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02/05/2018-CC-Minutes-Work SessionCITY OF SANGER, TEXAS MINUTES: CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION February 5, 2018, 6:00 P. M. 502 Elm Street, Sanger, Texas COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Thomas Muir, Councilman Bill Boutwell, Councilman Gary Bilyeu, Councilman Lee Allison COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: Councilman David Clark, Councilman Allen Chick The Mayor and Three (3) Council Members Were Present Constituting a Quorum. STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT: Alina Ciocan, Acting City Manager; Cheryl Price, City Secretary 1. Call Meeting to Order. 2. EXECUTIVE SESSION - CLOSED MEETING Pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, the City council Will Meet in a Closed Executive Session in Accordance with the Texas Government Code: - Section 551.071 – Consult with City Attorney - Consultation Regarding Utility Matters. The City Council convened into closed Executive Session at 6:01 P.M. 3. RECONVENE: OPEN MEETING Any Action Taken. The City Council reconvened at 6:24 p.m. No Action was taken. 4. Overview of Items on Regular Agenda. 5. Discuss Development Services and Need for Additional Resources. Alina Ciocan, Acting City Manager was recognized. She stated that the goal of this presentation is to give a brief overview of the Development Services Department and the increased level of activity that we have seen in the past 12 to 18 months. There has been a significant increase in workload, both in Planning and Zoning as well as Building Inspections. Based on projects lining up and working cases we anticipate the trend to continue well into next year. She presented a power point presentation with charts showing the considerable increases in Fiscal Year comparisons in building permits, Planning and Zoning case submissions, and fees collected. In every case there was considerable increases noted. She no ted that her numbers do not include all of the inquiries and projects that have not turned into applications yet. As the city continues to grow our development projects are becoming more and more complex and require a more specialized skillset. She noted the Development Services Department consists of a Development Services Director (herself), a Building Official, a Building Inspector and a Permit Technician. The department is missing a Planner. We have looked at other communities our size and a majori ty of them have a Planner on staff. Some of them have more than one. Cities like Pilot Point, Anna, Krum have a Planner on staff. It has come to the point where a Planner is needed. As you recall we had Joe Iliff who was an AICP Planner/Building Official. When Joe Iliff left, Mike Brice chose to hire a Chief Building Official and not a Planner. We are a small town and when someone leaves with a combined title it is hard to replace both positions. There was discussion regarding the different positions in Development Services and the primary responsibilities of each position. It was noted that a Planner would have the responsibility of plats, zoning cases, anything to do with actually working the cases and also the visionary plans which include that of the Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Maps, etc. She noted she is working the cases now and it was supposed to be a temporary fix. The department has gotten very busy. She noted she is also doing Economic Development and as we are growing and we don’t want to let any part of this go because there is a lot of opportunity as we develop. We are at the highest level that we have ever seen in development activity in the town. Councilman Boutwell asked if this is going to continue and if the figures would be the same as they have been next year. Ms. Ciocan noted that she did a report for the school district back in October and at that time we had around 892 lots at some stage in planning. To do this the right way we need to have the skill set in the positions to be able to manage this growth. There was additional discussion regarding the numbers on the charts. Councilman Allison noted that there are a lot of cities that wait too long to do this and then it is too late. He said it is good we are looking at this and that a Planner is a good thing. Planning, Zoning and Platting is one thing; and, after that you get into the permitting process and in between there related to the planning is the infrastructure process, reviews and proper codes. The Mayor noted that he and Alina have discussed this and the gap that he believed Councilman Allison is talking about is a City Engineer. The Planner is a first step and the City Engineer will be a second step. The City Engineer is also a critical component that we currently do not have. We currently send out plats and plans for review. There was additional discussion regarding the needs for a City Engineer. Mayor Muir noted that what they would lean on the Engineer for is the technical review capability with all of the subdivisions and commercial projects coming in. Councilman Boutwell noted that it bothers him that we do not have someone that checks the engineering designs that are presented to us. It was noted we are sending them out for review right now. Mayor Muir noted that getting an Engineer is where we are going but we have to take it in small bites. Ms. Ciocan noted we are also looking at our process and there are some fees that we are not implementing which a majority of the cities around us have. There are ways to bring in more revenue, not to deter development, but it is the cost of doing business that developers pay in every other community. Incrementally, we are looking at implementing those as well. Some fees we already have in our ordinances, and have never enforced them. Currently a planner is the needed position. Councilman Bilyeu asked if there was someone on staff that could take this position. Ms. Ciocan stated there was no one on staff that has the skills to be a Planner and we are going to have to go outside. Councilman Allison noted concern regarding getting the plats reviewed and that a planner would be a good person to coordinate this. Development is coming, not just residential, but commercial as well. Mayor Muir noted that we need to bite the bullet and get someone with the experience. If they have been in the City arena for a while they will have contacts and when an issue comes across they can use that network and contacts. This has happened since Alina has come on board as Acting City Manager and she has called on people she knew and it has helped a lot. Acting City Manager Alina Ciocan noted that what she would like to do is go ahead and open the position and come before the Council with a budget amendment. Councilman Bilyeu asked if fees would support the cost of the position. It was noted that there was growth enough that the fees would help support this position. Staff has done research and to get someone with an AICP certification it would be in the $60,000 range. Councilman Allison noted that was a minimum. Mayor Muir noted that we just wanted to give staff a sense of direction and when the budget amendment comes in and Council will know the reasoning behind it and where the funds have come from to bring in the position. 6. Overview of Items on Regular Agenda. Acting City Manager Alina Ciocan noted that there are two engagement letters with Lloyd Gosselink, the first being a utility matter that has been discussed. The second, Item 17 is also an engagement letter with Lloyd Gosselink. She summarized noting we received a letter from TCEQ, a notice of enforcement documenting some alleged violations that happened in September around the same time Last we had an illegal dumping incident (September 26th). We received a notice of enforcement that alleges the violation and we have talked to our consultants and they have recommended we get specialized legal counsel to help us with this matter. She noted that she has called other communities and did research and this is the approach that they all take. Lloyd Gosselink is an environmental firm that is well known in handling TCEQ matters. We feel confident that we have picked the right firm. We have initiated contact right away and this needs to be handled in a ti mely manner. If this gets approved tonight we will move forward with the next steps. Councilman Boutwell asked what the timeline was on this and Ms. Ciocan noted that TCEQ has not provided a timeline, nor have they assessed any penalties to date. Tonight, we are just looking to engage the attorney during the regular Council meeting session tonight. Councilman Boutwell asked if the Council could get an updated map where the City boundaries are on the north end of town. Acting City Manager noted she wo uld e-mail the map to Councilmembers. 7. ADJOURN. There being no further business, Mayor Muir adjourned the meeting at 6:49 P.M.