Laserfiche WebLink
<br />LOUIS RIGBY <br /> <br />BILL BENTLEY <br />Mayor <br />Councilmember District 3 <br />JOHN ZEMANEK <br />KRISTIN MARTIN <br />Councilmember At Large A <br />Councilmember District 4 <br />DOTTIE KAMINSKI <br />JAY MARTIN <br />Councilmember At Large B <br />Councilmember District 5 <br />DANNY EARP <br />NANCY OJEDA <br />Councilmember District 1 <br />Councilmember District 6 <br /> <br />CHUCK ENGELKEN Mayor Pro-Tem <br />Councilmember District 2 <br />MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE <br />CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LA PORTE <br />SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 <br />The City Council of the City of La Porte met in a special meeting on Monday September 6, 2018, at the <br />City Hall Council Chambers, 604 West Fairmont Parkway, La Porte, Texas, at 6:00 p.m. to consider the <br />following items of business: <br />1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Rigby called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Members of Council <br />present: Councilmembers Ojeda, Zemanek, J. Martin, Bentley, Kaminski, Engelken, and Earp. <br />Absent: Councilmember K. Martin. Also present were City Secretary Patrice Fogarty and City <br />Manager Corby Alexander <br />2. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Councilmember Jay Martin. <br /> <br />3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Councilmember Danny Earp. <br />4. PUBLIC COMMENTS (Limited to five minutes per person.) <br />No members of the public presented for public comments. <br />5. DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION <br />(a) Discussion and possible action to provide direction to the City Manager regarding the City of <br />La Porte Fiscal Year 2018-2019 tax rate and Fiscal Year 2018-2019 budget-C. Alexander <br /> <br />City Manager Corby Alexander stated that at the last budget discussion, there were a number of <br />items he wanted to follow-up on with Council for direction. He proposed going through each item to <br />get direction from Council. <br /> <br />Mr. Alexander stated the first item is regarding raising the tax rate by $.05. There was a concern by <br />staff regarding whether going up five cents would put us above rollback. After doing the <br />calculations, he reported that five cents does not put the City above rollback; so, it is an option that <br />Council could consider without having a rollback election. He stated <br />would like to pursue, there are public hearings that must happen; so, staff needs direction on this <br />tonight so that publication of the hearings can be made according to law. Councilmember Bentley <br />asked about the proposed schedule. Mr. Alexander stated the proposed schedule would be <br />th <br />publication of the public hearings in the 13 edition of the Bay Area Observer, stating there will be a <br />th <br />special meeting on the 20 for the first public hearing and the second public hearing at the regular <br />th <br />meeting on 24. The tax rate adoption cannot be sooner than a week after the second public <br />hearing; so, the tax rate could be adopted at a meeting October 1 thru October 8. October 8 is the <br />first regular Council meeting in October. <br /> <br />Councilmember Zemanek spoke and informed Council that it is his idea to increase the tax rate in <br />order to earmark projects for a new fitness center; revamping the Fitness Center for the seniors <br />once there is a new building; a stipend for city employees paid in November 2018; turfing the Pecan <br />Page 1 of 7 <br />September 6, 2018 Council Meeting Minutes <br /> <br /> <br />