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Home My WebLink About05/25/1995 - Workshop Minutes City CouncilMayor LARRY RINGER Mayor ProTem LYNN MCILHANEY City Manager GEORGE I~ NOE COLLEGE STATION Council Members BILL FOX HUB KENNADY LARRY MARIOTF DAVID HICKSON NANCY CROUCH MINUTES WORKSHOP MEETING COLLEGE STATION CITY COUNCIL THURSDAY, MAY 25, 1995 4:00 P.M. COLLEGE STATION CITY HALL COUNCILMEMBERS PRESENT:Mayor Ringer, Mayor Protem Mcllhaney, Councilmembers Kennady, Fox, Crouch, Hickson, Mariott STAFF PRESENT: Interim City Manager Brymer, Public Utilities Director Woody, Executive Director of Fiscal/Human Resources Schroeder, Personnel Director Pavlinski, Asst. City Attorney Nemcik, City Secretary Hooks, Executive Director of Management Services Piwonka, Director of Economic and Development Services Ash, Asst. Director of Economic and Development Services Mayor Protem Mcllhaney called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. A.qenda Item No. 1 -- Discussion of consent and statutory a.qenda items on the reqular meetinq aRenda. (C-3) -- Consideration of a replat of Eastmark Subdivision Phase II, Block E, Lots 1 through 15, located on Kalanchoe Court iust south of the intersection of Col.qate and Cypress Drive. Brett McCully, Project Engineer explained that this replat includes 1.12 acres which are being resubdivided from 1.__~5 zero lot line lots into 5 R-3 lots to facilitate future duplexes. City of College Station Providing Customer Service Excellence City Council Workshop Meeting Thursday, May 25, 1995 Page 2 (C-4) -- Consideration of a replat of West Knoll, Section 2, Block 3 located between Medina and Dexter streets iust off of Southwest Parkway. Owner, Thomas Properties. Councilman Crouch inquired about the convenience of traffic for the residences in this development. Project Manager Brett McCully replied that he understood the desire to possibly connect south Dexter; however, this suggestion would not be connected to this particular replat process. (C-7) -- Call a public hearing for July 13, 1995 on proposed budget amendment 6, authorizing appropriation of $105,000 to pay legal fees and related costs associated with a joint action to collect delinquent franchise fees from General Telephone Company of the Southwest. Councilman Mariott remarked that he recalled the budget amendment to reflect $52,000 rather than $105,000. Mr. Schroeder replied that the resolution referred to additional funds per capita. The budget amendment includes the total amount, if necessary to allocate in the future. At this time however, only $52,000 is planned to be expended toward this project. Councilman Kennady confirmed that the amount shall not be higher than $105,000. (C-8) - Call a public hearinq for July 13, 1995 on proposed budget amendment 7, authorizing appropriation of $840,000 for purchase of apartments located at 1000 University Drive East. Councilman Kennady stated his opposition to the acquisition of this property. Agenda Item No. 2 -- Discussion of Wellborn Road Corridor Study. Mr. Elrey Ash addressed this item. He identified the date of the public hearing scheduled for May 30th at the Conference Center to hear public comments on the Wellborn Road Corridor Study. Phillip Russell of TXDOT presented information on the Wellborn Road Corridor Study. The Highway Department is renewing this process from "ground zero" and research all alternatives that both communities, Brazos County, TAMU, and the Railroad Commission would support. Additionally, the consultants hired by TXDOT, Lechleitner and Jamison, are performing a feasibility study. City Council Workshop Meeting Thursday, May 25, 1995 Page 3 Mr. Russell responded to councilmember's questions. He noted that $40 million is no longer available for this project. He also noted that the public's input is very important in the process. In regards to the time factor, the feasibility study may take approximately one year. If every entity supports one concept, the project might be let following the year 2000. Mayor Ringer remarked that he would hope the vehicular and pedestrian traffic within campus might be considered within the scope of the project. Councilman Crouch also added suggestions with respect to alternative ways of transportation, i.e. mass transportation system, subways. Councilman Kennady suggested discussions between the elected officials and the District Engineer to discuss the philosophies, political issues, and many other issues, as well as be informed. Councilman Crouch suggested that a joint meeting of all the entities might be a preferred option in order to eliminate any misconceptions by the elected officials. Mayor Ringer thanked Mr. Russell for his informative presentation about the current state projects within the region. A.qenda Item No. 3 -- Discussion and direction by Mayor and Council on the proposals contained in "Re-Enqineerinq to Meet the Future" presented to Council on May 10, 1995. Comments were made about the proposed budget "cuts" with regards to a particular fund, stand by pay. Councilman Crouch expressed her philosophy with regard to providing the same or better service at a less cost. Councilman Kennady agreed. Councilman Mcllhaney expressed concern that the team (council and staff) has not emphasized innovation. In other words, decide on the outcome, and develop ways to achieve the result. She stressed the budget process should not be a department to department competition to seek funds, the process should involve the council and staff working together to provide services for the citizens in broader terms. City Council Workshop Meeting Thursday, May 25, 1995 Page 4 Councilman Hickson mentioned that the staff has not made efforts to "re- engineer". He defined "re-engineering" to specify what can we do to increase our services with the same cost incurred now. He added that it is important for a city to re-evaluate their budget process every five years. Councilman Fox concurred with Councilman Mcllhaney's comments with respect to the lack of innovation. He hoped the staff could bring about much more innovation and ingenuity in the process. Councilman Crouch commented that the performance measures were interesting; however, the staff reports did not include the viewpoint of the citizens. Councilman Kennady mentioned that one of management's responsibility is to empower managers who will automatically re-create and re-engineer. Mayor Ringer responded that the staff has done a good job to provide this information. He disagreed with the concept of reducing the budget just to "reduce the budget". He noted that the citizens appreciate the level of service they currently receive. The Council should take a serious look at the strategic issues because this budget addresses those issues, and staff has been innovative in this process. The staff's "plate" is full with the day to day work required. Councilman Kennady mentioned that the council has continuously asked staff to find ways to reduce the budget, the budget outcome was presented without any new changes to reduce the budget. Councilman Mariott stated that his vision of the budget process meant less cost with more staff production. Interim City Manager Tom Brymer stated that the staff embarked into a re- engineering of the budget process. He added that this booklet was prepared based on guidance received at a previous council workshop. Mr. Brymer complimented the staff for their hard work and cooperation with him on this effort. Councilmembers continued to emphasize the desire for innovation in this budget. City Council Workshop Meeting Thursday, May 25, 1995 Page 5 Councilman Kennady made a motion to direct staff to reduce the target budget by $400,000 which shall include those budget reductions not listed as impacts toward service, in addition to the target budget, set aside projected increased revenue in the amount of $150,000 related to the appraised values. Councilman Mariott seconded the motion. Councilman Crouch made a substitute motion to direct staff to find budget cuts that do not affect level of service, to implement creative re-engineering processes that perhaps impact cuts, and to incorporate customer needs and council issues in their decision making process. Her motion was seconded by Councilman Fox. Councilman Fox stressed the importance of added value to services. The substitute motion by Councilman Crouch carried by a vote of 5-2. FOR: Mayor Ringer, Councilmembers Crouch, Mcllhaney, Fox, Hickson AGAINST: Councilmembers Mariott and Kennady ARenda Item No. 4 -- ENDS STATEMENTS No discussion held on this item. A.qenda Item No. 5 -- Committee Reports: No discussion held on this item. A.qenda Item No. 6 -- Council Calendars Mayor Ringer reminded the council that the council meetings for July 27 and 28 will be cancelled due to the council attendance at AMCC Conference in Austin. A.qenda Item No. 7 -- Adjourn Mayor Ringer adjourned the meeting at 6:05 p.m. City Secretary Connie Hooks APPROVED: Mayo"~a~r~e"~