05 City Council Minutes 02-25-08CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM BRIEFING SHEET
Submittal Date: Originating Department: Presented By: Agenda Item No.:
2-22-008 City Clerk Janice Ellis
Council Date: 5
3-10-2008
RECOMMENDED MOTION:
Motion to approve as presented.
POLICY ISSUE~S~:
BACKGROUND:
Council Minutes from the meeting on February 25, 2008.
BOARD~COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION:
EXHIBITS:
The attached minutes from the meeting of February 25, 2008.
ACTION: BUDGET INFO:
❑ Financial Report ~ Minute Order Expense $
❑ Department Report ❑ Resolution Budgeted Amt. $
❑ Presentation ❑ Ordinance YTD Actual $
❑ Public Hearing ❑ Other Acct. Name
Acct. Number
FISCAL NOTES:
REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:
~ Administration ~ City Clerk ❑ Communiry Development ❑ EMS/IT ❑ Finance ❑ Fire
❑ Municipal Court ❑ Legal ❑ Library ❑ Police ❑ Eng./Public Works ❑ Utilities
City of Paris Revised 2/04/08
REGULAR MEETING
OF THE CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF PARIS
February 25, 2008
The City Council of the City of Paris met for a regular session at 6:00 P. M. Monday, February
25, 2008, at the City Council Chamber, 107 E. Kaufinan, Paris, Texas.
Present:
Absent:
OPENING AGENDA
Mayor: Jesse James Freelen
Council Members: Mary Ann Fisher; Kevin Gray; Stephen
Brown; Will Biard; and Don Wilson
City Staff: Kevin Carruth, City Manager; Kent McIlyar,
City Attorney; Janice Ellis, City Clerk; Gene
Anderson, Finance Director; Shawn Napier,
City Engineer; Priscilla McAnally, Library
Director; Karl Louis, Police Chief; Kent
Klinkerman, Director of EMS; Ronnie
Grooms, Fire Chief; and Doug Hams, Interim
Director of Utilities
Council Member: Bill Strathern, Mayor Pro Tem
L Call meeting to order.
Mayor Freelen called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
2. Invocation. Reverend Fisher gave the invocation.
3. Pledge of Allegiance.
Council Member Brown led the pledge.
4. Citizens Forum.
No one spoke.
5. Introductions, announcements, and recognitions.
a. Proclamation declaring March 16-22, 2008, as "Poison Prevention Week" in Paris,
Texas.
Regular City Council Meeting
February 25, 2008
Page 2
Mayor Freelen read the Proclamation declaring March 16-22, 2008, as "Poison Prevention
Week" in Paris, Texas.
CONSENT AGENDA
Mayor Freelen inquired if there were any items that Council Members wanted to pull from
the Consent Agenda for discussion. Council Member Biard stated he had a change to the minutes of
February 11, 2008, and had a question for Pete Kampfer on the PEDC minutes. Mayor Freelen said
he had a question on the City Council Task Force minutes. Council Member Wilson stated he had
a question on the monthly financial report.
Mayor Freelen said the only item not pulled forward was item 7c. Council Member Brown
made a Motion to approve 7c. ( Paris Visitors and Convention Council minutes for 10-26-07)
and Council Member Fisher seconded the Motion. Motion carried, 5 ayes - 0 nays.
Mayor Freelen moved to the minutes of February 11, 2008.
6. Deliberate and act on the approval of minutes from the meetings on February 11 and 14, 2008.
Council Member Biard asked that paragraph 4 of item 6 of the minutes from the City Council
meeting of February 11, 2008, be corrected to insert the words "Mr. Gray" between the words
"however" and "arrived."
Mayor Freelen moved to item 7.
7. Receive and deliberate on reports and/or minutes from the following boards, commissions,
and committees:
a. City Council Task Farce on Code Enforcement (1-22-08)
Mayor Freelen inquired if electric fences were acceptable if constructed within another fence.
Council Member Wilson said that issue came up in the discussions and the recommendation was it
should be acceptable. Mayor Freelen also inquired if barbed wire fences were grandfathered in under
the proposed new fencing ordinance. Council Member Biard said he did not think they were
grandfathered in, if deemed the barbed wire fence proposed a health risk. He gave an example such
as a barbered wire fence in a residential neighborhood. Mayor Freelen wanted to know if an
agriculture zone are was an exception. Council Members Biard, Wilson and Brown answered in the
affirmative. Council Member Wilson said that staff would be bringing to Council the ordinance for
their review and action.
b. PEDC (1-23-08)
Regular City Council Meeting
February 25, 2008
Page 3
Council Member Biard asked for clarification about the account balance at Liberty National
Bank as discussed in the minutes of January 23, 2008, and it being outside of his normal internal
control. Gene Anderson said the quarter percent sales tax money that goes to EDC, results in four
or five months out of the year where that a single deposit exceeds $100,000.00. Gene went on to say
each time that happens, the City is going to be in violation of the $100,000.00 limit in protection
under FDCI Insurance.
Mayor Freelen moved to item 8.
Deliberate and accept monthly financial report.
Council Member Wilson, as did several other Council Members said their packets did not
include the departmental expenditure information.
A Motion to table item 8 until receipt of such information is received at the next meeting was
made by Council Member Wilson and seconded by Council Member Biard. Motion carried, 5 ayes -
0 nays.
Council Member Fisher made a Motion to approve the remainder of the Consent Agenda and
Council Member Wilson seconded the Motion. The Council voted five (5) for and none (0) to
approve and adopt the remainder of the Consent Agenda Items.
Regular Agenda
9. Hear and deliberate on presentation by Dr. Pam Anglin on strategic planning.
Dr. Anglin gave a presentation on strategic planning outlining the six step process. See Exhibit
"A" attached. Kevin Carruth pointed out that Dr. Anglin recommended a different course than
discussed in an earlier Council meeting specifically, the process starts with the City Council rather
than the departments. Kevin inquired as to the length of time to complete a strategic plan. Dr. Anglin
stated it would take somewhere between six and nine months to complete. Council Member Wilson
expressed concern about changing the plan every couple of years, because of the change in Council
every couple of years. Dr. Anglin suggested Council look at long term goals rather than specific
goals.
10. Deliberate and act on request for proposals and funding for demolition of Casa Bonita
Apartments.
Kevin Carruth informed Council that Brady Environmental Services, Inc. had given the City
a quote in the amount of $1,020.00 for preparation of requests for proposals.
11. Deliberate and act on establishment of vehicle allowances for certain positions.
Regular City Council Meeting
February 25, 2008
Page 4
Mayor Freelen advised Council this item was tabled at a previous meeting and should they
wish to discuss this matter, he would need a motion to bring it from the table.
A Motion to bring the item from the table was made by Council Member Wilson and
seconded by Council Member Brown. Motion carried, 5 ayes - 0 nays.
City Council discussed at length pool cars, purchasing of new vehicles, mileage logs and in
general car allowances for department heads.
Council Member Gray arrived to the meeting at 6:50 p.m.
Kevin Carruth stated the positions who were promised car allowances as part of their packages
were the police chief, fire chief, EMS director, finance director, community development director,
city engineer/public works director and assistant city attorney.
A Motion to restore car allowances to the police chief, fire chief, EMS director, finance
director, community development director, city engineer/public works director and assistant attorney
was made by Council Member Biard and seconded by Council Member Gray. Motion carried, 6 ayes
- 0 nays.
It was a consensus of City Council for the city clerk, city attorney and city utilities director,
as well as all other city employees to file reimbursement of miles driven in their personal cars on city
business. A Motion to make this retroactive to January 1, 2008, was made by Council Member Brown
and seconded by Council Member Fisher. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
12. Deliberate and act on establishment of unified non-civil service pay plan.
Mayor Freelen advised Council this item was tabled at a previous meeting and should they
wish to discuss this matter, he would need a motion to bring it from the table.
A Motion to bring the item from the table was made by Council Member Biard and seconded
by Council Member Gray. Motion camed, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
Gene Anderson went through the proposed combined pay plan. He said he had received
several complaints regarding employees being on two different pay scales. Gene explained the
proposed consolidated plan had 75 grades, each with 10 steps, and it would take a minimum of 20
years to top out. He also stated the first five steps of the consolidated plan were identical to the Z plan
and steps six and seven of the combined pay plan were the same as steps four and five of the old plan.
Gene also said steps eight, nine, and ten of the consolidated plan were entirely new steps.
Council discussed the additional cost of expanding to ten steps.
Regular City Council Meeting
February 25, 2008
Page 5
A Motion to adopt the consolidated pay plan through step seven was made by Council
Member Biard and seconded by Council Member Brown. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
13. Deliberate and act on reclassification of certain positions.
Mayor Freelen advised Council this item was tabled at a previous meeting and should they
wish to discuss this matter, he would need a motion to bring it from the table.
A Motion to bring the item from the table was made by Council Member Biard and seconded
by Council Member Gray. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
Kevin Carruth explained these recommendations were being made to improve competiveness
and to get more in align with the same type positions in other cities. Mayor Freelen said he wanted to review the reclassifications individually. He moved to the
emergency dispatchers and solid waste collectors. Mayor Freelen said he felt strongly that these
positions needed to be reclassified, because of the high turnover rate. -
A Motion to reclassify emergency dispatchers from a grade Z13 to a grade 18; and reclassify
solid waste collectors from a grade ZS to a grade 11, and make such reclassifications retroactive to
January 1, 2008, was made by Council Member Wilson and seconded by Council Member Brown.
Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
A Motion to discuss the city clerk and the librarian separately was made by Council Member
Biard and seconded by Council Member Fisher. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
Council Member Wilson stated compared to other cities surveyed where the city clerk was
not also serving as finance director, that the pay for the city clerk position was in line with other cities
He also compared the positions of city clerk and county clerk. Mayor Freelen factored in that
additional responsibilities had been added to the city clerk. Council Member Brown stated the city
clerk had to attend all night meetings and the county clerk did not. Kevin Carruth said additional
responsibilities of the city clerk were the supervision of the additional person, preparing the agenda
packets, and managing the boards and commissions.
Mayor Freelen inquired if Council would be willing to reclassify the position to a grade 40
instead of the requested grade 42.
A Motion to reclassify the city clerk position to grade 40 was made by Council Member Fisher
and seconded by Council Member Brown. Motion carried, 5 ayes - 1 nay, with Council Member Gray
casting the dissenting vote, because he thought the reclassification should be a 42.
Mayor Freelen moved to reclassification of the librarian. Council Member Wilson stated
compared to other cities, the librarian was receiving below average pay. Gene Anderson said the
Regular City Council Meeting
February 25, 2008
Page 6
library director was doing her job and the job of an assistant director.
Mayor Freelen inquired if Council would be willing to reclassify the position to a grade 42
instead of the requested grade 45.
A Motion to reclassify the library director position to grade 42 was made by Council Member
Biard and seconded by Council Member Fisher. Motion carried, 5 ayes - 1 nay, with Council Member
Gray casting the dissenting vote, because he thought the reclassification should be a 45.
Mayor Freelen moved to the EMS/MIS Director. Gene Anderson explained this
reclassification was recommended to line up the position on the combined pay scale. A Motion to
approve the reclassification was made by Council Member Wilson and seconded by Council Member
Fisher. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
Mayor Freelen moved to the Senior EMS Billing Clerk position. Gene Anderson explained
the reclassification was recommended to line up the position on the combined pay scale. He went on
to say it was comparable to the utilities billing clerk. Council Member Wilson said this position was
a different skill level than utilities billing clerk. Mayor Freelen asked for a recommendation from
Kent Klinkerman. Kent recommended Council leave the position at the current classification. A
Motion to retain the current classification for the Senior EMS Billing Clerk was made by Council
Member Biard and seconded by Council Member Brown. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
A Motion to reclassify the Executive Assistant from a grade Z20 to a grade 28 was made by
Council Member Wilson and seconded by Council Member Fisher. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
14. Deliberate and act on creation of the Lake Pat Mayse Study Committee and appointment of
members.
Mayor Freelen stated they had discussed at a previous meeting that each Council Member
would make an appointment to the Committee. He also stated each Council Member would select
an additional name and four names would be drawn from that selection to serve on the Committee.
Mayor Freelen asked if Council wanted to reschedule the meeting for March 3, 2008, to allow
additional time for selection of names. It was a consensus of Council to do so.
A Motion to table the item was made by Council Member Wilson and seconded by Council
Member Gray. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays.
15. Deliberate on possible future agenda items.
Kevin Carruth informed Council that Paris Independent School District had asked far an
opportunity to give Council a presentation regarding the new high school. Mr. Carruth said that PISD
would be asking for funds to construct an extension of Collegiate Drive from Love Civic Center to
Loop 286.
Regular City Council Meeting
February 25, 2008
Page 7
Council Member Wilson requested an item regarding total payroll trends be placed on the
Agenda for the next regular meeting.
Mayor Freelen asked for an item on restoring a turn-around lane on the northeast loop, near
the overpass being constructed over Pine Mill Road.
16. Adjournment.
There being no further business, a Motion to adjourn was made by Council Member Brown
and seconded by Council Member Biard. Motion carried, 6 ayes - 0 nays. The meeting was
adjourned at 8:20 p.m.
JESSE JAMES FREELEN, MAYOR
JANICE ELLIS, CITY CLERK
STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR THE PUBLIC AND NON-PROFIT SECTOR
Strategic planning has been defined in a number of ways but all involve the ability to make well
thought out decisions today to achieve a desired future.
Three Questions we are answering with strategic planning
1. Where are we going?
2. What is the environment?
3. How do we get there?
Six Step Process
1. Environmental Scanning
2. Evaluation of Issues
3. Forecasting
4. Goal setting (strategic goals)
5. Implementation
6. Monitoring
Environmental Scanning
Internally - Evaluate attitudes of City Council, administrators, department heads,
employees; capabilities of employee groups; organizational procedures; efficiency of
operations; financial resources; physical resources; quality of program; and quality of services
Strengths
Weaknesses
Externally
Evaluate external factors such as: economic, technical, political, social values,
legal, governmental, demographic, and family life
Opportunities - Conditions that may enhance the City
Threats - Conditions that might hinder the city
Forecast desired and expected future
City Council develops Strategic Goals to determine the direction which the City needs to move
to fulfill its mission. Strategic goals determine the direction rather than the methods to get
there. Strategies are developed by the leadership. Methods to get there are developed by
operational levels or departmental levels. Clear goals will provide criteria for making
organizational decisions at all levels. Goals and broad based assumptions come from the top
down. Detailed plans come from the bottom up.
EXHIBIT "A"