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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-01 - Regular City CouncilMINUTES OF REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING City of Stephenville - City Council Tuesday, March 1, 2016, 5:30 P.M. The Cih, ro.incii of the City of Stephenville, Texas, convened ui,'^_rch 1, 2016, at 5:30 p.m., in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 298 West Washington Street, for the purpose of a Regular Business Meeting, with the meeting being open to the public and notice of said meeting, giving the date, time, place and subject thereof, having been posted as prescribed by Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes Annotated, with the following members present, to wit: Mayor Mayor Pro -Tern Council members Jerry K. Weldon II Russ McDanel Mark McClinton Boyd Waggoner Doug Svien Rhett Harrison Alan Nix Sherry Zachery Jerry Warren Others Attending Patrick C. Bridges, City Administrator Randy Thomas, City Attorney Cindy L. Stafford, City Secretary Call to Order. The meeting of the Stephenville City Council was called to order at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, by Mayor Weldon. II. Citizens' General Discussion. No one wished to address the council. III. Tarleton State University Round -Up Service Project—TSU Student Executive Team Lauren Motloch, graduate assistant with the Office of Student Engagement, and Grant Johnson, student, spoke to council about this year's event. Round -Up will be held on Saturday, April 2, 9am to 2pm, in an effort to give back through service to the community. Their goal is to have 1,000 students participating at 100 job sites throughout the city. There will also be waste removal, tire removal, and paper shredding. They are seeking assistance in providing the needed tools for the students to do the work. Johnson also mentioned Service Day on April 7 when students will connect knowledge learned in the classroom to the service experience as part of Texans Team Up for Week of Service. Community Services Director Jeremy Allen talked about some of the specific projects. Graffiti removal under the Washington Street bridge is one of the targeted areas. n Round Up groups will paint over the graffiti, then students in the Arts Department will paint a mural. Also, the Horticulture Department will work on improvements to the highway medians. Classes will be conducted for patrons at the library and Senior Citizens Regular Business Meeting —March 1, 2016 Stephenville City Council Center to teach social media, Excel, and other computer applications. Transportation will be provided to the Tarleton campus so that the university labs can be utilized for these classes. ROTC students will help clean and stack historic Thurber bricks. Allen was complimentary of past participation with Tarleton students. Mayor Weldon emphasized that no ciasses will be conducted at Tarleton on April 7 so that every student may be engaged in service in some way to our community. IV. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report —Lewis Crain with Rutledge Crain & Company PC (separate cover) Lewis Crain thanked council for the opportunity to make this presentation. He said that it was a pleasure to conduct Stephenville's audit. Crain reported that the city had a good year and added nearly $1 million to the city's reserves. This year the General Accounting Standards Board 54 was implemented, which improves accounting and financial reporting by state and local governments for pensions. Crain reported that they found no material weaknesses and no reportable conditions. He commended the council for its guidance and the staff for their work. MOTION by Doug Svien, second by Mark McClinton, to accept the annual financial report and forward it to the Finance Department. MOTION CARRIED. V. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT • Update on Thoroughfare Plan from Freese and Nichols, Inc. Noah Cullis, Director of Planning and Building Services, reported that representatives of Freese and Nichols, Inc. as well as Mayor Weldon and members of city staff presided over a town hall meeting to provide information and seek comments from city and county residents. Cullis said that he and FNI representatives subsequently met with three of the four county commissioners and the county judge. Going forward, they will meet with each commissioner individually. VI. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE REPORT A. 2016 Pavement System Projects Strategy. Areas include Virginia, Long, Pearl and Inglewood streets. B. Reconstruction of Vanderbilt Street. Tarleton State University plans to make major renovations, part of which include the reconstruction of Vanderbilt Street and relocation of the utilities. Tarleton will cover the entire cost of utility relocation, and the city's matching obligation will not exceed $253,167. Regular Business Meeting —March 1, 2016 Stephenville City Council MOTION by Alan Nix, second by Russ McDanel, to accept the Memorandum of Understanding with Tarleton State University for the city's participation in the reconstruction of Vanderbilt Street from Cain to 011ie Streets. Motion carried by unanimous vote. C. College Street Bridge. Nix reported thet when this bridge was classified as unsafe and would require rehabilitation, several solutions were presented, including the demolition and replacement of the bridge. Delta Structural Technology, LLC submitted a proposal to use a fiber reinforced polymer material to provide increased strength and corrosion resistance. Nix and Mayor Weldon commended the Public Works Division for its research to identify an effective solution that will save the city $250,000 when compared to the cost of replacing the bridge. There was also a reduction in engineering fees from $35,000 to $6,000. VII. FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT A. Consider Approval of Chapter 380 Economic Development Program Agreement between City of Stephenville and Highway 377 LLC Mayor Weldon began by saying that the city has been working with community leaders, Chamber of Commerce, STEDCO, and SEDA to facilitate economic development, which he defined as growing our economy. Weldon said that there are only two ways to grow the economy —bring in new dollars or keep the dollars you have. Shelby Slawson, SEDA board member, referred to the Economic Development Action Plan supplied by council to SEDA. In it, she reported that the retail market analysis recognizes a $16M leakage in the restaurant and bar category. Based on population changes, that number may be even more significant. Slawson said that we either need to be committed to competing or just satisfied with the status quo. She said that from a business prospective, the Chapter 380 agreement is a good deal. MOTION by Russ McDanel, second by Sherry Zachery, to adopt Resolution No. 2016-R-05 approving a Chapter 380 Economic Development program and agreement with Highway 377, LLC; providing a severability clause; and providing for an effective date. Russ McDanel made the following comments which he requested be made a part of the minutes: '?his is 2016. We must compete or we die. "As I stated in the Finance Committee meeting on the issue of fairness: The incentive program began in 1995. For businesses established orior to then, they weren't available to request. Businesses established afterthe program 1995 and met the criteria could have made a request, but did not do so. I also believe granting incentives for a grocery store request should not be discounted because there are other grocery stores here now. This council has focused heavily on economic development for the past two years. We have talked the talk, now it's time to walk the walk. The people want more choices. The vacant Regular Business Meeting —March 1, 2016 Stephenville City Council /+t Fiddle Creek building has generated zero sales tax for the past several years, now there is {j the opportunity to grow our economy. Years ago our city council designated the area where the old Gibson Discount Center building was as a 'tax reinvestment zone' as an incentive to improve that area. Ace Hardware owned by the Dowell family renovated the building and filled a consumer demand. The Hoffbrau group shares the values of our community niiu a e rw,t -'chain restaurant'. They plan to invest a large sum ur 1i10ney to meet the demands of the consumers across the region, by building a first of its kind restaurant here in our city. They fully understand that the location along Hwy 377 has thousands of travelers a day that are currently dining in towns like Brownwood, Granbury, and Fort Worth. The economic pie grows as we are able to attract new commerce currently untapped. In addition to these tourism dollars, the planned improvements to the property will, in my opinion, increase the city's portion of the ad valorem tax by at least $3,000 a year. The amount of sales tax generated by the HB (Hoffbrau) group, that is rebated to them is SMALL dollars —but it sends a BIG MESSAGE to all the other businesses looking to come to Stephenville! "What do you want the headlines in the media to say tomorrow?n Motion by Doug Svien to call the question, second by Russ McDanel. Jerry Warren requested a roll call vote. MOTION CARRIED by the following vote: Ayes: Council members McClinton, Svien, McDanel, Harrison, Zachery, and Mayor Weldon. Nays: Council members Waggoner, Nix, and Warren. B. Consider Approval of Ordinance No. 2016-0-02 Establishing a Capital Improvement Plan Ordinance MOTION by Doug Svien, second by Russ McDanel, to approve Ordinance No. 2016-0-02. MOTION CARRIED. C. Consider Approval of Annual Review of Financial Policy Statements and Financial Management Policy and Investment Policy and Adoption of Resolution No. 2016-11- 04 MOTION by Doug Svien, second by Sherry Zachery, to approve Resolution No. 2016-R-04. MOTION CARRIED by unanimous vote. D. Quantitative Financial Information for the General Fund Mayor Weldon announced that the Finance Committee will meet to develop for council consideration a sales tax policy and an amendment to the economic development incentive package. Regular Business Meeting —March 1, 2016 Stephenville City Council Vill. CONSENTAGENDA MOTION by Russ McDanel, second by Doug Svien, to approve the consent agenda. MOTION CARRIED by unanimous vote. A. Approve I:17njirne 1. February 2, 2016 Regular Council Meeting 2. February 16, 2016 Special Council Meeting B. Approve Bid Awards 1. Pickup Trucks (2)—Public Works Department 2. Backhoe—Public Works Department 3. 2015-2016 Street Improvement Project C. Sale of City Property D. Ratify Rules of Procedure to Include The Pledge of Allegiance and Prayer IX. Comments by City Administrator City offices will be closed on March 25 in observance of Good Friday. X. Comments by Council member Rhett Harrison explained his position on the 380 agreement. He said that he struggled with this decision. He said that when he ran for office, he established a platform and vowed that he would stick with that platform. He said it was a difficult decision for him to make, but he is glad that Hoffbrau is coming to Stephenville. Alan Nix wished his wife, Jan, a happy birthday, and conveyed her gratification that the entire country refers to this day as "Super Tuesday". Sherry Zachery addressed the College Street bridge project, and praised those who diligently searched for an alternative solution that resulted in a significant cost savings. Jerry Warren said that he was not against the 380 agreement, but thought the amount was excessive. Russ McDanel announced that he has a new grandson, Everett McKee], 8 pounds, 5 ounces, born in Waco, Texas, on February 27. Mayor Weldon thanked council, staff, and citizens for their efforts toward economic development. He said, "Our competition is not within our city limits. Our competition is Granbury, Brownwood, Weatherford, Cleburne. We're the City of Champions, and they better take notice. We know what it means to win, and we are about to win in a way that is going to blow them away." Regular Business Meeting —March 1, 2016 Stephenville City Council XI. EXECUTIVE SESSION. At 7:21 p.m., Mayor Weldon recessed the open portion of the meeting, and council went into executive session in compliance with the provisions of the Texas Open Meetings law, Subchapter D, Government Code, Vernon's Texas Codes, Annotated, in accordance with Sec. 551.071(a) Consultation with Attorney; pending or conti—nlated litivation A. Stephenville City Electric, Inc., et al, v. City of Stephenville and Mark Kaiser, Cause No. CV-33,010, 26601 Judicial District Court, Erath County, Texas B. EconoLodge—Non-payment of Hotel Occupancy Tax The council reconvened in open session at 7:47 p.m. XII. Action taken on matters discussed in executive session (if necessary) XIII. Adjourn MOTION by Alan Nix, second by Mark McClinton, to adjourn the meeting. MOTION CARRIED at 7:48 p.m. Jer I K. W4don II, Mayor ATTEST: M"- ._Ir, I F12410d, ,,W W . r -i Regular Business Meeting —March 1, 2016 Stephenville City Council