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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986/05/27-Agenda-Pre-Council A G E N D PRE-COUNCIL MEETING TUESDAY , MAY 27 , 1986 8: 30 A.M. PRE-COUNCIL CHAMBER RECOMMENDED FOR ACTION ON MAY 27 1 ) Update on Policy for the Installation of Community Faci.lities Grace Period ( I .R . No . 7118) - Gary Santerre , Director of Transportation/Public Works ( 10 Min . ) 2) Appointment of Members to Emergency Physician Advisory Board (M&C G-6679 ) - Councilman William Garrison and David Yett , Assistant City Attorney ( 15 Min . ) RECOMMENDED FOR DISCUSSION TODAY AND FUTURE ACTION 3) Status Report on Bus Bench Advertising Contract (I .R . No . 7117 )- Nancy Amos , Assistant Director , Transportation/Public Works ( 10 Min . ) 4 ) Water and Wastewater Capital Cost Recovery Report ( I .R . No . 7119 )- Ben Ann Tomayko , Chair , Capital Cost Recovery Committee ( 10 Min . ) 5 ) Proposed Refunding of Outstanding Water and Sewer Revenue Bonds - A. Judson Bailiff , Finance Director and Boyd London , First Southwest Company ( 10 Min . ) RECOMMENDED FOR DISCUSSION ONLY 6 ) Discussion of Current Police Issues - Councilman Russell Lancaster , City Manager Douglas Harman , and Police Chief Thomas Windham, (25 Min . ) To add or make revisions , please call the City Manager ' s Office , 870-6140, before 3 : 00 P .M. , Friday , May 23, 1986 The purpose of the Pre-Council Conference held prior to a regular City Council Meeting is to allow the Mayor and Councilmembers to discuss informally items on the agenda and to secure information from the City Manager and the staff . Although the meeting is open to the public , citizens are requested to reserve comments and questions for the subsequent Council meeting so they will be a part of the public record . OFFICIAL RD RY EX. s PRE-COUNCIL MEETING MAY 27, 1986 ABSENT: Mayor Bob Bolen, Mr. Jim A. Bagsby, Mr. Estil Vance, Jr. COUNCIL DISTRICT 7 (VACANT) ITEM At the start of the meeting Councilman Williams took a few minutes to commend the City Staff for the admirable work they did in addressing the problems that arose in the aftermath of the May 24th storm. He also gave special recognition, to the citizens of Fort Worth for their participation in "Hands Across America". lie stated that it was because of their hardwork and dedication that the program was such a success. I. OVERVIEW OF THE MAY 24TH STORM Several representatives from the Texas Electric Service Company (TESCO) presented Council with a brief assessment of the damage resulting from Saturday's storm. The severity of the storm impacted a number of areas across the City, among which included: 1) the TCU area; 2) the Poly-Tech area; 3) the Overton Park district; and 4) various other regions of South Fort Worth. Shortly after the storm, TESCO officials requested immediate assistance from all available construction crews. They asked the crews to help with the collection and subsequent removing of storm debri. A task force of over thirty people was established to handle the large volume of calls from citizens requesting aid. Within a twenty-four hour period approximately 15,000 calls were received by TESCO personnel, substantially above the norm. By Sunday afternoon, TESCO had 100 crews in the field working on restoring power to ,those area that faced shortages due to fallen lines. Overall 1,000 people have been working to help restore normal service. They will continue to operate on a 24 hour basis until all repairs are made and service is completely restored to the entire City. Mr. Harman and various members of the City Council expressed their deep appreciation for the admirable work that TESCO had done in addressing the large amount of damage caused by the storm. He further mentioned that eight to nine City facilities experienced some form of damage mostly roof damage and flooding. Chief McMillan advised Council that the Fire Department has had a number of crews involved in clearing streets, alleys and driveways from fallen trees. He said that calls coming into the Emergency Center had oo �iAyp� anq prioritized. This created a problem with a few citizens w o Y�lllii h �� their situation warranted immediate response. However, most ,ITYi=TARY FT. WORTH, TEX. d understood the magnitude of the problem that the Fire Department was facing, and were willing to wait for assistance. Mr. Lancaster felt that an effort should be made to inform the citizens of the availability of the free dumping service that is being offered by the City to all Fort Worth residents. Finally, Mr. Williams made a humorous remark over the destruction of a number of billboards around the City. Joe Bilardi added that currently a survery was being conducted to determine the extent of damage to the various billboards. I. UPDATE ON POLICY FOR THE INSTALLATION OF COMMUNITY FACILITIES GRACE PERIOD (I.R. NO. 7118) - GARY SANTERRE, DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION/PUBLIC WORKS An Informal Report was presented by Mr. Gary Santerre, Director of Transportafon and Public Works, comparing the City's cost of twelve community facilities agreements that were processed based on the policies in effect prior to January 7, 1986. The Report included an attachment that provided detailed information on the twelve agreements. Mr. Santerre noted that five of the twelve agreements would result in no change in City funding. However, the other seven agreements would result in an expenditure of $289,394 by the City if the old policy is applied. Mr. Garrison recommended that the Council should approve the existing bids. Mr. Williams was in accord with Mr. Garrison's recommendation. Mr. Lancaster did raise a question over the $82,612 increase in cost with regard to the Summerfield Addition. Mr. Santerre said he would obtain additional information to the difference in the upgrade for this particular construction item. II. APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS TO EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS ADVISORY BOARD (M&C G- 6679) - COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GARRISON AND DAVID YETT, ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY Mr. Garrison and Mr. Yett asked Council to consider making the Emergency Physicians Advisory Board (EPAB) a City Board. By structuring the EPAB in this manner, the members on the Board would be indemnified by the City and defended by the City Attorney's Office in regard to claims arising out of actions by the members in their official capacity. Presently, there is no liability insurance which would cover the physicians performing their duties as members of the Board. LOFFICI�ALaECOluIII. STATUS REPORT ON BUS BENCH ADVERTISING CONTRACT �(I. R. RjTARy NANCY AMOS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, TRANSPORTATION/PUBLIC WORKSTriMs. Amos made a brief presentation to Council on the City'sH9 ILA. contract with the Public Bench Ads., Inc.. The Informal Report was written A� for Council due to requests from Councilmembers for additional information regarding the City's existing contract; and the FWTA and staff recommendations for the future. Under the contract the contractor is required to pay an annual fee of $15,760 and is permitted to sell adverisments on benches. The selling of advertisements on bus benches provides the incentive for the contractor to pursue the contract. A question was raised by Ms. Wetherby with respect to the advertising on bus benches. She specifically asked: "How strong are we going to go on having benches removed from areas where there are no bus routes?" Ms. Amos responded that efforts are currently being made to remove the benches from locations no longer having bus routes. Up to now the City has had no problems with having the benches removed when requests have been made for their removal. Ms. Amos further added,- that at this point the City should proceed carefully and that an RFP be authorized by Council prior to expiration of the existing contract. The Council agreed that an RFP would need to be written. IV. WATER AND WASTEWATER CAPITAL COST RECOVERY REPORT - BEN ANN TOMAYKO, CHAIR, CAPITAL COST RECOVERY COMMITTEE Ms. Tomavko presented Council with a written report concerning a nine-month study of water and wastewater recovery fees. The study was conducted by a citizen committee established by the Water Department comprised of members from the Neighborhood Association, area developers, and representatives from twenty-two customer cities. Mr. Lancaster thanked the Committee for their fine work. He asked the Chair whether the customer cities had offered to work with Fort Worth on the program. Ms. Tomayko responded that a number of cities had voiced an interest in participating. V. PROPOSED REFUNDING OF OUTSTANDING WATER AND SEWER REVENUE BONDS - A. JUDSON BAILIFF, FINANCE DIRECTOR AND BOYD LONDON, FIRST SOUTHWEST COMPANY Mr. Bailiff informed the Council that the bond market was conducive to refunding the water and sewer revenue bond issues. He advised Council that presently the City can expect an interest rate of 8 percent. He added that the City would save approximately $130,000 annually on the principal and interest on the bonds if the bonds were refunded. By June 24, 1986, a group of underwriters will be assembled to negotiate the refunding of the issues, at such time Council will be asked for approval . OFFICIAL REC0�0 VI. DISCUSSION OF CURRENT POLICE ISSUES - COUNCILMAN RUSSELL LANcMRSECRETARY FT. WORTH, TEX. CITY MANAGER DOUGLAS HARMAN, AND POLICE CHIEF THOMAS WINDHAM Mr. Harman indicated that the 2% reduction may not be applicable to the Police Department, in light of the fact that the Department has had less vacanices than originally aniticipated. Chief Windham presented Council with charts and graphs highlighting some of the statistics regarding criminal activity in Fort Worth. One particular chart presented Part I Offenses by City Council Districts. In this chart Council District four had the highest property crime, while Council District two had a larger volume of violent crime (i.e. murder, rape, agg. assault, etc.). Another graph showed a dramatic increase in crime in 1984 and 1985. Mr. Lancaster asked the Chief: "Why the sudden increase? Are you aware of any factors that could have led to the increase?" Chief Windham explained that the general downtrend in the Texas economy could have been a contributing factor to the overall increase in crime. Another important factor could be what the Chief described as the unknown population. Essentially, the "unknown population" is comprised of displaced individuals, many of which are former prisoners that have been released due to overcrowded jails and prisons. The Chief mentioned that: "Prisons are overcrowded and prisoners are being released as a result of the good-time law." The Chief emphasized that part of the overall Police Plan established to address the crime problem involved restructuring the Department to increase the size of uniform officers. Presently there are 538 uniform officers. There are 212 officers assigned to the Investigative Bureau, and 29 to administration. According to Police records, under the existing police force there are 1.77 sworn officers per 1,000 population. This amounts to 3.03 sworn officers per square mile. With respect to the total number of Patrol Officers and Corporals, there are 0.84 per 1,000 population, or 1.43 per square mile. Based on shifts, there are 109 Patrol Officers and Corporals assigned to the first shift, or 0.238 per 1,000. In the second shift there are 159 officers and Corporals, or 0.347 per 1,000 population. The third shift has assigned 118 officers and Corporals, or 0.258 per 1000 population. In closing, the Chief criticized the Criminal Justice System indicating that it has become dysfunctional. He emphasized that the Police Depts. across the state are overwhelmed by rising crime; and that local jails are unable to meet local needs due to overcrowding. He specifically stated: "The Criminal Justice System should stop focusing on the causes of crime and should begin dealing with criminals who cause crime. The CJS should place the accountability for crime on the criminal rather than �nr�ryhP r�.TS_" fl He also mentioned that the "good time law" should be repeale �OFPIaRECUnD the Criminal Justice System should examine the possibility of stab is ing a "bad time law", in which a prisoner's sentence could be leng hCfi SCRTARY FT. WORTH, TM basis of bad behavior while serving time. Futhermore, there should be legislation which would establish determinant sentence, requiring convicted criminals to be incarcerated for a specific period of time before being released. OFTICIAE RECORD CITY SECRETARY FT. WORTH, TEX.