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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - Special - 1/8/2003CITY OF LUBBOCK SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 8, 2003 9:00 A. M. The City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas met in special session on the 8th day of January, 2003, in the City Council Chambers, first floor, City Hall, 1625 13th Street, Lubbock, Texas at 9:00 A. M. 9:07 A. M. CITY COUNCIL CONVENED City Council Chambers, 1625 13th Street, Lubbock, Texas Present: Mayor Marc McDougal, Mayor Pro Tem Victor Hernandez, Council Member Tom Martin, Council Member Frank W. Morrison, Council Member T.J. Patterson Absent: Council Members Boren and Cooke ( 1.) Budget/financial overview. Beverly Hodges, Director of Finance; Melissa Trevino, Budget Manager Given this Council's interest in both budgetary and financial oversight, the Director of Finance and the Budget Manager plan on making a monthly presentation to Council. This will involve an overview of the balance sheet/income statement by the Director of Finance and the monthly budget report by the Budget Manager. Council was urged to provide staff with some direction concerning the format and the content of these reports for future meetings. Council was also aware of the fact that a contingency plan has been developed (not yet implemented) that will assist in dealing with a possible economic downturn. Sales tax receipts for the first month of the fiscal year were less than they were for that same month the previous year. In and of itself, this is not necessarily a problem. Coupled with the fact that the preceding two months were also less than the same two months in 2001, there are some concerns. This was discussed with City Council. Beverly Hodges, Director of Finance, gave a presentation on budget. She presented a proposed format for the monthly report. This report would have the following four components: Financial Analysis; Financial Summary; Economic Analysis; and Investment Report. Also, a quarterly report consisting of Capital Projects Update and Investment Report would be presented. The above items would November 2002 information Council Member Martin expressed the following: His personal preference would be to have a monthly capital projects update. As capital projects have an indefinite life once money is appropriated, they exist independently of a fiscal year until the project is completed. There is not a real urgency to do this at the same time you are considering October 1 items; therefore, after completion, some show open status. We need to close these, take the left over balance and start new capital projects. City Manager Bob Cass asked for direction to bring this information either late winter or early spring allowing Council to look at this separately from the operating budget. City Manager Bob Cass stated he planned to place this on each work session agenda for the foreseeable future to make sure City Council understands what is involved in the financial report. He invited Council to give direction regarding format in the manner in which they wished to receive information. Special City Council Meeting January 8, 2003 Page 2 Council Member Morrison stated that the area "percent of budget" causes problems as budget allowed and percentage Melissa Trevino, Budget Manager, gave a presentation Andy Burcham, Cash and Debt Manager, also gave a presentation on the annual investment report. (2.) Presentation of operational issues developed by the Lubbock Public Library staff that involve policy directives for the Lubbock Public Library System with regard to staffing, technology, security, collection development, and hours. Shannon Elrod & Jane Clausen, Co -Interim Library Directors ( 3.) In March 2002, the Lubbock Public Library staff developed a strategic plan for the library that outlined important issues facing the public library. Once this process was complete, the library director along with staff focus groups began to flesh out the various issues in order to develop action plans for those issues. The issues were: Staffing • Technology • Security/Safety of both staff and patron • Collection Development • Hours of Operation Over the past several months, both interim directors have worked closely with library staff and senior management to study the above areas and develop action plans to begin addressing the issues and determine the needs and concerns surrounding these issues. During the 2002/2003 budget discussions, Council authorized additional staffing for the libraries with the understanding that this would not increase the total number of library hours available to the public. Since the budget was adopted, however, some Council members have expressed an interest in shifting library hours at the various branches. Staff discussed a variety of scenarios here and asked Council for some direction in this regard. The Lubbock Public Library System has developed these action plans based on the issues outlined by staff in the Public Library System's strategic plan as well as the Public Library Board's strategic plan. Citibus service reductions and budget. John Wilson, Citibus General Manager; Arden Hawkins, Chair, Public Transit Advisory Board Arden Hawkins, Chairman of the Lubbock Public Transit Advisory Board (TAB), and John Wilson, Manager of Citibus, made a presentation on contemplated service reductions, the current and anticipated budget constraints they face and the continuing role the City Council wishes them to play in oversight of Citibus. As provided in Code of Ordinance, Section 2-239. Responsibility. "The Lubbock Public Transit Advisory Board shall be responsible to the City Council in the areas of promotion, routes, expansion, operational policies and rates as well as other areas which in its opinion may be necessary or desirable to operate, maintain, preserve and promote an orderly, economic and businesslike administration of the public transit system of the city and make recommendations thereon to the City Council from time to time." For the last ten years, only budget increases have come to the City Council. Items such as changes in bus fares and routes have not routinely come to the Council for action. The Transit Advisory Board and City staff would appreciate Council direction regarding the role that Council would like to play in the future. Should Council desire to take a greater role in the setting of fares and the designation of routes, we will need some direction. Should Council prefer 2 Special City Council Meeting January 8, 2003 Page 3 the current mode of operation, it was recommended that the current ordinance be redrafted in order to more precisely define the Board's role. ( 4.) Presentation concerning the City of Lubbock Cemetery and an assignment of purchase agreements with Jay D. Crouch and Associates. Randy Truesdell, Parks and Recreation Director; Jay D. Crouch, President of Crouch and Associates, LTD In an effort to provide funding for the long term care of the cemetery, optimize burial space and provide additional revenue sources, several new initiatives began in the year 2002. Those initiatives included the following: • Perpetual Care Fee • Cemetery Expansion • Mausoleum Sales and Service For the 2001/02 fiscal year, the City Council approved a 10% Perpetual Care Fee. The Perpetual Care Fee is based upon lot sales and the funds are placed in the Perpetual Care Fund. The interest earned from the Perpetual Care Fund will be used to offset long-term maintenance costs at the Cemetery. In December of 2001, the City Council approved an agreement with Jay D. Crouch and Associates for the sales and development of a mausoleum at the City of Lubbock Cemetery. Crouch and Associates began the marketing and sales of mausoleum spaces in January of 2002. Crouch and Associates has purchased an office building at 1602 Avenue N and has hired local people for sales and marketing. Since January of 2002, over 166 crypts have been sold and the City has received revenue in excess of $44,000. The construction of the mausoleum is scheduled on or before November 30, 2005. Crouch and Associates offers prospective customers the option to finance mausoleum spaces. During the January 23`d City Council meeting, the City Council will consider an agreement that will allow Crouch and Associates to assign time sales purchase agreements to a bank. Crouch and Associates would then receive full payment for the purchase agreements that are assigned. Highlights of the agreement are as follows: • Crouch will pay all sums due to the City of Lubbock. • Indemnity is included in the agreement. • Insurance requirements are included in the agreement. • The purchase agreements must be assigned to a bank as defined in Section 31.002 of the Texas Finance Code. • The funds are to be used solely for construction, promotion and mausoleum sales. Randy Truesdell, Parks and Recreation Director and Jay. D. Crouch, Crouch and Associates made a presentation to the City Council concerning the City of Lubbock Cemetery and the Assignment of Purchase Agreements. ( 5.) Update on the False Alarri Ordinance and proposed changes to the ordinance. Lieutenant Chris Powe, Police Administration (20 minutes) In November 2001, the City Manager staff, along with the Police Department, brought an ordinance to the City Council regarding false alarms. Two issues prompted staff to pursue this ordinance. First, the time that it takes officers to address false alarms prevents them from responding to more valid police services. Second, false alarms were placing an increased burden on the Police Department's budget. Staff s primary concern is to ensure that the Police Department can respond to more valid police services. 9 Special City Council Meeting January 8, 2003 Page 4 The Police Department drafted an ordinance and met with several alarm companies that provide alarm service in Lubbock. The alarm companies that they met with were supportive of the ordinance. However, they did have some concerns with regard to specific sections of the ordinance. As a result of these discussions, staff made some minor changes to the original ordinance to address their concerns. The following is a brief overview of the ordinance that was adopted by City Council in November 2001: • The purpose of the ordinance is to encourage the improvement and reliability of burglary and robbery alarm systems to ensure that police officers are not diverted from responding to real criminal activities because of responding to false alarms. • Any individual or business that has a call -in burglary alarm system will be required to obtain a permit after the third false alarm. An individual or business that has a call -in robbery alarm system will be required to obtain a permit after the first false robbery alarm. A burglary system is the standard system that is installed in most homes. A robbery system requires an individual to signal the alarm system manually. Individuals and businesses will be required to apply for a permit within 180 days of the effective date of the ordinance. • The Chief of Police may set a non-refundable fee to be charged for the processing of an application and issuance of an alarm system permit. After the Police Department responds to eight burglary false alarms within a twelve-month period, the permit holder will be assessed a $50 fee for each additional false alarm. After the Police Department responds to ten false burglary alarms within a twelve- month period, the Chief may revoke the alarm permit on the grounds that the alarm system has demonstrated a history of unreliability. After the Police Department responds to three false robbery alarms, the permit holder will be assessed a $100 fee for each additional false robbery alarm. After five false robbery alarms the Chief may revoke the alarm permit on the grounds that the alarm system has demonstrated a history of unreliability or the individuals are not trained in using the robbery alarm. If a Chief of Police approved alarm usage course is available, the Chief may accept documentation that the permit holder and their staff has successfully completed training in proper alarm usage in lieu of all or a portion of the penalty or service fees. If an alarm system has chronic problems or produces a number of false alarms during a weekend or holiday, the Police Department has the option to count multiple false alarms as one false alarm. However, the permit holder must furnish written documentation from the alarm company stating that they are working to correct the problem. If there is severe weather that causes numerous false alarms throughout the city, these false alarms will not be counted toward the permit holder's false alarms for the permit year. This section was added to the ordinance after meeting with the alarm companies. False Alarm Statistics: False alarm statistics have been compiled for 2000, 2001, 2002, and the data indicates that there has been a decrease in false alarms since the implementation of the ordinance. The data has been summarized from January to November of the respective years due to the fact that the data Special City Council Meeting January 8, 2003 Page 5 for December 2002 will not be available until January. The Police Department has indicated that a more accurate evaluation of the ordinance will be available after two to three years of implementation. As the charts indicate, there were 22,592 false alarms in 2000, 22,249 for 2001, and since the implementation there were 18,224 in 2002. In 2002 there were 1,163 permits issued, 188 fees collected, and 73 tickets issued. The permits and fees generated $67,550 in revenue. The operating costs for the implementation of the ordinance were $8,001.39; therefore the total revenue was $59,548.61. TOTAL ALARMS VALID ALARMS FALSE ALARMS January 2000 1891 12 1879 February 2000 1715 17 1698 March 2000 1981 26 1955 April 2000 2097 22 2075 May 2000 2287 21 2266 June 2000 2278 20 2258 July 2000 2435 25 2410 August 2000 1916 28 1888 September 2000 2109 21 2088 October 2000 2099 28 2071 November 2000 2027 23 2004 December 2000 2286 29 2257 Totals Jan. - Nov. 22835 243 22592 TOTALS 2000 25121 272 24849 TOTAL ALARMS VALID ALARMS FALSE ALARMS January 2001 2035 25 2010 February 2001 1962 16 1946 March 2001 1947 27 1920 April 2001 2234 29 2205 May 2001 2553 33 2520 June 2001 2175 33 2142 July 2001 2020 14 2006 August 2001 1944 12 1932 September 2001 1834 30 1804 October 2001 1851 32 1819 November 2001 1959 14 1945 December 2001 1884 23 1861 Totals Jan. - Nov. 22514 265 22249 TOTALS 2001 24398 288 24110 5 Special City Council Meeting January 8, 2003 Page 6 TOTAL ALARMS VALID ALARMS FALSE ALARMS January 2002 1703 26 1677 February 2002 1640 20 1620 March 2002 1887 66 1821 April 2002 1736 45 1691 May 2002 1836 20 1816 June 2002 1893 22 1871 July 2002 1808 31 1777 August 2002 1581 15 1566 September 2002 1545 29 1516 October 2002 1443 25 1418 November 2002 1474 23 1451 December 2002 Totals Jan. - Nov. TOTALS 2002 18546 322 18224 Revisions: Since the implementation of the false alarm ordinance, the Police Department has identified some areas to improve the efficient and effective implementation of the ordinance. These proposed changes were presented during work session. An action item will be brought to Council after the Police Department receives Council input from the work session. ( 6.) City Council goal setting session. Bob Cass, City Manager; City Council. Council has indicated an interest in holding a formal goal setting session. Staff asked for some direction as to any items Council would like to see developed for such a session. (7.) Discuss City Treasurer position. Bob Cass, City Manager Council requested that this item be placed on work sessions routinely to update Council. Staff was prepared for any questions Council had in this regard. 1:30 P. M. COUNCIL ADJOURNED There being no further business to come before Council, Mayor McDougal adjourned the meeting. Read and approved this day ofl�`,t�,�; i, , 200 UGAL, MAYOR ATTEST: Re ecca Garza, City Secretary`' n