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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 05.25.2021 CC-WNotice of Meeting of the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas Tuesday, May 25, 2021 The Georgetown City Council will meet on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at 2:00 PM at Teleconference. 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 three (3) days prior to the scheduled meeting date, at (512) 930-3652 or City Hall at 808 Martin Luther King Jr. Street, Georgetown, TX 78626 for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. Mayor Schroeder called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m. The following Council Members were in attendance: Mayor Josh Schroeder; Amanda Parr, Council Member District 1; Shawn Hood, Council Member District 2; Mike Triggs, Council Member District 3; Steve Fought, Council Member District 4; Kevin Pitts, Council Member District 5; and Tommy Gonzalez, Council Member District 7. Rachael Jonrowe, Council Member District 6 was absent. All Council Members were present via videoconferencing and a roll call was performed. Policy Development/Review Workshop - Call to order at 2:00 PM A. Presentation, update and possible direction regarding the Charter Review Committee recommendations to date and possible next steps -- Skye Masson, City Attorney Masson presented and noted that the Charter Review Committee has met 6 times this spring and considered revisions to 11 sections of the City Charter. She noted that that the first recommendation was for Section 2.01. - Number, Selection, and Term of Office where the Committee recommended having Councilmembers serve (3) 3-year terms for a total lifetime limit of 9 years as a Councilmember, and as Mayor for (3) 3-year terms for a total lifetime limit of 9 years as Mayor. She added that currently the Charter has no restriction on terms for either Councilmembers or the Mayor. General discussion among Council about proper phrasing to allow for someone to serve three terms as Councilmember and three terms as Mayor. Council generally supported the term limits without limiting to "total lifetime" and allowing the voters a chance to vote on term limits. Masson informed Council that the Committee will meet one more time to produce a final recommendation. Masson reviewed the next recommendation for Section 2.02. - Qualifications where the Committee recommended an update to comply with State law and reduce restriction on subsequent City employment from two years to one year as referenced in the TML City Charter report. She added that relevant State law allows home rules cities to adopt age and residence requirements greater than those in state law, but such local provisions cannot require a candidate to be more than 21 on the first day of the term and cannot require residency in the district or the City for longer than 12 months immediately preceding election day; otherwise, the local provision is void, and the applicable statute would apply. General discussion among Council supporting the recommendations of the Committee. Masson reviewed the next recommendation for Section 2.03. — Vacancies where the Committee recommended filling vacancy of terms with less than 12 months remaining by Council appointment and without special election. She added that State law generally requires vacancies be filled by a special election, but a home -rule city can establish alternative if less than 12 months remain in the term. General discussion among Council supporting this recommendation, and options for the appointment process for filling a vacancy. Masson reviewed the next recommendation for Section 2.06. — Mayor and Mayor Pro Tern where the Committee recommended that the Mayor vote on all items considered by the City Council. She noted that current Charter language allows the Mayor to vote only when there is a tie. Mayor Schroeder respectfully disagreed with the recommendation of the Committee based on the number of Councilmembers and the potential for ties. He added that it could take away the Mayor's ability to run the meeting and remain neutral. General discussion among Council about leaving the language as is and not allowing the Mayor to have a vote. Masson reviewed the next recommendation for Section 2.09. — Rules of Procedure where the Committee recommended that all items require an affirmative vote of a majority of the Council present and voting. She added that the current language is potentially unclear of whether the majority requirement applies to entire Council including the mayor and those members not present. General discussion among Council related to the inclusion of the Mayor when referring to Council and how it effects the voting percentages and using the terms "present and voting' for clarification of who can vote. Masson reviewed the next recommendation for Section, 2.10. — Procedure to Enact Legislation where the Committee recommended the following: two readings required, but only one reading of the caption; notice of ordinances no longer published in newspaper instead require notice on City primary webpage or whatever is the primary City controlled contemporary means of information sharing; and remove the filing requirement in City Secretary's Office. She noted that the current language requires reading of caption twice, publication of caption at least 72 hours prior to first reading, and filing of ordinance in City Secretary office one week prior. General discussion among Council how many ordinance readings are required by law; putting second readings of ordinances on the Consent portion of the agenda; what constitutes the City's "main webpage"; and generally supporting the proposed suggestions of the Committee. Masson reviewed the next recommendation for Section 8.03. - Franchise; power of the City Council where the Committee recommended modifying publication requirement for franchise agreement and requiring posting on City's primary Internet webpage. She added that the current charter language requires publication of all proposed franchise agreements for four weeks in between first and second reading. Council had no opposition to the recommendation. Masson reviewed the next recommendation for Article IV. - Initiative, Referendum and Recall where the Committee recommended amending petition requirements for initiative, referendum and recall to specify that it requires signature of 15% of the voters who actually voted in the last municipal general election, but not less than 250 signatures. She added that current language requires 15% of the qualified voters in the last regular municipal election, but not less than 250 signatures. General discussion among Council related to having too low of a threshold for signatures could lead to lesser significant items to be easily placed on a future ballot; the desire to keep the term "qualified voters" in the Charter; if there needs to be numbers specific to districts for recall elections; and requiring a higher percentage of voters than 15%. After discussion it was determined that Council preferred to leave the language as is. Masson noted that there were no recommended changes but encourage continued efforts on transparency and making information easily accessible for the public for Article VI. - Finance. Masson reviewed the next recommendation for having a City Auditor where the Committee recommended City Council consider creation of an internal City Auditor position reporting to the City Manager. She added that this change does not require an amendment to the City Charter. General discussion among Council and staff regarding if this suggestion is applicable to the City; where best for this position to be located in the organization; and the existing city practices for auditing. Masson noted that there were no recommended changes to the Charter regarding date of general election for City councilmembers or mayor for Section 3.01 General Election. Masson noted that the Committee had the following further Charter sections for review: Article V Administrative Organization should be considered for an update and revision to language related to administrative divisions and departments and other administrative organizational provisions (City Manager's office); Section 6.04 Budget Amendments to consider an update and revision to language governing budget amendments. Morgan explained that the division and departmental language in the Charter is restrictive and limits how the City can adjust during growth. General discussion among Council and staff on what language is required related to departments and divisions, and how these additional items could affect a November 2021 ballot. Masson review the following Charter Election timelines: for November 2021 Election, a June 22, 2021 presentation of final report from Charter Review Committee, June 22 and July 13, 2021 Public Hearings on proposed amendments, and July 27, 2021 deadline for First Reading of the Ordinance for Charter Amendment Election; and for May 2022 Election a summer 2021 presentation of final report from Charter Review Committee, Fall/Winter 2021 Public Hearings/Input on proposed amendments, and January 25, 2022 deadline for the First Reading of the Ordinance for Charter Amendment Election. General discussion among Council supporting the Charter election go forward to meet a November 2021 election timeline. B. Presentation, discussion, and possible direction regarding the develop and implement centralized customer relationship management for city-wide customer service -- Laurie Brewer, Assistant City Manager Brewer presented the item and reviewed the current "Call/Contact Centers" and how they are decentralized, current ways customers contact the City, citizen phone calls (non-911 emergency) per month, the utility Customer Care/Public Works call center, types of calls received by Police Dispatch and Animal Services, the non -emergency - current systems to support customer service, current limitations, lessons learned from Winter Storm Uri, initiatives underway during Summer 2021, what 311 is (centralized citizen response management), differences in contact centers including public versus private, phases of 311 implementation, options and scoping of project, scoping project framework, scoping of project summary, and considerations for a centralized system. General discussion among Council and staff related to future implementation of a 311 like system. Council generally supported moving forward with this project. Mayor Schroeder recessed Workshop at 3:51 p.m. Mayor Schroder resumed the meeting at 3:59 p.m. C. Presentation and discussion regarding the 2021 Mobility Bond projects and schedule -- Wesley Wright, PE, Systems Engineering Director Wright presented the item and review the project limits, City's participation cost, and project description for Westinghouse Road, Sam Houston Avenue Extension/SE1/Wilco Corridor C, sidewalk, bicycle, intersection, and transportation technology allocations, SE Inner Loop, Austin Avenue Bridges, Rockride Lane, D.B. Wood Road, Shell Road, Williams Drive Central, Leander Road, and possible timing of all projects. David Morgan, City Manager provided further explanation and clarification on timing of projects, overall costs, and tax rate impact. General discussion among Council related to these projects being outside of the City's usual five-year CIP schedule; how the five-year CIP schedule works with the projects presented; possibly speeding up the pace of the projects; possibly contracting out the management of these projects; starting with projects that are construction ready; timing of Williams Drive and Austin Avenue Bridges; and making sure that Downtown is still accessible during construction of projects. Council generally supported completing projects sooner rather than later due to savings in cost and overall need to complete projects faster. Fought did express concern related to the trying to manage too many projects at the same time and the possible need to outside help to manage the projects. Triggs also cautioned delaying the Austin Avenue Bridges project due to the age of the structure and needs for improvements. E. Presentation and discussion regarding Distributed Energy Resources Application and Interconnection Fee Review -- Daniel Bethapudi, General Manager of Electric; and Schneider Engineering This item was taken after Item C. Bethapudi presented and reviewed the DER interconnection process and possible improvements. He then turned the presentation over to Ramsey Cripe with Schneider Engineering who reviewed the background; fee study methodology; application inspection and approval; installation inspection and meter installation; and additional inspection instance. He then provided the following recommended service fees: application inspection and approval costing $250.00; installation inspection and meter installation costing $450.00; and additional inspection instance costing $150.00. Cripe provided a fee comparison with the following entities: Pedernales Electric Cooperative; College Station Utilities; Central Texas Electric Cooperative; Bryan Texas Utilities; Bartlett Electric Cooperative; and New Braunfels Utilities. He noted the Electric Advisory Board recommendation to the Council was to adopt the new fee structure as discussed at their May 20, 2021 meeting; and staff recommends accepting the new fee structure for new DER interconnection applications with a tentative start date of July 1, 2021. General discussion among Council and staff related to the effects on current solar customers; how customers' solar panels interact with the City's grid; and if current installations meet City standards; and need to verify that installations are done safely. D. Presentation, discussion, and possible direction regarding a Contractor Registration Program -- Glen Holcomb, Chief Building Official This item was discussed after Item E. Holcomb presented and reviewed what the City presently requires of all contractors; what other communities require for contractor licensing; the impact of a more robust Contractor Registration Program; staff impacts from a change to the existing Contractor Registration Program; and based upon the research conducted by staff, if Council desires to implement a more robust contractor/roofer registration program. He then asked for the following Council feedback and direction: scope of registration and if Council desires to a) Maintain current registration Program, and if so with what changes; or b) Implement a more robust Contractor Registration Program, and if so, should it be all contractors or roofing contractors (narrow); should registration be one-time or recurring, and if recurring, how frequently; for registration fee, does Council want to have a one-time registration fee or a recurring fee; for inspections, does Council want the program to include contractors are closing out their permits; for background checks, does Council want background checks to be conducted of contractors, and if a negative issue is found, does Council want to authorize Chief Building Official to deny permits or registration; and for enforcement, if registered contractors are not complying with pulling permits or closing out permits or an unregistered person working without a registration or permit, does the Council want to temporarily not allow contractors to pull more permits until they comply on past permits. Holcomb provided proposed next steps. General discussion among Council and staff regarding possible benefits of implementing a program and the impact on citizens; if paying a fee would be a deterrent for "fly by night" contractors; the low number of complaints received by the citizens; unpermitted or uninspected roofs; the large number of roofs needing to be inspected currently due to growth; what can be done to stop "fly by night" contractors; what prevents permits from being issued under the City's current code; and concerns with adding extra work to staff. Mayor Schroeder asked if Council would be willing to review proposed program. Hood asked if the problem was enforcement. Mayor Schroeder noted that if a citizen is complaining about people illegally knocking on doors, that's not part of the purview of the Inspections Department. Morgan responded that those types of complaints would be handled by the Police Department. General discussion among Council and staff regarding existing programs for registration; providing staff the ability to deny permits to habitual offenders; who would verify the registrations; the need to educate residents on best practices; how this could impact general contractors; how hail storms can produce problems; how permits are called in; reasons why a registration could be pulled; and if the issue could be addressed when hail storms happen only. Mike Pickel, with Texas Traditions Roofing, addressed the Council about how the roofing community wants to help citizens work with quality professionals. Mike Cochran, with Apex roofing, addressed the Council and noted that someone doing business with the City will need insurance and having that requirement would not necessarily be a burden to Inspections Dept. He added that he wants a level playing field and to protect the citizens and a registration fee may help with that. Discussion among Council and the roofers regarding having a list of contractors that have good standing with the City; how bad weather events will affect customers and response; and the possibility of requiring fingerprinting for contractors. Mayor Schroeder noted that there is no clear consensus of Council and asked that staff come back to Council with possible options. F. Presentation and discussion regarding the proposed changes to the Downtown and Old Town Design Guidelines -- Britin Bostick, Downtown and Historic Planner and Nat Waggoner, Long Range Planning Manager This item was not taken up for discussion due to time constraints. Mayor recessed at 5:22 p.m. for Executive Session to start at 5:30 p.m. 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. G. 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 Sec. 551.086: Certain Public Power Utilities: Competitive Matters - Competitive Matters — Purchased Power Update Adjournment the Georgetown City Council on �Cku 9 Date :r, May Attest: City ecretary