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2002 07 01 WS MinutesN MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN July 1, 2002 The City Council of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in work session on July 1, 2002, at 8:00 a.m. in the Hullum Conference Room of the Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas, with the following in attendance: Ronnie Anderson Coleman Godwin Calvin Mundinger Don Murray Scott Sheley Pete C. Alfaro Gary M. Jackson Ignacio Ramirez Gary W. Smith Absent: Mercedes Renteria III Council Member Council Member Council Member Council Member Council Member Mayor Interim City Manager City Attorney City Clerk Council Member. The meeting was opened with a quorum present after which the following business was conducted: Discuss City Council goals and objectives in conjunction with the 2020 Plan. Mayor Alfaro introduced the subject by stating that the 2020 Plan can be used to help Council find a common vision. Mayor Alfaro suggested the formation of three committees to assist Council in meeting their goals. The Community Appearance & Image Committee, the Youth Advisory Council, and the Municipal Court Committee. The Community Appearance and Image Committee can help emphasize the need to keep and maintain our community free of litter and other visual blight. The Youth Advisory Council should be organized before school starts and reports should be given to Council every quarter. The Municipal Court Committee will work with the Judges and staff for the efficient operation of the Court. Mayor Alfaro reminded the Council that attendance on committees is very important and each person considered for appointment should be reminded of the attendance requirement. Advertising for committee openings will be attempted through press releases to The Baytown Sun. Additionally, Mayor Alfaro proposed meeting with each Council Member in each district to communicate with the citizens. They can visit a street, meet with a civic association, or gather the citizens, as the Council Member prefers. A quarterly newsletter is also being considered, along with updates on the Internet. Page 2 of 5 Minutes of the Work Session —July 1, 2002 The Youth Advisory Council is intended to be composed of young persons, with the purpose of getting youth input on government. A retreat will be considered after completion of the budget process. Discuss City Council priorities for the fiscal year 2002 -2003 municipal budget. Mayor Alfaro reviewed the goals for the topic: 1) to review the last meeting and 2) to give staff guidance on the 10-12 top priorities. Interim City Manager, Gary Jackson, summarized the issues discussed. In new /expanded sources of revenue, there could be fees for implementing federal storm water standards. Some cities are creating a storm water utility, some use impact fees and some are absorbing the costs in the general fund. The revenue sources were reviewed. The industrial district agreement with ExxonMobil is in negotiation. This agreement sets the standard for other agreements. Negotiating for the City are Gary Jackson, Donna Sams, Bob Leiper, and Ignacio Ramirez. The significant issues in the negotiations are inventory values, the percentage of taxes paid, and the environmental clause. The proposed agreement has been compared to other industrial district agreements. Council Member Sheley expressed that the public is concerned that the City is not fairly compensated by the agreements. A strong negotiating team is needed. In response to an inquiry from Council Member Sheley, Donna Sams, Finance Director, replied that the portion of the budget provided through ad valorem taxes is comparable to other cities, however, other cities do not have Industrial District Agreements. Mr. Jackson reported that the other sources of revenue are sales and use taxes, licenses and permits, and charges for services. The Standard Building Code Congress, Inc. study recommended that a majority of costs for building inspection services be recovered from fees. There is room for adjustment. Mr. Jackson reported that in recent years adjustments have been made to the compensation packages for the non -civil service employees. Very few positions require adjustment. The Fire Department is under collective bargaining and a compensation analysis is mandated by the contract. A similar analysis will be conducted for the Police Department. In recent years, the merit increases have averaged 4.5 %. The staff is looking at other options, including a one -time merit payment. This could be a lump -sum payment that would not be a part of the base salary. Difficulties are expected in the next three budgets, due to Fire Department staffing and the loss of CCPD. Page 3 of 5 Minutes of the Work Session —July 1, 2002 Council Member Mundinger stated that the Council had worked hard on wage equity. The accomplishments must not be lost. Mayor Alfaro commented that the City must continue to reward good performers. Mr. Jackson and Bob Leiper, Assistant City Manager, discussed the various approaches to meeting the requirements for Fire Department staffing. Volunteers pose a liability issue due to differences in training and the requirement of the Charter amendment. The restrictions in civil service law are being reviewed. If overtime is used to provide staffing, the transitional overtime will be placed in an "overhead" account. This will allow it to be eliminated in following budgets. Mr. Leiper reported that the Legal Department has found that the restrictions on annexation apply if the annexation includes 99 residential units or more. If the proposed annexation includes less than 99 residential units, then the three -year restriction does not apply. Council Member Mundinger questioned whether annexation was a factor for the next fiscal year. He observed that no funding source was available to cover the expenses necessitated by the annexation. Council Member Godwin stated that the longer the City waits to annex, the more undesirable properties the City will annex. Mayor Alfaro stated that the Council goal appears to be to increase the current efforts in annexation. Mayor Alfaro inquired of the Council, if any of the items listed in the top 12 priorities should be removed from the ranking. Council Member Murray responded that animal adoption and animal control could be combined. He did not believe that Council intended more funding, rather wants staff to focus on the issue. It is a management priority. Council concurred that annexation is a management priority and a funding issue. Economic development and tax abatements are management priorities. Street maintenance is a funding priority. Mr. Jackson announced that Mr. Leiper is leading an effort to plan, schedule and implement the projects authorized in the bond program. Council Member Anderson excused himself from the meeting at 9:30 a.m. Mr. Jackson continued that the projects were at a bottleneck and a way must be found to move the project forward, as well as the day -to -day activities of the offices. A position is proposed for a construction inspector to help with the problem. The Council concurred that the first priority is the implementation of infrastructure improvements. The bond programs must be accomplished. Page 4 of 5 Minutes of the Work Session —July 1, 2002 The Clean City Commission is a management directive. Some additional costs can be anticipated. In animal control and adoption, Council urged outsourcing. Traffic enforcement is a funding priority. Downtown redevelopment is a management directive. Code enforcement and nuisance abatement is a funding priority. Employee recognition is a funding priority. Economic development and city marketing is a management directive and funding priority, with the Municipal Development District, the Economic Development Foundation and the City working together. The grants coordinator position is a funding priority. In response to a question about the First Responder Program, Mr. Leiper explained that the program puts trained medical personnel at the scene as quickly as possible. It has resulted in a very good CPR save rate and offset the need for ambulances. It has a low incremental cost. Efforts should be maintained. Drainage maintenance efforts should be maintained. The Recycling Center operation should be maintained. The Council recessed from 10:15 a.m. until 10:25 a.m. Mayor Alfaro asked Council to review the remaining priorities and determine if those numbered from 17 to 27 should be maintained and those between 43 and 50 should be reduced. The Council concurred that the priorities reflected Council's intentions, except that a Main Street Coordinator would be hired through Community Development Block Grant Funds, the Literacy Program should be given increased funding and Youth Sports electricity funding should be maintained. Mayor Alfaro suggested that each department be asked to review its duties and how it accomplishes its tasks and goals. The City Manager was requested to group the priorities by category. The top priorities of Council are infrastructure, image and beautification, annexation, personnel and economic development. Page 5 of 5 Minutes of the Work Session —July 1, 2002 Ap� Adjourn. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:52 p.m. ap,YTOItiN T G W. Smith t City Clerk