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Home My WebLink About08/13/2015 - Workshop Minutes City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP CITY OF COLLEGE STATION AUGUST 13, 2015 STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF BRAZOS § Present: Nancy Berry, Mayor Council: Blanche Brick Steve Aldrich Karl Mooney John Nichols Julie Schultz James Benham, via teleconference City Staff: Kelly Templin, City Manager Chuck Gilman, Deputy City Manager Carla Robinson, City Attorney Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Tanya McNutt, Deputy City Secretary 1. Call to Order and Announce a Quorum is Present With a quorum present, the Workshop of the College Station City Council was called to order by Mayor Berry at 4:04 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, 2015 in the Council Chambers of the City of College Station City Hall, 1101 Texas Avenue, College Station, Texas 77840. 2. Executive Session In accordance with the Texas Government Code §551.071-Consultation with Attorney and §551.074-Personnel, the College Station City Council convened into Executive Session at 4:05 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, 2015 in order to continue discussing matters pertaining to: A. Consultation with Attorney to seek advice regarding pending or contemplated litigation;to wit: • Bobby Trant v. BVSWMA, Inc., Cause No. 33014, In the District Court, Grimes County, Texas, 12th Judicial District • Juliao v. City of College Station,Cause No. 14-002168-CV-272,in the 272'1District Court of Brazos County, Texas WKSHP081315Minutes Page 1 • City of College Station,Texas,v. Embrace Brazos Valley,Inc., Cause No. 15-000804-CV- 85, In the 85th Judicial District Court, Brazos County, Texas. B. Deliberation on the appointment, employment, evaluation, reassignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public officer; to wit: • City Attorney • City Manager The Executive Session adjourned at 5:10 p.m. 3. Take action, if any, on Executive Session. No action was required from Executive Session. 4. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on items listed on the consent agenda. Items 2c and 2q were pulled for clarification. (2c): Mayor Berry directed that this item would be addressed later in the meeting. (2q): Jeff Kersten, Assistant City Manager, clarified the location of the MRC Senior Living Center. 5. Presentation,possible action, and discussion regarding the City of College Station Capital Plan. Donald Harmon,Director of Public Works,presented an update on capital projects at the Council's request, following the public meetings by the Citizens Advisory Committee. In the process, each department identifies its needs and prioritizes those projects. Projects may not be completed in the order of prioritization dependent on costs, available funding, design duration, etc. He noted that the draft capital plan does not include proposed bond projects. 6. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on the 2015 Bond Citizen Advisory Committee's prioritized project recommendations for the potential 2015 bond election and funding alternatives. Chuck Gilman, Deputy City Manager, provided an overview of the CAC's recommendations, staff's recommendations, and the advantages and disadvantages of the funding options available. Certificates of Obligation could be utilized for several projects: Greens Prairie Trail Safety /improvements; UPRR grade crossing at Capstone; FM2818 capacity improvements design; Holleman Drive South widening design; and Police Station design. Other projects could be paid with cash: traffic signals; sidewalks and oversized participation; system-wide park improvements; and a Community Center study. General Obligation bonds would be used for UPRR grade crossings and road improvements; neighborhood street WKSHP081315Minutes Page 2 improvements; Greens Prairie and Royder Road safety improvements; Holleman Drive South widening; and Rock Prairie Road improvements. Jeff Kersten, Assistant City Manager, stated that General Obligation Bonds require voter authorization through a Bond Election, which College Station has traditionally held. There is a cost associated with holding an election. The bonds would be issued over a multi-year period. As for Certificates of Obligation, Council can authorize the issuance of CO's.Notice of intent to issue CO's must be publicized 30 days prior to issuance; citizens may voice their opposition to issuance by petition. CO's can be issued over a multi-year period. The bond market does not consider CO's and GO's differently; the same bond rating applies, and they trade the same on the market. Three options were provided. Option 1 is to hold a bond election for the projects identified by the CAC and issue GO's. Option 2 includes issuing CO's,holding a bond election, and using cash on some projects, and consider the use of CO's or hold a bond election in 2016 for facility-related projects. Option 3 looks at issuing CO's and using cash on some projects, with a possible bond election or use of CO's in 2016 for facility-related projects. Staff recommends Option 3 -- issuing Certificates of Obligation for all of the transportation projects and the design of a Police Station; paying cash for sidewalks and oversize participation, traffic signals,system-wide park improvements,and the study/evaluation for a Community Center. Additionally, a bond election or CO's would be considered in 2016 for the Police Station, Fire Station, and/or a Community Center. This addresses the projects prioritized by the Citizens Advisory Committee and includes additional transportation projects. It also allows time to plan and design the police station and allows time to further study Community Center options. Council consensus was to go forward with staff's recommendation to proceed with Option 3. 7. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on the FY 2015-2016 Proposed Budget. Jeff Kersten, Assistant City Manager,presented the proposed FY 2015-2016 budget,which breaks down to$217,465,476 for Operations and Maintenance and$86,650,959 for total capital,resulting in a total proposed net budget of$304,116,435. Staff is proposing maintaining the current tax rate of 45.25 cents per $100 valuation. Budget workshop meetings are scheduled for August 17th, August 18th, August 19th (if needed), and August 20th (if needed) to review the proposed budget and the key budget decision points. Public Hearings on the tax rate are scheduled for September 2 and 10. The Public Hearing on the budget will be held on September 10. Adoption of the budget and the tax rate is scheduled for September 21. 8. Council Calendar Council reviewed the calendar. WKSHP081315Minutes Page 3 9. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on future agenda items: a Councilmember may inquire about a subject for which notice has not been given. A statement of specific factual information or the recitation of existing policy may be given. Any deliberation shall be limited to a proposal to place the subject on an agenda for a subsequent meeting. There were no future agenda items. 10. Discussion, review and possible action regarding the following meetings: Animal Shelter Board, Arts Council of Brazos Valley, Arts Council Sub-committee, Audit Committee, Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Greenways Advisory Board, Bio-Corridor Board of Adjustments, Blinn College Brazos Valley Advisory Committee, Brazos County Health Dept., Brazos Valley Council of Governments,Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce, Budget and Finance Committee, BVSWMA, BVWACS, Compensation and Benefits Committee, Convention & Visitors Bureau, Design Review Board, Economic Development Committee, Gigabit Broadband Initiative, Historic Preservation Committee, Interfaith Dialogue Association, Intergovernmental Committee, Joint Relief Funding Review Committee, Landmark Commission, Library Board, Metropolitan Planning Organization, Parks and Recreation Board, Planning and Zoning Commission, Research Valley Partnership, Research Valley Technology Council, Regional Transportation Committee for Council of Governments, Transportation and Mobility Committee, TAMU Student Senate, Texas Municipal League, Twin City Endowment, Youth Advisory Council, Zoning Board of Adjustments. Councilmember Brick reported on the Feast of Caring. Councilmember Mooney reported on the YMCA and the CVB. 11 . Adjournment There being no further business,Mayor Berry adjourned the workshop of the College Station City Council at 7:12 p.m. on Thursday, August 13, 2015. Nancy BerryU, Mayor ATTEST: \y/AdtAAArbA(0.6./(A". Sherry Masiurn, City Secretary WKSHP081315Minutes Page 4