[0:00] probably have to be in agenda. >> Yes.

[0:06] » Time of now 6 p.m. will call us meeting to work.

[0:10] » You can all join me in prayer. >> Heavenly Father, please be with us.

[0:15] Surround us in your love and your grace. Guide us through this meeting and

[0:19] through each day. Lead us to see what is in the best interest of this city. We

[0:26] ask for your protection for our citizens and especially our children. Please be

[0:30] with our police, our firefighters, and all first responders that give of

[0:34] themselves to keep us safe. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

[0:40] » Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[0:45] republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:50] justice for all. Texas

[0:56] one state under God one and indivisible

[1:08] reflect one mayor.

[1:14] » Okay. >> Are you

[1:16] » Thank you, sir. >> Yes, sir.

[1:18] » Okay.

[1:22] Well, he does not want to do this.

[1:28] » Did you want to get a photo? >> Yeah, sure.

[1:33] » Certificate with you. >> We'll give them the opportunity to put a

[1:35] photo on. Thank goodness. >> So, because of possible forum issues, we

[1:40] went ahead and swore Mr. Denon this before the meeting. So, we're going to

[1:43] do just a ceremonial photo with the certificate

[1:49] » or anything? No, I had I had a jacket in the suit,

[1:52] but I took it off. Too hot.

[2:04] » Thank you very much.

[2:08] » Can't believe you put them rabbit ears up.

[2:12] really interest.

[2:18] » Okay, welcome aboard, Mr. Dun. Glad to have you here. Thanks for having me.

[2:24] Okay, we're going to move on to public comments. Looks like Mr. Terry

[2:30] want you to wait for your item or you want to do it first?

[2:34] » It's up to you. >> We can wait for your item.

[2:39] » Okay. And Mr. page. Okay. You want to wait for your item as

[2:42] well? >> Yeah, I've got one.

[2:46] » Okay. >> Unfortunately,

[2:53] man, you're not killing me. I was planning on getting up here tonight.

[2:58] Okay. And that being said, I think the first thing I want to

[3:02] suggest here tonight considering how big how many how many

[3:07] items we've got on the agenda at least one item possibly

[3:13] could be moved to the next meeting. I think the most logical item would be

[3:18] since uh the uh fire chief isn't here tonight to uh kind of you know ask

[3:24] questions. Uh the one concerning the uh item concerning uh paper uh

[3:34] uh that that that would be uh postpone to the next meeting. It looks like it's

[3:39] over here all nightless. But that being said, uh

[3:45] first thing I want to hit on is first thanks

[3:49] on the uh cracking down on the solicitation permits.

[3:55] But I'd kind of like y'all consider one little thing as even

[4:02] above us from the old uh stone age days. Remember the old uh do not call this

[4:09] don't don't exist at cell phones checking the visibility of uh when they

[4:14] issue a permit for solicitation. Uh maybe they could include a uh

[4:22] uh street address list. Uh people that you know don't want to uh you know a do

[4:29] not knock list and even if it expanded to time of the day like my my schedule

[4:35] sometimes I'm there from I'm in bed from 8 till around 11:00.

[4:41] I to the point where I had to just I had to disconnect my ring or uh bail because

[4:47] even if they don't knock and see it off uh got that one

[4:59] social media stuff that I hit up with I just knocked one off the list but

[5:08] you know I these people are perfectly good place to send it in on the internet

[5:14] web page. So, a couple we have to look at. How

[5:18] much time? >> 50 seconds.

[5:34] uh the idea of looking into the idea I think it's a good idea of uh possibility

[5:42] of a uh writing up an ordinance I work on one uh for uh something relatively

[5:49] new these days electric bicycles and scooters there's a lot of chatter on

[5:54] that and what I'm seeing here the major part is that section

[6:00] uh from the front of the uh dollar store all the way down to in that area.

[6:07] So a little bit

[6:22] Okay, looks like that wraps up the public comments in that section. Right.

[6:27] Move on to consent agenda. A budget report June 2026.

[6:32] » I have a motion to approve consent agenda.

[6:35] » Second. All in favor? >> Reflect. The motion carries.

[6:41] Move on to fiscal year 2027 budget workshop.

[6:45] » No. >> I believe the floor is yours.

[6:47] » Floor is mine. >> That's it.

[6:49] » I'll make it quick. >> Should only be an hour or two. We

[6:54] » only have three minutes. >> Three minutes. Okay.

[6:58] Um, I've prepared a slideshow. Finished it about 10 minutes ago.

[7:03] » Maybe an hour ago. Um,

[7:13] you see the little

[7:28] one.

[7:40] That's it. That's my budget. >> It's going to the every page on my

[7:44] screen.

[7:51] » Oh, there it goes. Okay. I just had to click it.

[7:53] » Okay. So, um this page is everyone that is tasked with making decisions on this

[7:59] budget. On the right hand side are the city staff. Um every one of these people

[8:05] presents a budget request um for their department and um they are discussed

[8:12] with myself with the finance or I'm the finance with the city manager and then

[8:18] we now are bringing it to you. Um this is a fluid document tonight is to give

[8:25] you guys just a kind of a snapshot of where we are now. This is not a

[8:30] presentation of the budget at this point, but we're all key decision makers

[8:35] in that.

[8:40] Um, so these are the things I'm going to cover. Just an overview of our budget

[8:44] approach, our budget calendar. Um, we're going to talk a little bit about tax

[8:50] rate. It could be a very preliminary discussion. Uh, we're going to talk

[8:54] about our general fund and we're going to talk about our enterprise fund which

[8:57] runs our utilities. We have other funds that will be in the budget document, but

[9:01] these are our operating funds. So, that's what we're going to talk about

[9:05] tonight.

[9:08] So, we're um as we've been preparing this budget, um we are running we are we

[9:15] are setting the budget at a level of actual cost to run the city. We're not

[9:21] putting in fluff. I'm not a budget or a finance director that says put in you

[9:28] know, pie in the sky figure. I want them to justify what they're putting into

[9:33] each line item. I'm also not one that says, "Okay, it's September. We better

[9:37] spend all the money in this budget line. If you don't need it, don't spend it."

[9:41] Um, so we've been doing this, this is the sixth budget year, and we're going

[9:46] to continue that. Um, within this budget discussion, um, one of the proposals is

[9:52] a 4% pay raise for staff. Um, what I do is I pull the social security number

[9:59] from the prior October and see what Social Security determined. Last October

[10:05] it was 2.8 and that took effect for Social Security recipients on January

[10:11] 1st of this year. Um, but they're already putting out numbers where

[10:14] they're predicting where they're going to be and with the higher than normal

[10:18] um, inflation they're saying it's going to be 3.9 to 4.2% this coming October.

[10:24] Um we are uh proposing a 4%. One of the things that um we want to

[10:32] incur or encourage is to keep our staff because we have good staff. Um these are

[10:37] brought every year. The cost of living increases are brought every year and

[10:40] then on the odd years we do a merit increase based on evaluations.

[10:46] Um I'm also proposing utility rates. Um, we'll get into that. It's It's not a fun

[10:55] thing to to come up with utility rates because nobody wants to pay them. But

[11:01] I'm going to show you what we need for to uh reach our goals. And then we're

[11:06] just going to continue. Um, as most of you know, six to seven years ago, we had

[11:10] no reserves. Um, and now we do, but they are not yet at adequate levels um to do

[11:17] what we want to do. So, we're going to talk about that, too, because we do not

[11:21] want to incur debt if you can help it. Okay.

[11:26] Our budget calendar, um, this is is dictated both by the county and by our

[11:33] own um, schedule for meetings. So, on August 1st, I will receive numbers from

[11:39] the county that are certified taxable numbers. I don't have those yet. So, the

[11:43] numbers I'm going to give you for adorum tax and general fund revenue from that

[11:49] um are very preliminary. They gave us a preliminary number in April and they

[11:54] don't certify the number until August 1st. Um so, please remember that as I'm

[11:59] going through this. On August 10th at our regular meeting, we'll have a public

[12:04] hearing on the CCPD budget and we're going to take a record vote on tax. Um

[12:10] that record vote is often confusing.

[12:15] What we're doing is telling the county and our residents, this is the highest

[12:21] rate we will possibly ask for. You are not setting the rate at that meeting.

[12:26] You are just saying we're not going to go past this. So when I bring you a

[12:30] rate, no, it's not carved in stone. Um that isn't until the September meeting.

[12:37] Um, but it it's just confusing the way the wording is. So, I just wanted to

[12:41] give you the heads up. Um, and then we'll set the dates for the public

[12:45] hearing for tax and budget. And that will then be held on September 14th.

[12:51] We'll have public hearings at the beginning of the meeting on tax rate and

[12:55] on the budget. And then the council will vote first on the tax rate and then on

[13:00] the budget that's pre proposed. And then we have until the 29th to get it to

[13:07] Okay. So, as I've probably already said five

[13:11] times, the numbers in this presentation tonight are preliminary. I don't want

[13:17] anybody to leave here saying this is the tax rate that Richwood's going after or

[13:21] this is the bottom line that Richwood's going to see in their budget. These are

[13:27] numbers given to you to give you an idea of where we are. It's my rudimentary

[13:32] calculations. It's not the C county's calculation. and they put a lot more

[13:36] into it. So, um just remember that we also don't have all of our information

[13:42] for our expenses. We haven't yet to get our insurance

[13:47] um premiums for either property and liability or for health insurance. Those

[13:52] are a big chunk of our budget. We don't have those yet. So, we have no idea if

[13:56] they're going up, down, whatever. So tonight, what we're doing is we're

[14:01] meeting so that I, as the finance director, along with

[14:07] Kirsten, the city manager, can give council and the citizens insight into

[14:11] how the budget is looking as of right now.

[14:14] And then we're asking for insight from council on your goals and your opinions

[14:21] on things. So that next month I'll bring you more information on where the budget

[14:26] is. We won't have a full-blown workshop, but it'll incorporate what you've told

[14:31] us you want to see. Okay.

[14:37] So, um we are a small city um under 30,000 by

[14:45] quite a bit. So, um, the state allows us to go up 8%

[14:52] on our revenues on properties that were on the tax roles last year. So, for uh a

[14:59] bigger city, they can only go up three and a half. And the reason the state

[15:03] does this is because they realize smaller cities are more reliant on

[15:06] property tax than bigger cities that have sales tax and other forms of

[15:11] revenue. um property tax makes up over 72% of our

[15:16] budget. So we are very dependent on it. So every year I come and I tell you what

[15:25] that maximum rate is going to be. Again, this is my very rudimentary calculation.

[15:33] Um but if you look at the two columns, it shows where we're at right now. Our

[15:38] total rate is 0.557993. That was an increase from the year prior

[15:44] last year due to um lower appraised values. Appraised values are coming back

[15:51] up. So our rate is going to go a little lower. So my calculation is 0.539

[15:58] 358. And the bottom line there is showing you that we'll go up about

[16:05] $220,000 in revenue based on these numbers.

[16:09] Again, that's rough estimate. So, and in case I haven't said it enough time, in

[16:15] the red box tells you this is just preliminary.

[16:21] These are just some graphs to give you a visual. The top one is our assessed

[16:25] values um since 2022. Um and you can see um they've gone up

[16:32] every year, but last was a slight drop, but this year they're up. Um the bottom

[16:38] chart, the dark blue, is our debt rate, which is a portion of our uh tax rate

[16:44] that we have no say in. It's calculated based on the taxable value of properties

[16:49] to give us the requirements to satisfy our debt requirements for the calendar

[16:54] year or fiscal year. The lighter green teal is the portion of

[17:01] the tax rate that will go to the general fund for maintenance and operation of

[17:05] the city. And then that bottom number is the total tax rate. Does anybody have

[17:12] any questions? Yling.

[17:16] Okay. So, um, right now with calculations I've

[17:23] done, um, this is where we're looking at revenue for the general fund. Um, the

[17:29] last column is showing a change from 26 to 27, but the bolded column um is our

[17:37] proposed budget. Um, revenues are not budgeted, they're projected. Um, so this

[17:43] is just my best guess as of right now. um some things um have gone down or are

[17:51] expected to go down because they've gone down this year and I I project based on

[17:56] trends and on history our sales tax has declined for two years our building

[18:01] permits are going down and our court revenue is going down. So, um, even

[18:05] though I look to see the property tax going up with those other things going

[18:11] down, our revenue is only going up about 18,000 as it looks right now.

[18:16] » One of you at the end, is there something since we're at a good spot, I

[18:20] could ask you a question about >> Sure.

[18:22] » Uh, one thing I've noticed here is you mentioned licenses and permits

[18:27] » are down. Mhm. >> Uh, one thing I've noticed since I've

[18:32] moved here is, uh, we probably need to get the city

[18:37] war involved, police department, uh, our, uh, code enforcement, police

[18:43] officers. Uh, if you see something, say something.

[18:48] Uh I on more than one occasion when I first moved here, I had a neighbor

[18:54] had for a month had a dumpster out front uh had a big remodel.

[19:03] I went over talked to them one day. They never got a permit before

[19:10] » and that does happen. >> Um and that's one of the tasks of our

[19:14] code enforcement officer. um four years ago maybe is when we added that position

[19:21] for that reason as well as for uh the appearance of the city. So thank you.

[19:28] Any questions on the revenue?

[19:32] The next page. Uh this shows our expenditures by

[19:38] department. And

[19:41] um in the last column, if it's green, that means we have cut expenses.

[19:47] Um if it's red, it's gone up. The only one that's gone up right now is the fire

[19:52] department. In my budget right now, I have the paper call included.

[19:57] It doesn't mean it's in there in concrete. I just included in the show or

[20:03] scenario. Um, but we'll discuss that later and it's up to what to what's

[20:10] decided if that stays there or not. Okay. But otherwise, as you can see,

[20:16] we've cut our expenditures in every department.

[20:20] Um, so some small ones that show zero because they were zero before. Any

[20:26] questions on that?

[20:32] Okay, the next page just some items of note on this budget as it sits now. As I

[20:38] mentioned earlier, this includes >> we haven't gotten our mad

[20:47] to go back. >> It should say general fund expenditures

[20:50] items of note. >> You're giving away all my even

[20:57] forward.

[21:00] » She showed all my secrets early.

[21:25] Yes.

[21:37] » Bring it back in the lower right hand corner.

[21:42] » But it'll

[21:51] Okay. I'm sorry.

[21:55] » Thank you. Um, so as I mentioned earlier, we don't have our insurance

[21:59] premiums yet. So, um, I've increased what we paid in fiscal year 26 by 10%.

[22:07] To put in a buffer for that. Um there have been years that have exceeded that

[22:11] 10% and there have been years that have been less than that. So right now it

[22:15] includes the 10%. Um it also as I mentioned earlier includes the 4% cola

[22:21] for all employees. On the general fund side there are 19 employees and that

[22:26] increase uh totals $50,381.

[22:32] Um the same as with property and liability, our health benefits, we don't

[22:36] have those yet. I've left those the same. We're hoping they stay the same.

[22:41] We've gotten some of our uh small policies like long-term disability and

[22:46] dental and things and they've remained the same. So, we're hoping um and that

[22:50] should be coming soon. And then I had a discussion with CCPD. Since fiscal year

[22:56] 23, CCPD has been transferring an amount to our general fund to cover um a

[23:04] portion of the PD's overtime. Um,

[23:08] and we I talked with Jeremy first and I told him this is not a carved in stone

[23:14] thing. It's not required of the CCP. It was instilled or I don't know if that's

[23:19] a word was implemented at the beginning because there were some

[23:23] uh patrols above and beyond what's normal um that the then chief wanted to

[23:30] do, but it was going to incur additional um overtime. So CCPD wanted to cover

[23:36] those additional controls. It then became kind of expected every year um

[23:42] with a new city manager, a new chief. I thought this was the time to address

[23:46] that. So, at the CCPD meeting, we talked about it and what we came up with was

[23:53] that we would not do an automatic transfer, but as we watched the budget,

[23:58] if they go over the budgeted amount, then CCPD will kick in or if the chief

[24:06] sees that there's a need. So, right now there's no transfer in, but that doesn't

[24:12] mean there won't be. Um and then um the fire department request for paper call.

[24:19] As I said, it's included in the budget right now just because I wanted to show

[24:23] complete of everything I know right now. Um but we'll discuss it later and it

[24:28] will be removed from the budget if it's not approved.

[24:31] Any questions on any of that?

[24:38] So the next page,

[24:47] » go back. Go back to the fire department. I do have a question about that.

[24:53] » The fire department has a >> The city is putting money in the fire

[24:58] department. >> The fire department is a department of

[25:01] this general fund. >> Okay. They're we're we're putting money

[25:04] into the the state retirement program for the fire department.

[25:08] » Yes. >> Yes.

[25:09] » Yes. >> Okay.

[25:11] » Right now we're paying water the water bill for people that

[25:17] have a house. >> Yes.

[25:19] » Okay. >> Don't put in

[25:22] » We're not We're not paying for the people that live in the apartment. And I

[25:25] don't understand that. >> Yeah. And that was um the free water

[25:29] bills for the fire department was set long before I came. Um and that is just

[25:36] something that probably at that time everybody had a house. Now some live in

[25:40] in apartments and so as we discussed that paper call that'll be part of our

[25:45] » sounds like it's more for the next item. >> Yeah.

[25:48] » I've had a conversation with the uh the fire chief earlier today that might have

[25:52] some input here. >> Yes sir. We I mean we've also talked

[25:55] with them too. >> Ideally, you know the same thing I know,

[25:59] right? >> Um and we can all be blinded out in the

[26:02] next item. >> Yeah, it's on the next

[26:06] question. >> You're not going to let me put in my

[26:08] concern here. >> Well, the more on the next

[26:12] » If it's about fire department paper call,

[26:14] » regarding the paper call, we need to wait.

[26:16] » Yeah. >> Um I just want people to know that that

[26:19] is included in here. I'm not discussing the pros or cons of it right now. So,

[26:24] this is um the bottom portion of our budget on the general fund and this is

[26:29] where transfers happen. Um since 2021,

[26:36] we have put 10% of uh general fund expenditures into the contingency fund.

[26:43] Before that, we had no contingency fund. So, we're going to talk about that on

[26:47] the next screen, but that is included in here. 10% contingency fund transfer. I

[26:53] have also taken it upon myself to propose that we increase transfers to

[26:59] our replacement fund. We have three categories. One for vehicles, one for

[27:04] equipment, and one for the fire department. Um I've increased those

[27:09] here. Um, and again, nothing is carved in stone, and we'll talk about that a

[27:14] little bit more, but we've our replacement fund, as we discussed at the

[27:19] last meeting, is is way underfunded right now. We couldn't buy anything

[27:25] really with what's in there. So when all that comes in, our change in

[27:31] fund balance is 126,869.

[27:37] Which means when you take the revenue, you take out the expenses, and you net

[27:41] out the transfers, our fund balance will go up by $126,000

[27:47] 800$1268$ 869 as it sits right now. Again, these

[27:53] are not firm numbers, but that is a a good positive number.

[27:59] Any question?

[28:03] Okay. So, now turn the page. Now, let's talk

[28:07] replacement fund. Um, so as I said, I I I am proposing and

[28:13] I believe the city manager agreed with me. I just kind of told her I did it.

[28:17] Um, vehicles. Um, last year we put in 30,000

[28:22] which was an increase from prior years. I've doubled that equipment

[28:28] um because it's terribly underfunded. I've gone from five to 20. And fire

[28:33] department um it had gone from 20 to 30 and now it's seeming to go to 50. Um our

[28:39] goal for the fire department is that they can buy an engine someday without

[28:43] having to go out. Um so that's that's what we're looking at for replacement

[28:49] fund. um the contingency fund as I said um 10% of general fund expenditures are

[28:58] normally transferred into the contingency fund and that money can be

[29:03] allocated for unexpected or emergency needs. Right now or as of the beginning

[29:10] of this fiscal year our fund balance there was 1.8 million.

[29:16] So, this um this discussion I'm going to have on the next slide, if we um if you

[29:25] were to set a limit on the contingency fund of how much we're socking away to 2

[29:31] million, we would put in 174,871 and then that would leave 154,000 that

[29:40] we could invest somewhere else. So, keep that in mind as you turn the page.

[29:49] So, um, with our contingency plan, what should be our maximum balance? You know,

[29:56] that's like saying, what are we going to need for the next hurricane? And nobody

[29:59] knows. But with Barrel, um, we took out $966,935

[30:07] out of the contingency fund to pay for debris removal. At that time, we had

[30:12] about 1.3 million. We were so glad we had that so that we could pay for that

[30:18] debris removal without going out for debt or robbing Peter to pay Paul. Um

[30:24] that was reimbursed by the government but that took months.

[30:30] As I said earlier, the current balance is 1.825 million. Now that when I say

[30:35] current, that's the fund balance at the beginning of the fiscal year. Um we then

[30:41] or no that's beginning of the fiscal year plus our 10% that we put in. We've

[30:47] also earned $44,297 through the end of May um in interest

[30:53] because we have all this money invested in a state pool.

[30:58] So if I extrapolate the average out through the

[31:03] end of the year, we're looking at 1.891 8.91

[31:06] million in there at the end of the year with all the interest.

[31:11] Um so what I am asking what staff is proposing is that we have a discussion

[31:18] about what where council sees that we should have this contingency fund

[31:25] limited to. Now one of the reasons is because this money is not earmarked for

[31:31] anything specific. It can be used at an emergency

[31:36] without council permission just like the barrel cut costs were or it can be used

[31:42] for unexpected costs with council approval.

[31:47] If we keep putting in that we're kind of neglecting some other

[31:51] things and so that we're going to talk about on the next page. So let's go over

[31:56] that and then we'll come back to this discussion and hear what you guys want.

[32:01] But what we're proposing is of course interest is going to continue

[32:06] to acrue because it's invested. But we we would what we were thinking is take

[32:11] that 10% maximum of expenditures which this year is 300

[32:19] 300 and some thousand. We would take the contingency fund up to

[32:25] whatever limit you sent. So if you set 10 million, we would take it up to 2

[32:30] million with a transfer. Anything between that 10% of expenditures and

[32:36] what we actually put in contingency, we would put into capital improvements,

[32:42] which would be a general fund fund set aside to help build up so we can do some

[32:50] capital improvements. Let's turn the page and we'll go more in

[32:54] depth with that.

[32:59] You're too far.

[33:05] » So, the general fund is responsible for streets, sidewalks, drainage, buildings,

[33:12] and parks. In fiscal year 26,

[33:18] council approved that we spend I can't remember how much money it was

[33:23] um to have master plans done for streets and parks.

[33:28] Now we know what we need to do, what our citizens want us to do.

[33:35] Citizens were offered surveys that they could answer to get input on what they

[33:41] would like to see. Um the streets portion is taken care of primarily in

[33:49] our transportation fund. Uh several years back they switched all the costs

[33:54] and revenues for the for street sidewalks and drainage to the

[33:58] transportation fund which is kind of a sub fund of the general fund.

[34:03] Uh this we have a street sales tax that goes in there and we have the

[34:09] transportation fee that's on every utility bill. So there is additional

[34:12] revenue to pay for streets, sidewalks, and drainage. So for things that are

[34:18] shown in the streets master plan, we have a fund that we can start working

[34:23] through to get some of those done. Parks has no additional funding. So we have

[34:28] this beautiful master plan for parks and we don't really have a plan right

[34:34] now for how to pay for that. We've asked the citizens for input and

[34:40] then we need to then maybe act on it and not just say okay thanks we wish we

[34:46] could too. So if we could set aside material amounts each year we could

[34:52] start identifying projects prioritizing them identifying them and start building

[35:00] a fund to pay for them without incurring debt.

[35:05] It was also told to us when Strand presented the master plans to us that

[35:10] there are grants out there for parks, but they all have matches. So, to get a

[35:17] $200,000 grant, we're going to have to match up to half of it. So, we need to

[35:24] have that money set aside so that we can match it.

[35:28] Um, so our residents deserve parks that fulfill their needs. The master plan

[35:34] showed us what it will take to achieve this. Now, we need to pay for it. I'll

[35:38] figure out how we're going to pay for it. So, now I'd like to have the

[35:42] discussion on what you guys think of this what I've

[35:47] just told you um about the contingency fund and about building for parks

[35:52] improvement. Now, this capital fund, capital

[35:56] improvement fund would not be limited to parks. if something else came up that we

[36:01] needed, that money would be there. Um, it's not limited to parks, but it would

[36:06] be limited or restricted committed to capital improvements on the

[36:13] general fund side. So, not infrastructure,

[36:18] but you know what the general fund is

[36:22] responsible for.

[36:26] So contingency fund is completely separate than your general fund, your

[36:30] transportation fund, >> your beautifification fund,

[36:35] » beautifification is KB, and that's not really our money, but we manage it for

[36:39] them. We budget it for them with their approval. Um, but yes, transportation

[36:43] fund is the one I said is like a sub fund of the general fund just to handle

[36:47] street, sidewalks, and drainage and to accumulate that income so it doesn't get

[36:51] muddled with other general fund income. Um, so this would be another fund. We

[36:58] have the fund. It's just zero right now. It's empty that we could start building

[37:02] up um

[37:06] money to start doing these projects that our citizens have asked for.

[37:12] I like the idea of capping at 2 million and then putting transferring

[37:17] anything over the two million into a park fund

[37:22] because we do have some park improvements that we need out there like

[37:26] the the walking trails around the parks. You know, we might be getting some

[37:29] broken ankles around them >> or kids riding around the scooters, you

[37:32] know, hanging a tire in them because they got some pretty bad cracks in them.

[37:37] And I think, you know, there's also talk about additional things for the park

[37:41] like pickle ball courts and things like that. So, I think it would be good to to

[37:46] get our parks up to speed >> and we can't do it overnight, but we can

[37:50] start, you know, and a $20,000 transfer is not going to do anything. We need to

[37:55] do material amounts. >> I think if we uh

[37:59] » didn't we get a quote for the paving and Ellis Park, it was like 200,000

[38:05] something. I think it was closer to 385. >> 285. So yeah, it takes some serious

[38:09] money to to redo that. >> Yes.

[38:13] » So I guess I would be in favor of a percentage. Well, I say cap dollar

[38:17] amount like say our proposed budget is 3.8 million.

[38:23] Whatever just say our responsible contingency

[38:28] fund is 8.5% of 3.8 million. That way, whatever our proposed budget changes

[38:34] every year, you're you can either input or take away. If it's just a $2 million

[38:39] cap from now, we don't know,

[38:43] » right? >> It would have to be revisited. Um, our

[38:47] charter allows up to 10% to be transferred to a contingency fund for

[38:53] emergency or for unexpected costs. So, that's where that came from.

[38:57] » Um, >> our discussion was to

[38:59] » and then it set the cap. No. So our discussion was to have council adopt um

[39:04] updated financial policies and in that would be a section that like regarding

[39:09] to >> be a cap

[39:11] » and then it would be our practice and probably best practice is to review this

[39:14] bianually or every three to five years maybe whatever

[39:18] » probably current economy is showing us. But it would need to be reviewed and

[39:22] then council can but we want it to be formally adopted by council whether by

[39:26] resolution or just a financial policy. That way we have clear path.

[39:31] » So tonight we're not asking you to approve policy. We're asking you to give

[39:35] us guidance on where kind of as a general idea from council

[39:40] where you see this then next month we would bring you the policy. Um I think

[39:47] if we just verbally said yeah this is our idea. It doesn't protect future

[39:52] years. Um it doesn't protect that money. um if we have it in policy, it's it's a

[39:58] working document and yeah, whether it's percentage or flat dollar amount. Um

[40:05] » what do you think are responsible for Tennessee funding? What from a taxpayers

[40:11] perspective? If our if our budget is 3.8 eight and we

[40:16] say, "Hey, we want half of that in a contingency fund and another 2 million

[40:21] in general operating fund in addition to the the $4 million we're taxing them."

[40:27] » I think they'd rather have that in their savings account than the city's savings

[40:31] account. >> So,

[40:32] » what's the responsible Tennessee? GFOA, which is like my um

[40:39] my Bible, um they they say, and this is for cities across the US, that you

[40:44] should have working capital of up to two months. Okay, that's just working

[40:50] capital. It's not talking about emergencies or anything. Our auditors

[40:54] are saying um in a high-risisk area like where we live, it should be at least six

[41:01] months. Now, that's talking about our fund balance, which we have. Um,

[41:08] the thing with the contingency fund is um because the storms

[41:15] come up so fast and you have to react so fast, you we need an amount there to be

[41:23] able to keep the city going, to get the debris, to do the recovery. And if we

[41:28] don't have it, we're dipping down um into fund balance, which we could dip

[41:34] more than what bound balance is. We could have to borrow, we could have to

[41:40] um we can't take from the water sewer fund. Um you know, we'd have to rob it

[41:46] from replacement fund or so and we don't have that much in there. So my my gut

[41:54] instinct which is based on nothing just after being through barrel and um and

[42:01] talking to other professionals in the field I feel like 2

[42:06] million should be our minimum. Um,

[42:12] » and if you work out that out that that's that's 2 million. If you work that out

[42:16] to a percent, what percent is that? Roughly

[42:19] » 48%. >> So maybe that's what we say we want a

[42:23] cap of 48%. I like that idea. >> So I mean I agree having the fund I

[42:29] think we had it. I think looking at your barrel, right? So our budget's roughly

[42:34] four million. It cost us a million 25% of our our operating fund to pay for

[42:41] that. >> So a responsible

[42:44] I would almost estimate 33% of our budget. So 33% of 3.8 would be probably

[42:50] a responsible one. Just kind of throwing the numbers out

[42:55] there. That way we tax the citizens less or we give it

[43:00] back to them incentives how we do it. But I think to have the money sitting in

[43:04] our savings account, I think it'd be opposed to that at the

[43:08] end of the day. That's why I say 6 months, you're talking 180 days, that's

[43:13] right at 2 million, which puts us at 50%. So if that Bible document kind of

[43:20] states 180 days, and 2 million is probably pretty close. Mhm.

[43:24] » I think that was the why we came to this >> point of wanting to start saving in

[43:30] other coffers just because you're right, >> we don't want to look like we're just

[43:33] sitting on a big pile of the residents money not doing anything with it. We

[43:36] have lots of projects. We're not short on things to do.

[43:40] » We just are short on things ways to pay for

[43:43] » all at once without taking on debt. >> And and so that's why, you know, it's

[43:47] silly to keep putting in contingency. And um if I was I don't live in

[43:53] Richwood, I live with Jackson. But if I had answered that survey and I knew they

[43:59] got the master plan and I knew they paid a lot of money for that master plan and

[44:03] then I heard nothing more, I would be a little

[44:08] why. So I want to show the citizens that we were serious first of all when we had

[44:14] that master plan done and secondly we're serious about getting the projects done.

[44:19] Um, it's just going to take time. But if we don't start now, that time will never

[44:25] come. Um, Richwood doesn't have a lot. I don't want to be dissing Richwood, but

[44:34] we It doesn't have a lot for its citizens to do and our parks need help.

[44:40] » Yeah. As a veteran community, parks are our entertainment for our kids to walk

[44:44] to and go to easily without having to >> It's for every age. Kids play at the

[44:50] playgrounds. You know, seniors walk the trails hopefully without breaking an

[44:54] ankle. You know, we want kids to be able to go down and fish with their dad

[45:00] safely. Um, so this was our kind of solution to how to start looking at

[45:06] that. And like I mentioned too, most if not all of the grants for parks require

[45:12] a match. And um we don't want to pass up a h 100,000 because we don't have the

[45:19] other 100,000. I mean, I'm just throwing that figure out. I don't have no idea

[45:22] what these frames, you know, dollar amount is, but um you know, and the

[45:28] money is earning a good rate on its interest. Um, and contingency. I mean,

[45:35] you guys can decide to take out a contingency if we have some kind of big

[45:39] project someday. You can decide to take out a contingency if something on the

[45:44] enterprise side fails and we need money. We just can't go the other way. General

[45:50] fund can't take from enterprise, but enterprise can be given money from

[45:55] general fund if that makes sense. Enterprise the work water and sewer. Um,

[46:01] so, so is it kind of your consensus to look

[46:06] at whatever that 2 million is for as a percentage and then go write a policy

[46:14] based on that? Can I ask

[46:21] » uh about that grand plan? >> Is that grand plan split up into

[46:28] categories? >> Yes. That was a

[46:32] » plus if you if you want to me as a tax payer.

[46:38] » What I would see that land is hurting. It's kind of like

[46:43] what we just saw here with the uh abandoned home where everybody all

[46:47] sudden see all the rest. Well, if you were to concentrate

[46:52] on one area at a time, try to spread it out. For instance, like you're saying,

[46:56] what you're seeing the biggest problem right now is parks improvements.

[47:00] Let's get that fund now. That's all the citizens see those parks improvements.

[47:06] » And then when the desk is going good and this kind of stuff out, let's move on to

[47:10] sidewalks. So we're instead of trying to do this big brain plan all at the same

[47:15] time. >> Yeah. And that's what we're saying that

[47:18] if this fund could build to a point, you know, we would work with Cliff and the

[47:22] city manager and council to prioritize the projects that have been identified.

[47:27] And then as this fund built, the first priority could be attacked and then we

[47:33] could go on um you know and and improve parks are going to improve values on

[47:39] homes. Um it's a win-win to have better parks. Could you not improve the parts

[47:46] now at the contingency fund? If if the sidewalks are broken and you

[47:51] have this these issues, is that not an unexpected cost that we could be using

[47:56] that money for? >> It would just not be available then for

[47:59] an emergency. >> But we're putting money back in it. But

[48:03] over over the next year or few years, we're still putting money in it. Why are

[48:08] we waiting to fix stuff? We have a contingency fund that has a money that

[48:12] we could use to fix the parts now. >> So I think part of it we was we were

[48:16] trying to get the master plan done which was just completed last

[48:20] » but we're at that point now. >> It goes back to his point.

[48:23] » If you start doing little things and show the community, hey, we're fixing

[48:27] it. >> Agreed.

[48:28] » Instead of doing all at one time >> for the track, for example, part of the

[48:31] Mark Parks master plan was to completely tear it down and then even reshape it.

[48:36] It's going to be a completely different shape. So, we need council commitment

[48:38] that by us doing that, we're also going to invest in the rest of the

[48:42] improvements because we don't need to change the whole shape of the walking

[48:45] path if we're not going to do the things that go inside of it and the rest that

[48:48] comes along with it. So, that's not a bad idea. They could council could do

[48:52] decide if that's something they want to do or pull a fund balance however they'd

[48:55] like. We just need to know that this is also council's priority to move forward

[48:59] with this. >> That's where we're going to

[49:00] » which it hasn't brought before. That's why

[49:02] » I'm just asking because we being on the HOAs out there

[49:07] » that at Oakwood that's what we've done is we've done little things

[49:12] » to try to show hey you're paying these fees

[49:15] » right >> we're fixing little things at a time

[49:18] instead of waiting to build up a bunch of money to make one thing the whole

[49:22] time >> right which is kind of why we're wanting

[49:24] to show that that we're wanting to do that also unfortunately it doesn't

[49:28] there's no band-aids for it at this point

[49:31] complet re like down subbase and reshaped.

[49:35] » But that is that's why I want to show that we're

[49:38] » and knock on wood and I'm not even going to say the word, but those things that

[49:43] come out of the Gulf, we don't know what's going to happen.

[49:45] » Agreed. >> And barrel was relatively small compared

[49:50] to how some can be. So if we spent a million on barrel,

[49:55] 2 million may not even be enough, but at least we'd have that buffer that we

[50:00] could weather play on words, weather the

[50:04] storm. >> Yeah, we got that money back, right?

[50:08] Save us from going in debt to get that. >> Yeah, it took about Well, we haven't got

[50:12] all of it back yet. We're still waiting on a small portion that'll go to

[50:16] » But because we were under a certain threshold is why we got it back quickly.

[50:18] There's other cities that went above that threshold that are still waiting.

[50:21] » Lake Jackson has not gotten there yet. >> Yeah.

[50:24] » Um we got ours, it took about close to a year. So I think the whole

[50:29] thing is we've got this contingency fund. The cup is just about full

[50:35] » which is the 2 million. Let's just say 2 million%.

[50:38] » The cup is almost full and once the cup starts overflowing what we want to put

[50:42] that in. We want to put that in the parks.

[50:44] » Very good analogy. >> That's what we want your guidance on.

[50:47] » We got probably get the uh city council right now to make a commitment to one

[50:51] thing that actually will solve two problems that the city's been planning

[50:55] about right now. Uh we've got a problem right now with

[50:59] electric bikes and scooters. Everybody's complaining. We got a problem with the

[51:04] parts. >> Let's

[51:08] buy a scooter. >> I mean to place a bike uh somewhere on

[51:15] these parks. >> Once we figure out half of this money,

[51:18] then we're going to figure out what we're going to do with it.

[51:20] » Right. Yeah. That's not really the agenda item tonight. Um, we we paid the

[51:25] money for the plan. It's a wonderful plan. So, now we just have to figure out

[51:30] how to pay for it. So, what I would like I'd like to move on because I don't want

[51:33] to keep you guys here till midnight. Um, but thank you for your input. Um, so we

[51:39] will take your guidance that you've given us um and we'll come back next

[51:44] month with a policy that hopefully you'll be happy with. Um, and uh

[51:51] » No, no, no. This is just guidance and then we'll

[51:55] keep working on it. So, >> any other comments on this?

[51:58] » We just want to make sure we're not going up the wrong tree on

[52:01] » when are you going to present the final budget?

[52:05] » Um, it's presented in September. >> Okay.

[52:07] » I'll bring up >> it should have a

[52:09] » I'll bring a better one, a more accurate one next month once I have values and

[52:15] insurance premiums and things, but the actual proposed budget will be approved

[52:20] hopefully in September. Okay. Anything else?

[52:24] » You got what you need from us, right? >> I believe so.

[52:28] » Did you have anything you wanted to add? >> No, sir. Everything was I agree with the

[52:33] cap 2 million that way. I mean, I saw what we went through. So, we need to be

[52:40] above that. So, it's 2 million. We'll put above that and like we were saying,

[52:45] anything above that's going to go bad. >> So, okay. We'll have

[52:49] » your feeling right now >> is that the tax rate's actually going to

[52:53] go down from last year's tax rate. Even though if we got more

[52:58] » assessed values are up slightly. >> Excess value. So your property value

[53:03] went up, the tax rate is going to go down. So across the board, we're still

[53:07] going to end up paying more individually.

[53:09] » About the same. >> About the same.

[53:12] » Okay. Except that well we can existing

[53:17] properties can pay up to 8% more the new properties

[53:22] there's no base value but that's what the val what the rate calculation is

[53:28] calculated on that you're making 8% more up to 8% more on um existing properties

[53:34] that were on the roll last year and then you add to that the new properties so

[53:39] we'll go into that more um when I get firm numbers Right now, I just wanted to

[53:44] give you an idea to show you where we are.

[53:48] » One thing I ask is like when we do the last budget, when we when we vote on the

[53:52] budget, I would like to see, you know, what you want, which is I think is what

[53:56] you're working on. And then also >> a value that would be okay. This is what

[54:03] everybody's paying now. Like a flat rate, flat rate.

[54:07] » I'll show you options. Yeah. >> And we'll show you how that affects the

[54:10] bottom line and >> what and I think last year what we did

[54:13] was is we gave y'all that amount and then council as a whole said well we

[54:17] want to see >> that bottom line our fund balance go up

[54:21] by 100,000 and so we brought you that rate and that's what was adopted. We'll

[54:24] do the same thing when we get clear after August 1st.

[54:27] » I'll bring you options. I just can't really give you a lot of options now

[54:30] because they're pointless because I don't have the values.

[54:32] » I'm just giving the guidance. I appreciate it. And I knew you'd be happy

[54:37] talking about the limit contingency because you're the one that brought it

[54:40] up a few years ago. >> Okay,

[54:44] different topic now. We can go on. So,

[54:49] last year, well, let me go back six years. When I came to work at the city,

[54:55] I could not believe how antiquated and archaic our software is.

[55:02] I've learned to make the best of it. I have to export all my data into Excel

[55:09] and manipulate it in Excel because the system can't do it. Um, for court,

[55:17] it's a separate software. So, we have to manually put things in to our operating

[55:24] system to get it right. I spent just this month

[55:29] I spent two days trying to get that right. Um it's it's just a very

[55:35] cumbersome, awkward, horrible system.

[55:41] That's my preface to this slide. When I the first two years I worked here, I

[55:46] don't know how many times a day Laura would hear me yell, I hate this

[55:50] software. So, and I will say when we first switched to this software, it was

[55:55] under the guise that they were going to create a soft a court module for us. And

[55:59] when that time came, they said, "Oh, we're not going to do that." This is why

[56:02] we're in two different systems. >> So, right now, we use software called

[56:05] Polus. It's based out of Utah. It was brought to us by a previous city manager

[56:10] that was from Utah. And so, all the canned reports that would be great are

[56:16] for Utah. >> We're their only Texas customer. Yeah.

[56:18] So, I can't use any of their reporting. Um, they handle all financials, utility

[56:24] billing, payroll, accounts payable. To use Polus and to be able to take

[56:31] online credit card payments, we have to use Express Bill Pay. It's owned by the

[56:36] same company. We pay them service fees averaging about 900 a month.

[56:43] Um, that's that's not the fees that credit card companies charge us. That's

[56:50] just what Express charges us to process our cards. So, that comes up to about

[56:55] 11,000 a year. Then our court software, um, it's going up every year because

[57:02] we're on a year-to-year plan. Um, and it's 10,836.

[57:07] As I said, it it's not integrated with our operating system. Everything has to

[57:11] be done manually. So right now

[57:15] » it's a great system. >> It is a good system but

[57:20] you know um so we're paying 31,697

[57:25] roughly because that express bill pay fluctuates.

[57:29] Um we got this software in 2018. got a m a module for asset management

[57:36] which does depreciation that I don't use because

[57:40] it's so cumbersome and I feel like I'm an intelligent person and I can't figure

[57:46] out how to make it work and whenever I call support they say oh we'll just do

[57:50] it for you. I've tried to get support to work with me it's hard. They also have

[57:56] project management where you know if cliff's going to do a street somewhere I

[57:59] could set up a project all the costs would be accumulated.

[58:04] I asked them to train me on that and they said we doubt you're being on the

[58:09] it's so cumbersome. Um so I pay for our auditors to do our depreciation.

[58:17] Um it's part of their fee. So I don't know the exact cost. As I said, I have

[58:22] to export everything into Excel and do all the manipulation there. The budget

[58:27] report you get every month is an Excel report because the one that the system

[58:31] spits out is garbage. Um, as I said, you have to manually

[58:37] transfer all the court financial transactions and we have to use Express

[58:40] Bill Pay and it's housed on our server. So if

[58:45] there's time when we can't get onto our server, we can't access it. Newer

[58:51] softwares now are all cloud-based, so you can access them anywhere you have

[58:54] the internet. I did a class through GFOA on how to

[59:00] help pick out your feet. They're called ERPs. And um they showed a picture of

[59:07] one from the '9s. and it was Ploris they were showing us or say it wasn't that

[59:12] name but it was the same look. I mean it's just very unquote.

[59:18] So last year Kirsten and I uh demoed three or four different softwares

[59:24] and we settled on Fun View. Um it's based in Texas. It's cloud-based. Um

[59:33] and we just really liked it. Um the previous city manager didn't want us to

[59:38] bring it to council, so it kind of died there, but we thought we'd bring it to

[59:41] you this year. Um we would add a lot of efficiency to our

[59:47] system um with having one system that includes court, has actual reports that

[59:54] I can write if I don't like what they have, but it's also um has good

[59:59] reporting. um our our customer experience would

[1:00:04] improve because it includes a city central portal where residents could go

[1:00:09] on and see their billing information. So um they would have instantaneous

[1:00:16] access to their utility accounts. We could also um it has a lot of

[1:00:23] notification capability. So, um, we could surely save

[1:00:30] postage. Right now, we mail out postcards

[1:00:33] once a month. It's about $800 every time we mail those. Um, plus the cost of ink

[1:00:38] and cards and things. If we could do something, which this is a talk for

[1:00:42] another day, but to start getting people moved to an online um statement, we

[1:00:49] which this would allow um because the of the portal that would save us a lot in

[1:00:55] postage. Um late notices, we mailed them today. That was a couple hundred for

[1:00:59] postage. Um those can be both go through notifications. If people have high

[1:01:05] usage, you know, a lot of things, it would go through these notifications.

[1:01:11] They would process our credit cards. So, we wouldn't have another third party

[1:01:16] processing credit card. So, it would eliminate that $11,000 of fees. We would

[1:01:21] still have the discount fees that Visa, Mastercard charge us. Can't get away

[1:01:26] from those. But, um, it would eliminate what we pay Express Bill pay. And I

[1:01:34] can't promise this cuz I don't know yet, but it may even. Right now, we charge 3

[1:01:38] and a half% for credit card transactions. We maybe could reduce

[1:01:42] that. I don't know yet, but just throwing that out there as a nugget.

[1:01:48] It would also include a code enforcement module. We've really been pushing code

[1:01:52] enforcement lately with good reason. Um, and she's kind of flying by the seat of

[1:01:59] her pants in a lot of ways. So, this would have a module that would

[1:02:03] incorporate her into our operating system for transparency between staff.

[1:02:09] Um, it would integrate it into our costs when she leans or or things. Um, so I

[1:02:16] think it would make life easier on her and on. Um,

[1:02:22] any questions? So, next page.

[1:02:30] So, it's module built. So, Hen and I went through and picked out what we

[1:02:35] would want. And of all the modules we would want, um there's a few that we

[1:02:40] would add, um like the code enforcement, the notifications,

[1:02:46] um and court. If as we go if any of the modules we

[1:02:50] pick just aren't working the way we thought they should, it's a year-by-year

[1:02:56] thing, so we don't have to keep them forever.

[1:02:59] Also, as we go forward and we see some of their modules that we don't have that

[1:03:04] now we need, excuse me, we can add those

[1:03:09] um talk to them. Implementation could be done. We could schedule it at our

[1:03:13] convenience which um it's all about me and my slow time is early 2027

[1:03:19] after budget and audit before the next budget. Um, so

[1:03:27] I'm I'm just going to say I really hope you guys allow us to do this. Um,

[1:03:32] implementation is a onetime cost where they will bring all our data in, make

[1:03:38] sure everything works right, and train our employees is 45,250.

[1:03:44] And then annual cost is 37,750. That includes 5,600 of features we don't

[1:03:51] normally h or don't currently have that would increase efficiency and um citizen

[1:03:58] experience. Um so we currently pay 316.97.

[1:04:04] So cost would increase $6,000. I honestly believe that this would be

[1:04:11] offset by the efficiency, time saving, lowered postage,

[1:04:18] and our customers liking that they can go online and see

[1:04:25] what what they're being built.

[1:04:32] Any questions on that? >> That the implementation could be offset.

[1:04:36] We have a fund that money for court technology.

[1:04:40] » We have a fund that builds and we don't frequently have things we can use it on.

[1:04:44] You can only use it on technology that affects the court for security that

[1:04:47] affects the court. Um so that fund has grown and I think Trisha I think the

[1:04:53] fund balance was about 25 right now. Um, I would propose that we

[1:04:59] zero that fund out to offset the $45,000 for implementation so that the city um

[1:05:06] next year's budget is only going to be affected um by 20,000

[1:05:10] » 20,000 plus the additional um cost >> plus the annual cost.

[1:05:15] » We would have a little increase the first year because our current software

[1:05:18] overlap >> and the new software would overlap. Um

[1:05:23] so we'd have a little bit of increase there. Um, but honestly,

[1:05:30] um, well, I mean, when I went, I call it my dark period. When I was gone for a

[1:05:34] few weeks in Lake Jackson, I used their software and I was actually happy to

[1:05:39] come back to cuz there's so awful. Um, but it took me about a week. The

[1:05:46] honeymoon was over and they heard me yelling again at the software. Um, this

[1:05:51] software is so unuser friendly. You have to open 10 different windows to get your

[1:05:56] answer because you know you click here. You can't just keep digging down. You

[1:06:00] have to it's just it's ridiculous. The customer

[1:06:05] service is in Utah so you can't call them until 9:30. There's been times when

[1:06:08] we have billing or payroll issues. We have to wait until we get a hold of

[1:06:13] them. Um >> so you are you asking for approval now

[1:06:16] or are you asking to put it in 2027 budget?

[1:06:19] » We'd like to build it into the budget. We would like to get guidance if you

[1:06:22] guys would approve a budget with this build into it.

[1:06:25] » When you're talking efficiency and you're saying you're doing things in a

[1:06:28] couple days, >> does the new software cut that in half

[1:06:31] or a couple hours? >> So, what she's talking about, for

[1:06:34] example, is the court software is separate. So, every day the clerk has to

[1:06:37] go in and enter a receipt into Florida as if she's a customer, but she's the

[1:06:40] court customer, and she enters in all of those payments that the court took that

[1:06:45] day. There we're also on a different billing system. So when she gets credit

[1:06:48] card deposits from the court, they don't match up with that day's receiping. So I

[1:06:52] actually took half a day last week trying to match them for her because I

[1:06:55] can see the back end of the court. And so it's just it never matches

[1:06:59] completely. And the reason was is because she took a payment on July or

[1:07:02] June 30th and it didn't hit the bank till July 1st. So it was messed up her

[1:07:06] whole months of reconciliation. >> So So is that process is

[1:07:10] » it'll all be I mean >> it'll be it'll be one system. If I

[1:07:14] didn't have to deal with court, I could >> I'll put my green stamp on this. I've

[1:07:18] dealt with this system. It's paperwork is there.

[1:07:21] » Um I >> Well, that's what I'm saying. If if if

[1:07:25] it's going to save them time, the six grand is going to be paid for time.

[1:07:29] » Yeah. Um right now, if I didn't have to deal with court deposits, I would have

[1:07:34] the bank reconciled in one to two hours every month. Um, and this month, this

[1:07:40] month was worse because I was gone a few weeks, but it took me two full days plus

[1:07:47] her time plus um the month before Lor's been out with injury, but um it took her

[1:07:55] a day to help me. It's and it's every month.

[1:07:58] » We never we never balance the court and and the like I said, the court system is

[1:08:02] amazing. They're amazing. It's not anything. They're I'm gonna be sad to

[1:08:05] lose them, but we need to be all inclusive, especially for code

[1:08:08] enforcement. Right now, what our code enforcement officer does is basically

[1:08:12] goes and reports a concern on what she sees, the same thing a resident could do

[1:08:15] on reporting concern, and then she tracks what she's doing through there.

[1:08:19] So, it's very inefficient. It never, this system will be incorporated to

[1:08:23] where she can do a code violation and take it all the way to enforcement to

[1:08:26] where it goes to the court where it files a case with the court, which it's

[1:08:29] not now. she has to then create a a complaint and then file it that way or

[1:08:36] go. So, it's >> a lot of paperwork, too. Um,

[1:08:38] » and we lose the ability to enforce because we lack the the paper trail

[1:08:44] » paper trail >> to show that we're actively doing these

[1:08:47] things and keeping um good track of our notices and that we're sending them. And

[1:08:52] so, this is just going to really and that's just followup. A couple of the

[1:08:56] examples. When I do the budget report for every month, I export it into CSV

[1:09:02] into Excel and then I copy and paste it into my template.

[1:09:09] And so it takes me a few hours versus saying I want this report for this date

[1:09:14] period. It's done. Um it's and those are just examples. It's everything. If I

[1:09:21] want to um

[1:09:25] if I want any kind of information or data, it takes me hours versus minutes.

[1:09:29] » Yeah. >> Yes. And this is why we wanted to

[1:09:32] extract stuff to Excel to create a file that software.

[1:09:36] » Well, then that leads for error and manipulation that coming straight from

[1:09:40] your system and you don't have transparent trustworthy people.

[1:09:43] » That leaves that human error there that we don't want to see. Can we go ahead

[1:09:47] and tell you the gund you can >> we pull this out of this proposal and

[1:09:53] making it an item >> for next month.

[1:09:55] » No tonight. >> No,

[1:09:58] » it has to be an agenda item, but that's we just which is the plan to do for next

[1:10:02] month. >> For next month

[1:10:02] » so we can show them that we're not just stringing them along another year.

[1:10:06] » Um but that's what we wanted to do and bring it as a secret.

[1:10:09] » I reached out to them last week. >> Pull it out of the budget proposal. It

[1:10:13] would just for August. >> Yeah. when I update the budget with firm

[1:10:16] numbers, it would be in there. So, you know, everything's going to change

[1:10:19] anyway. So, I can't tell you exactly um what it'll do. But

[1:10:23] » here's a moral question for you. This implementation fee is $45,000.

[1:10:29] Your 4% pay raise for this year was roughly $50,000. Which would you rather

[1:10:35] have? >> I would forgo mine for this for this.

[1:10:39] » I would too, >> but not all the employees. I have some

[1:10:43] employees that really do deserve it. >> I will honestly if I had the software I

[1:10:48] feel like I got a raise. Um >> what about

[1:10:52] » they don't get to use it so they would definitely take the raise.

[1:10:55] » They don't use the software and they don't

[1:10:58] » um but he'll have half your women throughout.

[1:11:00] » That's a fair question because you're asking us to commit $90,000

[1:11:04] » this year twice. >> It is. But council could also choose to

[1:11:08] use fund balance to cover this. That's why I say we pull it out now and doing

[1:11:11] it in this year funding. >> And I we did talk about that on whether

[1:11:14] or not we should Trish does not want to implement this now. She's it would cause

[1:11:19] her to explode if we signed a contract now. But

[1:11:23] » um >> I would also ask if this this

[1:11:25] implementation doesn't include on-site visit for implementation

[1:11:30] » and then as long as the training is not CD like computer based training. Yeah.

[1:11:35] » A lot of people just give you videos to hey watch this. Oh, no, no, no.

[1:11:39] » Make sure it's on site and then make sure you have enough contingency hours

[1:11:46] after you're implemented to call back and say, "Hey, I have problem. Can you

[1:11:50] help me?" >> I had an online telephone number that

[1:11:54] literally if I had a problem, >> I'd call and there was somebody on the

[1:11:58] other end right then or there tomorrow. And you would have probably the name of

[1:12:02] that individual. >> And you know, everybody's human in

[1:12:05] customer service, but there have been times when I've called to floor customer

[1:12:09] support and they'll tell me how to do something. So, I do it and then I go to

[1:12:14] the next step and it's totally screwed up the next step. You know, I I don't

[1:12:20] have a lot of faith in them or I can talk to two different people and get

[1:12:23] told two different things. Um this company um was founded by people that

[1:12:30] were in with Tyler Technologies which um does end code which is kind of the

[1:12:36] Cadillac um software for cities of government. Um

[1:12:43] we priced them and this is less than half and it's very similar because we

[1:12:50] did demos on both. Um, I actually liked this better. Um, so we're not going just

[1:12:56] on price. There were some that were maybe less expensive, but we didn't

[1:13:00] like. Um, this one I felt like when they did the demo, I could have started

[1:13:05] working in it right then. >> I'm ready to preview it now.

[1:13:08] » We'll bring it back. We'll bring it back next month.

[1:13:12] » I appreciate it. I appreciate you guys taking our opinion on that. Um, and

[1:13:17] yeah, the thought of implementation any time of the year makes me want to throw

[1:13:21] up, but um, it'll be good because I told her, "No, we're not getting new software

[1:13:26] till I retire." But no, it'll be good. I want to leave this city when I do

[1:13:30] retire, whenever. >> And I want to present Trish on Thursday,

[1:13:34] » just so y'all know. And she threw all this together for me in two days.

[1:13:37] » So, I really appreciate you doing that. Um, because it was just a random like,

[1:13:41] "Hey, Trish." >> Whack it out the door. She goes, "I want

[1:13:43] new software." like okay so I called after and they are honoring the pricing

[1:13:49] they gave us last year okay let's move on to the enterprise

[1:13:54] fund okay so um this is

[1:14:00] a summary of the budget for the enterprise um and this is based on

[1:14:06] current utility rates and requests

[1:14:12] on expense from cliff and his staff. Um, so right now if nothing changed with our

[1:14:20] rates, um, we would be short $61,819.

[1:14:26] Now, you might notice there's a add back principal debt payments. When I do a

[1:14:30] budget, it has to include our debt payments for principal just because it's

[1:14:36] cash going out. Um but it doesn't change fund balance or net position on the

[1:14:41] enterprise side because it reduces liability. So that's why I've added that

[1:14:45] back in. Um we are seeing an increase in both sewer

[1:14:53] and water. Solid waste um is we're projecting to stay flat.

[1:15:01] So um we're seeing um right now we'd be in red.

[1:15:08] Okay, next page. So as I said, revenue shown is at the

[1:15:13] current utility rates. The payroll increase we've mentioned in

[1:15:17] the general fund would also be applicable here. Um there's seven

[1:15:21] employees in the enterprise fund and that would total $15,766.

[1:15:29] Health benefits again are shown at the current rate and um I didn't put it in

[1:15:35] the bullets but um insurance product product

[1:15:41] property liability auto all that I I built in a 10% increase.

[1:15:47] Um, last year you might see there was that our non-operating income was much

[1:15:53] higher than we're projecting this year. And that's because to cover some major

[1:15:57] repairs, council had us transfer into the enterprise fund from general fund

[1:16:02] and capital improvements on utility capital improvements to cover those

[1:16:07] repairs of 170,000. About half of our water comes from BWA

[1:16:14] and we're seeing a 10% increase from them this year which totals $41,177.

[1:16:24] Um Flip requested a increase in water engineering of $50,000 for CDBG

[1:16:30] engineering which is a grant. Water lines M&R includes 110,000 for

[1:16:38] tank mixers. I picture them like a big KitchenAid mixer up on top of the tanks,

[1:16:43] but I don't know. Is that what they look like?

[1:16:46] » Are they like big KitchenAid mixers? >> Very big.

[1:16:50] » Um, sewer lines M&R includes 70,000 for this stuff he listed that we talked

[1:16:57] about last month as well. So um 180,000 increased expense above straight

[1:17:04] operating. Any questions?

[1:17:12] So this is just to give you some history. In 2019, the city paid for a

[1:17:17] rate study that gave us rates for the years 2020 to 25. And these rates were

[1:17:26] um made to cover 100% of all the operating costs M of the utility fund,

[1:17:34] 100% of the debt requirements, which is our bond payments that are under the

[1:17:39] enterprise fund, and then a 10% and uh annual expense to be held for reserve um

[1:17:46] either for unexpected repairs or for future um improvements.

[1:17:53] Um, so over those years I adjusted those rates somewhat due to unforeseen things

[1:18:00] they didn't know about like BWA increases and things like that. Um, so

[1:18:05] 2025 was the last year that we had their rates. Um, we decided to save some money

[1:18:12] for a few years. So, I've just been creating rates and proposed based on

[1:18:17] those three goals of covering the MO, the debt, and a reserve.

[1:18:23] Um, we're talking about having a new study done maybe in fiscal year 28, but

[1:18:27] those studies are not cheap. So,

[1:18:32] right now, the enterprise budget here, um, 34,000 is transferred to the INI

[1:18:40] fund that came from a 2019 um rate increase that was earmarked for

[1:18:46] ini saving. Um, at the time they expected it to be 70,000, but then when

[1:18:52] I came I calculated and it was 34. But we've been doing that every year. And

[1:18:57] then the first year I was here, we paid off a note um that we were paying 22,000

[1:19:04] on every year and Cliff asked that we continue to budget that 22,000 but to go

[1:19:10] to utility capital improvement. So right now the budget that is sitting

[1:19:15] in front of you shows an 11.35% increase in sewer operation costs, a

[1:19:22] 4.2% increase in water operation costs and a change in net position which is

[1:19:28] like fund balance of a negative 61,819.

[1:19:40] So these are I am proposing and I have to do this um to to hit those three

[1:19:47] goals we would need a 10 and a half% increase on our utility rates.

[1:19:52] So the column that is highlighted in blue would be the new rates. Um for

[1:19:58] those of you that may not know, the outside rate is for some RV parks um

[1:20:04] that are up on 288B North. Um, but the base is up to 2,000 gallons of

[1:20:13] water. Tier one is 2,000 to 20,000 and tier 2 is over 20,000.

[1:20:21] Sewer um doesn't have a tier two, but it has tier one. Again, over 20,000.

[1:20:28] We're not expecting any increase in solid waste.

[1:20:32] So, the bottom little box, um, our base bill, what it currently is. I didn't

[1:20:39] include the KRB and the fire, um, donations because those are voluntary,

[1:20:44] but mandatory um, what's set by council. Right now, our base bill is 10,468.

[1:20:50] And with these proposed changes, it would be 1128,

[1:20:54] which is an increase of $757 a month. >> Any questions?

[1:21:02] Quick here. This is something I bring up every year.

[1:21:06] I understand this. Instead of increasing the base, those of

[1:21:12] us way I feel I had to turn off my sprinkler system. My base rate, I'm

[1:21:20] subsidizing three other citizens. If I turn on free,

[1:21:25] I'm I'm subsidizing another for the time of night on

[1:21:30] I'm sure I'm not alone. There's a lot more citizens out there that I use

[1:21:37] less than a thousand gallons, probably about 500.

[1:21:41] You're increasing my bill here.

[1:21:45] Why can't you increase those that are using over 2,000? increase

[1:21:51] that base rate over 2,000 instead of the base increasing the base rate.

[1:21:58] » So, set another base for a thousand or less. Is that what you're saying?

[1:22:03] » Either that or I'm just suggesting right now uh there is a uh what like is it a

[1:22:09] dollar $2 per gallon or something? A gallon increase over 2,000.

[1:22:15] It's going to go if you use over 2,000 be 694 to 767.

[1:22:20] » Yeah. I know increase that instead of increasing it on those small. I would go

[1:22:26] I would I would go what you >> So if you look at the way like

[1:22:29] electricity providers do it is if you want to say I'm a 1000 watt customer,

[1:22:33] you're going to pay an even higher premium when you go over.

[1:22:36] » Do you know what I mean? >> I mean she just said something that I

[1:22:39] suggest in the past could get through. So that's how good is.

[1:22:42] » Yeah. >> Out of out of a thousand for those of us

[1:22:45] at home. >> Just the 2,00 is is a good average. I

[1:22:48] mean you're definitely in the minority of very minority. How about since

[1:22:54] » I guess what I'm saying is for those that are using over 2,000 you have a

[1:22:59] premium. They've got >> they are I mean their their rate is

[1:23:01] increasing their galler have a have a discount. In other words, if you if you

[1:23:08] consistently use $1,000 or less

[1:23:14] consistently and give us I mean not uh you know like

[1:23:20] I'm looking at because you got 42.

[1:23:25] If it if it just increased my my bill by five dollars a month, I'd be happy. But

[1:23:32] you see what I'm saying is uh I calculated I calculated out one time uh

[1:23:37] in the five years I've been here. >> Uh I paid

[1:23:44] over $15,000 more.

[1:23:47] » If that's something council wants to look at, we can definitely run the

[1:23:50] numbers to figure out how many customers we have that use a thousand or less if

[1:23:53] that's something they're interested. average use is 4500 to 5500.

[1:23:57] » But the people that use a,000 or less are

[1:24:01] » very minimal. >> And and this is just me. This is my

[1:24:05] thinking suring. We offer a 40% discount for senior citizens. I would be willing

[1:24:11] to bet the majority of the ones that are under 2,000 are our senior citizens that

[1:24:18] are getting 40%. You may fall into that. I've done that.

[1:24:23] » Yeah. So, that's what I'm saying. You've fallen into that in between, but um you

[1:24:28] know, we're um we've done that to try to help that situation. Um, it used to be

[1:24:34] that it was like a what was it before we did the 40%?

[1:24:39] » At one time it was it was a 600 when I first moved in 600 million and then it

[1:24:44] went to a,000 and then it wasn't even I think a year

[1:24:48] two years later they went to I guess they could they still couldn't bring in

[1:24:51] enough money to make the budget. So they moved to 2,000. So my bill literally

[1:24:56] went in less than two years I went from paying a total bill. I just order a

[1:25:01] total bill of $35 a month and now I'm paying 108 and now look at this I'm

[1:25:08] going to be paying paying 115 a month most likely

[1:25:13] » 112 um

[1:25:16] you know and anytime we pass savings on in some area that savings has to be made

[1:25:23] up by increasing rate somewhere else. Um, you know, and the discount of 40%

[1:25:29] that's unheard of for a city to give 40% off to seniors. It used to be a flat

[1:25:34] dollar amount per water and then sewer is only $15

[1:25:39] discount. >> And so I brought it to council several

[1:25:42] years ago um saying it's not growing with our rates, so they're getting a

[1:25:47] less percent. So that's why we went and, you know, we've gone to a a bigger

[1:25:53] percentage than I think any city has. So >> I think the one one of the pros I bought

[1:25:59] a couple years ago and they were kind of receptive to it

[1:26:03] is for me in my case where I've also got I've got a second meter

[1:26:09] but that second meter I might be using it.

[1:26:12] I mean I'm only using it five or six months out of the year.

[1:26:15] » Yeah, but I'm still paying >> You're not paying bill for that when

[1:26:21] you're not using it. Uh

[1:26:26] there is a there is still a uh I mean I've had it turned off for two years now

[1:26:29] because of it. >> But there is still a I mean you're not

[1:26:32] paying you're not paying water you're not paying sewer but you're still paying

[1:26:36] a minimum $2,000 rate >> something to look at year round.

[1:26:41] » We can look at that in the future. Um but um

[1:26:47] pull it and send it out. Yeah, >> that's the part that that's the part

[1:26:51] that really kills me is when I was using sprinklers

[1:26:55] because I was with us. >> Have you had it all in one meter? Then

[1:26:58] you would >> no.

[1:27:01] Well, I tried that. They wouldn't let >> they wouldn't let me put a cross tile.

[1:27:04] » It's something we can look into, but >> yes, we'll look into it.

[1:27:10] So this um the next page um so 10% of operating expenses is

[1:27:19] 276,531 is the budget six right now. We already

[1:27:24] have 22,000 budgeted for capital improvements and 34,000 to INI. So I'm

[1:27:29] going to reduce um the from the 10% to come down to um a

[1:27:35] desired bottom number. a desired change in net position of 220,531

[1:27:42] with the proposed rates our change in net position would be 218679

[1:27:47] very close I mean and that you know fluctuate

[1:27:52] um right now we have net position of 580,000

[1:27:56] GFO again they recommend a minimum of 60 days of expenditures that's not taken

[1:28:02] into account you know because the enterprise fund is not handling as much

[1:28:06] of the um emergency type stuff, but um that would be 460,885.

[1:28:13] So if you look at that, we only have 120,000 in reserve right now. Um last

[1:28:19] year we did not fund the the full 10%. Um

[1:28:26] so if we don't this year, that would be the second year in a row. So

[1:28:31] now, um go ahead and see. So the next sheet and I just did this

[1:28:37] for your edification. The top gosh thing. The top um shows

[1:28:46] the rate I'm proposing at 10 and a half% and what our bottom line change in

[1:28:50] reserves would be which is at 9.93%. If we did a 5% increase our reserve

[1:28:57] would be 4.62%. And if we went down a 3% increase it

[1:29:02] would only be 2.69%. We would be covering the MO and we would

[1:29:06] be covering the debt, but we wouldn't really be putting anything away for

[1:29:09] future our infrastructure. He also has a master plan for that. And we do have

[1:29:16] some funds that money goes into, but not a lot. So, um,

[1:29:22] that is where we ask you guys for your input.

[1:29:32] I want to be able to bring you a budget with the rates that you will approve.

[1:29:36] Um, if we leave them the same as they are, we will have a negative.

[1:29:41] So, in other words, we'll take away from our reserve.

[1:29:49] We will be um discussing our fee schedule as a whole next month um

[1:29:56] to amend it and the new fees will be in

[1:30:01] there because I have to have them approved before I can get a budget

[1:30:04] approved. So I need to have input so I can set fees next month so that we can

[1:30:12] adopt a budget by next month. Then I don't know how this is going to change

[1:30:17] with the software. I guess our timeline would stay the same on reads and

[1:30:20] everything, but keep in mind we we're going to present it next month with the

[1:30:24] rate we get guidance on. It does not go into effect until October. The residents

[1:30:29] do not see it on a bill until the bill gets due in January

[1:30:32] » or December. Yes. >> Sorry. And then so that's why we try to

[1:30:35] do this now is because we don't want to do it and then oh next month you have to

[1:30:39] be responsible for whatever the increase is. want to give as much notice and

[1:30:42] » our billing period is 10H108. Um so

[1:30:48] we don't on the 108 or 98 to 108 the 108 bill we we keep at the current rate the

[1:30:55] 108 to 118 will include the increase which is due then

[1:31:00] » December 10th >> is this separate from the what we for

[1:31:07] » that cost it's all incorporated in here >> so this 276 is not a representation of

[1:31:14] the budget It's 10% of the expenses.

[1:31:17] » So the expenses are a million dollar or $2 million.

[1:31:21] » Let me get back to that page. >> I didn't I didn't see that.

[1:31:27] » So our operating expense is $2.765. Um

[1:31:34] because this is only operating expense and then we have nonoperating things

[1:31:37] below that. So we I'm projecting revenue at the

[1:31:42] current rate of 3.175 million and expenditures of 2.765

[1:31:51] which leaves 410 but we have nonoperating expenses which is our debt

[1:31:56] of 689,000 less than 180 which is the principal.

[1:32:04] » Could we not increase the out of district service fees and reduce those

[1:32:10] that are in the district services fees less.

[1:32:15] » I'm assuming your outside tier is out of district service.

[1:32:18] » It's Yeah, it's the two RV parks. I don't know.

[1:32:21] » Right now they pay make up that difference.

[1:32:23] » They pay one and a half times >> already the base rate.

[1:32:28] » Yeah. Any out of district service? >> Yeah, they pay. That's what I'm saying

[1:32:31] is could we not increase that to reduce the base of the tier one two in city

[1:32:38] mons >> it's it would be minimal

[1:32:41] » instead of going 10 and a half across the board can you not increase the out

[1:32:44] of district service and reduce the percentage of the in city limit service

[1:32:49] » like do them 12 and a like inside eight >> yeah maybe like the outside district you

[1:32:53] get 12 and a half% you lower the in in city limits to eight

[1:32:56] » so that the the way I understand it we have a written agreement where they pay

[1:33:00] one and a half times >> whatever

[1:33:03] » the base rate >> and then on the the tiers they pay one

[1:33:07] and a half times of that. So we would have to get a new agreement with them

[1:33:11] and it's only four accounts or two accounts.

[1:33:15] It's it'd be minimal. Even if we increase them quite a bit it would be

[1:33:18] minimal. >> Well they decreasing rate they're

[1:33:22] supposed to take into account and uh >> I know last year uh when they discussed

[1:33:27] this one of the deals They discussed is for fiscal year

[1:33:33] 27. They were going to cut they were going to cut that rate to take a pay of

[1:33:37] thought that

[1:33:40] » no they were paying less than >> we council at the time wanted and so

[1:33:46] they modified how they pay their >> when I first came to the city I was

[1:33:50] unaware of how that was calculated. I didn't know what the agreement was. So I

[1:33:56] was just adding the percentage of whatever we were adding to utility

[1:33:59] rates. Then we found two years ago I think what the actual criteria is and we

[1:34:05] adjust it accordingly.

[1:34:10] » Anything else? Any input?

[1:34:15] » So the bottom uh um the bottom 3% rate that is underfunded.

[1:34:22] That would give us just under 3% reserve.

[1:34:28] » But we already s 580,000. Correct. >> We're sitting on that.

[1:34:34] » We're already projected to add 120,000, >> right?

[1:34:41] » No, that's different. >> I Where you getting 120?

[1:34:47] If we did the 5% um

[1:34:53] » so last year to keep the rates down we transferred from general fund and from

[1:34:59] the capital improvements fund into enterprise fund to cover some major

[1:35:04] expenses. We could do that again but I don't recommend it. We're going

[1:35:08] backwards on our future capability.

[1:35:13] um right now sitting on about $500,000. Um

[1:35:21] where is that slide? >> So I got the 120 the 580 minus the 460

[1:35:26] for the reserves. So basically currently we would do 120,000 in reserve

[1:35:31] » right now we have yes 120 in reserves. What can you do with 120

[1:35:39] » within the structure? >> I need to think about it. It's pretty

[1:35:42] low. >> Not much.

[1:35:45] » What can you do with two form? >> It all builds. That's the thing. So, um,

[1:35:52] six years ago, we had no reserves. We had none. Our infrastructure

[1:35:58] is better than it was six years ago. Thank thankful to debt, thankful to some

[1:36:05] grants. Um, but it's still How many How much do you have in

[1:36:14] projects? >> 18.5 million.

[1:36:18] » 18 and a half million >> over 25 years.

[1:36:22] » So, um,

[1:36:26] so I'm not telling you what to do. I'm what I'm giving you is what it would

[1:36:30] take to hit the three goals that were set in 2019.

[1:36:34] um which I think are good goals. We want to pay our operating. We want to pay our

[1:36:38] debt. And we want to plan for the future. Um but it's up to you guys to

[1:36:44] give me guidance on what you want to see.

[1:36:48] I guess I look at it what's a responsible reserve that doesn't stress

[1:36:52] the citizens, right? So currently you have 120,000. Six years ago you didn't

[1:36:58] have nothing. Now you got 120,000. If we allocate 10%, you're going to go up to

[1:37:04] 360,000. If we authorize 5%, you go up to 240.

[1:37:11] I'd hate to build $500,000 in reserve contingency on the backs of the citizens

[1:37:16] in one year. Take a staggered approach to that.

[1:37:20] » Since 2025, if you implement the 10 and a half, you've increased the rates 31.5%

[1:37:27] in two years.

[1:37:32] I like the idea of building >> before that one%

[1:37:35] » and it's hard when we don't have any on either side

[1:37:39] » I'm better than 5% that's where I'm leaning towards the 5% right

[1:37:46] » because I think that is in line with what happened this year that got you to

[1:37:51] 120,000 and you're essentially doubling that in 12 months. I think that's a good

[1:37:56] reserve. I can do that.

[1:38:00] » You have anything to say? >> My job is to bring you the the Cadillac

[1:38:06] and you guys decided

[1:38:10] everybody understand

[1:38:15] where she stands on it. I I kind of agree with it, but

[1:38:21] me being

[1:38:26] a

[1:38:30] 5%. >> I can bring back 5%.

[1:38:34] » Um, >> yeah, I just that's why we talk about it

[1:38:38] tonight is so I can get guidance to bring it back next month. It doesn't

[1:38:41] matter if you guys approve. You know, this is one of my least favorite tasks

[1:38:45] in a year. It's to set um the utility rates

[1:38:51] because it, you know, the the citizens see it in their face every month. So,

[1:38:57] Okay. So, next next month, expect to see a an ordinance amending the fee schedule

[1:39:02] that will include this rate with an effective date of 101. Yes. So, if you

[1:39:06] see it on the agenda for August, it's not going into effect that day, but we

[1:39:10] need to um be able to spread the word. So, that's my last slide. I know you're

[1:39:17] disappointed. Um any questions before I go sit down?

[1:39:23] I'm going to go sit down. >> Thank you. Thank you.

[1:39:27] » Good work that took as new. >> No, just the

[1:39:32] » presentation feel. >> No, I started the presentation a couple

[1:39:35] weeks ago, but she changed it on me two days ago.

[1:39:39] » Say we just changed it on.

[1:39:46] » Thank you. >> I appreciate all your input.

[1:39:50] » Thank you very much. Okay, we're going to move on to

[1:39:54] discussion and action items. A

[1:40:09] Go back.

[1:40:36] » All right. Okay. A discussion and possible action

[1:40:40] regarding a proposed volunteer firefighter pay-per- call incentive

[1:40:44] program including providing direction to staff for consideration of policy

[1:40:47] adoption at a future meeting. >> Is there somebody here from the fire

[1:40:52] department present on this? He's on vacation.

[1:40:55] » No, he we do have a representative Mr. Page

[1:40:59] » but after speaking with Tony um he's not as prepared for this as I thought he was

[1:41:04] going to be coming. No, nothing to you. I know. Um,

[1:41:08] but fire department did prepare this item and knew this was going to be on

[1:41:10] this meeting. Um, so it's not what you put on without their knowledge. Um, but

[1:41:15] I would like to push this to August. I do want this to be decided before budget

[1:41:20] obviously. Um, but I would like it to be pushed to give me time to actually meet

[1:41:24] with the department as a whole. >> I guess a little bit for the department.

[1:41:28] » Yeah, if you want to give some information, you're welcome to.

[1:41:31] » Basically for the department, it's more for getting more volunteer incentive to

[1:41:34] get more volunteers. um has been in the department for the past nine years,

[1:41:40] personally don't think this is going to get more people to come. Um

[1:41:44] what we have now, I think it's good what we have now, but I think we need to

[1:41:48] project more and try to get some more different perspectives to get some more

[1:41:51] volunteers to show up. So >> as a recommend

[1:41:58] » more advertising, more media, >> I mean getting out there to show that we

[1:42:01] actually do have a fire department more, but that's more on us. So

[1:42:05] » I got this information about five minutes before the meeting started also.

[1:42:08] » I got this information. >> So I would like to have a chance to

[1:42:13] speak with more more of the department to see how they feel as a whole.

[1:42:19] » I'll make a motion to table this agenda item until the August city council

[1:42:24] meeting. Okay.

[1:42:26] » All in favor? >> I motion table to August.

[1:42:29] » Thank you for waiting. I'm sorry you sat here.

[1:42:32] » Tell me. Thank you for showing up. Yeah, >> thank you for coming. I really do

[1:42:35] appreciate you. >> Okay, moving on to B. Discussion and

[1:42:38] possible direction regarding proposed amendments to chapter 14, article 4 of

[1:42:43] the code of ordinances governing outdoor burning and burn permits.

[1:42:47] » So, I put this back on the agenda. We had it a couple months ago um because we

[1:42:52] had a burn that got out of control a little bit and the fire department had

[1:42:56] to come out. Um, since then, leadership in the fire department have taken the

[1:43:01] stance of not wanting to approve most, um, land clearing burns.

[1:43:06] So, uh, we had a burn that was denied recently

[1:43:11] and our current ordinance doesn't give any

[1:43:16] any recourse or anything other than it can just be denied.

[1:43:21] » Mike, you got something? >> Yeah. Did you want to speak on it, Mr.

[1:43:23] Chair? >> Yes. Uh, thanks for letting me talk.

[1:43:26] Thanks for getting this on the agenda. We me and my fiance bought a lot out at

[1:43:30] open shores in in July of last year and got all excited about clearing. Started

[1:43:36] clearing. Met off some great neighbors. Ended up hurting my back. So kind of

[1:43:41] postponed. Went out, got some guys lined up to clear it for me. Started clearing

[1:43:46] it and trying to do the right thing. I called into the city to to find out if I

[1:43:50] need to redo my burn permit. Well, it was true. I didn't need to

[1:43:58] and it got denied almost. Well, the next day and kind of asked for reasons why

[1:44:04] and they said I've amassed too much brush. Well, barrel did that. I didn't

[1:44:10] even do it. I haven't cut down any trees. I just pushed up what was down

[1:44:13] already. Uh kind of like get some guidance on what I can do to get it

[1:44:19] burned. Uh I was suggested that I have it cut up and hauled off. So, I got one

[1:44:24] quote for $12,000, which is crazy. And uh I asked the city

[1:44:30] to for the large trash removal and they were supposed to have a foreman call me,

[1:44:36] but I never got a call back from that person. So, I don't have another quote,

[1:44:41] but uh really like to get something cleared up so we can move on and become

[1:44:46] Richwood citizens. So, in doing this, I reached out to the

[1:44:52] fire chief and got this a similar response on why. Um, and looking into

[1:44:57] our current ordinance, it's very vague in what

[1:45:02] are reasons for denial. Um, so I think even a couple months ago when we brought

[1:45:06] this up, we were looking for council to give us clearer guidance in an ordinance

[1:45:10] form. I'm not asking you to adopt an ordinance today. I just want to workshop

[1:45:13] the one that I've presented to you um which gives reasons denial, um,

[1:45:19] revocation reasons, appeals that how it can be appealed, a denial can be

[1:45:23] appealed. Um,

[1:45:28] as far as things go right now, I what I've been told that any request for burn

[1:45:34] for land clearance will be denied at this point. Um, and that is what well

[1:45:38] within the rights of fire marshall, fire chief design. Um, it was brought to me

[1:45:44] that this would be considered a commercial burn if residents are

[1:45:48] clearing land. I can't find that and I've asked for clarification on that. I

[1:45:52] did provide you all of the TCQ guidance on outdoor burning and I've tabbed a few

[1:45:56] spaces. Um, >> yeah, I don't understand the commercial

[1:46:00] piece of that either. >> What I can find is it's regarding

[1:46:03] commercial development, not >> who's doing the clearing and the

[1:46:07] burning. >> Yeah.

[1:46:08] » Right. Yeah. >> To me, what I can find on why you need a

[1:46:11] permit, and I also also said that PCP does not issue permits. They just issue

[1:46:14] authorizations. Um, and there's various reasons, various

[1:46:19] exceptions to their outdoor burning prohibitions. And then, um, you can see

[1:46:23] the yellow tab, the first yellow tab that I've given you. Um, it gets the

[1:46:28] definition of land clearing. It gives the exceptions to the outdoor burning

[1:46:32] rule, which is, um, there's there's various reasons you can get exceptions

[1:46:36] for outdoor burning. And then the second tab that I I think it's red that I

[1:46:42] tabbed in each of your packets is using burning to clear property within city

[1:46:47] limits. It is an allowed exception. Um as as long as a city has an ordinance

[1:46:54] that dictates how it'll be done. Um and it does say that if your city doesn't

[1:46:59] have it. >> Yes, sir.

[1:47:03] » Also want to say one thing. uh 1500 ft from my lot. Somebody is burning with a

[1:47:09] with a burn permit approved at this time,

[1:47:13] » right? >> It's smoking today.

[1:47:16] » And see, that may not be for land clearance. So, that's what I'm saying

[1:47:19] is, >> oh, he's doing clearing land. So, we're

[1:47:23] going to we're going to deny a a guy who wants to build a house in in Oakwood

[1:47:28] Shores of clearing his property and burning it. Increase his cost because he

[1:47:33] would have to haul it off if you're not going to allow him to burn it.

[1:47:37] » Not to mention, we've increased the builder's cost on tax.

[1:47:40] » Mr. Gregory, if you let me finish, I I'm team Mr. Terry, so I'm not trying What

[1:47:44] I'm saying is not going to be against him. I just want council to give clear

[1:47:48] direction on what >> I'm just bringing up where if if we're

[1:47:51] going to deny those things, we need to he needs to at least be able to appeal

[1:47:55] it because we should he shouldn't be increasing cost to build a house,

[1:48:01] » right? The last increase cost for developers out there

[1:48:05] anyways, >> we're trying to get a more definite so

[1:48:09] the second tab >> I was gonna say this. I'm sorry.

[1:48:12] » I just want to say let me finish real quick. Um the question was is that TCQ

[1:48:16] doesn't allow this and it's not an allowed thing. I'm showing now that it

[1:48:19] is an allowed thing and we can absolutely can legally allow this to

[1:48:22] happen and how we can do it. I don't want to prohibit land use or however you

[1:48:28] want to do it. I want to do it in a safe manner that benefits everyone. Um so I'm

[1:48:32] proposing an appeals process a clear definition of what denials constitute.

[1:48:38] Not >> it could be a safety hazard, it could be

[1:48:40] a nuisance because that's all it says right now. But all this arose, all this

[1:48:44] came up because of one guy who burned something.

[1:48:47] » This is city council >> in the wrong

[1:48:50] council. >> We're we're trying to have a discussion

[1:48:52] here. I understand that you had your public notice. You had the threeminut

[1:48:55] chance right now. I got a question for her is how did we used to do it in the

[1:49:02] past? >> Well, the ordinance is vague. They apply

[1:49:05] for a permit and they >> who inspected it? Well, before it was

[1:49:09] Marcus because he had fire before Marcus.

[1:49:13] » We Well, it was Clint >> before that.

[1:49:17] » Okay. >> Or we would have

[1:49:19] » using an outside contractor to do the inspection instead of the fire

[1:49:22] department, >> which we could, but that was the reason

[1:49:24] for wanting to do burn permit fees to cover our cost because it's going to

[1:49:27] cost us to have an outside source do it. And I would need to have a reliable

[1:49:32] outside source to do it because it's a timely thing when somebody needs to

[1:49:36] burn. >> But we had to firm up in Angleton,

[1:49:40] right? >> No.

[1:49:43] » Or was that the building permits? >> That's for building permits. We have a

[1:49:47] outside contractor for that. >> I thought they also did fire marshall

[1:49:51] activities before. >> We have a contracted fire marshal that

[1:49:53] we use as a free port fire marshal. He does all of our fire marshal duties.

[1:49:58] I was just trying to figure out I was just trying to figure out a way that we

[1:50:01] could contract this out and not >> u

[1:50:06] use our fire department to do it because it seems like our fire department is not

[1:50:10] going to approve it no matter what.

[1:50:16] » I think we will approve it. The bad part is right now you give me a burn permit

[1:50:19] and I don't know where it's at. I don't know what's around it. So if you

[1:50:21] submitted some pictures so I can maybe get some guidance of where it's at. I've

[1:50:25] been given an address in Oakwood Shores three different times. I can't find the

[1:50:28] house. I can't find the address. I can't find any other work hours, too. So, it

[1:50:32] looks kind of eerie to >> I also don't have a command vehicle. So,

[1:50:36] I'm out there with my personal vehicle trying to find this and it looks pretty

[1:50:39] bad out there. We just trying to property.

[1:50:41] » People are trying to figure out how >> if we can get some guidance of some

[1:50:44] pictures and stuff like that, maybe some other things. But there should be some

[1:50:47] stipulations of burning whether it's you clear some brush around it because the

[1:50:52] amount of water to put one of fires out especially in Oka Shores is tremendous.

[1:50:57] » So can I ask something on this? >> Uh you say that he he was denied

[1:51:04] because there was brush build up. >> Well, we didn't say that.

[1:51:09] » You did not have that one. >> I'm leading to something here. Uh

[1:51:15] our next discussion here is going to be on uh the next contract with uh waste

[1:51:20] management. The biggest problem here is

[1:51:27] waste management will not pick up anywhere will not pick up brush.

[1:51:34] That's the part of the contract we need to work out with them.

[1:51:37] » I mean if they will pick up >> they will pick up that they won't pick

[1:51:41] that up with heavy trash. what you're speaking of. You can call them out to

[1:51:44] come and pick up for us. >> I put something out there that's no

[1:51:47] bigger than 4 foot. >> I know. But you're talking about

[1:51:49] residential regular heavy trash. What we're saying that the resident would

[1:51:52] need to do is call and spe a special pickup. Did you see all the debris on

[1:51:56] 288 that was sitting out there for a week's waste connections pick that up

[1:52:01] because I called and got a quote and we paid to pick have it picked up.

[1:52:04] » They will do it. >> So, they will do it. It's just it's got

[1:52:06] the cost that's incurred on the resident which is the whole point of it is if we

[1:52:10] have the ability to burn in these larger acreed properties

[1:52:15] » and I'm just I'm not understand why I'm having to pay like I mean for them it's

[1:52:20] even worse but why I'm having to pay my >> that's that's not this subject you're

[1:52:24] not talking about burning for land clearance. I we can't keep getting off

[1:52:28] topic. We're two hours into the meeting already.

[1:52:30] » I'm trying to get past No. >> Yeah. We need to build more houses out

[1:52:35] there. We need to clear more land and we need to

[1:52:38] » do these permits. And the thing is too, if he files for a variance, which you

[1:52:43] have a right to file for a variance, one neighbor can make it be denied,

[1:52:48] right? >> Yes.

[1:52:50] » I've experienced that. >> So, if you got one neighbor that says,

[1:52:52] "I don't want the smoke in my house because you're burning." One neighbor

[1:52:55] can can just shut you down right there. So, we need to get past this. We need to

[1:53:00] continue to build richwood. There should be a difference between

[1:53:08] a homeowner who's clearing a lot to build and somebody for instance me who

[1:53:14] just cut some trees down and wants to burn them.

[1:53:17] » That that's that should be a a clear difference.

[1:53:20] » This this portion of the ordinance is burning for land clearance. So that's

[1:53:24] not building there really shouldn't be any reason he should be denied

[1:53:28] » unless I mean I I can't like if a neighbor doesn't want him to burn his

[1:53:33] land clearing that should not even come up. He should not have to be

[1:53:37] » I think we're all on the same side here and my request from council is to give

[1:53:41] guidance. >> Can we put an appeals process in there?

[1:53:44] Because the way it's worded, Mr. Terry was told no by the designate. I couldn't

[1:53:49] even say yes.

[1:53:52] » I couldn't even just say let's bring this to council and say yes. Had I been

[1:53:56] able to, he would have been on this agenda with his burn permit, which is

[1:54:00] what I'm proposing we put into the ordinance.

[1:54:02] » I can either appeal it or I can request it go to council to be appealed and then

[1:54:06] council because it's a lot of liability. I'm not in the position to say you can

[1:54:09] burn or not. What I would do as city manager is speak to Tony Mc. Why did you

[1:54:13] deny this? I want reasons. I would like pictures. I want you to show me what it

[1:54:16] is. And then if I feel it's still valid and Mr. Terry is still upset, I'm say,

[1:54:21] "Okay, well, now you need to >> plead your case to

[1:54:24] as far as I can go without having to pay for a variance, which is very expensive

[1:54:29] in my I mean my mind even $200 for a variance is expensive and it's would be

[1:54:35] two months later before we would even get to talk to you.

[1:54:38] » So I just want to >> September where it's dry, you can't

[1:54:41] burn, >> right?

[1:54:42] » So >> yeah, because we don't want to do that.

[1:54:44] I mean, we don't want a burn when we have a burn ban, right?

[1:54:48] » So, I've I've given council an ordinance to read over and I just want to know

[1:54:52] what do you think of it if this is something we can move forward because I

[1:54:55] definitely don't want to get rid of it alto together, which is what I've been

[1:54:59] asked to do from the current fire chief is to remove land burning for land

[1:55:02] clearance altogether. >> No,

[1:55:04] » but I don't feel like that's a consensus of the department

[1:55:07] » development in Oakwood Shores. >> Agreed. I I'm not on that side,

[1:55:11] » but I would like clear deficit direction. So that way it's not just a

[1:55:15] no, I don't want to do it. >> What I'm proposing is eight reasons

[1:55:19] here. Eight reasons for denial. And I want you to tell me which one of these

[1:55:23] reasons it's meeting that you're denying it based on.

[1:55:26] » I like the proposed >> ordinance that you did. Um I I'd be

[1:55:31] interested. Is this a this a personnel problem or a policy problem we're trying

[1:55:35] to solve? You know, that would have been my first question. Sounds more like a

[1:55:39] personnel problem, which would kind of tie into theou.

[1:55:44] How does a fire department fall into the city? You know, are they a nonprofit?

[1:55:48] Are they city agency? Right now, they operate a comedy.

[1:55:54] There's a lot of questions here surrounding the fire department,

[1:55:58] » but like he said, he could use some more information.

[1:56:01] » That's what this policy states mean that perhaps the information has

[1:56:06] been obtained, but not relayed. because it's not being given to

[1:56:10] individual members. that's being given down their chain of command and so where

[1:56:13] is it a game of telephone that's getting lost and yes let's communicate and

[1:56:17] figure out what helps you do the job better and we will do that it's not

[1:56:20] about that's a process that's not a >> so when I came and got a burn permit I

[1:56:24] walked in I paid my fee got the permit walked out nobody checked what I was

[1:56:27] burning nobody asked me for a picture >> that might have been two people ago who

[1:56:31] were approving it who >> it's changed so it's changed with it and

[1:56:36] that's what I feel the current ordinance doesn't give

[1:56:39] » every person who's in this job should do the same thing.

[1:56:46] » I would make it >> I didn't This isn't on here for adoption

[1:56:49] yet, but I'll have it in August. >> What I like about it is it transcends

[1:56:53] personel. >> Yeah, there's no action item on this,

[1:56:55] but >> So your proposal transcends personnel

[1:56:58] where there can be an individual road. There's at least a waiver for a field

[1:57:02] under your proposed thing, >> right?

[1:57:04] » An existing one, there's a roadblock. >> There shouldn't be one person that just

[1:57:07] says no and that's it. So I I'm

[1:57:11] » not your proposed >> me or the city whoever city manager is

[1:57:14] pass me if they're not comfortable and they have a recourse to get it to our

[1:57:18] council and get the the resident another

[1:57:27] » could you get could it be where it's just you have at least two firefighters

[1:57:31] that say no as well that way there's not just one there is re relay in the whole

[1:57:40] Let me look at it. I This is a side. I mean, this is relates back to the paper

[1:57:44] call. I really want to sit down with this with the fire department and just

[1:57:48] meet. >> I don't want to have to wait.

[1:57:51] » We went to trouble clear grass around it. I missed nothing but went to all of

[1:57:55] our neighbors. They're great with it. They're excited for it.

[1:58:00] » I don't see why you got >> Yeah.

[1:58:03] » Yeah. The pile they had there was 7 foot tall, 15 foot diameter. There's two of

[1:58:07] those, but we made smaller pile. If I need to make smaller piles, I'll do it.

[1:58:11] » Okay. I will call you. >> Okay.

[1:58:14] » And we'll we'll figure out how to get this moving forward so you're not having

[1:58:17] to wait for ordinance change. >> Um

[1:58:21] smile. >> The goal is to help you here.

[1:58:26] » I know. Thank you. >> Thank you for having separation.

[1:58:30] » Okay. So, I'll bring this back as an ordinance.

[1:58:34] Tony, >> you're off the hook. That's the last

[1:58:36] fire item.

[1:58:41] » We'll see you next month, Taylor. >> But that's what

[1:58:45] » All right. C discussion and pos possible action

[1:58:49] regarding ordinance number 26-541 adopting the 2021 International Property

[1:58:54] Maintenance Code IPMC and amending chapter 6 article 2 section 6-23 of the

[1:59:00] city of Richmond code of ordinances. >> Okay, so this one is my um mistake from

[1:59:07] last month with the wrong um portion of the code of ordinances. So, this is now

[1:59:13] relay or referring to the correct part of the code of ordinances. Um, just

[1:59:17] adopting the international property maintenance code, which helps Irene, our

[1:59:20] code enforcement officer, enforce um, it's already referenced in our code.

[1:59:24] It's just not clean in our adopted um, international maintenance code or

[1:59:31] international codes. So, I'd like to add it there.

[1:59:35] I just need a motion to adopt >> a motion. I'll make that motion.

[1:59:41] You want to read this? >> Yeah. I'll make a motion that we uh

[1:59:45] adopt the ordinance number 26-541 uh to adopt the 2021 International

[1:59:52] Property Maintenance Code uh and amending chapter 6 article 2 section

[1:59:57] 6-23 of the city of Richmond code of

[2:00:00] Ordinance. >> Second.

[2:00:04] » All in favor? >> I the record reflect. The motion

[2:00:07] carries. D. Discussion and possible action

[2:00:11] regarding the waste connection solid waste collection service agreement

[2:00:14] including automatic renewal issu issuance of request for proposals RFP

[2:00:19] authorizing the city manager to execute a multi-year contract extension.

[2:00:23] » So our contract term waste connection will be our standard terms will be up in

[2:00:28] August. Um it does automatically renew. It doesn't really require any action

[2:00:32] from council, I think, for two years, but we wanted to get council's input on

[2:00:38] possibly extending that contract for a duration of five additional years. Uh we

[2:00:44] had a meeting with Waste Connections and we understand that currently there's no

[2:00:49] plan CPI increase for the remainder of this fiscal year, possibly next fiscal

[2:00:54] year. I will say the staff feels probably one of the better ways to keep

[2:01:00] our rates in check is is to go with the longer term contract. Um

[2:01:06] we don't um I don't I don't think any of going out

[2:01:12] for RFP at this point in time just because we have knowledge that those

[2:01:16] costs will go up through waste connections if it goes out for bid. It's

[2:01:19] just a process of putting the service back out.

[2:01:25] But as of right now, we have the option to let it renew. I think we're

[2:01:29] interested in trying to extend that contract term if uh council should do

[2:01:34] so.

[2:01:39] » This all renew for one year. >> I think we have two one year extensions.

[2:01:43] » I think we have two one-year extensions >> at the same rate.

[2:01:46] » Yes. CPI increase. >> Yeah. might see a chance for CPI.

[2:01:50] » They do have that right to request it. >> I think it's up to

[2:01:54] 6%. >> But William had requested that we look

[2:02:00] at extending into a longer agreement that would

[2:02:05] um help him keep us at our current rate or as close to without

[2:02:11] because we go out for bid. We look at getting the current rates that are being

[2:02:14] given out. In our last RFP for this, I think we had two

[2:02:18] respondents >> which one was waste connections and the

[2:02:23] the other did not even they were weren't they?

[2:02:27] » Well, the proposal wasn't wasn't um it did not represent what we requested of

[2:02:32] them. Standard trash pickup recycling. >> We wanted to maintain the two a week and

[2:02:37] they would go to once a week or not the two a week um

[2:02:40] » some hybrid thing. >> Yeah. pay one another.

[2:02:43] » Is there a clause in there if we did a 5year agreement with them that we're

[2:02:47] municipality funded 12 months at a time which don't have money for next year?

[2:02:52] Like if we were never funded that we wouldn't be held accountable for those

[2:02:56] remaining years.

[2:03:00] » There's probably something built into that already since we're in

[2:03:03] » I assume there is but >> but I will double check.

[2:03:05] » They're they're because in theory they come back and be like, "Hey, you owe us

[2:03:08] for another four years." like we went back

[2:03:12] » there should be a clause in there that >> we can look

[2:03:18] » I just feel like I would say >> we've gone through periods of where

[2:03:21] we've had five resident complaints on waste connections and I feel like

[2:03:24] they've met with us and they've met us where we needed them and they have come

[2:03:30] I think they've rose to the occasion of need William is extremely responsive if

[2:03:35] a resident is missed we call they are picked up by the end of the day Um, as a

[2:03:39] staff, we are very happy with the service we're receiving. Um,

[2:03:45] and I I y'all are the y'all are the customers and y'all are the residents,

[2:03:48] so you might have another opinion, but um, from our end, we're impressed with

[2:03:53] how with the turnaround. I felt like we were

[2:03:56] » looking for a change at one point, that's all.

[2:03:58] » And I believe if we can execute a uh a multi-year extension on this contract,

[2:04:03] you know, once again, our rate's going to be much lower than it would be if we

[2:04:07] had to go year. Yeah. Year to year or without put out our RP. You don't want

[2:04:11] to do that. >> Well, at some point in time and if we

[2:04:14] renew this year and next year, uh the contract terms require us to to go out

[2:04:20] for. >> So, at that time, you're going to feel

[2:04:24] you're going to bite the bullet, >> right? I haven't seen anything.

[2:04:29] » No. >> No, I don't either. which is, you know,

[2:04:32] nobody's going to like to make authorize the city manager to execute multi-year

[2:04:39] uh extract extension waste. Second, all in favor?

[2:04:47] » Okay, let the record. Motion cars. Okay.

[2:04:53] » Okay. Moving on to E. Discussion and possible action regarding resolution

[2:04:57] number 26-R7. Authorizing the submission of an

[2:05:01] application to the Texas Water Development Board for funding assistance

[2:05:05] for an elevated water storage tower project approving TWWDB forms 0201,

[2:05:11] 0201A, and 0201B

[2:05:15] authorizing uh execution of the required application documents.

[2:05:19] » Council, this is really more of a housekeeping issue. Um these are

[2:05:24] documents we have to uh that are required by Texas Water Development

[2:05:28] Board to proceed with this application for grant funding. Um it is just a uh

[2:05:35] it's it's an application file resolution and affidavit and also designating a

[2:05:42] a signatory which I' I've named myself that is to just handle any other

[2:05:49] documents uh during the application process

[2:05:53] and and pass that point. Uh the only things that you guys did not

[2:05:58] see within your um agenda packets were not to exceed

[2:06:05] uh which were required on the document uh one of the documents and that is

[2:06:09] going to be a $4.4 million price tag. >> So that should be 100% funded if we if

[2:06:18] we get that. >> You can tell that

[2:06:20] » Sure. Well, it's it's one of the uh it's one

[2:06:24] of the projects we've been talking about.

[2:06:26] » What's the timeline associated with the application process?

[2:06:29] » So, it has to be submitted uh the application has to be submitted by the

[2:06:32] end of July. >> And awarding or expecting of award or

[2:06:38] acception of application. >> I was understanding we were going to

[2:06:41] have directions sometime around the end of August or by the end of August and

[2:06:46] September >> the grant is awarded or whatever.

[2:06:48] » Yeah. or whether or not we move to the second phase of, you know, approval,

[2:06:52] what have you. >> If we're just water,

[2:06:56] » as of right now, the property that we own that can hold the water tower is

[2:07:00] going to be at the current Northwater plant

[2:07:03] at Oakwood Shores. Um, we don't anticipate having acquire any property

[2:07:10] for it. Um, we maintain the tank that we got there,

[2:07:16] too. Sir, >> are we going to maintain the the new

[2:07:20] tank there also? >> Yes.

[2:07:22] » So, we'll have both. >> Yes.

[2:07:24] » What would be the difference? Elevated and

[2:07:28] » storage. >> That's the difference.

[2:07:31] » Yeah. Elevated is going to produce pressure and elevated storage is

[2:07:36] » so we're going to increase each for that. Well, that's a

[2:07:41] » that's part of your impact fee revenue that pays for

[2:07:46] expansion such as that if we have to fund it,

[2:07:52] » which is why we're trying desperately to get this funding.

[2:07:56] » Don't have the same problem they got now where even though they've got the work

[2:08:00] next to them that the people downstream of them rather than them actually get to

[2:08:04] work pressure because that's what I've heard. I think it's the complaints out

[2:08:07] in the area right now. Yeah, it's it's >> they got water out there, they don't

[2:08:11] have pressure. >> Yeah, it's it's a it's a little deeper

[2:08:14] than that and even distribution of pressure, it's a little bit more complex

[2:08:17] of a problem, but uh it would definitely help the the situation uh for those

[2:08:22] residents out there that have long service lines that see a lot of friction

[2:08:26] loss. Uh but also the hydraulic modeling shows it's a good place to go to serve

[2:08:31] the entire city, not just over. And >> this has been identified in our master

[2:08:36] plan as a high priority project.

[2:08:42] Yeah. I mean, I'll make a motion to read

[2:08:47] » that on the TV if you'd like. Approve the resolution. Approved resolution

[2:08:51] number 26-R7 authorizing the submission of

[2:08:55] application to the Texas Water Development Board for funding assistance

[2:08:59] for an elevated water storage tower project approving TWWB forms 0201 0201

[2:09:06] alpha and Bravo and authorizing execution of required application

[2:09:11] documents. >> Second.

[2:09:12] » Are all in favor? >> I let the record reflect. The motion

[2:09:17] carries.

[2:09:20] I think I got to get a couple of signatures.

[2:09:25] » Yeah. Let me before y'all get out of here. Make sure.

[2:09:29] » Okay. We're going to move on to F. Consider and take possible action on

[2:09:33] approving the reverse wire draw down author authorization of HRMP and

[2:09:38] authorizing the city manager to execute all necessary documents required to

[2:09:42] establish the service. meeting.

[2:09:47] Um, as you know, we're transitioning from in-house payroll to um, HR&P. Um,

[2:09:54] we'll do our payroll and our our HR services. Um, the way it will work is

[2:10:00] they will prepare our paychecks, pay direct deposits,

[2:10:04] and um, so they will send a file to us to approve payroll, approve the amount,

[2:10:11] prove everything that's put into it. Once we approve it, they need to be able

[2:10:14] to pull that money out of our account. So, we aren't sent right now. We send

[2:10:19] something to the bank that says, "Send this money to each of our employees

[2:10:23] accounts." They're going to do that side on them, but we need to pay them back.

[2:10:27] So, they will go in and pull out it'll be the net or the it'll be the amount of

[2:10:34] the payroll deposits, the amount of the because they're also going to pay our

[2:10:39] benefits for us, our health insurance and those things. the amount of that and

[2:10:44] their fee. So, um we just have to have the bank has to have this authorization

[2:10:49] so that they can say yes, this company can pull out money from your account. I

[2:10:54] set a limit on the form so that they can't go in and clean us out. Um the li

[2:11:01] right now I calculated a payroll um would be about 90,000. I put the limit I

[2:11:08] think at 150 just because with growth I don't want to have to bring it back to

[2:11:12] council every couple years. So, um that should be adequate um for quite some

[2:11:19] time. Um so, it's just kind of a housekeeping thing so that they can do

[2:11:23] what we're hiring them to do.

[2:11:36] I'll make a motion that we authorize the city manager to execute all necessary

[2:11:40] documents required to establish the service which is the reverse wire draw

[2:11:48] authorization for HRP

[2:11:52] second. Okay.

[2:11:55] » All in favor? >> I.

[2:11:57] » Okay. Motion carries. Vote on G. discussion and direction

[2:12:03] regarding proposed amendments to the city's fee schedule.

[2:12:07] » Um, so Trish completed her review of our fee schedule and she's provided um kind

[2:12:14] of just a breakdown of each fee and where why it's there and what it comes

[2:12:18] from. Um staff does not have a recommendation on what to do. We think

[2:12:22] that what we have recommended in their um is what we need. There's a there's a

[2:12:30] couple in there that we don't often charge um or that are strictly

[2:12:36] associated to ordinance that we may not use very often, but it's there for when

[2:12:42] we do need it. So, Trish can go through with her.

[2:12:46] » So, um I went through every line on here and where I could site um ordinance I

[2:12:54] did. Um, so that's that column sec whatever. Um, we can't when I first went

[2:13:03] through here I'm like, "Oh, we don't use this. Let's get rid of it." Well, we

[2:13:06] can't get rid of them because they're an ordinance and maybe someday things will

[2:13:10] change in Richwood and we will need that. Um,

[2:13:14] but we can um the ordinance always reads uh to pay the fee permit fee as per the

[2:13:21] fee schedule. So we can change fees, we can eliminate fees. Um

[2:13:27] one thing when you eliminate fees is bless you, you eliminate revenue.

[2:13:34] Um which fixes or changes that bottom line. Um, I am a strong proponent in

[2:13:42] trying to get revenue from the people that are causing the cost or causing the

[2:13:49] need um versus everybody in the city sharing the bill for everything. Um,

[2:13:56] some of these the fees are um kind of a to keep them in the straight narrow I

[2:14:04] guess you could say. Um but anyway, so I I've put um some notes to the side. Um

[2:14:13] you know, if we never use it, um but again, I mean, I have no idea what a

[2:14:18] seismic survey permit is. Um and we could get rid of that, but maybe someday

[2:14:25] we would need it. So, you know, um I've also highlighted

[2:14:30] my copy is black and white, but one color is work that we pay will dam to

[2:14:38] do. Um and I have the colors up at the top of

[2:14:43] the first page. >> Huh?

[2:14:46] » The yellow ones. >> Okay. Um so, those are ones that we have

[2:14:49] a cost associated with direct cost. Um the other ones are done by strand. I

[2:14:55] think they were blue. >> Um, so again, we would have direct cost,

[2:15:02] but they all have costs. There's permit processing time, you know, staff time,

[2:15:09] um, if we have inspections or or whatever. So, I just wanted to give you

[2:15:14] all more information. Um, and

[2:15:20] you know, we're going to bring the fee schedule back next month with the

[2:15:24] revised rates for utilities. So, if there's anything on here um that you

[2:15:32] want us to change, if there's any that really bother you that we charge for

[2:15:37] that we shouldn't, um, we're open to to hear your your

[2:15:44] discussion. One thing I can recommend for the uh for citizens to help you out

[2:15:49] with you find out a way to that's five pages of really small. We find a way to

[2:15:57] stretch that out so we can print it out and actually look at it. I think the

[2:16:00] citizens will never get that.

[2:16:02] » You want the font size change, Mr. Page? What you're saying?

[2:16:06] » I need I need the old man who still with read glasses still read.

[2:16:13] » All right. So, you know, this is um a lot of

[2:16:18] different things on here. I don't want to go line by line with y'all. Um that

[2:16:22] would keep us here all night. But I know that uh the previous council had some

[2:16:27] concerns about some of them um and about charging people for you, you know, what

[2:16:33] they do on their property. We want to maintain a safe city. We want

[2:16:38] to maintain um that people are doing repairs correctly. that they're doing,

[2:16:46] you know, things correctly. Um, so we want to be sure we cover that. Um,

[2:16:57] but I'm I'm here to to hear whatever you guys have to say on any of it.

[2:17:06] You know, one of the ones that jumps out, we pick we charge $5 per garage

[2:17:10] sale permit. that $5 doesn't make us a break us. Um and I and as I talked with

[2:17:16] Laura, it's like why do we even charge that? Because

[2:17:20] um they're on the weekend, we don't have code enforcement on the weekend. Why

[2:17:25] even have it? But that keeps people from running a store in their garage. Um you

[2:17:32] know, it gives us some recourse if people start operating businesses, say

[2:17:38] in their garage. Um so So sometimes you have to think beyond what your first

[2:17:45] thought is. Um the itinerant merchant application fee that's the solicitors.

[2:17:51] I had to look that up because I didn't know what that meant.

[2:17:55] » Um so um

[2:17:58] » probably make that a little more. >> I say we do incur cost on that because

[2:18:01] we run back. >> Yeah. So, um,

[2:18:08] we are open. Um, but if there's anything that stands out to you that you have

[2:18:14] questions on or that you would like to see changed, I'd like to hear it before

[2:18:20] we bring the fee schedule back next month.

[2:18:24] » We just end through the uh portal

[2:18:29] portal. >> What do you mean on that?

[2:18:31] » Any changes you want to see? Yeah, if there's any that I might recommend that

[2:18:34] hey, >> you can reach out to your council

[2:18:36] members. That's who would recommend it to us.

[2:18:46] » So, on that and then um you have some time to get it back to us before we drop

[2:18:50] the next ordinance. It can be up until the agenda deadline.

[2:18:55] » All right. Any questions?

[2:18:59] » I hope I'm done. >> How are your legs feeling? do that.

[2:19:01] » My legs were numb. >> I just didn't we didn't find anything

[2:19:05] groundbreaking in our review. We had just promised y'all a review and that we

[2:19:09] bring this back. And so I wanted to make sure we did it before we got too far

[2:19:12] ahead.

[2:19:19] » Okay. Nothing was removed. Time is now 8:20 and council is going to

[2:19:25] adjourn for executive sessions.

[2:19:34] solicitation.

[2:33:20] He came out smiling for once.

[2:33:25] » Okay.

[2:33:31] » Okay. 35 and council is back.

[2:33:39] » Um,

[2:33:45] » yes, the action is okay. Yes, sir. I'd like to make a

[2:33:51] motion we authorize uh the city manager to execute a legal service agreement uh

[2:34:01] with uh the city attorney including proposed revisions to the contracted

[2:34:06] hourly billing rates.

[2:34:11] » All in favor? >> I motion carries.

[2:34:16] Okay. Next move on the capital improvements project update.

[2:34:21] » Oh yeah, no grading. I have the copy. Just just want to update everybody. The

[2:34:26] risk residency assessment is working on is the updation that are complete.

[2:34:31] They're going to now begin the emergency response plan. Council remember this is

[2:34:36] a this is a EPA item. It's a matter of compliance. Uh so they'll finish that up

[2:34:44] probably before end of August. uh Texas wire development board the application

[2:34:49] this is our final portion that we need to do that to get the application

[2:34:53] together I believe everything has to be submitted to Texas development board by

[2:34:56] the end of July and then we'll we'll see where we're at that's all I got

[2:35:06] » I was expecting five more minutes next up is city manager report

[2:35:11] » um I'll make it quicker than I probably planned but um just thanks to council

[2:35:15] for the budget workshop and the advice given. Thanks to staff, public works,

[2:35:20] police department, fire department for their whole American All-American night,

[2:35:23] the golf cart parade. I think it was a great success. The residents the golf

[2:35:26] cart parade, I think we're going to try again. That was a pretty cool

[2:35:29] experience. Um, we didn't get to get too much into the paper call situation, but

[2:35:35] I do feel like we're going to be moving in a positive direction with fire

[2:35:38] department partnership. I want to meet with them and um get some of their ideas

[2:35:42] on how we can continue this um program or what they need, what meets their

[2:35:48] needs. The textile recycling bins um they're going to be removed next week

[2:35:52] due to continued misuse in litter. Um but we do look forward to partnering

[2:35:57] with PRB for future initiatives. Um, this one we tried to give our best shot,

[2:36:02] but it ended up becoming more of a um, added burden to the public works already

[2:36:07] burdened workload. Um, solicitor enforcement. I want to thank thank

[2:36:11] Jeremy and the police department. They have been actively addressing complaints

[2:36:15] as they come in. They were literally chasing solicitors down the other night

[2:36:18] when I was >> and they're coming to get permits now.

[2:36:21] » Calling updates. They are seen that there was a group of them.

[2:36:26] » Um, we're working on it. We're trying. It's it's a summer pain every year. We

[2:36:31] try to gain compliance. Um I know Mr. Paige brought this up in his comment,

[2:36:36] but scooter safety today in staff. Um Chief Richardson stated that he would

[2:36:40] look into what other cities are doing um to maybe try to gain some compliance and

[2:36:46] safety. State law kind of changed at the beginning of this year regarding

[2:36:49] scooters and ebikes and how they can operate on certain streets. We're going

[2:36:55] to look at what we can do to refine that and make it safer for our our kids and

[2:37:00] our residents. >> That's all I got.

[2:37:04] » Thank you very much. Move on to council members and of course

[2:37:08] council member Ry, do you have anything you wish to add?

[2:37:10] » Yeah, the American night out. I really enjoyed going over there. It was fun. A

[2:37:15] lot of lot of interface over there and uh beautifification thing. and I went to

[2:37:22] the sign playing over there and had fun with

[2:37:26] it. Good times.

[2:37:29] » Thank you for doing that, >> Council Member Johnson.

[2:37:32] » Yeah, I just appreciate all the support for that. I'm sorry I wasn't able to

[2:37:36] make it that night and then uh appreciate Mr. Dwayne coming being part

[2:37:40] of council. Thank you.

[2:37:45] » Done. You have anything you wish to add? >> One, thanks for having me. thanks for uh

[2:37:49] bringing me in the fold and um I try not to ask so many questions going going

[2:37:54] forward. >> Um please do. But

[2:37:57] » no, I guess the only food for thought I would ask is as we consider paytoplay or

[2:38:04] pay for a call or a volunteer stipen that we also have something called KRBs

[2:38:10] that are volunteers. What do we open ourselves up for or why not provide them

[2:38:14] a stipen? same consideration if we're going to give a a firefighter.

[2:38:19] » Um, >> that's all volunteer.

[2:38:22] » It's all volunteer. What's good for one should be good for all this group of

[2:38:28] » Thank you, sir. Cure. >> Uh, yes sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I

[2:38:31] want to start off by thanking Mr. Miss Fisher for their presentations they

[2:38:38] presented. A lot of work went into that. And I would also like to echo the

[2:38:41] welcome for member uh Councilman Dunn for joining our virtual council. It's my

[2:38:46] belief that he will be a asset to our council. And I think we need to

[2:38:53] recognize our sad name Garcia for being selected for the 2027 Texas Women's

[2:39:00] Leadership Institute. Not only was she selected, uh, she was one out of 20 in

[2:39:05] the entire state of Texas, but she was also awarded a full tuition scholarship.

[2:39:11] This was just recently.

[2:39:20] » I've always admired Miss Garcia's work ethic and commitment to our community.

[2:39:24] I've seen the tireless hours she has committed to Richwood. All the while

[2:39:29] pursuing a master's degree in uh public administration.

[2:39:34] Since taking office uh of city manager, there's been I've noticed a a serious

[2:39:41] reduction in turmoil uh dissension and conflict within the ranks.

[2:39:47] And I also want to mention as Laura Tiner for accepting the promotion to

[2:39:52] city secretary in her brief time in this position. I expected uh the

[2:39:57] responsibility work and duties to overwhelm her. Uh I've just wanted to

[2:40:02] express my appreciation for all the work she does and let her know that does not

[2:40:05] go unnoticed. And as we move forward, I encourage our

[2:40:10] citizens to attend more council meetings. Each meeting begins with a

[2:40:13] public comment section where anyone can sign up and receive three minutes to

[2:40:18] share concerns, views, or complaints. We want to hear from you so we can consider

[2:40:23] your input before casting our votes. Without your comments, we must rely on

[2:40:27] our best judgment and vote as we believe you want us to. Thank

[2:40:33] you, sir.

[2:40:37] Okay. I'd like to add um welcome award, Mr. done.

[2:40:42] » You should foremost. Secondly, huge shout out for your achievement.

[2:40:48] » You keep doing what you do for the city. I don't know how we're not number one in

[2:40:51] the state of Texas, >> right?

[2:40:54] » Laura, congratulations on yours. You've helped me tremendously in the first few

[2:40:57] weeks. I appreciate that. >> That's nice. That's Laura.

[2:41:01] » Life feels weird with her being over here, but have to get used to it. I'd

[2:41:06] like to congratulate my wife for achieving uh leaders under 40. Um, the

[2:41:11] facts nominated her and she's now Pulk's new head uh principal over there.

[2:41:17] Um, I also want to tell everybody,

[2:41:21] especially Cliff Crew, stay hydrated because by 8 a.m. I feel like I'm

[2:41:25] swimming. I know you guys have got to be feeling the same way. And that's just

[2:41:29] from being outside. Thank you to all the staff, all the

[2:41:35] staff for being where we are. I'm glad you came back. I'm glad everybody has

[2:41:41] stepped up. So hopefully we can get you what you need to be successful.

[2:41:47] Um, last but not least, I I want people to keep Senator Lindsey Graham's family

[2:41:52] in their thoughts. >> He was a great man. He just recently

[2:41:56] passed away and he did a lot for our country. So just keep them in your

[2:42:00] thoughts. That's all I have. You have any community interest?

[2:42:05] » Um, yes. We will call for uh boards and commissions. We have some um open

[2:42:10] vacancies for CCPD and for charter review committee. Um and

[2:42:16] then I'm trying to encourage residents even as they come in and call um for

[2:42:22] example for yard of the month. It was a resident that's been here for a lengthy

[2:42:25] period of time. We did not have even just a phone number on him. Um and with

[2:42:30] it being just barely the start of hurricane season, um just go on to the

[2:42:35] city web page, city of Richwood. app up at the top. It's just notify me. Um

[2:42:40] update your contact information, phone number, email. Um that way that we can

[2:42:45] reach you and that you get notifications when we need to send things out to

[2:42:49] residents. Um so I just encourage all uh to do that.

[2:43:00] » Okay. Future agenda items is uh we move on to next meeting. We'll have fees fire

[2:43:07] connection >> connections will be there and I'll bring

[2:43:10] the ordinance for burns. >> We have we have our list.

[2:43:16] » Check it twice. >> Okay. With no other items discussed, the

[2:43:21] time is now 8:44.

[2:43:25] Thank you everyone. I figured you might

City of Richwood - City Council Meeting - 07/13/2026

Transcript