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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03/22/2012 - Workshop Minutes City Council MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP CITY OF COLLEGE STATION MARCH 22, 2012 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: L David Neeley, City Manager Kathy Merrill, Deputy City Manager Frank Simpson, Deputy 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 6:02 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, 2012 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. No items were pulled for additional clarification. 2. Presentation, possible action, and discussion on City of College Station 2012 bond sale and refunding and financing structure. (This item is also on consent agenda item 2d) Jeff Kersten, Executive Director of Fiscal Services, presented the 2012 Bond Sale Calendar. We are doing things a little earlier than last year in order to take advantage of the low interest rates. k iivw He reported that for the negotiated sale, underwriters are chosen through an RFP process. The WKSHP032212 Minutes Page 1 City must have at least a 5% net present value savings on a refunded bond. The City Manager or IL Executive Director of Business Services is given authority to execute the sale through the adoption of a Bond Ordinance. We will issue General Obligation bonds in the amount of $4,260,000 for various streets and transportation projects. General Obligation bonds will be issued for Parks and Recreation projects in the amount of $4,435,000. We are also looking at utilizing Certificates of General Obligation in the amount of $17,400,000. Projects include information technology, electric, and water. The new money total is $21,835,000. Option 1 refunding for Series 2003, 2004 and 2005 bonds will have a projected net present value savings of $1,765,754 or 5.84 %. Option 2 refunding for Series 2003 and 2004 only had a projected net present value savings of $1,370,575 or 7.27 %. These options will allow the City to maintain the flexibility to issue the maximum amount of refunding bonds. As the sale date approaches, we will assess market conditions and determine whether to refund the 2005 bonds now or next year. 3. Presentation and discussion regarding an update briefing of the City's Technology Plan. Ben Roper, IT Director, stated that IT efforts are linked to the strategic direction provided by the Council. He reported that technology is managed as an enterprise capability. The IT Department is an internal service delivery department. The Plan is updated annually with direction from the City Manager and input from other departments. IT provides a framework by which the allocation of critical resources are directed, categorized and aligned with City goals. It is derived from Council Strategic Initiatives. Their goals are to use technology to increase government transparency and accountability; technology will be used to more effectively and efficiently deliver services to citizens, and they must develop and maintain critical technology L ir infrastructure that supports the delivery of core services. In addition to the department's goals and objectives, IT also uses guiding principles for developing projects and processes. Their ultimate outcome is to use technology as a tool to provide City employees and citizens with timely, convenient access to appropriate information and services. Business needs drive information technology solutions. Technology is a tool, not a requirement. FY 12 funded capital projects include Wireless Infrastructure Project (continuation of prior year investment), Fiber Optic Infrastructure Project (Continuation of prior year investment), the Network and Data Security Upgrade Project, MDT System Replacement, and the E -mail and File System Migration Project. Other projects, with no funding requested in FY 12, include Court Software Evaluation and ERP System Upgrade /Replacement. The most critical challenges facing the department are keeping up with change in technology and using technology effectively to meet government business requirements and public expectations. Major trends impacting technology solutions are: • The workplace is more mobile; therefore, users are demanding the ability to perform more functions without being tied to a physical location; • Communication, collaboration, and information sharing methods are increasingly automated; • Information resources must be managed from a full life cycle perspective; and • Security for information and communications systems and privacy of information are critical priorities. WKSHP032212 Minutes Page 2 The City's technology architecture is a strategic asset that defines technology components necessary to support business operations and the infrastructure required for implementation of new technologies in response to the changing needs of government business. It is a multilayered architecture that includes Application and Data Architectures; Platform Architecture; Network Architecture; and Security Architecture. 4. Council Calendar • March 23 14th Annual Crawfish Boil at the Expo Center, 5:30 p.m. • March 24 Arts Council of Brazos Valley - "Savor the Arts" at George Bush Presidential Library, 7:00 p.m. • March 27 Youth Advisory Town Hall Meeting at A &M Consolidated High School - 180 1 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South, 4:30 p.m. • April 2 Citizen's University 2012 (Council) in Council Chambers at 7:00 p.m. • April 4 15th Annual M.B. Zale Lecture and Award "Theo Killion" CEO Zale Corporation at Ray Auditorium, Mays Business School, 11:30 a.m. • April 5 P &Z Workshop/Meeting in Council Chambers at 6:00 a.m. • April 6 City Offices Closed - HOLIDAY • April 12 City Council Workshop Regular Meeting at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Council reviewed the Council calendar. 5. 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 Fields would like to look at TML, NLC and memberships in general and how we benefit from membership. City Manager Neeley stated he would provide the Council with a white paper. 6. Discussion, review and possible action regarding the following meetings: Animal Shelter Board, Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, Arts Council Sub - committee, 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, Convention & Visitors Bureau, Design Review Board, Historic Preservation Committee, Interfaith Dialogue Association, Intergovernmental Committee, Joint Neighborhood Parking Taskforce, Joint Relief Funding Review Committee, Landmark Commission, Library Board, 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. Mayor Berry reported on an Intergovernmental meeting and the Arts Council Sub - committee meeting. WKSHP032212 Minutes Page 3 Councilmember Schultz reported on the RVP meeting. Councilmember Ruesink reported on Sister Cities. Councilmember Brick reported on the Joint Neighborhood Parking Taskforce meeting. 7. Adjournment MOTION: There being no further business, Mayor Berry adjourned the workshop of the College Station City Council at 6:59 p.m. on Thursday, March 22, 2012. fy� Nancy Berry, ayor ATTEST: Sherry Mash rn, City Secretary WKSHP032212 Minutes Page 4