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2005 04 14 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN April 14, 2005 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in work session on April 14, 2005, at 4:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas, with the following in attendance: Ronnie Anderson Council Member Sammy Mahan Council Member Don Murray Council Member Mercedes Renteria Council Member Scott Sheley Council Member Sheryl G. Ward Council Member Calvin Mundinger Mayor Gary M. Jackson City Manager Bob Leiper Deputy City Manager Ignacio Ramirez, Sr. City Attorney Gary W. Smith City Clerk. The meeting was opened with a quorum present after which the following business was conducted: Solid waste operations and contracts. Gary Jackson, City Manager, provided a history of the privatization of solid waste collection that began in the early 1990's. In July 2000, Waste Management was awarded the residential garbage collection contract. The price was $7.93 then and has risen to $8.31. The current rate is lower than the next lowest bid in 2000. The contract is due to renew this summer. Solid waste collection is an enterprise fund, separate for water and sewer. The fee for trash collection includes heavy trash pickup, which is done by the City. The Recycling Center is operated through a separate contract with Waste Management. It is open three days per week and is funded through the garbage fee. It costs $203,000 and recovers $20,000 in recyclables revenue. It is a very popular operation. The brush and limb service is offered one time each month. Each year 75,000 cubic yards are collected and chipped at the East District plant. The cost is $220,000. A proposal to privatize the chipping operation will be presented soon. The junk drop off operation collects 15,000 cubic yards each year. It is open three days per week. A $10.00 annual permit is required. The cost is $220,000 with revenue of $21,000 from the permits. Next year's budget will see a proposal to expand the program. Page 2 of 6 Minutes of the Work Session — April 14, 2005 The City has a good relationship with Waste Management. They are very responsive to the citizens. A proposal from Waste Management will be presented at a future meeting. The contract may be awarded without competitive bidding. Fred Pack, Director of Public Works, commented that Waste Management provides excellent service. Supervisors check two times each day and handle any complaints immediately. The City has had a good experience with Waste Management. Receive report and discuss Street Bond program. Mr. Jackson reminded Council that Pate Engineering, Inc., had been retained for Year 3 of the Street Bond Program. More details become apparent as the program is developed. Information on drainage and the location of water and sewer lines is more precise. It is critical to address drainage to provide for the longevity of the street. Dave Hamilton, Pate Engineering, Inc., explained that as a cost savings measure, a preliminary survey was not done. Fifty percent of the plan has been designed and much of the detail has become apparent. Additional work will be required to properly construct the streets. This additional work, along with the increased cost of fuel, concrete, and other materials, has resulted in an increased estimated cost. The next step is to meet with staff to investigate cost savings for the program. In response to a question about the width of streets, Mr. Pack stated that a ten -foot lane must be maintained when cars are parked on the streets. Council Member Murray inquired about the cost savings and lost expenses if streets are eliminated from the program. Mr. Hamilton replied that the lost expenses would be a prorated portion of the engineering work done on all the streets. Approximately 65% of the engineering work has been performed. Engineering costs account for 10% to 15% of the total project cost. Asphalt is being considered due to the increase in the concrete prices. The plan is to bid in the alternative, asphalt and concrete. Concrete is recommended to match existing street surfaces. Mayor Mundinger suggested the expansion of the Year 3 budget at the expense of the Year 4 program. This will save the value of the expenditures heretofore made. Mr. Hamilton suggested splitting the Year 3 project into two bid packages. This will get the bids earlier and provide a means to control costs. City Web page demonstration. Asim Khan, Director of Information Technology Services, provided a demonstration of the new City web page. It has been a long -term goal of ITS to provide a user - friendly web page. The web page presents Baytown to the world. The new web page is state of the art with on -line forms, calendars, site search capabilities, and the ability to provide dynamic updates. Each department has provided current information and will be able to keep the information up -to -date. Page 3 of 6 Minutes of the Work Session — April 14, 2005 The web page is divided into seven areas of interest to assist visitors in quickly finding the desired information. Dorian Staten, Dennis Wells, and eSiteful are commended for their work in making the new web page a reality. The focus in the design of the web page was the visitor to the site. The top bar contains seven headings for the seven groups of interests that come to the site. Recent news is kept on the left side. The right side contains the featured item, main events, on -line services, related links, and contact information. Mr. Jackson noted that the web page would soon be expanded to include on -line water billing, permitting, and eGovernment. Mr. Khan stated that a new feature would be added to catalogue citizen calls to the various departments. This feature will provide a tracking mechanism and will show the historical data for each address. Discuss televising City Council meetings and rules for a municipal channel. Mr. Jackson explained that the policies and guidelines from eight cities were reviewed and condensed into the proposed rules for a municipal channel. The rules provide for the televising of only City Council meetings. The channel can be used as a governmental bulletin board. Parks & Recreation activities can be promoted on the channel. The channel can also be used to serve as an emergency network, providing information on disaster preparedness and other related information. Only a limited use is intended. There will not be a media department. Mayor Mundinger suggested delaying video streaming. The cable channel will be sufficient for the present purposes and the additional expenses can be delayed. Questions about maintaining decorum and preparing rules of conduct have been raised. The Council has rules of procedure and the rules control the actions of Council Members and citizens during the meetings. The Council has a duty to police its actions. Council Member Anderson questioned the value of the use of the tax money in providing televised City Council meetings. He raised concern over the expense of a media department. If the Council meetings are televised, why not televise the meetings of boards, commissions, and committees? Mayor Mundinger stated that he had talked to the Mayors of Pasadena and Galveston. Each supported televising City Council meetings. Council Member Anderson responded that he had gotten negative responses concerning televising City Council meetings from around the state. Council Member Renteria stated that emergency management broadcasts would be of value to the City and its citizens. Council Member Ward questioned the expense of replacing the audio equipment. Deputy City Manager Bob Leiper answered by stating that $5,000 was appropriated in the budget for the replacement of the audio equipment. The audio replacement is not part of the televising budget, but Page 4 of 6 Minutes of the Work Session — April 14, 2005 the replacement will be done at the same time as the televising equipment is purchased to assure that the equipment works together. Council Member Murray questioned the actual expenses that will be incurred in the operation of the cameras and dealing with the information placed on the channel. He anticipated that the citizens would expect a better use of the channel than simply televising City Council meetings. He asked all Council Members to enter into a mutual agreement to conform to the policies approved in the Council Rules of Procedure. He thought that changes to the rules might be appropriate and that Council should be willing to consider the changes. Council Member Sheley asked for further research and asked if the funding for televising could be used for another purpose. Discuss expenses and contracts related to the Long Neck Festival. Carl Burg, Baytown Outdoor, Inc., addressed Council and announced the new name of the festival, the Baytown Long Neck Wildlife Festival. The purpose of the festival is to promote the outdoor, recreational, environmental, wildlife, and natural resources of Baytown. There will be a direct economic benefit. Community spirit will be heightened. It will improve the City's image and will provide an opportunity for economic growth. The event will showcase the Wetlands Center, the Baytown Nature Center, and the City Hall/Community Center/N. C. Foote Park complex. There will be local advertising with signs in neighboring communities, television and radio advertisements, and handouts in the community newspapers that serve twelve counties. The educational and recreational areas will be open on Saturday and Sunday. There will be exhibits, play areas, live music, and food and drink booths. The cook -off and concert area will be open Friday through Sunday. There will be food and drink booths and headliner entertainment. The Long Neck Trek allows small businesses to be involved. So far, twenty-nine businesses are participating. Consumers will receive a passport and visit the participating businesses to collect 20 stamps. The passport will be turned in and be included in a drawing for prizes. Baytown Outdoor, Inc., has a nine - member board, with six associate members. There are seven committees with numerous volunteers from community organizations. Baytown Outdoor, Inc., has raised over $100,000 from sponsors. Waste Management will pick up the trash. The City has provided $27,000 in hotel occupancy tax funds. The City is providing assistance from the Parks & Recreation Department, the Police Department, the Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, the Public Works Department and other departments. Additional funding is being requested from the City. The festival will always require support from the City. Mr. Burg asked for each Council Member's support and encouraged all to view the festival website, www.longneckfestival.com. Page 5 of 6 Minutes of the Work Session — April 14, 2005 Discuss the future of the Harris County Organized Crime and Narcotics Taskforce. Mr. Jackson stated that several months ago, Police Chief Byron Jones and Police Captain Roger Clifford warned of the uncertainty of continued funding for the Organized Crime Unit (OCU). The OCU has been very successful in combating organized crime and narcotics. Last week the City received information that the funding was being discontinued. Chief Jones reported that the City had been the grantee for the OCU since the early 1970's. There are eleven member agencies. There are City of Baytown employees at the OCU with tenure of up to 27 years. Funding for the OCU also comes from Generated Program Income (GPI). The salaries of the employees are paid 75% by OCU funding and 25% by the City. There are also vehicles, gasoline, and cell phone expenses. The proposed federal budget combines Local Law Enforcement Block Grant Funds, COPS grants, and Byrnes Funds grants into Justice Assistance Grants. The proposed funding has been reduced by millions. In the next federal budget there is no funding for Justice Assistance Grants. One option is to continue operating the OCU under the grant through the end of September 2005 by using the remaining grant funds and GPI. At that time, 75% of all remaining funds would be surrendered to Austin with the grantee retaining 25 %. Under this option, an application could be made for future funding. The other option is to terminate the grant on May 1, 2005. No more grant funds would be sought. The grantee may retain the GPI and reach and equitable distribution of the assets with the other participating agencies. There is approximately $2,000,000 in GPI. The OCU Advisory Board recommended that the City take the second option. From the GPI, the salaries of the employees and officers assigned to the OCU would be paid at the same percentage through the end of September 2005. Any assigned vehicle or minor equipment would go with the employee to his or her original agency. After September, each agency would provide for the employees. The OCU will have close out costs for the office, evidence, and other expenses. Any remaining funds could be used to continue the employment of the employees. The close out costs are undetermined at this time. There is genuine concern over the future of the OCU employees. The loss of the OCU will cause a gap in law enforcement in the area. Mr. Jackson recommended Council consider the second option. Any remaining funds will be used to create a transition fund. During the regular meeting, Council will be asked to give direction. The action would return to the Advisory Board and the other agencies to work out the agreement. Chief Jones assured Council that the other participating agencies were aware of the situation and of the City of Baytown's investment. They had indicated a willingness to accept the salary continuation, vehicles, and minor tools as a reasonable division of the assets. Page 6 of 6 Minutes of the Work Session — April 14, 2005 0110� Discuss appointments. Confirmation of the City Manager's appointees to the Baytown Library Board. This item was not considered. Appointment to the H -GAC Flood Management Council. This item was not considered. Adjourn. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6' 11 — — tr