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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/25/2011 - Workshop Minutes City Council Cr' MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP CITY OF COLLEGE STATION AUGUST 25, 2011 STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF BRAZOS § Present: Nancy Berry, Mayor Council: Blanche Brick Jess Fields Karl Mooney Katy -Marie Lyles Julie Schultz Dave Ruesink City Staff: David Neeley, City Manager Kathy Merrill, Assistant City Manager Frank Simpson, Assistant City Manager Carla Robinson, City Attorney Sherry Mashburn, City Secretary Tanya McNutt, Deputy City Secretary 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 Nancy Berry at 3:10 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2011 in the Council Chambers of the City of College Station City Hall, 1101 Texas Avenue, College Station, Texas 77842. 1. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on items listed on the consent agenda. Mayor Berry noted that items 2c, 2h, and 2i have been removed from the Consent Agenda by staff and will not be acted upon. Council asked for items 2b, 2e, and 21 to be pulled for discussion. 2b: Chief Capps reported this removes jitneys from the exemptions, and jitneys will be required to follow the same regulations as taxis. WKSHP082511 Minutes Page 1 2e: Chuck Gilman, Director of Public Works, stated this has always been a separate contract for body work related to minor damage. 21: Jeff Kersten, Chief Financial Officer, reported that the RFP process broke the services out to provide more cost effectiveness for copying and printing services. 2. Presentation, possible action, and discussion regarding a Landfill Gas Purchase Agreement with the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency, Inc. (BVSWMA) in partnership with the City of Bryan. David Massey, Director of Electric Utilities, reported this is a three -party agreement. Bryan and College Station are the buyers and BVSWMA is the seller. This agreement has already been approved by Bryan and BVSWMA. Bryan and College Station will be responsible to get their permits. Emission credits will be shared 50 -50 between the buyers and sellers. Buyers will pay for and construct the generation plant. This is a 25 -year agreement, and all gas should be used by that time. There is a minimum quality of gas required for which buyers will pay. Buyers may improve collection systems. There is no limit on how long it will take to design and build. The target cost of electricity is 6- 7cents per kilowatt hour. The cost of generating units could be a deal breaker. Bryan and College Station will share an output of 1.4 megawatts each. He reiterated that the contract is for 25 years, and the gas should last approximately 20 years. The engineering/procurement contract is with Ameresco. We will need to execute an ILA with Bryan for maintenance and operations. 3. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on the FY 2011 -2012 Proposed Budget. Jeff Kersten, Chief Finance Officer, provided a budget review that summarized many of the areas of discussion from the budget workshops. Some of the revisions directed by Council included: • Move $100,000 of funding for the Arts Council Affiliates from the General Fund to the Hotel Tax Fund. • $35,000 is proposed to be added to the General Fund for costs associated with the Special Election in November. The following areas will require additional review and direction by the Council: • Research Valley Partnership Funding • Hotel Occupancy Tax Funding Allocation Proposed fiscal and budgetary policy changes include electric transfer policy and revenue recovery percentage for user fee programs. Council requested information on several items during the budget workshops, and that information was delivered to the Council in a separate packet. This information was for: • Council Office budget detail • Lion's Club July 4 celebration • Keep Brazos Beautiful budget detail fir► • Total Arts Council of Brazos Valley funding comparison. WKSHP082511 Minutes Page 2 Public Hearings are scheduled for September 8, and the budget and tax rate adoption is �r scheduled for September 22. He reminded Council that at the August 18 budget workshop, the Council discussed the tax rate and provided direction that there was no desire to consider a tax rate above the effective tax rate, which would require additional public hearings. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Mayor Berry and a second by Councilmember Brick, the City Council voted seven (7) for and none (0) opposed, to reduce the Council budget by $14,000 to specifically exclude professional services and attendance and travel at TML and NLC, and amended to exclude these line items for one year only. The motion carried unanimously. During the general budget discussion, Council requested clarification from staff on the half -time position related to the Heritage programs and Keep Brazos Beautiful. 4. Presentation, possible action, and discussion regarding Northgate District Operations including the parking garage, other parking assets, and the Northgate Parking Enterprise Fund. Bob Cowell, Director of Planning and Development Services, reviewed the enterprise parking fund performance and discussed the management of the Northgate assets. The City's role is to spur development in the district. It also facilitates responsible land use planning and fosters mutually beneficial partnerships with Northgate stakeholders. The garage provides reasonable access to affordable parking in a high density area. It encourages alternative public parking L practices and preserves the quality of life in the community. Mr. Cowell provided a brief overview of the rate structure and touched on the rate changes based on the Memorandum of Understanding. Service enhancements were made in the spring, including realignment of the contract dates /terms, continuing an ongoing advertising campaign, and implementation of an online purchase system. They have also implemented pre -paid "zip pass" sales at the garage. Surface lot transactions have remained unchanged. Street meters have experienced a slight increase due to their convenience. Rates have changed too often to establish a reliable trend analysis. The usage trend has not changed significantly. The advertising campaign has been a success as new garage contracts have significantly increased. The most significant change was with the non - parking operations. Non - parking related costs account for 36% of the total operations expense. There are some capital needs in the area: garage repairs, security and operational enhancements, equipment replacement, and surface lot rehabilitation. He summarized the parking fund to state the revenues are meeting non -debt expenditures. The non- parking revenues need to service non - parking district operations. The fund should begin to normalize in FY12 with debt service costs decreasing by FY18. Staff recommendations are: • Defer discussions of privatization until asset improvements have been made and cash flow reporting is consistent. • Develop multi -year CIP for assets. • Explore with NDA other stakeholders the potential to manage district as an Improvements District. L • Explore options other than the General Fund to cover non - parking district expenditures. • Maintain garage and surface lot rates. WKSHP082511 Minutes Page 3 t hw • Make all street meters free between 5pm — 7am, except on game days when rates will be at regular level. Benchmarks should be established and monitored on a regular basis. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Councilmember Lyles and a second by Councilmember Mooney, the City Council voted seven (7) for and none (0) opposed, to accept staff's recommendations as presented. The motion carried unanimously. 5. Presentation, possible action, and discussion regarding the Convention and Visitors Bureau Audit Report. Ty Elliot, Internal Auditor, presented the CVB Audit. He provided a quick overview of the HOT fund. There is $4.8 million in reserve. 52% of the HOT fund goes to the CVB. The City of College Station funds 78% of their operations. There were two audit objectives: does the CVB fulfill their contractual obligation by submitting performance and financial reports in a timely manner; and are there adequate controls to prevent fraud, wasteful spending, and monetary abuse. Performance measures included such things as the number of events booked, definite number of room nights, total event attendees, and total estimated spending. In FY10, the total estimated spending was $29 million. The methodology used to estimate spending has some weaknesses. The methodology difference was the CVB used attendees and days. There was non - statistical sampling, and they made population inferences. There was selection bias; they chose non - representational events. There was a lack of consultant independence; the CVB controlled the scope of the work. $29 million was for total direct impact spending, but the events the CVB actually directly impacted showed a maximum of $7 million and a minimum of $4 million. The Return-on- Investment from FY10 showed that for every dollar given to the CVB, the City got back $0.16. The possible Return -on- Investment for HOT dollars was $0.24. There were also some financial control deficiencies: inadequate separation of duties and management oversight; HOT fund expenditures on alcohol, gifts, entertainment, and parties; insufficient documentation of purchases; and inadequate check control processes. Some staff recommendations were: • The CVB should not use City HOT funds to hire consultants for the purpose of influencing City policy decisions. • The CVB should update their performance measures and increase their efforts to collect reliable and accurate data. • Management should develop more comprehensive written policies and procedures. • Employees should be required to submit adequate documentation of purchases and expenses. MOTION: Upon a motion made by Councilmember Fields and a second by Mayor Berry, the City Council voted seven (7) for and none (0) opposed, to accept the Audit report. The motion carried unanimously. L WKSHP082511 Minutes Page 4 6. Council Calendar New • September 3 Skate Park Grand Opening at 1520 Rock Prairie Road, 5:00 p.m. • September 5 City Offices Closed - HOLIDAY • September 8 City Council Workshop and Regular Meeting 3:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. Council reviewed the Council calendar. 7. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on future agenda items: a Council Member 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. Councilmember Lyles said she would like to discuss a funding policy that any time the City contributes over $100,000 then the funds must be audited. It was decided that this could be addressed in the Audit Committee Plan of Work. Councilmember Fields requested an item to discuss the Chimney Hill property and what it would take for the City to divest itself of the property. 8 Discussion, review and possible action regarding the following meetings: Animal Shelter Board, Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, Audit Committee, Bicycle, Pedestrian, and Greenways Advisory Board, Brazos County Health Dept., Brazos Valley Council of Governments, Brazos Valley Wide Area Communications Task Force, BVSWMA, BVWACS, Cemetery Committee, Code Review Committee, Review Board, Historic Preservation Committee, Interfaith Dialogue Association, Intergovernmental Committee, Joint Relief Funding Review Committee, Landmark Commission, Library Board, Mayor's Council on Physical Fitness, Mayor's Development Forum, Metropolitan Planning Organization, National League of Cities, Outside Agency Funding Review, Parks and Recreation Board, Planning and Zoning Commission, Research Valley Partnership, Regional Transportation Committee for Council of Governments, Signature Event Task Force, Sister City Association, TAMU Student Senate, Texas Municipal League, Transportation Committee, Zoning Board of Adjustments. There were no updates. 9. 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 5:34 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2011 in order to continue discussing matters pertaining to: A. Consultation with Attorney to seek advice regarding pending or contemplated litigation; to wit: WKSHP082511 Minutes Page 5 • City of Bryan's application with TCEQ for water & sewer permits in Westside /Highway 60 area, near Brushy Water Supply Corporation to decertify City of College Station and certify City of Bryan • Clancey v. College Station, Glenn Brown and Kathy Merrill, Civil Action No. 09 -CV- 01480 • Rachel Rahn v. Alma Martinez, The Arkitex Studio, Inc. et al, cause No. 09- 000656- CV361 • Chavers et al v. Tyrone Morrow et al, No. 10- 20792; Chavers v. Randall Hall et al, Case No. 10 CV -3922 • College Station v. Star Insurance Co., Civil Action No. 4:11 -CV -02023 • Woodruff v. College Station, Cause No. 10- 000515 -CV -272 • Ongoing criminal investigation of municipal court missing funds B. Consultation with Attorney to seek legal advice; to wit: • Legal issues regarding possible revenue sharing and legislation in bio- corridor • C. Deliberation Regarding Personnel; to wit: • City Manager The Executive Session adjourned at 6:57 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2011. No action was required from Executive Session. 8. Adjournment MOTION: There being no further business, Mayor Berry adjourned the workshop of the College Station City Council at 8:04 p.m. on Thursday, August 25, 2011. Au Alaimo Nancy Be y, Mayor ATTEST: Sherry Mas urn, City Secretary WKSHP082511 Minutes Page 6