Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015.05.19 City Council Meeting Minutes141 City of University Park City Hall 3800 University Blvd. University Park,TX 75205 Meeting Minutes City Council Tuesday,May 19,2015 5:00 PM Council Chamber EXECUTIVE SESSION 3:00 -4:00 P.M.Pursuant to TGC§551.071,the City Council met in closed session to receive confidential legal advice from the City Attorney with regard to:(1)pending litigation (James H.Watson vs.the City of Allen,et a/);(2)a consulting contract to perform a study at 3805 McFarlin;and (3)park usage.No action was taken.Executive Conference Room,1st Floor,City Hall. PRE-MEETING WORK SESSION(S) 4:00 -4:45 P.M.The City Council met in open work session to receive an overview of the 2015 Community Survey Findings from Michael Egan of the The Dallas Marketing Group. 4:45 -5:00 P.M.The City Council met in open work session to receive agenda item briefings from staff.No action was taken.Council Conference Room,2nd floor,City Hall. I.CALL TO ORDER Rollcall Present:4 -Councilmember Bob Begert,Councilmember Tommy Stewart, Councilmember Taylor Armstrong and Mayor Olin Lane Excused:1 -Council member Dawn Moore A.INVOCATION:City Attorney Rob Dillard B.PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:City Attorney Rob Dillard /Boy Scouts Boy Scout Gage Holmes of Troop 518 was present as part of earning his Citizenship in the Community merit badge.He assisted City Attorney Rob Dillard and the City Council in leading the Pledge of Allegiance. C.INTRODUCTION OF COUNCIL:Mayor Olin Lane,Jr. City of University Park Page 1 142 City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2015 D.INTRODUCTION OF STAFF:City Manager Robbie Corder Staff in attendance included Community Information Officer Steve Mace, Director of Information Services Dale Harwell,Chief of Police Greg Spradlin, Director of Public Works Bud Smallwood,City Secretary Christine Green, Director of Parks and Recreation Gerry Bradley,Library Director Sharon Martin,Fire Chief Randy Howell,Director of Finance Tom Tvardzik, Community Development Director Pat Baugh,and Deputy Director of Public Works Jacob Speer. II.AWARDS AND RECOGNITION None III.CONSENT AGENDA 15-351 Consider approval of the minutes of the May 5,2015 City Council meeting with or without corrections. The minutes were approved. Approval of the Consent Agenda A motion was made by Councilmember Taylor Armstrong,seconded by Council member Bob Begert,to approve the Consent Agenda.The motion carried by the following vote: Aye:4 -Councilmember Begert,Councilmember Stewart,Councilmember Armstrong,and Mayor Lane IV.MAIN AGENDA City of University Park Page 2 143 City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2015 15-349 Consider an ordinance approving a negotiated settlement agreement with Atmos Energy Corporation Director of Information Services Dale Harwell said that the City is a member of the Atmos Cities Steering Committee (ACSC).The RRM Tariff was adopted by the City as an alternative to the Gas Reliability Infrastructure Program (GRIP),the statutory provision that allows Atmos to bypass the City's rate regulatory authority to increase its rates annually to recover capital investments.In February 2014,Atmos filed its second annual filing under the Rate Review Mechanism (RRM)Tariff,seeking an increase of $45.7 million. On the recommendation of the ACSC,the City denied the requested rate increase via a resolution in 2014. ACSC and Atmos reached a settlement on the rate increase request this year.This ordinance will approve the settlement agreement and the resulting rate change under the RRM Tariff.As a result of the negotiations,the ACSC reduced Atmos'requested $28.8 million rate increase to $21,962,784.When added to the settlement of the 2014 RRM filing and adjustments recommended by the Texas Railroad Commission,Atmos will receive total additional annual revenues of $65.7 million.Because the 2014 rates have been in effect since June 1,2014,the increase to currently-billed rates is $21 million.Approval of this ordinance will result in rates that implement an increase in Atmos'revenues effective June 1,2015. The monthly residential customer charge will be $18.60.The consumption charge will change from $0.08819 per Ccf to $0.09931 per Ccf.The monthly bill impact for the typical residential customer consuming 60 Ccf will be an increase of $1.14 (about a 1.59%increase in the base bill).The typical commercial customer will see an increase of $2.69 or 0.96%. A motion was made by Councilmember Bob Begert,seconded by Councilmember Tommy Stewart,to adopt this ordinance.The motion carried by the following vote: Aye:4 -Councilmember Begert,Mayor Pro Tem Stewart,Armstrong,and Mayor Lane Excused:1 -Councilmember Moore Enactment No:ORD No.15/011 City of University Park Page 3 144 City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2015 15-352 Overview of 2015 Community Survey findings Michael Egan of The Dallas Marketing Group (DMG)provided an overview of the 2015 Community Survey results.He said that the overall goals of the survey were twofold -one was to measure attitudes,awareness,and usage of the residents of University Park and compare those with the survey results measured over the last decade,and the other was to listen carefully to the opinions and attitudes of residents in their own voice. Mr.Egan spoke about the methodology used in the survey.He said the survey was scientifically designed.Surveys were sent to every household in the city via the utility bill.There was an option to complete the survey online using a secure password stamped on the front of the printed questionnaire. He said that 16%of all households responded.This is a statistically meaningful response,and the results have a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.The survey was carefully designed to be objective and not to project any kind of bias in its paper or online form. The survey used the Likert scale,a five point measurement of satisfaction. DMG summarized the percentage of people who said they were either satisfied or very satisfied,and called that the "satisfaction score."He compared the scale to a school grading system,where a satisfaction score of 90%and above would be considered an "A",80 -89 a "B",70-79 a "C",60- 69 a "D"and anything below that an "F". Mr.Egan said that the City scored an "A"on almost all of the important issues.These include Overall Satisfaction,Willingness to Recommend,Met Expectation,and Value.Responses were tracked by region within the City, and he said that there was a fairly uniform distribution of responses from each region.Significant decreases in satisfaction since the last survey include rental of city facilities and the reservations systems used for the tennis courts,athletic fields and park rentals. There were dissatisfaction scores above 10 points in the areas of code enforcement and fairness of code enforcement.The home construction question showed significant dissatisfaction with building site cleanliness/appearance and home size regulation.He said the survey showed that residents want the City to address the issue of fairness in code enforcement. There were high levels of satisfaction for trash and recycling as well as water, sewer,and streets. Public Safety received very high satisfaction levels in all areas.The Fire Department had the highest satisfaction rating of 95%.The Police Department also ranked high in emergency response and keeping the community safe,but there is an opportunity for improvement in the area of enforcing traffic regulations and the fairness of traffic enforcement. This is the first time the Library has been included in the survey.Three City of University Park Page 4 145 City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2015 quarters of the residents were aware of at least one of the services offered by the Library.Lectures and adult book reviews were the most likely to be used by residents while Spanish language programs for children's lessons and story times were the least likely to be used. Looking at the community's satisfaction in terms of the City's customer service,there were very high scores overall,consistent with previous results. The only two areas with significant changes from the past and negative scores were "helpfulness and courtesy of code enforcement staff'and" fairness about how zoning issues are handled". The City's website scored well.In the written comments about the website, respondents said that they would like the website to be more convenient in terms of paying utility bills and making reservations for park facilities.The Arbor newsletter came out at the top of the list for preferred communication methods. There was a question on the survey asking residents the likelihood that they would use an indoor pool (natatorium)if it were built as a joint-use partnership with the Highland Park ISO.There was a 10 point majority that said they would be unlikely to use such a pool. Mr.Egan said there were two big strategic issues identified by the survey. The first is fairness of code enforcement and enforcement of traffic regulations,and the second is new home size and deep concerns about regulations for new home size and the impact on the quality of life in University Park.For the Police Department,he said the most common suggestion was to build a stronger rapport with the residents.The opportunities for the website include improved functionality and ease of use to make it more convenient to find information. Mr.Egan said that one interesting result of this survey is that there is a rapidly growing cohort of 30-44 year old residents.He said they would be the City's advocates for the policies that work now and that the City should use this group to spread the message throughout the community. He ended with a compliment to the City administration as customer service is a "very satisfied"attribute among residents of the City of University Park. V.PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no speakers. City of University Park Page 5 146 City Council Meeting Minutes May 19,2015 VI.ADJOURNMENT As there was no further business,Mayor Lane adjourned the meeting. Considered and approved this the 2nd day of June 2015: ~<12C)1 Olin Lane,Jr.,Mayor ATTEST: Christine Green,City Secretary City of University Park Page 6