CM 1991-05-16 Minutes May 16, 1991
The City Council of the City of Coppell met in a special called session on
Thursday, May 16, 1991 at 6:30 p.m. in the Rotary Room of Town Center 255
Parkway Boulevard, Coppell, Texas. The following members were present:
Mark Wolfe, Mayor
Bill Smothermon, Mayor Pro Tem
Peyton Weaver, Councilman
David Thomas, Councilman ~"~
Tom Morton, Councilman I
Jim
CowTnan, Councilman (late arrival) 1
Ron Robertson, Councilman ~
John Nelson, Councilman
Also present were City Manager Alan D. Ratliff, Deputy City
Manager/Finance Director Frank Trando and Assistant City Manager/Personnel
Director Vivyon Bowman.
REGULAR SESSION (Open to the Public)
Item 1. Call to order
Item 2. Invocation
Item 3. Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Wolfe called the meeting to order and made the decision to forego
items two and three, the invocation and pledge. Council then convened
into Executive Session at 6:45 p.m. as allowed under article 6252-17,
Section 2(g).
EXECUTIVE SESSION (Closed to the public)
4ES A. Article 6252-17, Section 2(g), discussion concerning "~
personnel. I
1. Discussion and consideration of duties, responsibilities,
assigr~ent of Consultants and/or employees of the City of
Coppell.
Mayor Wolfe adjourned the Executive Session and opened the Regular Session
at 7:25 p.m.
REGULAR SESSION (Open to the public)
Item 5. Discussion and consideration of approving indemnity agreement
with Rick Holden.
Councilman Morton moved to approve the indemnity agreement. Mayor Pro Tem
Smothermon seconded the motion; motion carried with Mayor Pro Tem
Smothermon, Weaver, Thomas, Morton, Cowman, Robertson and Nelson voting in
favor of the motion.
Discussion then turned to the July 4, 1991 Parade route which starts at
Fire Station No. 2, going south on Moore Road, west on Bethel School to
Denton Tap and proceeding north to Minyard's shopping center. It was the
consensus of the Council that there would be no problem with the proposed
route.
Mark Rensemeyer, a member of the Data Processing Committee, informed the
Mayor and Council of his concerns regarding the general weaknesses of the
present data processing, and recommended that immediate consideration be
given to the data processing needs of the City.
Councilman Weaver then introduced committeeman Bob Miller, who expressed
his appreciation to City Staff for their help in the formulation of the
Five Year Data Processing Plan and said that he does not know how the City
runs on the computer equipment they have now.
Councilman Weaver introduced another member of the committee, Paul Brown,
who reiterated what the other members had said. Mr. Brown also referred
to that section of the Five Year Plan which recommends a full or part time
person to guide the project City-wide and said that it would be a
worthwhile investment. Mr. Brown continued by saying that the
interrelationships, or sharing of information between the departments,
vertically and horizontally, is presently being done by hand and even a
basic level of equipment such as pc's will significantly improve the
efficiency of City personnel.
Each Councilman individually expressed their appreciation to the members
of the committee for the time and expertise they devoted to this study. ~
Mayor Wolfe then asked that an item be included in the May 28, 1991
Council Meeting to re-charge the committee to make further recommendations
to the Council.
Item 6. Presentation of 1990-91 Mid-Year Budget - Deputy City
Manager/Finance Director, Frank Trando
a. Five Year Capital Improvement Plan
b. Debt Service
c. Water & Sewer Fund
d. General Fund
Mayor Wolfe then turned the meeting over to Deputy City Manager/Finance
Director Frank Trando, who began his presentation with the Five Year
Capital Improvement Plan, Bond Indebtedness, and how it affects the tax
rate, and the the Five Year Bond Program.
Mayor Wolfe took this opportunity to initiate discussion of the Capital
Improvement Plan in the City, including the pressure to repair and upgrade
Sandy Lake Road (Moore and MacArthur intersections) from Denton Tap Road
to Kimbel Kourt, the Library, parking lot~liGhts (Brown Park), soccer
fields, etc.
Mayor Wolfe then requested Council tO consider their priorities for a
proposed bond issue in the amount of $4,065,000 for FY 1991-92. After
some discussion, it was the consensus of the Council to set the following
priorities for a bond issue in the amount of 3.6 million dollars:
1. Library
2. City-wide Computers ~'~
3. Sandy Lake Road
Mr. Trando continued his presentation with a proposal made by the Fire ~
Department to build a 4,000 square foot buildinG, in the amount of
approximately $232,000, to house Fire Administration and the Inspections
Department. Mr. Trando explained that to lease property of approximately
3100 square feet the cost over five years would be approximately
$152,000. As a result of 1984 Bond Issue the City has $246,000 in funds
remaining to buy the fourth Fire Station site for the City. If the City
purchased the site the remainder could be put toward the cost of the
building. Mr. Trando then proposed issuing debt for the remainder, on a
fourteen to twenty-four month basis to pay it off. Debt Service for five
years would be approximately $280,000 to issue $240,000 worth of CO's.
Discussion then turned to Debt Service. Mr. Trando pointed out that last
year the City forecasted that fund balance at mid-year would be
approximately $700,000, and is now expected to be $1,000,000. Mr. Trando
went on to explain the reason for the increase, which was because
expenditures were increased by $23,000 as a result of more principle and
less interest, influenced by the re-financinG of debt. The City also
received $59,802 in revenue from roll-back taxes, interest income
associated with road assessments was $51,718, as well as $119,934 for road
assessments which was more than anticipated.
The next item of discussion was the Water and Sewer Fund. Mr. Trando ~
informed the Council that the City is proposing an adjustment of $576,200
to revenues, and recognizinG a $26,399 reduction of expenditures. Mr. ~
Trando forecasted a fund balance of 3.2 million by the end of September
1991. Assistant Finance Director Alan Johnson informed the Council that
there is $640,000 cash in the fund and another $332,000 cash in CIP. Mr.
Johnson also stated that cash flow and coverage is good unless the City
wants to sell bonds next year for which the City does not have solid
enough rates. Projected current coverage is 1.96 or 2.0 because the City
refunded bonds on debt service out of escrow fund; therefore, debt service
for the year is not nearly as high as it was.
Mr. Trando then explained that the only adjustment made to the original
budget in General Fund, and approved by the Council, was $23,764 for the
D/FW AirPort Noise Study. FollowinG a detailed explanation of the
revenues and expenditures, Mr. Trando pointed out to the Council that
revenues are being increased by $137,061 and expenditures increased by
$154,061.
EXECUTIVE SESSION (Closed to the public)
Article 6252-17, Section 2(g), discussion concerning personnel.
1. Discussion and consideration of dut~iRs, responsibilities, assignment
of consultants and/or employees of the City of Coppell.
Council then convened into Executive Session at 9:32 p.m. as allowed under
the above stated article. Mayor Wolfe adjourned the Executive Session and
re-opened the Regular Session at 9:45 p.m.
REGULAR SESSION (Open to the public)
Mayor Pro Tem Smothermon initiated his proposal on compensation by saying
that in order to provide some consistency to the compensation plan, the
City probably does need to separate the public safety employees from
civ~l~a~-~ employees by putting them on a different plan. Mayor Pro Tem
Smothermon also stated that if a civilian employee is below market, they
need to brought up to market in the same manner as the Police and Fire.
After several questions from Council concerning the present compensation
plan, Mayor Pro Tem Smothermon then stated that he did not like the
proposal, and felt it was inequitable because it only provides a market ·
adjustment for Police and Fire which is not fair to other City Staff who
are not at market. Mr. Ratliff then informed Council that staff would §o
back and re-work the compensation proposal and bring it back to Council
for consideration. Mayor Pro Tem Smothermon stated that what we would
like to see included in those corrections to market is that all employees
who are below market value get treated in similar fashion, even if the
City doesn't Get everybody pulled up to market at the same time.
Fg~lowi~g further discussion, Mayor Pro Tem Smothermon made a consensus
mQ~ios::ta:.aPP~e ~h9 $84,:~00 in fundinG for marke%adjuStments, ~ not
the.g~ading system, Councilman Morton seconded the motion; motion carried
with Mayor Pro Tem Smothermon, ' , Thomas, Morton, Cowman,
Robertson and Nelson voting in favor; Councilman Weaver voting against.
Staff will bring these items back for formal consideration at a later
date.
The meeting ended with the understanding that staff would come back with a
more equitable compensation proposal.
There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting
was adjourned.
ATTEST:
Lynn/~omeo, Agu4ninistrative Secretary