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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 04.24.2012 CC-WMinutes of the Meeting of the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas Tuesday, April 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 All Council Present. Berryman, Tommy Gonzalez, Troy Hellmann, Rachael Jonrowe Staff Present: Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Bridget Chapman, City Attorney; Jim Briggs, Assitant City Manager; Laurie Brewer, Deputy City Manager; Jessica Brettle, City Secretary; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Wayne Nero, Police Chief; Robert Fite, Fire Chief; Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director; Mike Peters, Information Technology Director Minutes Policy Development/Review Workshop - Call to order at 03:00 PM A Public Safety Presentation -- Wayne Nero, Police Chief and Robert Fite, Fire Chief Berrryman absent. Fite introduced himself and his staff for the City Council. He noted his department is administratively lean and most of his staff are in fire stations and on the street. He said he would like to give a snapshot of2011, go into 2012 and then go beyond this year to 2013 and 2014. He noted their complete annual report will be available to view on the City's website. He reviewed the 2011 highlights for the City Council. He spoke about Fire Engine One and how he is proud of that purchase. He noted that purchased was made through a partnership with the emergency services district. He noted they also finalized their study through CityGate, which provided them with a ten year snapshot of their department. He spoke about the numerous wildfires the team traveled to throughout Texas last year. He provided Council a brief summary of their support services and emergency services He reviewed the ISO and insurance rating and noted the City has an ISO rating of a 2. He said an ISO rating gives the residents the lowest insurance rating. He said the only thing that worries him about ISO is, when the City is re-evaluated, ISO is changes all of their standards. He noted the good thing about Georgetown is the City is building a tower, gaining more staff, updating hydrants and improving training. He said he is confident the City will maintain the 2 rating. He provided the City Council with response data for the department He noted the City is at 5,714 responses last year which is the highest they have ever been. He said they are steady at a 2 to 2.5 percent increase on responses each year. He noted the City has changed its medical responses to the jail, doctor's offices and hospitals. He noted this cuts about two calls a day from the response volume. He briefly spoke about the wildfires they fought last year. Brandenburg spoke about response data and Fite said they run 66% medical calls and about 33% other calls such as fires, car wrecks, hazardous material and alarms. Fit said they are at an average of 5 minutes and 34 seconds of drive time per response. He noted the overall response time for the City should go down even more with the opening of Fire Station 5. He showed Council photos of the current Fire Stations 1 through 4. He described the various department initiatives to the Council. He said there are many questions circulating about why the County is in the Hazmat business. He is wondering, if the County gets out of that, if they could possibly City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 1 of 5 Pages donate equipment to the City for those services. He moved on to the budget of the fire department. He provided the Council with an example of what it would cost to outfit a fire engine and fire fighter and the expiry dates for the various equipment. He said the cost is about $450,000 and noted this is an expensive business. He reviewed the training for Council and the hours spent on training the fire fighters. He said they are much better able to track the training hours than they have been in the past. He noted the City provided mutual aid 62 times last year, which means they left the City to assist other communities on their calls. He said mutual aid needs to be mutual and noted, just because Georgetown is the County seat, does not meet they need to help everyone. He noted the City only received mutual aid once. He listed the awards and promotions that were given and received by the fire department last year. Mayor asked and Fite confirmed the health related calls is about 66%. Mayor asked and Fite said he is not sure what portion of that is Sun City but he can find out. Mayor said he would assume most of those calls are coming from the Sun City area. Fite spoke about the concept of going into more of a mobile paramedic response in Sun City, where a paramedic can be put in a pick up truck equipped to respond to those type of calls. Fite described the current state of Fire Station 5. He showed Council an online live picture of Fire Station 5 being built. He noted the building has a two story concept and added the second story is more for fitness and equipment He showed the Council the City's outdoor training classroom as well at the training tower. He applauded Jimmy Jacobs for their work on this facility so far. He noted the City is on schedule for an August 24 move in. He provided Council with the current status of Fire Station 2. He spoke about Fire Inspections and how Hank Jones will be in charge of fire inspections, public education, school programs, special events, and other responsibilities. He said Jones is taking lot off of his plate. He spoke about the fire inspections strategy and noted a large part of their job is about education. He added, when they start commercial inspections, they know they will find unsafe conditions. He said he and Jones will work with the business to find a solution to the problem He said they want voluntary commitment from the businesses to solve the safety problem. He noted they are always updating their standard operating guidelines. He noted they are looking to have a new guidelines book in 2013. He spoke about Fire Engine 3 and how it is one more step to getting away from the quint concept of response. He spoke about emergency management and how there is a lot more to do with that and there will be a workshop later to address that issue. He spoke about water rescue and water recovery. He showed Council the new dive truck, all funded out of billing. He noted in 2009 and 2012, the City has three drownings at the lake. He said he is not sure they can prevent the drownings but noted they have to be able to help the families when a body needs to be recovered. He said they will kick off this team in August 2014. He showed Council a picture of the fire rescue boat. He spoke about their challenges ahead, including EMS and increasing demands, recruiting and retention, increase in lake activity, drought, an east side fire station and a decrease in revenue to fund additional programs. Gonzalez asked and Fite spoke about the efforts being made to increase the diversity in the department He provided a Council with a rendering of Fire Station 2. Meigs asked and Fite spoke about the high school Fire Academy. He said he has met with the school district and noted they are looking at having a two year certified fire academy. He said they are looking at having student start in their junior year and, when they graduate high school, they will be certified fire fighters and EMTs. He noted they will also be able to provide homegrown preferences to local candidates who apply to be a firefighter. He said they are looking to kick this off in 2013 or 2014. He spoke about the revenue from training centers being able to help pay operational costs. Nero introduced himself and spoke about their new Police Department patches, which one a national competition in Law and Order Magazine. He provided Council with a 2011 report. He noted if Council has any questions about the report, they can contact him. He spoke about their current staffing and said they have 77 sworn officers, and their staffing goal is 1.8 officers per 1,000 people. He noted that the ratio is currently at 1.54 per 1,000. He provided Council with a slide showing the diversity of the department He said about 24% of their sworn workforce is considered a minority. He spoke about the PSOT Complex and said they are currently in phase one and just finished the space needs assessment. He said they are ahead of schedule and noted they are currently doing the Construction Manager at Risk selection. He provided Council with the 2012 strategic planning priorities including 5 priority areas. He said those areas include enhance public safety, organizational development, advance teamwork and partnerships, resources management and be innovative. He spoke about the second priority organizational development Berryman arrived at the dais. He said building capability is his responsibility. He spoke about the importance of training and preparedness. He spoke about instances where officers were prepared and how training has assisted the officers in those certain situations. He spoke about their training framework and said their framework is to be a scholar, statesman and warrior. He spoke about training in the department including ongoing instructor and program development in defensive tactics, taser, pepper ball, EVOC, fitness and wellness, joint dive team, reality based training and firearms. He told the Council about the current need for a Georgetown Firearms Range. He spoke about how the City shares a range with the County. He noted the current state of firearms qualification/training and said their is City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 2 of 5 Pages no firearm training program, officers qualify once annually, qualification is not training and training is not qualification, motor skills are perishable, developed skills creates capability and contemporary agencies train/qualify four times per year. He said they now have two weeks on the range for two training days and two qualifications. He said they have one remedial day per month and that allows them to concentrate on pistol only. He spoke about rifle training and how retraining will take eight weeks minimum He spoke about he would not be able to get eight weeks at the range. He continue to speak about the schedule for rifle training as well as more advanced training he would like to provide for the officers. He spoke about the cost of a firearms range and noted it is about $2 to $3 million for a new range. He spoke about the trouble of using other ranges and not wearing out your welcome, noise and safety. He showed Council a concept of a hybrid range. He said something like a regular range could never happen in the City and added indoor ranges are incredibly expensive He showed Council a picture of a hybrid range and described this type of range for the Council and why it would be doable He is asking for some open dialogue from the Council. He noted they are master planning the facility and noted he wants to know if it is a feasible option to put a hybrid range on the new PSOT Complex He opened the meeting up for comments and concerns. Sattler said it is interesting the Chief brings this up today because he noted he discussed the shooting range with the County Judge. He spoke about the facility in Florence and how it is in an overflow state. He said he would support a range if the right planning and land is in place. Gonzalez said he thinks it is a good idea and he thinks while joining and partnering is important, we have to reach a certain level of self-sufficiency as a City. Berryman said she smells an opportunity and asked about renting out a future range for other entities. Nero said it is possible but added they would build it maintenance free. He noted it would not be a revenue generator like a fire academy. Mayor asked and Brandenburg said the thought was to test the waters tonight on this concept He noted the original plan does have an area that fits this concept. He said the thought was to come back on a future agenda with specifics. Mayor asked that staff go back and bring the fire range concept back for further discussion and review. There was much discussion. B Presentation and possible direction on policy guidelines for Parks and Recreation Fees and Cost Recovery -- Kimberly Garrett, Parks and Recreation Director With a Powerpoint Presentation, Garrett introduced the current Parks and Recreation Board members at the meeting. She said this process will focus on the methodology behind setting fees for residential and non-residential users of service. She provided some background on parks and recreation and noted citizens expect a certain level of services for their tax dollars and noted the parks offers services and programs above the basic. She noted citizens also support Parks and Recreation as demonstrated in the 2004 Parks and Recreation Bond election. She noted they recognized that not everyone wants to pay above the minimum She said they offer a variety of memberships, programs and facility rentals to both residents and non-residents. She said the City focuses on residents and added have priority to register for high demand programs like camp and swim lessons. She noted they also charge a higher fee for non-residents, which is something that has been done since 1995. She said the membership rates are set based on similar providers in the market She said the program fees are set based on costs and demands and added those fees are set to recover the costs. She spoke about the past operational cost recovery for recreation services and noted it has been about 56%. She spoke about the financial assistance piece for parks services. She spoke about Parks Bucks and how volunteer time at the rec center can be in exchange for up to 50% credit on membership. She spoke about the Friends of the Georgetown Parks and Recreation organization. She said the goal is to set a consistent differential between residential and non-residential rate. She noted staff would also like to determine a cost recovery target She showed Council a map showing the total parks and recreation usage by area She showed a graph of who uses the facilities and programs and noted most are from residents. She said, however, non-residents contribute 21-29 percent of the revenue as well. She showed Council the program registrations in 2011. She noted they looked at other communities and added rates for memberships are different due to different amenities. She noted the communities also did not have a consistent policy for resident/non-residents. She showed Council a graph of the family annual rate comparison to other communities in the area. She said the City staff has looked at the target market and users including seniors, families and youth. She said, between 2007 and 2011, there was an almost 10% increase in recovery rates. She noted the General Government and Finance Committee recommended having the target for the Overall Operational Recovery Rate as between 50 and 60%. She spoke about the recommendations for the resident versus non-resident rate. She said the committee recommended the resident rate for memberships be 75% of the non-resident rate plus or minus 10% depending on the current rate. She said, for other rates $50 or less, should be $10 higher. She said, for rates $50 or greater, the non-resident rate should be 25% more. She said they also looked at the target market. She noted the annual rates should be set to incentivize consumers over shorter term option. She spoke about offering a discount to consumers who use bank draft, which the City is able to do with the Parks and Recreation software. She said there was a contingency on the recommendation and noted the philosophies are written for annual feestrates. She said the parks board recommended an effective date of October 1, 2012. She provided Council with example membership rates. She City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 3 of 5 Pages spoke about the next steps and added it would be to approve the recommendation and incorporate this into the policy changes including the 2012/2013 budget and the fiscal and budgetary policy. She said there will be an annual review of these rates during the budget process. Mayor asked and Garrett reviewed the details of recommended policy that is included in the City Council packet Motion by Meigs, second by Hellmann to accept the Parks Board recommendations on the policy guidelines and to research options to incorporate an incentive to use bank drafts. Eason asked that Garrett reviewed why the City wanted to review these fees Eason spoke about the residents getting preference to use the facilities. Garrett noted this well help staff be able to justify the differences in fees. Sattler asked how these numbers compare to the YMCA. Garrett said the last time she looked at the YMCA memberships, they were higher. Berryman thanked Garrett for putting all of this together. She asked and Garrett said they have run preliminary numbers and the goal is for the revenue not to go below where the City is now Berryman agreed with Meigs and said the term incentive should be used instead of the word discount when referring to the bank draft option. There was much discussion. Vote on the motion: Approved 7-0 C Presentation of Information Technology (IT) major project status for the current fiscal year, and the IT Master Plan update for FY2013 -- Mike Peters, Information Technology Director and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer Peters provided Council with an update of the current IT structure. He spoke about the 2012 project status. He described what has already occurred in fiscal year2012, including the Laserfiche pilot, updated Library internet terminals, GPS devices to help with operational management of utility vehicles, upgrades, WiFi System on the square. He spoke to some of the larger projects that are still underway including Virtual Desktop Implementation, Outlook/Exchange Implementation, Tyler Content Manager, moving Boards and Commissions to NovusAgenda, the MyPermitNow system for Planning Department, Electric Construction Management System and Expense Report Management System. He said the 2013 budget process has already begun and spoke about the IT Master Plan Update. He said the two largest projects expected to move forward next year is the asset management system (AMS) and Laserfiche (Records Management) phased rollout of additional departments. He spoke about other projects in 2013 including a phone system software upgrade, interactive voice response (IVR) replacement, fire inspection system, City intranet, disaster recovery, Police Department and Fire Department staff scheduling, Contract Management System and routine upgrades including CAD/RMS. He described the IT initiatives beyond fiscal year 2013 including utilities customer information system, Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) replacement, enterprise Records Management (additional departments), AMS extension for transportation and internal work tracking system. Jonrowe asked about security and if there are regular security checks in place. Peters said the City uses the industry standard security product called Active Di rectory. He said, every couple of years, a penetration test is done where an outside corporation comes in to determine how easy it is for an outsider to get into the system He continued to describe the current security measures currently in place. Mayor asked and Brandenburg said a lot of this is spread over multi -years and multi -budgets. He noted, compared to other communities, the City has really improved the technology it has now compared to where it was Recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071 and 551.072 of the Local Government Code -- 5:02PM Returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:01 PM Awed Mayor DALE ZaS5 City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 4 of 5 Pages Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 06:01 PM. Attest: lzd�'a4 oa— n , (I Ci y Secretary Jessica Brettle