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Small Cities Advisory Council Meeting Minutes

November 6, 2007

August 2, 2007

February 9, 2007

Archived Minutes

 

Texas Municipal League Small Cities Advisory Council
November 6, 2007
Adam’s Mark Hotel – Dallas, Texas

Introductory remarks:

Small Cities Advisory Council (SCAC) Chairman Joe Cordina welcomed members, made a few introductory remarks, and called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.

Consider excused absences:

Motion made by Joe Hermes, seconded by Roy McDonald, and passed unanimously to approve all excused absences.

Consider minutes of August 2, 2007, meeting:

Motion made by Tom Blazek, seconded by Mary Anne Holcomb, and passed unanimously to approve the minutes of the August 2, 2007, meeting.

BuyBoard presentation:

BuyBoard Manager Steve Fisher provided an overview of the Local Government Purchasing Cooperative’s BuyBoard. The purchasing cooperative is a joint project of the Texas Association of School Boards, which handles the day-to-day operations; the Texas Municipal League; and the Texas Association of Counties. Membership in the cooperative is free.

TML Small Cities’ Problem-Solving Clinic review:

A clinic was held in Diboll on September 21, 2007, with 65 people attending, and in San Angelo on October 5, 2007, with 49 people attending. More than 240 people attended clinics in 2007. There are clinics scheduled for January 25, 2008, in Alamo; February 22, 2008, in Madisonville; March 14, 2008, in Horseshoe Bay; and March 28, 2008, in Jefferson.

The 2008 agenda format will allow for an extended legal question-and-answer session and a legislative issues session.

Special projects update:

A briefing was given on special projects:

Elected Officials’ Conference proposal:

Motion made by Mary Anne Holcomb, seconded by Joe Hermes, and passed unanimously to sponsor a Dutch treat networking dinner on February 1, 2008, in conjunction with the Elected Officials’ Conference in Irving (February 1-3, 2008).

Next SCAC meeting:

The SCAC voted to have its next meeting on Friday, February 1, 2008, in conjunction with the Elected Officials’ Conference in Irving. The SCAC will meet from 10:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. with a working lunch.

Other business:

Frank Sturzl briefed the SCAC on the National Association of Towns and Townships (NATaT). The TML Board of Directors will consider approving NATaT membership dues at its upcoming meeting on November 7, 2007.

Jack Leonhardt provided an overview of the City of Windcrest’s new resident welcome reception hosted quarterly by the city along with local businesses and associations.

Joe Cordina received a framed certificate from the SCAC for his service as 2007 SCAC Chair.

Since there was no other business to come before the SCAC, a motion passed unanimously to adjourn at 6:20 p.m.

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Texas Municipal League Small Cities Advisory Council
Minutes
August 2, 2007
DoubleTree Hotel – Austin, Texas

Introductory remarks:

Consider excused absences:

Motion made by Jerry Marshall, seconded by Rudy Villarreal, and passed unanimously to approve all excused absences.

Consider minutes of February 9, 2007, meeting:

It was noted that the February 9, 2007, draft minutes listed guest Wayne LaCava as a councilmember. Mr. LaCava was a mayor. Motion made by Mary Anne Holcomb, seconded by David Landis, and passed unanimously to approve the February 9, 2007, minutes as amended.

Legislative update:

TML Executive Director Frank Sturzl presented the League’s legislative update. He provided an overview of recently passed legislation that will impact small cities. There was extensive discussion about legislation relating to animal control officer training and city regulation of grease-trap waste-haulers.

TML Board activities update:

The next meeting of the TML Board will be held on November 7, 2007, during the TML Annual Conference in Dallas.

TML Small Cities’ Problem-Solving Clinic review:

A clinic was held in Pampa on July 19, 2007, with 39 people attending. More than 360 people attended clinics in 2006, and 130 have attended clinics this year-to-date. A clinic scheduled for August 23, 2007, in Kingsville was postponed due to staff transition. There are clinics scheduled for September 20, 2007, in Diboll, and October 4, 2007, in San Angelo.

SCAC special projects update:

A briefing was given on special projects currently underway:

The cable television franchise management service – More than $325,000 has been recovered for various cities since the program started. Nearly 70 cities have contracts or are in negotiations for these services. Available services include: (1) auditing existing cable contracts for compliance and accuracy of coding, and (2) negotiating utility pole attachment fees.
Web QA – Web QA offers web-based software to manage citizen requests. Fifteen cities signed up for the service during the previous quarter.
The hotel occupancy tax (HOT) revenue enhancement program and the sales tax analysis and reporting service (STARS) program – Thirty-five cities have contracts for one or both programs, and additional cities are in contract negotiations.
CGI Communications – Nineteen cities have signed contracts with CGI Communications this year to access free streaming video software. More than 70 cities are participating in the program.

Publicity material was furnished to each SCAC member regarding these projects.

TML educational events:

Programs for the TML Annual Conference (November 6-9, 2007) and a sold-out grants workshop (September 20-21, 2007) were provided for information purposes. TML staff is working to set up an additional grants workshop to be held later this year.

Next SCAC meeting:

After a short discussion, the SCAC voted to have its next meeting on Tuesday, November 6, 2007, in conjunction with the TML Annual Conference in Dallas. The SCAC meeting will be from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. with a dinner to follow.

Other business:

John Philpott received a framed certificate from the SCAC for his service to Texas cities. Since there was no other business to come before the SCAC, a motion passed unanimously to adjourn at 5:24 p.m.

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Texas Municipal League
Small Cities Advisory Council

Minutes
February 9, 2007
Renaissance Hotel – Austin, Texas

Introductory remarks:

Consider excused absences:
Motion made by Jerry Marshall, seconded by Andrés Garza, and passed unanimously to approve all excused absences.

Consider minutes of October 24, 2006, meeting:
Motion made by Joe Hermes, seconded by Mary Anne Holcomb, and passed unanimously to approve the October 24, 2006, minutes.

Remarks by TML President-Elect:
TML President-Elect Todd Pearson said he was very concerned about the revenue caps being proposed in the legislature. He said the elected city officials on local city councils are the best representatives of the people of Texas. He noted that there has been “hostile” language spoken against city officials, and we need to be alert to that.

AMCC President Scott Sheley stopped in and said that programs initiated by the SCAC have had far-reaching effects in Texas, and he hopes they will continue. Programs like Texas Cities Work, small cities’ clinics, and the newly elected workshops provide needed education for the cities.

Legislative update:
TML Executive Director Frank Sturzl presented the League’s legislative update. The TML Board established the 2007 TML legislative program at the December 2006 meeting of the board. Frank reviewed some of the concerns TML has regarding the proposed revenue cap bills. He mentioned that the expenses cities incur (employee benefits, utilities, or vehicle fuel) sometimes increase beyond the proposed caps, and cities have little control over those increases. The League staff will continue to monitor all the bills that affect cities and guard against bills that erode municipal authority.

TML Board activities update:
The next meeting of the TML Board is March 23, 2007, at the TML office in Austin.

SCAC problem-solving clinic review:
Clinics were held in Parker (December 7, 2006), with 55 people attending; Boerne (January 19, 2007), with 40 people in attendance; and Eastland (January 26, 2007), with more than 50 people attending. More than 360 city officials participated in the small cities’ clinics in 2006. There are four clinics tentatively scheduled to be held between July and October 2007.

SCAC special projects update:
A briefing was given on special projects currently underway:
Newly elected officials video – The first draft of the newly elected officials video was previewed for possible changes and suggestions. There were no changes suggested, and arrangements will be made to produce copies for sale.
The cablevision franchise management service – More than $325K has been recovered for various cities since the program started. Nearly 70 cities have contracts or are in negotiations for these services. The management service now includes the auditing of existing cable contracts for compliance and accuracy of coding, as well as negotiating utility pole attachment fees.
The Link2Gov electronic payment service – This agreement has been cancelled due to low participation.
The hotel occupancy tax revenue program - 30 cities have contracts, and additional cities are in the process of negotiation. This program has grown rapidly with the addition of Houston, Corpus Christi, and Austin to the program. In addition, five cities have contracted for “sales tax discovery,” which is a more accurate projection of future sales tax revenue.
The HRTool Kit for small cities - 70 cities have taken advantage of the subscription service.
CGI Communications – More than 70 cities are participating in the program.
WebQA – 16 cities either have contracts or are in negotiations for contracts. This service, which provides software for citizen request management, ties into the city’s existing Web site. It enhances customer service with better management and reporting of questions/requests.

Publicity material was furnished to each SCAC member regarding these projects.

TML educational events:
A copy of the final program for the Elected Officials’ Conference and the preliminary program for the TML Annual Conference in November 2007 were provided for information purposes.

Next SCAC meeting:
After a short discussion, the SCAC voted to have its next meeting on Thursday, August 2, 2007, in conjunction with the Newly Elected City Officials’ Orientation in Austin. The SCAC meeting will be from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Other business:
A discussion transpired regarding the creation of a “best practices” listing based on the Municipal Excellence Awards. Members of the SCAC also talked about the formation of a task force to help identify new projects and topics for future conferences/workshops. Since there was no other business to come before the SCAC, a motion passed unanimously to adjourn at 5:19 p.m.

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