City Council Work Session

MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION GEORGE A. PUREFOY MUNICIPAL CENTER MCCALLUM ROOM, 4TH FLOOR 6101 FRISCO SQUARE BLVD. FRISCO, TEXAS 75034 4:00 PM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 MINUTES CALL TO ORDER Mayor Jeff Cheney called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. with a full quorum present. Mayor Jeff Cheney Present Mayor Pro-Tem Will Sowell Present Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem Shona Huffman Present Council Member John Keating Present Council Member Bill Woodard Present Council Member Tim Nelson Present Council Member Brian Livingston Present Representing Staff: George Purefoy, City Manager; Nell Lange, Assistant City Manager; Ben Brezina, Assistant City Manager; Kristi Morrow, City Secretary; Julie Davidson, Assistant City Secretary; Victor Cristales, City Attorney; Department Directors, and other Staff members. CITIZEN INPUT No one wished to speak. REGULAR AGENDA 1. Discussion regarding COVID-19 reporting. Page 1 of 4  Economic Development Corporation President Ron Patterson updated Council on the reporting of COVID-19 data. Mr. Patterson indicated the State has a backlog in reporting which is causing a swing in the numbers and causing the reliability of the data to be questionable. He requested direction on the continuation of pushing data out to the citizens on the City’s website. Fire Chief Mark Piland stated the decisions being made are based on data from the area hospitals which shows a clear trend downward. Mr. Patterson reminded Council that Medical Director Dr. Mark Gamber has consistent interaction with the hospitals and assures the City the hospital data is accurate. Mayor Cheney expressed his preference for ending the release of data that is not accurate. Upon further discussion, Council was in agreement to end the dashboard, the daily release, and the weekly release of COVID-19 data by the City, while leaving the County and State links for data available on the City’s website. 2. Discussion regarding proposed stormwater fee increases. Assistant City Manager Nell Lange presented information (Exhibit A) regarding increasing the stormwater fees. Ms. Lange informed Council that the stormwater fees were originally presented in tiers, and the City has not yet acted on Tier 3. She indicated there are Capital Improvement Projects scheduled that will need to be funded by the revenue from these fees. Ms. Lange reviewed examples of the impact on residential and commercial water bills. Ms. Lange and Chief Financial Officer Anita Cothran informed Council of the City’s program available to commercial properties to assist them in reducing their fees. Council was in agreement to move forward with Tier 3 fees. 3. Discussion regarding contract for funding related to the arts. Assistant City Manager Nell Lange led a discussion regarding the annual contract for funding the arts. She indicated the revenue from the Hotel/Motel Tax is not rebounding as quickly as hoped, and Staff will not be recommending any payment for this contract using funds from the Hotel/Motel Tax. Ms. Lange recommended that should Council choose to fund this contract in FY2021, the City should ask the Community Development Corporation (CDC) to fund it at a reduced amount of $100,000. Council was in agreement to request funding for this contract for FY2021 from the CDC. ADJOURN Council Member Bill Woodard moved to adjourn at 4:40 p.m. Council Member John Keating seconded the motion. Passed Vote: 6 – 0 For: Mayor Pro-Tem Will Sowell, Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem Shona Huffman, Council Member John Keating, Council Member Bill Woodard, Council Member Tim Nelson, Council Page 2 of 4  Member Brian Livingston Against: (None) Approved this 15th day of September 2020. __________________________ Jeff Cheney, Mayor ATTEST: __________________________ Kristi Morrow, City Secretary Please note these are preliminary results and are not official until approved at the next scheduled meeting. Approved/signed minutes are available at https://agenda.friscotexas.gov/OnBaseAgendaOnline/. Page 3 of 4 EXHIBIT A Page 4 of 4