[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