HomeMy WebLinkAbout00071530COUNCIL UPDATES
FROM: Tom Brymer, City Manager DATE: January 31, 2002
UDO Meeting Reminders- Here's the meeting schedule over the next few weeks regarding the
proposed UDO. Please note the change of location for the neighborhood focus meetings from
what was mentioned at the Jan. 10th Council Meeting. As in prior meetings, we won't post an
agenda for these meetings unless Council tells us that a quorum of the Council will be attending
any of these meetings. Please let me know if you have any questions.
• Feb. 1 Mtg. with Development Community
7:00 am, Council Chambers City Hall
• Feb 4 Mgt. with citizens with Neighborhood Interest
4:00 PM, Aidersgate Methodist Church
• Feb 5 Mgt. with Neighborhood focus again
6:30 PM, First Baptist Church College Station
CIGNA Update- 1 mentioned in the last Council Update we were experiencing problems with the
transition to Cignd for our employee health insurance coverage. Some things are improving, but
we're still experiencing problems related to Cigna putting our employees' enrollment information
into their computer data base. This has a huge impact because if one's name and information
isn't in the database, they are not being given the coverage the employee and we (if they have
dependant coverage) are paying for. Cigna has informed us that they brought on 3.5 million new
members (in the USA) on January 16t, so that is probably a big part of the reason we've
experienced the problems we have. They just weren't geared up to handle all of this new
business. Cigna is implementing a new computer system to speed up bill payments to doctors,
and this will eliminate the need for the number of customer service reps, and make payments
faster for doctors. Our goal is to have these types of problems fixed by Feb. 1 st
New School Projections- Our staff has been told by CSISD Supt. Steve Johnson that he
believes a new high school is more than 5 years off based upon current trends. He thought that 7
years might be the earliest a new high school is needed unless population trends change. A new
elementary school may be developed within the next 5 years. This is also based upon population
trends and will be dependent upon the school finance issues. This is an area to consider as we
plan for the next 5-year capital improvement program. It could be the site of a joint park as well
as a recreation center similar to the Neal Recreation Center in Bryan. It will also affect our 5-year
PARD Strategic Plan for park maintenance and for programs such as athletics, Kids Klub and
ra Education.
/Ix Status of Nartafie Ordinapce Revisions- This is something staff has been pursuing in order
for our ordinances to require the type of mixed-use development in Northgate that was
envisioned in the Northgate Redevelopment Plan. Development Services staff has worked on a
draft ordinance aimed at providing specific standards for how we would like to see Northgate
develop in the future. Our Economic Development Dept. staff has also been heavily involved in
this process. After the draft was completed, and initially presented to P&Z, it became apparent
that more work is needed on the ordinance. Specifically, areas in the draft ordinance that
needed additional work included development of architectural standards for the commercial
areas of NG, standards that would encourage traditional neighborhood development (TND), and
provisions that encourage mixed use development. Staff has been using Dan Sefco, of the
planning firm Dunkin, Sefco & Associates of Dallas, to review the ordinance before it is returned
to P&Z and eventually to Council. Once a good draft is ready, staff will be holding 2-3 meetings
with Northgate merchants, property owners, and other interested parties to solicit their input
before completing the ordinance review.
January MPO Meetina News- At their January 11th meeting, the MPO Policy Committee
approved a motion to allow Judge Jones to sign off on an advanced funding agreement with
TxDOT for the installation of traffic counters on University Drive. The MPO is still working out the
agreement with TxDOT. Michael Parks briefly mentioned the TxDOT frontage road policy