5:05 PM Council returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:22 PM Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 06:22 PM. Ale d : (;;iUeacretary : Mayor G rge Garver sica Brettle City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 5 of 5 Pages