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Min 08/16/2016 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 16, 2016 Page 1 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Wichita Falls, Texas Memorial Auditorium Building August 16, 2016 Item 1 - Call to Order The City Council of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas met in regular session on the above date in the Council Chambers of the Memorial Auditorium Building at 8:30 o’clock a.m., with the following members present. Glenn Barham - Mayor DeAndra Chenault - Councilors Michael Smith - Tim Ingle - Stephen Santellana - Tom Quintero - Brian Hooker - Darron Leiker - City Manager Kinley Hegglund - City Attorney Tracy Norr - City Clerk - - - - - - - - Mayor Barham called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. He noted this is the first meeting in the newly-refurbished council chambers, and that no tax dollars were spent in the remodeling of the facility. - - - - - - - - Item 2a - Invocation Pastor Dale Snyder, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, gave the invocation. - - - - - - - - Item 2b - Pledge of Allegiance The Police Department Color Guard presented the colors. Mayor Barham led the Pledge of Allegiance. - - - - - - - - Item 3 – Proclamation – Herwig Bahner Family, Representatives from Sister City, Furstenfeldbruck, Germany. Mayor Barham read a proclamation recognizing the sister city agreement between Wichita Falls and Furstenfeldbruck, Germany and welcoming the Herwig Bahner family to Wichita Falls. He proclaimed August 16, 2016 as Sister Cities Day in W ichita Falls and CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 16, 2016 Page 2 encouraged all citizens to support and encourage the further development of the relationship with the sister city, as well as to welcome the Bahner family to Wichita Falls. Mr. Bahner extended best wishes from his city’s second mayor to Mayor Barham and to Wichita Falls. Gifts were given to the Bahner family. Gary Cook also presented gifts from the German American Club to the Bahner family. - - - - - - - - Item 4 - Comments from the Public to Members of the City Council Concerning Items That Are Not on the City Council Agenda. Jimmy York, 205 East Scott Avenue, spoke against the smoking ordinance. He said his bar has been a smoking establishment and is his livelihood. He said he would like to run his business as he would like to. He said he thinks he has that right. Howard Farrell, 4401 Nassau, thanked the council for the smoking ban. He noted the physicians in the community unanimously supported the ordinance. He said they did not say people cannot smoke; they said people cannot expose others to carcinogens through smoking in public places. Anthony Carlisle, 1648 Pearl, said he supports Mr. York. He said the state raised the homestead exemptions and have raised taxes and now the city wants to raise taxes. He said he has not heard anything about what the city council is going to do to upgrade the sensors, cameras or other things at the water treatment plant. He said safety should be foremost in the mind of Mr. Ingle. He said he wants to hear the plan to keep workers safe and he wants to hear an apology to the families of the men who were killed in the accident at the water treatment plant. He said there was a lack of leadership and asked for the resignations of Councilors Ingle, Smith, and Hooker and of Mayor Barham. There were no other comments given. - - - - - - - - Item 5 – 6 - Consent Items City Manager Darron Leiker gave a briefing on the items listed under the Consent Agenda. Moved by Councilor Ingle that the Consent Agenda be approved. Motion seconded by Councilor Hooker and carried by the following vote: Ayes: Mayor Barham, Councilors Quintero, Smith, Hooker, Ingle, Santellana, and Chenault. Nays: None Item 5 - Approval of Minutes of the August 2, 2016 Regular Meeting Item 6 - Receive Minutes Minutes of the following boards and commissions were received: (a) Wichita Falls-Wichita County Public Health District, April 22, 2016 CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 16, 2016 Page 3 (b) Park Board, April 28, 2016 (c) Lake Wichita Revitalization Committee, July 12, 2016 - - - - - - - - Item 7a – Ordinance #26-2016 ORDINANCE NO. 26-2016 Ordinance Making an Appropriation to the Special Revenue Fund for Public Health Emergency Preparedness in the Amount of $120,556.00 Received from the Department of State Health Services and Authorizing the City Manager to Execute Contract Accepting Same Moved by Councilor Ingle that Ordinance No. 26-2016 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Santellana and carried by the following vote: Ayes: Mayor Barham, Councilors Quintero, Chenault, Hooker, Ingle, Smith, and Santellana Nays: None - - - - - - - - Item 7b – Ordinance #28-2016 ORDINANCE NO. 28-2016 Ordinance Amending the Code of Ordinances at Chapter 22, Buildings and Building Regulations, by the Addition of Article XIII, Residential Water Code; Providing for Repeal of Ordinances or Parts of Ordinances in Conflict Herewith; Providing for Inclusion in the Code; Providing for Severability Moved by Councilor Hooker that Ordinance No. 28-2016 be passed. Motion seconded by Councilor Santellana and carried by the following vote: Ayes: Mayor Barham, Councilors Quintero, Chenault, Hooker, Ingle, Smith, and Santellana Nays: None - - - - - - - Item 7c – Ordinance #29-2016 ORDINANCE NO. 29-2016 Ordinance Amending the Code of Ordinances at Chapter 46, Environment, by the Addition of Article VII, Fencing; Providing for Repeal of Ordinances or Parts of Ordinances in Conflict Herewith; Providing for Inclusion in the Code; Providing for Severability Moved by Councilor Hooker that Ordinance No. 29-2016 be passed. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 16, 2016 Page 4 Motion seconded by Councilor Smith. Beverly Ellis, 1605 Parkdale, thanked Councilor Chenault for an animal control issue. She then noted that there is a problem with expenses for fences. She said suggested a monthly pickup for large items, and other city funding programs before adopting the ordinance Motion failed by the following vote: Ayes: Councilor Smith Nays: Mayor Barham, Councilors Quintero, Chenault, Hooker, Ingle, and Santellana - - - - - - - - Item 8a - Staff Reports There were no staff reports. - - - - - - - - Item 9 – Work Session to Consider Proposed FY 2016-2017 Budget Darron Leiker said the purpose of the work session is to review the specifics of the proposed budget. Jim Dockery said department heads had been asked to review their budgets, particularly staffing levels. He reviewed the budget by category, noting the expenditures are down 3.56% from last year. The largest decreases are in capital outlays, supplies, and debt service. The largest expenditure by category is personnel. He showed expenditures by fund, noting that general fund has the highest percentage of expenditures. He said total budget revenues are less than 1%. Mr. Dockery reviewed the property tax values and changes. He said sales tax has shown slow growth or declines during the past six years. Other general fund revenues and expenditures were reviewed. He said the personnel expenditures are up less than 1%, which includes the merit/step/longevity program, health care costs contribution, and TMRS and fire pension increases. A 1.5% COLA increase is recommended. He said 21.79 positions are being eliminated from the general fund. He said staffing levels have been compared to comparable cities. Differences will be explained by the department heads during the budget presentations. Mr. Dockery highlighted other general fund changes, including the fire academy program, maintenance projects, tennis center management agreements, and proposed strategic planning. He noted the proposed unreserved fund balance will be below the 20% policy so there are no funds available for one-time expenditures. The water and sewer fund was reviewed. Water use has been lower than anticipated, so revenue has been lower. The budget includes funds for the AMI capital lease payments and equipment upgrades at the plants. Debt refinancing provides savings to address capital needs. No rate adjustments are recommended in the water fund. The unreserved fund balance is below the 17% balance. Three curbside units for sanitation will be replaced. Personnel costs have increased. A 5% rate increase is needed to cover operation expenditures in this fund. The storm water fund was highlighted. Several of the top 15 projects have been completed. Other major funds were reviewed. Lower fuel prices were noted, but higher maintenance and equipment replacement costs were included. Airport debt service changes were listed. Transit funds CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 16, 2016 Page 5 and the SAFB Perimeter Project were discussed. The Hotel/Motel Fund and the MPEC fund were noted. Negotiations with a management firm are ongoing. The Information Technology fund is down considerably. The Golf Course Fund has a similar subsidy. The Water Park Fund has a surplus budget. No major attraction is planned for three or four more years. Russell Schreiber reviewed the divisions and responsibilities of the public works department. He discussed the current workload and budget for the engineering, streets, sanitation, and utility operations divisions. John Burrus discussed the airport, traffic and transportation departments. He highlighted the differences between staffing of the departments and comparable cities. He discussed alternatives to the transit route systems. Manuel Borrego previewed the operations of the police department. He noted the variances in the use of sworn and civilian personnel. He said the workload is increasing for the department. Jon Reese gave a snapshot of the fire department staffing and the training statistics. He said the department operates at very effective benchmarks compared to surveyed cities and has the lowest cost per resident with those comparable cities. Lou Kreidler reviewed the staffing and responsibilities of the Health Department. She reviewed the capabilities of the lab. She also discussed the Animal Services Department. She reviewed the environmental health department and the nursing division. She reviewed grants that the department receives. Jack Murphy reviewed the staffing and responsibilities for recreation, parks, lot mowing, highway mowing, MPEC/business park mowing, and cemeteries divisions. He discussed the increased productivity in the departments. Jim Dockery, gave an overview of the community development departments. He highlighted the responsibilities of the building, inspection and housing divisions, planning division, and property and lake lot administration division. Recess Mayor Barham called a recess for the day. Reconvene The meeting reconvened at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, August 17, 2016. Lindsey Greer, MPEC, reviewed the staffing levels at MPEC and the event history for the past year. Pat Halverson reviewed the four divisions of the finance departments: accounting, purchasing, utility collections, and municipal court. He noted the purchasing clerk position is being reduced to ¾ time in the upcoming budget, 5 meter reader positions are budgeted at half time and will be eliminated as the year progresses, and 1.2 FTE warrant officer positions will be eliminated. CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 16, 2016 Page 6 Christi Klyn said the human resources department consists of personnel, employee benefits, and risk management. She reviewed the work done in each group. She then reviewed which departments have highest turnover rates: nursing, dispatch, planning, transit bus drivers, and licensed public works operators. Jim Dockery listed the turnover by pay plan as fire at 1%, police at 6%, non-exempt at 7%, and exempt at 3%. Blake Jurecek reviewed the building maintenance, information technology, public safety radio, and public information office divisions. He discussed responsibilities and metrics for each. Kinley Hegglund discussed the charter duties for the legal department. He reviewed claims and state and federal litigation against the city. Tracy Norr highlighted the change to the city clerk’s department by changing the deputy position from part-time to full-time. Item 8b – Items of concern to members of the City Council Councilors Santellana and Hooker thanked the staff for the work on the budget and for the cuts that had been made. Councilor Smith said he is disappointed in the effect of the economics on the budget because the council cannot move forward in bringing the salaries up to an elusive target. He suggested adopting an intention to set a tax rate higher than the effective tax rate to allow a window for further budget considerations. He also asked for updates throughout the year. Councilor Ingle noted that the health insurance premiums are still unknown. He asked about the smell of the water and was told that because of the water temperatures this time of year, extensive algae bloom is high. The water is safe, and the smell should start improving because of work being done. Councilor Chenault asked about the closing of Lucy Park pool, the elimination of summer day camps, and the tennis center. She was told the pool will not be closed, some day camp changes will be made through consolidation and staff reductions, and the tennis court hours will be adjusted but the center will not be closed. Jack Murphy added further details about the clarification, noting there is room for clarification if there is demand. Councilor Quintero asked if there was an option of flex time instead of over time. He also said ongoing communication about job performance is critical. He said he likes ongoing educational opportunities for employees. Item 10a – Resolution #85-2016 RESOLUTION NO. 85-2016 Resolution Expressing the City Council’s Intent to Place a Proposal on a Future Council Agenda Approving a Property Tax Rate that Exceeds the Notice and Public Hearing Limit; Scheduling Two Public Hearings, and Establishing the Date to Vote on Same Moved by Councilor Smith that Resolution No. 85-2016 be passed. Motion seconded by Mayor Barham and carried by the following vote: CITY COUNCIL MINUTES August 16, 2016 Page 7 Ayes: Mayor Barham, Councilors Quintero, Chenault, Ingle, and Smith Nays: Councilors Hooker and Santellana - - - - - - - Item 11 – Adjourn City Council adjourned at 11:23 a.m. PASSED AND APPROVED this 6th day of September, 2016. __________________________________ Glenn Barham, Mayor ATTEST: ____________________________________ Tracy B. Norr, TRMC/MMC, City Clerk