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2017 05 25 WS MinutesMINUTES OF THE REGULAR WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN MAY 25 2017 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas met in a Regular Work Session on May 25 2017, at 5 33 P M., in the Hullum Conference Room of the Baytown City Hall. 2401 Market Street Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance Laura Alvarado Council Member Robert Hoskins Council Member Charles Johnson Council Member David McCartney Council Member Chris Presley Council Member Terry San Council Member Stephen DonCarlos Mayor Rick Davis City Manager Ignacio Ramirez City Attorney Leticia Brysch City Clerk Keith Dougherty Sergeant at Arms Mayor DonCarlos convened the May 25, 2017, City Council Regular Work Session with a quorum present at 5 33 P M. all members were present with the exception of Council Member Hoskins who arrived at 5:42 P M DISCUSSIONS Discuss the 2017 DirectionFinder citizen survey results Director of Strategic Initiatives, Nick Woolery presented the agenda item and stated that the City has conducted a citizen survey for the last five (5) years He further noted that Mr Chris Tatham with ETC Institute presented to the Council via conference call, the 2017 results Mr Tatham stated that the purpose of the survey is to give Council an objective assessment of what the residents feel about their community services and is also used to gather input from citizens about their priorities and helps track the city's performance over time He stated that in their national research they've found that only 3 4% of the public attend public meetings with most of the time their attendance being to receive or watch someone receive an award to complain about an item, to voice a concern or to recommend a change to the way the city does business He noted that the majority of citizens don't have the time or inclination to attend public meetings as long as quality services are being provided City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 25. 2017 Page 2 of 7 Mr Tatham stated that the overall survey methodology was very similar to what's been done in the past, but noted that because now people hardly answer their phones as opposed to five years ago, they're reaching out to residents by mail and email which is a more effective way of getting participation He noted that the goal each year is to have at least 400 residents complete the survey in which this year was 422 He stated that this gives a confidence level of 95% with a margin of error a plus or minus 4 7% which means that the survey was done 100 times and 95 times out of 100, got the same results within about 5% or less Mr Tatham noted that the major conclusions or the bottom line up front for flus year's survey was as follows • residents generally have a positive perceptron of the City and its services which is a tum in the positive from last year • the City is moving in the right direction, • the City has made significant improvements in parks and recreation library services and city communications • the most significant decrease in the survey involves satisfaction with drinking water services Mr Tatham further noted that the priorities moving forward, in which continues to be important is traffic flow/congestion management the maintenance of streets, and the addition of stormwater The perception of the City was the first major item discussed Mr Tatham stated that participants were asked to grade the City on a scale of 1 5 with (l) and (2) being negative, (3) being neutral and (4) and (5) being positive He stated that in the overall quality of City services, 63% of residents gave positive grades and only 9% were dissatisfied making the overall ratio of positive to negative be (7 1) He noted that the ratio was very strong and shows that the City generally has the confidence of most of its residents Mr Tatham stated that a place to live and the overall quality of life were generally high but some areas had more than 25% dissatisfaction, such as planning for growth, where you buy your next home appearance of the City and downtown, and the general value per taxes He noted that the percentages in the positive were greater than those in the negative resulting in the City being fairly healthy With regards to the overall satisfaction with major categones of City services, Mr Tatham stated that the services of Fire, EMS, Library, Police Parks as well as Trash/Recycling were very strong. He stated that of those services there was a very small margin of dissatisfaction and 30% or more with a rating of very satisfied resulting in the City having a very good brand which indicates that people feel really good about these services He stated that the items that had more than 20% dissatisfaction included traffic flow which was the biggest concern, maintenance of City streets which was at 34%, and the new line item of drinking water which had a 25% negative rating. The next major topic discussed pertained to how the overall satisfaction levels vary in different areas of the City Mr Tatham stated that they compiled color coded maps that identified the ratings in different parts of the City and noted that the majority of the City was in blue which City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 25, 2017 Page 3 of 7 meant that the people were satisfied He further noted that overall people had a positive view regardless to where they lived in the city The next topic discussed related to the areas with the highest and lowest satisfaction ratings Mr Tatham stated that the areas with the highest level of satisfaction were as follows • Fire services (86%) • Emergency Medical services (84%) • How quickly fire personnel respond to emergencies (83%) • Overall quality of local fire protection (83%) • Ambulance response time to emergencies (80%) • Overall helpfulness of library staff (80%) • 4th of July Fireworks (80%) He further noted that the areas with the lowest satisfaction ratings were • Traffic flow on major city streets (Transportation area) (13%) • Flow of traffic/congestion management in Baytown (220/.) • Thejob the city is doing to manage traffic (25%) • Level of public involvement in budget process (31 %) • Amount paid for the City's water (33%) • Enforcing cars parked in yards (33%) • Availability of sidewalks (33%) • Level of public involvement in decision making (35%) Mr Tatham further stated that one of the items that they've worked to identify in the last year was trends He stated that they created a comparison index which compiled all of the items that were accessed in the same areas from 2016 to 2017 He noted that overall the trends Baytown increased from 2016 to 2017 whereas nationally in most communities there were significant decreases He identified thirty six (36) statistically significant increases from 2016 to the present, some of which were • Level of public involvement in decision making (+l2%) • Level of public involvement in the budget process (+12%) • City's citizen newsletter The Bndge (+10a/o) • The quality of the City's web page (+10%) • Special events sponsored by the city (+90/.) • Number of walking and biking trails (+90/.) • Senior recreation opportunities (+9%) • City efforts to inform on local issues (+8%) • Availability of information about City programs and services (+8%) • Overall size of the library (+8%) • Overall quality/quantity of library programs for children (+8%) • The City's youth athletic programs (+8%) City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 25 2017 Page 4 of 7 • Quality of the city's indoor recreation facilities (+8%) • Quality of city aquatics programs (+8%) • He also identified only six (6) statistically significant decreases in satisfaction • Taste of tap water ( 8%) • Mowing/trimming along city streets and public areas ( 8%) • Water pressure on a typical day ( 6%) • Maintenance of stormwater ditches ( 5%) • Traffic flow in and around neighborhoods ( 5%) • Traffic flow on state highways ( 5%) After reviewing some trends and opportunities Mr Tatham summarized his findings and stated that most residents have a positive perception of the City and that the City is moving in the right directions He further stated that the City has made significant improvements in parks and recreation, library service and city communications, but did show a significant decrease in the satisfaction related to the City's drinking water services Additionally, he stated that in order to improve the overall satisfaction with City services the City should continue to work towards improvements in the area of high importance which were traffic flow/congestion maintenance of city streets stormwater and understanding the reason for the decrease in satisfaction in the drinking water services Mr Tatham noted that while the ratings for these were still low they're showing an increase from last year The Council discussed the ratings as it relates to street maintenance and traffic congestion as well as, the water pressure issues experienced around the city Mr Woolery stated that the City is taking a pro -active move towards identifying what are the issues related to the drinking water and water pressure He stated that he'll bring those findings to the Council once the targeted survey is completed City Manager Davis stated that the City will also conduct water pressure testing around the City to see if staff can pinpoint any issues that need attention He also complimented staff for their commitment to customer service and making the citizens experience with the City better as he believes this is why the scores were so high this year The Mayor and Council thanked Mr Tatham for his presentation and input Discuss city wide strategic initiatives Mr Woolery presented the Council with an overview of his main responsibilities and duties which included, (l) legislative affairs which include the coordination of legislation that impacts the City and overseeing the work related to the City's lobbyist (2) public affairs which is a two (2) person division that s responsible for communicating the city information to the public and works with the media on city related issues, (3) tourism which is a three (3) person division that's responsible for the marketing of Baytown to potential visitors and works with hotels and tourist venues to attract visitors to Baytown such as the ger, tour, and (4) the one (1) person City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 25 2017 Page 5 of 7 division of grants which is responsible for overseeing the City's grant applications and identifies potential grants in order to maximize the use of our tax dollars Mr Woolery stated that there are three (3) main initiatives related to public affairs and tourism which relate to (1) re-onenting the city communication strategies from print to electronic medias by piloting a new city e -newsletter beginning in lune and to moving towards more video based communications to better engage citizens (2) starting the new public art program by putting together the City's first Public Art Committee to begin the development of a city-wide public art program in which he noted that the idea for this year is to pilot a downtown outdoor sculpture exhibit which has been successful in other cities, as well as, bring in public art which will be exhibited for one (1) year to allow for public experience and then be changed out on a yearly basis to keep the public engaged He noted that he like to work with local artist to identify local murals and partner with the 2018 Photo Fest with hopes of bringing in lots of artist into the community He stated that the third initiative is related to Community Wayfinding which is signage that assists tourist and residents with finding our local attractions Mr Woolery stated that the Baytown Strategy and Innovation Map is leading the City towards a place where citizens will consider the City of Baytown to be pro active in dealing with issues know that employees are engaged and excited to come to work, have top employees in other cities wanting to come here continue to have top ratings for surveys, continue to grow public trust and be a city known for addressing and overcoming its challenges He noted that there are five (5) steps on the innovation map that will get the City to the already mentioned goals. Mr Woolery stated that the first item relates to the implementation of the City's five (5) year community based strategic plan in which the City is in the process of incorporating into the budget process this year, executing on those things that are placed in the budget, tracking the progress and performance, and validating those items through citizen groups such as the Citizen Advisory Committee Mr Woolery stated that the second item relates to prioritizing and nurturing the organization culture which is a huge endeavor He stated that in order to accomplish great things, the City must have an organizational culture geared towards excellence and treating people the right way He stated that the City is rolling out a new set of organizational values and purpose statement He stated that the leadership team worked for months in identifying as to who they wanted to be as a city and organization He noted that the new purpose statement for the organization was "Together We Enrich Lives and Budd Community" and the new values were caring innovation, stewardship collaboration and leadership Mr Woolery stated that the first and most important value is that of caring as without it nothing else works at its highest potential He stated the second value of innovation is geared towards making the City better by improving services for the city and the organization He stated that the third value is collaboration which is critical in working together in order to innovate and make big projects happen. He stated that the fourth value is leadership which means letting employees know that they have an opportunity to be a leader in their own way and make a difference in the community and organization Additionally he stated that the last value is stewardship which is being a good steward of public monies City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 25 2017 Page 6 of 7 Mr Woolery stated that Baytown yoU is a new training employee program that s currently being implemented to train and provide skills geared towards the five (5) core values He stated that there's not a designated trainer for this program but currently, a combination of people that have come together to get the program started He stated that Year One will provide innovation and excellence courses both in-person training and through the City's online intranet site He further stated that moving forward in Phase 11 the program will roll out courses that will assist in developing a lugh performance organization (i.e developing a high performance team legendary customer service, emotional intelligence running effective meetings, etc.) and build a culture of collaboration (i.e city government 101) Mr Woolery stated that Innovation is one of the core values being promoted through the innovation training He stated that a few months prior he and the City Librarian Jamie Eustace traveled to Denver, CO, to attend their world renowned black belt training He stated that they two (2) of them received all of Denver's training materials for their yellow green and black belt training classes which is focused on process improvements He noted that the yellow belt is the why of what we do and introduces process management to employees and the green belt is a four (4) hour course that gives entry level process improvement techniques. He stated that there will be 101 employees to complete the yellow belt training by the end of the month and 33 employees will have gone through the green belt training, which requires the implementation of one (1) innovation Mr Woolery stated that the black belt training is a more rigorous course that last an entire week and gets into the details of change management He noted that in order to complete the black belt course, an employee has to complete three (3) innovations He further stated that there are six (6) qualities linked to innovation that the City will need in order to get better which include the following leadership relentless creativity, extensive internal partnerships robust external partnerships authentic community connections and reality focused results driven Mr Woolery stated that the fourth item on the innovation road map is the utilization of technology and date to improve internal operations and public transparency He stated that there are four (4) items that the city is working on this year He stated that the first item is the follow up to the citizen survey, in which every year staff will analyze the results then develop strategies to address low -scoring areas and see how to remedy the concerns He stated that the second area is the CRM systems a system whereas a citizen can submit an issue to the city that staff can log in then manage that issue to its final point of reporting the resolution back to the citizen He stated that the City's current system allows a person to submit a concern online via mobile app or by calling or emailing assuming that they know who to contact He stated that staff will work on improving this system by improving the mobile app its website function and its interaction with other software to ensure that citizens have the best capabilities when communicating with the city Mr Woolery stated that the third area is the enhancement to the City's GIS system He noted that one (1) aspect of the GIS system is identifying capital projects, development projects or issues so citizens can review and identify the information on their own He stated that the last item being worked is asset management in which for a city of Baytown s size is an absolute need He stated that staff is working on the development of an internal system that will link to the GIS system and CRM system to document and track the maintenance of all City assets, from streets, vehicles equipment etc He noted that this program will also assist with maintenance schedules, replacement schedules and will provide critical control of the city's multi-million dollar assets City Council Work Session Meeting Minutes May 25 2017 Page 7 of 7 Lastly, Mr Woolery noted that the City has three (3) main projects that's in the works in order to continue its cooperation with local partners to accomplish city priorities which includes (1) partnering with GCCISD to develop a marketing campaign that highlights the unique aspects of the district to home builders famdies and other potential Baytown residents (2) partnering with United Way, Bay Area Homeless Services and local mental health organizations to fully assess and develop strategies surrounding homelessness in Baytown, and (3) continuing dialoguing with TCEQ about a PSLIP project that would provide grants to local homeowners to replace defective sewer lines utilizing fines from local industry City Manager Davis stated that staff will continue to work towards growing staff and the organization to build it into an elite organization. c Discuss any or all of the agenda items on the City Council Regular Meeting Agenda for May 25, 2017, which is attached below This item was not discussed ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss City Council Regular Work Session at 6:29 P M Led a Brysch City Clerk City of Baytown Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the May 25, 2017,