City Council Meetings

607 MINUTES I SPECIAL MEETING I I MINERAL WELLS CITY COUNCIL l ! CITY HALL ANNEX August 22, 2017 - 6:00 pm City Councilmembers present were Mayor Mike Allen, Mayor Pro-Tern Tammy Underwood, Councilmembers Brian Shoemaker, Regan Johnson, John Upham, Jerrel Tomlin, and Doyle Light. A quorum of City Councilmembers was present. Staff members present were City Manager Lance Howerton, Police Chief Dean Sullivan, Public Works Director Kelly Jones, Fire Chief Mike Pool, and City Clerk Juanita Formby, and Finance Director John Moran City Attorney Mack Reinwand was absent. Mayor Mike Allen called the meeting to order, Mrs. Underwood gave the invocation, and the Pledges of Allegiance to the U.S. and Texas were recited. 1. Mr. Howerton explained to the City Council that a house located at 1015 N.W. 1st Avenue had been condemned, and had been placed on a bid list for demolition by a contractor. The owner had attempted to demolish it but was unable to finish the job, and left it in an unsafe condition. City crews were able to push it to the ground so it would not be in danger of collapsing, and the owner was notified that he must remove the debris. This was still not done, and the demolished house remains on the lot. Area Wide Construction, who was awarded a bid to demolish several condemned structures at a recent City Council meeting, is in the area, and can clear the lot to the City's specifications. Area Wide Construction provided a quote of $3200 to do this work. Mr. Upham moved and Mr. Shoemaker seconded to accept the quote from Area Wide Construction and authorize them to clear the subject lot. Motion carried 7-0. 2. Mayor Allen told the numerous people present that this special meeting was called for the express purpose of holding a public hearing regarding the proposed 2017-2018 budget and associated tax rate. He said that anyone who wished to speak about this topic only, will be recognized, he asked that they give their name and address and the time limit would be three minutes. He opened the public hearing at 6: 04 pm. Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 08/22/2017 Page 1 of4 608 Ashley Mast of 1905 S.E. 14th Avenue asked to make a suggestion. She proposed that the City Council hold an open, public forum, and invite people to ask questions or address concerns about any topic they chose, in a situation where the Council or staff could respond, unhampered by the confines of a posted agenda. She. said people would feel freer to ask questions, and a code of conduct could be enforced to keep order. It could be advertised so there would be good group participation. Staff said that the Texas Open Meetings Act generally requires that any discussion or deliberation by the City Council be posted on an agenda, and it is unknown if this can be legally done. Mr. Howerton offered to visit with the City Attorney and determine if there is a way that this could be done within the confines of the Texas Open Meetings Act. Mr. Brandon Johnson of 2603 N. Highway 281 in Mineral Wells asked about the Envision Mineral Wells project, if this project and the decisions made impacted the budget in any way. He asked if the budget had to be adopted right away, or could it be postponed until the next Phase of Envision Mineral Wells to see if any of those suggested projects and changes would affect the Council's decisions regarding a tax rate. Mr. Shoemaker said that there is a deadline for adoption of the budget. Mayor Allen explained about the effective tax rate, and said that cities are prohibited .from generating more revenue by setting high tax rates, that additional ad valorem revenue can only be realized by increased property valuations, which is not a function of the City. Mr. Johnson said that there was no transparency and no confidence among the citizens in the Council's decision making. Terri Blevins of 2807 N. Murco said that if the City generally has a "hand to mouth" budget then why would they consider passing bonds that would necessitate repaying the debt? He said they City Council and staff did not deserve a cathedral or a temple to do business out of and they are not showing good faith. They are not even shocked at the enormity of the proposed new City Hall bond issue. He sa~d the Council only put street repairs and water line propositions on the ballot to "throw us a bone" so perhaps their new City Hall would pass. Mayor Allen called for order and said that the bond election is not on the agenda to be discussed at this public hearing. Simon Nash of 308 S.E. 18th Street said that he is in favor of the proposal to include more money to recruit, retain, and pay public safety employees, police and fire. He said he often rides out with police officers and he sees first-hand how they Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 08/22/2017 Page 2 of4  609 work. He said the officers had told him that none of the City Councilmembers had rode out with them lately and Mr. Nash encouraged the Council to do so, that they would learn more about their officers' jobs. He said the officers need a fair raise and need to be paid what they're worth. Councilman Tomlin said that he has ridden with the patrol officers in the past and has respect and admiration for them. He said he supports Councilman Light's proposal to raise taxes significantly so that police and fire would have the equipment and the pay they need and deserve. He said it never seems to be a good time to take action and if we wait until the time is right, we will have waited too long. He thanked Mr. Light for bringing the proposal to the table, that it is a bold step, but that's what the Council is elected to do and he encouraged the rest of the City Council to strongly consider Mr. Light's proposal. (Mr. Light had proposed a 66¢ tax rate, about 5¢ over the roll-back rate, to fund extra positions and pay increases in the Police and Fire Departments). Mrs. Underwood said that she had attended the Citizens Police Academy and it was an eye-opening educational experience, and she encouraged others to do so as well. She had not ridden out with an officer (CPA graduates are all authorized to do so), but still hopes to do that. She has utmost respect for police officers and firefighters. Mayor Allen said that since the last public hearing, the City Manager, Police Chief Dean Sullivan and Fire Chief Mike Pool had been discussing ways to provide extra staffing and/or pay hikes in the Police and Fire Departments, and asked Mr. Howerton to talk about some of their findings. Mr. Howerton said that major issues in the public safety departments are equipment, personnel, compensation, and facilities. He said that the Police and Fire Departments account for half of the $11.5 million General Fund budget; and this is common in cities due to the specialized nature of those functions. He said that the revenue generated by ad valorem taxes is only enough to fund the Police Department alone, there is not enough to fund other General Fund department, which rely on other sources of revenue (i.e. sales tax). The priorities in the Mineral Wells Police Department, according to its Chief, is recruitment and retention of personnel; in the Fire Department, according it its Chief, it is additional staffing. He said the City has a certification pay plan to reward employees for advanced education and L certifications, which serves to retain tenured employees but does little to attract new recruits. Most new hires are Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 08/22/2017 Page 3 of4 610 typically fresh out of academy and fairly inexperienced. The two primary issues could be address as follows: a 6% salary adjustment of base entry level pay for police qfficers and ·' dispatchers effective January 1, which would affect the tax rate upward by about 1¢. Three additional positions in the Fire Department effective April 1 would impact the tax rate upward by another 2¢ to 3¢. This would place the tax rate at 61¢, slightly under the roll-back rate. However, it does not account for the full year, and these expenditures would have to be sustained going forward, which would likely mean another tax increase next year, unless sales tax revenues increase. Councilman Upham suggested that these additional expenses could be met and the tax rate kept a couple of cents lower if we could forego some of the purchases promulgated in the proposed budget. Some of those might include a new truck in Animal Control, Fire equipment, a new truck for the Parks and Recreation Department, gym equipment for the Parks and Recreation Department, and a reduction in the line item for demolitions of condemned structures. The savings from these suggested cuts would be about $166,000, which would fund the desired expenditures in Police and Fire and still enable us to keep the tax rate around 58¢ to 60¢. Other Councilmembers weighed in on their reluctance to forego equipment for the Fire Department, and their desire to keep the tax rate under 60¢ if possible. Mr. Howerton told the Council that staff would adjust the budget according to their wishes, and asked them to take definitive action on what they would like the staff to present. In response to that, Mr. Upham moved to instruct staff to prepare a proposed budget based on a proposed tax rate not to exceed 61¢ (but under the roll-back rate). Mrs. Underwood seconded, and the motion carried 7-0 by a show of hands. No one else from the public or Council had anything to add, and the Mayor closed the public hearing at 7:17 pm. Mike Allen, Mayor ATTEST: Mineral Wells City Council Minutes 08/22/2017 Page4 of4