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Home My WebLink About02/15/2016 - Special Minutes City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL RETREAT CITY OF COLLEGE STATION FEBRUARY 15. 2016 STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF BRAZOS § Present: Nancy Berry Council: Blanche Brick Steve Aldrich, arrived after roll call Karl Mooney John Nichols Julie Schultz James Benham City Staff: Kelly Templin, City Manager Chuck Gilman, Deputy City Manager Jeff Capps, Assistant City Manager Jeff Kersten, Assistant City Manager Aubrey Nettles, Assistant to the City Manager Carla Robinson, City Attorney Mary Ann Powell, Deputy City Attorney Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary 1. Breakfast 2. Call to Order and Announce a Quorum is Present With a quorum present, the Retreat of the College Station City Council was called to order by Mayor Nancy Berry at 8:25 a.m. on Monday, February 15, 2016 in the Carters Creek Training Room, 2200 North Forest Parkway, College Station, Texas. 3. Introduction and Retreat Process 4. Goals of the Retreat. Items 3 and 4 were taken together. Kelly Templin, City Manager, presented a brief overview of what was hoped to be accomplished. He noted that we do not reference our Comp Plan often RTRT021516 Minutes Page 1 enough. He hopes that this process will allow for a Plan of Work that can be passed on to the next Council. The idea today is to arrive at a consensus on several major issues. The retreat will culminate in a discussion of the budget and how these major projects will be funded. 5. Presentation, possible action and discussion of current and future City Facilities. The 2015 Bond Citizen Advisory Committee Project Prioritization list was distributed. • Construction of a new Police Station was discussed, specifically square footage build-out and site location. • A future City Hall and possible site locations were also discussed. There are location options that we own outright, own over time, or lease space. • Veterans Park and the Southeast Community Park were discussed. It was noted that we need to work toward more baseball fields to take advantage of those types of tournaments. • Fire Station #7 was briefly discussed, related to the O&M and and the future nearby development by CSISD. A possible location west of the railroad tracks in Wellborn was brought up, but it was explained that most of the service area is on the east side. • The Community Center was briefly discussed. In addition to a Senior Center, it was requested that there be adequate meeting space for the broader community as a whole. Space for a catering kitchen was also suggested. 6. Presentation, possible action and discussion of current and future Infrastructure Needs. Dr. Gaines was quoted, "Transportation is key to economic development." • The CIP CAC developed a project map of proposed transportation improvements costing $120 million. The City has committed to funding$50 million of the$85 million prioritized projects. • Impact fees for water and sewer were discussed. • Chuck Gilman, Deputy City Manager, updated the Council on current projects. 7. Presentation, possible action and discussion of current and future Staffing & Employee Compensation. Mr. Templin noted that additional staffing needs must be addressed to accommodate the growth the City is experiencing. We have to expand every level of the organization to meet the needs. $641,000 is budgeted to handle Phase 1 of the compensation plan. Salaries and benefits comprisev75% of the budget. There was some discussion on outsourcing. 8. Presentation, possible action and discussion of the City's Economic Development Program. Natalie Ruiz, Director of Economic Development, said that jobs creation is the City's number one focus, with improving the overall level of property tax second. Retail tax is strong; 41% of our income comes from sales tax. Tourism (HOT funds) is the fourth focus. RTRT021516 Minutes Page 2 Jobs creation was farmed out to the RVP as a more regional effort for both cities and the county. They cannot focus on one city or the other. She asserted that the City needs to be more aggressive for jobs for College Station, perhaps by establishing our own economic development corporation. The City has also become more aggressive with property tax by forcing change in those areas that have not developed over time. The top three things the City needs to do are look at the funding infrastructure for the industrial park, look at underdeveloped/underutilized sites and learn why they are so, and form an EDC. A fundamental question is if an R&D corridor is the way to go. The City needs to fix those broken sites with zoning or infrastructure, determine the funding for an industrial park, form an EDC, and marketing with new marketing material. Strategically,we need to be laser focused on determining our target industries. Another strategy is to partner with TAMU to align incentives for one or two projects. 9. Executive Session In accordance with the Texas Government Code §551.072-Real Estate, and §551.087-Economic Incentive Negotiations,the College Station City Council convened into Executive Session at 12:18 p.m. on Monday, February 15, 2016 in order to continue discussing matters pertaining to: A. Deliberation on the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property; to wit: • Property located generally southeast of the intersection of Texas Avenue and Francis Drive in College Station B. Deliberation on offers of financial or other incentives for a business prospect that the Council seeks to have locate, stay or expand in or near the city; to wit: • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally southeast of the intersection of Texas Avenue and Francis Drive in College Station. • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally southeast of the intersection of Harvey Mitchell Parkway and Wellborn Road. • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally at the intersection of Texas Avenue and Brothers Boulevard. • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally at the northeast corner of University Drive and South College Avenue. • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally northeast corner of University Drive and Tarrow Street. • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally at the northeast corner of Raymond Stotzer Parkway and SH 47. • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally at the northeast corner of University Drive and Nagle Street. • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally at the northeast corner of University Drive and Jane Street. • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally in the 2500th block of Earl Rudder Freeway. RTRT021516 Minutes Page 3 • Economic incentives for a proposed development located generally at the northeast corner of Harvey Road and Earl Rudder Freeway. The Executive Session adjourned at 1:29 p.m. No action was required from Executive Session. 10. Presentation, possible action and discussion of the City's Budget & Budgeting Process. Mr. Templin noted that everything already discussed today had budgetary implications. He requested direction on how the budget process should work this year. Councilmember Schultz said she hoped the compensation study will assist in avoiding the compensation controversy that occurred last year. Councilmember Aldrich asked for budget alternatives, based on current tax rate, the effective tax rate, and the roll back rate minus a quarter, in order to better address budget priorities that, otherwise, might not be considered. Councilmember Benham said he would like to see a strategy-based budget. It should be based on what we want our city to be and what we really need. 11. Presentation, possible action and discussion of the City Council Goals for 2017 and beyond. Mr. Templin asked for a list of things Council wants to see: FY2016 • EDC formed and appointed • VPAC two-field design • Annexation (amending chapter 8 of the comprehensive plan) • Water/wastewater/transportation impact fees • Road design standards • Unrelated and code enforcement update FY2017 • Start construction of Public Safety building • Issue design contract for City Hall • VPAC begin construction • Start design work on new city website • Design for Birkdale extension • Consultant for review of Comprehensive Plan • Southeast Park design • AMI implementation • Complete exempt annexations FY2018 and beyond • Complete Public Safety building construction • City Hall begins construction RTRT021516 Minutes Page 4 • Fire Station#7 • VPAC fields 14&15 completion • Southeast Park construction 12. Adjourn. MOTION: There being no further business, Mayor Berry adjourned the Retreat of the College Station City Council at 3:07 p.m. on Monday, February 15, 2016. Nancy Berry, Mayor ATTEST: hitta/044"--. Sherry M+ hburn, City Secretary RTRT021516 Minutes Page 5