Clone of Recap of City Council Meeting - 09/14/22 by Councilmember Hines
Recap September 14th Special Meeting of City Council
Submitted by Councilmember Debra Hines and approved by Mayor Jeff Rasco
A Proclamation was made designating September 17th through the 23rd of 2022 as Constitution Week. Members of the Jacob’s Well Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) were present to accept the certificate of the proclamation and tell us a little about their work and Constitution Week.
Consent Agenda:
Items 1-3 were approved unanimously by Council.
Regular Agenda:
Item 4: Public Hearing on the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2022 – 2023 occurred. No public comment was given.
Item 5: Public Hearing on the proposed tax rate for fiscal year 2022 – 2022 occurred. No public comment was given.
Item 6: Public comment led to the correction of an error in the total expenditures item as one line item (8900) was left off in the final calculation. The budget was amended to correct this accidental calculation omission. Discussion among Council members about the concerns over the need for a “balanced budget,” meaning an annual budget that totals to zero at the end, led to additional amendments to create a $50,000 contingency reserve and to add an additional $3,453 to the Parks line item. This removed a projected surplus and placed all funds into expected expenditures categories. The General Fund Policy allows the City to hold up to $50,000 in an uncommitted contingency reserve in the annual budget. Council unanimously approved the budget with these amendments.
Item 7: Council unanimously approved setting the Interest and Sinking (debt service) tax rate at .0687 and the Maintenance and Operation tax rate at .1152 which is a total of .1839 for the 2022 – 2023 fiscal year. This is a 2.62% increase from income generated by the 2021 –2022 tax rate, but will result in a 11.20% decrease in taxes per $100,000 of valuation of a home. This rate is lower than the maximum voter approval rate.
Item 8: Council unanimously approved the resolution ratifying the recently adopted budget and tax rate.
Item 9: Council unanimously approved directing K.Friese to prepare a priority list and estimate for street repairs with the amendment recommended by Councilmember Grummert that the spending not exceed $2000 for this report and the labor involved to prepare. Councilmember Kotarba clarified when Council and the Platinum Panel could expect the report completed. Platinum Panel Chairperson Linnea Bailey stated that it was expected to be received by Sept 22nd. Mayor Pro Tem LeBrun clarified that a K.Friese employee would be viewing the identified priority streets and that the plan would still be to move forward with milling and chip seal to repair the streets, but that this report was a needed first step in the process. This report is specific to the $227,000 allocated in the budget for repairs of streets as identified by the Platinum Panel. This list includes many of the smaller neighborhood streets and cul-de-sacs throughout Woodcreek.
Item 10: Council unanimously approved the purchase of 4 solar-powered radar speed detection and report signs. The placement of signs will be at the three main entrances to Woodcreek (on Woodcreek Drive near Cypress Point, on Woodcreek Drive near RR12, and on Brookmeadow at RR12) in addition to one on Champions Circle facing East. The exact placement and distance from the entrances will be determined by City officials once the signs have been procured and shall be in conjuncture with best practices for traffic calming and passive speed control in a neighborhood. Council unanimously approved ordering 3 basic signs to place on the East facing pole located in the street tree median just east of the stop sign at Woodcreek Drive and Brookhollow. The three signs include a newly designed Woodcreek specific Dark Skies community sign (thank you Pat Rawlings for the design!), the Drive Safe sign to match the Culture of Safe Driving sticker campaign, and a “neighborhood patrolled” sign. The goal of these three signs is to promote Dark Skies, safe driving, and to remind those who enter this area that we do have safety patrols by off-duty officers occurring regularly in effort to deter crime and reduce speeding. All three signs will be placed on this single pole. This is a trial for the signs and if approved they may be expanded to be placed at all entrances as well. Examples of these signs can be seen here: https://mccmeetings.blob.core.usgovcloudapi.net/woodcreek-pubu/MEET-Packet-6c46dd8808c140fe9d924b0316559a49.pdf starting at page 46.
Item 11: Council unanimously approved the creation of an ad hoc workgroup to finalize the update of Chapters 154 – 157 which have been in process under the supervision of K.Friese at the direction of previous City Manager Lewis. This workgroup is charged with finishing the work on the chapters and formatting them into code. Councilmembers Grummert and Hines will be on this workgroup in addition to other citizen volunteers. Karen Duncan from the Ordinance Review Committee has agreed to assist, and Lydia Johns, Vice-Chair of the Planning and Zoning Commission, was brought up as someone to seek out to join the group as well.
Item 12: Council unanimously approved the creation of an ad hoc selection review committee to review applications for Administrative and Engineering Services as it relates to the Community Development Block Grant. This committee is needed as part of this specific grant process. It will include Mayor Rasco, Councilmembers Grummert and Kotarba, in addition to City Secretary Suzanne Mac Kenzie and Parks Board member Elizabeth Maurer.
Item 13: Council unanimously approved moving forward with the effort for Woodcreek to become a film-friendly City. This is part of a valley-wide and County effort to be designated as “Film-Friendly” and recognized as such by the Texas Film Commission. This can bring additional revenue into the city through the permit process and helps the city to be better prepared if a film company does come into the area. It was noted that Woodcreek and the Wimberley Valley have already been featured in films in the past.
