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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/12/1991 - Workshop Minutes City Council MINUTES COUNCIL WOI~-IOP MEETING WEDNESD~4.~ p~ 12, 1991 Mayor Ringer, Councilmembe_rs. Brown, Gardner, MclLhaney, Crouch, B=dwell COUNCII~ MEMBERS ABSENT: Councilman Schneider City Manager _A.a. gland, Asst. City Manager Brymer, Asst. City Manager Woody, Executive Director Fiscal/Human Resources Schroeder, Public Information Officer Caliiham, Public Sendces Director LaBeau, Asst. Public Services Director Smith, Asst. City Attorney Graham,.Asst. City Att?ney Coat. es, Personnel D=ector Pavilnski, Purchasing Agent McCart~..ey, Risk Manager Wiley, Council Coordinator Allen See guest register. Aaend~ Item No. 1 - Discussion of consent agends items listed on Thursdsv, Iuits - Councilman Crouch discussed Consent Agenda hem No. 2.6 - Approval of one Utility Truck ~ State Purchasing and General Services Commis~o~.. She inquired about the insurance payment. M~. ~-~"~e-d~ r--e-p]ie~ ~ ~ insurance payment was $2800. Director of. Finance Glenn Schroeder presented this item. He addressed several points of concern regarding office space. He presented slides of the existing conditions. Councilman McIlhaney arrived at 4:08 p.m. Mr. Schroeder stated that the estimated cost of th~ project is projected at $60,000 - $70,000. Funding available from interest earnings in the general obligation bond fund. Councilmembers raised several concerns regarding file storage and office space. Mayor Ringe.r suggested that the Council asked staff to investigate the possibility of an expanmon of the Municipal Court building. Councilman Crouch stated her concern about utilizing the monies for this project, when in turn during the budget process, there may be other projects of higner priority. City Council Workshop Meeting Wednesday, June 19., 1991 Page Councilman Mc]]hane¥ stated that it is obvious the need for office space is logical. She agreed ~lth the Mayor's suggestion. Asst. Municipal Court Judge .Steve Smith po~nt,e,d out. s,,.everal concerns. He agreed with the alternative plan recommenaea ny stan. The council concurred to instruct staff to proceed with the drawing plans for the proposed additions. Code Ordinances amendin Secdon 2 to for-the tion of Asst. City Attorney Graham explained that the purpose of this ordinance is to allow persons who lose money in vending machines a method to obtain access to the person responsible for maintenance of the machines. Councilman B. irdwell suggested, removin, g the word "newspaper". from the ordinance to include all vending machines. The council concurred. ~A~t~___,~,, Tt,,,,t No. 5 - _w,c,,,,4 ~,~_ of ~ future of Colleae Station Economic Deval~Founda~on. Mayor. Ringe.r referred to Cit~ .Council l~.utes of January 12, 1989 in which the council voted to support the ]omt Econonuc Development Foundation. Councilman Brown stated that it is the right move at tMs time to disband the College Station Economic Development Foundation. Councilman Birdwell stated that he proposed earlier that the CSEDF continue inactive with the councilmembers as the board members and the City Manager as the Director. Councilman Birdwell expressed concern about, the impact of the agreement between the Foundation and Mr. Fitch. h provides for issues that the city did not agree to, in Ms opinion, and were never approved by the Council. There is also an issue addressing .a. street that Mr. Fitch is obligated to the Foundation to build that has not been built. Ms. Graham responded that she can not respond appropriately to the concerns. She can look into this further. City. Manager Ragland pointed out that the negotiated agreement addressed all the ~ssues. Councilman Mc..Ill~. an..ey stated that the state law in dissolving this Corporation is that even once ~t ~s dissolved, then obligations unresolved are still ongoing up to three years. She stated that it should be addressed with Mr. Fitch in the development agreement. City Council Workshop Meeting Wednesday, June 12, 1991 Page 3 v~ Manager Ragland .stated that the agreement council approved last week Mr. Fitch has prov~ions to address these conce..ms. Ms...Gr~ham replied that she will respond to these concerns before councu meets Tomorrow night. Co..uncilman Crouch asked what situation would exist if the City of College Station had a prospect for the land. Mr. Ragland .r. eplled that the sta~., wp. uld prepare an incentive package that would b.e spe?fically designed criteria and turn this over to the CSEDF as part of the mcenttve package for th.e City of College Station. He continued to state that this would put the city m a preferable situation. Ageada Item No. 4 - IF~scussion of City Council Relations Policy. Co,u~..cilman Mc.l.l.h.. aney present.ed, this item. She stated that the Council Relations ComnuUee felt that this is the i=st step toward the leadership program in San Antonio where several councilmembers attended. She stated that the council relations policy establishes guidelines for the functions of the governing body and it also relates to staff/council relationships and relations with the media. Councilman Gardner arrived at 4:50 p.m. Councilman Mcl]haney asked for any comments from other counctlmembers. Councilman Birdweli conunented on item 1,A.~/in that it is redundant with respect to item A.3 and A.5. Councilman Birdwell stated that item B.2 states that the council is required to attend at least one TML conference. He suggested changing the emph ..a.s. is of the statement "to encourage that the councflmembers attend a TML meeting''. Councilman McIlhaney stated, that she will present her ideas to the Mayors, Councilmembers, and Comnussioners T.ML Board to bring about a pro. gram in the State where elected officials are requ~ed to attend a municipal training program. The council agreed that the statement should read "encouraged". Councilman Gardner remarked that throughout the policy, he would suggest changing the word "insure" to "ensure". The council continued to review page 1. Councilman Gardner made several comments. Section 1.A.2. - "The ma. yor shall ha_v.e, a voice in all matters before the council and shall vote on all actton items." This statement was suggested by Councilman Crouch and Councilman Gardner. City Council Workshop Meeting Page 4 Wednesday, June 19., 1991 Section 1.A.4. - "The mayor is the spokesperson, for the council on all matters unless absent at which time his/her designee will assume the role." Discussion was held. Section 1.A.6. - "Should a conflict arise between council, the mayor serves as mediator; or appoints a corrumittee to serve this role." Discussion was held on the clarity of this statement. Section 1.A.7. - The council agreed to put this statement before section 1.A.6. Section 1J~.8 - "The m..a¥or, or at his/her .direction, the council relations committee, is responsible for the orientation of all new council members .a~t. er an elec.tion. Such orientation shall include c.o.uncfl proced..ures, .st.aff and media relations, current agenda items.., and municipal leadership training programs." The council agreedon the revised statement. Section B. Council Responsibilities Councilman Birdwell stated that he would add a statement, "Councilmembers appointed by Council to serve on boards of other agencies should make reports to council on activities of that board." Section 1.B.6 - The council concurred to remove the last sentence which states "if one-half of the members votes yes", the mayor's decision stands. Section 1.C - Councilman Birdweil asked for a definition of cross-examine as used in the statement "Council members shall refrain from rude and derogatory remarks and shall not cross-examine staff members, other council members, or members of the public. The council agreed that they should change the word "cross-examine" to '~elittle". Section II Council and Staff Relations Councilman Mcllhaney suggested substituting the word '~prima~' in place of "sole" in the first paragraph of Section II. Section 2.C.1 - Councilman Crouch feb that the word ~11 should be deleted from the first paragraph. The sentence should read as follows: In order to insure proper presentation of agenda items by staff, questions arising .... Section 2.C.4 - City Manager Ragland said he felt the first sentence of Item No. 4 should be re-worded. Councilman Mcllhaney said they would work on the wording of this sentence. College Station Council Code of Ethics: Councilman McIlhaney briefly discussed the College Station Council Gode of Ethics. City Council Workshop Meeting Page 5 Wednesday, June 12, 1991 Councilman Crouch felt that with a few n~.. or changes to the College Station Code of Ethics could serve as the Council Code of Ethics. Councilman Crouch and Councilman Birdwell both agreed that some of the statem.e, nts listed as Council Code of Ethics were more goals than ethics. Councilman Crouch felt that No. 3, 4, 5, 9 & 10 were goal statements rather than ethic statements. Mayor Ringer mentioned that a draft with the suggested changes be brought back to the Council. ~Agenck Item No. $ - Council Concerns. Councilman Crouch suggested that during the recruitment of Committee . Applicants, staff should also send applications to the members of the Leadership Brazos Alumni Association and the graduating class (who are re. sidents of College Station) and should also maintain a list of persons seeking to serve throughout the year. Councilman Crouch reported that at the last Parks Board meet~..~, ideas were presented about the land donations for future city par~ and facilities. She asked staff to contact the Char~...er of Commerce for their assistance. She suggested maybe we need a convtuttee to go out and talk to people about donating land. Councilman McIlhaney mentioned that. she will .b. ring the Council the report presented at the War on Drugs Committee Meeting. Councilman Gardner reported the concern about the Census Report. Councilman Brown suggested that the citizens should be recognized for their service on the citizen committees. _Aqenda Item No. 7 - City Manager Concerns. City Manager Ragland mentioned that in his City Manager Report, an issue. addressed is the change in operational procedure for 45 customers who will now be serviced in the front of the yard, rather than the alleyway. Ag~.d~ Item No. 8 - Adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 6:25 p.m. APPROVED: