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Regular Session - To begin no earlier than 06:05 PM
(Council may, at any time, recess the Regular Session to convene an Executive Session at the request of the Mayor, a Councilmember, or the City Manager for any purpose authorized by the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551.)

A Call to Order

Pledge of Allegiance

Comments from the Mayor
- Welcome and Meeting Procedures

City Manager Comments
MLK Holiday
May 8, 2010 Election for Council Districts 3, 4, and 7
Southwestern University Wind Power Agreement

- Brandenburg spoke about the agreement with Southwestern University. Briggs summarized the agreement an he said it was a very exciting evening for Southwestern University. He introduced and thanked Lenny Aldridge and Greg Hall. Hall said they are appreciative of the City for entering into this agreement and he presented the Council with a plaque commemorating this moment.

There was no action out of Executive Session.

Ekrut thanked the Council and presented the franchise check to the City. He gave Council a brief update of PEC's projects in the area.

C Consideration and possible action to approve the minutes of the Ethics Work Session on Monday, November 23, 2009, the Council Workshop held on Tuesday, December 8th and the Council Meeting on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009 -- Jessica Hamiton, City Secretary

D Consideration and possible action for the award of the annual bid for miscellaneous streetlight material and lamps to various vendors in the estimated amount of $39,711.32 -- Kenneth Arnold, Energy Services Director and Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations

E Consideration and possible approval of Task Order No. KPA-10-003 with Kasberg, Patrick & Associates, LP, for professional engineering services to design a raised center median along Austin Avenue between Morrow Street to Williams Drive in an amount not to exceed $33,749.00 -- Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Systems Engineering Director and Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations

F Consideration and possible action to authorize an Attorney/Client Engagement Agreement with Sheets & Crossfield, P.C. for the provision of outside legal services in connection with the 2006 Annexation Utility Improvements Project -- Thomas R. Benz, P.E., Systems Engineering Director and Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager for Utility Operations

G Consideration and possible action to approve the request from Gantt Aviation, Inc. to terminate the September 1, 1985 Airport Lease Amendment for 0.56 acres of unimproved Airport property, effective January 31, 2010 -- Travis McLain, Airport Manager and Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager

H Consideration and possible action to approve the request from Gantt Aviation, Inc. to amend the lease premises of the Amendment dated 10/16/08 from 420 ft. x 20 ft. to 350 ft. x 20 ft., effective February 1, 2010 -- Travis McLain, Airport Manager and Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager

I Consideration and possible action to amend the Chartwell Properties LP Lease Agreement by adding 25,823.70 square feet (0.593 acres) to the lease premises effective February 1, 2010 -- Travis McLain, Airport Manager and Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager

J Consideration of award of the annual bid for tires to Purcell Tire and Southern Tire Mart of Austin, Texas in the estimated amount of $31,670.00 --Marsha Iwers, Purchasing Manager and Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer

Motion by Sansing, second by Berryman to approve the Consent Agenda with the exception of item P which was pulled to the Regular Agenda. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

P Consideration and possible action to appoint Richard Anderson to the Georgetown Transportation Enhancement Corporation (GTEC) to fill a vacancy due to a recent resignation -- Mayor George Garver

Ross asked and Mayor said they have a verbal resignation from Sattler, but there was no written resignation submitted. Ross asked to postpone the item until the next meeting. Sansing said putting this off until the next meeting is not an issue because the next GTEC meeting has been cancelled. Sansing explained why he thought the person is a good fit to fill the position. Sansing noted Sattler has missed more than the required meetings. Mayor said he hopes the two week delay would not impose on the Board meetings. This item was postponed until the next meeting.

Mayor spoke about Georgetown Citizen Academy and commended Brandenburg for the creation of this program. Brandenburg said he encourages everyone to join the academy and he summarized the benefits of the program. He said tonight is the graduation of the Fall class, comprised of about 18 members. Brandenburg read the names of the graduates and Mayor presented them with their diplomas.

Sokolow reviewed the item and said the City has been using Mr. Wilson for 8 or 9 years and he is recommending using him until at least August of 2010. Motion by Sansing, second by Ross to approve the Resolution. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Rundell described the item and said this is an annual cost and is slightly less than what the City paid last year. Motion by Ross, second by Berryman to approve the payment. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Benton described the item and said there were four heritage trees in this lot and it has been designed to preserve all four of those trees. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of this plat.

Public Hearing was opened at ---6:28
No persons were present to speak.
Public Hearing was closed at --- 6:28

Motion by Berryman, second by Ross to approve the plat. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Brainard said the City relies on a number of policies to guide and shape was it does, including fiscal, budget and personnel policies. He said he has seen a number of changes made to these policies using an inadequate amount of discussion or transparency.

Motion by Brainard, second by Sansing to direct staff to come up with a process that establishes a little more clarity and transparency with regard to what is being proposed as changes and revisions to policies. He asked that staff come up with options and bring them back to Council by the first meeting in February.

Sansing said he is in favor of this motion. Brainard said he would like more description and clarity as it applies to the cover sheets given to the Council as well as a requirement that, if a change is made to a policy, staff explain those changes to the City Council. Brandenburg said and Brainard agreed another suggestion would be to also include a redline version of the new policy as well as a simple explanation as to what is being changed. Ross asked for more analytical statistics, including what is changing, why the changes are being made and the impacts of those changes. Mayor asked and Ross said it would be good for staff to meet with the Councilmember who brought this up.

Mayor asked and Brandenburg clarified the policies this would apply to. Oliver noted and Brainard agreed what he wants is information on what the City used to have, what is being proposed now and what is beig changed to come up with a new policy and why. Eason said she is in favor of this and is assuming that Brainard is accepting responsibility to the fact that this must also apply to both staff and City Councilmembers that present policies. Vote on the motion: Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Arnold reviewed the item and described how the wood poles are used. Motion by Brainard, second by Ross to approve the award of bid. Mayor asked and Arnold said this would buy the City close to 200 poles with a 40 year life expectancy. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Benz reviewed the item and said this is to rehabilitate 39 manholes that were identified by the Water Services Department as being in need of repairs. Motion by Sansing, second by Berryman to approve the contract. Ross asked and Benz said Joe Bland is a general contractor and a sub typically performs this work. He noted this project was broken up into parts. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Benz reviewed the item and said this is for projects that staff identified as part of the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that McCord will do for the City. Motion by Sansing, second by Ross to approve the Task Order.

Brainard asked and Benz said the City has one electrical engineer, who manages the contractors and consultants. Benz said the City does not have the resources to manage this volume of work. Sansing said it is very tedious work and the City has been using this firm for many years. Mayor asked and Benz said, out of the $300,000 total costs, there are some minor material costs but it is mostly wages. Mayor asked and Benz said this service will be for about a year's time. Mayor said it would be good to note that it may be valid to add staff in order to do these type of projects ourselves and research whether or not this would be the same cost to the City. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Dishong reviewed the item and said the City entered into a contract with Brazos River Authority (BRA) to manage the plants back in 2008. He said this is an annual amendment to the cost of the contract. He noted this would be the first amendment to that contract and noted the changes to the contract are broken out on the cover sheet given to Council. He said there was a letter also provided to the Council on this item. He explained the many reasons for the increase in cost of operations and maintenance of the plants. He said volumetric fees are going up 33%, which is the largest increase to date. He noted, unfortunately, BRA is seeking an adjustment to the volumetric fee to cover the costs of chemicals.

Motion by Berryman, second by Sansing to approve the amendment. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Sansing asked and Dishong clarified the maintenance and repairs budget.

Dishong explained the item and gave a brief history of the item. He said, four years ago, there was a large overflow at the Berry Creek lift station. He said, normally this would trigger a fine from TCEQ. He said TCEQ is trying to find a way to work with the City through incident reporting without having to impose a fine. He spoke about the Sanitary Sewer Overflow Initiative and said it has taken them three years to review the City's proposed plan. Motion by Berryman, second by Sansing to approve the agreement. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Benz said this item and the next item are tied together. He noted this is concerning a bridge that is being built at the corner of I-35 and Northwest Blvd from Washam Drive to Austin Avenue. He said this task order is to design this section, develop the preliminary engineering, determine right of way requirements and what is needed to take the next step. He said Klotz did the initial conceptual design for this project. Mayor asked and Benz said he is unsure of the timeline. Benz noted the funds are not available at this time for this project. He said the City is working with the County and John Carter's office to transfer funds to this project.

Motion by Sansing, second by Brainard to approve the Task Order. Brandenburg described the different funding sources for this project. Berryman asked and Benz described the specific area of the project this item applies to. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Benz reviewed the item. Motion by Ross, second by Sansing to approve the Task Order. Brainard asked and Benz said the funding source for this project is going to come from the GTEC budget.. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Brewer said staff has a budget amendment for last year's budget. She said this amendment is needed to address additional revenues and grant expenditures that were related to the police department and the Williamson County grant related to the Williams Drive widening. Brewer read only the caption of the Ordinance on first reading after having satisfied the requirements of the City Charter. Motion by Ross, second by Berryman to approve the Ordinance on first reading. Approved 6-0 (Sattler absent)

Mayor reviewed the item and said there was a good turnout for Boards and Commissions applications this year. He said the responsibilty of the Mayor is to make recommendations to Council regarding Board appointments and noted he would like to appoint a subcommittee to assist in the process. He noted he asked Ross, Oliver and Eason to serve as members of the committee. Ross said, if there are any other Councilmembers who want to participate in the process, they should be able to do so. Mayor said it is an open meeting and any Councilmember may attend. Brandenburg noted all meetings of the subcommittee will be posted. Berryman requested that the rest of the Council be provided with the same information and applications that are given to the committee.