City Council Update for October 17th
Summary of the October 17th Meeting. The cost of living increases for the city secretary and city manager lead the items on this meeting's agenda.
Quick View
Below is a quick update on each topic. Use the links below to view more in depth information. Items in bold I believe to be the most important.
Approve Assistant Director of Public Works Position - Council approved this position and job description. This should help the streets department with heavy machinery work and provide future leadership succession.
Approve Recreation Coordinator Position - Council approved this position and job description. This should help simplify park and facility reservations as well as develop recreational activities for residents in the future.
Discuss Partnering with TxDOT to Stripe Parking Spacers Through Town Including Holland and Avenue E - Discussed striping the one-way thoroughfares to provide more structure when parking downtown. No action taken.
Approve 5% Cost of Living Raise for City Secretary Geo Calderon - Council amended the raise (~$3,500) to go towards agenda management software instead of the City Secretary’s salary.
Approve 5% Cost of Living Raise for City Manager Megan Antrim - Council approved the raise (~$7,500) to go towards the City Manager’s salary.
Approve Resolution Authorizing the City to Participate in the Texas Recycles Day Grant - Council supported applying for this $5,000 grant which will help maintain and expand recycling bins in recreational areas.
Approve Resolution Authorizing the City to Participate in the Texas Water Development Board Asset Management Program for Small Systems - Council supported applying for this TWDB grant which would provide a comprehensive plan for our water and wastewater treatment systems.
Approve Funding Request from the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Big Bend - Council supported backing the Children’s Advocacy Center with $5,000 of financial support.
Waive Payments Totaling $12,989.58 from Brewster County for Fire Call Payments Under an Interlocal Agreement - Council waived $12,989.58 of fire support payments for the county from a previous interlocal agreement.
Approve Assistant Director of Public Works Position
Passed Unanimously
City Council unanimously approved this position in the consent agenda. The Public Works Department currently has 3.5 employees when it has had 8-10 or more in the past. It is understaffed, causing the department at times to pull employees from the parks and water departments when chip sealing and doing street maintenance.
This position should provide heavy machinery support and leadership succession in the future if Eddie Molinar were to retire. The salary range is $43,680.00 - $66,560.00 and the job description can be found on page 14 of the agenda packet.
I support this position and hope it helps Eddie and his team with the important work they do.
Approve Recreation Coordinator Position
Passed Unanimously
City Council unanimously approved this position in the consent agenda. Multiple departments currently handle the city’s recreation management needs. This includes facility reservations such as the pool and sport fields, youth leagues, as well as lifeguard management. This position centralizes these processes under one employee.
This position should develop and expand other recreational programming for residents in the future. This was a recommendation in the 2019 Master Parks Plan for Alpine. The salary range is $31,324.80 - $46,883.20 and the job description can be found on page 18 of the agenda packet.
I support this position and hope it expands recreational programming in the future.
Discuss Partnering with TxDOT to Stripe Parking Spacers Through Town Including Holland and Avenue E
Discussion with No Action
Citizen Jim Street brought up the idea of partnering with TxDOT to stripe in parking spaces along the one-ways through downtown. This would provide more parking structure in the cut outs along the one-way roads. Council discussed this issue but issues could arise such as the below:
How to handle handicap parking areas and curbing?
How to handle large trucks, vehicles, and RV’s in parking?
How to enforce parking outside of lines? There is no current law against this.
I’m currently against this. At the meeting I asked police chief Darrell Losoya if traffic accidents were an issue in these parking areas and he said no. For the cost and planning this could incur, I feel this is currently not an issue so it does not require a solution.
Do you have an opinion on this issue? You can email me here to provide feedback.
Approve 5% Cost of Living Raise for the City Secretary
Amended and Passed Unanimously
This 5% COLA (cost of living adjustment) increase was already in the budget that Council approved. The increase in salary for the city secretary would have been ~$3,500; estimated from an annual salary of ~$70,000. Council amended this raise and chose to use the funds instead to purchase agenda and board management software from Civic Plus.
Geo Calderon, the City Secretary, and his department spend at least 20% of their hours (8+ hours weekly) getting agendas ready and putting together board and council packets. This could increase if more boards are added in the future, such as the Transportation and Airport Boards.
The estimated year-over-year cost for this software will be around ~$6,500. The additional required funding, over the $3,500, will come from other accounts. This software will allow boards and councilpersons to add items directly from the software and should help the city secretary’s office be more efficient with their labor and time.
I spoke to Geo at the TML Conference in Dallas and he let me know that this software would be beneficial to his department. I feel this is a good step of bringing city processes into a more technologically driven, cloud based software direction. Estimating Geo’s labor per hour at $30 and knowing he spends around 8 hours a week on this task, the total cost of labor is $240 per week, or $960 per month. This total over a year is $11,520, a much lower sum than the annual cost of the software. If it cuts the agenda creation process in half and makes everyone’s job easier and more enjoyable, then it will be worth it.
Approve 5% Cost of Living Raise for the City Manager
Passed 3-1 with Councilperson Darin Nance Dissenting
This 5% COLA (cost of living adjustment) increase was already in the budget that Council approved. The increase in salary for the city manager will be ~$7,500; estimated from an annual salary of ~$150,000. Council voted to approve the increase in salary in a 3 to 1 vote with myself dissenting. Councilperson Rodriguez was not in attendance.
Megan Antrim did not get a raise when she initially took the City Manager position, moving from the Finance Director position (which she still does the work for). She received her first raise almost two years into her position. She requested that if the money did not go into a COLA, that it would be earmarked instead for professional development, as she has had to cover these expenses from personal income in the past.
Both Geo and Megan are doing great jobs for the city and are deserving of the salary they are paid. My only reason for voting against this increase is because I’d rather see these funds earmarked towards an item that makes each of their individual jobs easier; such as the agenda management software for the City Secretary. Once a salary increases, it never decreases. I’d have preferred to see this $7,500 used to offload some of the work that Megan does. This could include purchasing financial software, using financial managed service providers to assist, or earmarking it for professional development as Megan had proffered.
Approve Resolution Authorizing the City to Participate in the Texas Recycles Day Grant
Passed Unanimously
Council voted to approve a resolution to apply for approximately $5,000 through the Texas Recycles Day grant sponsored by Keep Texas Beautiful. Currently Alpine holds a gold level status with Keep Texas Beautiful through the efforts of Adelina Beall, Environmental Services Coordinator, and her great team.
The grant would purchase 10 lids (at $305 a piece) for our two current recycling stations posted at Kokernot Park. It would also add proposed recycling stations at Kokernot Park, Hancock Hill, Medina Park, and Baines Park. Coca-Cola is a co-sponsor for this project.
Adelina Beall and her department do great recycling and clean up work for the City of Alpine. Follow the Keep Alpine Beautiful Facebook page to keep up with opportunities to volunteer.
Approve Resolution Authorizing the City to Participate in the Texas Water Development Board Asset Management Program for Small Systems
Passed Unanimously
The Texas Water Development Board offers the Asset Management Program for Small Systems to cities with populations under 10,000. Grant information can be found here. The grant requires no financial match from the city and helps small communities provide a comprehensive plan to provide for the short, medium, and long-term needs of both water and wastewater systems.
The City of Alpine put in two applications this year; one for water and one for wastewater. We have applied in the past but not received this grant. Fortunately, this year points are added for communities that have applied but not received the grant; so our chances are better.
This is a great opportunity for Alpine. The city would need to supply 80 hours of matching labor if we receive the grant, but it would help us form a strategic plan and checklist on how to update and maintain our aging water and wastewater systems. Kudos to the city team for keeping up with these opportunities and applying for them when possible.
Approve Funding Request from the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Big Bend
Passed Unanimously
Council approved $5,000 to go towards the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Big Bend. This was approved by Council in this year’s budget. Shanna Sullivan, the founding director, and police chief Darrell Losoya both spoke in favor of this request. The funds are used as a cash match to secure grants for the organization.
The crisis center works with child abuse cases in Brewster, Terrell, Presidio, and Jeff Davis counties. They conduct forensic interviews with the child in a safe environment to ensure they are not re-traumatized by the investigation.
Three nonprofits currently receive city funding as support; the Alpine Public Library (~$45,000), the Family Crisis Center of the Big Bend (~$10,000), and the Children’s Advocacy Center of the Big Bend (~$5,000). All organizations do a great job, but council will need to come up with a clear, transparent, fair way to distribute city funds to nonprofits, as others have inquired about funding such as the Sunshine House.
Waive Payments Totaling $12,989.58 from Brewster County for Fire Call Payments Under an Interlocal Agreement
Passed Unanimously
The county and the city entered an interlocal agreement in February 2018 regarding the duties and fee schedule for the Alpine Volunteer Fire Department. The county terminated the contract in February of 2023, with both parties entering a new agreement in May of 2023.
Through miscommunication some remaining invoices from the County have not been paid. The City Manager is asking that these debts be waived, but due to the size of the amount ($12,989.58) this must be approved by the city council.
The city last year had budgeted $77,000, but spent over $100,000 on fire services when the county and the city were not partnering together. Now by partnering with the county, the cost is split providing a year-over-year savings.
I voted to approve this request and hope the city and the county increase communication and work together on future projects. Every Texas Municipal League event I have attended has had at least one session on how important it is for local government entities to work together.
The Complete Meeting
The entire meeting can be seen in the video below. There was no executive session.
Hi Darin, your newsletters are very well done and detailed. Thank you for all of the hard work you put in to decisions that impact Alpine