Loading...
Minutes October 27, 2003CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL M1NUTES OCTOBER 27, 2003 After determining that a quorum was present, the City Council convened in a Work Session on Monday, October 27, 2003 at 12:30 p.m. in the Council Work Session Room at City Hall. PRESENT: Mayor Brock; Mayor Pro Tern Burroughs; Council Members Kamp, McNeill, Montgomery, Redmon and Thomson. ABSENT: None 1. The Council held a discussion and gave staff direction regarding the agenda process and Council rules and procedures. Mike Conduff, City Manager, stated that the Agenda Committee had tried to take advantage of the educational component of the meetings and have 2-3 bullet reports on Items for Individual Consideration during the council meetings. These reports included big-ticket items highlighted to give a sense of comfort on what was being purchased and reports on items of special interest to the community. He suggested that the balance of Council let staff know items they wished to move for a bullet report after their review of the draft agendas. The Agenda Committee would make the final determination on which items would be considered for that process. Council discussion on the agenda process included: Providing Council a draft agenda via e-mail following the Agenda Committee review Changing the agenda format to include a section to allow Council to suggest items for individual consideration at both work sessions and planning sessions. Providing Council a paper copy of the agenda only either in the Friday packets or the night of the meeting Whether or not to request boards/commissions to review the purchase of equipment before Council consideration Council consideration on the policy implications on the purchase of a new piece of equipment that would significantly change the way the City did business A proposal involving the large purchase of a piece of equipment in terms of dollars and a new policy would have been through the budget process which involved consideration by a board or commission Receiving a recommendation from the appropriate board before making a decision on items, particularly the PUB and P& Z. Some boards were staff advisory rather than Council advisory. Mayor Brock reviewed Council's rules and procedures dealing with: Citizen reports Limit interaction with citizens Limit amount of questions especially if not listed on the agenda No discussion on the items City of Denton City Council Minutes October 27, 2003 Page 2 Closed Clarification only Do not engage conversation with the citizen Can correct misstatements by citizens if the item was listed on the agenda Grant extension of speaker time only if approved by all of the council that would be beneficial to receive additional information Extension of time for group citizen reports Session Revealing what took place during the Closed Session it City Attorney Prouty stated that it was a criminal violation to reveal the certified agenda but not a violation to rephrase what happened in Closed Session. It also was illegal to provide citizens copies of his confidential status reports. This item might be a good item to place in a code of conduct. Council also discussed the policy of allowing concealed weapons in the meetings and the associated legal provisions. 2. The Council held a discussion and gave staff direction Council, including but not limited to: A. 2004 meeting schedule B. Cell phones C. City Council travel schedules and funding regarding staff assistance to City Secretary Jennifer Walters presented the 2004 meeting schedule and noted the changes in May due to the change in the election date. Council discussed the meeting times and the changing of those times. It was determined that a fixed time for the work session might not be feasible as the number of items on the work session varied. Staff would provide extra reminders of the starting times for the work sessions. City Manager Conduff proposed a convenience wireless tools allowance that would provide a financial allowance for Council for cell phone usage. Council could purchase a plan and phone of their choice and the city would reimburse them a set amount for that usage. Council discussion on cell phones included: The type of plan currently provided Open records requests if use a personal phone was used for city business The need to keep personal phone and e-mail accounts separate from city business Drafting a cell phone usage policy Having a consistent plan for everyone The necessity of having a city cell phone Consensus of Council was to equalize all Council cell phone plans to around a $49.95 a month, anyone using over $50 for expenditure of minutes would receive a bill from the city, a summary of each month's usage would be sent to each council member and if the bill not were paid in an appropriate amount of time, the issue would be brought before the Council for discussion. Council Member Redmon left the meeting. City of Denton City Council Minutes October 27, 2003 Page 3 City Manager Conduff continued with a discussion on council travel schedules and funding. A handout provided a reminder of the meetings available to council. Those meetings were budgeted for full council participation. Non-budgeted meetings would be funded with savings when the full council did not attend budgeted meetings. Staff travel had been greatly restricted this year and he encouraged council to be thoughtful in regards to unbudgeted trips. Council requested periodic updates on amounts spent on travel and the last dates to cancel meetings in order to get a refund. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:15 p.m. EUL1NEBROCK MAYOR CITY OFDENTON, TEXAS JENNIFER WALTERS CITY SECRETARY CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS