City Council Regular Meeting

Minutes of Special Meeting The City Council City of Richwood A Special Meeting of the City Council of City of Richwood was held Monday, July 25, 2016, beginning at 6:00 PM in the Richwood City Hall, 1800 N. Brazosport Blvd. Richwood, Texas. I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Mark Guthrie, Mayor and presiding officer. II. INVOCATION The invocation was given by Justin Gatlin. III. ROLL CALL OF COUNCIL MEMBERS Roll call showed the following members present: Mark Guthrie, Mayor and presiding officer Paul Raymond, Council, Position #1 Melissa Blanks, Council, Position #2 Jarrod Beaty, Council, Position #3 Lauren LaCount, Council, Position #4 Chris Hardison, Council, Position #5 A quorum was declared. Others present included Glenn Patton, City Manager, Karen B. Schrom, City Secretary, Bryan Corb, Police Chief, Clif Custer, Public Works Director, Kenny Williams, Director of Permitting and Inspections, Clint Kocurek, Fire Chief, Justin Gatlin, Kevin Story, Patti Guthrie and Stephany Garza, the Facts. IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were none. V. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS A. Hiring of a consulting firm - search for City Manager  Councilman LaCount made the motion to hire SRG as the firm to search for a new City Manager. The motion died for a lack of a second. Councilman Hardison made the motion to hire Cox Consulting based on his long term relationship with the City and Mr. Patton’s recommendation. Councilman Raymond seconded the motion. Councilmen Raymond, Blanks, Beaty and Hardison voted aye. Councilman LaCount voted nay. Motion carried. B. FY 17 Budget 1. Adopting a Tax Rate Ms. Schrom explained the two benchmark rates, effective and rollback, and what makes up the tax rate. 2. Public Safety a. Police Chief Corb outlined the changes in his budget. Every employee will see a raise of $2,218 per year. His budget request includes moving Sgt. Munley to Code Enforcement. Lake Jackson Dispatch is going up on their rates. The PD receives approximately 600 dispatched calls a month, Fire Department 103 and EMS 180. Councilman LaCount asked about the number of officers. It was explained that CCPD funded the officer last year with the understanding it would be included in this year’s City budget. Councilman Raymond and Hardison agreed. Other concerns discussed were Animal Control, the creation of the Lieutenant’s position, and an officer as Code Enforcement officer Councilman Raymond stated he was not in favor of creating personnel changes until the new City Manager came in. 1. CCPD The budget presented has been approved by Crime Control and Prevention District. It includes $11,724 to offset Sgt. Munley’s salary. 2. Code Enforcement Councilman LaCount and Councilman Beaty expressed their concern  regarding having an officer also act as Code Enforcement Officer. b. Fire Clint Kocurek, Fire Chief, presented his budget. They are asking for building repair to fix the leaking roof and dress up the side of the building. They are also asking to replace the Chief’s vehicle as well as annual payments for radios and rescue equipment. Councilman Raymond stated since the City received a grant to purchase the radios, he’d like to see the Fire Department to use the money budgeted and find the additional money within their budget to pay for the rescue equipment instead of financing it. Councilman LaCount stated she has personally seen the value of replacing the vehicle. When asked why they had not used the money budgeted in training and travel and building maintenance and repair, Chief Kocurek stated they liked to wait until hurricane season to make those purchases. Councilman Raymond stated he did not feel that idea was a good steward of city funds. 3. Public Works a. City Maintenance Clif Custer, Public Works Director stated the two main changes in his City Maintenance Budget beside the proposed pay raises, are the moving of Mr. Williams to his own Permitting Department and the purchase of a mini excavator and a new tractor/mower. Councilman LaCount said that this department is showing an increase of $39,000 and only appears to show a reduction because permitting was pulled out. She feels this needs to be justified and stated she felt the creation of the permitting department is a shell game. b. Streets & Drainage Mr. Custer reported he is looking into area streets and will have a plan to prioritize the work. c. Parks and Recreation There was no change.  d. Water/Sewer Fund Sewer line maintenance and repair has been increased. We still need about 10,000 feet of sewer line that needs smoke testing and we need to rehabilitate Lift Station #1 as well as improve the electrical services for Lift Station #3. Councilman Beaty asked if there was a preventative maintenance program. Mr. Custer stated they do try to do as much as time allows. e. Transportation Councilman LaCount asked how much was spent for sidewalks last year. Mr. Custer stated he’d used all the money for streets. In his interaction with the public, he has not had much discussion regarding sidewalks. Most folks have expressed a concern about the streets. Councilman LaCount stated the budget should reflect where the money is actually spent. 4. Administration and Municipal Court The proposed clerk’s position was cut. Council wants $14,800 set aside to pay for training the new City Secretary/Finance Director. Councilman Hardison stated we are looking at the budget incorrectly since we are decreasing our savings. 5. Permitting and Inspections Mr. Williams reported there are currently 7 houses at Oakwood Shores and more coming in Brazos Crossing. We will have 500 more apartments come online by the end of the year. This is a new department. Councilman LaCount asked who created the department. She was under the impression only Council should create new positions. She addressed her concerns to Mr. Patton. Council was aware of the change. She then stated she felt the hourly employees only should get 5% and it was agreed salaried employees should get 2%. VI. ADJOURNMENT With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 9:17 p.m. APPROVED BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF COUNCIL ON THE 8TH DAY OF AUGUST, 2016. _____________________________________ Mark Guthrie, Mayor ATTEST: _____________________________________ Karen B. Schrom, City Secretary