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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-04-19 Special Called Council Retreat of La Porte City Council minutes 5 A MINUTES OF BUDGET RETREAT OF THE LA PORTE CITY COUNCIL April 19, 2008 City Council Present: Mayor Porter, Council members Malone, Beasley, Mosteit, Engelken, Ebow, Moser and Clausen. Absent: Councilmember Rigby Staff Present: City Manager Ron Bottoms, City Secretary Martha Gillett, Police Chief Richard Reff, Assistant Police Chief Ron Parker, Director of Public Works Steve Gillett, Finance Director Michael Dolby, Budget Officer Shelley Wolny, Accountant Gay Collins, Fire Chief Mike Boaze, Assistant Fire Chief Donald Ladd, Golf Manager Alex Osmond, EMS Chief Ray Nolen, Director of Parks and Recreation Stephen Barr, Planning Director Tim Tietjens and Judge Denise Mitrano. 1. The Meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m. by Mayor Porter. 2. Receive direction from City Council on upcoming 2008-2009 Fiscal Year Budget. 3. The following items were discussed: Finance Director Michael Dolby provided a financial overview. Items discussed included property tax, in lieu taxes trend, general fund revenue vs. expenditures, assumptions, utility fund, and other enterprise funds. Council requested a breakdown of capital expenditures and major maintenance items regarding the Sylvan Beach pavilion. It was noted an improved GPS system is needed at the airport in order to improve landing capabilities at the La Porte Municipal Airport and attract corporate clients. Golf Course Fund - fund has improved this year. 3000 rounds are up from last year's figures. Alex Osmond was directed to do a survey and offer incentive programs. Mr. Osmond noted he is looking at improvements to the website as well. Council requested staff to look at replacing full-time positions with part-time positions where applicable when a vacancy occurs. It was also noted we do not want to lose customer service as a result. Mr. Dolby further noted the City is overall in good financial condition. Texas Municipal Retirement System Increase (TMRS) - Mr. Bottoms reviewed the upcoming increase and noted TMRS is allowing cities to step increases to avoid the burden all at once. Mr. Bottoms recommended the City not change any TMRS benefits and absorb the additional costs. The consensus of Council was in agreement. Page 2 - Budget Retreat Minutes 4/19/08 GASB 45 - Advanced funding defined benefits. The consensus of Council was not to participate in GASB 45 at this time due to the unknown factors. Parks Trail Implementation - the consensus of council was to move forward. 146/Redevelopment Efforts - Ron Bottoms provided an overview of the redevelopment efforts. The consensus of Council was to move forward. Council Comments: Mike Clausen - would like to see the City look at alternatives for Youth Football at Baker Campus. Beautification efforts on Texas Avenue need to continue. Would like to see beautification and safety efforts continue. Would like to see the Golf Course efforts continue as the City has a great golf course that attracts players to the area. Noted it was a concern that our Police Officers Association is hosting its golf tournament in another City. Noted the concession stand at Little Cedar Bayou needs power washed. Tommy Moser - would like the Police Department to continue and improve efforts on drugs, crack houses and nuisances in District 4. Continue DOT efforts and provide them the tools needed to get the job done. Public Works - would like to see asphalUoverlay efforts continued. Would also like to see weed eating around stop signs and alleys continued. Parks and Recreation - noted that the Parks look clean and are in better condition. Noted concerns with leaking wall, doors need painting and roof issues at Jenny Reid Civic Center. Noted a problem with a door at the Evelyn Kennedy Civic Center. Northside baseball field is in poor condition. Needs scoreboard and general refurbishing of field items. Noted concerns with the amount of time it takes to complete site plan reviews. Would like to see all items brought up in the beginning rather than later in the process. Noted he is pleased with the contractor's being invited to the site plan review meetings. Page 3 - Budget Retreat Minutes 4-19-08 Barry Beasley - would like staff to look at replacing full-time positions with part-time positions as vacancies occur. Noted leaks in the gym at fitness center. Planning Department - noted customer service improvements could be made in the permitting and code enforcement section. Delivery of negative information needs to be more positive. Public Works - requested a recycling survey of what other cities are doing. Would like to see the program expanded if not too cost prohibitive. Mayor Porter. would like staff to focus on drainage and parks. Main Street activities and communication with citizens needs to be improved. Staff needs to keep moving forward with economic development activities. Mike Mosteit - would like to see overall communications improve between departments, citizens and Council. An example would be the drainage committee efforts. Noted negative information needs to be delivered in a positive manner. We need to put some information together and advise the public why the City is not able to hold a bond election. Police Department - noted the problems on Lomax School road have improved. Questioned if the extra coverage is posing an overtime problem. Questioned why our police officers are not able to work second jobs locally? He noted local businesses would like to be able to hire La Porte officers for extra jobs. Parks - noted Tim Tietjens needs to give us input on what Pasadena rodeo arena does to produce revenue. Noted we might be able to implement some of the programs on a smaller scale. Planning - noted he has received a lot of complaints. They need to be more user friendly. Municipal Court -law changes have contributed to case load increases. Staff needs to look to the state and/or TML to find resolutions to the problem. Recycle - requested staff to look at what other cities are doing and increase information going out to the public. Chuck Engelken - noted he is pleased with the benefits decisions today and safety efforts. He noted he is in favor of the parks trails. Noted the police department has a nice new facility. He is disappointed they are having the Police Officers Association golf tournament out of town. Would support a fire/ems emergency district program. Page 4 - Budget Retreat Minutes - 4/19/08 Public Works - noted they do a good job. Would like to see the trash bag handout be at a closer location. Planning Department - noted he would like to see the committee meet with the consultant before the drainage study is released to the public. Golf Course - noted that although the golf course has lost money over the past eight years, he would like to see it maintained as a quality course. Municipal Court - noted the building they are currently in does not present a positive image to the public. Administration/CSO - noted they do a good job and has no problems with these areas. Hotel - would like to see a hotel fact sheet prepared and distributed to the public. Finance - noted he had concerns on the water billing. Requested staff keep working on improving this process. Howard Ebow - has concerns with Creekmont flooding issues. He is in hopes the City will be able to finance the solutions. City Beautification - complimented staff on the improvement of the esplanades. Keep up the good work. Golf Course - noted he thought we needed to look at other management for the golf course. Georgia Malone - noted she would like to see sidewalk improvements continued. Golf Course - noted since trees have been cleared the golf course is more visible and hopes this will increase play. Pavilion - need to assess the pros and cons and costs associated with the Pavilion operation. Parks - would like to see Parks keep moving forward with the plans for hike and bike trail. Starting with the largest phase first. Police - good job. Keep up the DOT efforts. Keep up improvements to the City website. Page 5 - Budget Retreat Minutes - 4/19/08 Administration - does a great job. EMS - complimented the service and Chief Nolen. Barry Beasley - wanted to close by noting staff does a good job and they are not complaining when noting what areas they have concerns or would like to see action take place. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1 :45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, 1!i!f!1::/fRdtirt City Secretary Passed and approved this I- rl-day of ~, 2008. ~~9~ Alton E. Porter Mayor