CITY OF TROY REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING 201 East Main Street Troy, Texas March 12, :00 PM

Transcription

1 CITY OF TROY REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING 201 East Main Street Troy, Texas March 12, :00 PM MINUTES: Item 1 CALL TO ORDER: A Regular City Council of the City of Troy was held on March 12, The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM by Mayor Morgan with a quorum present, to wit: Mayor Pro-Tem Laurie Bailey Councilperson Calvin Creech Councilperson Paul Ramirez Councilperson James Hicks Absent - Councilperson Jason Sheffler Item 2 Prayer Mayor Morgan opened the meeting in prayer. Item 3 - Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Morgan led the pledge of allegiance. Item 4 - Police Report Mr. Straub advised that Chief Smith was on vacation, en route to Australia. Straub provided the police report. Straub advised that once again the vast majority of police calls were on IH35. Item 5 - City Administrator Report City Administrator Straub provided the city administrator report. Straub advised that the Turtle Creek development s infrastructure work continues and appears to progressing well. Straub advised that the well project continues on schedule with bid opening slated for March 15 th. Straub advised that working with the Texas Water Development Board has been an extremely difficult process. Straub touched on the subject of the February 23 rd FM935 bridge removal and how expeditiously this was accomplished by TxDOT and their contractor. Straub reported that the City had received 74 applicants for the municipal court clerk position Item 6 - Permit Report Mr. Straub advised that for the first time during his tenure with the City of Troy, there were no new building permits issued for this month the month of February Regular Council Meeting, March 12, 2018 Page 1

2 Item 7 - Projects Report Mr. Straub provided the project report advising that there was no new information. Item 8 - Court Report Mayor Pro-tem Bailey provided the court report. Item 9 - Water and Wastewater Report Sammy Marse provided the water and waste water report. He stated his company responded to two water leaks, one of which was on the customer side of a meter at 701 East Austin. He advised that they also addressed and cleared two sewer clogs: 512 South College and 302 East Main. He also advised of addressing a water leak at the sewer plant and unclogging the racetrack. Marse advised that his company would be completing the sewer line extension on Goats Road. Item 10 - CITIZEN COMMUNICATION There was no citizen communication. Item 11 - CONSENT AGENDA: a. Council to consider profit & loss budget vs. actual budget. b. Council to consider accounts payable. c. Council to consider budget amendments. d. Council to consider approval of minutes for: February 12, 2018 Regular Called Meeting Motion by: Councilman Creech Second by: Councilman Ramirez Motion to: Approve consent agenda as presented. Item 12 - Discuss and consider current policy and best practices additions to employee handbook. Mayor Morgan introduced this item. Mr. Straub advised that the City of Troy has never really had a dedicated employee personnel policy, but rather an employee handbook advise employees of city policies, etc. Straub advised that he was working on complete personnel policies but deemed it important to clarify expectations. Straub proposed the following additions to the employee handbook: CHAPTER 3 -COMPENSATION OVERTIME & COMPENSATORY TIME All non-exempt employees required to work overtime will be given compensatory time at one and one-half (1 ½) times or paid for all overtime worked to the nearest half hour. Overtime and compensatory time is based on hours worked in excess of forty (40) hours per week. Your supervisor can adjust your schedule and time off during the work week to balance your 40 hour week. No overtime or compensatory time may be accrued without prior written permission of a supervisor. No work schedule may be altered by an employee without prior written approval of a supervisor. Regular Council Meeting, March 12, 2018 Page 2

3 CHAPTER 4 - BENEFITS WORK SCHEDULES AND USE OF LEAVE TIME Employee work schedules are set by the employee s supervisor with final approval of the city administrator. Employees may only use leave time and/or deviate from working their normally scheduled work hours after having received written permission in advance from their supervisor. Motion by: Mayor Pro-tem Bailey Second by: Councilman Hicks Motion to: Approve employee handbook additions as presented. Item 13 - Discuss and consider authorizing the purchase of two fleet trucks via HGAC (the Houston- Galveston Area Council purchasing cooperative), one for animal control and one for the building official. Mayor Morgan introduced this item and asked Mr. Straub to elaborate. Straub advised that during the budget process, he had suggested to Council that major purchases would be delayed until revenue trends could be observed; that the Council had agreed with this strategy. Straub stated that it appeared revenues would exceed budgeted projections sufficiently to allow for the resumption of the city s fleet replacement program. Straub advised that sales tax allocation was on pace to be the highest in city history and that ad valorem tax revenues were on pace to substantially exceed the budgeted amount. Straub advised that the current animal control truck is an old seized vehicle which constantly breaks down and has difficulty passing inspection. Straub described the appearance of that truck as embarrassing and said the same about needing to replace the building official s truck. Straub advised that Chief Smith had developed the specifications for the potential truck purchase and gained pricing via the cooperative bidding process through HGAC. The vehicles recommended are 2018 Ram 1500 Tradesmen Regular Cab trucks with basic accessories. Straub said the total cost of the vehicles delivered is $38, Motion by: Councilman Ramirez Second by: Councilman Creech Motion to: Purchase described vehicles as presented. Item 14 Discuss and consider Resolution approving and adopting rate schedule RRM-Rate Review Mechanism for ATMOS Energy Corporation. Mayor Morgan introduced this item. City Administrator Straub advised that this was a regular item that comes up every 5 years or so where ATMOS offers favored nation status and the best rates to coalition cities and those cities willing to agree to the coalition s approved rate schedule. Failure to approve the Resolution would result in ATMOS having to file an individual rate case and higher rates for residents. Motion by: Councilman Hicks Second by: Mayor Pro-tem Bailey Motion to: Approve Resolution as presented. Regular Council Meeting, March 12, 2018 Page 3

4 Item 15 Discuss and consider water leak billing adjustment policy. Mr. Straub presented the proposed water leak billing adjustment policy that was drafted after it was recognized that there were some accounts that had experienced leaks that would never be able to pay their bills specifically, the girls softball organization that experienced a very large leak and large bill. The proposed policy was modeled after the City of Temple s with a component from Austin. The policy is where no more frequently that once every 24 months, a water customer could provide proof of a leak being repaired and receive an adjustment to their water bill. The adjustment would be to the average amount of water used for a year s period or the average of the month in question, whichever is higher. Discussion followed about the city s ability to show compassion and as to whether individuals experiencing leaks from years ago could receive reimbursement. Straub advised that the policy only allowed for leaks that occurred and been reported within 90 days to be addressed. Councilman Hicks advised that he was glad that the City was adopting a compassionate policy and that he had a neighbor that experienced a leak and benefitted from this approach. Mr. Hicks expressed concern that strictly adhering to the 24-month eligibility could be problematic and asked that under special circumstances there could be a deviation from the policy. Mr. Straub responded that policy was a guideline and not a rule, therefore there could be discretion in the rule s application. Motion by: Councilman Hicks Second by: Councilman Ramirez Motion to: Accept report as presented. Item 16 Discuss and consider Ordinance amending Ordinance to cause English and Spanish versions of the latter Ordinance to be consistent. Mayor Morgan introduced this agenda item. Mr. Straub advised that the English version of the Ordinance calling the municipal election erroneously listed Saturday, April 28, 2018 as an early voting date whereas the Spanish version of the Ordinance did not. Straub advised that this Ordinance would amend the original ordinance to remove the errant date. Motion by: Councilman Creech Second by: Councilman Hicks Motion to: Approve the Ordinance as presented. Item 17 Discuss and consider authorizing the city administrator to execute a contract retaining Sledge Engineering to evaluate current and future traffic on West Main Street, focusing on Mays Elementary School and Mays Middle School. Mr. Straub advised that this professional services agreement with Sledge Engineering was for the study of traffic to and from the school campuses on West Main Street where traffic is currently stacking in the street. Straub advised that Sledge has substantial experience in working with school districts through the Texas Association of School Boards and that he has worked with Sledge in remedying school traffic issues in the past. Straub advised that he has spoken with ISD administration and they are interested in all parties working together to seek a solution to the traffic issue. Straub advised that the current traffic issue needed to be resolved prior to the influx of population to the new subdivision that is under construction. Motion by: Mayor Pro-tem Bailey Second by: Councilman Ramirez Motion to: To approve the professional services agreement with Sledge Engineering in the amount of $6,200. Regular Council Meeting, March 12, 2018 Page 4

5 Item 18 Discuss and consider entering into a Local Government Code Chapter 380 Development Agreement with MC Turtle Creek Development, LLC. Mr. Straub advised the Council of Turtle Creek Development LLC s request for City assistance in the upsizing of the water line that is currently in place at the north section of their property. The developer s plans indicated that the line in place was an 8 inch line when it is actually a 2 inch line. The cost of this unanticipated portion of the project is estimated at $ Straub advised that the City could assist in the infrastructure improvement via a LGC 380 Agreement. Straub recommend a LGC 380 Agreement wherein Utility Tap (normally $1,400 per) and Capital Recovery fees ($1,000 per) retained by the City are rebated to the developer as a cash grant in an amount not to exceed the cost of the planned infrastructure: $36,000. Councilman Ramirez stated that he understood the request, but also felt that as a contractor, the developer s engineer should have established the presence of infrastructure at the site prior to drawing the plans. Councilman Hicks suggested that the City would have offered a 380 Agreement to attract the subdivision and therefore should be open to some sort of reasonable participation at this juncture. Motion by: Councilman Ramirez Second by: Councilman Creech Motion to: Authorize the creation and execution of a LGC 380 Agreement as presented with the rebate of up to $18,000 from tap/cap fees received and retained by the City from building permits applied for by the developer over the course of 24 months from date the Agreement is signed by the City. This meeting was adjourned at 6:49 PM by Mayor Morgan. Michael G. Morgan, Mayor Regular Council Meeting, March 12, 2018 Page 5