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Min - City Council - 1990 - 04/27 - RegularA ALLEN CITY COUNCIL SPRING PLANNING SESSION APRIL 27-28, 1990 Present: Joe Farmer, Mayor Council Members: Rex Womack (Absent) Jerry Wilson, Mayor Pro Tem (Absent) Bobby Glass Jim Wolfe Alan Fyke (Absent) Gary Edstrom City Staff: Jon McCarty, City Manager Judy Morrison, City Secretary Rhoda Savage, Director of Parks and Recreation Michael Stanger, Assistant to City Manager Bill Petty, Director of Community Development Ron Gentry, Fire Chief Richard Carroll, Chief of Police Charlotte Smith, Finance Director David Pitstick, Economic Development Coordinator Dave Whitehead, Director of Public Works Barbara Buehler, Library Director Joel Blaylock, Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator Mickey Christakos, Council Candidate, Place No. 2 FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 1990 Lunch (Agenda Item I) Lunch was eaten at El Rio Restaurant in Allen, Texas prior to the beginning of the Spring Planning Session. Don Rodenbaugh, member of the Central Appraisal District Board of Trustees, updated the group regarding the status of the Central Appraisal District changes in policy and upcoming move to Allen. ALLEN CITY COUNCIL SPRING PLANNING SESSION APRIL 27-28, 1990 Begin Update Sessions PAGE 2 (Agenda Item II) With a quorum of the Council Members present, the Spring Planning Session of the Allen City Council was called to order by Mayor Farmer at 1:08 p.m. in the Library Meeting Room, Two Allen Civic Plaza, Allen, Texas. Mayor Farmer indicated that the Saturday afternoon session would consist of topics of interest and those topics will be chosen prior to that time. There will also be an Executive Session Saturday afternoon. FM 2170 East - Bill Petty (Agenda Item III) Bill Petty, Director of Community Development, discussed the design of FM 2170 east. The State Highway Department has indicated that an environmental study is to be completed regarding the Hillside Park site. Mr. Petty distributed information sent to Bill Lovill, Resident Engineer of the State Department of Highways and Public Transporta- tion. This outlines concerns delineated in a previous letter from the Highway Department and which were addressed by the City of Allen and Graham Associates, Inc. Graham is 60% complete on the engineering design. This is a priority project and needs to be completed as soon as possible. A bond sale will be necessary to complete this particular project. The Highway Department and the City of Allen are having discussions regarding the speed zone of this stretch of highway which could have a definite impact on the right-of-way required to complete the project. It may take as long as three months before we receive an answer from the State with regard to this particular speed zone. A contract has been let and the contractor should be on site any day for the signalization of FM 2170 at Allen Heights and Jupiter Roads. Water and Sewer Recovery Plan - Dave Whitehead (Agenda Item IV) Dave Whitehead, Director of Public Works, discussed the waterlsewer recovery program initiated by the City of Allen. Mr. Whitehead discussed the issues, the possible solutions and recommendations which include: replace all residential water meters, replace or make compound water meters out of all 11211 and larger meters, track the results of the program showing the decreased water loss, provide a maintenance program that will eliminate the problem from recurring. Mr. Whitehead discussed two major problems in the sewer recovery plan. Those problems include the inflow through manholes and infiltration through cracks in the lines. These are being addressed and after all the repairs are complete, the cost of treatment by NTMWD should be reduced approximately $105,020. Jon McCarty, City Manager, and Charlotte Smith, Finance Director, discussed the financial strengths of the Water and Sewer Funds. The "times coverage" which is the number of times that net income covers the debt service requirements has been set by Council at 1.4 to 1. Working capital and retained earnings were also discussed. Mr. Whitehead also discussed other programs implemented by the Public Works Department, including door hangers indicating leaks or water cut off. Developer impact fees may need to be considered in the near future. ALLEN CITY COUNCIL SPRING PLANNING SESSION APRIL 27-28, 1990 PAGE 3 Break (Agenda Item V) Customer Relations - mike Stanger, Rhoda Savage (Agenda Item VI) Michael Stanger, Assistant to the City Manager, discussed the present approach toward the customer relations issues at City Hall. Representatives from all departments have attended a customer relations all -day seminar and subsequently have met on a regular basis to begin some strategic planning on a customer service approach for the City. Rhoda Savage, Director of Parks and Recreation, distributed a newly designed "Bequest for Service" form that has been used for several months on a trial basis. An instruction manual has not been written for these forms at this time. Police and Fire are not using them for their regular calls. The Council would like to separate the doing of city business from the idea of customer service. Mayor Farmer will further discuss this topic with the City Manager. The mission statement may need to be enhanced. The change needs to come from within the people in order to project good customer service. Incentives may be a part of this program. There is an "absolute" that needs to start with top management. There needs to be positive reinforcement for people doing good jobs in order to receive positive feedback. One of the main concepts to understand about people is the strong desire in every one to achieve. Comprehensive Plan - Bill Petty (Agenda Item VII) Bill Petty, Director of Community Development, discussed the Comprehensive Plan Survey Document response. Mr. Petty also discussed the manpower needed to incorporate this data into a usable form by data input. Approximately 600 hours are needed to complete the input. He distributed financial information projecting costs for the Comprehensive Plan, including reproduction costs, printing, typesetting, maps, keypunching and mailing costs. He also provided samples of various formats and requested a response as to which might be most appropriate for our use. Council felt that we need some analysis back to the public as soon as possible. In the next 18-24 months, the staff will need this information even more than at the time the first Comprehensive Plan was completed, for proper planning. Open Discussion (Agenda Item VIII) Mr. McCarty indicated that during an open discussion period information can be presented to the Council regarding the impact of the City of Allen reaching a population of 10,000 due to the current census in progress. Mayor Farmer recessed the Spring Planning Session of the Allen City Council at 4:45 p.m. on Friday, April 27, 1990. ALLEN CITY COUNCIL SPRING PLANNING SESSION APRIL 27-28, 1990 PAGE 4 SATURDAY, APRIL 28, 1990 Brunch (Agenda Item I) Council and staff participated in brunch which was provided. Economic Development - David Pitstick (Agenda Item II) David Pitstick, Economic Development Coordinator, was introduced by Jon McCarty. Mr. Pitstick discussed how information must be filtered to the appropriate individuals in order to encourage development. There are three areas of importance to encourage economic development: community support, incentives to businesses and information. Mr. Pitstick reviewed recent legislative information which affects economic development. He discussed business retention and how one goes about making this possible. Mr. Pitstick discussed marketing as a very important part of the economic development process. An important role of the economic development coordinator is the interaction with the City Council, School Board and the Chamber of Commerce. Mayor Farmer complimented Mr. Pitstick on the amount of time and effort he had put into the presentation. Mr. Pitstick complimented the City on first rate public services already available, the emphasis on education and the obvious cooperation of the top city leaders. There are challenges ahead, however, but they are all part of the opportunity to succeed. Mayor Farmer discussed the afternoon topics to be covered. Break (Agenda Item III) Bond Proposal; - Charlotte Smith, Jon McCarty (Agenda Item IV) Charlotte Smith, Finance Director, distributed information and briefly discussed the status of the City bonds. Jon McCarty, City Manager, discussed various options available to the City of Allen. One option is to set in motion a process by which the Council can make decisions on funding of capital projects. Mr. McCarty discussed the present debt rate. Since there is a drop in valuation, this figure will increase, however. He indicated that sales tax is the second largest revenue in the general fund. It does not have any designated use. Through successful economic development, the city is able to affect the amount of sales tax collected. ALLEN CITY COUNCIL SPRING PLANNING SESSION APRIL 27-28, 1990 PAGE 5 Bond Proposals - Charlotte Smith, don McCarty (Cont'd) (Agenda Item IV) Mr. McCarty showed a comparison of a $6.4 million bond issue and the payout under several options. The bond financing issue will be a topic researched by the Finance/Administration Committee. The Council will need to make some decisions for the upcoming budget year regarding the debt levy. Some decisions may need to be made prior to the upcoming fiscal year. Open Discussion - Staff Comments (Agenda Item V) There was no open discussion at this time. Lunch (Agenda Item VI) Open Discussion - (Unstructured): A. Census Reclassification Richard Carroll, Police Chief, discussed the possible ramifications of the City of Allen reaching a population of 10,000 due to the 1990 census. Several options may become available to the police and fire departments including collective bargaining, longevity pay, and civil service. B. Purchasing Plan Charlotte Smith, Finance Director, reviewed with the Council the steps department heads have taken to streamline the purchasing procedures within their departments. Council discussed various procedures now in place. C. Comprehensive Plan Issue Council members discussed the need to input the data received from the survey into the computer. It was the consensus of the Council that remaining Comprehensive Plan money be used to hire part time help to assist in the process so that survey results could be provided to the community as soon as possible. D. Citizen Communications Council members discussed the need for various communication devices between city government and the citizens. Cable T.V. and a variation of the networking effort conceived in the Mayor's C-WIN program were discussed. Mayor Farmer stated he would pursue the modified C-WIN proposal using Presidents and Chairs of the many service groups and boards and commission in the City. 4 ALLEN CITY COUNCIL SPRING PLANNING SESSION APRIL 27-25, 1990 E. Employee Benefits PAGE 6 Jon McCarty updated the Council on the status of the effort to rewrite the Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual and the effort to revamp the city's health insurance program. Assistance would be sought on both these programs using consultants with recommendations coming forward from the Finance/Administration Subcommittee. It was noted that the Benefits Study was that in name only because the effort this year is to work on the cornerstone of the benefits package which is the Health Insurance Program. Executive Session: In accordance with Article 6252-17, V.A.T.C.S. (Open Meetings Law), Sections 2(e), 2(f), and 2(g), the Allen City Council convened into Executive Session at 2:55 p.m. in order to discuss matters pertaining to Litigation, Real Estate and Personnel. The Executive Session was adjourned at 3:55 p.m. Adjourn (Agenda Item ) MOTION: Upon a motion made by Councilman Wolfe and seconded by Councilman Glass, the Council voted four (4) for and none (0) opposed to adjourn the regular session of the Allen City Council at 4:00 p.m., on Saturday, April 28, 1990. The motion carried. These minutes approved on the 17th day of May, 1990. ..� �Gi )A� Jbe Farmer, MAYOR ATTEST: Ll�ci / L/Y/XLT'-- J y M n, CITY SECRETARY