07-21-1989 (City Council) Minutes 380
CITY COUNCIL BUDGET WORK SESSION -.*,
MINUTES
JULY 21, 1989, JULY 22, 1989
The City of Wylie City Council met in called session on
Friday, July 21 , 1989 and Saturday, July 22 , 1989 at the TU
Electric Retreat in Savoy, Texas. A quorum was present and
notice of the meeting had been posted in the time and manner
required by law. Those present were Mayor Chuck Trimble,
Mayor Pro-Tem Bud Naish, Council Members John Akin, Jim
Swartz , Steve Wright, Ortie Messenger, and Pat Stemple, City
Manager Charles Norwood, Finance Director James Johnson,
Public Works Superintendent Don White, Assistant City
Engineer Ron Homeyer , Chief of Police Jim Gilmore, Code
Enforcement Officer Roy Faires, Library Director Rosanne
Burgess, City Secretary Carolyn Jones, and Administrative
Assistant Candi White.
Mayor Trimble called the meeting to order at 8 : 45 p.m. ,
Friday, July 21 , 1989 .
PRELIMINARY OVERVIEW AND DISCUSSION OF 1989/90 BUDGET. City
Manager Charles Norwood told the Council that he felt good
about the progress of the budget, and that staff was very
cooperative in their efforts . Mr. Norwood explained that he
had three objectives in the budget:
1 . To improve the quality of personnel.
2. To improve the equipment.
3 . To get capital projects started.
Mr. Norwood told the Council that the budget, as presented ,
was balanced and that he felt the finances were as well or
better than expected . Mr . Norwood said he received the
certified tax roll which was $305,000,000 , and based on that
figure, a one cent tax increase would generate $26,000 . Mr .
Norwood recommended a three cent increase in taxes .
Mr . Norwood highlighted the changes in the budget as
follows :
The addition of one warrant officer would generate $50 ,000
in fines and would cost approximately $36 ,000 for salary,
benefits, and auto expense.
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish felt that after the first year the
warrant officer would no longer pay for itself and that it
might be better to use regular officers on their days off .
Mr. Norwood said it would be closer to three or four years
before that happened . He also felt it would be more
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effective to have a warrant officer or contract warrant
services. Councilman Swartz felt it would be better to hire
a private firm to reduce the possibility of pulling the
warrant officer to fill in when a shortage occurred .
Mr . Norwood explained that he was proposing the purchase of
several pieces of equipment, one being a pick up for the
Building Inspector , Kenny Powell , at a cost of $7000 .00 .
Councilman Wright felt that the money would be better spent
on maintenance rather than purchases .
Mr . Norwood proposed $2500 .00 to be spent on an addition to
the sprinkler system at the park.
$12 ,000 .00 was proposed for a side mount mower . Mr . Norwood
explained that this would be used for maintenance of
ditches. Mayor Pro-Tem Naish said this should be
appropriated in the streets and drainage department rather
than the parks department.
Mr . Norwood commented that these prices were estimates and
if the bids were lower he would like to transfer the
remainder into the council reserve in order to be better
prepared for any emergency that might could arise later in
the year .
Mr . Norwood said he was also proposing the purchase of two
patrol cars . Councilman Messenger suggested purchasing one
new one and repairing the old ones. Mayor Pro-Tem Naish
agreed, stating that the council had done more for the
police department in the last budget year than any other
department . Mr . Norwood explained that he was concerned
about the safety of the officers as well as the general
public. He recommended the purchase of two new vehicles and
establishing a yearly replacement program. Councilwoman
Stemple agreed that it was very important to have dependable
police cars in an emergency situation.
Councilman Messenger suggested having a mechanic look at the
old vehicles to see how much it would cost to repair them.
Mr. Norwood explained that the City has a good mechanic and
a good maintenance program, but he couldn' t bring back
something that was already gone.
Shoring material was budgeted at $10 ,000 . Mr . Norwood
explained that OSHA law requires using shoring material when
digging more than five feet deep.
Mr. Norwood said he was recommending pipe rack and fencing
in the utility budget, as pipe was stacked on the ground at
the service center . Councilman Wright added that the PVC
also needed to be out of the sunlight. Finance Director ,
James Johnson told the Council that valves were scattered in
the yard at the service center and he wanted to fence them
38 �
in so that Public Works employees had to check them in and
out for security reasons.
A FAX machine was budgeted in the financial services
department for $1500 .00 . Mr. Johnson said this was the cost
to purchase the machine, but there would also be a monthly
charge for it ' s use. Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked that he
check into leasing the machine.
Mr . Norwood told the Council that he had budgeted $74,000
for a street seal coating program, with $33 ,000 being for
emulsion and the remainder being for rock. He explained
that this program would depend on whether the County would
agree to provide the labor.
An incentive program for police officers was proposed for an
annual cost of $7 ,800 . Mr. Norwood explained that this
would be a good way to provide incentive for officers to
further their education and would improve the quality of
personnel . The proposal was to pay an additional $50 per
month to each officer holding an intermediate certificate
and $100 per month to each officer holding an advanced
certificate.
Mr . Norwood told the Council that the he was proposing to
increase the employee merit pool from $28 ,500 to $43,000 . ..,,
$55 ,000 was budgeted to paint the water tower on S. Ballard
St . Mr . Norwood explained that the cost was for painting
the inside and outside of the tower and the EPA now required
catching the old paint when it was sandblasted from the
exterior of the water tower , and then taking samples to
insure that the ground wasn' t polluted . Mayor Pro-Tem Naish
asked about the Nortex tank site. Mr . Norwood said he had
told Mr . Homeyer to go out for bids, as the Nortex tank
would have to be on line before painting the other tower .
Mr . Norwood told the council that he had estimated a cost of
$20 ,000 for Wylie' s part of the regional sewer system. He
said the funds would be for engineering studies.
$10,000 was allocated for fencing approximately four lift
stations . Mr . Norwood told the council that this was
necessary, as the lift stations were in serious violation
with the Texas Water Commission.
Mr . Norwood said that he was not recommending an increase in
the water and sewer rates in this budget . Councilman Naish
asked why there wasn' t a small increase in the rates when
the City is looking at $2 .5 million in the 1990/91 budget .
Mr . Norwood explained that he would prefer to build up the
council reserve this year and then raise water and sewer
rates next year, as taxes were much more important than
utility rates. He added that the council could raise
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utility rates at any time, but couldn' t the tax rate, and he
felt it was important that Wylie start building the tax
rates.
103 - CITY SECRETARY. City Secretary, Carolyn Jones told
the council the amount for professional services had been
decreased due to experience in the current budget year .
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked what the line item for advertising
and notices was for . Mrs. Jones said it was to publish
ordinances and also advertise for job openings since she had
been given personnel duties.
Councilman Wright felt the City should look at $2 ,000 for
computer hardware and software update. He suggested D Base
3 or D Base 3+. Councilman Wright added that computer
training was a must for all employees.
Finance Director, James Johnson said he had called COG and
they had agreed to provide training at the Wylie City Hall .
He also told the council that he had Frank Dunlop, Computer
Technician to hold a 6 hour training session on water bills
recently.
City Manager, Charles Norwood said that much emphasis was
needed on training for all employees . He added that $10 ,000
was budgeted in 1988/89 for training , but he was proposing
$15 ,000 in this budget . Mr. Norwood also explained that he
had broken down the training expenses to individual
departments, rather than putting it all in the City
Manager' s budget.
Mrs . Jones continued with her budget telling council that
the election supplies line item increased as there would not
have been enough allocated in the previous budget had all
the clerks worked or if there had been a runoff election.
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked what the City Attorney line item
was for . Mrs. Jones explained that she had needed to call
him several times on personnel regulations.
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish stated that he felt the City Attorney
was not needed at all council meetings. Mr . Norwood said he
had thought about the idea of hiring a full time attorney,
but all that was budgeted in all departments in the current
budget was $47 ,000 and that was not enough to pay for a full
time attorney.
The total City Secretary budget was $62 ,650 .00 .
The meeting was adjourned for the evening.
Mayor Trimble called the meeting to order at 8 : 30 a.m. ,
Saturday, July 22 , 1989 .
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105 - CODE ENFORCEMENT. Code Enforcement Officer, Roy
Faires explained that $2 ,000 had been allocated in the
budget for Fire Marshall school since he had assumed those
duties, and for training for the Building Inspector, Kenny
Powell .
Mr . Faires also told the council he was increasing the
photographic supplies line item as it was needed to use as
evidence in court cases.
Mr . Faires said that the Building Inspector was in desperate
need of a new pickup. He said the figure of $7,000 was
based on the cost of a Chevrolet S-10 pickup. Councilman
Wright said the maintenance was not good on a Chevrolet S-10
and felt it would be worth looking at a Dodge Dakota. Mr .
Faires explained that the City would have to go out for bids
and at that point the council could approve which bid they
wanted.
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked if the development inspector fees
were for houses. Mr . Faires explained that those fees were
for the inspection of water and sewer lines in new
developments and that the developer paid for such
inspections. He added that because there was not much
development, the fees had decreased.
Mr . Faires continued, saying that he had a strong feeling
there would be a great deal of construction coming off
Sanden for the manufacturing of parts. He felt that his
revenue figure could be raised slightly. Councilman Akin
said he preferred using conservative figures for revenue.
Mr . Faires told the council that his department was spread
as thin as it could be, preventing them from providing the
services they would like to.
Mayor Trimble asked how they would keep up if residential
development started again. Mr . Faires said at that time he
would have to approach the council and ask for assistance,
but was unable to justify extra help at the present time.
440 - GARAGE. Public Works Superintendent, Don White told
the council that he was allocating $1 ,800 in special purpose
equipment for a tire changer . Councilman Swartz asked if
the mechanic checked all equipment. Mr . White said that he
was a certified mechanic and also certified to inspect all
vehicles and affix a sticker .
Councilman Wright felt very strongly about a good vehicle
maintenance program and felt that $2,500 might not be enough .. ,
for overtime.
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Councilman Swartz asked if the mechanic would be able to
rotate the police cars so that they would all be in working
condition. Mr . White explained that when there was a
problem with a car the police would bring it in and that the
mechanic usually got it back out the same day.
Councilman Akin commented that the Mechanic, Ronnie
Higginbotham was a very dedicated person. He asked Mr .
White if he had a maintenance record on all vehicles . Mr .
White said that Ronnie keeps records on all vehicles and was
in the process of checking into maintenance records for the
fire trucks . He added that each vehicle has a sticker on it
to inform the operator when it was time for the next
servicing , oil change, etc .
450 - ANIMAL CONTROL. Public Works Superintendent, Don
White told the council that $1 ,800 had been allocated in
special purpose equipment for the purchase of a high
pressure washer . He explained that the equipment would be
used to wash the kennels , but could also be used for washing
the vehicles. Councilman Wright felt it should be allocated
in the garage budget, as it would be used more for washing
vehicles than kennels.
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish mentioned the $2 ,000 increase in
veterinarian bills . Mr . White explained it was due to the
fact that the line item was almost over in the current
budget .
Mr . White explained that funds had been allocated for travel
and training in order for the animal control officer to keep
his certification.
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked what was going to be done about
the health of the kennel . Mayor Trimble said the council
had talked about the kennel before and the fact that it did
not meet state standards , but that it was built before the
standards were adopted . He added that if the City moved the
public works department , they would have to build a new
kennel in accordance with state standards.
310 - PARKS DEPARTMENT. Public Works Superintendent, Don
White said that $2 ,500 had been proposed for the purpose of
extending the sprinkler system in the park. He also said
that $12 ,000 had been allocated for a side mount mower , but
that would be transferred to streets and drainage
department.
Mr . White said $4 ,000 was for a chemical sprayer to help
reduce weeds in the parks and right-of-ways . He said that
the line item for sand and dirt was increased to add dirt to
the ball fields .
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Councilman Messenger said he would like to see a basketball
court added, and possibly look at hiring a general
maintenance worker in the parks for half a year.
420 - STREETS AND DRAINAGE. Don White explained that
$38 ,000 had been allocated for asphalt and $6 ,000 for
concrete. He added that Brown St . from Ballard to Hwy 78
needed to be addressed and felt that the cost would be
approximately $70 ,000 for BOMAG and overlay.
Staff said transfer of $3500 for chemicals should be made
from parks to streets and drainage. Councilman Wright
mentioned the idea of converting the old tack truck into a
wench truck. It was also discussed that $5 ,000 should be
added for fuel as enough had not been allocated .
107 - ENGINEERING. Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer
told the council that the overtime line item had been
reduced from $1,000 to $300 as nothing had been used from
the current budget. He also said that all funds had been
deleted for advertising, notices, and postage as nothing had
been used in that line item for two years.
Mr . Homeyer said the amount was reduced for office equipment
repairs and for public dues and subscriptions. He said he
had also reduced funds for computer service. —
Mr . Homeyer said that the amount for data processing
supplies had reduced substantially since very little had
been used from the current budget. He added that a fee was
charged for persons requesting copies of plats.
Councilman Messenger asked what the office equipment was
that $400 was allocated for . Mr . Homeyer said it was for a
file cabinet. Council felt a file cabinet could be
purchased for about $200 .
301 - LIBRARY. Library Director, Rosanne Burgess pointed
out that $900 should go in the overtime line item rather
than temporary/seasonal employee line item. She also
explained to the council that her budget seemed much larger
due to the fact that the Meadow' s Foundation had paid her
salary in the current budget. $23,400 plus benefits was
added to this budget for the Director' s salary.
Ms. Burgess said she had a five year plan to update
material , but tried to get what was currently needed through
Interlibrary loans, therefore the line item for postage
needed to be increased.
$750 was allocated for training and travel for the Texas -•,
Library Association meeting once a year , Collin County
meetings, and NETLS meetings.
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Ms. Burgess explained there was an increase in the line item
for office equipment repairs because the copy machine needed
repairs . She also said data processing supplies had
increased, as a computer had been donated by "Friends of the
Library" and they needed supplies to use it.
$600 was also budgeted for data processing equipment . Ms.
Burgess explained that the printer the library has been
using actually belonged in the warehouse and it would have
to be given back on September 1st. She also told the
council that $375 had been budgeted for a file cabinet and
shelving .
The total library budget was $57 ,340 .00
501 - UTILITY ADMINISTRATION. Public Works Superintendent,
Don White explained that office equipment repairs had
increased by $350 due to the age of the copy machine.
$2 ,500 was allocated in special purpose equipment for an ice
machine. The merit pool for the utility fund was $10 ,650
and the council reserve was $25,000 .
The total utility administration budget reflected a decrease
of approximately $2 ,000 from the current budget.
502 - WATER DEPARTMENT. There was discussion of water loss
and if changing the check valves had made a difference.
Assistant City Engineer, Ron Homeyer said they had made some
difference, but not enough to say that was the problem. He
said there was still a 15% loss factor . The council
requested that Mr . Homeyer seek proposals from a firm to
check for water leaks .
Public Works Superintendent, Don White told the council that
$55,000 had been allocated to paint the water tower on S.
Ballard St. This was for the interior and exterior of the
tower.
$10,000 was allocated for shoring material in the special
purpose equipment line item.
503 - SEWER DEPARTMENT. $25,000 was budgeted for Wylie' s
portion of the regional sewer system. The contract with
North Texas Municipal Water District for operation of the
wastewater treatment plant was estimated at $115,000 .
$1 ,700 was budged for air packs to be used when employees
were working in manholes. Lights and a generator were
necessary for night work at a cost of $2 ,500 and an
additional $750 for light bars .
Mr . White explained that $10,000 had been budgeted for
fencing around four lift stations and the water tower.
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201 - POLICE ADMINISTRATION. Chief Gilmore told the council
that he had included proficiency certification pay for sworn
police personnel. He felt it would be a good incentive to
do more than just their mandated 40 hours every two years .
The pay for administration would be $1,200 .
$1 ,160 was budgeted to pay off the copy machine. The police
administration budget was $500 less than the current budget.
202 - POLICE PATROL. $28 ,650 was budgeted for two new
police cars. Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked about using the
Chief' s car for a patrol car since it only had 37,000 miles
on it. Chief Gilmore said he put about 1200 miles per month
on his car . He also said that the department tries to
rotate and drive the old cars as much as the new ones to
make the new ones last longer . Chief Gilmore added that the
department was already behind from the previous year .
Councilman Akin said there were three vehicles with high
mileage and he knew the importance of protecting employees
and didn' t want to get away from the program of buying new
cars yearly. Mr . Norwood told the council that if they
fixed the old one they would have to replace it next year .
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked what had happened with the ten
hour shifts . Chief Gilmore said to start ten hour shifts it
would be necessary to have four sergeants and eleven
patrolmen. He said eight hour shifts would require two
additional sergeants which would cost approximately $60 ,000 .
Mr. Norwood asked what a twelve hour shift does to morale,
safety, and alertness as opposed to eight hour shifts.
Chief Gilmore said there was a big difference, as boredom
sets in and the fatigue factor is very great with twelve
hour shifts.
Councilman Messenger asked if there was leeway in the budget
to get $60,000 for two sergeants . Mr. Norwood said there
wasn' t that much leeway, but that it should be a priority
for the next year .
Councilman Akin suggested that the Chief work on scheduling
and have it ready and maybe hire additional employees at mid
year through a budget amendment. Councilman Messenger
suggested the possibility of promoting within the department
and hiring two more at starting pay. Mr . Norwood said that
he and Chief Gilmore would see what they could come up with
before the public hearings.
203 - POLICE INVESTIGATIONS. Vehicle repair parts was --�-
increased for the ' 83 Chevrolet with 77 ,000 miles as it
needed repair parts, maintenance, battery, tires, shocks,
etc . Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked what the increase was for
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pagers . Chief Gilmore said the line item included a pager
for the warrant officer. Mr . Norwood explained that the
warrant officer was in this budget and that was the reason
for the increase.
Mayor Pro-Tem Naish asked how many crimes were investigated
and how many were actually found guilty. Chief Gilmore said
the clearance rate would vary according to the type offenses
reported.
Chief Gilmore said the warrant officer was a new position
which would pay for itself .
204 - COMMUNICATIONS AND RECORDS. Medical services
increased from $100 to $750 for care of injured prisoners.
This total budget reflected a decrease of approximately
$2,000 from the current budget.
Councilman Messenger asked about moving the animal control
department from public works to police. Mr. Norwood said
that he and Chief Gilmore had discussed that move and they
had planned to discuss it again. Chief Gilmore felt that
animal control was more in line with code enforcement.
110 - FINANCIAL SERVICES. Finance Director, James Johnson
said that tax collection services had increased by $1 ,500 .
He also explained that $2,800 had been allocated for travel
and training for courses for purchasing and tax assessor-
collector and for the finance director to attend financial
officer ' s school . Mr . Johnson said that a FAX machine for
the City would cost approximately $1,500 .
Councilman Messenger suggested giving Mr . Johnson a raise,
as the previous year the City was in bad shape but had come
out of the deficit and paid a loan back. Councilwoman
Stemple said she felt that Don White should be given a
raise, but that was a decision that the City Manager should
make.
120 - MUNICIPAL COURT. Mr . Johnson said that $5,530 had
been allocated for a part time bailiff for court and the
line item for contractual employee had increased from $900
to $1 ,800 .
Councilman Wright felt that bailiff would be a good job for
the warrant officer . Mayor Pro-Tem Naish felt it would be
better to use a reserve officer for bailiff to avoid paying
overtime.
510 - UTILITY BILLING. Mr . Johnson said he was requesting a
pipe rack to stack the pipe at the service center and a
chain link fence for storing valves.
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651 - SANITATION FUND. Mr . Johnson explained that the
sanitation fund was a self supporting fund that balances
against itself. He said most of the funds were used to pay
BFI for garbage services.
102 - CITY MANAGER. City Manager, Charles Norwood said that
the budget was basically the same as the current year . He
said that the employee merit pool had increased from $28 ,500
to $43 , 800 . Mr . Norwood explained that as employees were
given pay increases, Mr. Johnson transferred the money from
the merit pool to the respective departments.
230 - EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES. Mr. Norwood told the
council that he had no idea what the bids would be for
emergency medical services and therefore, had allocated
$45,000, which was a $5 ,000 increase over the current
subsidy.
220 - FIRE DEPARTMENT. Mr . Norwood said that Fire Chief,
Larry Allen had asked for a total budget of $62 ,125, but
that he was submitting a budget of $25,675 . Mr. Norwood
said that everything Mr . Allen had asked for was legitimate.
Councilman Messenger asked if there was anything on Mr.
Allen' s list that Mr . Norwood felt was a priority. Mr .
Norwood said if he chose one it would be 1300 feet of 5"
fire hose. Mr . Norwood added that some of the fire hydrants
would not handle a 5" hose.
Mayor Trimble asked Mr . Norwood to check on the delivery
time for a new fire truck. Mr . Norwood said the last time
he ordered one it had taken three years to get it. Mayor
Trimble felt it might be a good idea to look at ordering one
in the near future if it took that long for delivery.
DEBT SERVICE. Mr. Norwood said the debt service was
$429 ,000 in the general fund and $424 ,500 in the utility
fund. Mr. Johnson said the 1989 certific of obligation
was $32 ,100 . $853 ,500 was the tota deb service for
1989/90 .
There being no further business t ing was adjourned .
C14p11Tr imble, Mayor
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