August Richardson City Council Minutes

We will continue to add to this each week of the month as we get information from the City that effects HTNA.

-Information provided by Rahim Shaikh-Vice President, and Don Simmons former board member.

NOTES FROM MONDAY 8/24/2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING

PUBLIC HEARING ON THE FY 2020-2021 PROPOSED BUDGET. Citizens wishing to address the City Council can submit comments electronically by 5:00 p.m. by utilizing the Public Comment Card found here: www.cor.net/PublicCommentForm.

 

AWARD OF THE FOLLOWING BIDS:

BID #65-20 – WE RECOMMEND THE AWARD TO QUALITY EXCAVATION FOR SOUTH DOROTHY DRIVE PAVING AND WATER MAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE AMOUNT OF $461,227.

 Several Fire Department personnel are being dispatched to the Gulf Coast for assistance that may be needed when the predicted Hurricane arrives.

 The RISD personnel are to be commended for the their preparation and execution of the start of the school year.

NOTES FROM MONDAY 8/18/2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Mayor Paul Voelker called the meeting to order at 8:00 AM.

PRESENTATIONS

FISCAL YEAR 2021 BUDGET PRESENATION – Dan Johnson, City Manager

  • Advancing Our Mission Through the COVID Storm o The goal of the budget is to foster a sustaining strategy to best use scarcer resources, focus on missions that will aid in local recovery, explore opportunities in a dampened economy, and continue attention on infrastructure.

  • Senate Bill 2 established a 3.5% tax cap which is not applicable to new construction. § SB 2 contains a disaster provision which was triggered by the pandemic disaster. It allows the City Council to direct staff to calculate the overall property tax rate at 8% rather than 3.5% if voter approved. Council’s recent actions to approve this were simply a calculation and acknowledgement step required by SB 2, tax rates are NOT currently increasing. The vote, which must be taken during the year of the disaster, allows possibly restoring property tax revenue by more than 3.5% over the next 2-3 years if economic conditions worsen to be used for basic services like public safety.

  • Fiscal Year 20-21 sees an overall valuation change of -$1.86 million less in property taxes and a total General Fund revenue loss of $14 million dollars.


The tax rate is proposed to stay the same at $0.62516.

• The City Manager’s approach to the FY 20-21 budget is to present a multi-year budgeting approach to prepare for dampening commercial values and the unpredictability of key revenue sources, build fund balances and select reserves to assist with uncertainties, and sustain efforts to invest into infrastructure and neighborhoods.

• Key initiatives for the 20-21 budget include: o Funding for neighborhood park improvements at 9 different parks along with a median project.

  • Dedicated funding for 83 alley segment repair projects.

  • Street repairs including: § One residential area in Canyon Creek.

  • Collector street repairs at E. Buckingham, S. Glenville, and N. Collins.

  • Arterial street repairs along Arapaho and Centennial.

  • Matching funds for five neighborhood projects.

o Funding for 146 homes to receive incentives via the Home Improvement Incentive Program.

• Certified tax rolls are delayed because of Appraisal Review Board hearings at both appraisal districts so estimates have been provided which show a decrease of 1.81% from 2019. It is possible that $600 million in appraised value could be restored upon completion of ARB hearings.

• Operating expenditures will be reduced in FY 20-21 by 6.7% by freezing 30+ full-time positions, not adjusting compensation for employees, and suspending community events.

• The Senior Tax Exemption will be maintained at $100,000.

• Sales taxes are projected to be $6.3 million less at year end compared to last year. The City is cautiously anticipating continued dampened economic activity because of COVID in the coming year.

• There will be no changes to rates for water and sewer service.

• Projections show that Golf Fund revenues will be down 7.5% and Hotel / Motel Fund revenues will be down 59.8% when compared to FY 19-20.

• A public hearing for the budget was held on August 17. An additional hearing will be held on August 24. Adoption of the 20-21 budget is scheduled for August 24.

CITY MANAGER REPORT – Dan Johnson, City Manager

• Applications for the Community Revitalization Awards are now being taken. o Anyone may nominate a residential or non-residential property that has been remodeled, renovated, or replaced. More information can be found at www.cor.net/cra or by contacting Keith Krum at keith.krum@cor.gov or 972-744-4257.

Nominations are due by September 30, nominees will be notified in late October, winners will be announced in December and an award ceremony will take place in February of 2021.

• Susan Allison, Director of Library Services will be retiring at the end of August. Janet Vance, current Assistant Director, will be named Interim Director through January of 2021. The search for a new director will commence in September with a goal of announcing the position in early 2021.

• Ronny Glanton, the head professional at Sherrill Park Golf Course, has been recognized as the PGA of America as the Golf Professional of the Year. The award is the highest annual honor given by the PGA and is awarded for qualities of leadership, strong moral character, and a substantial record of services to the PGA. Glanton is also the first three-time recipient of the NTPGA’s PGA Golf Professional of the Year Award.

• Please note that Census takers will soon be in neighborhoods. They have all been trained to follow COVID-19 prevention protocol and will be outfitted with a Census bag, badge, and official device. More information can be found at https://2020census.gov/

• The September Council / Presidents Meeting will be held via Webex on Tuesday, September 15 at 8:00 AM. The Fall Neighborhood Leadership Workshop will he held via Webex on Tuesday, October 20 at 6:30 PM.

QUESTIONS, ANSWERS, AND COMMENTS

Question: How has the tornado impacted the budget?

Answer: The city did not receive any FEMA funding but has a reserve of dollars to be able to finish fixing the Audelia wall. A tornado reserve fund was set up by Council to cover expenses while not impacting the rest of the budget. Expenses include the restoration of traffic signals, walls, debris removal, tree planting, etc.

Question: What is our Census rate count?

Answer: In the low 60th percentile.

Question: Has COVID impacted AAA Bond Rating?

Answer: No. Rating agencies can review entities at any time. The City will utilize the same practices that were used in the 2001 and 2008-2011 economic downturns. Agencies will be looking to ensure a balance budget is maintained

Comment: Mayor Pro Tem Janet DePuy thanked neighborhood leaders for participating. She appreciates the presidents for getting information out to residents because it reduces concerns and the spread of misinformation.

The meeting was adjourned by Mayor Pro Tem Janet DePuy at 8:56 AM.

NOTES FROM MONDAY 8/17/2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Attached find info from COR about the new Bois D’Arc (BoDark) lake under construction to meet our needs for future water usage. Water rates from the North Texas Water District have doubled in 10 years. 

News about Census (important every additional resident means more Federal funds).

 Sad news: Richardson has 877 cases and 23 deaths

The key things that came out of the long Budget meeting:

The Tax rate will be $0.062516/per $100.

The City is maintaining essential Services even though the budget was reduced by $14M.

This meeting went on over 2 hours but I have included the most important point. 

NOTES FROM MONDAY 8/10/2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING

WORK SESSION – 6:00 PM, RICHARDSON ROOM

· CALL TO ORDER

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PUBLIC COMMENT CARDS

2. REVIEW AND DISCUSS COVID-19 RESPONSE

3. REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE CITY MANAGER’S PROPOSED BUDGET FOR the FISCAL YEAR 2020-2021

4. REPORT ON ITEMS OF COMMUNITY INTEREST

The City Council will have an opportunity to address items of community interest, including expressions of thanks, congratulations, or condolence; information regarding holiday schedules; an honorary or salutary recognition of a public official, public employee, or other citizen; a reminder about an upcoming event organized or sponsored by the City of Richardson; information regarding a social, ceremonial, or community event organized or sponsored by an entity other than the City of Richardson that was attended or is scheduled to be attended by a member of the City Council or an official or employee of the City of Richardson; and announcements involving an imminent threat to the public health and safety of people in the City of Richardson that has arisen after posting the agenda.

· ADJOURN

NOTES FROM MONDAY 8/3/2020 CITY COUNCIL MEETING

REVIEW AND DISCUSS COVID-19 RESPONSE

Richardson has had 329 cases with 29 Deaths. 

Early voting has moved to October 13 – 30.  Absentee votes must be delivered by voting day.

UTD is starting their classes on 8/17 and ends the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  All finals will be online.  No Fall sports, they have been moved to Spring. 

 

REVIEW AND DISCUSS THE MAIN STREET INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT

Many slides were shown of the Downtown construction.  It can be seen on the City WEB Site.  All work should be completed in 6-9 months.

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