Work Session Notes - October 21, 2024
I drive on her streets 'cause she's my companion
Your City Council is back to work this evening looking at the results of the pavement condition study and hearing another update from the 2024 Bond Study Committee. As always, my comments are below in bold italics. Please reach out to me with any comments or questions.
WORK SESSION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON WORK SESSION ITEMS
CONSIDER THE CONSENT AGENDA
WRITTEN BRIEFINGS
Council may ask for discussion, further information, or give direction to staff on an item posted as a written briefing.
Regional Stormwater Management Program Interlocal Agreement
Council is requested to consider authorizing the City Manager to enter into an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) with North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) for the Regional Stormwater Management Program (RSMP). Unless directed otherwise, this item will be placed on the November 4, 2024 Regular Meeting agenda.
The City of Garland is required to have a plan for mitigating stormwater pollutants through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (TPDES). As part of the program, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), through its Regional Stormwater Management Coordinating Council (RSWMCC), supports member cities through coordination and shared resources to meet permit requirements.
If all these acronyms have your head spinning, the bottom line is we will pay $9,000 annually to NCTCOG to help the City of Garland meet its stormwater permitting requirements. A good value in my opinion.
2. Consider the 2025 City Council Calendar
Council is requested to consider the proposed 2025 City Council calendar and provide direction to staff. Unless directed otherwise, this item will be placed on the November 4, 2024 Regular Meeting agenda.
Annually we set our calendar for the upcoming council year. This year we will combine our work session and regular meetings on September 2, October 6 and November 3 to accommodate the Labor Day Holiday, National Night Out and the General Election, respectively.
VERBAL BRIEFINGS
Council may ask for discussion, further information, or give direction to staff on an item posted as a verbal briefing.
3. Introduction of a New Director
Council will be introduced to Amber Thompson, the new Director of Environmental Compliance.
Recently, the Garland Health Department separated into two divisions – Environmental Health and Environmental Compliance – to better delineate the services provided by the department. On September 16, Amber Thompson was named Director of Environmental Compliance and will oversee environmental inspections and investigations including stormwater discharges and spills.
(Amber Thompson from LinkedIn)
4. Citywide Workforce Recruitment, Advancement & Outreach Update
Staff will present current initiatives related to Citywide Workforce Recruitment, Advancement & Outreach for discussion and feedback. This item was requested by Councilmember Williams, and Mayor LeMay announced that it would be brought forth at a future Work Session on July 15, 2024.
Managing Director Kristen Smith will provide council an update on City hiring practices, demographics and recruitment. The agenda packet has lots of detail into the current city staff demographics. A few demographic charts are included below:
5. Pavement Condition Study Update
Council is requested to consider an update on the pavement condition study findings and results, and provide discussion and direction.
The long awaited Pavement Condition Study has been completed and staff will provide a presentation of the results, and more importantly, strategies for addressing the issues found in the study. The study began in March 2024 by scanning each street and alley using LiDAR to assign each segment an Overall Condition Index or OCI. Our ratings are shown below:
Our arterial roads scored the highest at 79 with residential streets ten points lower at 69. Alleys scored the lowest at 51.
Staff will provide options for improving the OCI including the “Fix All” scenario, which has a price tag of $327M; maintaining current funding levels, which will cause us to lose one point of OCI year after year; improving alleys, which will cost $57M over the next five years, or improving residential streets, with an estimated cost of $107M over the next five years.
In my opinion, having alleys like the one shown in the presentation and copied below is unacceptable.
This is the “last mile” that people see before they arrive at their home, and the damage may largely be caused by our trash and recycling trucks doing weekly pickups. An option to better preserve the alleys may be to bring trash and recycling pickup to the front street, but that would require citizens with alleys to haul their bins around to the front side of their house every week.
The City of Dallas Sanitation Department proposed doing just that in June 2024, but those plans were put on hold due to negative feedback.
Whatever scenario the Council decides, it will take a major financial commitment and the burden of yearly street construction projects. One thing is for certain – If we want to have better streets in our City, we cannot simply maintain the funding status quo. I am very pleased that we now have the data necessary to make the most of our taxpayer dollars to make the most impact on the quality of our streets.
6. 2025 Bond Study Committee Report
City Council will receive an update from staff and the Bond Study Committee Chair regarding discussions and progress of the 2025 Bond Study Committee.
The 2025 Bond Study Committee has now entered the hardest phase of their commission – narrowing down projects that they will present to Council to be included on a future bond election. We may get a taste of some of the early decisions they have made from the presentation by Chairman Joe Thomas.
7. Texas Municipal League (TML) Annual Conference Report
Per Article II, Division 1, Section 6(E) of the City Council policies, Councilmembers Kris Beard, Ed Moore, B.J. Williams, Margaret Lucht, and Carissa Dutton will report back to the City Council and Mayor on the Texas Municipal League (TML) Annual Conference.
Five council members attended the Texas Municipal League’s annual conference in Houston from October 9 to 11. The conference included speakers from the private and public realms covering topics such as AI Applications in Municipal Government, Creative Ideas for Downtown Revitalization, and Public Comment: The Good, the Bad, and the Legal. I’m interested to hear what the attendees brought back from the conference, and how it can benefit the citizens of Garland.
ANNOUNCE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
A Councilmember, with a second by another member or the Mayor alone, may ask that an item be placed on a future agenda of the City Council or of a committee of the City Council. No substantive discussion of that item will take place at this time.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Council will adjourn into executive session pursuant to Sections 551.071, 551.072, and 551.087 of the Texas Government Code.
8. The City Council will adjourn into executive session pursuant to sections 551.071, 551.072, and 551.087 of the Texas Government Code to deliberate and discuss the following:
1. Attorney/client communication related to the potential settlement of an active lawsuit (551.071); and
2. Competitive matters related to Garland Power & Light as it pertains to Project No. 55718 of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Order Approving the Reliability Plan for the Permian Basin Region (551.087) and attorney/client communication related to same (551.071).
3. Negotiations concerning the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property located at the intersection of President George Bush Highway and Holford Road (551.072) and attorney client communications related to same (551.071).
ADJOURN
This past weekend, I was happy to attend the Camelot Neighborhood Association’s Annual Picnic and Chili Cook-off. Not only did I get to speak with a lot of great residents in District 7, I also took home the award for Best All Around Chili!
Here’s the winning recipe if you are interested. Adapted from the 2006 winner of the Texas Terlingua Chili Cook-off Dana Plocheck:
Brown 2 lbs. course ground beef, drain, then add:
1 can (14-1/2 oz) Swanson beef broth
1 can (8 oz) No-salt tomato sauce
Float 1 jalapeno pepper and 1 serrano pepper. Bring to boil then add Packet #1
Packet #1:
1 Tbsp. onion powder (rounded)
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. chili powder
Cover and simmer at medium boil for 1 hour. Remove peppers, squeeze juice and set aside.
Replace lid and continue medium boil for additional 15 minutes and then add Packet #2.
Packet #2:
5 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
0.5 tsp black pepper
0.25 tsp cayenne pepper
0.5 cube Knorr's beef bullion
0.5 cube Knorr's chicken bullion
0.25 tsp brown sugar
1 pk Sazon Goya
Continue boiling with lid on for 30 minutes. Then, add juice from peppers and Packet #3.
Packet #3:
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
0.5 tsp salt
Leave covered and simmer for additional 15 minutes and serve.
Given the chili competition win, I’m playing a tune from the Red Hot Chili Peppers this week. It’s Anthony Kiedis’s love song to Los Angeles “Under the Bridge.”